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Providing Enrichment for Your Cat

2/8/2018

By Veronica Mountain

Most cats have toys, a lot of toys...jingle balls, catnip mice, toys on wands...the list goes on! However, a toy that doesn’t move, or moves in a predictable way, will not keep a cat’s interest for long. That’s where you come in, the hero of our story that will turn a toy alive! All of a sudden your cat is now off its bed, stalking, waiting, and finally rushing in for a tackle.

So how exactly do you get a cat to play? What does play look like? How do you know which toy to choose? Why is play so important?

Let’s start with the why. Playing with your cat offers great exercise and stimulation. It also promotes a healthy weight, helps decrease destructive behaviors and strengthens your bond with your cat. Additionally, because hunting is so ingrained in cats (even domestic house cats), engaging in play allows your cat to practice their genetically predisposed hunting techniques. Doing so will deter your cat from finding his own outlets which could lead to problem behaviors.

Although cats can differ in preferences, you can get most play started with a wand-type toy. My favorite is “Go-Cat Da Bird” and can be found at most pet stores. It is a wand with a string and replaceable feathers on the end. The key is to move the feathers on the ground and through the air in an unpredictable way. Let the feathers stop still and then dart back into action! Most of cat play is stalking. So although they may not be running around your living room for 30 minutes straight, trust me, this process is important and will mentally and physically stimulate your cat! Let your cat watch the toy, rush in for a pounce, and then run back to watch again. Some cats like to watch from above, some from under cover. After some practice, you’ll learn how your cat likes to engage with this toy.

End play sessions with their meal or just by tossing down a few treats where their “prey” was. Feather toys should be safely put away when you are not playing. With your cat’s energy now drained and snack eaten, they will likely groom themselves and fall asleep. Job well done!

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Taking the Guesswork out of House Training

2/7/2018

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By Sierra Hampl

My last five clients have had house training concerns. Their dogs ranged in age from five months to seven years old and some were from breeders and some were from rescues. This example shows that house training is a common problem and frustration across the board for dog owners. House training doesn’t need to be complicated and it definitely shouldn’t be a long lasting battle. I’ll share some common mistakes and simple changes so you can turn those mistakes into successes. Whether you’ve just brought home a puppy or you’ve rescued an older dog from a shelter, this post will help take you step by step to house training success.

Common Mistakes:

Rewarding after the dog comes inside. Many people send their dog out the door with the cue to “go potty” and watch out the window. The dog goes potty and then they call them back in and excitedly give them a treat. Unfortunately, by the time your dog gets to the door and sees that you’re clapping excitedly and giving them food, they’ve formed a missed association with the reason behind all of the excitement and rewarding. At this point, your dog has probably associated the treat with coming inside, and not with peeing or pooping on grass instead of on your carpet.
Too much freedom. All too often people bring home a dog (particularly older dogs) and feel they deserve the run of the house. There’s nothing wrong with wanting your dog to enjoy everything your home has to offer...except that special spot behind the couch where you keep finding an accident.
Lack of a schedule. It’s hard to know how often a dog should be given the opportunity to go outside. Particularly if you work full-time, this will be a challenge with a young puppy. If you do have a young dog, consider hiring a dog walker (All Dogs Go to Kevin offers dog walking and we have lots of puppy clients!). Having a schedule in place will drastically increase your success rate and decrease the amount of time it takes to achieve house training.
Pee Pads. If you want your dog to pee/poop outside--train them to do exactly that.
Punish Accidents. By yelling at your dog every time they have an accident you build fear in your dog which then teaches them to pee/poop when you aren’t around, or choose that special spot in the corner or behind the couch.

These common mistakes can be turned around and you can house train your dog within just a few weeks or less if you follow these rules:

Turning Mistakes into Successes

Reward on the spot! Most likely, this means you take your dog out on leash. Taking a new dog out to potty on leash does a few things:
- Keeps them close to you so you can quickly and easily reward after they do their business.
-Decreases the likelihood that your puppy/dog will find something intriguing and start to play.
-Eliminates any chance that your dog will wander off and become distracted.

In order to reward on the spot, follow these steps:

Attach the leash to your puppy.
Walk outside to the desired location and say, “go potty!” or “make pee pee” or whatever you would like to say!
Be a statue. Do not engage with your dog. Simply stand in place and wait for them to pee/poop.
He peed!! Now pop a treat or two in your dog’s mouth and throw a party! Troubleshoot! He didn’t pee or poop and you stood out there for five minutes! In this case, take your dog back inside and try again in ten minutes. During their inside time they can go in a crate or be carefully supervised so an accident doesn’t occur.

2. Keep your eyes on the prize! In this case, the prize is your dog. After I brought home my puppy I joked with people that I’d ignored my children for nine days in order to get him house trained. It wasn’t really a joke. My kids probably did feel ignored, but one thing I didn’t want to worry about in the long run was house training. I literally stared at my puppy for days just so I wouldn’t miss a single cue he gave for needing to go outside. This also meant that my puppy didn’t have any chances to wander around unsupervised.

Who wouldn’t be excited to show a dog around their new home! Of course we want our dog to enjoy everything our home has to offer, but some freedom needs to be earned, so while you’re working on reliable pottying outside, use baby gates to block off rooms, and even tether your dog to you with a leash that way they can’t wander off.

Troubleshoot! I need to take a shower, now what?! When you can’t have your eyes on your puppy or newly adopted dog, put them in a crate. This is also why crate training is so important, but that’s for another post. The crate is a safe place for your dog to hang out when you need to get stuff done.

3. Create a schedule and be consistent. A young puppy will need to go out quite often. Sometimes every 20-30 minutes. An older dog can last a little longer--maybe 60 minutes if you just adopted an older dog, but I still tell clients that if you see your dog spend any amount of time at the water bowl, be prepared to take them out within twenty minutes or less. A schedule allows you to frequently reward your dog for going potty exactly where you want--outside! It also decreases the likelihood that your dog will have an accident. Don’t worry, you won’t always have to stick to the schedule. Hang in there for a few weeks and it will really pay off.

4. Ditch the pee pads. Nothing sets off more alarms than when I walk in a home and see pee pads. Assuming you want your dog to do his business in the grass, begin your house training outside, not inside.

5. Instead of Punishment, redirect to the correct location. Maybe you felt it was okay to let your guard down and out of the corner of your eye you see you dog about to squat. Don’t panic, just ask your dog in a happy voice if they need to go potty and immediately take them outside and reward once they do their business.

House training doesn’t need to be complicated. It really comes down to restricting freedom in your home, frequent trips outside, and rewarding on location. If you devote a couple weeks to following these steps you should have a successfully house trained dog.

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Providing Enrichment for Your Cat

Taking the Guesswork out of House Training

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