May 17, 2011

My dog is having problems being distracted by buildings and wanting to go in during tracking. How can I fix this?

Full Question:
Ed,

Just ordered your dominant dog collar and orbee ball. Headed off to K-9 school at IL. State Police Academy day after labor day. My dept. gave me a chain link kennel 4' x 12'. Have a dominant Malinois and was wondering if the steel mesh kennel would be better as he is pulling at the chain link on the gate. Also which is better 5' x 15' or 10' by 10'?

Your dominant dog video was great!

Thanks as always,
Eric
Ed
Ed Ed's Answer:
You need to stop this kennel chewing or the dog will break his teeth off. The problem is this can be difficult to do and force is usually the last option.

If you want to make a service dog out of him you are going to need to establish pack structure with the dog. Read the free eBook I wrote on how to do this. My web site has a large number of FREE eBooks that I have written. Go to the main directory for eBooks.

In my opinion the size of the kennel you now have is not good – its too narrow. The 10x10 is a better option. I can't tell you that this will stop the chain link biting. It may by it may not. I can tell you it’s a better way for the dog to live.

I would make sure the dog got plenty of exercise. If you run – then run with the dog – never off leash. If handler aggression is an issue, wear one of our wire basket muzzles – a tired dog is not going to have these kinds of behavioral problems.

You can also give the dog a large cows knuckle bone in the kennel – order them from the butcher. These take hours to chew on. Be careful not to use other bones and especially not cooked bones (IE steak bones, they splinter and can kill your dog).

We also have a number of different types of toys to leave with dogs that can be packed with crème cheese or peanut butter. I normally don’t recommend leaving toys with dogs but the risk of breaking teeth is too great here.

If this were my dog it would live in a dog crate and not a dog kennel. If it tried to chew a normal dog crate it would live in one of the aluminum crates we sell.

I would also recommend that you get my Basic Dog Obedience DVD and start to study this. There is a ton of information that and it all applies to you. It will make you a better trainer and handler.

Kind Regards,
Ed Frawley

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