Training your dog to keep your house clean

This winter, the wet has been relentless; we’ve had high rainfall, burst river banks, flooded plains and storm drains, not to mention all the hidden potholes to fall down!  You may be feeling a little weary of the wet walks, getting kitted out before you leave, and then cleaning and drying both you and your dog off afterwards.  Especially if you walk your dog more than once a day – it can all get a bit tedious! 

Mental stimulation & enrichment activities

Often, when trying to tire our dogs we think of walking them further, or longer, or more often.  But that’s to deny the value of mental stimulation, where we encourage our dogs to use their brains. This can prove so exhausting our dogs need to go and have a little lie-down to take it all in and process it. Enrichment activities also allow your dog outlets for their natural instincts and behaviours which, in turn, calm and soothe them.  With these in mind, Hannah has created a couple of videos for some indoor training using kind, gentle and positive reinforcement throughout.   

All you need is: 

Weaving                                                                                              

The first exercise is broken down into simple steps to train your dog to weave between, and around, your legs.  Praising your dog with a marker word or clicker, followed by a treat, each time they do what you are asking of them.  This is a super-fun party trick that can also help maintain the flexibility in your dog’s spine, especially for larger breeds, increasing their agility.

Wiping their feet

However, our dogs do still need some outdoor exercise, which may well be in the rain, so Hannah has a cunning plan to help keep the mess to a minimum by teaching your dog to wipe their own feet!  By hiding some treats in a folded towel, Hannah shows how to encourage and reward them to build from sniffing to pawing using a clicker to pinpoint and reward the exact behaviour you want from them.  Not only will this help with the housework, but it also taps into your dog’s natural problem-solving instincts.

Benefits

Both lessons are fantastic for reducing boredom, increasing confidence and developing those problem solving, scenting and agility skills. Training your dog is so rewarding for you both: you get the pleasure of a dog who is easier to live with, more fun and better behaved; your dog gets rewarded with treats, clicks, or praise every time they do something right, and all of this strengthens the bond between the two of you. 

We hope you enjoy these videos and that the sun comes out soon!