Old Trainer: Help! My dog always wants to play — even when I am training him
Dear Old Trainer: I’m trying to train Stax, my 2-year- old Hound/Golden mix, but he’s so happy he plays all the time, even while I’m training him. I can’t help laughing when he starts his antics, even though I know I should be serious. Should I hire a professional trainer?
Scott, Oakdale, Ca
A: No, you can do it. There’s a genetic reason Stax avoids training. Both sides of his family tree prefer play over work and are born knowing how to use charm to get what they want.
I just trained a dog like Stax.
Deuce was in the shelter with no chance of adoption because he insisted on playing and refused to be trained.
He pretended to listen when I scolded him, but I knew he was faking because his tail was wagging. He’d fake a while, then drop into the play position right in the middle of my lecture. All dogs know play distracts humans from training. That’s why they do it.
I prefer to make training fun anyway, so I used play to outsmart Deuce and train him while he was having a good time. I taught him the standard sit-stay-come sequence, but disguised it by spending more time playing than training.
I used his love for playing ball against him. I showed him the ball, then put it in my pocket and he had to sit before I’d throw it.
The instant he sat I threw the ball. If he didn’t sit after a couple of commands I’d go in the house for a few minutes, then come out and try again.
When he realized he had two options, obey the command and get to play, or ignore it and be left alone in the yard, he learned the basics in a few hours. And as soon as he did, he was adopted into a house full of kids.
Do the same with Stax. Relax, use play to train him, make sure you both have fun and Stax gets a little better each day, and he’ll learn as fast as Deuce did.
Dear Old Trainer: Annie, my little Cocker Spaniel mix, is nine and is starting to get tartar on her teeth. I see commercial dog bone ads claiming they clean a dog’s teeth. Have you used these bones? Do they work?
Janet, St Louis, Mo.
A: The dog bone treats in those ads seem overpriced to me, but I’m a softie when it comes to my dogs so I tried them anyway.
One chomp and the bone disappeared. The total elapsed time for one of my dogs to take the treat, crunch it, and swallow it, is approximately 1.3 seconds. If they clean teeth in that amount of time we should all chew them.
The one item that does seem to help clean my pack’s teeth is plain old beef bones. Not all butchers have them anymore, but if you search you can find them. I buy only the thickest bone—the leg bone—have it cut into 6-inch sections and keep them in the freezer.
They cost a fraction of what commercial dog treats cost, last for months, and my pack loves them. When one dog quits chewing a bone, another one takes over. When dinner time rolls around I put them back in the freezer and hand them out again the next day.
The Old Trainer has been a trainer for three decades and has rescued, trained, loved, and placed more than 4,000 dogs. Send questions to: theoldtrainer@gmail.com