The Dog Charmer by Tom Shelby

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

Dear Tom,

Our sweet, furry family member, Bruno, is a 6-year-old French bulldog. He is a loving and beloved member of our family and great with kids. However, he is anxious and at times aggressive toward other animals and birds, such as geese. He has been this way since he was younger, but it has gotten worse lately. He even bit a friend’s dog recently. Needless to say, it is a difficult and stressful situation for everyone. I know the saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” But I hope that with your help and advice, we can refute that myth. Please help!
Thank you for your time and wisdom.

Sincerely,
Bruno and Fam

Dear Bruno’s family,

First of all, the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is incorrect. The wisdom an old dog has gained by living with people makes it much, much easier for the dog to grasp what you want him to do, especially if the lesson includes yummy treats. The more accurate statement would be, “It’s harder to break long-established habits in an older dog.” It will take me a fraction of the time to teach an older dog new tricks than an egg-for-brain puppy.

Over the years, I’ve worked with many dogs that were antisocial and very aggressive when it came to other dogs. Those dogs were obviously not candidates for the dog park, and yet without doggie friends they lived wonderful lives harmonizing with their two-leggeds. As for Bruno’s going after other wildlife, that’s likely to be predatory aggression. The 9-week-old puppy chases the blowing leaf because the movement of the leaf elicits the prey drive in the dog. In Bruno’s case, he simply needs to be taught “Leave it!” Whatever he’s focused on—be it a squirrel, a duck, another dog—he has to disregard it, shrug it off when told “Leave it.”

Depending on a dog’s intensity when it comes to other dogs, or its prey drive, the method to get the cooperative “leave it” is dependent on the dog’s temperament, sensitivity to a correction, and how motivated he is by food rewards. My method to get the mini poodle to ignore the pizza crust on the sidewalk might just be a slight pop of the leash to the side, and praise and a treat when he passes it. Hearing me say “leave it” as the light snap of the leash startles him, just as he’s focused on the pizza, makes the pizza the “bad guy,” to be avoided. The rest is easy. However, stopping the 140-pound Rottie from dragging the 115-pound owner to get to the dog it sees and wants to fight, the leash pop “ain’t gonna cut it.”

I’ve been asked a million times, “What’s your methodology?” It’s always been the same answer. “It depends. I’m a ‘depends’ trainer. What I do depends on a whole lot of stuff.” In Bruno’s case, since reaching out to me you have witnessed his total cooperation in ignoring meat on the floor and happily taking the treat instead. After a couple of very slight leash pops, he was even cooperating when off leash. He was also cooperative when around geese and ducks, and then with only the words, “Leave it.” With consistency, life with Bruno will be a lot more fun.

Best of luck,
Dog Charmer Tom

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Dear Tom,

I have an 11-year-old papillon mix that I adopted when he was 9. Jack is very food motivated and spends most of his time looking/waiting for something to eat. Otherwise, he’s happy to lay around as long as he’s with me. Jack and our 7-year-old Boston mix, Gretta, used to sleep on our bed, but a few years ago we got soft crates with nice beds for them. Jack had a rough time of it and whined for days, no matter what I put in there for him—toys, my T-shirt, etc. I tried putting the crate in another room and then he barked non-stop. Eventually, he got to like it and runs right in at night, waiting for his treat.

Because Jack has some incontinence at this age, I feed him dinner at 4:30 p.m. so he will hopefully do his business outside before going to bed at 9:30. Jack is finally quiet all night in his crate until 4:45-5 a.m. After ruling out the possibility that he’s in pain (he’s on Gabapentin for back issues), I think it’s because he wants to get up and have breakfast. He’s very persistent and will whine for an hour straight! When I tell him to get back in his bed, he may for a short time, but then continues to whine until I get up. I wait until he’s quiet for a few minutes so he’s not rewarded for whining, but I end up getting up by 5:30, since by then I’m awake.

I would greatly appreciate any ideas you might have to remedy this situation.

Thank you,
Jack’s Mom

Dear Jack’s Mom,

My first thought is to thank you for rescuing an older dog. There are so many older dogs languishing in shelters that will make great companions, especially since they need a minimal amount of training, already housebroken and well beyond ill-mannered puppy behaviors such as destructive chewing, jumping, etc.

Unless you are heading to bed yourself at 9:30, my initial thought was to try and keep Jack up later with some “special toys.” Three small hollow marrow bones, one with a piece of meat wedged in the middle, the other two with cheese and peanut butter, may happily occupy him for another hour or so. You want the “food stuffs” stuck in the middle so he can’t remove them, but will continue to try.
If keeping Jack up later is not an option, have the three “special toys” ready to be given to him as soon as he wakes up, and he just may give you some extra snooze time as he’s occupied in his quest to get at the meat and cheese and peanut butter. However, once you’re up, it’s important to remove the special toys! He only gets them to be used as the a.m. distraction, otherwise they will lose their “specialness.”

Good luck in the quest for extra zzz’s.
Dog Charmer Tom