Many of us will be isolating and due to this our normal everyday interaction with our dog will have changed. You may be experiencing strange behaviours that you haven’t seen before. Your dog may be more clingy and following you around more than ever. If so, you will need to set some guidelines and boundaries in order to have a stable home for with your fur-baby.

Tips for Setting Boundaries.

1. Always ensure your dog has to earn everything for reward. That means if he is outside and you want to bring him in, don’t just open the door and let him barge his way through.
2. Have a treat or his favourite toy and command SIT as you open the door. If he doesn’t SIT, close the door and leave him outside. Try again in a few minutes. Ensure you do not repeat SIT SIT SIT as that leads to a bad association and disobedience.
3. Say SIT in a firm tone as you present the treat or toy. When he sits, use vocal praise “Good Boy/Girl”.
4. Give him the next command, “IN” and lure him inside with a treat or toy. Once inside, command SIT and hold that for at least 5 seconds before rewarding with vocal praise a pat and the treat reward or toy.

By establishing this simple routine will go a long way in managing your dog’s behaviour at home. Our next tip will be on Home Etiquette training so stay tuned.