Small Dog: Barking and Potty Training

Not All Small Dogs Are The Same

As a dog trainer, I often get calls to work with and train clients that have small dogs as pets and companions. Every dog is an individual and some small dogs can be fearful, while other small dogs can be aggressive, and others are over-the-top friendly. Many different personalities and many different problems. Some small dogs run away, some small dogs bark excessively, some small dogs like to pee in the house (actually, this is starting to sound a lot like “some big dogs” too). Despite the type of behavioural problem that our clients are experiencing, there is hope -even for those dogs you might consider untrainable. In fact, the commonly carried incorrect thought on training small dogs is that either the dog cannot be trained effectively because he is so small, or, in the majority of cases, the dog owner doesn’t consider the behavioural problem to be too serious because the dog is small and can’t really do too much damage.

Train Indoor Small Dogs

Many small dog owners keep their dogs indoors. Dog training for an indoor dog has it’s merits for a couple of reasons. Firstly, many little dogs, puppies in particular have issues with peeing or eliminating in the house. Potty training is probably the number one dog problem that Sit Means Sit clients with small dogs have. Potty training is not a complicated process, but because of the freedom given to the small dog with sense of leadership or structure, the dog will easily sneak out of sight and potty in the house without the owners realizing. Having basic control over a small dog enables the dog owner to provide guidance and structure which in turn enables the owner to teach the dog to eliminate in a desired area, whether it’s on a potty pad or outside in a designated area.

Breed to Bark – But It CAN Be Managed

Another VERY common problem for the indoor small dog, as well as small dogs who travel with their owners outdoors, is that of excessive barking. Small dogs were originally bred as companion dogs and for pest control and to this day they still fulfill the role of companion dog. What many people don’t realize is that the companion dogs in antiquity were selected based on their loyalty and territorial nature. In essence the dogs that were most willing to alert when someone or something trespassed were often the ones chosen to be bred. This means that over the centuries little dogs have been selectively bred to be good guard dogs. Regardless of whether a small dog owner wants a guard dog or not, they very often get an exceptional one. More often than not, these dogs take it upon themselves to bark at everything that is new to them and often without stopping. More often than not this barking is considered nuisance barking.

Small dogs are often welcome in apartment and condominium units because physically they are unobtrusive, however their nature to be territorial guard dogs gets in the way of peaceful living. Excessive barking is actually a very easy to control problem, and the key to teaching your dog to quiet on command is a two step process.

Step 1: Pay Attention to Me (not the distraction):

The first step is teaching the dog to pay attention to you by teaching them to do a specific task. The task or obedience command that I teach my clients who own small dogs is how to “place” on command. This basically requires the dog to go to a mat or dog bed on command and stay there. The more challenging the object is to place on, the more effective it will be to teach the dog how to stop barking. The principle here is channeling the small dog’s energy and attention he is putting into barking into another task. Keeping him busy takes his attention off of what is causing him to bark.

When the dog will reliably go to “Place” on command around distractions, then the dog will stop barking. This is where step two comes into play.

Step 2: Teaching the “Quiet” Command:

Teaching the dog to be “Quiet” on command involves using the “Place” command to create the understanding in the dog’s mind between the word “Quiet” and the action of stopping barking. When the dog begins to bark the pattern to use involves telling the dog “Quiet” once or twice, and if he continues to bark, sending him to his “Place” and then repeating the command “Quiet” when the dog is on his place. In time the dog will realize that the word “Quiet” equates to going to his “Place” and stopping barking.

One dog in particular we worked with was a a Shih-Tzu named “Brodie”.  His owner was looking to learn to calm Brodie down when people would come over. In only two lessons Brodie was a completely different dog. He learned how to kennel on command as well as come back when called. We also taught Brodie to sit on a stool around some very tough distraction. He did amazing! Brodie’s owner wants him to be a companion and a lap dog. Brodie is allowed to jump on people as well Brodie is allowed on the couch and sleeps with his owner in her bed. Even though Brodie is allowed to jump and say hello to visitors, not every person we meet likes dog jumping on them, so Brodie’s owner taught him to stay in his kennel on command.

austin@sitmeanssit.com | tel: 512.942.RUFF [7833]