For information on Julie's private or group classes,
please call  (818) 585-3237 or visit her website:
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JULIE ILES TRAINING TIPS

Tip #1: New Home Being placed in a new home can be over-exciting or stressful for dogs. This can cause some dogs to engage in bad behaviors like housebreaking accidents, chewing on shoes, digging up flowers, scratching at doors or barking. It is wise not to leave your dog alone until he has had a chance to get used to his new home, your routines and your house rules. This usually takes 2-4 days so make sure some one is always with him until you see that he feels comfortable and knows what to expect from you and feels secure in his new home. It is important to understand that you have no way to tell your dog when you will be back from work, where he should use the bathroom or what not to touch! You must show him repeatedly over several days:

• Walk him all around his new house and yard on leash so he can see everything. Have some tasty treats handy to encourage him if anything startles him. Some dogs may not like slick floors or mirrors.
• Use the leash on this tour to prevent him from touching forbidden objects like shoes. Use a treat to re-direct his attention. Don’t allow him access to those objects unless you are around to teach him not to touch them! For now, pick them up when you are not observing him.
• Leaving for work (start by leaving for 5 minutes and come back). Do this many times during the day and work up to being gone an hour or so. Give him a nice chew toy each time you leave.
• Teach him where his bathroom area is by taking him there 20 times a day these first few days and let him sniff there. Holding a few tiny pieces of treat in front of his nose and then tossing them into the grass will encourage him to sniff. Dogs normally sniff before eliminating so don’t let him sniff in the house! Walk briskly during your house tours and keep his attention up on you by using treats. Give him a treat when he “goes” where you want outside.

Tip #2: Keep on the Leash

We recommend that you keep your new dog on-leash for the first two weeks you have him home. Use the leash to teach him your house rules:

• Don’t jump on people. Step on the leash anytime your dog is near you to prevent jumping. Only give pets when his paws are on the ground.
• Don’t run out the front door. Use the leash to stop him abruptly anytime he tries to walk out the door without your permission.
• Stay off the furniture. Use the leash to give a correction any time he tries to jump on the sofa. Sit on the sofa and step on the leash to keep him sitting or lying at your feet. Pet him while he’s there so he won’t feel like he is missing out on attention if he’s on the floor.
• Don’t touch forbidden objects. If you use the leash to stop him from picking up forbidden objects like shoes and children’s toys you are preventing him from developing an appetite for them. Also, it gives you the chance to re-direct his attention onto his toys. Be sure to reward him with a treat and a pet each time he walks past a forbidden object and he doesn’t touch it!
• Come to me when I call you. Use the treats AND treats to teach your dog that it is rewarding to come to you. This is especially important to practice in situations where you see he gets distracted. It is a good idea to place him out in your front yard and call him back into the house. Let him get distracted by people walking past your house and call him. When he is tugging to go sniff at another dog, call him and use the leash if he ignores you.

It may seem like a hassle, but you are doing your dog a favor by using the leash to teach him instead of allowing him to run loose and get into trouble. Think of keeping the leash on as a way to physically show your dog what you want and keep him out of trouble until he has developed the good habits you want. This is much better for you new relationship with your dog since it builds his trust in you!

Teaching your dog to lie quietly on a mat in your home can help with the following issues:

• Housebreaking. If your dog spends all his time in the house, calmly lying on a mat in a variety of locations around the house will correctly imprint him with the notion that your home is his “den”. Dogs are related to wolves and wolves do not soil their den. Don’t let your dog wander around the house loose. He will sniff too much and that will stimulate him or her to “mark” territory.
• Barking. Teaching your dog to calmly lie on a mat will make it less likely that he will react to things you don’t want him to bark at. (People walking past on the sidewalk, people entering the house, children running around etc.)
• Chewing. Chewing is often stimulated by excitement or stress. If you teach your dog to be calm in the house, he will be less likely to chew. Lying on the mat also gives him the opportunity to see things he might be interested in chewing, without being able to get up and investigate them. After a while, he can learn to ignore those things.
• Jumping on people. If you teach your dog to lie on a mat when visitors come over it will help him understand that he will get the attention he wants there on the mat. He will realize that jumping is unnecessary.
• Dominance. Some rescue dogs do not show their true personality when they are first re-homed. They are a bit insecure at first but after a few weeks, owners can see a very different dog. A dog who runs around loose from the very beginning is more likely to feel dominant and a dominant dog is much more likely to engage in negative behaviors like excessive barking and aggression. By teaching the dog to lie on the mat in the beginning, you can help prevent your dog from becoming overly dominant.
• Shyness. Some dogs are very nervous in their new home. Teaching your dog to lie on a mat can become an area of security where the dog can feel safe to observe all the normal household activity without needing to interact until he is ready. If the owner gives the dog food treats whenever a potentially scary thing is around, the owner can help the dog make positive associations to that scary thing and become more relaxed.

Take your dog to obedience class. Obedience class gives you the chance to teach your dog some basic commands. Learning how to apply the commands at home will make it easier for you to live with your new dog. Here are some examples of proper application of obedience commands:

• Sit at doorways. Helps prevent the dog running out the door.
• Down stay in the house. Helps create a calm attitude in the house and prevent many problem behaviors like house soiling, barking, destructiveness and jumping.
• Sit or Down to be pet. Helps prevent jumping.
• Proper leash walking. Helps motivate you to take your dog on more walks. Dogs that are difficult to walk, get fewer walks! More walks means more exercise and more exercise means a better behaved dog. Kids need recess to help them be good at school and your dog needs walks to help him be good at home!
• Come when called helps keep your dog safe and out of harms way. Practicing come in the situations which are the most dangerous at your home, can prevent a tragedy. Most people should practice Come away from the street curb on a regular basis and give their dog big treats and rewards for doing this!
• No should be used to consistently teach your dog your house rules. Don’t wait for your dog to make mistakes and then use No inconsistently. Create a few minutes of training every day to teach your dog your house rules BEFORE he makes a mistake. Walk him around your house and if he shows interest in a forbidden thing like a shoe or getting up on the sofa, say No and follow with a leash correction. Be sure to praise and treat him when he ignores these forbidden things.
• Group class is a good way for you to practice obedience in a distracting situation. If you can practice and master getting your dogs attention and controlling him in the distracting setting of group class, it is good practice for doing the same in the distracting situations you have at home.