Colleen Pelar, a respected certified pet dog trainer in the D.C. area, will be presenting free workshops on April 26 and May 17 at the Potomac Community Center.

Following are:

1. Teaching "Go to Bed" - abstracted from her excellent book "Living with Kids and Dogs...Without Losing Your Mind: A Parent's Guide to Controlling the
Chaos by Colleen Pelar, CPDT. Available from http://www.LivingwithKidsandDogs.com

2. A link to a review of her book, which contains more tips.

3. Details about and sign-up info for the free workshops.

4. Plus a link to an important article regarding animal welfare published recently in the Washington Post.

1.
* Teaching "Go To Bed":

Also called "settle," the "go to bed" cue sends the dog to his bed or mat. Pelar suggests placing clean bathmats in each room in which you spend a lot of
time. This way, your dog can feel part of, and not isolated from, the family, without getting underfoot.

Since training "go to bed" goes faster if you pay full attention to the dog, she encourages it to be done before the new baby joins the household. Otherwise,
plan to conduct the training sessions when baby is sleeping or someone else is able to watch her, allowing you to focus solely on the dog.

Teaching the behavior: set aside 5 minute sessions a couple of times a day. Fill a small bowl with treats that you can toss. Sit in the room and watch the dog. Don't try to entice him toward the mat. Instead, any time he looks in the direction of the mat, click your tongue and toss a treat toward the mat.

"Soon, he'll be hanging out near the mat because that's where the treats arrive." Now begin watching his paws. When he places any paw on the mat, click your tongue and toss a treat to him.

"When he's pretty consistent about having at least one paw on the mat, raise your criteria to two." Once he achieves that, move on to 3. Once he gets three paws on the mat, begin adding the cue word - "go to bed" or "settle."

"Start moving around the room. Click and toss treats only when he has three paws on the mat, regardless of where you are. Most dogs will get bored watching you and will lie down. That's wonderful. Definitely toss
treats for that. In the initial stages of training, keep your rate of reinforcement high enough that he thinks moving away isn't worth it. If he just stays on
his mat, good stuff keeps coming.

"You may also want to use the "magic mat" concept. Each time you leave the room, toss a single treat onto the mat without letting [the dog] see. Then when you return to the room later, he'll find that the mat is a very reinforcing place to be. It's magic. Treats apparently grow there spontaneously."

Note: prevent active toddlers from accessing the magic mat.

2. More tips in our review of Colleen Pelar's book at

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_LivingWithKidsAndDogs.php

3. Free workshops:

Colleen will present a workshop for parents on Saturday, April 26 at 3:00 pm at Potomac Community Center, 11315 Falls Rd. She will show parents how to
make time, have fun, and be safe in a household of kids and dogs.

Colleen will return on Saturday, May 17 at 3 pm to lead a workshop for kids ages 5-12 years old. She will teach children how to read simple dog language
and how to keep themselves safe around their own or other dogs.

The workshops are free, but register in advance at www.yourdogsfriend.info or 301-983-5913.

4.
Animal Testing - Lab Failures - Washington Post Exposé published April 13, 2008

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/11/AR2008041103733_pf.html

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For more free tipsheets on dozens of behavior, health, safety, adoption planning, and other topics, skim the Dog Tips index at:

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/dog_tips.php

For excellent books to help with nearly every canine care issue, as well as cat and other companion animal topics, see:

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_Books.php

Robin Tierney
Writer
Tierneydog@yahoo.com

Kevin Tierney
Artist/writer
Tierney_Art@yahoo.com

A sampling of our articles accessible online:

http://www.examiner.com/Topic-By_Robin_Tierney.html

Robin's Dog Tips on canine health, behavior, training and safety:
http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/dog_tips.php

KNOW, your source of conventional wisdom: http://robintierney.blogspot.com

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." -- Upton Sinclair

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."-- Helen Keller
 
"I am only one, but still I am one.  I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.  I will not refuse to do the something I can do." -- Helen Keller