Welcome to the 20th post in our Dog Training blog series. This series features guest posts by local professional dog trainers and highlights some of the big questions they address to their clients. Today's post was written by Adam Miller of Big Dog Canine Behavioral Dog Training.
Adam Miller
Claiming is a wonderful technique that I basically teach to all my clients, at one time or another. When used correctly, claiming is a very useful tool for teaching rules, boundaries or limits. Additionally, claiming is a normal activity that dogs do in their natural environment. Once the human learns how to properly communicate, using a method that the dog can easily understand, all training and behavior modification will advance at a quicker and easier pace. Plus, it is a lot more peaceful than pulling on or yelling at your dog which can increase the behavior and diminish trust.
Claiming is the activity of assuming ownership over a person, place or thing. A good example is a mother dog protecting one of her pups from an older dog that is being too playful or rough with the young puppy. First, she will get between the two dogs, face the older dog and block it from getting to her puppy. Using energy, body language, scent, sound and touch, the mother dog will communicate that she is unpleased with the older dog’s behavior and wants her puppy to be left alone. The mother will follow-through with claiming her puppy, using all forms of communication, until the older dog gets the point and changes its state of mind and places its attention elsewhere.
The art of claiming is simple and will come naturally to you with some practice. For demonstration purposes, let’s imagine your dog is digging a hole in the middle of your yard and you want him or her to stop. First, you must physically claim the hole by stepping between the dog and the hole and blocking the dog away from it. This is referred to as splitting and herding – you split between the dog and the hole and then you herd your dog away from it. This is a natural behavior that dogs do to claim ownership of something. You can use body language, energy, sound and touch while splitting and herding the dog away to help get the point across. The trick is to continue claiming the hole until the dog decides to do something else – this is referred to as follow-through and means you must persist until the dog changes its state of mind.
I recommend that you stand tall and relaxed while taking ownership and have patience while the dog figures out that you mean it and will continue until the dog stops. Follow-through does not mean you escalate but instead, just hold the energy of the claim while the dog tests you to see if you really own it. Once the dog changes its state of mind, then you must immediately relax and release the claiming energy so that the dog will comprehend that you are now happy with their choice of focus and behavior. It will confuse the dog if you hold the corrective energy after the dog has decided to leave the object alone. The more the dog challenges you for ownership, the more opportunities you will have to teach the dog.
Most people tend to pull their dog away from an object that the owner wants left alone. This will usually cause tension and the dog will desire the object more. The idea is to get the dog to make the correct decision and make a good choice. If you just pull the dog away or stop the claiming energy before the dog gets the point, then you have not changed the dog’s state of mind and the dog will go right back to the object once you move away. Redirection can work wonders by getting the dogs attention onto something more appropriate for a given situation. Like, don’t chew on my guest’s pant legs but, here…chew on this toy. Good boy! If your dog stops the activity your correcting but looks lost and confused, then you can redirect the dog to something else that you can now reward such as sitting, playing with a toy or going to their bed.
You can run into problems when claiming a person, place or thing if your dog or pack lacks human leadership. A spoiled and/or pushy pack, that has been getting everything for free without any rules, boundaries or limits, will tend to fight the change and demand to do or get what they want. This is because you must be a leader in order to claim something and the dogs may currently view you as a playmate or follower. The trick is that the more things you own, the greater your leadership will become.
One simple rule, that I give to all my clients, is to own their personal space. This alone will help build their leadership in a dog’s eyes. If a dog can enter their human’s intimate space whenever it pleases or wants, then who owns who? The dog owns you! A quick fix is to allow the dog into your space when you invite it and not whenever the dog demands it. Furthermore, the more items you own, the more routines you have and the more rules you follow, make a dog feel relaxed because there is a good leader. Being a leader is more about making your dog feel safe and secure and not about always teaching or changing behaviors.
Claiming can be used in a variety of dog behavior scenarios such as getting in the trash can, going into a restricted area, pestering you around the dinner table, rushing visitors at the door, harassing a younger or older dog, chewing on shoes, grabbing the babies toys or blankets, counter surfing, invading a guest’s personal space or constant jumping. The possibilities are seemingly endless.
So, the next time your dog gets ahold of something you don’t want them to have, try claiming the object and sending the dog away from it instead of pulling or pushing on the dog. Have patience but mean it. Remember, being mean is not the same as meaning it. Keep a serious but calm energy while you practice claiming. Each time you claim something usually takes about half the amount of time as the previous claim but know that the first claim will always take the longest.
Once you’ve successfully claimed any person, place or thing, your dog will respect it. The dog may test it some along the way but stay strong and keep the course until your dog figures it out. As always, stay calm and confident when working with your dog and seek professional guidance or help if needed.
Adam Miller
This post was written by Adam Miller of Big Dog Canine Behavioral Training. For more information or to learn how Adam can help with your dog needs, contact him at bigdogcbt@gmail.com.