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About a month and a half ago, I challenged myself and others to walk our dogs every day for 30 days. Thirty days is a reasonable amount of time to realistically do something every day. After those 30 days, it is easy for whatever I’m doing to become a habit. It’s a nice way to make a change.

So, I have come up with a new challenge, to bring my dog to a new place every day. I figured this could easily go along with walking your dog every day, so for anyone still doing the first challenge, the two could easily be combined.

The reason I came up with this challenge is because Ace has an issue with getting overly excited and pulling (OK, choking himself) in new places. As a way of training him to chill out, my goal is to expose him to as many places as possible so he learns to behave in any environment. Taking him to a new place may be as simple as walking in a new part of the neighborhood. Other examples could be driving to a different park, visiting a pet store, a friend’s house or walking in and out of a vet’s office. There are endless possibilities. I will probably be visiting a lot of parks, because that’s where he gets the most excited, especially if we drive there.

I am officially going to start the challenge tomorrow, May 1, 2008. Let me know if you’d like to participate in the challenge as well! Just take your dog to a new place every day for the next 30 days. If you already walk your dog every day, then you could simply walk to a new place every day. This will provide a mental challenge for your dog, plus it will make the walk more interesting.

During the next 30 days, my goals are to:

1. Take Ace to 30 new places.

2. Decrease his anxiousness/excitement in the car.

3. Cure Ace of his whining issue when he wants something.

4. Help Ace control his excitement in a new area or his favorite places.

5. Practice random basic obedience such as sit, stay and down in as many places as possible, so he learns to listen no matter where we are.

6. Improve Ace’s response to the heel command.

7. Work to perfect Ace’s heeling without a pinch collar or Gentle Leader.

8. Work on Ace’s off-leash heeling.

9. Continue using treats for positive reinforcement.

I plan to post where we end up going over the next month and the progress I see.

Where would be some other good places to go?

Click here to see all my 30-day challenge posts.

My mutt had quite the fascination with squirrels today. He was walking just fine off leash at my side (because he was tired from wearing his backpack on a 3-mile run). But he bolted after a squirrel two times at the park. I had to put his leash back on and walk purposely in the wooded area where we were guaranteed to see more squirrels. That way I could give him a quick correction with the leash whenever he even looked at a squirrel. I hope this is enough to teach him not to bolt. Guess I’ll have to wait and see.

(Photo from commons.wikimedia.com)

I recommend electric fences and will have one for my dog as soon as I have my own yard. However, electric fences are not for everyone, so I want to point out a few things to keep in mind before installing one. Based on comments from yesterday’s post, I know some people don’t like them. Here are some reasons why:

1. They allow a dog too much freedom.
If you are going to have an electric fence, your dog will have a lot of freedom to run around her yard. However, this means it’s harder for you to control her. It will annoy the neighbors (and you) if she is constantly outside barking. Behavior issues will start to come up if you do not enforce rules with your dog.

2. You have to enforce the recall.
An electric fence is no fun if your dog doesn’t come when called. Make sure your dog responds well when you call her before you give her the opportunity to run around the yard.

3. Electric fences don’t keep other animals out.
Your dog will not leave her yard, but that doesn’t mean the neighbor dogs won’t come over. Plus, stray dogs, kids, other animals, etc., can still get into your yard.

4. Electric fences bring out the territorial instincts in a dog.
Any barrier will make a dog more likely to bark or act aggressive. Dogs that are normally just fine around other dogs will go nuts when there’s a fence involved. My mutt uses my parents’ electric fence, and he becomes a barker whenever another dog approaches. He will need a lot of training to overcome this.

5. A dog with a fenced yard still needs a walk.
I never let my dog run around the yard and count that as exercise. He needs a walk on top of that.

6. The system will need maintenance.
Like any electrical system, things will go wrong at some point with an electric fence. The underground wire can break due to rodents, weather or other factors. The e-collar batteries will need to be replaced every year or so. The whole system could go out and need to be restarted unexpectedly. Your dog will be confused and run right through the boundaries if she doesn’t hear the usual warning beep.

7. You have to be OK with your dog getting a few vibrations while learning.
When my mutt got a vibration, he froze for a few seconds with his tail between his legs. But he got over it after a few seconds. Some dogs will let out a small yelp. My grandparents’ dog ran in the house after a vibration and didn’t want to go outside for the rest of the day. But she got over it too, and now she gets to enjoy her big backyard. The point is, you have to be OK with your dog getting a small shock. I think of it as a kid learning to ride a bike and falling once or twice.

8. You need to take the time to train the dog.
It will take a week or two to train your dog to use the electric fence. It just depends on the dog, but it will take a lot of patience and consistency.

9. You won’t have a physical fence for privacy.
It depends on how you look at it. If you like privacy, you might want to have an electric fence and a physical fence so your neighbors can’t see you naked in the backyard.

10. Your dog can still get loose.
No electric fence will guarantee that a dog will stay in her yard. There’s a chance that any dog will cross the boundaries, especially when she’s learning. A stranger or another dog is not likely to make an average dog run through the boundaries, but it can happen. Once your dog has crossed the boundary, she might be afraid to cross it to get back into her yard.

What do you think about electric fences for dogs?

(Photo by dogobedienceonline.com)