Monthly Archives: May 2014

Non-Visible Underground Dog Fence Installation in Northern Virginia

invisible fence installation in northern virginia

 

On a daily basis, we install underground dog fences all throughout Northern Virginia.

We are an official Dog Guard® Installer and Distributor, all of our installs and equipment are backed by a lifetime warranty, as well!

An underground fence is an electronic system to stop pets from departing a yard.  A buried wire is energized with coded signals and an electronic collar on the pet receives these signals.  Once the pet approaches the buried wire, the collar makes a warning sound then it provides the pet with a harmless electrical stimulation.

The underground wire is buried about 5 inches into the ground and it emits a radio signal to activate the receiver collar.

Although referred to as “fences”, these fenceless boundary systems are more accurately termed dog or pet containment systems. In cost analysis they have shown to be much cheaper and more aesthetically pleasing than physical fences.

On average, you can have us install a non-visible fence on your property for about 1/4 of the cost of a traditional fence.

For more information, visit our website at: http://www.dogfencenorthernvirginia.com

 

 

 

Underground Electric Fence Installation in Northern Virginia Instructions

Invisible Fence installation in northern virginia

 

As official installers for Dog Guard®, we always ensure the owners of our non-visible fence installations in Northern Virginia fully understand what they need to do with their dogs in order to train their dogs on our top-of-the-line fencing system.

Check us out at www.DogFenceNorthernVirginia.com

Below, are a list of instructions:

Important Initial Training Reminders

Spend as much time outside with your pet as possible for the first couple of days.

The collar needs to be worn at all time when dog is outside.

Do not leave your pet unattended outdoors for the first couple of days.

Take the dog’s collar off at night for the first month to give his neck a break.

Be sure to tighten collar in the morning.

Do not store the collar on anything metal or electronic; it will drain the battery.

Your dog gets one “get out of jail free card” meaning he may cross the field and sit on the other side.  If this happens, tighten the collar first, then drag him back through by a flag. This should cause him to get a big reaction and correct the issue.  If it happens more than once, you need to call us.

Don’t allow your pet to hide out inside.  It is really important not to baby them. Even if they sit on the step for a few hours that is fine….otherwise they may start going to the bathroom in the house.

If they are afraid you can feed them in the yard to help them understand where they are safe—or you can put them on a leash and walk them out into the yard, get down on the ground and pet them, praise them and release them. If you do this over and over they will understand the boundary.

Do not put them outside in the dark for the first few days until they know their boundary.

Leave all flags up the first week; pull every other one out after a week. The following week pull out every other one—by the end of three weeks all of the flags should be removed.  It is important not to take them all out at once or the dog will think you removed the fence.

Underground Dog Fence in Northern Virginia Installation Configurations

On a weekly basis, we deal with dog fence installations in Northern Virginia.

There are 3 general configurations; however, your fence can be as customized as you wish!

The first is just your backyard, this set-up just keeps your pet contained to the backyard  only.

invisible fence in northern virginia

 

The second set-up is one of the most popular, which we call a pinch-off.  This configuration allows your dog to be in the backyard, or in the front yard,  but it does not allow them to transfer back-to-front or front-to-back on their own.  The great thing about this configuration, is if your dog accidentally gets out the front door, they are still protected.

 

invisible fence in northern virginia

 

The last configuration is your entire perimeter.  This allows your dog to have access to the entire yard at any time.

invisible fence in northern virginia

 

 

An example of a customized fencing solution would be to do an interior loop (protect a pool, flower bed, a building you do not want your dog around, etc). In the example below, you can see a customized configuration.

Northern Virginia Invisible Fence

If you are looking to have a custom pet containment system put in your yard, contact us for a free quote!

www.dogfencenorthernvirginia.com or info@dogfencenorthernvirginia.com

 

 

What Is Bite Inhibition and Why Is It Important?

puppy mouthing in northern virginia

Canines have one main defense system, their teeth. Each puppy can bite and it can be painful. On the off chance that they are terrified enough, or a “perfect storm” is created, your dog may bite. That doesn’t in any capacity make him a “terrible” dog. It makes him a canine. It’s your obligation, to show your puppy that people are delicate. When you teach your dog bite inhibition as a pup, that preparation you gave your dog will persist regardless of the fact that he’s years older and may be put in a position where he feels compelled to bite.

In my blog on “my dog unexpectedly bit someone,” I discuss why bite inhibition is important and give a scenario where, “I cannot believe it, he’s never bitten previously.” Keeping in mind that “If that specific series of events do not happen again (or something similar), he most likely never will bite again.” This is why teaching bite inhibition at a young age is very important! Even in worst case scenario, your pup will still show restraint.

There are really four stages in prepping your pup (6-10 weeks) for bite inhibition. The initial two include diminishing the force in the bite; the second two stages include diminishing the recurrence of the bite. The preparation must be carried out in a specific order. On the off chance that you attempt to lessening the recurrence to begin with, the canine won’t figure out how to weaken his bite.

Bite inhibition mainly works by teaching the dog through normal play and interaction, this sort of “training” should immediately start throughout your spontaneous play sessions with your puppy and proceed in more organized play sessions as he develops.

Eliminate Painful Bites: Ninety percent of puppies will quit mouthing in mid-nibble in the event that you give a shrill-squeal or howl. At that point you should praise and continue the play session. The other ten percent are your puppies who are exhausted or over-excited and they will raise their behavior as opposed to halting it. If this happens, you should move the pup to a different area, isolate it, and end the play session. That is literally all you have to do. You do not need to shout, “pop” the puppy on the nose, pushing your hand down his throat, etc.

Eliminating the Pressure of the Bite: Slowly and gradually you want to shape the pup to decrease the pressure of the bite. Set a limiting point of how hard the puppy can bite throughout play and training sessions. On the off chance that he bites harder, howl. Bit by bit set your “pain threshold” lower and lower so he develops softer and softer bites. Move at a pace that guarantees that the pup will be successful. An enormous leap in your expectations is generally very confusing for a pup and they will not get the concept that you are trying to teach them. So, it should be a “gradual” decrease in pressure.

Start To Control The Play Sessions: This is when you are teaching the dog to “stop” playing when you are done playing, to take things, and to “out” things on command. At our dog training facility in Northern Virginia, we teach our owners to “end the session” we use the word “off.” Which essentially teaches the pup, “stop doing what you are doing.”

You May Never Mouth Unless Invited To: Finally, we teach the pup that you are not allowed to mouth under any circumstance unless specifically engaged in a play session.

In spite of the fact that bite inhibition is a crucial lesson to teach your pup, doesn’t mean I am telling you that you need to endure constant puppy mouthing. Puppy teeth are sharp and definitely do not feel good!

Ideally, you want to deal with bite inhibition when your pup is quiet/calm and you have the time and the room to sit down and play delicately with your pup. On the off chance that the pup bites excessively hard, howl. If this works and he backs off, reinforce with calm physical praise and up-beat verbal praise. On the off chance that he gets excessively energized and bites harder, end the game quickly (as stated above).

To end the training session, you must have the capacity to leave the puppy so the engagement cannot continue, remember, even bad attention is still better than no attention to some pups. It’s useful to have the puppy leashed (we call this “back tied”), so you can essentially move out of his range without him being able to follow you once you end the game. If not possible, you can end the game and isolate him for a short period of time if he was biting too hard, as well.

Another option if the puppy remains engaged in unwanted behavior is to “redirect” him to a chew toy, tug, or something that he CAN play with. We call this “redirecting.” You are saying, “You cannot continue with this, but we CAN play with this.” If your are just telling your pup, “No” on everything he does, he is not learning what he CAN play with. Imagine if you are annoying your parents, but every time you try to do something else, your mother or father says, “No, don’t touch that” “No, not that either,” “Nope, cannot play with that either.” You will think, “Well, what CAN I play with to keep me occupied.” So, show your pup what they CAN do or play with. This is as important as teaching them what they cannot do.

Puppy biting our mouthing never requires much more than time outs or withdrawal from play. Teach them how to play, how to end play, how much pressure to use, and what they can play with other than you (redirection).

Another consideration all owners should make is that some breeds are more prone to being very mouthy due to it being in their genetic nature.

For example, if you have a: Belgian Malinois, German Shepherd, Australian Shepherd, Cattle Dog (etc), you probably have experienced the mouthiness and “nipping” of these breeds when they were pups. This is because they are what we refer to as, “herding dogs;” therefore, it’s kind of in their genetic make-up to have these issues. This is why it’s important to teach them bite inhibition while they are small pups.

If you stick to these rules, you should have a pup showing great bite inhibition in a very short amount of time.

I would highly recommend reading my blog on “The Levels Of a Bite,” so you can see why teaching bite inhibition is VERY important.

-Nick White
Owner/Founder
Off Leash K9 Training

My Dog Hates Having His Nails Cut or Collar Touched

Dog hates nails cut northern virginiaOn a daily basis we hear stories about dogs who hate having their feet touched or their nails cut, this is generally due to the owners or breeders not doing “body desensitization” with their pups at a young age.

If you have a new pup, it’s highly important for you to do body desensitization drills with this pup starting as soon as you get him/her (8-weeks old).

There are 11 key “target” points that you need to focus on:
1-2: Left Ear and Right Ear
3: Muzzle (open the mouth, check teeth, grab muzzle, etc)
4-7: All 4 paws and nails
8: Neck (collar area)
9: Tail
10. Hugging the dog
11. Brushing the dog

We have dealt with a ridiculous amount of dogs who are collar and feet sensitive and reactive; seemingly, these are the two biggest areas where we have seen this issue. In THIS VIDEO, you will see a 6-year old Basset Hound who I just finished giving a private seminar for who was very “feet aggressive.” These owners were not at fault for this, due to the fact that they rescued the dog at a later age; however, whoever the breeder was (or original owners) are generally responsible for this behavior.

I would say on a weekly basis at our dog training facility in Northern Virginia, we deal with at least 1 dog who is collar reactive; meaning, it is a dog who is friendly but will react negatively if his collar is touched or handled. The main reason that these target points can be an issue is that a child (or stranger) who sees that your dog is “friendly” will not know that these specific areas “set them off.” If this happens, you may be left with an “unexpected bite,” I would HIGHLY recommend clicking that link and reading my blog on how dogs almost never bite “unexpectedly.”

So, what’s the solution to prevent this?

It’s so ridiculously simple to prevent, that it annoys me that dogs become reactive! When you get your puppy, immediately begin doing these 11 key things above on a DAILY basis (and even multiple times per day).

This is how it should break down for you and your pup:
Touch and hold the left paw, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the right paw, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the back left paw, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the back right paw, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the left ear, praise or treat.
Touch and hold the right ear, praise or treat.
Stroke the tail, praise or treat.
Rub around the collar area, praise or treat.
Rub around the muzzle area, praise or treat.
Hug and hold the dog for a few seconds, praise or treat.
Give the dog a light brushing, praise or treat.

If you did this simple drill on a daily basis, not only will your dog NOT become reactive but they will LOVE you doing these things! Why? Because your dog has associated you touching these areas with a reward and/or verbal praise (or even both).

This routine LITERALLY takes about 20-30 seconds to complete; therefore, there are really no excuses as to why you should not be doing this with your pup. Simple things such as these when combined with picking the right dog, socialization, and confidence building, will help ensure that you have a stable and confident pup.

If you do these 11 things with your pup: your vet, your groomer, and everyone who meets your dog will love you for it.

www.offleashk9training.com
www.facebook.com/offleashk9
www.youtube.com/offleashk9training

-Nick White
Owner/Founder
Off Leash K9 Training