This is about the sort of shaking dogs do when they’re wet, not paw shakes.
I have a dog that I’d like to teach to leave whatever room he’s in when he needs to shake, and do it in the hallway. I have taught a dog to shake excess water off before coming into the house, but the difference there is that I knew he was going to shake as soon as he got out of the rain, and could encourage that. In this other scenario, there is usually no warning that he’s going to shake beforehand, so I don’t know where to start, or if this is even possible. Has anyone done this, or have suggestions I could try, to make this happen?
We just swaddle them in a towel until we’ve escorted them to the place we want them to shake. Of course, our dogs are little; it’s pretty easy to drop a towel on them and wrap them up. With a big dog it would be pretty difficult. I really don’t know if you can teach it; it would be like teaching it not to sneeze.
That’s true; this is basically a reflex thing. Swaddling wouldn’t work for us, as he’s a large breed, who shakes multiple times per day (he’s a drooler). Thanks for the suggestion, though. I guess we’ll have to stick with keeping tons of towels around.
Omega Glory - is he/she a Newfie, a St Bernard, a Bloodhound, a Mastiff…? Training can depend on the breed, and knowing what drives them.
In very general terms, completely ignore him/her when the shakes are not in the place you want - don’t say their name, don’t say anything negative - just pretend that nothing happened (other than having to mop up lol!)
For a food driven breed, when the shaking spontaneously happens in the hall where you want it, immediately give a treat as a reward. (You’ll have to have it on hand - it will have to be immediate; not having to run to the kitchen to get it.) These have to be the BEST treats EVER - and use them only to modify that behaviour. Call them by name, be excited and follow it up with physical rewards as they go into the room afterwards. They will soon learn that the treat and the positive ‘after’ attention is associated with the shaking in the hallway. The first few times they cognitively leave the room to shake in the hall, go MENTAL with praise, 3 treats and more praise.
Is this just a drool thing? I was having trouble imagining how the dog was getting all wet in a room of the house that’s not safe to shake in (like a tile bathroom) by surprise, but I guess drooling would do it. I’ve never lived with a drooly breed; is it feasible to put a terrycloth bib on him and periodically wipe his lower jaw?
Thanks, I’ll try this. I don’t know if he’ll ever reach the step of making the connection and deciding to hold off until he gets to the hall, but it can’t hurt to give it a go. Reading this post made me think, maybe I could try spritzing him with a little water while he’s in the hall, to get him to shake, so he has some practice, instead of waiting for him to shake out of necessity; but I don’t know if he’d be able to link the two situations together.
Yes, it’s a drool thing. He does have a couple of cloths to wear, but doesn’t wear them often, because that’s the first thing the other dog goes for when they decide to play, which is also when the drool really starts flying, and he’s not really a fan of it, and it’s just as easy to have lots of towels around, and wipe out his jowls during times when he’s drippy, but something or someone still gets slimed a couple times per day.
For the person who might be planning to post some variant of, ‘you shouldn’t have bought a drooly breed,’ I didn’t, but he’s here, and it’s not a deal breaker, and he’s great except for this one, really wet thing.
As a breed they can be a bit stubborn, but they are really gentle and loyal - so you just have to be consistent.
It’s probably not a good idea to spritz him in the hall - firstly, because he’ll just make the connection that spritzing happens in the hall; and secondly, using a water sprayer is often a correction technique - if it’s something they don’t like.
Training takes some patience **Omega **- and it’s more useful to help him make the connection with something he’s already doing of his own volition - rather than you ‘making’ him do it. It’s too confusing for them that way. As a rule of thumb, reward what you want, ignore what you don’t.
If he doesn’t like a spray in the face, you might be able to use the spritzer when he shakes everywhere *but *the hallway (you’ll have to have them everywhere within reach lol!) - while incorporating the previously mentioned rewards.
Whatever you decide to do, it has to be 100% consistent so that there are no mixed messages. Keep at it, and it should take about 3 weeks.
The comic strip Pooch Cafe has a recurring Bullmastiff character named Droolia. She has the hots for one of the other dogs (the “emasculated Bichon Frise with a pink bow in his hair and serious self-image issues”) and frequently is the butt of drool jokes. You might find it…droll.