You’ve asked a friend or neighbor to stop by to feed your dog while you’re away during the day. You’re hoping a family member will invite your puppy to their home for an overnight or longer. Regardless of the animal’s age, you can make these experiences as pleasant and stress-free as possible for all involved by establishing some daily routines in the dog’s home to create a structure with which the dog becomes familiar. When you transfer these routines to another place or person, the dog can feel comfortable and secure in the safety of that structure. You can make it a happy visit.
Will someone be caring for your dog in your home? Will your dog be visiting friends, neighbors, family members, or traveling with you? Whether your dog will be “at home” or “away,” the structure of his daily routines around feeding, pottying, coming when called, and crating can give him confidence, making his cooperation with all concerned far more likely to be continued. It can be a happy visit.
Feeding
Establish regular feeding times for the dog. Flexibility can be important, but go with what works best for you: ideally, feed at about the same time daily, but don’t worry if you’re half an hour late or early. That should not be a big deal, so don’t let on-the-minute feeding become so important to your dog that they overact their concern. Don’t respond to dramatic “I’m starving” performances if you’re a few minutes past the hour! Step away for a short time, then return and feed when the dog calms down.
Establish feeding routines. Do you use the same bowl for every meal? Wash it well after every use. Do you “deliver” the full bowl in a particular way? Do you expect your pup or dog to sit before you put the bowl down? Work on that behavior until it’s easy for the dog. His reward will be, of course, the opportunity to eat the meal. (Not all dogs are eager eaters, so adjust your routines to encourage stress-free eating for the dog who doesn’t eat the minute the food is offered.)
Pottying
Establish potty routines for the dog. Do you walk the pup or dog to potty her? You’re probably already on a “schedule” that fits well into your work times, whether you’re home or at your job. Again, “regular” pottying probably does help your pet remain regular in other ways, but many dog walkers find that “weekend” walking hours set a dog up so her needs and yours can be dealt with. Once she’s house-trained, if she’s healthy, your dog can learn to “hold it” for those extra minutes so you can sleep in now and then. Don’t rely entirely on the use of a dog door, if you’re lucky enough to have one. Your friends and family who might take care of your dog when you can’t probably don’t have dog doors, so your dog must be able to conform to a caretaker’s set-up instead. That will be true as well if your dog is with you when you travel—no dog doors in most accommodations!
Does your dog potty “at home” in your safely fenced yard? I think that eliminating almost immediately on going out can be an important lesson for a dog to learn. Don’t expect prompt emptying of bladder and bowels if you take the dog back inside the minute that she is done; instead, let her have some time in the yard to walk around, sniff, play with outside toys. Stay with the dog and interact if she seems to want that, or let her “do her thing” if it’s more rewarding to her at the moment. Every trip to the yard should not be exactly the same! Many dogs figure that elimination means the end of the fun, because you’ve “trained” them not to empty themselves so you won’t take them right back in.
Photo by Dave Koch
Coming When Called
Even if you usually allow your dog to take some time in the yard after he’s done his business, consider the importance of a quick response to a “recall” cue—coming when called, immediately. Don’t shut down the fun when you call your dog; have more fun inside the instant your dog arrives there! Treats can certainly help. How many dogs do you know that respond to the word “cookie” faster than they respond to “come”? For variety, try a treat followed up with a game of tug or hide-and-seek around the house. Never call your dog to come then do something to him that he doesn’t like! A quick response to a recall cue can be quite useful if there’s a good reason to get him inside fast—like rain soaking him to the skin, temperatures too cold for him to stay out in, or . . . what about lightning?
Your dog’s immediate response to the recall cue can work for anyone who’s caring for your dog, as well, if you teach them how to do it in the way that’s worked for you. When your dog is in an unfamiliar yard, a very familiar cue could help him understand what’s expected of him. He’s already learned how to get the rewards, so make sure your dog-sitting friends know how best to reward him to keep that response strong even when you are not around. The more often he recalls quickly to a friend and then feels rewarded, the more likely he’ll recall quickly to that friend whenever he is cued to do so.
Crating
Establish routines that involve a crate. Many humans put their puppy’s crate in storage once the pup is house-trained. They think that since it’s no longer necessary to confine their dog at home, there’s no reason to keep the crate around, at least not where the dog can access it. I say that’s wrong! Put the crate away when your dog is house-trained at six months and, surprise, you’ll need to confine her again for at least a few weeks while she’s recovering from neutering/spay surgery! Why not keep the good routine that worked from her early days with you? Rather than letting the dog choose where she sleeps every night, why not let her keep her good associations with her kennel by crating her instead? Maybe not every night, but some nights every week, and sometimes when you’re gone from home. The more accustomed your dog is to using a crate, the easier it will be for her when she needs to use it.
For someone coming to your home to walk the dog, or to let her out, or to feed her, having the dog confined in a crate can be much easier than dealing with the dog loose at the front door when they arrive to care for her. The human won’t have to waste time trailing the dog from room to room, for instance. Instead, since you’ve taught the dog to “wait” in the kennel to be leashed, your friend will attach the leash and have full control of the dog from there. This routine will be helpful when you (or someone caring for your dog) transport her in a crate in a vehicle, for whatever reason—a short trip for fun, or a visit to the vet or groomer. Your regularly practiced routine can be transferred to your friend.
For friends who’ll be caring for your dog in their own home, overnight or for a more extended stay, a dog with an established routine of crate confinement will be a much easier guest to enjoy. Bring your dog’s own crate; she may find it comfortingly familiar. Let your friends choose a spot for the crate; preferably not a high-traffic area in the home, not too close to the front door. Crates are relatively easy to move without a dog inside, so if the first spot your friends try doesn’t work out, try another. Take the dog to the crate, wherever it is placed, whenever you want her to go there. She will probably learn the way herself quite quickly because she is rewarded very highly there!
Your dog should be crated whenever there is no one to supervise him, especially on initial visits.
Your friends who care for your dog regularly will eventually have enough experience with him to understand, with your help, how often and how long it might be best to crate your dog when he’s visiting their home. They’ll get to know the dog better with every visit and the dog will get to know them, too. The crate gives all concerned the time they need to learn about each other, and keeps everybody safe and comfortable. Your dog’s routine helps him feel at home.
NEXT WEEK: More on daily routines that can build your dog’s confidence and adaptability, making good experiences more likely when he visits away from home or with visitors in your home.
