Teaching a Terrier Mix to Stay Behind an Invisible Line

For this Los Angeles dog training session we taught 1 year-old terrier poodle mix Roxy how to stay behind an invisible boundary outside the kitchen.

Roxy was pretty relaxed when I arrive to the session. I sat down with her guardians to discuss her behavior problems as well as how I could help them.

I learned the Roxy didn’t have any rules, was able to tell her guardians win to pet her and didn’t show much respect for boundaries or personal space. She was also a little bit under exercised.

It’s quite likely that the combination of these things caused the dog to grow confused as to her position in the family. While the guardians originally told me they thought the dog had a resource guarding problem, and the additional details they provided in the session let me to believe that this was really more of a case of a dog acting in a territorial fashion.

I showed the guardians how they could provide structure to help the dog start to see itself as being a follower position. I also stress the importance of rewarding desired actions and behaviors through petting with a purpose and what I referred to as passive training.

I also shared a number of tips that will help the dog transition into having a baby in the home easily. Introducing the scents that will be present when the baby arrives, helping a practice staying out of the nursery and off the furniture will help it learn to respect boundaries which will come in very handy once the bundle of joy arrives home.

I also showed the guardians a few exercises that will help redirect Roxy before she gets into trouble and ways to better communicate with her. As one of Los Angeles’s dog behavior experts I have found that establishing a clear mode of communication can clear up many dog behavior problems.

Next we headed into the kitchen show that I could show the guardians how to teach dog to respect an invisible boundary. You can learn how to teach your dog to stay out of rooms or respect boundaries by watching this free positive dog training video.

Training a dog to respect boundaries can really help you, but when you are expecting a new baby, its a skill that will come in handy over and over. After we shot the above video, I added to it by having the guardians toss a treat just outside the kitchen to motivate the dog to exit. When Roxy licked it up, I suggested the command word “reservations” which caused the guardians to chuckle. Coming up with funny command words is so easy and is a simple dog behavior trick that can motivate your dog to want to do the command.

By creating a practice or dress rehearsal before cooking anything, the guardians will quickly be able to teach the dog to stay out of the kitchen when they are preparing food. They can use the same technique to establish boundaries around humans who are eating at the dinner table, when mom is breast-feeding the baby, keeping the dog out of the nursery and many other situations.

Next I showed the guardians a focus exercise that will allow them to redirect the dogs attention away from things that are going to get her into trouble.

It was great to see how quickly Roxy absorbed all the materials and techniques that we introduced. This is one smart terrier.

We finished the session by filming a roadmap to success video to help the guardians remember all the dog behavior tricks and tips I shared with them in this in home dog training session.