Dog gone good

By Zenaida Serrano
Advertiser Staff Writer

Karen Hashimoto, a dog-behavior specialist, uses 11-month-old Kula, a golden retriever, to demonstrate how an owner should ignore a dog that jumps. Photos by Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Tools for taming Immediately rewarding good behavior with pats and praise encourages the dog to repeat it.

Offering a rotating selection of treats and toys can keep your dog from chewing on furniture.

It seems man's best friend can sometimes be his worst foe when it comes to those vexing behaviors: excessive chewing, constant barking and hyperactivity, to name a few.

"Affection or that attention-seeking behavior is really what it comes down to," said Karen Hashimoto of Honolulu, a dog-behavior specialist for seven years.

Hashimoto offers techniques to address two problems that commonly plague dog owners: jumping and chewing.

Greeting with altitude

The typical jumping scenario: The owner comes home and his pouncing pooch greets him with two paws to the chest, stomach or knees (if it's Marmaduke, Lassie or Taco Bell's Gidget, respectively).

"If it's jumping on you, the best thing to do is ignore it, because it wants your attention," she said. "Everyone's first reaction is to step away from the dog or push it away."

But even those reactions show the dog it is being acknowledged, Hashimoto said. The best thing to do is stand still. With dealing with a larger dog that jumps up and licks its owner's face, the owner should stand with his arms crossed and his head turned to the side.

"However, if the dog sits after it jumps on you, or when you approach and it automatically sits ... you have to acknowledge that, because that's the good behavior," she said. Reward the dog with a treat or lavish it with petting and praise.

Such training should be done repetitively.

"Every time there's interaction with the dog, that's a training session," Hashimoto said.

Then owners need to watch for a pattern in which the dog jumps, gets off, then sits, because the dog may think this series of actions — beginning with the jump — is what draws the reward.

"To get rid of that completely is to not even acknowledge the jump whatsoever, regardless of what the dog (does) after," she said. Acknowledgement should come only if the dog greets the owner by approaching the owner, then sitting or doing something other than jumping.

Chew-toys good, shoes bad

Chewing is normal behavior for a dog, Hashimoto said. "That's what they do by nature."

Chewing is not the problem per se. It's what they choose to chew on, she said.

The best thing to do is to give the dog an alternate object to chew on, preferably an interactive doggie toy to keep the dog interested and occupied.

Hashimoto highly recommends toys such as a Kong toy, which is a bouncy rubber chew toy ; an all-natural, sterilized, stuffable bone; and a Buster cube or roller treat ball — all of which are hollowed out and meant to be stuffed with treats. Such toys generally range between $2 and $7, and are available at pet supply stores.

"The dog is going to get bored with a toy in two days," she said. "The best thing to do is rotate the dog toy around."

When it comes to training a dog, using positive reinforcement (rewarding good behavior) rather than corrective action (punishing bad behavior) works best, Hashimoto added.

And while consistency is key, it isn't the only one to success.

"Be patient, make it simple for the dogs to understand, and have fun with it," Hashimoto said. "If you've got that combination, you pretty much can't go wrong."

Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8174.