Dear John Wade:
My sweet schnoodle Wilson is a fairly obedient two year old who has been moderately trained by our family.
In the last six months he has started to wipe his feet right after he poops. At first it was only every few times and only with the back legs, but now it's all of the time and all four legs.
I realize that this was an instinctive behaviour. I take the opportunity to say "wipe your feet, Wilson, good boy" and then give him a treat, but it's my great desire to take this to a different level.
I would like him to wipe his feet on the carpet (the very same way, all four legs) when he comes in from outside instead of having to wipe them with a towel. Am I the one who needs training? My family (and friends) think I'm nuts! — Valerie
Dear Valerie:
Cut this article out, copy it and send copies to all your doubting friends and family members. You're not crazy. In my opinion, you're brilliant. You're on track.
I taught my German shepherd Bo a few things doing exactly what you're doing. One was to shake water out of his coat on command another was to fall over dead when you pointed your index finger at him. He also learned to eliminate on command.
You can have fun with the way you phrase the command. You don't have to state the obvious. Dogs don't care what you say as long as you say it consistently in association with the behaviour.
For instance, when I noticed Bo always lay on my floor in the rec room in a very ungentlemanly manner; his paws would be pointed to the ceiling spread eagle. Every time I'd point my finger at him and say, "Bang! You're dead!" One day I pointed my finger and said "Bang! You're dead!" He looked at me quizzically for a moment and then flopped over. When he got up, I swear he was laughing at how clever one of us was.
He was a personal protection-trained dog and so some people found it uncomfortable when he was around. I'd tell them, "Oh don't worry about him. If he gives you any trouble just shoot him." They would and soon they'd be the best of friends.
Another a little closer to what you have in mind, had to do with water. For some reason dogs seem to think water shakes out better when they stand close to a dry person. So whenever he came out of the water I'd say, "Do you think the LEAFS are going to have a good year?", emphasizing the word Leafs each time he shook. I then taught him to wait to shake and it wasn't long before I could get him to forecast the Leafs season whenever I wanted whether he was wet or dry.
Sometimes you can train this way accidentally. Whenever I took Bo out to relieve himself, I'd tell him, "Go on!" and, of course, the longer I had to wait the more energetic my emphasis of the words, particularly in cold weather.
One evening, right around the time he was to go out I had a guest that was telling Bo and I the most improbably of fishing stories. To which I told my guest, "Go on!" and right on the floor, right in front of us, a smirk on his snout, Bo did.
