Poison Training Your Dog

A vast number of households in the United States have animal companions of the canine sort. Be they small furry ones that fit in a shoebox or the larger kind that many rely on for security. Regardless of the breed though, many (hopefully all) dog owners are very attached to their dog(s) and treat them like members of the family. The last thing you want is for harm to come to your animal.

One way to prevent this from happening is to "Poison Train" your pet. I use the term loosely. It's actually a way of managing how your pet reacts when someone tries to give the animal food, or something resembling food.

Most dogs will take just about anything you try to feed them, at any time of the day regardless of whether you throw it on the floor or hand it to them. What you want to do is prevent that. With some very easy steps, repeated on a regular basis, you can have most dogs "poison trained" within 1 to 2 weeks time. Here's how:

The basics of it, is that you want to stop your dog from taking "food" from other people. Why? Simple. Let's say, hypothetically, that you have a large German Shepherd. He's extremely friendly, not exactly the best guard dog. You figure that his size and breed would deter someone from breaking in. One night, a burglar gets inside and holds out a small piece of tainted beef to your pooch laced with drug/chemical X. Within minutes your dog is down for the count, possibly for good. Another reason is that you may just want to stop other people from disrespecting your wishes and feeding your companion food scraps. Either way, it's easily put to a stop.

Consider that a large portion of the populous is right handed. Even left handed individuals will reach, grab and pass off things with their right hand. The goal is to train your dog that it's not OK to take food from that hand. It might sound difficult but as I said it's very simple. The time it takes is dependant on the temperament of your dog (breed can be a major factor) and how well you stick to the daily routine.

Start with your dogs' favorite treat. Steadily hold it out to them with your right hand as if you're offering it, and say nothing. When the dog tries to take it, withdraw it and give a stern "No." Repeat this two to three times. Now pass the treat to your left hand. Make sure you still have his/her attention so that they see you pass it. Offer it again until he/she takes it. As soon as the dog takes your offering, give them a lot of praise verbally. Now repeat the process. If he/she takes to it quickly, then try to keep it limited to 20-30 minutes. Depending on the temperament of your dog, you may need to work a bit longer with them. Make sure you repeat this routine daily. After 2-3 days, change the item you're trying to give them. Use other types of healthy canine foods or healthy table scraps if you permit your dog to have them.

I've used this technique on three different dogs, one of which was a high-strung red nose pit-terrier mix who was fortunately very smart. The other two dogs caught on within about 2 weeks. My pit-terrier had it down within 5 days.

I started doing this because I have a brother who liked to give chocolate chip cookies to Rescue, my pit-terrier. I'm happy to say that by the 5^th day, if you tried to give her any type of food from your right hand she would turn her head to the side and look at you out of the corner of her eyes with her ears back. If you switched the food to your left hand she was more than happy to eat it. Though it took a bit longer with the other two dogs, the results were very similar.

It helps a great deal to have a dog you've already begun training. Starting from scratch with this method will likely only frustrate you. You have to establish a level of dominance and trust with your dog. If you've taught them at least the simplest of commands such as "sit" and "lay down" then they likely understand "no."

As with any "trick" or training, it's important to refresh the animals' memory. Once you feel strongly that they are properly trained, you can cut back on the number of sessions to once every week or so. Remember to keep it simple, and always reward good behavior. Negative reinforcement of any kind will ruin the trust between you and your animal and will sabotage all the hard work you've put it. Keep sessions short so as not to frustrate your animal. Dragging it on too long can be cruel, especially if the animal doesn't understand right away. Know when to stop, and try again tomorrow.

If done correctly, you should have yourself a well trained dog that will turn his/her nose up at the next visitor who tries to slip her a piece of meat on the sly. Good luck!