September Training Challenge: Management Plans for Visitors

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It’s already September, and that means it’s time for our monthly training challenge!

As we head into fall, and the holiday season, now is the time to start planning for visitors. As we’ve mentioned before, you need to practice before the test. That means, start building or adjusting your management plan this month, before the onslaught of trick-or-treaters or holiday guests.

Management Plans

Let’s start off by clarifying what I mean by “management plan”. When I refer to your management plan, I mean how you are:

Keeping everyone safe
Preventing unwanted behaviors

In a successful management plan, we are striving to do both of these things for our pets (and ourselves!). There are other elements that come into play, but start here!

If you read that list and thought, “I have no idea. What is this person talking about?”, don’t worry. Follow along below to start your management plan!

Start Here

The first step in preventing unwanted behaviors is to identify the unwanted behaviors. So ask yourself, “what does my dog do around visitors that I find undesirable?”

Do they:

Run around screaming
Door dash
Jump on or mouth the visitors
Lunge/bark/bite at the visitors
Refuse to come to you
Insert your list here

Create your list of undesirable behaviors. Once we know what you want to change, then we can start to build and implement a management strategy.

Next Step

For each undesirable behavior, ask yourself these 2 questions:

Is everyone safe?
Can I prevent this behavior entirely?

Let’s look at some fictitious examples, shall we?

My dog starts running around and screaming as soon as the doorbell rings

Is everyone safe? Yes. Well, minus my eardrums.

Can I prevent this behavior entirely? Yes. Disconnect doorbell, or have visitors text/call when they arrive.

My dog runs out the door each time it opens

Is everyone safe? Definitely not. We live on a busy street.

Can I prevent this behavior entirely? Yes. Two or more barriers between my dog and the outside world will prevent them from getting to the street. I also won’t have to worry about visitors accidentally letting my dog out.

My dog runs out the door each time it opens

Is everyone safe? Definitely not. We live on a busy street.
Can I prevent this behavior entirely? Yes. Two or more barriers between my dog and the outside world will prevent them from getting to the street. I also won’t have to worry about visitors accidentally letting my dog out.

And then…

Implementation! Start putting your management plan into place ASAP. The sooner you and your dog can practice the plan, the better you will be before the night of the test. If you or your dog will need additional skills to make your management plan work, then start teaching and practicing those now!

But I Don’t Know How To Manage This Problem!

I have some good news, we can help. Management can be very personal, and while the goal may be very broad, there are a ton of ways to meet a goal. Our behavior consultants can help you not only make a management plan for your pup, but we can also help you take it a step further! If you want to go from complete chaos around your company to know how to navigate visitors, we’d love to help!

Now What?

Whether you are assessing your current management plan or building one from scratch, start by asking yourself “what are the concrete, observable behaviors I don’t like?”
Once you have your list, start building your plan to keep everyone safe and prevent unwanted behaviors.
If you’d like help building or adjusting your dog’s management plan to meet both your needs and theirs, let us know. We’d love to help you!
Check out our upcoming free webinar 5 Tips for Addressing Your Dog’s Problem Behaviors… No Matter the Problem! You might find some management inspiration during it!