Open Minded Dog Training

Last week I was lucky enough to be on vacation in the Dominican Republic, where I spent my days soaking up the sun and reading books on the beach. The first book on my list was Cesar’s Rules by Cesar Millan. For his latest book the Dog Whisperer invited a handful of trainers to meet with him and show him their techniques and methods for working with dogs. The really cool thing about this is that Cesar chose people who use very different training philosophies than himself, including some who have publicly criticized his methods.

When I first got into the profession of dog behavior and training I was very dismayed at how the industry is so adamantly divided between positive dog trainers and dog whisperers. I made it a point to learn from as many different trainers with widely varying approaches, enabling me to take bits and pieces from all of them and make my own unique style. I truly believe that it’s this open-minded, always willing to learn philosophy that has made me successful. I credit Cesar Millan and Ian Dunbar as my two biggest influences - and they are total opposites in training styles.

Dog Whisperers tend to look down on positive trainers as indiscriminant treat machines, while positive trainers scoff at the whisperers as uneducated goons. Early this year, posted a comment on my Facebook page after Cesar’s longtime dog Daddy passed away, which simply said, “No matter what you think of Cesar, you have to admit that Daddy was a pretty special dog.” Within minutes of me hitting the enter key, positive trainers left me long rants on how Cesar is horrible and they were disappointed in me for liking him. This, to me, is a prime example of how close-minded people can be. I never said anything about Cesar’s methods or techniques. I was just morning the loss of a dog – a dog that has done more to help the perception of pit bulls than all other trainers in the world combined. However, they just saw the “C-word” and the door to their mind slammed shut.

I’ve always felt that what the world of dog training needs is not mud-slinging and emotional tirades, but collaboration and support. Aren’t we all on the same team? The way some of these trainers talk about Cesar you would think he was Hitler. Even if you don’t agree with his techniques, I think we can agree that Cesar is not trying to intentionally harm dogs. At worst you might think he’s misguided and misinformed, but not malicious. And even the most purest of positive trainers has to admit that he does some things really well, so why not give him some credit for it, or just say nothing. (I single out positive trainers in this regard because historically they are the most vocal about their dislikes)

I think now is the time to stop all the bickering and come together as peers and work together to improve the dog training industry, and help more people and dogs live better lives together. In this new book, Cesar Millan has taken a big step toward this goal. He’s invited eleven different trainers to show him the best of what they do, so that the reader can decide what techniques might benefit them. Everyone person is different, every situation is different, and every dog is different, requiring a different approach to be successful.

Cesar’s Rules (which I find to be a strange title, given that he’s describing many techniques that he doesn’t use) gives each of the eleven trainers a chance to tell how they work with dogs and why it works for them. It gives the reader a great number of resources and perspectives to experiment with. The book is well written with Cesar’s usual charm and whit coming through each page. I think that all the trainers involved with the book can be proud of how they were depicted and I really hope it’s only a taste of the kind of collaboration to come in the future.

I really hope that Cesar’s Rules will not only help people with their dogs at home, but also begin to bridge the gap in the dog training community. As always, my mind remains open and I’m always looking for the next person or dog to teach me some new tricks.


Ian Dunbar with Cesar Millan

Read More..

Giving Rewards the Right Way

The easiest and quickest way to teach your dog a new command, trick or behavior is with the use of rewards. Do something for me and I’ll do something for you. Dogs are very eager to please, and properly motivated, will do just about any silly thing you want them to do. Done right, rewarding your dog will make training easy and fun for both you and your pooch. Done wrong, it will lead to frustration and noncompliance.

Luring (with a treat) is the best way to shape a dog into an unknown behavior such as sit, down, or stand. Once your dogs knows the movement, you remove the lure and just use the verbal and/or hand signal, then reward him upon completion of the action. Then you transition to intermittent rewards – rewarding for the action every second, third, fifth, or tenth time. Intermittent rewarding is much more powerful than rewarding every single time. It’s much more motivating than simply getting a treat every single time. It’s like people at the slot machine: they win one out of a hundred times, but it keeps them enthusiastically pulling that one armed bandit the other ninety-nine times.

Rewards don’t always have to be food though. Although for most dogs food is what really puts the wag in their tails, many dogs are more motivated by toys. Actually, play time is a great time to sneak in some training. If you’re playing a rousing game of fetch or tug, stop play every so often and ask your dog to do something, then his reward is more play. I would always wait for him to go from an excited state of mind to calm before giving the reward. This will give you the ability to get him to go from excited to calm quickly and easily.

I love using “life rewards” in my day to day life and training with my dog. There is so much good stuff in a dog’s world in the average day that he’s getting for free, so why not take the opportunity to teach him some manners along the way. Getting his food is a reward; going outside is a reward; coming up on the bed (if you allow it) is a reward, etc. A dog’s life is jam packed with rewards, and all of these are opportunities for training for you.

At this point in my relationship with my dog, all I really want from her most of the time is simple eye contact. Before she goes out the door, all I ask is that she looks up at me and wait to be invited out. When she wants to come up on the bed she will walk over, look up at me, and wait for permission to come up. Most of the time she gets her reward, she just needs to say “please” first.

If you are using food to reward your dog make sure it is in fact a reward and not a bribe. Once your dog knows a command or behavior that you have taught, the food should be out of view. If your dog has to see the food to do what is asked, that’s a bribe. However, if you ask your dog to do something with no sign of the food, and then give it after he has complied, that’s a reward. This is a big distinction that too many people mess up. Consistently having to bribe your dog is the quickest way to an out of control do that doesn’t listen to a word you say.

All dogs are good most of the time, so don’t forget to tell them. Reward them as much as possible with verbal praise and affection to let them know they are doing a great job. Life in general is very rewarding – for us and our dogs. If you make sure you’re rewarding your dog often and in the right way, you’ll see how really good your pooch can be.

Read More..

The Dog You Want vs. the Dog You Have

Most people call me because they want to change one, some or all of their dog’s behavior. Often it’s a problem that they in fact created (usually inadvertently) which can be corrected, or at least improved upon, with a little knowledge and time. Once they have gotten to the point to pick up the phone and make the call to me, they are eager for help and are mentally ready to do whatever it takes to solve the issue. And when my clients are motivated in this way it usually means that they will succeed to improve their situation.

To a dog trainer, there’s nothing better than a very motivated and compliant client. Sometimes though, that same motivation can be a hindrance.

When I first adopted my dog Hayley 9 years ago, I had great visions of hanging out with the local dog community, watching Hayley romp and play with other dogs. Upon bringing her home, my dreams came true as I found a bunch of locals who all met at a park every morning and let their dogs off leash to play (this was before there were any dog parks in the area).

For a few months it was great fun, but then Hayley hit adolescence and everything changed. She began asserting herself in play and soon I had to pull her off her doggie buddies before things got out of hand. I was always able to break things up before they got serious, but it was very concerning.

I had a big decision to make. Do I continue to put Hayley in that position just because I still wanted to enjoy the mornings with my dog friendly amigos? After a long conversation with myself I came to the conclusion that it would not be in Hayley’s best interest to continue to allow her to play off leash with other dogs. I was sad because I really had a blast hanging out with my new friends, watching the dogs have such a great time, but ultimately I had to do what was best for Hayley.

I find that many people have a hard time letting go of the dog they’ve created in their head. Before anyone gets a dog they play detailed movies in their mind of all the things they will do with their new dog, and it becomes a blunt shock when those movies don’t turn out exactly as imagined.

Just like people are different, with different likes and dislikes, so it is with dogs. You may want a dog that sits on your lap for hours a day and sleeps under the covers with you, but the reality is you may have a dog that prefers to sleep in his own bed and is not terribly affectionate. And that’s okay.

Just love your dog for who he is, without trying to force him into the mold of the dog in your head. Enjoy the things you can do with your dog instead of forcibly trying to make the dog into something he’s not. This is especially true of dogs that come with some behavior issues. Depending on the severity of the issue, you may not be able to completely solve the problem.

Don’t hesitate to try to train your dog, but be realistic and be willing to accept your dog for who he is. Every dog is special. Love your dog for the things that make him unique and try not to hold unrealistic expectations of him for things that are not in his personality.

Read More..

Be a Good Parent to Your Dog

Today was the first day of school (ever) for my little twin girls. They are just about two and a half years old, and my wife and I were both excited and nervous to see how they would do. When we picked them up this afternoon we were very pleased to hear that they had a fun time and were very respectful and also showed good manners (as good as you can expect for two year olds). All the time and work my wife and I did teaching our girls rules and boundaries, going over what is and what isn’t appropriate, and detailing exactly what is in fact edible, seemed to really make a difference. They are good kids and I think it shows.

The behavior of our children is a direct result of our parent skills, and the same hold true of our dogs. Now that I have kids I realized how raising kids and dogs very similar. Go to any playground and find the one kid who is totally out of control. I’ll bet you cash money that if his parents also have a dog, he’s out of control too. Come on, think about people you know who have kids and dogs. Odds are the dogs and the kids share good or bad behavior.

The reason this is always true is because both children and dogs require a similar structure of rules and boundaries to grow up well. It’s all about leadership. Over the last few years the word leadership has gotten somewhat of a bad connotation because some people misunderstand what leadership really is and apply it incorrectly. Make no mistake, leadership is imperative to having a good relationship with your dog and is the foundation of helping your dog develop into a well-balanced adult dog. If you don’t like the work “leadership,” than use parenting - it’s all the same thing.

Unlike children, our dogs are a totally different species with completely different innate tendencies, which makes leadership even more crucial. Dogs crave structure and guidance to figure out just how to fit into our wacky human world. We need to be their teachers, showing them just what’s right and wrong, what’s appropriate behavior, and what is indeed edible for them. It takes time, patience and understanding, just has parenting does.

I’ve been lucky, in that working with dogs has always come easy to me. Kids, not so much. The first year with my twins was not that fun for me. I’m ashamed to say I did my share of screaming and losing my cool, which never had any positive effect on my kids. Then one day my wife told me something that changed my world. She sat me down one day when my kids were being particularly difficult and said, “Sweetie, please just pretend they’re dogs.”

I thought about that strange sentence for a moment, and then the epiphany hit me. What would I do if instead of two screaming (then) one year olds, I was with two barking, misbehaving dogs? I would remain in control and calmly address the situation. And that’s what I did from that day forward, and the change was instantaneous. My kids responded better and our relationship improved greatly. Many parents realize that yelling and screaming at their kids is counterproductive, but fail to see that the same holds true with their dogs.

So be a good leader and parent to your kids and your dogs. Give them the structure and boundaries they crave and they will all grow up to be healthy, well-balanced adults.

Read More..

The Little Dog Syndrome

As a dog behavior consultant and trainer I’ve been around all kinds of dogs. I’ve also spent countless hours in dog parks and doggie daycares interacting with every variety of breed, size and shape the canine world has to offer. All this pooch exposure has led me to form some interesting conclusions. The most obvious thing that jumps out at me time and time again is that little dogs have many more behavioral issues than their larger counterparts.

I thought to myself, why is that? What is it about smaller dogs that lend them to a greater risk of developing behavior problems? The answer becomes incredibly obvious once I watch the way their human companions interact with them.

Small dogs aren’t born psychologically different than larger dogs. Although man has engineered the outside of dogs in different ways, they’re pretty much the same on the inside. The huge Irish Wolfhound and the teeny, tiny Chihuahua both start out more or less the same – as dogs. The reason that so many more of the little guys end up unstable is us.

We create those issues unintentionally (usually) by the way we treat them. Why we do it is obvious – little dogs are so darn cute. And it’s that cuteness that can be their biggest downfall. People tend to treat them more like their favorite stuffed animals, than like the dogs they are. They baby and coddle them, while neglecting to fulfill their most basic canine needs.

The biggest contributing factor here is that behaviors that you would quickly correct a Rottweiler for are overlooked or ignored in a Maltese. Something like jumping or begging for attention are seen as cute for the small dogs, but as obvious problems that must be corrected in the larger dogs. But so what? We can let the little pooch-a-roos get away with that. Who cares, right? Well, you should care because psychologically, the issues are the same to the dog.

If you have a small dog, it’s best to pretend that he’s huge. And whatever he does something think to yourself, “would this be cool if he was a 120 lb. Mastiff?” If the answer is no, then maybe you should start setting up some boundaries, instead of enabling him to become unstable.

Just today I was at a doggie daycare with a pack of small dogs and I noticed something interesting. Out of the twenty-four dogs that were hanging out there, five of them showed obvious signs of separation anxiety. Of that five 100% were cute little white dogs (Maltese, Bichons, Havanese, Cockapoos or a combo of these breeds). In my experience, cute little white dogs are the most likely to get “loved to death.” As you may remember from my previous blog of that title, that’s when the dog receives boat loads of affection, with little or no attention toward his real canine needs.

There’s nothing wrong with loving your little dog but you have to make sure that his canine needs are met first, each and every day. And for God’s sake, please treat him like the dog he is. First and foremost – put him down!!! Way too many small dog owners carry their little pooches around like handbags. The dog’s world is four on the floor. Let you dog experience the world as a dog – on his own four, furry little legs. He can be your little, wittle, bitty baby; but not before he’s a good old fashioned butt sniffing, tail wagging canine.

Read More..

There’s Something Wrong with My Puppy!?

Over the last few years I’ve gotten more than a few calls from people that are having “big” problems with their new puppies. With a grave voice they tell me how they think that there must be something genetically wrong with the pup; or that he must have been taken away from its mother too early; or that he’s aggressive or dominant (at 8 weeks old); or that he is simply the “demon seed.”

I try not to laugh - I really do – as I tell them all the same thing: congrats, you have a healthy puppy. Too many people don’t really understand what comes with getting a puppy. Most just see that cute little puppy face and start daydreaming about cuddling on the couch as the pup rests motionless in their arms. Then they get the little guy home and reality sets in big time.

Puppies are a lot of work and a big responsibility. They don’t come from the dealer fully loaded and ready to go. They enter your home as a dog - a dog that has no idea how to live in a very human world with a bunch of furless bipeds. It’s up to us to teach our puppies exactly how to behave and get along with us.

Puppies are going to do things like a dog, no matter what. It’s our job to show them how to be a dog in the human environment. The good news is that puppies are more than happy to do things our way if we take the time to teach them. And it does take time. There’s no shortcut through the puppy period. You can’t get a well adjusted adult dog without the mouthing, whining and occasional accident. That comes standard with every puppy. I feel the puppy months are a rite of passage that every dog owner has to go through. If you survive, you can handle anything your dog will do in the future.

The first few months of a dog’s life are the most important and will be the most time consuming for you. I recommend stocking up on a lot of patience when you bring that puppy home. You have to expect them to be puppies. Don’t begrudge them for it, accept it and help them to learn. Every “bad” thing your puppy does is an opportunity to teach him the right thing to do. The worse he behaves, the more chances you have to set him on the right path.

The first day of my puppy kindergarten class is always the same. Everyone comes in with the same sleep deprived bags under their eyes, the same scratches on their hands and the same question on their minds: “is there something wrong with my puppy?” Once they look around and see that same look on the faces around them, and the same fresh blood on their fellow student’s hands, they are somewhat comforted, at least temporarily.

Puppies are a lot of work but they are also pure joy. Unfortunately you can’t have one without the other (although I’ve seen some really extraordinarily good pups). Once a day, you’ll want to throw you new puppy out the window (sometimes more), however, the smiles that your new dog will regularly deliver to you is well worth the trouble.

So, no, there’s nothing wrong with your new puppy. He’s actually a quite normal, healthy pup that will grow into a great adult dog if you just take the time to teach him how to live in your world. Be patient and enjoy every day with them.

Read More..

Best Friends

Last weekend I had the great honor of helping out at the Best Friends Super Adoption Weekend in Livingston, NJ. It was a truly amazing experience that I will not soon forget. My job was to help people find the right dog for them, answer behavior questions and assist with introductions between dogs.

There were over 40 rescue groups there from all over the East Coast, over 500 hundred dogs and a tent full of more cats than I could count. There were also educational booths with information on everything from the horrors of puppy mills to the greatness of pit bulls. For those of you unfamiliar with Best Friends Animal Society, they are the ones on the National Geographic TV show “Dogtown” and the organization responsible for rehabilitating the Michael Vick dogs. Many of the Best Friends people working the event came all the way in from Utah and worked tirelessly to pull an event of this size off.

Once the doors opened the whole area was a buzz of activity. People and dogs everywhere you turned. It was exhilarating. There were so many great people working so hard to find every last animal a home. Everyone was united in the cause to find homeless animals the happily ever after they so deserved.

And then there were the dogs. Oh the dogs. There were rows and rows of kennels housing every size and breed of dog imaginable. I was lucky enough to be stationed right next to the Best Friends pit bull educational campaign booth, so spent my weekend with many fine representatives of my favorite breed.

I can’t tell you how hard it was not to take them all home. My wife, who was home watching my twins, kept texting me, cautioning me not to come home with anything that woofed. It was not easy. They were all so lovable and so very deserving of a better life. When the sun finally went down Saturday, 200 dogs and cats had found new homes.

Before I went home for the night I walked up and down the rows of kennels and smiled at all the empty cages. But on Sunday morning when I returned, the kennels were all full again. Just like that the empty spaces were filled with so many more homeless dogs. I didn’t have much time to dwell on that fact though – there was work to be done.

Sunday was another happily exhausting day. Even though the end of the day was punctuated with hard rain, the event went on and more dogs and cats got their homes. At the weekends close 310 dogs and cats had been adopted. Before I left on Sunday afternoon, I put my hood up to protect me from the heavy rains and walked the rows of kennels again, gazing upon the empty spaces. There was no smile on my face this time though. My eyes didn’t focus on the empty cages, but instead lingered on the dogs still left homeless. The event was over and there chance to finally get a home here was over.

So although the adoption event is over and was a huge success, there remains much work to be done. The empty cages are so quickly filled and the dogs and cats now occupying them are in dire need of a hero.

As I walked past the lonely faces behind the metal cage walls I made them all a promise. I promised them that I would do everything in my power to make sure that their day would come, when they could feel the warmth of a home and the love a family. I’m in the process of becoming a Best Friends Training Partner and hope to be a part of their amazing team, helping animals in need when they need it most. I strongly encourage you to do whatever you can to help out. There is no sum of money too small and no amount of time too short. Every single dollar and minute you can spare to help out these great homeless dogs and cats will go a long way.

Please help your local animal rescue groups and shelters and check out and support Best Friends Animal Society www.bestfriends.org.

Read More..