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Here’s a few tips to help him stay home with his new family:

Rules and Boundaries:  Love alone won`t keep him home.  Set your rules from day one!  Many dogs get returned or given up on because we allow certain behaviors at first, which can quickly become nuisance behaviors.  You don't have to be mean about it but be confident, consistent, patient & persistant.

Acclimation Time:  You may have gotten lucky & found the perfect dog that fits in from the first minute, but remember you don't really know how your new best friend's life started.   Pretty typically we say 3 to 5 days for acclimation - he might start perfect, but start showing you his true personality after this period.  You might have a couple potty accidents, he might try to chew things he shouldn't, don't get mad, he doesn't know - teach him what you want, prevent what you don't, be patient, consistent,  & persistent. 

Exercise:  Exercise is the most important thing you can do to prevent "bad" behaviors. Don't just throw your new best friend in the back yard! I'm talking exercise with you - walking is great bonding time, at least 15min w/ small dogs & 30min with med to large dogs. Playing tug or fetch is great if you want to just put him in the backyard, if he doesn't know or care about play at least have your coffee out there with him.  Play builds engagement.

Train:  You're dog will dictate the amount of training he needs.  What you want comes second.  You're dog wants to work for and please you, give him what he needs.  The more you reward the more you get, focus on rewarding behaviors you want. You should teach him basic obedience but in the least all dogs need to have a good recall, stay/wait, leave-it/no.  Training is all about patience, repetition & consistency.  You can't blame him if you don't train him.

Responsibility:  If you rescued your dog to "teach your kid responsibility", you've got it wrong! You need to teach your kid to be responsible for the dog.  You are the teacher, not the dog! It may get hard after working hard all day, but as the adult you signed up for the responsibility. And look, a year or so of good work, and you'll have 10-15 more years of satisfying, happy & balanced friendship.

Quick Mulit-dog Tips:  1. Feed separate and observe for at least one month, be careful with toys at first as well.   2. Alone time: this is a big change for all involved, absence grows fondness - walk together, separate; supervised play, separate.   3. Solo time: this is different than "alone time"; this traning, walk, and/or play with just you/another family  member, they need to continue bonding with you.   4. You're new dog is not your original dog's equal, he needs to earn the same freedoms, crating is helpful in helping your new pup acclimate as well as learning the rules and boundaries he needs to succeed in your home.

Be patient with your new best friend, his life may not have started out great, but you’ve changed that! There are some great videos on youtube to help you out, and if you need more than just videos – find help, one-on-one instruction can be super beneficial.

You’ve changed this dog’s life, don’t give up on him.

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We are supposed to be intelligent. Being intelligent you wouldn’t ignore something that helps you teach what you want efficiently. The best results don’t always come from the fastest path to that result. I always encourage teaching what we expect/want first and foremost – and reward that!

“Positive Reinforcement Only” is a false ideal in a dog’s mind, but sounds great for us. At least, that’s my opinion when I remove myself from thinking like a human and put myself in the dog’s shoes. Everything you read is someone’s opinion. “Science” and “research” is actually a very small number compared to the number of dogs and pet families. It doesn’t take into account all the different variables in breeding, the way the dog is raised, the experiences of the dog … it’s impossible for it to be “scientific”. Scientific to me is black and white. There is no black and white when an animal is “in charge” of caring for another/different type of animal.

Dog’s are constantly learning. Which means, to me, in every moment they are awake they are finding what is allowed through reinforcement and consequence. Reinforcement & consequence nullifies the ability say anything is “positive only”.

So my point of “positive only” means nothing to a dog starts with – do you put a leash on your dog? That is a consequence to being free and doing whatever he wants. A slip-lead, martingale collar, any “no-pull” harness technically is negative reinforcement – in the moment that it is performing the “no pull” action.

When teaching a dog to walk with lose-leash, do redirect by changing direction? In that moment you change direction, you are technically using negative punishment – taking the reward of walking straight ahead (his desire) away.

If you use food to reward/motivate and your dog doesn’t perform up to par, you withhold the food – in that moment, you are using “negative reinforcement”. If you ever ask your dog to do something and don’t at least praise, also negative reinforcement.

Examples can go on – shaker cans, verbal reprimands, shunning to stop jumping, time outs/crating when rambunctious – but my point is there is no way dog-ly possible to be 100% positive reinforcement. For us humans, sure, because we look at the whole of the action, not every moment in the action.

I call myself “positive reinforcement focused“, because I try to think like the animal I am handling. I encourage teaching “what we want” first, and discourage punishments but know situations sometimes require them – but they must be fair and judicious. The more you reward, the more you will get. In every instant a dog is being rewarded or suffering a consequence.

Don’t think too hard on it, it’s just an opinion – like all “science”,”research”, blogs, vlogs, related to animals.

*edit in – my opinion isn’t meant to say “science” & “research” should be ignored, that would be rediculous to do. All information and knowledge prepares you for situations, but your dog, your instinct and y’alls situation is different than any research.

The post “Positive Reinforcement Only” Training is a Human Thing, Not a Dog Thing appeared first on THE Pack.

City buses are rarely on time anymore, & half the time the drivers could care less.

Every kid gets a participation trophy, you don’t have to be good.

Can’t pass the test, go on to the next grade anyway.

Across the board raises for workers with minimal difference related to merit of their work.

We sometimes give our dogs free reign, instead of letting them earn it, no rules or consequences…for some dogs that’s ok. More often that’s the source of misbehavior.

I currently have one client with a pup who does with positive reinforcement games/exercises still allows the oportunity for him to practice misbehaving because she wants him to be free. That “freedom” for this pup is actually stressful, and therefore not freedom but just a breakdown of discipline. He doesn’t yet know what to do, so he rehearses bad behaviors, so all the work is minimized.

This pup actually is two examples of a breakdown in discipline, although the above is the only directly training related.

His family came to me about a month ago because his “mom” actually read a few of my old posts. I haven’t written one in about 6mos – and obviously these can bring me business! I started strong with posting and when I got busier with “less time” to write I stopped. I’ve had plenty of ideas, and sat down to write quite a few times, but I opted for the 10min break first – that turned into the rest of the night off & an unwritten/unfinished post. Breakdowns of discipline, I’m not just preaching I’m part of the choir! I feel your pain.

Another pup I’ve been going to and basically been spinning my wheels. When I’m there, he’s mostly well-behaved. Raw meat on counters, barely gives a sniff; when I’m not there he has grabbed all kinds of goodies. Guests arrive for a party, doesn’t try to jump & greet anyone. Politely looks for a pet & walks away. Lack of discipline (by humans) in prevention & rewarding when he doesn’t “screw up” and simply yelling when he does. I even went to punishment w/prong collar*, but the method doesn’t matter if a dog can continue to rehearse bad behavior.

And my own dogs could be so much better at certain things, I fall in the trap too! Willie is wishy-washy in his recall, Raider could probably play a part in Cirque de Soliel! If my discipline was better. But after a few hours with other people’s dogs & commuting time, I feel like everyone else – I’ll work him in a minute/tomorrow, which sometimes doesn’t happen.

Lack of/slacking off in discipline is everywhere & happens to us all, don’t let it become a bad habit tho those results are harder to rectify than just a hiccup here and there.

For preventing misbehavior, the discipline you need to employ depends on your dog’s needs first, then what you want. Don’t think of discipline as a chore, or else your loving pup might become a more difficult chore than the fun buddy you wanted.

*if you start training, implementing rules and boundaries immediately, preventing rehearsal of “bad” behaviors you will find thru positive reinforcement of behaviors you do want you may very well never need to use punishment or negative reinforcement. I advocate for no aversives, but when needed and if used properly (for safety issues, & immediate stoppage of bad behaviors) they can keep good dogs out of shelters & prevent euthanization.

The post Discipline is Such the Dirty Word appeared first on THE Pack.

There are so many tools available to us dog trainers/owners/lovers. Above is a typical thought, born out the best interest of the dog, but is thought out in the easiest way first. This mentality is what leads to the misuse of some tools which causes trainers to then be at odds with each other.

I have a four dog/two household client who has been calling sporadically for help. Recently they took in a 2yr old 80lb pit/lab stray. At this point the three adults decided they needed to really start training the new guy regularly, which led to the question above being posed to me.

The household who originally called just wanted help with a 10yr beagle and 1.5yr terrier/chihuahua who regularly bolted out the front door, didn’t like being crated, counter surfed and potty probs. This is a single mom with a 12yr and 1yr old daughters.

The grandparents (the other household, with a 12yr pit mix) are not comfortable with the big boy being in the house with baby, until he’s trained. Simply because he’s big, strong and immature.

I’m going to the grandfolks house twice a week to do some walking, setting boundaries (he’s jumped the fence a couple times) and some basic obedience. It’s been two weeks. He now turns around and comes back into the yard when heading toward his escape spot (a tree limb that goes out over fence that they will not cut), he won’t go thru the front door until I release him, and his recall is pretty darn good to 20ft.

They go on a trip to Colorado soon and are afraid he’ll escape, run off (because at this point, no one can really handle him) and could get attacked by mountain lions. Hence the question above being made.

I kind of winced when they asked it.

“So, you’re against shock collars?” they asked.

“No, I’m not against remote collars or any training tool that is available. But we can’t just put it on and go. We still have to condition in that tool and train him what it means…”

My opinion is this is how prong collars, remote collars, choke chains get their bad rep among people who are against them. There is such an opportunity for misuse. It’s easy for the average dog owner to assume the tool is going to do the trick without doing the training that is needed to accompany those tools.

There are all kinds of studies and research out there about the science behind different training tools. After my schooling I have read many books, watched many video, taken many webinars and inquire with people who have been doing this way longer than me, but I also use the eye test and am open to anything being what a certain dog might need. Dogs are individuals.

Dogs will do what we allow and reinforce. A lot of stuff goes away with ignoring the behavior. But sometimes the safety of the pet and it’s family requires consequences. A consequence can simply be a “eh-eh” or “no”, changing direction on walk is a consequence (in my opinion); there are times where a touch or leash correction is needed (my opinion is mandotta/slip leads and martingale collars fit in this area of consequence); and there situations where a dog might require a prong or remote collar.

The honus is on us humans to assess what the appropriate tool is, then learn to use them properly.

Owners contemplating using any “aversive” tool, such as prong/remote/choker, need to research how to use them more than just listening to a 17yr old kid at the big petstore telling them it works.

Us trainers need to be able to ensure our clients understand proper use of tools, because they might just get it and use improperly anyway. If we don’t know how to teach them ourselves, we need to refer them to someone who can.

No tool is a bad tool, it’s the misuse of tools that is bad. This might be a controversial way of thinking about a polarizing subject, but if there is anything I need to use to keep animals out of shelters by helping owners be more confident and their dogs more obedient then I will.

A tool can make it easy, just make sure it’s what is best.

Dialogue and comparing techniques and results is good and necessary, but devisiveness in the training community over tools is not.

Educate and train dogs, and their owners, is a dog trainer’s responsibility.

Fulfilling your dog’s needs thru exercise and training, to whatever extent he needs and you want, is a dog owner’s responsibility.

The post A Tool is a Tool appeared first on THE Pack.

I met Raider when I was called to help the family with potty & crate training problems. After my visit the family seemed optimistic they could put in the work. Sounds like a good start, but…

Raider had been in the home for just one week, and he was six months old at this point. If a pup stays with the breeder longer than than ten weeks, the breeder then should do what the pup needs to make a good transition to a home. By this I mean at least minimal exercise, socializing, and training – basically just letting the pups have time out of their crates to walk around, go potty & some human interaction. Unfortunately this means giving of time, and there are some people who see that the “extra work” just cuts into their profit.

Well, when this family picked out Raider he was in the same crate as his other not yet adopted brother (which I’m not saying is a problem as long as crate size is appropriate), but it was soiled which means they weren’t being watched as well as they should’ve been. You would think with someone coming to look at the dogs the breeder would’ve made sure crate was clean, huh?

The practicing of pottying where he lives, combined with lack of socialization – in his case, the exposure to different sounds in the environment – makes his potty training a steep uphill battle. Every sound distracts him and if so much as the wind blows, he forgets to go.

It’s a hard habit to break once a dog learns to go potty where he lives, but we’ll get there. A lot of patience & observing, paper towels & “Nature’s Miracle”. I’m even considering using pee pads – I hate them, but they might help in this situation.

The next misstep by a human in this l’il guys life is a major reason of dogs being surrendered to shelters or abondoned: an emotionally made decision. I think usually people are trying to do good, but sometimes we make an emotional, instead of rational, decision – it’s human nature really.

“He’s so cute”, without thinking of the dog’s energy, might be the most common emotional decision mistake with dogs.

In this case, it was a more personal mistake.

The reason they wanted a Bichon, is because they had one before. No big deal, stick with what you know and are comfortable with but, “…he was perfect”. That’s a huge expectation to put on a dog. They’re all individuals.

They told me their dog had passed about a year and half ago and that they felt they were ready for another dog. Now that part of this decision was well thought out. However…

About a month later, I watched Raider for a week while they were out of town. “And can you do some training, he needs it.” All I could get from this conversation was him still having potty problems and that he’s fearful of everything.

You can’t “fix” behavior issues in one week. He’s pretty fearful of a lot of things – that’s the socialization issues. You have to go slow, and not push them through situations. Well, you can but that increases the risk of greater fearfulness which could turn into aggressiveness, and it’s not very helpful in getting your pup to trust you.

The second emotional hurdle is they had just lost a family member one month earlier, and were trying to fill that hole with this pup. Man, that’s especially unrealistic expectations, and not fair to even a pup who started off right!

Eventually, the lady just couldn’t handle how much work it was taking to help this little guy. She called in tears because two small dog rescues wouldn’t take him. Apparently he “bit” the vet they took him to the day they took him home, and he told them “he needs aggressive rehab training”. Everything I’ve seen from this l’il guy, I think the vet just went a little too fast with a scared dog.

I decided to take the little fella in and try to help him out with these issues. He wouldn’t have had a long stay in the shelter, but now he’ll have no stay, and that spot is there for a little buddy in not such a lucky spot.

The post The Path is Straightening Out For One L’il Bud appeared first on THE Pack.

A common question of new clients is “when do you think we’ll be able to stop (feeding as) reinforcement?”. It’s understandable, I mean we don’t want to have to give a treat every time we ask something of our dogs.

The short answer I give with a smile is “never”. I pause for just a second to let it sink in a little, then I go on with explanation of process in lessening rate of reward and keeping reliable obedience. A- reinforce every time until it is clear and dog understands what you want. B- combine commands, increase criteria per reward. C- randomize quality of reward (keep them guessing when the good stuff is coming – anticipation!).

Once our bank accounts start looking decent, the frequency we need to be paid at work lessens. Think about your dog training this way: When you are first teaching your pup what you want you pay every single time – like our first job, when we are uneducated & unexperienced getting paid every week. As you are clear in your instruction and your dog understands what to do and performs well, you combine tasks & raise criteria – now that we have experience, we get paid better but every two weeks. Now your dog is an adult & performs awesome, rate of reward might be just one good cookie after a walk – we are now educated, experienced adults that are paid well but only monthly.

There are studies out there about the extinction of reward where performance of known behavior suffers with no reward, not surprising huh? How well would you perform at work with inadequate or no pay? I’m not saying you have to treat every five steps on a walk forever (the walk in itself becomes the reward!), or every time your dog sits for you, but be fair and reward your dog when it’s deserved if you want him to continue to perform reliably.

It’s not just rewarding tho, the same is true of corrections. 

On a first walk with one of my “reactive” clients, as the owner was continually leash correcting the dog’s slightest change of position, he says “…I’d like to get to where I don’t always have to correct Buddy.”

I said “So stop.” I paused, my dramatic pause, then continued “Buddy’s almost 8yrs, trust those years of work you’ve put in. Let him correct himself & just correct when it’s necessary. He’ll enjoy the walk more. Start occassionally rewarding his good walking, too.” We walked another half mile from that point without Buddy needing one correction.

Rewarding and correcting are necessary in life. We all need reminding sometimes.

All dogs want to please their leader. As their leaders we need to be clear and consistent in what we expect, and reward when we get it! Think about how happy you get when you are rewarded fairly for what’s expected of you, and reward your buddy fairly!

The post Today is Payday! appeared first on THE Pack.

When we got Willie years ago, I didn’t know much about dogs. We just wanted one. We didn’t really want much from him. He was to be our well-behaved buddy inside, & go on good walks with us.

Well, life changes. We adapt, luckily dog’s are good at that too, as long as we’re clear with what we want.

I have since grown a desire to help troubled pet families, and to prevent pet families from becoming troubled in the first place.

Did this change what I wanted from Willie? Not at first. He’s great with all the different dog’s that have come over for weeks at a time, the ones that come for an hour at a time, he’s still a great walker.

The one thing that has changed is I need to work on his recall. Of course, even for well-behaved dogs this can be a difficult one. I’ve let him run pretty freely around the field, he knows the boundaries & comes back, just kind of whenever even when I call him.

I’ve been training for a couple years now, and this never has bothered me – it’s just the relationship we’ve had. The other day I was out with a client and her pup I trained, and potential client whom she brought along with her. Well, good ol’ Willie decided while I was talking to them (and obviously not paying attention to him), he was going to cross that boundary. He went into someone’s backyard.

I called my client’s pup & Willie to come back, and what do you know? My client’s dog came running, Willie stayed across the boundary (he had found new people, and he LOVES new people!). I had to go get him, and even when I was standing at the gate he refused to come.

The soon to be new client asked “you’re dog won’t come back?”

I explained “it’s something we’ve never needed. He usually stays within certain distance and doesn’t cross the set boundaries.”

Anyway, now I need to teach him recall, but I’m not starting from scratch tho. I’m restarting with 30ft long line. I like to bowl a tease-treat (plain old crunchy cookie)  to create distance, call him to me, when he turns in my direction start the praise, as he gets to me while stepping away I start feeding with good soft tasty treats (1,2 or 3 bites depending on how quick he reacts and returns). There is a point in video where I pause and then restart in a more distracting area. When you add distraction, you need to lessen the distance and work back up to where you were with no distraction. I also changed to having Willie sit/wait in this area because he is so used to playing with his buddies here if I bowled the tease-treat I would be adding to the energy where I’m trying to have him

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calm & paying attention.

It’s a little harder to teach when they’re older. You have learned behaviors to change and new knowledge/wants to instill. But it’s never too late as long as you’re clear, fair, patient, & consistent.

The post Training Is What You Want & What You Want Might Change appeared first on THE Pack.

Before becoming a trainer, I could never figure out why Willie (my golden/husky/lab) wouldn’t stop pulling on our walks! Harness after different harness I tried. “Why aren’t these damn things working?!” I wondered.

Well, they were working – for what they were designed to work for: a dog pulling! NOT what I, and most dog owners, want when we walk our dogs!

I eventually gave up on the harnesses & tried another piece of crap equipment. The hated (among trainers) flexi-leash. The thought is that we are giving the dog more freedom on the walk being abke to cruise all over, so he’s gonna love it more. WRONG! We’re just teaching him to cruise all over – terrible walking for us. Flexi-leashes may be ok, but teach your dog to walk right first. Lock it while walking, release when you’re rewarding with sniffing time or letting go potty.

After a good bit of work, A LOT of walking on regular collar & leash. Willie is now an awesome walker! I was determined, patient, consistent (from that point anyway).

There are now a whole bunch of different designed harnesses out there. Remember, all dogs are different. The common mistake with any equipment we use is we tend to expect the equipment to do ALL the work for us. It might work good with some pups, but not for all of them.

Train your pup! Don’t rely on just the equipment. There are a lot of us trainers out there who are happy to help w/a one time session. Our goal is happy pet homes. I 100% say that starts w/ a GOOD walk.

The post Equipment is Your Friend, Not Your Savior appeared first on THE Pack.

An off-leash pup came running full-speed at us from about 20-25 YARDS away.

What would you do?

If you would freak/tense-up/get anxious, you would fit in with probably 90% of dog owners – & thats ok, it’s normal human response. But if you’re a dog owner, walking your dog ON-LEASH, it’s the worst thing to do! So, for your dog’s sake, do it but get over it QUICK!

Here’s what I did …

First – I looked at Willie to see how he felt. Unlike probably most people’s dogs, Willie has met A LOT of dogs in A LOT of different situations (although not many until he was about 4yrs old). The one constant is that I have ALWAYS been in control of the situation. The other owners, not always. The other dog, not always. Sometimes Willie, not always. Me, ALWAYS.

Then – as I was sure he felt trust in me in the situation, I watched the dog approaching & made eye contact w/her owner. She was running full-speed head-on (an intimidating position for a tethered dog!). Her head looked to be at a normal position – not low to ground like maybe in hunt mode. Her tail seemed normal – not raised. Her ears were slightly back – if she wasn’t running, I would’ve considered this a little bit more. She appeared to be smiling – although running at full speed, could have just been because of force of action. And mind you, this was all just in a couple seconds.

When she got within a couple feet, I dropped Willie’s leash.

Why? I wanted to ensure I didn’t add tension/anxiety. I was 98% sure everything was cool, but if it went south in that 2% chance I wasn’t going to mess up the trust we have in each other. If that dog turned into an aggressor, I was going to be ready to step in for my dog.

First (if it was going to go south), I was ready to block the dog’s attack with my right foot to it’s shoulder/neck (to redirect her energy-not really kick at her-energy builds so adding energy isn’t good). I do not recommend this to the average dog owner,  but I’m a little crazy.

As I said before, a dog running full-speed head-on is intimidating to a dog; being tethered (human holding leash) is another handicap for a dog.

My next move would’ve been to stomp foot/clap hands &/or given a single “hey!”/”aught” to get the dog to pause & focus on me.

Not once did I tense up or freak out. Therefore, not once did Willie tense up or freak out. Also, not once did her owner yell out “it’s ok…” which also would’ve only added energy to the situation, & really doesn’t make others feel any safer when faced with this situation.

When she got to about 3ft away, she stopped running, looked up at me then back to Willie,  play-bowed & ran around in circles to get Willie playing. It was great! And they played for a while!

Talked to the owners for awhile & found out they’ve had problems meeting other dogs in the area. Part of the reason is cuz of the way they allow her to greet. The other part is she’s a 1yr old pit. People have preconceived notions of breeds, but also owners of these breeds don’t consider this. We all need to be smarter.

Our dog’s are a mirror of us.

Be human & freak out if you need to, but do it quickly & be cool. For the best for your pup.

The post Keep Cool, Fool! What Would You Do? appeared first on THE Pack.