After a break, we are glad to be back and in full swing again! Today's topic are ways that dogs and their behaviours can be misread, or misunderstood. We believe that there are many situations that can be avoided if owners and trainers would understand these differences - however, like everyone, people and dogs make mistakes, and its up to each and every one of us to understand the difference. We are listing only a few - the tip of the ice berg on the plethora of common misunderstandings that even we ourselves have been guilty of in our early days.
1) The Dominance/Aggression Blurred Line
This is by far the most common misunderstanding. Too many people think these two terms are synonymous, when they're actually two totally different behaviours. They can and do often come hand in hand, but a dog that does not show any shred of aggression can be a very dominant dog, and a dog that is not even remotely dominant can be very aggressive, as they both have different sources of instability. Dominance by itself is a dog's way of communicating that it is in total control; little things like toy possessiveness, couch laying, pulling on leash, wandering too far off leash, and constant barking among other behaviours can be symptomatic of dominance, when there is little evidence of aggressiveness. A better word for aggression-free dominance is "rude", or "doesn't respect the rules". When you add in a dog that is too self confident and knows it can use it's body as a way to assert that dominance, you get a dog that is dominant-aggressive - these dogs bridge the gap between the two behaviours, and are most common in pets that have not been taught proper rules, boundaries, and respect, and also are not getting enough of all the types of exercise needs a dog has. Aggression in and of itself can have many causes - only one of which is dominance. You can have a submissive dog that is very aggressive due to fear, or because they're in pain. Aggression is just a term used for dogs that use their body, voice, and teeth to communicate that they dislike something. Just like a dog can bite out of fear, they can bite out of dominance, pain, and many other reasons. While a dog possessing both dominance and aggression is commonplace, they are not the same thing.
2) The Excitement/Happiness Blurred Line
A close second in the most commonly misunderstood behaviours, many people equate excitement to happiness. While a happy dog is always the goal, many people equate human happiness to a dog's happiness - the more the better! Unfortunately, this isn't accurate. To a dog, calm and relaxed is happiness - anything more than that is unstable. We call this excitement. In most situations, excitement is a very bad thing. Excitement to a dog would be like a rush of illegal drugs to a human.While there are cases where you can use excitement to your benefit (training a solid recall, training a young puppy to do something they are nervous or scared about; encouraging an unconfident dog, ect), in the vast majority of cases, excitement is just as damaging to the dog and your relationship with them as aggression and fear. If their human allows and encourages excitement, they know that their human is allowing instability, and cannot be respected. How can you tell what is excitement? The main behaviour that is tell-tale is their tail. While most people associate a moving tail with excitement, it is a symptom of intensity. An aggressive or fearful dog will have a stiff-looking tail that may be stationary or slightly moving; an excited dog will have that tail loose, but moving really fast. The faster the tail, the more unstable the dog. At the top end, or "red zone" to use a common term, a dog will be running or bouncing, and their rear end will be wagging along with the tail. It's usual to assume a dog like this is happy, when in reality, they are absolutely psycho-level unstable. It just happens to be cuter than snarling, biting, killing, or peeing on the floor. Always aim for a dog that is calm, relaxed, and with a loose, flowing, slightly moving tail; not a ceiling fan on high.
3) Toy Dominance, Over-Excitement, and Normal Behaviour
Another commonly misunderstood behaviour surrounds toys. What is normal behaviour, what is not, and what is dominance? When should I stop a dog from playing? We get asked this question quite a lot. In the sense of toys, dominance should always be stopped, while over excitement should be properly addressed, utilized, and trained, and normal behaviour should be encouraged - but where are those lines? It obviously depends on the situation, but as a general rule, if it takes more than a couple seconds or one command to get your dog's toy from them, they are being dominant, or over excited. If your dog dodges you when you try and remove their toy, they are being dominant. If you have to be very quick and sneaky to get a dog to release it's toy, they are being dominant. If you have to plan when a dog gets a toy based on how they behave, or have to give them a toy to settle them down, they are being dominant. If your dog takes a toy and hides it or removes themselves to go play with it, they are being dominant. If when your dog has a toy and you have to fight with them to get it back, or if they do not listen to commands, they are being dominant. If your dog destroys a toy and doesn't seem to understand intensity control, they are being dominant. However, if you take a toy and they try to play tug with it or bounce around like a puppy, they are being over excited. If they see a toy and bounce or bark incessantly until you do something with it (like drop or throw it), they are being over excited. If you have to brace yourself when playing with your dog more than another dog of the same size class, your dog is more than likely being over excited. If you cannot successfully issue commands and get consistency, your dog is over excited. If you have to wrangle your dog to get their toy free, your dog is over excited. Normal, however, is a lot different. If your dog can listen to a command with a toy present, this is normal. If your dog shakes their head during play, this is normal, but it is also over excitement if it is allowed too far - they are literally practicing how to kill things. If your dog lays down with a toy and chews on it for long periods of time, this is normal - however, it is a sign they are overly bored and need to do something else. If your dog pulls the stuffing out of its toys, this is normal - however it borders on dominance, and should be stopped.
4) Leash Skills Blurred Lines
Most people think their dogs are excellent on leash - but would it surprise you to learn that this is rarely the case? The vast majority of people believe that a dog that doesn't pull hard or bite on the leash is being respectful - but in truth, they've only just barely mastered the first step of leash skills; the basics of leash manners. Most dogs before they're one should understand that concept - what a leash is (a connection of communication to the owner), and what it isn't (a toy or a source of frustration). Most people achieve this stage and start training off-leash, when they're nowhere ready for it. Critical leash skills that all dogs should know include understanding leash pressure and how to turn it off; how to safely follow leash direction and understand what it means; how to walk loose-leash; how to understand what a leash correction is, what it means, and how to properly respond; how to respond to directional stimulation (such as backing up, turning left and right, and stopping or sitting). If your dog doesn't know what any of this is, it does not have leash skills.
5) Playing - Safe, or Rude?
The line between a play and a fight is thin - but did you know there is a line as well between playing safely and rudeness? Both can look like play, but one is safe, and one is not. While rude playing can have all the hallmarks of safe play, the biggest difference is intensity, and how the other dog is responding to it. Everyone likes to see dogs playing, but is it wise to allow it to continue if your dog is being rude? Rude play can encourage and teach instability, and feed into other problem behaviours like dominance, aggression, and disrespect. A rude dog will often target the back of the neck, tee off, and mount the other dog, and the receiving dog will either bark and yelp, or fight back just as hard to fend off the behaviour. In both cases, the fight needs to stop. At any point if one dog is asserting their desires on the other dog, the play needs to stop. Many dominance fights can look a lot like rude play, and it can easily be missed. While a hierarchy between dogs is critical for balance, play time is not the time to establish that - especially with new friends, dogs with large age gaps, or dogs with vastly different personalities or energy levels. Play time should be expressly used to burn energy when the human does not have the time to engage with the dog themselves, and it should always be medium in excitement. Never allow a dog to get too far into dominant play, because they can and will use these skills outside of play and can quite often instigate a very serious fight - especially if the other dog doesn't appreciate being played with that way. It might be cute and an easy way to burn your dog's energy level, but it doesn't replace the one-on-one every dog needs with their human.
6) My dog is "just dumb".
Unless your dog has had its brain removed, or hasn't been trained whatsoever in a specific command, your dog isn't just dumb. Some dogs do take longer to understand a command than others, but all dogs, once they know a command, rarely forget it, and they understand full well what you want. Other dogs have a different "payment" system than you're using - such as a dog that prefers toys over treats, or won't work at all for just petting. 99% of the time, a dog that just looks at you when you give them a command knows exactly what you want, but knows that they don't have to take you seriously. This is called willful disobedience. A prime example of this is with a common rule; no dogs in the kitchen. If your dog knows they're not supposed to be in there, and knows what "leave" means, yet you find them underfoot every other step, and you have to tell them leave at least five times before they actually listen, they are not stupid - they just don't respect you. If you can't teach your dog a new trick, your dog isn't dumb - you're just not teaching it the way they need to learn, which can couple with a lack of respect. While truly "dumb" dogs are rare, if not next to impossible to find, the reality is, its the humans that are causing the dog to appear as if they're dumb. Dogs are not fools - they know exactly what they can get away with, and if you're not consistent, they will ride that dollar for all it's worth. If your dog is "just dumb", it might be time to take an inventory of how you're raising your pet - they're not as dumb as you think.
I've only addressed 6 of hundreds of issues that are often misunderstood - and I hope you've learned something!
Friday, April 10, 2015
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Hot Seat Topics - Pros and Cons - Blog Twenty One
Today, we are going to address the pros and cons of a few of the hot seat topics that often get owners and trainers alike arguing - and what the bottom line really is on all of them. In our opinion, there is more than one side to every coin, and obviously, different circumstances and stories allow for different areas where its going to be a different rule for different families, and that's okay. We are not posting this to start a fight; we are posting this show both sides of the fence, and our OWN bottom line - yours could very well be different.
E-collars
E-collars are arguably one of the most hated tools of the trade, and also one of the most misused. It is the target of many hate groups, protests, and boycotts. They can vibrate, make sound, or can stimulate the nerves by a gentle electrical impulse. While it is common to believe and be told that this stimulation causes pain, that is the farthest from the truth. In reality, it causes a painless muscle spasm that lasts only a split second - and in dogs, it feels more like a slight tingle. When improperly used, it can cause panic and suspicious behaviour in dogs, generally when a user applies the collar to a pet without giving the dog information as to what the stimulation means, or any realm of reference to what causes it or who is giving it - or, they have it set way too high.
Pros
-E-collars allow you to offer either positive or negative commands to your dog from a distance - from training the stimulation means "down" to communicating it made a mistake, and allows you to do so at a far greater distance than your voice or hand signals allow.
-E-collars allow you to communicate with disabled dogs, such as a dog that cannot see, or a dog that cannot hear. You can utilize the e-collar to teach these special dogs that the stimulation means look at me, or pay attention to me.
-E-collars allow you to manage behaviour while off-leash, especially if your dog easily distracts and stops listening to commands in high distraction scenarios.
-E-collars can completely replace the need for leashes and collars of all kinds, allowing you full control while still allowing a certain level of canine freedom.
-E-collars allow you to shut down trained protection, defense, or military animals in case a call-off fails.
-E-collars allow you to change behaviours when you are not present (such as a dog that barks while they are alone, or a dog that eats or chews things it shouldn't when they are alone, by utilizing a webcam for training).
Cons
-E-collars are easily abused, misused, or used completely incorrectly, as they are not a plug-and-play type of tool. They require a certain level of knowledge, and must be used with respect - it is way too easy to overuse, overstimulate, or otherwise use way too often and abuse your dog.
-E-collars can be turned up way too high and cause panic in a dog, leading to permanent stimulation aggression or suspicious behaviours.
-E-collars are expensive, and run on expensive batteries, when one can accomplish similar responses with a proper leash and collar combo, and proper training.
-E-collars are subjective in quality - you can spend hundreds of dollars on a tool that operates at the same level as a bargain model, and it is a very confusing market to get in to.
-E-collars cannot be just slipped on a dog and turned on - you must spend weeks or even a few months training the dog about the stimulation, what it means, and how to respond - especially if you want the e-collar to be a communication tool, and not become a source of relationship damage.
Our Bottom Line
There are many ways to accomplish the training that an e-collar provides, and are mostly unnecessary - unless you're training a protection, defense, military, disabled, or hunting animal. However, when properly used, and employed with proper training, there is no tool that is more versatile, and effective than the e-collar. Professionals and trainers alike should be able to utilize and train owners and dogs how to use the tool properly, without bias, and without the judgement that many trainers and professionals readily offer. It is solely up to the owner whether or not they would like to use this tool properly - end of story.
Prong Collars
Arguably number two on the most hated tool there is, the prong collar is popular with protection trainers, and people who think it will control their pets more easily. Traditionally, prong collars are made of steel, and provide a sharper correction than the average collar, and is intended to be used in dogs that have high "drive" - the intense focus a dog gets when they are so keenly interested in something, nothing will shut them off. While they are also very easy to misuse, they are also very easy to use properly, and can change the relationship with your working dog.
Pros
-Prong Collars are far more plug-and-play than e-collars, and only take a few days to help your dog understand what the tool is, and what it means. This means that there is far less time between purchasing and permanent use when compared to an e-collar.
-Prong Collars are a guarantee that a dog with high defense or protection drive will stop a charge or attack when used properly.
-Prong Collars are far less expensive than other tools of the same nature, and are easily repaired, replaced, and sized.
-Prong Collars are one type of stimulation, and do not change and does not get stronger or weaker, and does not contain batteries.
Cons
-Prong Collars are easier to misuse than use correctly, and can quickly overstimulate a dog. They are also too easy to cause serious injury to a dog when misused, as opposed to e-collars that merely scare a dog.
-Prong Collars rely on a dog's solid understanding of leash pressure, how to turn it on and off, and consistent and deep relationship with the owner/handler.
-Prong Collars when properly used can often cause a dog in drive to be startled, which cause vocalization - which is often misunderstood as pain or fear, and can turn an owner/handler off of using the tool.
-Prong Collars effectiveness rely directly on the user's competence, relationship with the dog, and the dog's personality - if one of these things is off, the Prong becomes a weapon.
-Prong Collars are the fastest tool to abuse a dog with - especially if an owner or handler allows themselves to become frustrated by a dog's behaviour.
Our Bottom Line
Prong Collars are great tools when used properly - however, there are too many variables for the average owner to be able to use these tools properly, for many reasons - some of which being relationship/trust levels, proper leash skills, the dog understanding leash pressure flawlessly, and an incorrect application. For this reason, we believe only trained professionals should be using Prong Collars, and only on properly trained working animals - not as a form of pet dog control or "power steering".
Off-Leash Walking
It is always awesome to see a dog in their element, enjoying nature, and all around having a great time. Nothing replaces the relaxed, carefree trot an off-leash dog has. However, unless a relationship is perfect, there are a lot of things that can go wrong - and there are limited places in Victoria that actually allow you to have your dog off leash.
Pros
-Off-Leash Walking provides a relaxed, more fun play-time-like walk rather than a serious, energy-burning structured walk.
-Off-Leash Walking allow an owner or trainer to walk without having to focus on or micromanage a dog's walking behaviour.
-Off-Leash Walking lets a dog simply be a dog, to get a holiday of sorts from training and structure of any kind, and can build trust and relationship between dog and owner.
Cons
-Off-Leash Walking is dangerous, safety-wise. There is no way to 100% guarantee against dangers that can befall a roaming dog, such as dog fights, wild animal attacks, the dog eating deadly plants or intentionally placed foods, ect.
-Off-Leash Walking completely stops an owner's ability to prevent running, bolting, fleeing, and fighting or predatory behaviours that are very difficult to shut down even ON leash but can be managed otherwise on leash.
-Off-Leash Walking shuts off the bond and structure that a leash brings - and doesn't burn nearly as much mental energy.
-Off-Leash Walking disconnects a dog from their handler, reduces behaviour reaction time, and lessens the owner's ability to judge a dog's energy. It also can promote dominance, and aggression by separating a dog from their pack leader.
-Off-Leash Walking is illegal in most places in Victoria, and the list of off-leash parks are quite spread out - its easy to break the law and be unaware.
-Off-Leash does not command respect from a dog, and every dog, no matter how well trained, and no matter how deep the relationship can disobey.
Our Bottom Line
Off-Leash walking is great for those that chose to allow it - but for our purposes, and because there is no way to guarantee safety like you can on a leash, and because it is for the most part illegal in most places, we do not support or condone off-leash walking. We can count too many times where a dog has fled, or had been killed, expressly because they were off leash. We believe it is completely irresponsible to rank fun and convenience over safety for the dog - but that is just our personal opinion. Every family is different, and if you believe it is worth the risks, that is all up to you!
The Use Of Crates
Many owners use and love the crate. Dogs take to it as well, and rely on the separate space to be able to relax and get away from the stimulation of life - but when it's not taught or used properly, the crate can become a site of trauma for owners and dogs alike. There seems to be quite a division on the use of the crate, and has been the target of many pet advocates.
Pros
-Crates allow you to limit the things your dogs can get in to when you're not in the area.
-Crates provide a safe spot for your dog to get to when they are feeling overstimulated or unsafe.
-Crates are easily trained and used with puppies, when you simply need a break for a while.
-Crates allow safe transport of dogs to and from areas within your car (and could save their life).
-Crates allow one area for sleeping, feeding, napping, and resting, when without a crate, these things happen in many different places.
-Crates utilize the den instinct, thereby increasing natural instincts and natural means of relaxing.
Cons
-Crates can't just be used - you must train a dog properly to understand what a crate is for.
-Crates are too easy to use as a punishment spot, which creates negative association for the dog and can create severe issues.
-Crates in the heat can single-handedly kill a dog.
-One error in the training of a use of a crate can cause a dog to become resistant, aggressive, and avoidant of a crate.
-If a dog is left in a crate too long, it can cause entrapment fears, crate-messing, and other issues that take a very long time to repair.
-If left in the crate in the wrong state of mind, a dog can and will chew themselves out, destroy their surroundings, and cause injury or even death to themselves.
Our Bottom Line
When properly used and trained, the crate is irreplaceable as the first and foremost tool of highest importance any owner can use. Of course, there needs to be a sense of rules and what is acceptable in the use of a crate that is banking on proper use, and it can get complicated, however is easily avoided with some basic education. If there is no other tool an owner uses in this list, the crate is absolutely the most valuable.
Unattended Dogs
Sometimes, people just simply don't have the time to be there when they let the dog outside - or they are forced to bring a dog with them while shopping, and tie them up outside - which in most places in BC is completely illegal, and bi-law will impound your dog on the spot. Sometimes, people just simply can't be bothered, or don't have the will, to go for a walk, and just let the dog outside in the yard. Sometimes, they let the dog out, and for whatever reason, they have to go back in - in any case, both instances of unattended dogs is illegal and highly discouraged. Normally, dogs are brought along on shopping trips either because the owner was already out with the dog and stopped to get something on the way, OR, the dog was not trained properly and cannot be safely left at home.
Pros
-Owners can get a break.
-Owners can go shopping where pets are banned.
Cons
-It is illegal to leave a dog unattended, be it in a yard, outside of a store, or in a vehicle. It crosses into dog abuse if it is hot out, the dog has no access to food/water or air, and/or if there is no way to escape the heat. Most police ignore unattended dogs, as does bi-law, unless the circumstances cross into dog abuse, but this doesn't change the fact that it is illegal.
-Smaller dogs can be eaten by wild animals and birds of prey when unattended.
-Larger dogs can scale most fences and restrictions therein if they really want to, and get loose.
-Dogs in a car can die in as fast as 20 minutes in the heat, even if it's only 15 degrees out.
-Dogs tied outside a store can be stolen, attacked, impounded or even killed.
-Dogs that are tied up can spook and either chew loose and bolt, or attack a person, even if they've never had a shred of aggression in them, ever.
-Dogs left outside alone often charge the property line and bark, terrorizing passersby, possibly attacking people or dogs, and inflicting bad behaviour on other dogs such as fence fighting, and suspicious behaviours.
-Things can go wrong in a split second when dogs are unattended, and you won't be there to handle it.
-Poorly trained dogs left unattended can and will kill other dogs or people that accidentally crosses too far to their property.
-Dogs that attack someone, whether they are on your property or not, as an owner you are financially and legally responsible for their injuries (Even if they are breaking in!)
-Dogs left outside alone will not burn any energy of any kind, and will not be any more exercised than they were before - contrary to common thought. When a dog does not get exercise away from the home, it does not accomplish their needs, and will compact their energy and behaviours instead of relieving them.
Our Bottom Line
While it might be convenient, the bottom line is, leaving a dog unattended is illegal, irresponsible, and unsafe. While we can understand and sympathize with people that need to do so for just a quick moment, it is still illegal, and we cannot condone it.
Harnesses/Flexi-Leads
These tools are often used when owners either misunderstand a dog's needs, or haven't trained proper leash skills. In either case, these tools are useless, and sometimes even dangerous. The only time an owner should use a harness is when a dog is pulling a load such as a wagon, sled, or human on skates, when training a recall, or if the dog has sustained a neck injury. Flexi-leads allow a dog to completely disrespect an owner, and can snap in very little strain - which creates a very bad scenario if your pet has no recall, or leash skills.
Pros
-Harnesses allow a dog to be trained in a solid recall without jarring their neck.
-Flexi-Leads are tools that can be used on search and rescue dogs and keep the lead out of the way (they never use these, by the way - they use long leads, but its still a tool that COULD be used in this capacity - otherwise we have nothing positive to say about a flexi-lead).
-Harnesses can allow an owner to walk a dog even if it's sustained a neck injury.
-Harnesses can be used with dogs that need to pull a load, without putting that load on their throats, which can kill them.
Cons
-Harnesses will combat your ability to train and guide your dog - they also can cause them to pull worse than before, and don't address the root of the behaviour - its like putting a band aid on a broken leg.
-Flexi-Leads allow a dog to disrespect an owner and ignore proper walking rules, as well as lessens your response time to bad behaviours or negative situations by several seconds, thereby making your reaction virtually useless.
-Harnesses remove the leash from the most controllable part of a dog, and are generally used because a dog pulls and has no leash skills - both of which can be corrected within a day or two.
-Flexi-Leads break very easily, and if your dog is not properly trained, will allow your dog to bolt.
-Harnesses completely stop you from being able to communicate through the leash with your dog.
-Harnesses change how corrections work, by upsetting the dog's balance. This can easily happen by accident if an owner resists a bolting dog, and it will flip a dog on their side, and in some cases, can seriously injure or even kill a dog. It can also create fear responses to the harness, leash, owner, park or area it happened in, and even the walk itself.
-Flexi-leads bridge the gap between a disrespectful walk, and a chaotic off-leash experience, neither of which is healthy for a dog or the relationship.
-Harnesses must be specially fitted to a dog by breed and body type, weight, and usage - it is possible to buy eight different harnesses and have none of them be the proper sizing or type for the job. They are also costlier, and a lot harder to free a dog of in case of emergency.
The Bottom Line
Unless you're using a harness for pulling a load, because of neck injury, or training a recall, both harnesses and flexi-leads are useless, dangerous, and are often used as a kind of temporary replacement for good behaviour. While a harness should be available for your dog in the instances if injury or training, it should not be something used outside of those scenarios - and you should promptly discard any flexi-lead you may have. No tool replaces proper training and recall.
E-collars
E-collars are arguably one of the most hated tools of the trade, and also one of the most misused. It is the target of many hate groups, protests, and boycotts. They can vibrate, make sound, or can stimulate the nerves by a gentle electrical impulse. While it is common to believe and be told that this stimulation causes pain, that is the farthest from the truth. In reality, it causes a painless muscle spasm that lasts only a split second - and in dogs, it feels more like a slight tingle. When improperly used, it can cause panic and suspicious behaviour in dogs, generally when a user applies the collar to a pet without giving the dog information as to what the stimulation means, or any realm of reference to what causes it or who is giving it - or, they have it set way too high.
Pros
-E-collars allow you to offer either positive or negative commands to your dog from a distance - from training the stimulation means "down" to communicating it made a mistake, and allows you to do so at a far greater distance than your voice or hand signals allow.
-E-collars allow you to communicate with disabled dogs, such as a dog that cannot see, or a dog that cannot hear. You can utilize the e-collar to teach these special dogs that the stimulation means look at me, or pay attention to me.
-E-collars allow you to manage behaviour while off-leash, especially if your dog easily distracts and stops listening to commands in high distraction scenarios.
-E-collars can completely replace the need for leashes and collars of all kinds, allowing you full control while still allowing a certain level of canine freedom.
-E-collars allow you to shut down trained protection, defense, or military animals in case a call-off fails.
-E-collars allow you to change behaviours when you are not present (such as a dog that barks while they are alone, or a dog that eats or chews things it shouldn't when they are alone, by utilizing a webcam for training).
Cons
-E-collars are easily abused, misused, or used completely incorrectly, as they are not a plug-and-play type of tool. They require a certain level of knowledge, and must be used with respect - it is way too easy to overuse, overstimulate, or otherwise use way too often and abuse your dog.
-E-collars can be turned up way too high and cause panic in a dog, leading to permanent stimulation aggression or suspicious behaviours.
-E-collars are expensive, and run on expensive batteries, when one can accomplish similar responses with a proper leash and collar combo, and proper training.
-E-collars are subjective in quality - you can spend hundreds of dollars on a tool that operates at the same level as a bargain model, and it is a very confusing market to get in to.
-E-collars cannot be just slipped on a dog and turned on - you must spend weeks or even a few months training the dog about the stimulation, what it means, and how to respond - especially if you want the e-collar to be a communication tool, and not become a source of relationship damage.
Our Bottom Line
There are many ways to accomplish the training that an e-collar provides, and are mostly unnecessary - unless you're training a protection, defense, military, disabled, or hunting animal. However, when properly used, and employed with proper training, there is no tool that is more versatile, and effective than the e-collar. Professionals and trainers alike should be able to utilize and train owners and dogs how to use the tool properly, without bias, and without the judgement that many trainers and professionals readily offer. It is solely up to the owner whether or not they would like to use this tool properly - end of story.
Prong Collars
Arguably number two on the most hated tool there is, the prong collar is popular with protection trainers, and people who think it will control their pets more easily. Traditionally, prong collars are made of steel, and provide a sharper correction than the average collar, and is intended to be used in dogs that have high "drive" - the intense focus a dog gets when they are so keenly interested in something, nothing will shut them off. While they are also very easy to misuse, they are also very easy to use properly, and can change the relationship with your working dog.
Pros
-Prong Collars are far more plug-and-play than e-collars, and only take a few days to help your dog understand what the tool is, and what it means. This means that there is far less time between purchasing and permanent use when compared to an e-collar.
-Prong Collars are a guarantee that a dog with high defense or protection drive will stop a charge or attack when used properly.
-Prong Collars are far less expensive than other tools of the same nature, and are easily repaired, replaced, and sized.
-Prong Collars are one type of stimulation, and do not change and does not get stronger or weaker, and does not contain batteries.
Cons
-Prong Collars are easier to misuse than use correctly, and can quickly overstimulate a dog. They are also too easy to cause serious injury to a dog when misused, as opposed to e-collars that merely scare a dog.
-Prong Collars rely on a dog's solid understanding of leash pressure, how to turn it on and off, and consistent and deep relationship with the owner/handler.
-Prong Collars when properly used can often cause a dog in drive to be startled, which cause vocalization - which is often misunderstood as pain or fear, and can turn an owner/handler off of using the tool.
-Prong Collars effectiveness rely directly on the user's competence, relationship with the dog, and the dog's personality - if one of these things is off, the Prong becomes a weapon.
-Prong Collars are the fastest tool to abuse a dog with - especially if an owner or handler allows themselves to become frustrated by a dog's behaviour.
Our Bottom Line
Prong Collars are great tools when used properly - however, there are too many variables for the average owner to be able to use these tools properly, for many reasons - some of which being relationship/trust levels, proper leash skills, the dog understanding leash pressure flawlessly, and an incorrect application. For this reason, we believe only trained professionals should be using Prong Collars, and only on properly trained working animals - not as a form of pet dog control or "power steering".
Off-Leash Walking
It is always awesome to see a dog in their element, enjoying nature, and all around having a great time. Nothing replaces the relaxed, carefree trot an off-leash dog has. However, unless a relationship is perfect, there are a lot of things that can go wrong - and there are limited places in Victoria that actually allow you to have your dog off leash.
Pros
-Off-Leash Walking provides a relaxed, more fun play-time-like walk rather than a serious, energy-burning structured walk.
-Off-Leash Walking allow an owner or trainer to walk without having to focus on or micromanage a dog's walking behaviour.
-Off-Leash Walking lets a dog simply be a dog, to get a holiday of sorts from training and structure of any kind, and can build trust and relationship between dog and owner.
Cons
-Off-Leash Walking is dangerous, safety-wise. There is no way to 100% guarantee against dangers that can befall a roaming dog, such as dog fights, wild animal attacks, the dog eating deadly plants or intentionally placed foods, ect.
-Off-Leash Walking completely stops an owner's ability to prevent running, bolting, fleeing, and fighting or predatory behaviours that are very difficult to shut down even ON leash but can be managed otherwise on leash.
-Off-Leash Walking shuts off the bond and structure that a leash brings - and doesn't burn nearly as much mental energy.
-Off-Leash Walking disconnects a dog from their handler, reduces behaviour reaction time, and lessens the owner's ability to judge a dog's energy. It also can promote dominance, and aggression by separating a dog from their pack leader.
-Off-Leash Walking is illegal in most places in Victoria, and the list of off-leash parks are quite spread out - its easy to break the law and be unaware.
-Off-Leash does not command respect from a dog, and every dog, no matter how well trained, and no matter how deep the relationship can disobey.
Our Bottom Line
Off-Leash walking is great for those that chose to allow it - but for our purposes, and because there is no way to guarantee safety like you can on a leash, and because it is for the most part illegal in most places, we do not support or condone off-leash walking. We can count too many times where a dog has fled, or had been killed, expressly because they were off leash. We believe it is completely irresponsible to rank fun and convenience over safety for the dog - but that is just our personal opinion. Every family is different, and if you believe it is worth the risks, that is all up to you!
The Use Of Crates
Many owners use and love the crate. Dogs take to it as well, and rely on the separate space to be able to relax and get away from the stimulation of life - but when it's not taught or used properly, the crate can become a site of trauma for owners and dogs alike. There seems to be quite a division on the use of the crate, and has been the target of many pet advocates.
Pros
-Crates allow you to limit the things your dogs can get in to when you're not in the area.
-Crates provide a safe spot for your dog to get to when they are feeling overstimulated or unsafe.
-Crates are easily trained and used with puppies, when you simply need a break for a while.
-Crates allow safe transport of dogs to and from areas within your car (and could save their life).
-Crates allow one area for sleeping, feeding, napping, and resting, when without a crate, these things happen in many different places.
-Crates utilize the den instinct, thereby increasing natural instincts and natural means of relaxing.
Cons
-Crates can't just be used - you must train a dog properly to understand what a crate is for.
-Crates are too easy to use as a punishment spot, which creates negative association for the dog and can create severe issues.
-Crates in the heat can single-handedly kill a dog.
-One error in the training of a use of a crate can cause a dog to become resistant, aggressive, and avoidant of a crate.
-If a dog is left in a crate too long, it can cause entrapment fears, crate-messing, and other issues that take a very long time to repair.
-If left in the crate in the wrong state of mind, a dog can and will chew themselves out, destroy their surroundings, and cause injury or even death to themselves.
Our Bottom Line
When properly used and trained, the crate is irreplaceable as the first and foremost tool of highest importance any owner can use. Of course, there needs to be a sense of rules and what is acceptable in the use of a crate that is banking on proper use, and it can get complicated, however is easily avoided with some basic education. If there is no other tool an owner uses in this list, the crate is absolutely the most valuable.
Unattended Dogs
Sometimes, people just simply don't have the time to be there when they let the dog outside - or they are forced to bring a dog with them while shopping, and tie them up outside - which in most places in BC is completely illegal, and bi-law will impound your dog on the spot. Sometimes, people just simply can't be bothered, or don't have the will, to go for a walk, and just let the dog outside in the yard. Sometimes, they let the dog out, and for whatever reason, they have to go back in - in any case, both instances of unattended dogs is illegal and highly discouraged. Normally, dogs are brought along on shopping trips either because the owner was already out with the dog and stopped to get something on the way, OR, the dog was not trained properly and cannot be safely left at home.
Pros
-Owners can get a break.
-Owners can go shopping where pets are banned.
Cons
-It is illegal to leave a dog unattended, be it in a yard, outside of a store, or in a vehicle. It crosses into dog abuse if it is hot out, the dog has no access to food/water or air, and/or if there is no way to escape the heat. Most police ignore unattended dogs, as does bi-law, unless the circumstances cross into dog abuse, but this doesn't change the fact that it is illegal.
-Smaller dogs can be eaten by wild animals and birds of prey when unattended.
-Larger dogs can scale most fences and restrictions therein if they really want to, and get loose.
-Dogs in a car can die in as fast as 20 minutes in the heat, even if it's only 15 degrees out.
-Dogs tied outside a store can be stolen, attacked, impounded or even killed.
-Dogs that are tied up can spook and either chew loose and bolt, or attack a person, even if they've never had a shred of aggression in them, ever.
-Dogs left outside alone often charge the property line and bark, terrorizing passersby, possibly attacking people or dogs, and inflicting bad behaviour on other dogs such as fence fighting, and suspicious behaviours.
-Things can go wrong in a split second when dogs are unattended, and you won't be there to handle it.
-Poorly trained dogs left unattended can and will kill other dogs or people that accidentally crosses too far to their property.
-Dogs that attack someone, whether they are on your property or not, as an owner you are financially and legally responsible for their injuries (Even if they are breaking in!)
-Dogs left outside alone will not burn any energy of any kind, and will not be any more exercised than they were before - contrary to common thought. When a dog does not get exercise away from the home, it does not accomplish their needs, and will compact their energy and behaviours instead of relieving them.
Our Bottom Line
While it might be convenient, the bottom line is, leaving a dog unattended is illegal, irresponsible, and unsafe. While we can understand and sympathize with people that need to do so for just a quick moment, it is still illegal, and we cannot condone it.
Harnesses/Flexi-Leads
These tools are often used when owners either misunderstand a dog's needs, or haven't trained proper leash skills. In either case, these tools are useless, and sometimes even dangerous. The only time an owner should use a harness is when a dog is pulling a load such as a wagon, sled, or human on skates, when training a recall, or if the dog has sustained a neck injury. Flexi-leads allow a dog to completely disrespect an owner, and can snap in very little strain - which creates a very bad scenario if your pet has no recall, or leash skills.
Pros
-Harnesses allow a dog to be trained in a solid recall without jarring their neck.
-Flexi-Leads are tools that can be used on search and rescue dogs and keep the lead out of the way (they never use these, by the way - they use long leads, but its still a tool that COULD be used in this capacity - otherwise we have nothing positive to say about a flexi-lead).
-Harnesses can allow an owner to walk a dog even if it's sustained a neck injury.
-Harnesses can be used with dogs that need to pull a load, without putting that load on their throats, which can kill them.
Cons
-Harnesses will combat your ability to train and guide your dog - they also can cause them to pull worse than before, and don't address the root of the behaviour - its like putting a band aid on a broken leg.
-Flexi-Leads allow a dog to disrespect an owner and ignore proper walking rules, as well as lessens your response time to bad behaviours or negative situations by several seconds, thereby making your reaction virtually useless.
-Harnesses remove the leash from the most controllable part of a dog, and are generally used because a dog pulls and has no leash skills - both of which can be corrected within a day or two.
-Flexi-Leads break very easily, and if your dog is not properly trained, will allow your dog to bolt.
-Harnesses completely stop you from being able to communicate through the leash with your dog.
-Harnesses change how corrections work, by upsetting the dog's balance. This can easily happen by accident if an owner resists a bolting dog, and it will flip a dog on their side, and in some cases, can seriously injure or even kill a dog. It can also create fear responses to the harness, leash, owner, park or area it happened in, and even the walk itself.
-Flexi-leads bridge the gap between a disrespectful walk, and a chaotic off-leash experience, neither of which is healthy for a dog or the relationship.
-Harnesses must be specially fitted to a dog by breed and body type, weight, and usage - it is possible to buy eight different harnesses and have none of them be the proper sizing or type for the job. They are also costlier, and a lot harder to free a dog of in case of emergency.
The Bottom Line
Unless you're using a harness for pulling a load, because of neck injury, or training a recall, both harnesses and flexi-leads are useless, dangerous, and are often used as a kind of temporary replacement for good behaviour. While a harness should be available for your dog in the instances if injury or training, it should not be something used outside of those scenarios - and you should promptly discard any flexi-lead you may have. No tool replaces proper training and recall.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Boredom! Blog Twenty
Hard to believe it's been twenty blogs already! Wow!
Today's blog is about boredom - what it is, and how to fix it!
Most owners are usually fairly good at accomplishing the physical exercise needs of their dog - whether that means an hour a day, or an hour every four hours! Most of the time, we don't come across a dog with physical exercise being left unsatisfied - usually, in the cases where the client is at their wit's end with their pet, is when they have forgotten all about mental exercise!
Dogs have a few main basic exercise needs that must be accomplished for them to be satisfied every day. These are physical exercise, hunting exercise, traveling exercise, and mental exercise. Would it surprise you to learn that the LEAST of these is physical exercise? Taking a dog for a structured on-leash walk will accomplish physical, hunting, and traveling exercise, but mental is left in the dust. Any unstructured walks (such as letting them smell everything, pee a lot, wander off leash without boundaries, or not moving fast enough) will burn hunting energy, but will very rarely touch physical, mental, and traveling exercise. This is because a dog needs quick locomotion to focus on the travel, and the ability to "check in" to the exercise. When they "check out" by nosing the ground and such, they're only hunting. While the first example is better than the second by a long shot, neither will accomplish mental energy needs. Like a child, dogs need to use their minds to feel satisfied. Children have an innate need to learn and experience new things, and dogs are exactly the same. The only difference is, while your child can burn mental energy by coloring, reading, or watching educational TV, your dog relies 100% solely on you to help them burn their mental energy - and unfortunately, most of the time, owners are totally unaware of this need and don't address it.
When it isn't addressed properly, dogs become bored. While a closer term would be "mentally stagnant", its far simpler to call it boredom. When a dog understands they need to burn pent up mental energy, because they don't understand how to communicate their needs - so they are left to their own devices. What are the symptoms of canine boredom? Every dog is different, but here are the most common:
Symptoms of boredom:
-Pacing
-Barking/growling at nothing
-Destroying their toys or your things
-Disobeying commands, or slow to listen to them
-Challenging/dominating humans, your furniture, or your items.
-"Snacking" from their food or water bowl (if it is readily available - we do not condone free feeding, however this is an unfortunate reality in many homes).
-Running around the home for no reason
-Checking entrances and windows every few minutes
-Smelling the same spots in the house every few minutes
-Playing with a toy intensely
-Playing with a toy then suddenly stopping
-Napping in the daytime (if you have introduced night time as sleep time)
If one or more of these sound like your pet, especially after a walk or in the afternoon or evening, this is a sign your dog is bored. If your dog is waking up and producing these symptoms immediately, it is a sign that there has been several days - often months, or years - of pent up mental energy. Like physical energy, if it is not drained early in the day and done every day, it builds up and doesn't get released like it does with humans.
How do we release mental energy?
Its a lot simpler than it sounds - and you can accomplish it with very little effort on your part, compared to an hour of walking. If you spend 15-30 minutes doing the following whenever you can tell your dog is starting to go stir-crazy, you'll see a big difference in a matter of weeks - and sometimes, days! From the lightest burning (for light boredom) to the most intense (for built up energy), here is our list of mental energy solutions!
Solutions
-Take them to a new location - whether they're walking, or just experiencing it. As long as they've never been there before, this will make them think and analyze the area for scents, threats, and other dog-important things.
-Refining old behaviours by adapting them, and making them better or faster.
-Teach them a brand new skill, trick, or behaviour - something completely new or foreign.
-Tug with rules! By this, we mean a consistent start and stop, the ability to use "out" commands without a challenge, and the ability to control intensity without bribing or tricking the dog in any way.
-Engagement training - this will burn a dog out incredibly fast if it's done correctly. It has many other beneficial side effects as well, including fast command response, "bomb-proof" nerves of steel, high reward drive (meaning you can train your dog to go psycho over a toy and have them do anything for it), and can introduce complex behaviours, as well as ensure they will never ever react to anything strange, ever.
When we employ the right tools, we can fix almost any canine problem - it just takes a little understanding, and a little effort!
Today's blog is about boredom - what it is, and how to fix it!
Most owners are usually fairly good at accomplishing the physical exercise needs of their dog - whether that means an hour a day, or an hour every four hours! Most of the time, we don't come across a dog with physical exercise being left unsatisfied - usually, in the cases where the client is at their wit's end with their pet, is when they have forgotten all about mental exercise!
Dogs have a few main basic exercise needs that must be accomplished for them to be satisfied every day. These are physical exercise, hunting exercise, traveling exercise, and mental exercise. Would it surprise you to learn that the LEAST of these is physical exercise? Taking a dog for a structured on-leash walk will accomplish physical, hunting, and traveling exercise, but mental is left in the dust. Any unstructured walks (such as letting them smell everything, pee a lot, wander off leash without boundaries, or not moving fast enough) will burn hunting energy, but will very rarely touch physical, mental, and traveling exercise. This is because a dog needs quick locomotion to focus on the travel, and the ability to "check in" to the exercise. When they "check out" by nosing the ground and such, they're only hunting. While the first example is better than the second by a long shot, neither will accomplish mental energy needs. Like a child, dogs need to use their minds to feel satisfied. Children have an innate need to learn and experience new things, and dogs are exactly the same. The only difference is, while your child can burn mental energy by coloring, reading, or watching educational TV, your dog relies 100% solely on you to help them burn their mental energy - and unfortunately, most of the time, owners are totally unaware of this need and don't address it.
When it isn't addressed properly, dogs become bored. While a closer term would be "mentally stagnant", its far simpler to call it boredom. When a dog understands they need to burn pent up mental energy, because they don't understand how to communicate their needs - so they are left to their own devices. What are the symptoms of canine boredom? Every dog is different, but here are the most common:
Symptoms of boredom:
-Pacing
-Barking/growling at nothing
-Destroying their toys or your things
-Disobeying commands, or slow to listen to them
-Challenging/dominating humans, your furniture, or your items.
-"Snacking" from their food or water bowl (if it is readily available - we do not condone free feeding, however this is an unfortunate reality in many homes).
-Running around the home for no reason
-Checking entrances and windows every few minutes
-Smelling the same spots in the house every few minutes
-Playing with a toy intensely
-Playing with a toy then suddenly stopping
-Napping in the daytime (if you have introduced night time as sleep time)
If one or more of these sound like your pet, especially after a walk or in the afternoon or evening, this is a sign your dog is bored. If your dog is waking up and producing these symptoms immediately, it is a sign that there has been several days - often months, or years - of pent up mental energy. Like physical energy, if it is not drained early in the day and done every day, it builds up and doesn't get released like it does with humans.
How do we release mental energy?
Its a lot simpler than it sounds - and you can accomplish it with very little effort on your part, compared to an hour of walking. If you spend 15-30 minutes doing the following whenever you can tell your dog is starting to go stir-crazy, you'll see a big difference in a matter of weeks - and sometimes, days! From the lightest burning (for light boredom) to the most intense (for built up energy), here is our list of mental energy solutions!
Solutions
-Take them to a new location - whether they're walking, or just experiencing it. As long as they've never been there before, this will make them think and analyze the area for scents, threats, and other dog-important things.
-Refining old behaviours by adapting them, and making them better or faster.
-Teach them a brand new skill, trick, or behaviour - something completely new or foreign.
-Tug with rules! By this, we mean a consistent start and stop, the ability to use "out" commands without a challenge, and the ability to control intensity without bribing or tricking the dog in any way.
-Engagement training - this will burn a dog out incredibly fast if it's done correctly. It has many other beneficial side effects as well, including fast command response, "bomb-proof" nerves of steel, high reward drive (meaning you can train your dog to go psycho over a toy and have them do anything for it), and can introduce complex behaviours, as well as ensure they will never ever react to anything strange, ever.
When we employ the right tools, we can fix almost any canine problem - it just takes a little understanding, and a little effort!
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
How Does Your Pup Stack Up? Blog Nineteen
For most owners, the task of training and raising a proper canine citizen can be a daunting task - and they don't always want to live up to the same standards as working, performance, or trainers' dogs. Not everyone wants a pup with a perfect show-heel, police dog level protection training, or flawless competition-level obedience - but is there a standard by which a pet dog should stack up? We submit to you our opinion on how the flawlessly trained high end dogs should be, and then how the average pet dog should be.
Please note, this list is geared for puppies and new pets - but you can adapt it for a rescue or adopted/foster pet by using the age list as a time period. Example: a 2 month old puppy should know sit - an untrained 2 year old foster dog should master sit within 2 months. Enjoy!
6 Weeks to 2 Months
Perfect Puppy
By two months, the perfect puppy should know his or her name, come when called within the home, and understand the basics of engagement (focus driving skills mixed with vocal commands instead of clicker training). They should also know Sit, Down, Stand, Stay, Come, and a mixture of these from all positions within a few feet of the trainer at least half of the time. They should also begin to understand No Bark/Quiet and Speak. By 2 months, your pet should completely understand that the rewards are for the specified behaviour and won't always get a reward and won't always get a small piece/short play session.
Average Pet Puppy
By two months, the average pet puppy should understand his or her name, come when called at least half the time, understand the basics of engagement, and should understand mostly sit and down.
Below Average Puppy
If your pup by two months only understands his name, and doesn't fully grasp obedience equals treats, he is behind schedule.
2 Months to 6 Months
Perfect Puppy
By 6 months, your puppy should understand all basic commands (Sit, Down, Stand, Stay, Wait, Come, Fetch, ect) with a 90% accuracy and fast response; you should be able by now to introduce more complex skills like a forced retrieve, forced recall, and higher level obedience training. Your pet by 6 months should be able to listen with a mix of rewards and no rewards without resisting obedience. By now, they should also have mastered tug play and it's respectful rules (if they enjoy the game). This game should be replacing food treats at least half the time.
Average Pet Puppy
By 6 months, the average pet puppy should respond all the time to his or her name, know that their name means come here and pay attention, and be able to use all common home commands, like Sit, Down, Stay, Come, No Bark/Quiet, Speak, and come when called outside within 75% of the time. They should be comfortable transitioning from all-treats to sometimes treats or playtime.
Below Average Puppy
If your pup by 6 months only understands his name, and sit/down and an unreliable stay, your pup is lagging behind. This type of pup will not obey unless they physically see a treat.
6 Months to 1 Year
Perfect Puppy
By 1 year, the perfect puppy should know all commands flawlessly, have perfect drive and focus, should almost never deviate from a command or make mistakes, should have 100% perfect obedience and personality, be able to completely ignore all other dogs and safely be off leash with a 100% perfect recall, emergency down, stop command, leave it command, and be able to perform all obedience skills and tricks in all areas, situations, and distraction levels. By 8 months, the pup should understand it's role in the pack, his job, duties, and should have no unfamiliar situations or odd responses to the strange. Your pet should obey with OR without rewards such as toys or treats for all practiced and learned behaviour. Play time/Tug time should be the reward 70% of the time, and the other 30% should be mostly no rewards at all.
Average Pet Puppy
By 1 year, the average pet should understand all used commands in most situations, have a fairly steady personality and obedience 75% of the time, and should be safe off leash as long as there aren't too many distractions. They should understand their place in the pack, and have a general idea of what their job is. They should understand the basics of tug and should be comfortable getting this reward instead of treats at least half the time.
Below Average Puppy
By 1 year, if your pup hasn't learned all their commands and can't be trusted off leash or won't listen 75% of the time and or doesn't have a recall, emergency down, or stop command, and doesn't listen without a treat being present, your dog is a little behind.
1 Year to 2 Years and On
Perfect Dog
By the two year mark, the perfect pup should be completely and flawlessly trained with an obedience rate of 99% with excellent drive, perfect response time, and should have a vast skill set to handle life with. They should fully understand their place and job, and execute it without fault at all times; they should be completely unphased by new sensations, areas, people, or dogs. The perfect puppy should by now no longer need training or behaviour management of any kind, and the owner should be working on things like party tricks, complicated behaviours, and refining skills to make them ever faster, sharper, and better, including some high-end tricks like Frisbee back-flipping and the like. By now, your pet should be 50% playtime and 50% nothing at all for a reward system. There should be zero need for treats at this stage.
Average Pet Dog
By the two year mark, the average pet dog should mostly understand their place and job, and be able to obey at least 75% of the time. They should by now be safe off leash with perfect recall, emergency down, and stop command obedience, and should also be able to learn new skills. By now, your pet should be mostly playtime or praise rewarded, and only need treats on new skills or skills that are brand new.
Below Average Dog
If by this point your pet doesn't know all commands, won't listen at least 75% of the time, has some form of unwanted, frustrating, or irritating behavioural issues, and doesn't obey unless there is some kind of reward, your pet needs some stricter training.
So tell us; how does your pup stack up? Hopefully this list has made you feel a little better about your training, and if not, sets some basic goals for you to achieve! We can all achieve our ideal companion if we simply understand how dogs work.
Please note, this list is geared for puppies and new pets - but you can adapt it for a rescue or adopted/foster pet by using the age list as a time period. Example: a 2 month old puppy should know sit - an untrained 2 year old foster dog should master sit within 2 months. Enjoy!
6 Weeks to 2 Months
Perfect Puppy
By two months, the perfect puppy should know his or her name, come when called within the home, and understand the basics of engagement (focus driving skills mixed with vocal commands instead of clicker training). They should also know Sit, Down, Stand, Stay, Come, and a mixture of these from all positions within a few feet of the trainer at least half of the time. They should also begin to understand No Bark/Quiet and Speak. By 2 months, your pet should completely understand that the rewards are for the specified behaviour and won't always get a reward and won't always get a small piece/short play session.
Average Pet Puppy
By two months, the average pet puppy should understand his or her name, come when called at least half the time, understand the basics of engagement, and should understand mostly sit and down.
Below Average Puppy
If your pup by two months only understands his name, and doesn't fully grasp obedience equals treats, he is behind schedule.
2 Months to 6 Months
Perfect Puppy
By 6 months, your puppy should understand all basic commands (Sit, Down, Stand, Stay, Wait, Come, Fetch, ect) with a 90% accuracy and fast response; you should be able by now to introduce more complex skills like a forced retrieve, forced recall, and higher level obedience training. Your pet by 6 months should be able to listen with a mix of rewards and no rewards without resisting obedience. By now, they should also have mastered tug play and it's respectful rules (if they enjoy the game). This game should be replacing food treats at least half the time.
Average Pet Puppy
By 6 months, the average pet puppy should respond all the time to his or her name, know that their name means come here and pay attention, and be able to use all common home commands, like Sit, Down, Stay, Come, No Bark/Quiet, Speak, and come when called outside within 75% of the time. They should be comfortable transitioning from all-treats to sometimes treats or playtime.
Below Average Puppy
If your pup by 6 months only understands his name, and sit/down and an unreliable stay, your pup is lagging behind. This type of pup will not obey unless they physically see a treat.
6 Months to 1 Year
Perfect Puppy
By 1 year, the perfect puppy should know all commands flawlessly, have perfect drive and focus, should almost never deviate from a command or make mistakes, should have 100% perfect obedience and personality, be able to completely ignore all other dogs and safely be off leash with a 100% perfect recall, emergency down, stop command, leave it command, and be able to perform all obedience skills and tricks in all areas, situations, and distraction levels. By 8 months, the pup should understand it's role in the pack, his job, duties, and should have no unfamiliar situations or odd responses to the strange. Your pet should obey with OR without rewards such as toys or treats for all practiced and learned behaviour. Play time/Tug time should be the reward 70% of the time, and the other 30% should be mostly no rewards at all.
Average Pet Puppy
By 1 year, the average pet should understand all used commands in most situations, have a fairly steady personality and obedience 75% of the time, and should be safe off leash as long as there aren't too many distractions. They should understand their place in the pack, and have a general idea of what their job is. They should understand the basics of tug and should be comfortable getting this reward instead of treats at least half the time.
Below Average Puppy
By 1 year, if your pup hasn't learned all their commands and can't be trusted off leash or won't listen 75% of the time and or doesn't have a recall, emergency down, or stop command, and doesn't listen without a treat being present, your dog is a little behind.
1 Year to 2 Years and On
Perfect Dog
By the two year mark, the perfect pup should be completely and flawlessly trained with an obedience rate of 99% with excellent drive, perfect response time, and should have a vast skill set to handle life with. They should fully understand their place and job, and execute it without fault at all times; they should be completely unphased by new sensations, areas, people, or dogs. The perfect puppy should by now no longer need training or behaviour management of any kind, and the owner should be working on things like party tricks, complicated behaviours, and refining skills to make them ever faster, sharper, and better, including some high-end tricks like Frisbee back-flipping and the like. By now, your pet should be 50% playtime and 50% nothing at all for a reward system. There should be zero need for treats at this stage.
Average Pet Dog
By the two year mark, the average pet dog should mostly understand their place and job, and be able to obey at least 75% of the time. They should by now be safe off leash with perfect recall, emergency down, and stop command obedience, and should also be able to learn new skills. By now, your pet should be mostly playtime or praise rewarded, and only need treats on new skills or skills that are brand new.
Below Average Dog
If by this point your pet doesn't know all commands, won't listen at least 75% of the time, has some form of unwanted, frustrating, or irritating behavioural issues, and doesn't obey unless there is some kind of reward, your pet needs some stricter training.
So tell us; how does your pup stack up? Hopefully this list has made you feel a little better about your training, and if not, sets some basic goals for you to achieve! We can all achieve our ideal companion if we simply understand how dogs work.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
How do I know when my dog's behaviour is going too far? Blog Eighteen
Since we have been a little silent lately, I thought I would put out not one, but TWO blogs this week!
Today on another group I am a personal fan of, someone asked a very important question that I thought everyone would appreciate an answer to! "How do I know when my dog's behaviour is going to go too far?" Well, there's two way to answer this - immediately, or in the scheme of life. I will answer first the initial possibility; the signs your dog is about to cross a line right now.
Immediate Behaviour Warnings
Silence
-Your dog is about to bite if they are silent, and their eyes widen. A dog that has been growling or barking in an aggressive manner is just faking you out, most of the time. A dog that is making noise will not usually strike, unless their level of fear has overridden their typical warning signs. While a dog rarely bites while they are making sounds, if they have suddenly stopped making sounds and their pupils are wide with ears pulled back, they are always preparing to strike.
Shivering
-A dog that is shaking is not usually cold - but is in a high level of anxiety, or fear. There are rare cases where a dog shivers because they are cold - If you peel off your coat or jacket, and you are cold, they are cold. Dogs might have their own fur, but it can lose heat very fast. With exception to Huskies, most dogs get cold below 10 degrees Celsius. However, if cold is not the issue, and your dog is shaking, you need to act quickly - chances are your dog is overloading from whichever stimulation is triggering the action, and your dog is likely to mess on your floor, or bite. Keep note that dogs can also shiver because of excitement, psychological problems, or an allergy reaction. If you have ruled these out, and you notice your dog shivering around certain people, objects, sounds, or stimulation, your dog is afraid. Shivering from cold or medical issues also looks different - it is more vibrant, convulsing looking, as if they can't control it, with waves of it being stronger, or softer. Anxiety or fear shaking is more steady, likely to resemble an off kilter washing machine, or a low grade earthquake.
Total Stoppage of Movement
-If your dog completely stops, sometimes staring, sometimes not, it is a communication that your dog has suddenly overloaded and can't process the stimulation. It can be coupled with silence, or whining. You could toss a steak by and nothing would happen. This is indicative of a dog that has hit rock bottom fear - and you need to call a behaviourist immediately. This is a situation where the average owner or even trainer should not handle.
Lifted Paw
-If a dog stands with one front paw lifted slightly off the ground, it's a sign your dog is unsure. It needs either a little encouragement, or a few moments to collect themselves. It's important to note that you don't move forward or reward the dog with it's paw in the air - this will tell your dog that you want it to feel unsure, which can lead to low level fear or aversion. After time, it can become a serious issue.
Backing Away With Tucked Tail, Crouched-If your dog has started this action, specifically at a physical object, person, or sound, this is a fear based fleeing response, where your dog completely mistrusts whatever it is moving away from. It is a higher level than the total stoppage of movement, and indicates the handler went too far in trying to overcome the fear reaction, or the dog is totally rock bottom terrified of whatever it is. This is another situation where you need to call a behaviourist.
Full Body Wiggle
-A dog that has reached an unhealthy and dangerous level of excitement resembles this. They are typically bouncy, and wagging their tail so hard that they are literally shaking their whole body. This is a sign your dog has gone way too far over the "healthy" line of excitement. While most people assume happiness and excitement are the same thing with dogs, its not. Excitement is a state of hyper-charged energy, while a happy dog is relaxed and calm. Excitement might look really cute, but it is really unhealthy to their whole selves that it really shouldn't be encouraged - namely because it not only can cause a number of physical injuries, it is about as mentally healthy as a highly aggressive or highly fearful dog. You should ignore this behaviour or correct it before it gets worse.
Stiff, Rigid Tail In Any Position
-A stiff tail, whether it is in a submissive or dominant position, indicates a high level of tension, or anxiety. It can be moving in any speed, but if it is not loose, it is a warning sign. Whatever your dog is focused on should cease, or be properly removed and reintroduced when the dog is in a calmer state.
Fast-moving Tail
-While most people associate a fast-moving tail with happiness, it is actually a symptom of intensity. The faster a tail is moving, the more intense a dog is feeling whichever emotion is attached to it - excitement, aggression, and even fear. It should always be a goal of a trainer to make sure their dog's tail is slowly swaying, not moving like a room fan.
Behaviour Warnings In The Scheme Of Life
Behaviours Become Resisted
-If your dog used to perform various behaviours just fine, and has become resistant or feigns ignorance of them, you dog is losing respect for you, usually because of inconsistent treatment, or unintentional mistreatment. If this is the case, you will need to work on rebuilding the damaged relationship before issuing another command.
Unexpected Destruction
-If your usually well behaved dog has chewed up something, your dog is not trying to get back at you. They are not trying to make you mad. Your dog is bored. While walking does drain physical energy, that is about 20% of a dog's needs. Your dog, like your children, need to use their minds, too! You can't expect a dog to burn their own mental energy - when they do, things like this happen. They need you to directly burn their mental energy! Teach it something new, play tug, introduce a new toy with brand new rules, make them work hard before a walk - and never leave a dog in an excited or anxious state of mind. Almost any dog can be successfully left alone (Except for a few breeds) as long as you do it properly.
Possessiveness
-Before a dog becomes aggressive over toys, food, or other pack members, the warning signs appear. Sometimes they happen in a matter of hours or days before escalation, sometimes seconds. When low-level possessiveness appears, it needs to be corrected before it gets worse. If in any case your dog isn't allowing you to do something with their things, that is possessiveness.
Territoriality
-Being territorial is more than just barking at passersby. While this is common for most dogs with territorial issues, there are other, less obvious symptoms that would suggest to you that your dog is going too far in protecting his space. While some level of territorial behaviour is normal and healthy, it can quickly cross a line. For instance, a dog barking a couple times at a passerby is normal (inside the car, too!) However, if that one or two barks turns in to a fast, rapid multiple level bark, like a machine gun burst, that is a warning sign. If your dog is charging to the fence, door, or other threshold, that is a red light warning. However, while every dog pees, a normal pee takes a couple seconds, and is usually a larger amount. A dog that pees little spurts on every bush, pole, stick, or monument, that is a warning sign. If your dog scratches the ground after, that is a red light warning. If your dog barks a warning once at other dogs, this is normal. If your dog pulls on the leash, moves in front or behind you, and growls, this is a warning, and if your dog charges, pulls hard, machine-gun barks, or runs behind you quickly, this is a red light warning. If your dog has hit red light warnings, you need to contact a behaviourist.
Other Signs The Dog Behaviour Is Going Too Far:
-If your dog moves away from you with a toy or treat when you approach or give it to them, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog turns to watch you or something else as he eats his food, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog has his head mostly over the food or water bowl, consuming from the far side instead of the middle or back, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog won't get off his bed or out of her kennel when asked, or delays, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog won't allow you to be out of eye or earshot without protesting, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog walks in front of you and pushes through doors or gates first, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog incessantly barks at you for something of theirs, or something they want, that is a warning sign.
-If you cannot enter a room your dog is in without him swarming your feet or walking circles around you, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog is an adult and whines frequently, that is a warning sign.
There are so many more warning signs that we could mention, but then this blog would be way too long to ask people to read, so we've included the most common. Hopefully this information has answered a question or two of your own!
Today on another group I am a personal fan of, someone asked a very important question that I thought everyone would appreciate an answer to! "How do I know when my dog's behaviour is going to go too far?" Well, there's two way to answer this - immediately, or in the scheme of life. I will answer first the initial possibility; the signs your dog is about to cross a line right now.
Immediate Behaviour Warnings
Silence
-Your dog is about to bite if they are silent, and their eyes widen. A dog that has been growling or barking in an aggressive manner is just faking you out, most of the time. A dog that is making noise will not usually strike, unless their level of fear has overridden their typical warning signs. While a dog rarely bites while they are making sounds, if they have suddenly stopped making sounds and their pupils are wide with ears pulled back, they are always preparing to strike.
Shivering
-A dog that is shaking is not usually cold - but is in a high level of anxiety, or fear. There are rare cases where a dog shivers because they are cold - If you peel off your coat or jacket, and you are cold, they are cold. Dogs might have their own fur, but it can lose heat very fast. With exception to Huskies, most dogs get cold below 10 degrees Celsius. However, if cold is not the issue, and your dog is shaking, you need to act quickly - chances are your dog is overloading from whichever stimulation is triggering the action, and your dog is likely to mess on your floor, or bite. Keep note that dogs can also shiver because of excitement, psychological problems, or an allergy reaction. If you have ruled these out, and you notice your dog shivering around certain people, objects, sounds, or stimulation, your dog is afraid. Shivering from cold or medical issues also looks different - it is more vibrant, convulsing looking, as if they can't control it, with waves of it being stronger, or softer. Anxiety or fear shaking is more steady, likely to resemble an off kilter washing machine, or a low grade earthquake.
Total Stoppage of Movement
-If your dog completely stops, sometimes staring, sometimes not, it is a communication that your dog has suddenly overloaded and can't process the stimulation. It can be coupled with silence, or whining. You could toss a steak by and nothing would happen. This is indicative of a dog that has hit rock bottom fear - and you need to call a behaviourist immediately. This is a situation where the average owner or even trainer should not handle.
Lifted Paw
-If a dog stands with one front paw lifted slightly off the ground, it's a sign your dog is unsure. It needs either a little encouragement, or a few moments to collect themselves. It's important to note that you don't move forward or reward the dog with it's paw in the air - this will tell your dog that you want it to feel unsure, which can lead to low level fear or aversion. After time, it can become a serious issue.
Backing Away With Tucked Tail, Crouched-If your dog has started this action, specifically at a physical object, person, or sound, this is a fear based fleeing response, where your dog completely mistrusts whatever it is moving away from. It is a higher level than the total stoppage of movement, and indicates the handler went too far in trying to overcome the fear reaction, or the dog is totally rock bottom terrified of whatever it is. This is another situation where you need to call a behaviourist.
Full Body Wiggle
-A dog that has reached an unhealthy and dangerous level of excitement resembles this. They are typically bouncy, and wagging their tail so hard that they are literally shaking their whole body. This is a sign your dog has gone way too far over the "healthy" line of excitement. While most people assume happiness and excitement are the same thing with dogs, its not. Excitement is a state of hyper-charged energy, while a happy dog is relaxed and calm. Excitement might look really cute, but it is really unhealthy to their whole selves that it really shouldn't be encouraged - namely because it not only can cause a number of physical injuries, it is about as mentally healthy as a highly aggressive or highly fearful dog. You should ignore this behaviour or correct it before it gets worse.
Stiff, Rigid Tail In Any Position
-A stiff tail, whether it is in a submissive or dominant position, indicates a high level of tension, or anxiety. It can be moving in any speed, but if it is not loose, it is a warning sign. Whatever your dog is focused on should cease, or be properly removed and reintroduced when the dog is in a calmer state.
Fast-moving Tail
-While most people associate a fast-moving tail with happiness, it is actually a symptom of intensity. The faster a tail is moving, the more intense a dog is feeling whichever emotion is attached to it - excitement, aggression, and even fear. It should always be a goal of a trainer to make sure their dog's tail is slowly swaying, not moving like a room fan.
Behaviour Warnings In The Scheme Of Life
Behaviours Become Resisted
-If your dog used to perform various behaviours just fine, and has become resistant or feigns ignorance of them, you dog is losing respect for you, usually because of inconsistent treatment, or unintentional mistreatment. If this is the case, you will need to work on rebuilding the damaged relationship before issuing another command.
Unexpected Destruction
-If your usually well behaved dog has chewed up something, your dog is not trying to get back at you. They are not trying to make you mad. Your dog is bored. While walking does drain physical energy, that is about 20% of a dog's needs. Your dog, like your children, need to use their minds, too! You can't expect a dog to burn their own mental energy - when they do, things like this happen. They need you to directly burn their mental energy! Teach it something new, play tug, introduce a new toy with brand new rules, make them work hard before a walk - and never leave a dog in an excited or anxious state of mind. Almost any dog can be successfully left alone (Except for a few breeds) as long as you do it properly.
Possessiveness
-Before a dog becomes aggressive over toys, food, or other pack members, the warning signs appear. Sometimes they happen in a matter of hours or days before escalation, sometimes seconds. When low-level possessiveness appears, it needs to be corrected before it gets worse. If in any case your dog isn't allowing you to do something with their things, that is possessiveness.
Territoriality
-Being territorial is more than just barking at passersby. While this is common for most dogs with territorial issues, there are other, less obvious symptoms that would suggest to you that your dog is going too far in protecting his space. While some level of territorial behaviour is normal and healthy, it can quickly cross a line. For instance, a dog barking a couple times at a passerby is normal (inside the car, too!) However, if that one or two barks turns in to a fast, rapid multiple level bark, like a machine gun burst, that is a warning sign. If your dog is charging to the fence, door, or other threshold, that is a red light warning. However, while every dog pees, a normal pee takes a couple seconds, and is usually a larger amount. A dog that pees little spurts on every bush, pole, stick, or monument, that is a warning sign. If your dog scratches the ground after, that is a red light warning. If your dog barks a warning once at other dogs, this is normal. If your dog pulls on the leash, moves in front or behind you, and growls, this is a warning, and if your dog charges, pulls hard, machine-gun barks, or runs behind you quickly, this is a red light warning. If your dog has hit red light warnings, you need to contact a behaviourist.
Other Signs The Dog Behaviour Is Going Too Far:
-If your dog moves away from you with a toy or treat when you approach or give it to them, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog turns to watch you or something else as he eats his food, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog has his head mostly over the food or water bowl, consuming from the far side instead of the middle or back, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog won't get off his bed or out of her kennel when asked, or delays, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog won't allow you to be out of eye or earshot without protesting, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog walks in front of you and pushes through doors or gates first, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog incessantly barks at you for something of theirs, or something they want, that is a warning sign.
-If you cannot enter a room your dog is in without him swarming your feet or walking circles around you, that is a warning sign.
-If your dog is an adult and whines frequently, that is a warning sign.
There are so many more warning signs that we could mention, but then this blog would be way too long to ask people to read, so we've included the most common. Hopefully this information has answered a question or two of your own!
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Balancing Dogs WIth Kids/Babies - Blog Seventeen
Because of a post I read floating around facebook, today's blog is all about dogs and kids - mainly how to balance it properly, and what mistakes people commonly make which lead to dangerous - or even deadly - outcomes. As is the current successful format, today's blog will be in point format, listing the common mistakes, and how to fix them.
Babies to Five Years
1) Bringing a newborn home, then changing all of the rules on the dog.
When a new life is brought into the pack permanently, most people start changing how the dog needs to behave; instilling rules like not going in to the baby's room, no more jumping on furniture, sleeping somewhere different, meal times change, walk time changes or totally stops - these are a fuel for disaster. When things suddenly change on a dog, they often become suspicious or guarded around what they think changed it all. In most cases, they're able to instantly detect that its because of the baby that triggered the rule changes. Some dogs become defensive; growling at or shying away from the new baby. Some dogs become alert; barking at every sound, smelling and detecting everything that goes near the baby. Some dogs become dominant, and think they own the baby now, causing tension in the home when anyone new tries to touch the baby. Some dogs accept the baby as a pack leader, and become better dogs all around because the baby is a new pack leader. In whichever case, except the last one, the balance is off, and caused by humans changing rules right when the baby comes home.
-How Do We Change This?
If you do need to change things up, be it room access rules, walking time changes, new behaviors, or even association with the baby being more powerful than they are, these new rules need to happen way in advance. As soon as you are sure there is a baby entering your life, way back in the beginning, things need to shift. One thing at a time, however, and slowly. If you are readying a baby room, teach your dog that they don't enter as soon as the room's look physically changes. If you're pulling the carpet or changing the paint color, let that be the new signal to your dog that they can't enter that room, or not enter without permission. This will cause your dog to associate the rule change with the room physically changing, not the baby. Once they have that flawlessly, you can move on to the next change - be it new feed time, new walk time, or whichever. Please note, you cannot cut out your dog's exercise completely, and don't do it at night time - this will be totally pointless exercise. Later at night is closer to bed time, and then dogs sleep, and gain more energy overnight, then to wake up and wait all day to walk, causes severe behavioural problems. We highly recommend taking a walk after your baby's first nap, so the baby can be involved in the dog's walk, too.
2. Allowing Your Dog Near Other Babies Or To Smell Yours Immediately
When a female dog has puppies, she isolates herself from the entire pack, and protects the puppies until they're old enough to come out and play. They are highly protective, and are liable to bite, charge, or otherwise kill anything that comes near the puppies. While this isn't logical behaviour for a human to enact over a newborn, it is incredibly important that a similar stance be taken. Letting a dog invade a baby's personal space, be it someone else's or your own, creates the assumption that they can be in the personal space of the baby. While this might seem harmless, it creates the ability for your dog to ignore what I call "puppy protocol". When this occurs, the dog thinks "I don't have to use puppy protocol with human puppies. GREAT!" but that also entails all of the ingrained rules therein. Dogs don't approach young puppies at all. They don't play with them, which usually involves bite training, or nipping. They don't sleep near them. They don't interact with them. They don't eat with them. They don't even look at them. When dogs think this boundary is broken, they don't pick and choose which rules to obey - they actually let all of them slide, because they're all the same rule. This creates some serious issues, sometimes causing more outspoken dogs to believe the child belongs to them, or that they must protect and inspect everything near the child. If a dog thinks a baby is their possession, there can often be few symptoms - but in every case of a dog biting a child, I guarantee the dog thought the baby was theirs. When dogs correct each other for behavioural mistakes, they nip the side of the neck, or the muzzle. On a human, the costs of this is often disastrous, because dogs don't understand that human skin is so sensitive unless they're trained to know. Dogs that own the baby try and correct them when they think the baby has infracted a rule, such as "We don't make noises that loud in the home", or "Hey, stop barking like that". They are honestly just trying to stop the child. When a dog is trying to kill something however, they grab the midsection, and shake. If this has happened, you will need to put your dog down.
-How Do We Change This?
Instead of letting your dog interact right away with the baby, it is incredibly important that the dog understand they're not to get within a few feet of the new baby. Let them see and smell from a distance, but never let them too close. It is critical that a dog think the baby's safety bubble is huge. This instills the understanding that babies are more powerful than you, and sets up the baby for a healthier relationship later on. Please note, putting your dog on a leash and just holding them back does absolutely nothing. Your dog must physically understand and obey the invisible bubble. You will need to correct them, sternly - not so stern that they become scared, but stern enough that they understand this rule is absolute. The dog must choose to obey this rule by themselves before they take it seriously. Keep this bubble rule until your child can sit up for a time, move their own head, and preferably, can say "no". Then you can start teaching the dog that when baby says no, it means no.
3. Leaving Dogs Alone With Toddlers/Babies
Whether your dog is awesome with your child or not, never leave a family pet alone with your child. Not even a ten year old. Just because behaviour is perfect doesn't mean they're safe alone. Most dogs think that when the human is gone, they are in charge - even if they are trained to know the baby is of higher power than they are. This is generally caused by a rule of association; child is of higher power when the adult is in the room. Most dogs assume this, because it is totally unnatural to a dog for a puppy to be in control. Even if your child is 12 years old and understands the rules perfectly, never leave a dog alone with a kid. Only if your child can look like an adult should you ever leave them alone. Please note, I am referring to a home being empty of humans, not just having you in another room.
-How To Accomplish Leaving Dogs And Kids Alone
Just like protection dogs and police dogs, babysitter dogs must also be trained. This can take months, and requires specialized training from a professional. While dogs used to be used to guard kids all the time even 20 years ago, these animals were trained to do so. Most farm dogs, like the pit bull or rottweiler, were strictly trained and understood full well what their job was. This training took many days, some of which entailed letting a child be put in real danger. In order to train your home pet to be alone with your child, you are going to need professional help - and not just any obedience trainer, you need someone who knows how to train a protection dog, because its essentially a low level of the same thing. the only difference is, instead of protecting a home or the handler, the dog must be trained a long list of rules surrounding the child, such as do not let the child outside, do not let the child on the road, do not let strangers near the child unless the human says so, do not let the child into the cupboards, do not let the child going for the knife drawer, bite anyone who touches the child when the human is not there, attack and kill all predators on the property, ect. Expecting an untrained dog to be around a child is not acceptable. It is also unacceptable to think a child under 5 or 6 can command your dog. You need to constantly back up your child and encourage your dog to obey, no matter what they are trying to do, even if that command overrides your own! It is critical that a dog believe they listen FIRST to your child, THEN to you. Address the conflicting behaviour with your child in private after.
Older Kids - 5 and up
1. Letting Children Have Different Rules Than Adults
Many families let the little things slide when it comes to kids and dogs. While if any adult picked your dog up in a way that makes them squirm or feel targeted, we often allow children to do so because its easier than reinforcing the rules. Many people let children play a little rougher, or degrade the dog in ways that an adult would never get away with, or change the rules such as the dog doesn't have to sit when the child feeds them. The list of little things goes on. The issue here is it essentially trains the dog to disrespect and ignore the child, that they don't need to take this human seriously. When you allow this, it doesn't just miraculously change with age - you're basically teaching the dog that they don't have to respect anyone else but you, and sometimes you teach them that all humans are to be ignored and disrespected. On the other hand, you can also be teaching the dog that humans are unstable, that commands don't always mean the same thing, which makes a dog frustrated and bored, causing many other unwanted behaviours to surface. Obviously, this is a very severe problem, and generally ends up in the humans blaming the dog and rehoming them, when the issue was caused by the owners themselves.
-How To Maintain Congruency And Equal Rules With Kids
I won't lie to you; this isn't going to be easy, or simple. At some point, you have to stop backing up your child's commands to the dog, and take their relationship to the next level. In order to do this, you have to back up your own rules. If its not acceptable, its not acceptable for everyone in the home. Guests, visitors, children, family - your rules cannot change, no matter who. Everyone, even strangers, need to follow the same rules. Don't let your kids dress your dog. Make sure they get the dog to sit and wait respectfully for food, and make sure your kids can hand feed them without issue. Most often, this stage takes a trainer to help you with - but that's okay. As your child ages, though, there gets a point where you cannot always be there to make your dog sit when the child says so. This requires a transition period, where you're within earshot, but the dog can't see you, or you're over 10 feet away which is outside of pack distance. When a child gives an order, wait to hear what happens. If you are properly using an e-collar for this stage, this is a good section to use it in. If your dog obeys, you can reward the dog with a good boy/good girl or a yes and treat. If they do not obey within a few seconds, offer a verbal correction, e-collar correction, or physical correction. Obviously, you will need to move quickly to offer the correction in time. Your dog will eventually understand that they have to listen directly to your child, not you after the child offers a command. Sooner or later, you will be able to let your child command the dog in the living room while you're making dinner. Please note; do not use an e-collar without the advice or training of a professional. Do not just place a collar on your dog and use it. DO NOT use an e-collar on a fearful or aggressive dog.
Have fun everyone and train that Ideal Companion!
Babies to Five Years
1) Bringing a newborn home, then changing all of the rules on the dog.
When a new life is brought into the pack permanently, most people start changing how the dog needs to behave; instilling rules like not going in to the baby's room, no more jumping on furniture, sleeping somewhere different, meal times change, walk time changes or totally stops - these are a fuel for disaster. When things suddenly change on a dog, they often become suspicious or guarded around what they think changed it all. In most cases, they're able to instantly detect that its because of the baby that triggered the rule changes. Some dogs become defensive; growling at or shying away from the new baby. Some dogs become alert; barking at every sound, smelling and detecting everything that goes near the baby. Some dogs become dominant, and think they own the baby now, causing tension in the home when anyone new tries to touch the baby. Some dogs accept the baby as a pack leader, and become better dogs all around because the baby is a new pack leader. In whichever case, except the last one, the balance is off, and caused by humans changing rules right when the baby comes home.
-How Do We Change This?
If you do need to change things up, be it room access rules, walking time changes, new behaviors, or even association with the baby being more powerful than they are, these new rules need to happen way in advance. As soon as you are sure there is a baby entering your life, way back in the beginning, things need to shift. One thing at a time, however, and slowly. If you are readying a baby room, teach your dog that they don't enter as soon as the room's look physically changes. If you're pulling the carpet or changing the paint color, let that be the new signal to your dog that they can't enter that room, or not enter without permission. This will cause your dog to associate the rule change with the room physically changing, not the baby. Once they have that flawlessly, you can move on to the next change - be it new feed time, new walk time, or whichever. Please note, you cannot cut out your dog's exercise completely, and don't do it at night time - this will be totally pointless exercise. Later at night is closer to bed time, and then dogs sleep, and gain more energy overnight, then to wake up and wait all day to walk, causes severe behavioural problems. We highly recommend taking a walk after your baby's first nap, so the baby can be involved in the dog's walk, too.
2. Allowing Your Dog Near Other Babies Or To Smell Yours Immediately
When a female dog has puppies, she isolates herself from the entire pack, and protects the puppies until they're old enough to come out and play. They are highly protective, and are liable to bite, charge, or otherwise kill anything that comes near the puppies. While this isn't logical behaviour for a human to enact over a newborn, it is incredibly important that a similar stance be taken. Letting a dog invade a baby's personal space, be it someone else's or your own, creates the assumption that they can be in the personal space of the baby. While this might seem harmless, it creates the ability for your dog to ignore what I call "puppy protocol". When this occurs, the dog thinks "I don't have to use puppy protocol with human puppies. GREAT!" but that also entails all of the ingrained rules therein. Dogs don't approach young puppies at all. They don't play with them, which usually involves bite training, or nipping. They don't sleep near them. They don't interact with them. They don't eat with them. They don't even look at them. When dogs think this boundary is broken, they don't pick and choose which rules to obey - they actually let all of them slide, because they're all the same rule. This creates some serious issues, sometimes causing more outspoken dogs to believe the child belongs to them, or that they must protect and inspect everything near the child. If a dog thinks a baby is their possession, there can often be few symptoms - but in every case of a dog biting a child, I guarantee the dog thought the baby was theirs. When dogs correct each other for behavioural mistakes, they nip the side of the neck, or the muzzle. On a human, the costs of this is often disastrous, because dogs don't understand that human skin is so sensitive unless they're trained to know. Dogs that own the baby try and correct them when they think the baby has infracted a rule, such as "We don't make noises that loud in the home", or "Hey, stop barking like that". They are honestly just trying to stop the child. When a dog is trying to kill something however, they grab the midsection, and shake. If this has happened, you will need to put your dog down.
-How Do We Change This?
Instead of letting your dog interact right away with the baby, it is incredibly important that the dog understand they're not to get within a few feet of the new baby. Let them see and smell from a distance, but never let them too close. It is critical that a dog think the baby's safety bubble is huge. This instills the understanding that babies are more powerful than you, and sets up the baby for a healthier relationship later on. Please note, putting your dog on a leash and just holding them back does absolutely nothing. Your dog must physically understand and obey the invisible bubble. You will need to correct them, sternly - not so stern that they become scared, but stern enough that they understand this rule is absolute. The dog must choose to obey this rule by themselves before they take it seriously. Keep this bubble rule until your child can sit up for a time, move their own head, and preferably, can say "no". Then you can start teaching the dog that when baby says no, it means no.
3. Leaving Dogs Alone With Toddlers/Babies
Whether your dog is awesome with your child or not, never leave a family pet alone with your child. Not even a ten year old. Just because behaviour is perfect doesn't mean they're safe alone. Most dogs think that when the human is gone, they are in charge - even if they are trained to know the baby is of higher power than they are. This is generally caused by a rule of association; child is of higher power when the adult is in the room. Most dogs assume this, because it is totally unnatural to a dog for a puppy to be in control. Even if your child is 12 years old and understands the rules perfectly, never leave a dog alone with a kid. Only if your child can look like an adult should you ever leave them alone. Please note, I am referring to a home being empty of humans, not just having you in another room.
-How To Accomplish Leaving Dogs And Kids Alone
Just like protection dogs and police dogs, babysitter dogs must also be trained. This can take months, and requires specialized training from a professional. While dogs used to be used to guard kids all the time even 20 years ago, these animals were trained to do so. Most farm dogs, like the pit bull or rottweiler, were strictly trained and understood full well what their job was. This training took many days, some of which entailed letting a child be put in real danger. In order to train your home pet to be alone with your child, you are going to need professional help - and not just any obedience trainer, you need someone who knows how to train a protection dog, because its essentially a low level of the same thing. the only difference is, instead of protecting a home or the handler, the dog must be trained a long list of rules surrounding the child, such as do not let the child outside, do not let the child on the road, do not let strangers near the child unless the human says so, do not let the child into the cupboards, do not let the child going for the knife drawer, bite anyone who touches the child when the human is not there, attack and kill all predators on the property, ect. Expecting an untrained dog to be around a child is not acceptable. It is also unacceptable to think a child under 5 or 6 can command your dog. You need to constantly back up your child and encourage your dog to obey, no matter what they are trying to do, even if that command overrides your own! It is critical that a dog believe they listen FIRST to your child, THEN to you. Address the conflicting behaviour with your child in private after.
Older Kids - 5 and up
1. Letting Children Have Different Rules Than Adults
Many families let the little things slide when it comes to kids and dogs. While if any adult picked your dog up in a way that makes them squirm or feel targeted, we often allow children to do so because its easier than reinforcing the rules. Many people let children play a little rougher, or degrade the dog in ways that an adult would never get away with, or change the rules such as the dog doesn't have to sit when the child feeds them. The list of little things goes on. The issue here is it essentially trains the dog to disrespect and ignore the child, that they don't need to take this human seriously. When you allow this, it doesn't just miraculously change with age - you're basically teaching the dog that they don't have to respect anyone else but you, and sometimes you teach them that all humans are to be ignored and disrespected. On the other hand, you can also be teaching the dog that humans are unstable, that commands don't always mean the same thing, which makes a dog frustrated and bored, causing many other unwanted behaviours to surface. Obviously, this is a very severe problem, and generally ends up in the humans blaming the dog and rehoming them, when the issue was caused by the owners themselves.
-How To Maintain Congruency And Equal Rules With Kids
I won't lie to you; this isn't going to be easy, or simple. At some point, you have to stop backing up your child's commands to the dog, and take their relationship to the next level. In order to do this, you have to back up your own rules. If its not acceptable, its not acceptable for everyone in the home. Guests, visitors, children, family - your rules cannot change, no matter who. Everyone, even strangers, need to follow the same rules. Don't let your kids dress your dog. Make sure they get the dog to sit and wait respectfully for food, and make sure your kids can hand feed them without issue. Most often, this stage takes a trainer to help you with - but that's okay. As your child ages, though, there gets a point where you cannot always be there to make your dog sit when the child says so. This requires a transition period, where you're within earshot, but the dog can't see you, or you're over 10 feet away which is outside of pack distance. When a child gives an order, wait to hear what happens. If you are properly using an e-collar for this stage, this is a good section to use it in. If your dog obeys, you can reward the dog with a good boy/good girl or a yes and treat. If they do not obey within a few seconds, offer a verbal correction, e-collar correction, or physical correction. Obviously, you will need to move quickly to offer the correction in time. Your dog will eventually understand that they have to listen directly to your child, not you after the child offers a command. Sooner or later, you will be able to let your child command the dog in the living room while you're making dinner. Please note; do not use an e-collar without the advice or training of a professional. Do not just place a collar on your dog and use it. DO NOT use an e-collar on a fearful or aggressive dog.
Have fun everyone and train that Ideal Companion!
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Top Training Myths - Blog Sixteen
Today we are tackling the most common and inaccurate training myths that we've seen floating around Vancouver Island. These are not specific to any one owner, trainer, or breed, but we've seen them everywhere.
1) You cannot leash correct a dog/Leash corrections do not work
This we have heard all over the place and is indicative of an owner or trainer that just doesn't understand how to employ them properly. While they are difficult to master, time, and use appropriately, when this technique is properly mastered, there is nothing that works faster, more effectively, and more humanely than the leash correction. Most often, when leash corrections aren't working for a trainer or owner, its usually because of one or more of a few important things.
i) The collar is in the wrong position for the pet to properly feel the correction and understand what it means - the collar should sit immediately behind the ears, as high up the neck as physically possible, and not at the base of the neck where most collars sit.
ii) The leash correction was not perfectly timed. If you miss the correction by even half a second, the impact is lessened. If you miss it by a full second, you've just pulled the dog around a bit.
iii) The leash correction was not strong enough to correct the behaviour. The energy behind your leash correction should exceed the unwanted behaviour by a little bit - not too much, but most definitely not too weak.
iv) The leash correction was pulled in the wrong direction. Most people try and correct a dog by pulling straight up (called a hydraulic jerk; very dangerous and harmful to the dog and their neck), or straight back (which just pulls the dog about). A leash correction should always be pulled sideways, always in front of your body so the dog is brought off balance to look up at you.
Leash corrections should only ever be used to break the line of concentration of the pet, bring them slightly off balance, and be forced to look at you the owner for further guidance. Now, we should mention what a leash correction IS NOT. It is not meant to communicate anger, frustration, or be used as a tool to punish your dog. It is not a means to harm or damage your dog. It is not meant to change or address behaviour. Let me say that again; IT IS NOT MEANT TO CHANGE OR ADDRESS BEHAVIOUR! Too many trainers believe a leash correction will "fix" a behaviour; it does not. It is meant ONLY to snap the dog's thoughts away from what it is doing and back on to you, the trainer, so you can further give instruction. It is NOT a means to communicate what they are doing is wrong! Moving forward after a leash correction is properly employed signals to your dog to carry on - this os what you want.
There are other means to correct a dog without a leash - and these are all far more impactful on the dog, such as a foot or tap correction (please read, not a kick, not a hit, not a strike; just a simple push to catch attention and bring off balance. These should only ever be used if a proper leash correction is ignored, or if a leash correction is not safe or possible (such as a dog standing on a bench, near a walkway edge with a fall, ect.)
2) To rehabilitate a dog, you need to first establish dominance.
Absolutely not accurate. With all dogs, no matter the cause of the behaviour, it is far more important for a dog to trust and respect you before anything else. Sure, any trainer can waltz straight in, dominate your dog, and effect change - but this is not happening out of a desire to please, this is out of a lack of choice on your dog's part, and the dog will honestly only learn to change out of force, not out of love, and many pets can regress to old habits as soon as the trainer is gone. The first and foremost important basis for changing a dog's behaviour is a strong relationship and trust between dog and owner, owner and trainer, and dog and trainer. It is absolutely unacceptable for any trainer to affect change in a dog through tools or dominance without earning the relationship and respect they so desire and require. Please note, trust and relationship cannot happen simply through treats; while bribery can help a dog to trust in certain situations, beware of the trainer that cannot get your dog to respect them without treats! Most dogs are taught through life that treats are positive, but it is totally unnatural to the dog to understand the concept of treats like we do. If a dog does not trust the owner, then no real change of mind can happen.
3) Tools are essential to training or rehabilitating a dog.
If any trainer tries to tell you that a dog cannot be trained without a specific tool, fire them. While better equipment is always important (better collars, leashes, crates, ect), no trainer should rely on a physical object to train a dog. Do not trust ANY trainer that has to use a physical object before they train your pet, such as a stick, tennis racket, muzzle for any reason besides the safety of other dogs or strangers, or any physical device to control or correct a dog, such as a prong or e-collar. These items being used immediately are indicative of a trainer with limited or no real experience and could possibly be a victim of improper mentoring or training themselves. Any trainer worth their creed can show up to a client's home with nothing extra (including treats) and still help rehabilitate or train a dog. While a trainer's toolbox SHOULD include safe treats, a muzzle, a leash or two, water dishes, and toys, no trainer should ever have to use a tool specifically to "control" your pet. If a trainer is rehabilitating your dog, whether its for something minor or even red zone aggression, no trainer should ever use tools like the above! A prong or e-collar should only ever be used on properly trained, acclimated, balanced dogs with a solid relationship with their owner. Any barrier items like a stick, tennis racket, or other blocking items should never ever be used on a dog of any behaviour. These items are a form of abuse and should be a major warning to you. That being said, if a trainer uses a tennis racket to prevent a bite or strike on someone when attempting to provoke behaviour, this is different.
4) Dogs that obey for treats are well trained.
Unfortunately, this is the farthest thing from the truth. When a trainer or owner has to use treats to elicit a behaviour, you are the one that's been trained! While treats are important with new dogs, puppies, and beginning to establish relationships with a dog, they should only ever be used to create interest and a bond with the trainer - not become the focus of training. Dogs don't understand the concept of operating behavior for a food reward - this is taught to them at a young age, just like the "social" concept of greeting other dogs is taught to them and is not natural. When we teach a dog that they get rewards for acting a certain way or offering a certain behaviour, if employed improperly, they think they should always get it, and often refuse to listen unless they're guaranteed to have a treat. They can even show excitement for the treat, which is another sign THEY have trained YOU. They have learned to make you more interested in giving them the treat if they offer excitement. If you simply cannot get a dog to listen with enthusiasm without a treat, then they're not trained - they've trained you.
5) Hyper dogs need longer walks.
Dogs that have too much energy or are too hyper do need more exercise, but that isn't the root of the problem. When dogs have too much energy, they can act out, become frustrated, or try and burn it out themselves by becoming hyper. All three of these issues are because of one root problem - they are bored! Bored dogs can't communicate to us that they need to use their minds - they just adapt the best they can, and most often, that ends up being displayed in unwanted behaviours. This is an excellent time to teach your dog something new, perfect other learned behaviours, or play games like fetch, tug, or water retrieve. You can even take your dog to a playground and teach them to climb all over the equipment, provided there are no children around. This is not, however, a good time to use treats or food rewards, because this will increase excitement and increase boredom, though it might seem like the opposite! Treats should be used to teach new behaviours, but only if they won't work for affection or play time.
6) A wagging tail means happy.
Not really. A wagging tail is used as a level of intensity. It can mean happy, but only if its slow and relaxed. When a tail is moving quickly, it's an indication of a high level of emotion - in the case of happiness, it means a high level of excitement. If the whole back end is going too, this means your dog is level ten in excitement - and this should be corrected or ignored. Just as you wouldn't tolerate a dog being a level ten in aggression, or fear, the same should be said for excitement. While with humans, excitement is a normal and positive emotion, for dogs, it means they are unbalanced - like a washing machine with a leg too short. If you acknowledge or reward this unbalance, they will think it's acceptable - and can often get worse, creating behaviours like destruction, separation anxiety (more accurately called mommy syndrome or role reversal), or even aggression. While it might be cute, it is unhealthy, and should be seen as a sign that your dog is going too far.
7) Aggression issues are all caused by bad training should be dominated out.
Not always. There are the rare cases of pure aggression from lack of training, but most often its not as simple as that. When true aggression happens, while it is extremely rare, is indeed caused by bad training - usually from a trainer that meant well, but really didn't understand dogs the way they should. These cases are about as rare as they come in regard to aggression. Most aggression cases are actually fear cases, or frustration cases. When a dog is scared of something, or in some cases everything, they have only a couple choices. The most common is flight - the desire to flee from whatever is scary. These cases are easy to mark. They can also become avoiding, and chose to totally ignore whatever is scaring them, until it becomes too much - which can often be the case. Avoidance always leads to flight, or the final choice, fight. Fearful dogs that think they are supposed to be in control often turn to aggression to scare off or fake out the scary thing. These displays are usually violent in appearance, loud, and showy, but very rarely is there a bite. The second most common occurrence, frustration, is caused by a need that isn't being fulfilled properly. Dogs have a few main needs; the need for physical, mental, and traveling exercise; the need to hunt and kill; the need to play and relax; the need to sleep; the need to eat; the need to feel balanced and not in control; the need to be with humans; and the need to feel safe at all times. When one of these become out of whack and unfulfilled, these dogs often become frustrated because they have no way to let off the energy, and no way to communicate with the owner what they need - so they become mad. In order to properly fix these issues, no matter what kind of aggression it is, the relationship needs to be repaired. Unless the dog is biting a human on an active basis, dominance won't help anything. In fact, dominating a dog usually results in the behaviour getting far worse - this is because there is no relationship and no respect. Dominance is important, but not if it is aggressive, and never ever before a relationship is repaired.
8) This dog doesn't understand what I am teaching, they are just "dumb".
We run across this assumption every day - and usually, these dogs are the smartest, most operant dogs we've come across. They are often easy to train, and master new abilities very fast. Usually, the cause of this thought is because of one of three things. Sometimes, the owner isn't training in a way the dog needs it to be because its either too complex or not in their language, sometimes the owner and dog have a dysfunction in their relationship and it's affecting trainability, and other times, the dog just isn't being motivated. Some dogs need a new skill broken down or communicated differently; they don't always understand a skill as quickly as other dogs might. This is an intelligence thing, but it doesn't mean they're dumb. Sometimes, a dog needs to master sit before they can even understand lay down, and that's okay - it just takes slowing down, breaking it up, and making sure that you're trying to teach it with different ideas. Some dogs know perfectly well what you want, and couldn't care less. Some dogs might not choose to obey, because they know you won't make them or that you don't really mean it. Sometimes, a dog chooses not to obey because the owner overcorrects when the dog makes a mistake, and they think they can't do anything right, so they won't bother at all. All of these are due to a dysfunction in the relationship and the owner should consider rebuilding a healthier relationship. Sometimes, when a dog is just not listening, they might not want to listen because there's nothing in it for them. We find this most often in breeds that have low pack drive, and dogs that have been treat trained improperly. If this is the case, it's time to reboot training from the beginning (like 6 week old puppy beginning) and try it differently!
Hopefully this has helped clear up some of the myths floating around. Did you buy in to any of them?
1) You cannot leash correct a dog/Leash corrections do not work
This we have heard all over the place and is indicative of an owner or trainer that just doesn't understand how to employ them properly. While they are difficult to master, time, and use appropriately, when this technique is properly mastered, there is nothing that works faster, more effectively, and more humanely than the leash correction. Most often, when leash corrections aren't working for a trainer or owner, its usually because of one or more of a few important things.
i) The collar is in the wrong position for the pet to properly feel the correction and understand what it means - the collar should sit immediately behind the ears, as high up the neck as physically possible, and not at the base of the neck where most collars sit.
ii) The leash correction was not perfectly timed. If you miss the correction by even half a second, the impact is lessened. If you miss it by a full second, you've just pulled the dog around a bit.
iii) The leash correction was not strong enough to correct the behaviour. The energy behind your leash correction should exceed the unwanted behaviour by a little bit - not too much, but most definitely not too weak.
iv) The leash correction was pulled in the wrong direction. Most people try and correct a dog by pulling straight up (called a hydraulic jerk; very dangerous and harmful to the dog and their neck), or straight back (which just pulls the dog about). A leash correction should always be pulled sideways, always in front of your body so the dog is brought off balance to look up at you.
Leash corrections should only ever be used to break the line of concentration of the pet, bring them slightly off balance, and be forced to look at you the owner for further guidance. Now, we should mention what a leash correction IS NOT. It is not meant to communicate anger, frustration, or be used as a tool to punish your dog. It is not a means to harm or damage your dog. It is not meant to change or address behaviour. Let me say that again; IT IS NOT MEANT TO CHANGE OR ADDRESS BEHAVIOUR! Too many trainers believe a leash correction will "fix" a behaviour; it does not. It is meant ONLY to snap the dog's thoughts away from what it is doing and back on to you, the trainer, so you can further give instruction. It is NOT a means to communicate what they are doing is wrong! Moving forward after a leash correction is properly employed signals to your dog to carry on - this os what you want.
There are other means to correct a dog without a leash - and these are all far more impactful on the dog, such as a foot or tap correction (please read, not a kick, not a hit, not a strike; just a simple push to catch attention and bring off balance. These should only ever be used if a proper leash correction is ignored, or if a leash correction is not safe or possible (such as a dog standing on a bench, near a walkway edge with a fall, ect.)
2) To rehabilitate a dog, you need to first establish dominance.
Absolutely not accurate. With all dogs, no matter the cause of the behaviour, it is far more important for a dog to trust and respect you before anything else. Sure, any trainer can waltz straight in, dominate your dog, and effect change - but this is not happening out of a desire to please, this is out of a lack of choice on your dog's part, and the dog will honestly only learn to change out of force, not out of love, and many pets can regress to old habits as soon as the trainer is gone. The first and foremost important basis for changing a dog's behaviour is a strong relationship and trust between dog and owner, owner and trainer, and dog and trainer. It is absolutely unacceptable for any trainer to affect change in a dog through tools or dominance without earning the relationship and respect they so desire and require. Please note, trust and relationship cannot happen simply through treats; while bribery can help a dog to trust in certain situations, beware of the trainer that cannot get your dog to respect them without treats! Most dogs are taught through life that treats are positive, but it is totally unnatural to the dog to understand the concept of treats like we do. If a dog does not trust the owner, then no real change of mind can happen.
3) Tools are essential to training or rehabilitating a dog.
If any trainer tries to tell you that a dog cannot be trained without a specific tool, fire them. While better equipment is always important (better collars, leashes, crates, ect), no trainer should rely on a physical object to train a dog. Do not trust ANY trainer that has to use a physical object before they train your pet, such as a stick, tennis racket, muzzle for any reason besides the safety of other dogs or strangers, or any physical device to control or correct a dog, such as a prong or e-collar. These items being used immediately are indicative of a trainer with limited or no real experience and could possibly be a victim of improper mentoring or training themselves. Any trainer worth their creed can show up to a client's home with nothing extra (including treats) and still help rehabilitate or train a dog. While a trainer's toolbox SHOULD include safe treats, a muzzle, a leash or two, water dishes, and toys, no trainer should ever have to use a tool specifically to "control" your pet. If a trainer is rehabilitating your dog, whether its for something minor or even red zone aggression, no trainer should ever use tools like the above! A prong or e-collar should only ever be used on properly trained, acclimated, balanced dogs with a solid relationship with their owner. Any barrier items like a stick, tennis racket, or other blocking items should never ever be used on a dog of any behaviour. These items are a form of abuse and should be a major warning to you. That being said, if a trainer uses a tennis racket to prevent a bite or strike on someone when attempting to provoke behaviour, this is different.
4) Dogs that obey for treats are well trained.
Unfortunately, this is the farthest thing from the truth. When a trainer or owner has to use treats to elicit a behaviour, you are the one that's been trained! While treats are important with new dogs, puppies, and beginning to establish relationships with a dog, they should only ever be used to create interest and a bond with the trainer - not become the focus of training. Dogs don't understand the concept of operating behavior for a food reward - this is taught to them at a young age, just like the "social" concept of greeting other dogs is taught to them and is not natural. When we teach a dog that they get rewards for acting a certain way or offering a certain behaviour, if employed improperly, they think they should always get it, and often refuse to listen unless they're guaranteed to have a treat. They can even show excitement for the treat, which is another sign THEY have trained YOU. They have learned to make you more interested in giving them the treat if they offer excitement. If you simply cannot get a dog to listen with enthusiasm without a treat, then they're not trained - they've trained you.
5) Hyper dogs need longer walks.
Dogs that have too much energy or are too hyper do need more exercise, but that isn't the root of the problem. When dogs have too much energy, they can act out, become frustrated, or try and burn it out themselves by becoming hyper. All three of these issues are because of one root problem - they are bored! Bored dogs can't communicate to us that they need to use their minds - they just adapt the best they can, and most often, that ends up being displayed in unwanted behaviours. This is an excellent time to teach your dog something new, perfect other learned behaviours, or play games like fetch, tug, or water retrieve. You can even take your dog to a playground and teach them to climb all over the equipment, provided there are no children around. This is not, however, a good time to use treats or food rewards, because this will increase excitement and increase boredom, though it might seem like the opposite! Treats should be used to teach new behaviours, but only if they won't work for affection or play time.
6) A wagging tail means happy.
Not really. A wagging tail is used as a level of intensity. It can mean happy, but only if its slow and relaxed. When a tail is moving quickly, it's an indication of a high level of emotion - in the case of happiness, it means a high level of excitement. If the whole back end is going too, this means your dog is level ten in excitement - and this should be corrected or ignored. Just as you wouldn't tolerate a dog being a level ten in aggression, or fear, the same should be said for excitement. While with humans, excitement is a normal and positive emotion, for dogs, it means they are unbalanced - like a washing machine with a leg too short. If you acknowledge or reward this unbalance, they will think it's acceptable - and can often get worse, creating behaviours like destruction, separation anxiety (more accurately called mommy syndrome or role reversal), or even aggression. While it might be cute, it is unhealthy, and should be seen as a sign that your dog is going too far.
7) Aggression issues are all caused by bad training should be dominated out.
Not always. There are the rare cases of pure aggression from lack of training, but most often its not as simple as that. When true aggression happens, while it is extremely rare, is indeed caused by bad training - usually from a trainer that meant well, but really didn't understand dogs the way they should. These cases are about as rare as they come in regard to aggression. Most aggression cases are actually fear cases, or frustration cases. When a dog is scared of something, or in some cases everything, they have only a couple choices. The most common is flight - the desire to flee from whatever is scary. These cases are easy to mark. They can also become avoiding, and chose to totally ignore whatever is scaring them, until it becomes too much - which can often be the case. Avoidance always leads to flight, or the final choice, fight. Fearful dogs that think they are supposed to be in control often turn to aggression to scare off or fake out the scary thing. These displays are usually violent in appearance, loud, and showy, but very rarely is there a bite. The second most common occurrence, frustration, is caused by a need that isn't being fulfilled properly. Dogs have a few main needs; the need for physical, mental, and traveling exercise; the need to hunt and kill; the need to play and relax; the need to sleep; the need to eat; the need to feel balanced and not in control; the need to be with humans; and the need to feel safe at all times. When one of these become out of whack and unfulfilled, these dogs often become frustrated because they have no way to let off the energy, and no way to communicate with the owner what they need - so they become mad. In order to properly fix these issues, no matter what kind of aggression it is, the relationship needs to be repaired. Unless the dog is biting a human on an active basis, dominance won't help anything. In fact, dominating a dog usually results in the behaviour getting far worse - this is because there is no relationship and no respect. Dominance is important, but not if it is aggressive, and never ever before a relationship is repaired.
8) This dog doesn't understand what I am teaching, they are just "dumb".
We run across this assumption every day - and usually, these dogs are the smartest, most operant dogs we've come across. They are often easy to train, and master new abilities very fast. Usually, the cause of this thought is because of one of three things. Sometimes, the owner isn't training in a way the dog needs it to be because its either too complex or not in their language, sometimes the owner and dog have a dysfunction in their relationship and it's affecting trainability, and other times, the dog just isn't being motivated. Some dogs need a new skill broken down or communicated differently; they don't always understand a skill as quickly as other dogs might. This is an intelligence thing, but it doesn't mean they're dumb. Sometimes, a dog needs to master sit before they can even understand lay down, and that's okay - it just takes slowing down, breaking it up, and making sure that you're trying to teach it with different ideas. Some dogs know perfectly well what you want, and couldn't care less. Some dogs might not choose to obey, because they know you won't make them or that you don't really mean it. Sometimes, a dog chooses not to obey because the owner overcorrects when the dog makes a mistake, and they think they can't do anything right, so they won't bother at all. All of these are due to a dysfunction in the relationship and the owner should consider rebuilding a healthier relationship. Sometimes, when a dog is just not listening, they might not want to listen because there's nothing in it for them. We find this most often in breeds that have low pack drive, and dogs that have been treat trained improperly. If this is the case, it's time to reboot training from the beginning (like 6 week old puppy beginning) and try it differently!
Hopefully this has helped clear up some of the myths floating around. Did you buy in to any of them?
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