A very hard day.

When we watch dog trainers on television we often think, "Oh what a great job! They must be living the dream." Well, for the most part that would be correct. No one can, or would, stay in this line of work unless they have an great passion for dogs. And to be able to be working with your passion is fantastic. This passion is not a slobbering smooching kind of passion but a deep respect and compassion for our four legged friends. I guess where I am heading with this is that it is not always like you see it on television. Some days, and some dogs, bring us lost sleep, lack of appetite and wondering what has gone wrong.

One of my teachers in this profession told me never to let your guard down around dogs with an aggressive history. That is impossible to do all of the time but luckily for me I do it most of the time. Today I was very glad I did.

I am working with a dog now that is people and dog aggressive. After bonding with him for two weeks we were out for our training session today and he became frustrated and came up the leash at me. I only received a glancing bite but that was luck combined with knowledge of how to handle the situation.

The hardest part of this day was not in getting back on a good footing with the dog. The hardest part of this day was the setback and the gnawing feeling that maybe this dog is beyond being helped. Maybe he is hardwired to be aggressive. Maybe not. Dog trainers are a idealist lot. We think we can help all the dogs that cross our path. I hope I can. I may be his last chance and that is really the hardest part of this day.

Tomorrow is a new day. Maybe the breakthrough will come then. If it does it won't be on t.v.

Train with your dog, not at your dog.

There are a few things dog trainers hear more than others:
“He knows better”
“She’s being stubborn”
“How do I get my dog to stop (digging, barking, etc.)?
“What is the best way to punish my dog?” Very rarely is it, “What is the best way to reward my dog?” Ask yourself which way you would have asked it.

Sometimes I think, “Gee, are you really sure you wanted a dog?"

It is not the dogs’ fault that you have not trained him properly. It is of no use to get mad at your dog because your dog does not understand English, or whatever language you speak to her in. You will get much more out of your training, and the relationship you have with your dog, if you don’t make training adversarial.

One of the things we need to come to grips with for our training to become better is to get over the notion that our dog respects the fact that we are human. They have no natural respect for humans and it has to be earned and it will not be given just because we expect it or because we walk on two legs.

Dealing with your dog as an adversary, instead of being a training partner, will set both of you up to fail. You don’t like failure and neither does your dog. When you call your dog to come, and she does not, we take it personally and blame the dog for our failure. We wonder how the dog would dare not obey the command of the king, or queen, of the household kingdom. How dare they?! I am going to guess that you got your dog because you wanted a friend who would give you unconditional love. Not because you wanted someone around who would obey your every command no matter whether they understand what you want or not.

It does not have to be this way. Your dog does loves you and looks forward to your coming home so that you might have wonderful moments together everyday. Work with her so that the line of communication becomes a two-way street. Your dog will listen to you, and you need to listen to her. If you take your time to teach your dog what you want when you say something, and are consistent about what you want, your dog will meet you more than halfway. Your dog only fails to comply with your requests because they don’t understand what you want, not because they want to blow you off, or “they know better.” Dogs are not born knowing what we want them to do. They don’t know how we want them to behave in our home and they don’t understand any language on earth except woof. What dogs can do is read us very well. They do it better than any other animal on the planet including humans.

Your dog needs to be trained to understand what behavior you are looking for and not just be scolded for doing the behavior you do not want. Just think about how difficult it would have been for you to learn that 4x4=16 if you weren’t taught math and just scolded every time you got the answer wrong. You might have gotten there eventually but it would have taken a long, long time and been very frustrating and chances are you would have been resentful about it.

There are two things that you have going in your favor when it comes to dog training.
1) Your dog wants to please you.
2) You are smarter than your dog.
If you can’t figure out how to train and manage your dogs behavior how in the heck do you expect him to do it?
Give your dog a break. A little patient training from you will go a long way to keeping the two of you happy together for a long time. Just remember that you did not learn to drive before you learned to start the car. Your dog training should use that approach as well.

Shelter Dogs - they are not born to be one, they are made to be one

All of the dogs that you see in shelters were once normal puppy's who were eager to learn, and live in harmony with people and other dogs. The overriding reason that dogs are taken to shelters and dropped off are because of behavior issues. Far too often I meet someone with a new puppy and see a horrible future in store for the puppy because of the things I see the owner do, or not do.

The lack of training, or improper ineffective training techniques used will lead to predictable, preventable, behavior and temperment problems. It is your job to raise your puppy correctly, not your puppy's job to figure out how to be the good little doggie that you want. You MUST train them to become the dog you envision. Instead of making another shelter dog, learn how to train your puppy so you are both happy in the home forever. The time to save a dog from the shelter is when they are a puppy.