Sibling Rivalry Solved!

Bogie and Atty are Terrier mixes, and litter-mates, who, at one year old, began to have knock-down, drag-out fights with one another. The situation became so bad that on a few occasions they would bite their family members when they were trying to break them up. Atty caused an injury to Bogie once that was so severe that he had to be taken to the vet. Bogie also developed fear issues towards other dogs and would bark and carry on his walks at the sight or even hint of another dog. One of their biggest issues was the unpredictable nature of the fights. They would seemingly be okay for a bit, and then suddenly a huge fight would begin. (They also had typical behavior issues like jumping on guests, charging the door when company would come, leash pulling, etc, etc)

Their family consulted and worked with a trainer who could not achieve any positive results in their dog's behavior, (though they did learn to sit nicely for treats) and they were told that they would likely have to keep the dogs separated and managed for the rest of their lives. When I met the family, who live in the Peninsula area of the Bay Area (though I live in San Francisco, I work with dogs and their families throughout the Bay Area and beyond) their home was a maze of baby gates, and rotating dog schedules. They were on the verge of making the difficult decision of having to give up one or both of their dogs.

I don't take a "management" approach to training as you'll notice if you've read back in this blog. Many of my clients come to me after seeing other trainers or "behaviorists" and are given all kinds of creative tricks to manage their dogs inappropriate behavior, but are never given the tools to make changes. (Like the dog who would be aggressive at the front door… the "behaviorist's" solution was to tie the dog up across the room when they were expecting someone… now he couldn't charge the door anymore!) My first order of business with Bogie and Atty, was to take down the baby gates and give the humans their house back.

We set some boundaries for Atty and Bogie, and re-established some leadership roles in the family (I know, sounds "Cesar-ish"…. Sorry, I don't like sounding that way either…) while working on making Bogie and Atty's behavior completely predictable. Gradually, as Bogie and Atty began to respond to the training, and their family became more skilled at handling them, we began to trust them together more. At the same time, we began to work with them around other dogs, which had always been a problem. Over time, both dogs became comfortable not only each other, but with other dogs on their walks. Our last lesson, in-fact, was a pleasant walk (well, it was pretty windy) at Ft. Funston with both dogs greeting other dogs off-leash.

I received this photo and a note saying that "Bogie and Atty are great buddies now" in my email last night.

Now if this only worked with human sibling rivalry!

The Return of Gremlin!

I have been feeling guilty about not posting a new entry in a while. Just busy with work, some travel and family, but I received a nice email today from a family I worked with several years ago, and thought I'd post it here.


"Hi John!

We haven't been in touch for a really long time, but we think of you quite often. Gremlin, who is now almost 5 years old, would not still be with us if it weren't for you and how well you trained *us*. :-)

I think he was a year old when you first came and met him. He was afraid, aggressive, and a big challenge for us. Having people in our home was stressful because we hadn't established good communication with Gremlin.

We think of you often because Gremlin is so different now! We have learned so much from our life with him and he is such a happy guy. We have good communication with him: he listens well, follows commands and is so much more relaxed knowing where he fits into the family. He *loves* house guest and parties ... and friends who had encouraged us to get rid of him are now some of his best human friends.

Not every day is perfect, but we continue to learn that the calmer we are the calmer and more safe he feels. Max and Gremlin are inseparable as well. They watch out for each other, wrestle, play. It's so fun!



I've attached some very recent pictures. (One from our trip to the vet today.)






Thanks again. You have changed our lives and perspective on life in general.

We are forever grateful,

Heather, David, Max , & Gremlin"

EuroDogs

I just returned from a visit to my family in Holland. It was a whirlwind trip with every day filled with family visits, food, pubs, festivals and lots of fun! I miss everyone already..., my family and my friends, both old and new.

Holland is an extremely dog-friendly country, like most of Europe is, and every time I visit I can't help but be struck first by how many dogs are in the restaurants, pubs, train stations and just out on the street. And second, as a dog trainer, of course the next thing I notice is how well behaved all of these dogs are. In Amsterdam, an incredibly densely populated city where it seems you have to grow eyes in the back of your head to avoid being run over by either a car, tram or one of the thousands of speeding bicycles, I saw many dogs walking calmly with their people, sitting at café's or waiting on islands in the middle of the road for trams.

On my last visit I thought to myself, "wow, they must really have great dog trainers here to have such well-behaved dogs" and I looked in the phone book and online to find and talk to some of them, and amazingly I was only able to find a few. The most experienced one I located on that trip met me for coffee one afternoon and we shared stories about some of the dogs we work with. As we spoke on that trip a few years back, it became apparent to me rather quickly that the typical dog trainer in Holland didn't work with anywhere near the number or severity of behavior problems I work with here in the United States.

I shared with him a bit about my work here in the US and how most of my clients have worked with other trainers, and I talked about the specific training methods that I see used with these dogs before I meet them and it became apparent that the concept of "purely positive" dog training was one that hadn't caught on in Holland up to that point. Granted, this trainer employed a watered-down style of training similar to what I used to use in the military, similar to what you see "The Dog Whisperer" using on television, and one that I outgrew more than a decade ago, the approach the Dutch take with their dogs seems to work. Both on my last trip and this recent one, short of seeing a few dogs pulling on their leashes, I didn't see one aggressive dog, not one dog barking in the window at all the noise outside, not one dog barking at another, and not one dog in a café or in elsewhere in public misbehaving in any way.

Considering the fact that there are hardly any professional dog trainers in a city like Amsterdam, with a population of over 700,000, more than 25% less than San Francisco, where there are several dozen "professional" dog trainers, I think that the behavior of the dogs I observed speaks volumes to my developing theory that one of the issues we are having with our dogs here in this country is the massive amount of conflicting and often bad information that is widely available to dog owners. Most of my clients, when they come to me, have tried so many different approaches, and have been given so much conflicting advice, that both they and their dogs are completely confused. For a human being, this confusion and the resulting frustration is processed using tools developed since childhood, but for a dog, this confusion and the subsequent (though not intentional) inconsistency that it causes, creates incredible anxiety issues that often result in severe behavioral problems.

I've always maintained that while it's easiest for me to call myself a "dog trainer" when asked what I have been doing for a living for the past 20+ years, and while I do think it's necessary to teach a dog basic commands like "sit", "stay", "heel", and "come", what I really do is try to teach people a different way to relate to their dogs. Again, I differ from some of the personalities you see on television who often imply that you can't spoil your dog, and who advocate affection as the least important thing to show your dog. (In fact, I believe that it's the MOST important. What's the point of having a dog if you have to administer discipline and exercise before you can show them affection???) What I do is first help people digest the massive amount of information and misinformation they have been given about their animals, then teach them a consistent way to communicate with their animal in a way that their dog can understand, while also helping them correct their dogs behavior issues so that they can live more peaceful and calm lives together.

Each time I visit Holland and look into the culture of dog training in that country (or lack of it) I'm reminded of the importance of consistency, and the reward to both dog and human.

Matthew and Roxy's (Now) Excellent Adventures

This blog seems like as good a place as any for me to post some of the occasional emails I get like this one that came to me over the past weekend:

"Hi John.
Just wanted to let you know that the dogs are doing pretty good. Matthew has not gone after the neighborhood pitbulls since you were here last. And Roxy is doing better when we walk her. Tonight when we walked both of the dogs (we take them to the school yard and run with them and put them into their downs) she saw a dog she normally lunges at. She started to but Sean but her into a down and she calmed down. Then when she saw the same dog later she decided not to lunge. We're working on all of the other stuff too - Sean and I are really happy with their progress. I told him that we should probably get lots of your cards and hand them out on the night walk to all the dogs Roxy has harrassed in the past! . Thanks so much!"



Despite having gone through a few training programs with other trainers, Matthew and Roxy's neighborhood walks used to be quite the adventure. Their people usually had to walk them one at a time, and would have to always be on the look out for other dogs so they could cross the street or go the other way. Unfortunately, their aggression issues were never addressed and continued to get worse. We still have some work to do, however after just two sessions, it seems that they are well on their way to behavioral recovery!

I also look forward to participating in their progress!!!

Sunday Morning Inbox.....

Thought I'd share an email I received this morning from a client.... "Hi John,

I just had to share how well Roman and Tikka are doing. Earlier this week, I took them both to Ft. Funston and they did great off leash...Scott has been taking both of them there, so they are used to it. Today, I took them both to Crissy Field (I walked there with both of them heeling on my left) and walked the length of the beach with both of them off leash...it wasn't crowded, but we still ran into about 8 or so dogs. Yes, I had the dogtra on Roman, but I didn't have to use it. Tikka is greeting dogs so well, and Roman is thinking twice about charging/rushing every dog he sees...he greets them well and played a bit...but the joy of seeing him run in the water without stressing about other dogs...well, I never thought it could be like this.

Then, I walked Roman on leash, and Tikka off leash, along that jogging path...Roman did bark at one dog who was staring at him (and it was my fault for not correcting him sooner, but I was picking up Tikka's poop!) but it was nothing like before and stopped immediately...we continued our walk, I had them both do a down stay and some off leash dogs walked by...It was great! They are almost normal.

I never dreamed I could have this kind of control over both of them together on OR off leash.

We still have work to do...but, I can't imagine that they won't just continue to improve so we can continue to enjoy all the off leash areas SF has to offer.

We can't thank you enough!

Angela"

Jack Knows Jack!

I met Jack, a very large red Doberman, and his people, John and Melanie when Jack was 11 months old. They live in the Tri-Valley area of the Bay Area. By the time I met him, Jack weighed nearly 80 pounds and had bitten two people. The last person he bit was John's uncle who happened to be one of my favorite teachers growing up at Wood Middle School in Alameda. Small world!

People have asked me if I'm afraid of dogs, and while I can't really say that I'm afraid of them, I can say that I have a very healthy respect for them and what they are capable of, especially a dog the size of Jack. This respect may be the reason that in 20 years of dog training, I've only been bitten one time, and that was during a consultation. I've never been bitten by a dog that I was working with on a leash. (Knock on wood!)

I spoke to John and Melanie extensively by phone before we met and learned that Jack was quite territorial around his house, so knowing this history, I asked them to have him on a leash when I came over the first time. When I went to the door, I heard what sounded like a 180lb dog bark and charge the door. I stepped back and John opened the door with Jack on the leash. Jack was barking and pulling to get to me so hard that John could hardly hold him back. They ended up on the front porch and I ended up having to step back about 20 feet to keep from being bitten.

I had John hold Jack and I went out to the sidewalk because I wanted to encounter him away from his home as well, and when Jack saw me he would bark, show teeth and lunge at me. He was so strong that if I held my ground he would eventually be able to pull John towards me and get to me. Pretty intimidating.

I remembered that I had talked to Melanie by phone when Jack was about 6 months old, but for whatever reason they decided to try a few other things to help him. These days, there's lots of information available about dog training from books, to the internet, to television shows that show miracles that happen in 60 minutes on a weekly basis, delivered by a trainer who for some reason unknown to me, seems to have no problem being bitten.

Much of the information that is available, however, if not all of it, seems to fall in what I call the "cafeteria style" training. In other words, for every behavioral issue, there's a remedy. "If the dog does this, do that"… "When this happens, respond by doing that"…

I don't work this way, but take a more holistic approach and work to establish boundaries and a relationship between a dog and its people that is consistent and clear 100% of the time… not just the few minutes a day that is spent "training". We did this with Jack, and between this, and teaching John and Melanie solid handling skills, he began to respond immediately.

I just met with Jack and his family, which is about to grow by one, last night in a park where a little league game was ending. We stood and talked while parents, kids and pets all walked by and Jack sat nicely by their side, completely non-reactive. John and Melanie's guests can be comfortable when they visit, and in a few months when they have their first baby, they are confident that Jack will be fine with the situation.

Thanks to John and Melanie's consistent follow-through and their willingness to trust in my experience and knowledge, Jack knows jack!!

My Life as A “But” Fixer

The past few months have been some of the busiest in my career (The main reason for my lapse in blog posts lately) and I have been receiving dozens of emails and calls each week from people asking for help with their dog's behavior issues. Many of these emails start in the same way, with the person telling me that they have a wonderful dog, "but"…

"We have a great dog who is good with kids, loves people, is a joy to be around, is loving and a great companion, but…. He's aggressive towards other dogs."

"…but, she has terrible separation anxiety."

"…but, despite having gone through training, I can't teach him to stop pulling on the leash."

"…but he has selective hearing and won't listen if he has something better to do."

"…very well socialized and friendly, but he's extremely territorial in the house."

It goes on and on. The last comment was from the family of a dog I recently started working with named Bix. Bix is a very large (115 pounds) mixed breed dog who belongs to a couple who are expecting twins in a few months. As with many of my clients, he had received a lot of "professional" training, and, after his aggression issues began to surface, even had a consultation with one of my favorite dog behavior "gurus" who offered some management tips, but no solutions on how to correct his behavior. This "behaviorist" met Bix at her office and had to rely on his family's description of his territorial behavior, despite the fact that the behavior only occurs at home. Am I the only person that thinks this doesn't make sense?

Bix's family is EXTREMELY well-intended and love him as much as any family I've seen loves their dog, but this was one situation where, after meeting them, I became quite upset at the current culture in the dog training world that tries to fit all the pegs, square, round, etc, into the same holes regardless of the situation. They were given reactionary techniques such as, "when he does this, do that..." In other words, let Bix engage in the inappropriate behavior, then when he does, do "X", but no matter what, never do "Y".

It seems unfair to me that when we know that a dog is going to do something wrong, to let him do it, then when he does react in some way to that behavior. Doesn't it make more sense to take away Bix's opportunity to engage in his territorial behavior, while teaching him new skills so that the next time he's in that situation, he has the option of a new behavior? It's my experience that it's nearly impossible to teach a dog who is engaging in a bad behavior anything while he's in the midst of that behavior. At best, you might teach your dog that when he does something wrong, "X" will happen, but this typically doesn't make him decide not to engage in the behavior the next time he has the opportunity.

I think that a big reason for the success of my training is that in addition to teaching my clients calm, reward-based handling skills, I give them a step-by-step process to follow to take them from where they are when we start, to where they want to be when we finish. In cases where there are behavior issues, we do our best to teach their dog new behaviors away from the situations that trigger the behavior problem before reintroducing him to those circumstances.

This was the case with Bix and he began to respond better to the training than he ever has to any other training he's had in the past. He had been trained using food and treats in the past, but we were able to get him to focus on his people and for the first time he began to happily do what they asked him to without food. (Treats tend to be tremendous motivators in dog training, but it's very difficult to be consistent with them. To me, treats are just that… treats, and while I personally spoil my dog and think that it's okay to do so, I think that in the vast majority of cases, your dog's behavior should be calm and consistent without the use of food as a motivator. My dog Mojo never has to sing for his supper!)

On a scale from 1-10, Bix's territorial behavior was an 8, and as I write this we are early in our training, however I would say that this has dropped to a 3. This doesn't mean that we're done, and we have a ways to go before we achieve the goals that we've set for him, however I think that we're on our way, and Bix's family now feels they understand his behavior, why he engages in it, and they have a plan and process to follow to help him learn new, acceptable behaviors that will be safe for his growing family and their guests.