Progress, Not Perfection

Buck is a wonderful, energetic 3 year old German Shepherd whose people were referred to me last year by Smiley Dog Rescue here in the Bay Area. Actually, "energetic" would be a bit of an understatement when describing Buck! Whenever I get started with a new client, I always spend some time on the telephone with them to get some background on their situation before setting up an appointment to come out to meet them and their dog, which I did in Buck's case, but had I not done that, when I first met him at his house, it would have taken me less than 2 seconds to figure out why I was there.

It started as soon as I knocked on their door and before they answered. Buck was as high strung as a dog could be. I could hear him through the door as well as his owner's attempts to calm and control him. He had to be held back when I came in the house, and would bark and cry with excitement very loudly for quite a long time when company came over. He had so much energy and anxiety that he would spring up at any noise outside, and run barking to the window, usually in the straightest route possible, even if furniture, couches or even people were in his way!

We weren't sure of his background before Smiley Dog, and they hadn't had him very long because he was still very malnourished and had terrible skin and coat problems when Beth and Tony got him, but by the time I met him, he looked like a strong, healthy working dog.

Buck's excitement wasn't contained to the house. Whenever he would see fast moving things like kids on skateboards, joggers and especially bicycles, he would launch into his loud barking and crying routine. Because Tony and Beth weren't great handlers at first, Buck would engage in this behavior while being held back, which I imagine would be cause for concern for the object of his attention.

I have worked with literally hundreds of German Shepherds in my career, starting with my own dog Troy who was assigned to me as a dog handler in The Army, and I know that there are essentially two types. Shepherds that are bred primarily for the show ring, and those that come from "working lines" and are bred for things like police work, and in the old days, farm work. These working dogs often have an enormous amount of drive and require a lot of exercise, though it's always been my opinion and experience that exercise is much more about quality versus quantity. This held true in Buck's case because on our first meeting, Tony explained to me that he would take Buck for long runs nearly every day, and while it would improve the situation (in fact, he was much more unmanageable when he didn't get his run) there were still some major issues going on at home with him that we needed to address.

Our first order of business, as is usually the case with most of my clients, was to teach them how to effectively communicate to Buck what kind of behavior they wanted from him in the house, especially when someone would come to the door, or when company would come over as well as how to handle him properly on the leash. We were able to make this happen nearly instantaneously and when I came for my second visit, he had made dramatic improvement, and while he wasn't perfect, after a few moments, I was able to go back outside, ring the doorbell, and Buck, while still excited, would stay in his place. A nice change from his previous behavior of charging full-speed at whomever was at the door. (I have to admit that this made even me nervous the first time it happened)

On our second session I showed Beth and Tony how to exercise Buck in a much more efficient way, which would engage his mind as well as get his energy down, and this made all the difference in the world for him. Buck would benefit more from a 20 minute session of this type of exercise than he would from an hour of just running out of control at the park.

Typically, I have a 5 lesson plan that I work with families, though if the dog has serious issues, sometimes we run over a lesson or two (or three). I know that I'll need 5 sessions because my training is focused on teaching a dog's human family how to understand their dog and properly handle and communicate with them, while teaching reliable obedience training. I'm always involved and available to my clients between lessons, and even after we're finished, and I can usually get through a training program in two or three months with a family, but in Beth and Tony's case, after we did a few sessions and were ready to start meeting at the park, we really spread our sessions out and only just finished up our sessions. Because they would always stay in some kind of contact with me when they had questions or issues, this worked out great in their case, because they had a lot of time to perfect each phase before moving on to the next one.

I mentioned that Buck would have issues with bicycles, and would bark and try to chase them every time he saw them, so on the rest of our sessions we met in a park in San Francisco where the weekends would find hundreds of bicyclists riding on the bike path. By our third session we were able to have Buck do a "down/stay" a few yards from the bike path, and while he was still excited, he would not get up and try to chase the bikes. Tony would take Buck out and work on this often, and each time his level of excitement and anxiety when he saw bicycles would go down.

When we met for our final session, the improvement in Buck was nothing short of miraculous in my opinion. We were able to take Buck to areas where there were high levels of distractions like joggers and bicycles, and let him run, and were able to call him and have him stop in his tracks, and run back to us. When I met Tony and Beth the first time and explained to them that this was our goal, they looked at Buck who, after half an hour, still had to be held back so he wouldn't jump on me, I'm sure they didn't believe me.

Buck is far from perfect today, but he has improved and is completely manageable and so much easier to live with now. He goes many more places with his family and does not make people nervous with his behavior when he sees things that he wants to chase. Most importantly though, is that Beth and Tony now have the knowledge and tools to continue to work with him, and if they stay on the course they are on with him, he should always continue to improve. Even though we're done meeting for training sessions, as with all my clients, I remain committed to helping them work through any rough spots they encounter along the way.

Condemnation Prior to (full) Investigation

A few weeks ago I did a behavior consultation with this very nice dog named Mooch. He came from a rescue group called Smiley Dog Rescue and had snapped at the veterinarian and one of his owners within a few days of arriving at his new home. Both incidents occurred when he was under quite a bit of stress which I learned after spending quite a bit of time on the phone with his owner after she called me for help.

The veterinarian recommended someone for help who, after hearing a brief account of the situation from the owner, condemned Mooch, telling the owner "You can't get rid of that dog fast enough". My client told me, when she called, that she had only had a brief conversation with this person, and that she didn't ask many questions about the circumstances around this incident, how long Mooch had been in the home, or what she think happened to prompt this behavior from him.

When I met Mooch at the front door, he seemed to be a very easy going dog who wagged his tail when approached, and was very happy to be touched. He did have a pretty nasty sore on one of his ears, that had been infected, but that seemed to be healing.

The 90 second video below shows me putting Mooch though a bit of stress. You'll see me circle around him, get behind him, and generally act a bit suspicious. At one point I'll pull his tail a bit and also pull on his flank (the sensitive area of skin between a dog's rear leg and body) which will often upset even the nicest dogs. Mooch's tail stops wagging here and there, but not once does he try to snap at me. You may also notice that I go as far as to handle his sore ear, which he tolerates just fine.

At the time of my consultation, Mooch had been living in this home for a few weeks, and was much more comfortable with the situation there. His obedience was far from perfect, and his owners were inconsistent handling him, but as I write this post, he's been in training for several weeks, and his behavior is now exceptional.

I have always maintained that there are really no bad dogs, but just dogs that make poor decisions, and I never recommend that a dog be put down. I feel my responsibility when I meet a dog is to simply evaluate the situation IN PERSON, and let the owners know exactly what they are working with and what recommendations I'd make to help. I feel that it's the owner's decision what to do, and my hope is to educate them enough so that they feel comfortable with whatever that decision is.

To make quick judgments without ever seeing a dog, or even completely hearing the circumstances of the aggressive episode is completely irresponsible. If you're a trainer and you don't know what you're doing or feel like you're in over your head, and don't want to admit it, at least suggest that the people talk to another trainer. Don't tell the owners to get rid of the dog because too many times, they will (often wrongly) take your advise.

There's really no nationally recognized certification process for dog trainers, and the most widely used one is currently administered by a group called The Certification Council for Pet Dog Trainers and contains no hands-on component. It simply requires a "trainer" to have a mere 200 hours of experience prior to taking the multiple choice written test. A process like this gives untested trainers a title like "Certified Pet Dog Trainer" without requiring them to demonstrate their skills to their peers. It's much like Mooch receiving a death sentence from one of these certified trainers, without her having ever laid her eyes on him.

As I write this, Mooch has been living happily in his new home for some time, and has not had a single episode of aggression since we started working together. His owner was quite upset when she was told to get rid of him, and I'm sure he's pretty happy she called the rescue for another trainer recommendation.