THE GOOD DOG BLOG

A New Venture, a Long Time in the Making

I've had a pretty diverse dog training career over the past 23 years.   After 9 years of training, and upon realizing how different and effective my systematic approach to training is, I was the first dog trainer in the United States to franchise my business.   When I operated that business, K-9 Advantage, I helped several people become professional dog trainers.  Most of them are still training today and have over 10 years in the business now.  

That experience led to a partnership with a local, well-known entrepreneur, and together we started PAWSitive Solutions.  At one point we had 36 dog trainers working with us throughout California, making a positive impact on the lives of thousands of dogs and their people.  

In both of these cases, with only a few exceptions, my trainers had no prior professional dog training experience, and many of them have gone on to enjoy tremendous success.  

I have served on the Board of Directors of the most prestigious professional organization for canine professionals in the World, have consulted with large companies helping them set up their dog training programs and helping them screen, hire and train their trainers.  

In addition to all this, I have also trained individual trainers.  These were entrepreneurial-minded dog lovers and who came to me for help, not only to learn how to train dogs and their people, but also how to get themselves established in business.

Of course, you  can see by this blog, I still train dogs and their people myself in the San Francisco Bay area, and occasionally beyond.  A recent experience consulting with a growing national dog training franchise, however, has led me to finally take the leap into starting an official consulting business for aspiring and existing canine professionals.  

My new business is called Canine Trade Group (www.CanineTradeGroup.com) and is simply the official vehicle that I am using to do what I have done on a more casual basis over the past 15 years of my career.   Help those who want to get into this rewarding business, or help those already making a difference in the lives of dogs and their people, make a larger impact.

I'm already helping one of my former employees franchise her unbelievable concept of combining dog training with a "boot camp" style work out, after she's appeared on several television shows and all over the print media.  

I don't think I'll ever stop training dogs and their people because it's too rewarding, but I also find reward in helping others with their endeavors and am glad I finally took the leap into making it official! 

A DAY IN MY LIFE AS A DOG TRAINER

There's a saying: "If you have a job you love, you'll never work a day in your life". This is so true.

My days are usually pretty full. Typically, the early parts of my day are spent answering calls and emails from new clients, as well as answering

questions from my existing clients.

By late morning I usually head out to see my clients and I see anywhere from 3-6 clients per day. My appointments last between one and two hours. Sometimes I meet people at their homes, but eventually we will work together in a public setting, around distractions. Because many of my client's dogs have issues with other dogs, bikes, people, etc, there comes a

time when we have to take them out into the world to make sure they are as good around these things as they are at home.

I took pictures one day of my clients and thought I'd share them here.

Tequila and Brandy are Daschunds whose person is a college student that moved here for graduate school. Unfortunately they had some huge issues with barking in the house, and aggressive behavior towards dogs.

Of course theyare doing much better, in fact, this photo was taken right outside the dog park.

Both girls did great and everyone has been thrilled with how they did.

Manto, Nicky and Mochi are all Maltese's who range in age from 8 months to 4 years. (Mochi is 4) Manto

has some dog aggression issues, and Nicky and Manto are young puppies and we're just working on basic training, and essentially preventing behavior issues from happening in the future.

This photo was taken during our second session. Nicky and Manto

live in a different home than Mochi, but they are all the same family and I agreed

to work with all three dogs at once.

So far, everyone is doing much better, walking nicely on the leash, and Mochi's dog aggression has improved dramatically.

Noni is a 9 month old Doberman whose people called me after a co-worker I worked with several years ago suggested me after they first got her. Noni's family includes two small children and after bringing her home as a young puppy, they realized that it would be far better to get proper help early, especially with a large dog, as she was already exhibiting separation issues and beginning to bark at other dogs.

This is at our last session where we perfected an off-leash recall around distractions, including other dogs. Noni did great and her people are about to get a second dog. Because mytraining is very much focused on teaching people, they won't need me to help

them with their new puppy, though I'm always available to my former clients for questions.

Winston is a Shepherd mix who came to me because he was having issues lunging at people when he was on walks. His people were also uncomfortable when company would come over.

When I met him, we walked outside and Winston wouldn't let me get anywhere near him.

This photo was taken on our third session, which we did at t

he park. We were able to walk past several people, bicycles and many dogs without incident. We're working on finishing up training and getting a nice, reliable recall.

Last is Charlie who is a West Highland Terrier puppy. This photo was taken during our initial consultation. Though only 9 weeks old, he's been biting (mouthing) and having troubles with leash training. This training will be 100% preventative work, and I'm very confident that he'll be a great dog.

How can I not love my job?

HOMELESS DOGS ARE NOT HOPELESS DOGS

Though I work with dogs and their people throughout the entire Bay Area, I live in Downtown San Francisco. Being a large city, there are a number of homeless people around, and almost daily I see some of them who are caring for pet dogs.

I’ve always been amazed at how well-behaved and calm these dogs are. While I didn’t get a photo of him, just the other day I saw a man on the center median of a very busy 4 lane street with a sign asking for money. This person had a large dog that could have been anywhere from 1 to 5-years-old with him. Despite the busy traffic, and even a dog in a car stopped at the light barking at him, this dog was calmly sitting with his person, off-leash.

The love and devotion these people, who can scarcely take care of themselves, show to their pets is a

mazing. They make incredible sacrifices to keep their animals with them. There’s no way they can get into a shelter for the

night, and probably don’t use the number of dining rooms available to the homeless for meals.

But why are their dogs

so good? I seriously doubt that they can afford to hire dog trainers or take their dogs to class. I don’t see many of them reading books about training and behavior, and I’m willing to bet they aren’t spending their

time at the library surfing the internet looking for training tips. I wonder how many of these dogs actually know more than a few commands?

I think it boils down to the fact that these people have an absolutely consistent relationship with their animals. They aren’t receiving conflicting ad

vise on how to handle or care for their dogs. They seem to act on intuition. It’s that consistent relationship that creates the bond of trust between the dog and human. This is why these dogs are so calm. Of course it helps that the people are with their dogs pretty much 24/7, but having a calm and content animal doesn’t have to require decades of professional experience or a degree in animal behavior. Did some of these dogs come to these people with behavior issues? Since many of them had been strays themselves, I’m quite sure they did.

If your dog is having aggression issues, anxiety issues or just doesn’t seem calm or focused, don’t let anyone tell you that it’s a complex or complicated matter to correct. It doesn’t have to be, and often it isn’t.

SOME PREVENTION... SOME CORRECTION... SOME PERFECTION

This is Suna, Willow and Tanka.

Suna is the Lab in the rear. She is 14 years old, but going strong. Besides an early puppy class, she's never had much formal training and is by her people's account a nearly perfect dog. Aft

er meeting her, I agree. She is the type of dog that people I work with have who say to me, "Gosh, I've had dogs all my life and have never needed to hire a professional trainer".

Suna is Willow's aunt. Willow is 5 1/2 years old. She is also a great dog, but has a few issues like leash pulling, and pretty selective hearing when she's off leash. We are working to correct these things, and things are going great.

Willow is Tanka, the puppy's mom. Tanka is 5 years old. When I met him, he had already had some pretty good training, not only from his people and an early puppy class, but also from Suna and Willow.

Their people called me primarily to make sure Tanka doesn't run into some of the issues that Willow has, but since when I work with a family, I work with any of the dogs in the household that have issues, I'm helping with Willow as well.

When I met them, I noticed that at nearly 6 months, Tanka was beginning to develop some rivalry issues with Willow and their play was starting to become more aggressive. It wasn't anything to seriously worry about now, but Willow is a pretty strong willed and dominant dog, as is her son, and there could be potential for more serious issues down the road.

In a previous post, I mentioned that it's so much easier to prevent serious issues than it is to correct them down the road. We're early in our training, but Willow's leash pulling has already been eliminated, and her focus is improving. We're laying the groundwork for a reliable recall.

Tanka also continues to do well, and while he displays some of the stubborn behavior that is his personality, we're on the way to setting him on a course to be a wonderful dog for the rest of his life!

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"

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!!!

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!!

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

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.