Running with Greyhound

1. Joey racing with the greyhounds

2. Got a face I can lick?
3. Jake, our 14 year old man :)

4. More of Joey from the other side

Group Behavior Training Class Graduation Day 3/13/2010

Adjusting Problem Behavior

If your dog could talk, he would tell you what motivates him to do just about anything. If you could provide that motivation, he would be your adoring fan and do whatever you want. If you pay attention and learn to read your dog's body language you could figure out what your dog is interested in. The things that we cal...l ‘distractions’ or 'triggers' are actually powerful training rewards.

Here are some things your dog may already be doing:

• He pulls as hard as he can on the leash to get to the squirrel in the tree ahead or the cat in the bushes.


• He barks furiously to chase the mailman off who he perceives as an intruder.


• He lunges, growls and snarls at people or other dogs. What he wants is for them to move back and give him more space.


• He pulls as hard as he can on the leash, scratches at the door or howls to beat the band, to get to those people he loves.


• He jumps up all over you and your visitors to get you to notice and pay attention to him.

Your dog knows what he wants and he knows how to get it. At some point in his life, he tried a whole variety of things to get what he wanted, and he stuck with the behaviors that worked the best. He wouldn’t do it for long if it didn’t work. Unfortunately, the ways that are working for him right now are annoying, and sometimes dangerous, to you. I think we can all agree that if our dogs used a different behavior in the above scenerios, we’d be thrilled.

For example:

• He looks at the squirel, then looks at you for direction / permission, when he sees the squirrel in the tree ahead.


• He goes and lies down in his place when the mailman comes.


• He turns his back to get away from those scary people.


• He walks quietly and calmly to get to those people he loves.


• He sits at your feet to get you to notice him.

In the above set of behaviors, possible distractions / triggers would be:

• Dog sees or smells a squirrel, cat, chipmunk, whatever


• Dog hears the mailman on the porch


• Unknown person approaches, looking at the dog


• Known person approaches, looking at the dog


• You turn the key in the door knob

Let's start with the scenario of a total stranger approaching your dog who is reactive to the approach of strangers. You can’t have a stranger come over to pet the dog. That trigger is too sensitive. So you set it up so they are 30 feet away, or 100, or whatever it takes for the dog to look and say, ‘no big deal, I can just turn my head or sniff the ground and pretend it's not there.’

The next trigger is a person approaching from 25 feet away, or the person at 30 feet talking, or the person at 30 feet reaching toward the dog. Gradually, though, you move the trigger closer and closer. You never want to push the dog into being overly stressed, and if you see it starting to happen, give your dog what he wants and get out of there.

In addition to giving the dog what he wants (moving away from the stranger), we give him something else to do besides lunge, snarl and growl. If you could adjust the behavior to whatever you wanted, what would it look like? Be specific, not just ‘I want a good dog,’ but behaviors, like sniffing the ground, turning his head, leaning in for a scratch, blinking calmly, etc. We've learned various behaviors over the last 6 weeks - targeting, focus, watch me, back up, etc. Which of these behaviors would work best as an alternative in this scenario for you?

Once you've figured that out, it’s simply a matter of:

1. Giving the dog a small version of the trigger


2. Move away if the dog reacts adversely


3. Watch for, or elicit, the behavior you want


4. Give the dog what he wants.

In our example above, that could look like:

1. Owner and dog walk 15 feet toward a cooperative ’stranger’.


2. Calling the dog and going 30 feet away if you get any reactive behavior and start over at the new distance.


3. Dog blinks, sniffs the ground, or otherwise relaxes or looks friendly.


4. Walk back to where you started, or have the stranger walk away, and repeat until you and your dog are virtually in the strangers pocket.

In this case creating distance between themselves and the Scary Monster is the reward.

With a squirrel and a pulling dog, it might be:

1. A good friend stands with a stuffed toy, sprayed with wonderful smelly stuff, at the end of the block.


2. Stop and be a tree or turn the dog away from the toy if she pulls hard.


3. Dog looks at you or remains close enough to you to not pull, starts sniffing the ground around you with a slack leash or otherwise lets the leash go slack.


4. You walk toward the friend and the stuffed toy in increments.

Eventually, you can do this with a bouncing tennis ball or a squirrel in a tree, but start smaller so that your dog has a higher chance of success. More successes = more learning, because dogs learn more from success than failure. Staying well below you dog’s Reactive Threshold is extremely critical if you are using this methodology for aggression and/or fear. When in doubt, happily distract your dog and walk away to regroup.

The greatest part of all of this is that it’s easy to maintain the training once you’re done. With the mailman, in fact, you don’t have to lift a finger, because the mailman always leaves. Your dog never has to learn that it’s not his calm behavior that’s making the mailman leave.

We’re constantly asking dogs to do what we want them to do, and expect them to work for whatever we give them, like attention, petting, food, or toys. Those things are great, and I use them all the time, especially in classes. They are also great for pre-training the dog on the skills they need before you switch to doing behavior adjustment, or even together with behavior adjustment.

To permanently stop your dog from being annoying or becoming scared, notice what they get out of doing it, and use the reward they are already working for to pay for good behavior. Otherwise, we are just using second-rate rewards. The dog already has a great reward figured out in each situation, get the dog to accept an alternative.

What is a Canine Behavior Specialist/Consultant

With the advent of National Geographic's "The Dog Whisperer" and Animal Planet's "It's Me Or The Dog" there has been an increasing number of people setting themselves up as canine behaviorists, dog psychologists, dog behavior consultants and a host of other titles.

Some of those attracted to behavioral work have been obedience trainers, viewing behavior modification as a logical extension of their original work. Hopefully, however, they will have come to realize that good behavioral work involves much more than just the ability to train a dog to do set tasks.

The others set themselves up as behavioral counselors, but in truth possess little experience of dealing with people or dogs - other then their own and maybe a relative or friend's dog. Similarly they will have little scientific knowledge of both canine behavior and human psychology, and the thought of even reading a scientific book on animal behavior sends them into a tizzy. Most have no clue that there are many dogs whose behavior problems are an actually physical problems or chronic pain that manifests as a behavior problem but really needs a veterinarian to fix.

Knowledge and qualifications

To be a good canine behaviourist, it is not enough, by any means, just to like dogs, or to feel you have a gift for working with them, on the basis of simply owning and/or knowing a few you got along well with or having watched the various dog training and behavior shows on TV. You must possess a sound grasp of the science of how dogs fundamentally 'tick' as a species, physically, psychologically and in terms of their basic social behaviour.

You must also be well aquainted with many different dog breeds, and their specific genetic quirks, while still respecting how dogs can vary as individuals. You must be conscious of the multitude of different factors, from early rearing, environment and diet, to specific facets of genetic inheritance that may influence the way any dog behaves. Much of the above knowledge can only be acquired through suitable study and practical 'hands on' experience, usually over many years.

You must have excellent communication skills - not just with dogs, but also with people. Most of your work will involve dealing with dog owners and other dog care takers. How well a behaviourist can work with an owner, in terms of correctly identifying the source of the problem they have with their dog, and then developing and explaining the best possible solution for it, is often the key to his or her professional success, or lack of it!

It's one thing to be able to gain enough trust from a dog you are working with to be able to walk it correctly, but it's another thing to teach the dog's owner(s) how to do the same. As a behaviorist, you must understand that approximately 80% of a dog's behavior problems were created by the owner and be able to communicate that without alienating that owner.

Continuing Education

A good behaviourist is one who is constantly prepared to challenge or question his or her own way of working with dogs. Effective behaviourists never close their minds to the possibility of doing something better, more enlightened, or more humane, when it comes to the training of dogs, or management of their behaviour.Learning for a good canine behaviourist should never stop. Going on courses, reading and studying, networking with others in your field, and learning about allied subjects will all help you with your behavioural work.

Mentally challenging

Canine behavioral work can be quite stressful, as well as mentally and emotionally challenging. A behaviorist often deals with highly troubled dogs and/or owners in a considerable state of distress. Desperate owners may also ring you at antisocial times expecting sympathy and help. Not everyone who loves dogs will find this professional responsibility easy to handle.

A behaviorist needs to be a very patient person, both with dogs and their owners alike, and not be quick to panic when faced with a particularly agitated or aggressive dog. You will also need a good level of personal confidence, in order to step into any troubled human/canine situation and attempt to find the most appropriate solution.

What we do

The services of a canine behaviorist go beyond that of a basic dog trainer. Behaviorists take a scientific approach to understanding the causes, functions, development, and evolution of canine behavior. Since many behavior problems are complex, behaviorists conduct in-depth evaluations of a pet’s history, environmental factors and specific behaviors to develop a treatment plan.

One of the first steps a trainer or behaviorist addressing behavior problems must do in working with a new client is taking a detailed behavioral history. It is impossible to plan a course of treatment without knowing what exactly the problem is and what is triggering your dog's reactions.

The second thing is to take your problem-pet to your veterinarian for a complete physical examination. Take along a fresh stool sample for a parasite check. My records of more than 2,000 cases show that more than 20% of dogs with behavior problems who had not been checked in more than 6 months also had a health problem. There is no use wasting money on a behavior problem when there may be a contributing health factor.

The behaviorist you choose will want to observe your dogs’ interactions between each other and your interactions with your dog. She will likely ask you how frequent these incidents are occurring, and if you note any “triggers” for the your dogs' reactions. Are the incidents increasing, or decreasing in frequency as time passes? Do the incidents seem to occur around specific people, objects, treasured toys or food sources? And many more questions of this sort.

Then and only then will the behaviorist begin working with you and your dog.

Beyond Patience

Over and over again, the necessity of patience is emphasized in dog training literature. "Be patient with your dog." "Do not expect overnight results when dealing with a difficult dog." "Maintain your cool when dealing with your dog." The presence of patience is preached as the ultimate virtue for anyone training a dog. No one providing dog training guidance overlooks the value of patience.

Patience is not necessarily an attribute possessed by all dog owners. As a result, the impatient owner may often delve into his bag of intimidating dirty tricks when things do not go according to plan. Too often, unfortunately, dog owners are not really aware of the length of time they should expect successful training to take. With a realistic outlook regarding what is ahead, an owner is less likely to find himself or herself feeling agitated or impatient.

But what is patience really? When I'm teaching a behavior group class, I could easily lose my patience with some of the owners that I have to deal with. For instance, right now I have one lady who insists on chatting up all the other students, giving them her version of what should be happening and totally ignoring her dog. I have another student who refuses to keep track of what her dog is doing and lets it roam around on an 8 foot lead.

What do I do with these two? I can't get mad. That would undermine everything the students who are doing well and paying attention have accomplished over the last 6 weeks of this class. I have to realize that there are always going to be people who need a reality adjustment, those who need constant encouragement and those who will work for the benefit of themselves and their dogs. Then I work around the slackers and talkers, gently inviting them into the group at various intervals and using them as examples when teaching new things. This way, not only do I not have to have patience, I don't get upset.

Because of the successes, the dogs that are slowly getting less and less reactive and the owners who show that they really care, I’m in a great mood and very energized, so much so that I often take whichever of my dogs came with me to class for another walk. I hardly notice the drive or traffic on the way home. I can’t stop thinking about the successes of the class, the smiles on the owner's faces and the terrific patience and kindness towards their dogs.

Patience is a necessary virtue when it comes to dog training whether you’re teaching a dog to come when called, working to help a dog overcome a fear, or trying to quiet the bark fest that ensues when the doorbell rings. Depending on the dog’s training history (or lack thereof); history of reinforcement for a “problem” behavior; and how easy or hard it is to motivate the dog, carrying a training plan through from start to finish sometimes takes a L-O-N-G time. How long is always difficult to say. That depends a great deal on the patience, diligence and consistency of the owners.

Impatience arises in large part from unrealistic expectations about dogs and the learning process. People expect dogs to nail new skills immediately and to execute those skills perfectly under any and all circumstances. If you’ve ever taken salsa dancing lessons, learned to speak another language, or to play a musical instrument, you know what I mean. You don’t learn all at once, you learn in stages – how to do easy steps, then increasingly harder ones, how to put them together into whole dance routines, and how to perform them fluidly and gracefully.

True patience is not about waiting. It's about working toward a realistic goal, a goal that is attainable and doing those things necessary to reach that goal.

Patience is not about too little, or too much. It is not about working slowly, or working faster – it is not about taking more time or taking less time. It's about enjoying what you're doing in the moment, taking things one step at a time and celebrating when each step is achieved. Patience is about letting our perceptions be fully open to the moment and not constantly looking at what "could" be but what "is" and what you can do about the reality of things. It means being completely and totally honest with yourself about the fact that you’re upset with what is happening. You’re not suppressing anything—patience has nothing to do with suppression. In fact, it has everything to do with a gentle, honest relationship with yourself.

To help you get there, here is my recipe:

1. Accept that your dog is doing exactly what he understands to do. This means, if he’s doing something different than you expect, he's probably confused. Check his understanding of what you want and return to modeling the behavior so he gets it.

2. Accept that your dog is trying his hardest, and if he isn’t doing things the way you’d like them done, realize that you need to assist him. He is not being stubborn or defiant.

3. Ask yourself, “How can I help him understand what I want?” And then make things easier until you find out where he is confused. Reward his best choices and you will get better ones in the future.

4. Try to figure out why you are in such a hurry for your dog to change something or learn something new. Change the time of training if it's a time crunch you're under. Change the place of training if there are just too many "human" distractions and you are constantly having to pull your own attention away from things.

5. Pinpoint the triggers that often make you lose your patience. In the long run, developing patience requires a change in your attitude about life. In order to do that you need to find out what triggers your inpatience. For me it's when someone is just not paying attention, whether in group class or individually. There is always someone who seems to be lost in la-la land or can't stop talking long enough to hear anything.

6. Remind yourself that things take time. People who are impatient are people who insist on getting things done now and don't like to waste time. However, some things just can't be rushed. Think about your happiest memories. Chances are, they were instances when your patience paid off, like when you worked steadily towards a goal that wasn't immediately gratifying, or took a little extra time to spend leisurely with a loved one. Would you have those memories if you had been impatient? Probably not. Almost anything really good in life takes time and dedication, and if you're impatient, you're more likely to give up on relationships, goals, and other things that are important to you. Good things may not always come to those who wait, but most good things that do come don't come right away.

Do those six things and I bet you’ll be “beyond patience” in no time!

Overweight Dog

Houston, we have a problem! I called the mobile groomer in on Sunday to get Ruth clipped down for the coming spring and summer months. All that Husky undercoat really makes her hot. Come to find out that all what I thought was just a winter coat was 5 lbs of weight Ruth had gained over the winter. She is now a "fluffly" dog - no pun intended.

So what do I do? I have a weight problem myself, one caused by hypothyroidism, exhausted adrenals and just plain over-indulging. I never dieted until I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 11 years ago and had gained an enormous amount of weight over a short period of time (a few months, almost 100 lbs.). Before that, whereas I was 10 to 15 percent overweight depending on how active I was, I never worried about it.

11 years and numerous different diets later, my gallbladder had to be removed and according to my doc was the result of the dieting. I've not been strictly dieting since and I haven't gained a pound. Now, I think if I went on one of those diets, I'd actually lose weight! Not that there weren't a couple of diets that I did lose weight on - 1) 750 calories a day lost 50 lbs in 4 months and got really sick and 2) total vegetarian with no grains at all and lost 30 lbs in 6 months. Getting my gall bladder caused another 15 lb weight loss for a total so far of 45 lbs. The rest didn't do a thing and some caused weight gain. I even joined three different gyms hoping for the calories in / calories out thing to work - waste of money.

There is no way I'd put Ruth through what I've gone through in trying to lose weight. I will not experiement on my dog. So I started my research. I knew that most people think calories in / calories out, but after my own experiences, I don't believe that for a minute, especially not when there are other health problems involved.

Most of the web sites I visited and the vets I talked to think calories in / calories out and their reccommendations are more exercise and less calories. Ok, even though I don't particularly believe in that philosophy for myself, I thought I'd try it on Ruth. I can't increase her exercise - she gets plenty now. Half hour run on the bicycle in the morning, 45 minute walk in the afternoon most days (or vice versa). So it's cut her food which I've started doing.

Now comes the wait for the weight loss. Stay tuned.

Pack Life

Many people have more than one dog in their household. They may be able to control and get by with two dogs in a family situation, but the minute they add a third dog they have a dog pack. When a dog pack is established in a home the balance of nature changes and it is only a matter of time before these animals begin to test their new relationships within the pack. Sometimes this is done without a fight but more often than not a fight takes place. This fight takes place because there is no confirmed leader of this pack - not human or canine.

The fact is these problems are a result of mistakes that you made and not mistakes the dog made. The dog is just acting like a dog. Dogs are extremely observant. It does not take them long to determine that you, or your spouse, or other family members are not consistent in how you expect them to mind. Once a dog figures out that it only has to mind under certain circumstances it is a short step for the same dog to start to think that it only has to mind when it wants to and then thinking it doesn't need to mind at all and trying to get the owners (and the other pack members) to mind him.

This is the reason so many dogs seem to live happily with the family up to 12 to 18 months of age and then suddenly change into Cujo. It's when the flowing hormones and lack of proper obedience training takes over the family pet. Even if your dog is neutered/spayed, there is a hormonal change that starts at around 9 months and continues to maturity between 18 and 24 months. Most people seek help at this point and retain an obedience trainer. Unfortunately, all too often normal obedience training does not solve the aggression problem. This is because who is in charge has not been settled with the dog. When aggression issues continue after or during obedience training the dog does not look to the owner as the leader.

You are supposed to be the pack leader. In many pet homes this is not the case. Too often the dog does not see the owner as the one in charger. These dogs can love their owner but do not respect them. The solution to the Cujo problem starts with changing the pack leader issue. To a great extent dogs live in the present and not the past. This means if you change the way you live with this dog today you can fix this problem. You are the pack leader - you are the one who is supposed to determine who and when to fight someone - not the dog. Dogs instinctually know this. Dogs shouldn’t have to worry. they’re dogs. they need to just be cute and good and fun! You should be the one who protects the pack.

I often get emails from people who have gone to positive reinforcement only type trainers that have tried to modify the behavior of the dog through halties and other positive methods. With most dogs these methods fail because the trainer simply doesn’t or refuses to understand dominance, pack behavior and pack drive. These methods also fail because the trainer is confusing compliance with control and respect. The haltie type collar might allow for more control when the owner either can't because of physcial problems or won't because "the dog is just too cute and fragile", but that cute and fragile dog doesn't understand that and will eventually figure out how to get around these strange tools. If you aren't in control and have the respect of your dog, no tool in the world is going to fix aggression.

The concept is simple - the dog must respect the handler and the potential for a correction more than it has the urge to fight. Just as importantly the handler must praise the dog (with a happy voice) when the dog minds or when it stops becoming aggressive after a correction. This concept must become very black and white to the dog. Aggression means getting my head taken off with a properly administered correction and not being aggressive means getting praised. The dog must understand that if a strange dog comes near, my pack leader will kick it’s butt and deal with the situation.

The ultimate training goal for the handler is to make the dog understand that it must do what the pack leader wants no matter what and that not minding is not an option. There is no magic training method that is going to make the owner into a pack leader. Every single act of unwarranted aggression must be met with a stiff correction. No exceptions.

Always remember that once your dog relinquishes pack order to you he will be a much happier dog. It’s like a great burden is lifted off his shoulders.

Leadership and Intention

”Our intention creates our reality.” --Wayne Dyer

"Leadership is the wise use of power. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it." --Warren Bennis

Purpose and intention are very nearly two sides of the same coin. Simply stated, you could say that intention was the goal, and purpose the reason for the goal. It is difficult to split them apart for each depends on the other. There can be either without the other, but in any dynamic activity, they coexist. A being can have an intention to do something, but have no purpose for it. As well one can have a purpose to do this or that, and yet be lacking sufficient intention to bring it about.

Intention is not exactly a passive thing. One definition is "that upon which the mind is set, purpose." Purpose: "an end of effort or action". In most dictionaries, these two words are nearly interdependent.

Intention is seeing a thing as done, and then setting in motion the actions that will bring about the visualized thing. It is realization of purpose. Or actualization of intended purpose. It is motion toward a postulated effect. Awareness is a necessary step in leading with intenti

When you set an intention to lead, you can have profound effects on your ability to support the achievement of extraordinary goals. With proper leadership planning, assessing, and development, being intentional will help your leadership to be…

A leader must be focused. If you do not focus your leadership on the goal you are trying to attain, you run the risk of creating something that is only remotely similar to what you envisioned.

A leader must be consistent – Without intention, your leadership could be described as "hit-or-miss." Planning your leadership activities will help your leadership to be a constant part of your job.

A leader must be skillful - It is unlikely that you, as a dog owner without formal authority or position, will be able to model your leadership after the trainer. In fact, your leadership cannot be performed in the same way as how the trainer does things. Being an intentional leader will help you to consider the complexities of what it means to be a leader. Learn to think out of the box and use the tools you have available.

A leader must be patient. “Patience” is really the difference between our expectations and the dog’s current understanding. When those two things are aligned, there is no “patience” involved. It’s just learning and having the pleasure of helping another being figure something out. It feels alive and connected, not “patient” at all. Not that patience is a bad thing, certainly not, we all need it at times. But when you are in the moment with an animal you’re working with, “patience” isn’t even present, you’re someplace beyond it.

It is the same whenever we are involved with what we love. If you’re a musician, artist, writer or athlete lost in the love of your craft or sport, you aren’t “patient,” you are simply doing and being at the same moment. Being lost in the process feels so profoundly good, so deeply nourishing that you are not outside of it, judging it or tapping your toes for it to hurry up. You’re just in it and happy to be there.

Our intentions—our attitude going in—has a profound affect on the results we get and the stress we experience along the way. Our intentions affect what we do, what we say and how we say it and how we come across in the process.

When we don’t assertively set our Intentions, we passively or unconsciously choose something else. Our outcomes are haphazard, and we become hostage to people and events that lead us astray. Intention adds directionality and power to human endeavor.

What if we actually lived our lives with the intention of making every day be worth the investment that it truly is? What would be possible for us, for our communities, for our companies? If you do this already, then good for you. But most of us don’t. We spend our time, we use our time, but we don’t usually relate to our time as an investment of our life. I believe if we did, we would be leading – speaking up, stepping up and standing up – a lot more often.

By crafting a clear mission statement and vision statement, you can powerfully communicate your intentions and motivate your team or organization to realize an attractive and inspiring common vision of the future.

We all operate by intention but for most it is unconscious and has never been examined or consciously chosen. Your intention is closely connected to your values and the values that are important to you will powerfully influence the nature of your intention.

So what is intention?

Intention is a quality of the heart and is much deeper to the truth of your being than the goals that may fill your mind. Intention is an expression of your very nature as the one who is acting. It speaks of what you want to give to life.

Intention is the energy that carries everything towards fulfillment, whether that is the grand sweep of evolution, starting a business, or training your dog.

The Thinking Dog Trainer

Somewhere around 1963, the kick involved in breaststroke was changed from the frog kick to the whip kick. I am reminded of this event nearly every day. As a result of the hours and hours of practice with this new kick, I developed a trick knee that will go out of place at the drop of a hat. Because of those hours and hours of practice with this new kick, however, I came very close to going to the Olympics in breaststroke five years later.

Another result of the hours of practice was that butterfly became easier for me. I had always thought that I couldn't "fly" because I was heavier than water and would sink like a rock even when I had a lung full of air. But this new kick actually taught me how to keep my rear up, which was my major problem in butterfly. This caused me to assess all four strokes and improve them based on what I'd learned.

This was great stuff for me in the 60's – but what’s it got to do with dog training?

Dog training isn’t a rote task that you can pick up in a few days or even weeks – it’s a thinking process because no two dogs are alike, just like humans. And like classical guitar or swimming in the Olympics, it takes years to master it. Unless you are content to just teach dogs to sit, down, stay, come and heel (or lazy enough), and don't care that the dog still chews on the couch, barks at strangers and knocks the kids off the stairs in a race to go down them, the prospective dog trainer will never stop learning.

No matter what the nice sales brochure tells you, a six-week course will not magically turn you into a real dog trainer. Most of these 4 to 8 week courses advertised on the Internet also include marketing techniques, how to pay your taxes, and what to do when someone wants a refund. None of them include a years worth of apprenticeship to a real trainer, a years worth of volunteering in a shelter or the pound or a lifetime's worth of continuing education. You have to go elsewhere for that. I've also read through some of the brochures to find that in that 4 to 8 weeks, not only do you learn to have your dog sit, down, stay, coma and heel, but you also learn to teach a dog to become a guard dog, a tracking dog, a therapy or service dog and how to raise a puppy. I'm sorry, but it took me 5 years to learn all that and BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY APPLY IT in all situations and I'm still learning new techniques and new theories and having to apply it all to dogs who respond differently.

As a prospective dog trainer you should attain both "book knowledge" and hands-on experience before offering your services to the public. Read books, attend seminars, watch DVDs. Get hands-on experience by mentoring under another trainer if possible, and volunteer to work at your local shelter or with rescue groups. Shelter/rescue work is a great way to get hands-on experience with dogs of various breeds and temperaments. This process should take at least a year, more like two years. In this time you should have experience with at least 100 different breeds of dogs and nearly every behavior problem a dog can muster up. In this time you should have experience in creating lesson plans for humans to follow as well as the dogs and those lesson plans need to be tailored to the human and dog team, not a cookie cutter be all end all plan.

Dogs are thinking beings, they have emotions, needs and wants just like we do. Each dog is different in how it responds to stimuli. I've recently had experience with this difference in my weekly Group Behavior Training class. Two dogs who both lunge and bark ferociously at strange dogs; one responds to a quick touch and will then refocus on his human; the other cannot stand being touched and will bite his human but will stop mid growl for a scrumptious treat.

To keep a dog a thinking being and not a robot that does everything the trainer says but has no joy in it, become a thinking trainer !!

When Is It Actually Aggression

Yesterday I did an evaluation for a family with 5 dogs. On the phone they had informed me that their problem was aggression with one, maybe two, of the dogs. (all names have been changed - even the dogs, the breeds of the dogs are however the real breed mixes).

The story is that they have a 10 year old Pit/Boxer mix female (Lucy) they have had for many years and a 7 year old Retriever/Pit mix (Zed) they've had for nearly as long. Two years ago these two dogs started fighting at the drop of a hat for what seemed to the humans to be for no reason and with little to no warning. There are three other dogs in this household as well, two are Scotties, one of which Lucy doesn't like at all and wants to eat. That's the story at least.

Here is what I saw. I arrived to find all the dogs in separate rooms (Lucy, Zed and the 1 year old pit/lab Boone all in separate rooms with the Scotties in a room together). Lucy greeted me at a babygate to the living room. She was waggling all over and really wanted to meet this new person. I came in amidst Mom telling Lucy over and over and over to calm down, come, sit, lay down - all while holding on to her collar. I told Mom to just let her go, she wasn't bothering me.

Then we talked.

The answers to my questions were:

• that there was never blood drawn in these fights except an accidental ear slash occassionally. Sometimes Boone would get in the middle of one of these altercations and get slashed somewhere, but there was little to no bloodshed even when it took the humans several minutes to manage to break up the fight.


• occassionally they noticed that Lucy would growl and lunge at Zed almost simultaneously or a hard stare and then the lunge.


• they only got the occassional walk as they couldn't be walked together, and only Lucy, Zed and Boone, never the Scotties


• all three were reactive on the leash with strange dogs but otherwise walked well


• the fights started shortly after the Scotties came into the home

Is this aggression? If not, what is it?

As we continued to talk, I took Lucy's lead and asked that the daughter (Peggy) bring Zed into the room on lead also. Lucy immediately went to Zed and started sniffing him all over.Peggy freaked out and pulled Zed as far from Lucy as she could. Peggy is actually responsible for the three pit mixes and the Scotties are Mom's responsibility. Dad just seems to hang back and comment on what's going on, he never did get up off the couch the whole time I was there.

I moved close to Zed and calmed him down and then just stayed there with Lucy next to me for at least 15 minutes with nothing happening. So I asked Mom to bring Boone into the mix. Boone arrived in a flurry of pent up energy wanting to do everything at once. It took about 10 minutes for Mom to relax enough for Boone to start to relax. Eventually Boone layed down and just watched what was happening. Lucy and Zed in the meantime are just being perfect puppies and doing everything they are asked (sit, down, move here, move there) despite the fact that they wanted to go for a walk since they had the leashes on.

Finally, I just let Lucy loose. She visited everyone, especially Mom. She wanted nothing to do with Peggy however other then that Zed was near Peggy. Neither dog really listened to Peggy unless she had a treat in her hand. While we were talking, Lucy decided to get up on the ottoman and Zed decided he would join here. This is a large ottoman, but not really big enough for the two dogs. Lucy growled at Zed and he started with some pretty aggressive submissive licking and groveling. So I stopped this before it escalated. But it showed me enough that I knew exactly what the problem was in this home.

I still haven't seen the interaction with the Scotties, but I really didn't need to at this point. The Scotties were in the room next to the living room the entire time barking, whining, scratching at the door and generally being obnoxious.

The problem in a nutshell is

• lack of mental and physical stimulation of all the dogs, not just Lucy and Zed - they are bored stiff and have so much pent up energy they look for ways to get rid of it even if that means a fight


• the Scotties have been separated from the rest of the dogs since the first month they were in the home - they are not considered part of the pack by the two older dogs and Lucy in particular tells them to stay away


• lack of firm leadership and direction for all the dogs, despite Peggy being the defacto owner of the pits, she is more like a younger sibling and Mom is the only one who has any control over them.


• Lucy thinks she runs the show and looks at the humans as just part of her pack.

This is not aggression, despite the fights and how Lucy feels about the Scotties. It could become aggression in the future if nothing is done about it, but for now, it's just misplaced energy and easily handled so long as the humans in this pack are willing to step up and do their part.