It's a Lifesyle

Dog training is not just about obedience commands. If it's good--it's about a lifestyle. It's about figuring out the best possible way to live with your dog. When you can feel connected to your dog, not because she is always on your lap, or he is always sitting at your feet, but because you can really have a conversation--that's when it's working. When your dog knows what is expected of him, does what you ask, and looks to you for guidance. When you see your dog seems uncomfortable or unsure, and you know what to do to help them feel differently, advocate for them, and help them focus their mind else where. When your dog is making a poor choice, crossing a boundary, or loosing focus and you step in, correct it, and they learn a lesson from you. When your dog is at its highest distraction and you have the ability to regain their focus on you, breakthrough the moment to make better choices, and not be so reactive to life. It's when you help them be the best dog they can be--not anxious, nervous, over-excited, over-stimulated, stressed, or agitated. When you know what it takes to help them be comfortable in their own skin and you apply it everyday to your lives, by changing your goal from the relationship your may WANT to have with your dog, to the relationship that you NEED to have. All of this is a constantly evolving, living and breathing process that never stops. But, that's when you are being a true leader, and your dog (and yourself!) will find true happiness and balance.

Trying to find the words to tell you...

I LOVE this job!  Working with families and their dogs is such a rewarding and never dull experience.  

I often come into the lives of families and start talking about things like "leadership, structure, setting boundaries, dog psychology, being the pack leader, respect, having a tuned in dog" and it can often seem like a bunch of great ideas, but hard things to implement.  I do my best to help my clients understand what I am picturing inside of my head for them, but there is a high possibility my words may not match up to the clarity or extent that they need to.  I'm trying, but until you've "lived" those things and can relate, I know it's hard to gather exactly from my words how to make it happen.

So, let me share with you the best dog training/psychology/general life improvement blog on the internet.  This is written by my mentor Sean O'Shea and it pretty much nails each of those topics so clearly and flawlessly that I am learning something new every time I read a post.  

http://thegooddoglifeblog.com/

I hope you love it!!!

Pack Walk with myself and Sean O'Shea!

Just give it a little clutch...

Dog handling has often been compared to horse handling--the way you must feel the animal through the lead.  I want to take a moment to compare it to something different--only because some people may have never ridden a horse, or like me, were not very good at it!

Most people have driven a stick shift before--you know, a car that you have to change the gears to get moving.  You definitely see more automatic transmissions on the road, and why wouldn't you?  They are WAY more convenient.  You don't have to pay attention to anything except for the cars around you and pushing the gas or break pedal.  You don't have to worry about giving too much or too little touchy clutch pressure as you change gears.  I was horrible at driving a stick shift and would stress big time about stalling out, which I did often!  It was a jolty, uncomfortable ride when I was driving--no fun for passengers or people driving around me!  Now, have you ever seen someone who knows how to drive a stick shift DRIVE that car?  It's so smooth--like they are one with the car!  They have a feel for when the car needs to shift, and they make the move.  Flawless.  It's pretty awesome!

SO!  What does this have to do with dogs, you ask?  The first time I ever saw Cesar Millan walking a pack of dogs on the Dog Whisperer I was blown away.  All of those dogs, beside or behind him, and he was in the front not even looking at them.  When I walked my dog I had to stare at him the whole time, drag him away from whatever nastiness he was trying to eat or roll in on the sidewalk, not to mention he pulled me all over the place.  How in the world could someone walk that many dogs and I was struggling with controlling my ONE dog?  Since walking my dog was something I did every day, much like driving a car, I knew I needed to figure it out!  I watched a ton of episodes and followed his advice of making the dog stay at your side by interrupting him from pulling ahead or away.  Soon I began to develop a feel for my dog.  Where before, when he was pulling ahead of me, walking him always felt the same--constant tension and pressure on the leash and my arm.  Now there was no tension on the leash, so I could FEEL when he was pulling ahead and I'd stop him.  I could FEEL when he was lagging behind or pulling to the side, and I would redirect him.  I could even tell if he picked up his pace to chase a squirrel, lizard, or react to an oncoming dog because I could FEEL the change in the leash.  It was incredible!  I felt like my dog and I were connected as one unit.  He also was more tuned in to me, looking up at me after I gave him some leash pressure for whatever it was that I interrupted him from.  I was able to bring his focus back to me, and our walk.   I felt AWESOME!!!  Then, as I brought more dogs into my home and started my training career, the "feel" continued as I walked packs of dogs.  Without looking, I can tell what's going on at the end of the leash.  I felt like one of those people who know how to drive a stick shift.  In gear and in the groove.

There are no "automatic transmissions" when it comes to dogs--they are all over the place, won't do what we want, or get into the right state of mind (gear!) that we need if we don't practice and develop that FEEL.  Once you have it, you know it, and you'll never feel the same way about walking your dog ever again :)

Does size really matter?

Little dogs are not accessories, stuffed animals, or pocket pets--they are dogs! Even though they are small and cute, they are still descendants of wolves like all other dogs, which means their needs of fulfillment are the same! The lack of "dog-like" treatment is why so many small dogs get titled with a "Napoleon complex" or "aggressive." These behavioral problems develop from a void of leadership (and probably too much spoiling) in their lives. Little dogs can (and should!) be trained--let's give them some credit! Cody here just walked 2 miles alongside a pitbull and greyhound: does size matter? I think not!

Are you in my corner? When the stakes are high, I need to know!

Working at the vet's office really allows me to see a lot of dogs in their worst mental space. All of their issues really surface when they are on the table or in the kennel (anxiety, insecurity, fearfulness, pushiness, aggressive behavior). Unfortunately, we've got a job to do, and respecting space is not always possible, since we have to get hands on to solve a problem or leash a dog up. I do my best to be as respectful and understanding of a dog's insecurities during these times, but the truth is we've only got a limited amount of time. Building your dog's trust with the vet is huge, and probably one of the biggest challenges you will face if your dog struggles in these circumstances. 

That said, your dog's relationship (or lack there of) with family members, neighbors, and strangers, should not be anywhere near as stressful (or forced!), so you shouldn't be seeing the extreme behaviors we see at the office. There is no reason anyone should be forcing themselves on your pet, and if they are, they (and you!) really need to reconsider what that is doing for their relationship. Work diligently on being a leader your dog can trust and follow, advocating for your dog, set rules and boundaries (a lot of those nasty insecurities are coming from spoiled dogs who don't know how to handle themselves in a situation they don't agree with, because no one teaches them to do anything that THEY don't start themselves!) and creating a calm and comfortable state of mind for them. While joy and love are a part of life, so are stress and challenges. Life can be stressful at times, and it's important you and your dog understand it, and know what to do when those times happen. Setting rules, boundaries, and giving structure to your dog in your home on a daily basis has them look to you and understand to follow your lead, not always their own. THEN when life presents something stressful, that aggravates, scares the stew out of, or over excites you dog, your dog will have a job to do, and so will you--advocating for your dog and making sure your dog is working on themselves as well. 

No Pets for You!

t's not uncommon for people to want to come up and pet your dog. Unfortunately, no matter how good their intentions, not all dogs are comfortable with strangers in their personal space. When trying to rehabilitate a dog who growls, snaps, or bites at people out of self preservation, you have to start by advocating for them. When you clearly create the "bubble" around these dogs-- telling people "no petting", putting yourself between your dog and them, and keeping on lookers away--your nervous, defensive dog starts to see that you are helping them get the message accross. Work on an obedience relationship and an advocating relationship--it's the only way to help your dog become more comfortable in public. If they feel pressured to be pet every time you take them out (or have people over) they will act out more and more. Not to mention, their trust in you will start to deminish if you can't help them from feeling uncomfortable. With lots of advocating, and them knowing what to expect because you are around with strangers, they can hold a down/stay or place pretty comfortably, knowing they can trust you (their leader) to take care of everything.

Ramses loves strangers, but with his training vest on and in a down/stay, many people looked but did not touch at this Lowe's self-check out. Even without the vest, if someone would have walked up and tried to pet him, I would have stopped them and reminded them to ask me first. People want a doggie fix...but it doesn't have to be your dog if he's not happy about sharing affections. Pets are supposed to be a 2-way thing...not just satisfaction for the person. Always look at what your dog is telling you  :)

A New Way Home

If you're driving home and the road you need to turn onto is closed, you don't pull over and quit--you find a new way home.  You change your plan.

If you're trying to work through something with your dog, but just can't seem to get things going in the right direction, don't throw up your hands and quit.  Find a new way home.  Change your plan.  Take a moment to step back and rethink how to achieve the goal you want.  Troubleshoot.  Try something different.

Don't give up or get discouraged because the road is blocked.  Appreciate the new knowledge you will gain by discovering a new way home.  Breakthrough what you think must happen, and find out what needs to happen.  There's a reason there is only ONE road to nowhere :)

Under the Influence

Dog ownership is rewarding, fulfilling, and down right fun!  When you love your dog so much, it makes sense to want to add another to your family--a new playmate, a friend, another soul to love--shoot, I have 4 (and a cat, but he thinks he is a dog! ;)

I want to bring awareness to something that may get overlooked in the honeymoon phase of adopting/buying/fostering a new dog or puppy.  YOUR OLD DOG!  I'm not implying that you will forget about your first dog; on the contrary, I think you will be very excited for him/her!  What I actually want you to think about are your dog's behaviors in your life right now.  Are you happy with how your dog behaves?  Does your dog respect you and your guests?  Do you feel like you have good control of your dog when you are out in public?  Does your dog bark non-stop out of the window, or fence fight with the dog next door?  Does he pull you down the street on the leash, barking and jumping at people and other dogs?  Does he potty in the house or destroy things when you are gone?  

If you are struggling with your dog's behaviors, it is VERY likely that your new dog will begin to mimic these behaviors--the good and the bad.   Adding another dog to the group may seem like a good idea, for instance if you feel your dog is "bored and needs a playmate" because of destructive or hyper tendencies, but you must understand that, from puppies to older dogs, they learn from each other and will learn good and bad habits.  If barking aggressively at people, wildlife, and cars going by is a fun activity your dog likes to do now, it's almost guaranteed you'll have 2 dogs doing that in a short amount of time.  They are pack animals after all!

I want to encourage you to look at your relationship with your dog now and figure out if you are the pack leader.  It's important to know that you are in control, you're happy with your dog's behaviors, and you know your dog represents a good role model for a new addition.  If you have a dog with questionable tendencies or down-right bad behaviors, I'd highly recommend doing some training and leadership building skills with your original dog before adding #2 (or #3, #4, etc.) to your pack.  It's much easier to have a well-behaved dog help teach your new dog good habits (like looking to you for guidance!) than to have 2 dogs who are out of control because they have no structure or leader.  Plus, you'll already have a well trained dog, so you'll know what to do to create a calm and peaceful household with another because you've done it once already :)  Remember, the people you hang out with influence you--the same can be said for our dogs.

                                                                Learning the art of calmness