Would you want your dog to take bullet for you?

How does your dog behave when someone new enters your home, yard, property, personal space, etc?

Do they let out some alert barks or do they charge, lunge, growl, bark, or even bite at the person? For many people, when a dog aggressively charges towards someone we will say things like "He is protective" of us, the home, their territory, or property. A dog that acts out like this every time someone new enters puts themselves at risk due to their "guarding" behavior. Even worse, us allowing them to do this is potentially risking their life (depending on their size, body shape, pre-assumed prejeduces of breed, etc).

I think this is an important conversation to have. The average dog is not "guard dog" material and most families are not looking for a guard dog. It's one thing for a dog to bark and alert their family that someone is at the door -- that's what everyone wants -- but it's a whole other matter for a dog to be out of control barking, lunging, and biting at people that come over. Actually, the majority of the dogs that do this behavior are anxious/stressed dogs lacking believable boundaries and guidance from their owners and show all of that nervy-ness through their reactions. The problem with this guarding-like behavior, is it puts your dog at the front line of conflict. A dog who does this is potentially putting their life at risk every time their owner allows them to practice this behavior (not just risk of euthanasia due to biting a person or child because they walked into your house) but risk of being shot, literally. 

What if an armed person approached your property (possibly with ill intent) and was charged by your dog. Most likely, if they were scared enough, they may shoot the dog.

What if someone in your home was hurt or injured, and paramedics or law enforcement could not enter your home because your dog was charging them? 

Dogs who act like this, unless professionaly trained to be protection dogs, are a real danger to themselves and others. Not only is constant barking, growling, lunging, and reacting everytime they see someone or hear something a good indicator that your dog is mentally stressed, but it also means, that if you can't stop it, you won't have control of your dog in a crisis or when it matters the most.

To help your dog be less anxious, less reactive, and act more appropriately in social settings, you first have to start by building some structure and setting boundaries in your dog's life. For some families (especially if biting is involved!) you may need professional help. Feel free to reach out to us in the Central Florida area or ask for a reference - we know balanced trainers all over the country who can help keep your dog and your guests safe and happy.

Dogs will be dogs, even if you're a dog trainer

At Take the Lead we have 5 dogs - a smorgasbord of breeds and histories that keep me on my toes, make me a better dog trainer, and help us train and rehab every dog who comes see us!

What do I mean by that? Well first off-- the notion that as a dog trainer I have perfect dogs is BOGUS! We have a mötley crew who challenge us everyday, make us put in the work, and make mistakes all the time. Even though they help by working and socializing with other dogs on a daily basis, they are just like your dog - these guys do stuff that erks me AND have some behaviors I have to keep in check.

Most of our dogs are adopted, however even the dogs from breeders had their set of issues. Yep! They are DOGS and they will do doggie things, regardless of their past. Rescued or purchased makes no difference because a dog is a dog - they are adapting to their environment and reacting to life around them. If they were having problems before I got them, it is usually related to an environment without believable leadership, set boundaries, and dogs who were stuck in a bad state-of-mind, resulting in toxic choices. The relationship between a lack of boundaries, poor impulse control, too much freedom, affection before direction, and bad behaviors go hand in hand.

For example Sadie, my little GSD, is my youngest dog who plays great with all the dogs that come through! Behind her, is our girl Khalessi who also picks her buddies and plays HARD! My older guys Ramses, Mowgli, and Leo serve as more of the "boring old crowd" which also has a place of importance too, walking the perimeter and helping set and recieve boundaries. As a pack they are a pretty fun squad of team mates, who work with us daily. However, at the beginning they all came from colorful backgrounds which required a ton of foundation and preliminary work when they originally joined the pack. As the group evolves and grows, even now, we are still are as active as ever in the pack's day to day activities and choices years later (I often tell clients not to "check out" on their dog - this is what I mean. Be aware of your dog's behaviors and how they are feeling and reacting!)

Your dog's behavior can change, it absolutely can! The dogs we have today are NOT the dogs we had years ago. They help us daily socializing with other dogs and people! BUT (and here's the hard part) that's because we figured out what we needed to change about how we interacted with our dogs, and how they interacted with each other years ago (this does not mean we are not still working with them daily! They are living creatures who still make choices just like you and I - sometimes good, sometimes bad). Because your dog has behavioral issues, doesn't mean things can't change. They can, but it takes daily diligence, consistency, leadership, set boundaries and rules, all while continuing to learn and grow from each success and mistake. For us, balanced training, learning how to share leadership, and set boundaries was key - when our dogs learned what they could and couldn't do (as well as us humans, too!), we realized we were speaking a language they finally understood.

Don't let your dog's past stop them from improving. If you're struggling with your dog, like we did (and the many people who had some of these dogs before they came to us) look for help and be open to changing things. You CAN live more harmoniously with your dog(s). Just be prepared to work for it :)

One last note: whether adopting a dog or buying one, there is no guarantee either way you will get a low maintenance, no drama pup. Getting a new dog? Get ready to work...and have a great time doing it! :)

If you're busting butt with your dog, keep up the great work! I know it can be so hard sometimes, but also so rewarding! 

What is dog training?

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.

Are you ready to be that leader for your dog? Need help? We're here for you!www.taketheleadk9training.com

Change in you = Change in them

To most people the idea of "dog training" means the dog has to learn to do new things and change behaviors. However, to see a change in your dog you have to make a change in you too!

It can be as simple as stopping yourself from constantly repeating or being confusing in the way you give a command. It could be making yourself aware of any excess tension you are putting on the leash. It could be much harder, like realizing that constantly spoiling your dog is actually feeding the behaviors you don't want. That having your dogs in bed with you, cuddling on the couch, roaming the house willy-nilly, doing zero work for tons of reward is giving them an entitled attitude that is causing conflict (or undesirable behaviors) with the other dogs/people/pets/guests/etc in your home. 

To get our dog to change, we must be willing to change too. It takes effort by both the dog and the owner to see changes--relationships should never be one sided :)

Most dogs that bite were not trained to be Aggressive - a lack of training is the problem

One of the hardest things in the world is for someone to change their behavior. It requires a conscious effort to STOP their typical habits and START new ones. If your dog has behavioral issues and you want that to change, you have to be ready to change, too. Something in your relationship is creating those problem behaviors and you have to be willing to change the way you live with your dog, for them to change their behavior living with you. 

After a dog bite or attack in the news, all of the comments tend to say "it's the owners who taught them to be aggressive." Typically, the owner of the dogs say they are the nicest dogs and can not believe they would do "that." I do not believe that most people are training their dogs to be aggressive--actually that is the farthest thing from the truth. (Yes, there are cases of dogs not socialized well that are stuck in yards, on chains, or are running at large that go after people. However, recently in the news (and any of my clients that have loved pets who display aggressive behaviors) these dogs are not mistreated). If you were to take a step back to look at the relationship owners have with these types of dogs, they probably live, what the naked eye would call, the best life of LOVE. I can imagine these dogs are very spoiled by their owners--doing things like sleeping in bed, cuddling on the couch, cruising the house at large, pulling all over and sniffing everything on the walk, getting tons of affection and praise, and given TONS of freedom to do with it what they will. Every time someone knocks at the door or enters the house, these dogs are allowed to boldly rush up and jump, bark, and push their way into people's (or dog's) personal space. These dogs get a ton of freedom, have few rules (or at least few rules that would actually impact the dog's behavior--I imagine the owners do a lot of pleading verbal reprimands as the dog does something obnoxious), and very little accountability held for their behavior. To the naked eye, these look like dogs who are loved and living the best life because it is known how much then owner loves them and dedicates their life/home/property to their dog and letting it be "happy."

That might surprise you, because you were under the impression that dogs who bite must have been abused or mistreated. Nope! I know none of my clients have abused their dogs, and many have had them since puppies (so no rescue story of abuse present) and the dogs still act aggressively or have bitten people. (Even if a rescue dog had a bad experience, there are many things that can be done to move PAST their past and have a well-behaved dog. However, often people get stuck on their story, feel sorry for them, and follow the above mentioned "love protocol" out of pity, which unfortunately can create even more problems).

So! This is where we sit back and say, what must we do to take a very loved dog that bites people and make them stop? First thing we MUST do is realize (and admit) that the environment the dog lives in (and the people in that environment) contribute to the behaviors of the dog. That can be REALLY hard for many people because we are so emotionally invested in our dogs. But, the only way to see change in our dogs is to make change in ourselves and how we live with them.

Dog training and behavior modification is a matter of the dog learning new skills, as well as a family affair that requires everyone to change how they do things with their dog and begin recognizing the problems. It can be hard to change behaviors you didn't even know were a problem, especially if the majority of the interactions you have with your dog may be nurturing that bad behavior/insecurities/anxiety/etc. So, where do we start? First, we need to stop looking at our dogs as babies, children, or people--and look at them as the dogs they are! The furry, sharp-toothed predators they genetically are, that eat out of a bowl and poop in the yard. When we start to think of them as animals, we can start to see that guidance, protocols, and rules are necessary. These dogs don't know how to live in our human world without guidance, and if we let them do whatever they want they will do what they know best--be the animal they are and survive. It is our job to be a leader and advocate for our dog, and that means teaching them what we want them to do, setting rules and boundaries for them, and understanding that the lack of our authority presence creates a dog who doesn't know how to live in our human world. No one intends to raise their dog to be aggressive, but the lack of guidance, leadership, rules, boundaries, consequences, training, and authority (along with the surplus of freedom, constant affection, and some spoiling) creates a dog who is missing an advocate (and true friend) in their life. Because of this, many bad, often scary, behavioral issues develop.

If your dog is displaying aggressive or dangerous behaviors, please find a training professional to help you diagnose hat is going on and WHY :)

To stop your dog's bad behaviors you need to influence all of their choices

Too often people are running behind their dogs "putting out fires" for their behavior. Apologizing for their dog jumping on people, barking, or even biting them. Possibly they are cleaning up messes after the dog has gotten in the garbage, chewed up things, slobbered all of the window barking at neighbors. Maybe they are applying compresses to their own shoulders after being drug down the street by their dog or their throat is horse from trying to get their dog to come back.

Improving all of those behaviors start with the little things you do with your dog. Do you represent authority and someone of value to listen to, or just a buddy? Can your dog look at you and say "she seems to have things under control" or are they always taking the lead and impulsively choosing what to do. 

Setting clear expectations, boundaries, and rules are vital to a healthy relationship with a dog. Much like a balanced meal includes some substance (and not just dessert!), your relationship with your dog (especially if they have bad behaviors) can not be just lovey, buddy stuff. You must be a provider, share important information about what is or isn't ok, and take some proactive action in their choices.

Would you leave a toddler unsupervised in a yard, or let them do whatever they want all day without being involved? No way! To have our dog's behavior change, we must change too. It's important that we love them by leading them, and correct nonsense, look for small moments of pushy behavior and set daily boundaries with obedience work, polite threshold behavior, structured walks (and subsequent consequence for not following through) in our lives with our dogs. Loving them is not the hard part--leading them in a way that they make better chocies and we become proactive and relevant in those things is. Without a guide on how to navigate and behave, our dogs will be lost and anxious emotionally and mentally, while giving bad behavior that can get people hurt, and dogs killed. (Seriously! Jumping up could cause a kid to fall back and hit their head, biting a person could get your dog euthanized and you sued, counter surfing could cost your dog a serious surgical operation or toxicity, not coming when called could get them hit by a car, charging and barking at dog could get them attacked, etc etc). We've got to love them enough to show them how to live in our human world. It's time to say "no" to bad behavior and add structure, boundaries, and consequences to your relationship with your dog so we can say "yes" to an awesome life with a well behaved pet.

When I was kid we got rid of our puppy

When I was little our family got rid of our puppy because of her bad behavior.

Her name was Peanut, and she was a black and white lab mix that was probably 7 months old. We had her since 8 weeks old--some family friends had a neighbor that had pups, and my little sister and I made a real fuss about taking one! With joy in our hearts, two little girls (younger than 10 years old), had an adorable puppy to play with and love.

We set up the laundry room for her, laid out newspaper for her to sleep and potty on, and we played with Peanut from sun-up to sun-down-- kissing her good night and rushing to her room every morning to take her outside and start to play! We had a stroller and wagon she got to ride in, a swing set to play chase around, and a beautifully large back yard to enjoy (we even had a fence put in around the whole property for her!) Things were great and Peanut was so much fun! We three played and played until Peanut napped in our laps--we were in heaven with our adorable puppy smile emoticon

As puppies do, Peanut started to grow up very quickly! As she did, she got bigger and stronger. It was harder for us to pick her up, but that was no problem because she would do us the favor by jumping into our arms. She found her voice, and boy did she like to use it--barking at us to come back outside with her, and at people walking by. She didn't nap as much as she used too, and actually started to nip and chew on us with her sharp little teeth so we were a less excited to play hands on with her. Even if we tried to pet her, she'd put our arms in her mouth. We'd try and throw the ball for her, but all those days of chasing us meant we had a 45lb puppy jumping on and nipping us to run around instead of chasing the toy. If she did play fetch, she clobbered us as we held the ball and often played tug-of-war with the clothes we were wearing. We would cry a lot because it hurt how pushy she was (knocking us over, biting, and scratching us with her jumping), so my sister and I would spend more time watching her in the yard from inside of the house. Instead of playing in her big yard, however, she would just dig holes under the porch and bark (a lot) because her girls were gone.

Anytime we tried to put her on a leash to take her on a walk she would jump all over us, and then proceed to yank us (and our parents) down the road. Doing anything that is supposed to be "fun" with our dog was so HARD with Peanut. 

My parents took her to the vet to be spayed, with hopes that the surgery would also help calm her down. Unfortunately though, after a week of healing, Peanut was back to her crazy self.

She couldn't come in the house anymore because she would chew things up, jump on the counters, the furniture, and clobber us children. It was hard to do anything with her, really, because she was so out of control. Even trying to teach her to sit for a treat resulted in Peanut pouncing all over and knocking us over trying to take the treat from us.

So, one day my parents decided that the best thing for us, and Peanut, would be to find her a new home. At 6 months old, we gave away our puppy to one of my dad's co-workers. My sister and I never saw her again, but we heard stories that she loved to swim in their pool, but destroyed the patio furniture--typical Peanut!

Jump to today, and dog-trainer-me sees so many red flags and preventable things we could have done to help Peanut be the best dog she could be and us really enjoy her. She was an adolescent dog with zero guidance or boundaries set, and without proper leadership developed typical bratty, pushy behavior. She never learned jumping was bad, never learned how to be calm in the house or around kids, or how to walk nicely on a leash. Instead, her lack of training made her impossible for our family. (By the way, I am not giving grief to my parents--they had 2 elementary school girls with claw marks and bruises all over their backs from the dog. To them, it did not appear to be a good fit for our family anymore).

Hindsight is always 20/20, and Peanut could have been an amazing dog. She just needed training and to be taught the basics of "yes" and "no." The reason I share this story is to bring awareness that 95% of dogs in the world sent to shelters just need training. Families give up their young dog, because it is so out of control, when really the right training would make the difference between a canine delinquent or awesome canine citizen. Some families have gone through training with their pup, but with only treats allowed, the results are poor and they are still struggling.

The majority of dogs in shelters are between the ages of 8 months and 3 years. These are the most fun and active years for a dog, and with proper training could give you (and your family) a friend for life! If you're looking to adopt a dog and it seems friendly (but hyper!) know that with balanced training and setting boundaries they have the potential to be the best dog! If you're like my family with our puppy Peanut, before giving away your dog, find a balanced trainer--somone who shows their work and you can see that they've had results! There is hope and you could have the most amazing dog for your family!

The best place for your dog is in your home, because the behaviors that you may give him away for are the behaviors that will keep him from getting adopted. Unfortunately, nobody goes to the shelter and says "Can I please adopt the super hyper dog who jumps all over people, chews things up, nips, pulls on the leash, doesn't listen or come when called, counter surfs, and barks a lot? Thanks!" Sound familiar? wink emoticon The good news is that ALL of those behaviors can be fixed with training, boundaries, and guidance smile emoticon 

If you (or someone you know) needs help with your dog, I am here to help! smile emoticon If you need help outside of Central Florida -- I have amazing colleagues all over the country training dogs just, like yours, to be awesome furry family members smile emoticon

Dogs and Kids

Any  dog can bite, and unfortunately children seem to be a high percentage of these. Here are some really great articles regarding how children should interact with dogs and puppies. Do not teach your kids it is ok to do the wrong thing, or they may be bitten or hurt one day!

http://www.robinkbennett.com/2013/08/19/why-supervising-dogs-and-kids-doesnt-work/

 http://info.drsophiayin.com/Portals/13722/docs/SY%20How%20not%20to%20interact%20poster%20Proof3.pdf

http://info.drsophiayin.com/Portals/13722/docs/SY%20HowToInteract%20poster%20Proof3.pdf