Dog Fear- Where Does It Come From?

Dog Fear- Reader Question

The following question comes from a reader of our site:

Why are some dogs just flat out scared of men? I have a 2 year old husky and he’s scared of men. I don’t believe there’s any history of abuse. He’ll run away or refuses to come to men and paces back and forth frustrated.
Rachel, Utah.

Thanks for this question, Rachel. Dog fear is one of the biggest things I deal with in my company simply because it’s at the root of so many behavior problems. Issues like dog aggression, some destruction, anxiety behaviors, and others all find their root in fear. In order to solve these issues it’s important to understand where these issues come from.

Dog Fear- What Causes It?

The reality is that there are only two places that dog fear comes from:

  1. Genetics
  2. Upbringing

It’s the old Nature Vs. Nurture argument that has been waging in the halls of academia forever. In fact, I find it unfortunate that many people these days are ignoring the science when it comes to dog behavior.

These days you don’t have to go far to find certain ‘breed apologists’. Just log on to your Facebook account and you’ll see your dog loving friends posting graphics about how awesome Pit Bulls are and how any aggressive Pit Bull is simply that way because the owner trained it to be that way.

This type of thinking completely ignores basic tenets of dog behavior.

Nearly everyone will agree that both nature and nurture compose the makeup behind temperament, personality, and character. Yet in the case of Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans, etc. people suspend this understanding in their attempts to protect their favorite breed.

Now, let me set the record straight first of all. I’m a big fan of Pit Bulls, Rottweilers (I own one), German Shepherds (I’ve owned a few) and Dobermans. And I’m not trying to tell you that ANY of these BREEDS are more prone to fear, aggression, or any other sort of behavior. But I will tell you that certain representatives of those breeds (and ALL breeds for that matter) can have larger propensities than others for fear, aggression, and other related behaviors.

I know I’m on my soapbox right now. You may be wondering why I’m off on a tangent about Pit Bulls and other powerful breeds when the question was about a Husky and fear. The reason is that people seem to be willing to accept that fear can cause bad behavior, and many of those same people are willing to accept that a Husky or a Beagle or a Labrador MAY have been born with a greater propensity for fear and that MAY be why they are acting inappropriately. But many of those same people are unwilling to accept that a Pit Bull was born with a fear issue and that is why she is acting aggressively…they seem bound and determined to blame aggression in these powerful breeds on bad owners.

This is a damaging style of thinking, though. Many of our clients own these breeds and we deal with a lot of aggression. Based on what these folks have heard many are convinced that they are awful owners and somehow ‘trained’ their Pit Bull or Rottweiler to be aggressive. The reality is, though, that they’ve been good dog owners (everyone can be better) and they did NOTHING to cause their dog’s fear or aggression. The dog was born with a greater tendency towards aggressive behavior.

The majority of the dog fear that I see for genetic reasons comes from poor breeding. Most breeders these days have no clue how to make pairings that will result in mentally sound puppies. It may be that they are breeding for looks and not temperament, it may be that they are pushing out puppies just to make a buck, or it may be that they are incompetent but these bad breeders have flooded the country with dogs who have weak nervous systems and low thresholds for dealing with stress. And, unfortunately, it is the public who is supporting their efforts by always looking for the best deal.

As I mentioned, though, genetics are just one piece of the puzzle.

Upbringing is also very important. When I’m referring to upbringing I’m typically talking about socialization.

Dogs have what I like to call a ‘socialization window’ between about 8 weeks and 6 months of age where it’s important that the dog receives the correct doses of the correct type of socialization. Errors that lead to the type of fear being described with this Husky typically fall into two categories:

  • Under-socializing. Dogs need to meet a LOT of people, places, and things. They need to meet lots of men, women, dogs, cats, children, bicycles, floor surfaces, sounds, textures, etc. Many dogs simply don’t get a lot of exposure. As they grow older they fall into the old adage of ‘we fear the unknown’. It’s possible that your Husky didn’t receive enough exposure to men and now finds the fact that they are bigger, deeper voices, etc. as off-putting and cause for fear.
  • Improper socialization. I can’t tell you how much dog fear I can trace directly to dog parks. Dog parks are the worst place to socialize a dog yet they are so often used and they often inject fear into a dog. Aside from dog parks bad socialization occurs when the owner doesn’t control encounters the young dog has with kids, strangers, etc. I have had numerous cases where a dog has ONE bad experience with a kid, person, dog, etc. during this socialization window and it taints their whole life experience from that day forward. In your dog’s case, it’s possible the dog simply was handled roughly by a man at a young age and that’s the experience that stuck.

Dog Fear- How To Solve It

Dog fear comes from what I call a ‘chaos mindset’. That means that the dog isn’t thinking when she’s reacting fearfully, she’s simply giving in to her surroundings.

The opposite of chaos in the natural world is structure, control, etc. With our clients we immediately start on a healthy diet of obedience training to overcome these fear issues. As the dog’s mind learns to focus on structure it can’t also be focusing on the subject of her fear.

Here’s the catch, though. Treat based obedience training or other such ineffective methods don’t get the job done. The only way to overcome big-time fear issues is through advanced obedience training and that simply doesn’t occur with treat training. You need a style of training that properly balances correction with motivation to show the dog that obedience is the rule but it’s also enjoyable.

Filed Under: Advanced Dog Training, Behavior Problems Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

(Reader Question) How To Stop Dog Aggression

How To Stop Dog Aggression:

The following question came in from one of our readers from our site on how to stop dog aggression:

We have a dog who is mid-size and has always been well behaved. He’s a border collie mix. As he has been indoors for more and more time over the winter he has become very protective. He starts barking at the doorbell and growls when friends or guests want to pet him.

Has even snapped at my brother-in-law after my brother-in-law continued to try to pet him again and again even after being warned with growls again and again. He turned and snapped and scared all of us.

He even trapped our neighbor in his car… Protecting their home (I was inside their home visiting his wife).

How to Stop Dog Aggression: Three Tips

The following three steps go over my recommendations for how to stop dog aggression in this case.

How to stop dog aggression on youtube

The three steps I recommend in this case are:

  1. Take care of your handling errors. You are putting this dog in situations that are not conducive to training success. Allowing this dog to be pestered and leaving the dog loose in a neighbor’s yard are things that just should not be happening.
  2. Get this dog fulfilled. You recognized that with more time indoors he has become more aggressive. It’s important to help him get out some of that pent up energy that is currently being manifest as aggressive behaviors. I always tell clients that they will get rid of energy faster through the mind than they will through the body. Get this guy on focused walks, practice ‘integration training’ with him throughout the day, play games like fetch, etc. and that will help to siphon off some of that added energy that is going into negative behavior right now.
  3. Focus heavily on obedience. When you are looking at how to stop dog aggression you MUST always start with some great obedience. Obedience training allows you to have options for when the dog is feeling stressed out, anxious, or aggressive. For example, if you could have him lie down and stay when someone knocks on the door it helps solve the doorbell problem. Basic obedience isn’t good enough, you really need to work on obedience around distractions.

How to Stop Dog Aggression- Summary

A big majority of our clients come to us trying to figure out how to solve dog aggression. I find that in nearly all cases it comes down to structure, structure, and more structure. Structure is nature’s enemy of chaos, aggression, and anxiety.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: , ,

How to Stop Dog Digging and Chewing (Destruction Tele-seminar)

How To Stop Dog Digging and Chewing

I like to periodically do dog training tele-seminars where I invite you to join me on a call to talk about various dog training topics. Last evening we did a seminar on how to stop dog digging and chewing and overall destructive behavior. The following podcast is about 36 minutes of pure content on how to put an end to destructive behavior once and for all? In it I outline my 5 steps on how to stop dog digging and chewing and then I go through reader questions and show you how you can apply these steps in real life dog training scenarios.

Would you like to be notified of our upcoming tele-seminars? Simply enter your name and email address at the top right corner of any page of this website and you’ll be notified. Down below the recording you’ll see an outline of the concepts that were discussed on the call. Happy training!

 

How to Stop Dog Digging and Chewing- The Steps

I’ve got a formula for how to stop dog digging and chewing that I’ve used on hundreds of dogs over the years. I’ve got a great success rate when it’s applied. That is the key phrase, though, ‘when it’s applied’. The reality is that it is harder with some dogs than others and in the difficult cases it’s not uncommon to see people give up on these steps.

  • Supervision. This is a big one! Dogs that are being destructive shouldn’t be allowed to be in situations where they CAN be destructive. We need supervision while you are home and some sort of crate/confinement training while you are gone.
  • Mental and physical stimulation. While many dog owners with destructive dogs THINK they are fulfilling their dog in many cases they are not. I alway tell dog owners that it is easier and more efficient to tire a dog out through the mind than it is the body. I like to use focused walks and obedience training to accomplish a mentally, and therefore physically, tired dog.
  • A chewing outlet. In the podcast I get into more detail but I like to have three things going on with my dog’s chew toys: variety, challenge, and surrogate owners. Listen to the podcast for more in depth info.
  • Healthy attention. If you give too much of the wrong kind of attention your dog can turn into a nervous wreck. You want the right kind of attention at the right times.
  • Correct the destruction. From poop tricks to balloons to K9 entrapment using today’s latest technology there are a variety of ways to catch your dog in the act 0f being destructive.

How to stop dog digging and chewing- Summary

The thing about fixing digging and chewing is that, for the most part, it’s a science experiment. Every dog is so different with regards to their motivation for destruction to how we go about fixing it. What I’ve found, though, is that the answer for you lies in one or all of the above five steps. I’ve had clients who have casually applied just one of those steps and seen the solution. I’ve had others, though, who have had to diligently work with all five before they got their solution. Give it a listen and comment below with any questions you have.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems, Podcasts Tagged With: , , ,

Training A Dog That Bites And Barks

How To Solve the Problem of a Biting and Barking Dog

The following is a question from one of our readers:

I have a 7 month old min pin who minds good and does all the basic commands. But he still likes to bite at times when he is playing. I say NO but sometimes he doesn’t listen. Also we have a problem with him barking at people and he wont stop until they are out of sight. How can I fix these problems? I am an over the road driver so every day is something new for him. Thanks.

A Biting And Barking Dog- It’s About The Relationship

A Biting And Barking Dog On Youtube

Almost always when you see a dog who bites and barks you also see a dog who isn’t respectful. You mention that the dog is ‘obedient’ but I wonder how obedient the dog can be at seven months? There are a few things I tell my clients that apply here:

  • You won’t fix a biting and barking dog with basic obedience. You need to get much more advanced obedience to forge a solid bond of ‘leader/follower’ with you and your dog.
  • Telling isn’t training. Just saying the word ‘no’, or even worse the word ‘no’ in a harsh tone, isn’t training your dog. Unless something is going with that word you’re going to find that the dog will quickly learn to ignore it.

A Biting And Barking Dog- Tips

Here are a few things I’d recommend you do:

  • Keep working on that obedience. Don’t work on treat training. Work on solid, balanced obedience where you use leash corrections combined with proper praise. This type of obedience will have an overall calming effect and will serve to have your dog see you in much more of a leadership role.
  • Keep a leash on your dog while you’re driving. I’d recommend you have a leash and training collar on the dog at all times. That means in the cab, when you take him out at rest stops, and once you’re back home. You need a way that you can teach, communicate, and correct when your dog is acting out and simply telling the dog isn’t going to get the job done. By keeping him on a leash you are in a position to always address negative behavior.

I wish you the best of luck and happy training. Now it’s time to get to work!

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: , ,

What You Allow Is What Will Continue- Dog Training

Dog Training- What You Allow Is What Will Continue

While on Facebook the other day I came across the image that you see. It’s an image with a simple little saying, yet I found it to be profound.

What you allow is what will continue. I feel that if dog owners understood this simple little principle it would be a game changer in so many people’s lives.

Let me give you an example. I often hear dog owners say things like:

“I don’t know why my dog keeps insisting on tearing up the flower bed.”

“I can’t figure out WHY my dog keeps going to the bathroom in the house.”

“I’m so tired of my dog not listening to me when I tell him to come/sit/lie down/stay/etc.”

Do you notice an underlying tone or theme in these types of statements? Have you made comments like these in your dog training efforts?

The underlying theme that I see is that most people are blaming their dogs for these behaviors. The DOG won’t stop, the DOG won’t learn, the DOG won’t listen, etc.

What they almost always fail to recognize is that their dog is simply an animal and, without their help, has no concept of right and wrong. What that means is that if bad behaviors are continuing it is ONLY because the owners are ALLOWING them to continue.

While I have heard people ask about their dog’s behavior problems with the correct mindset it is not often. With my clients I’m always trying to help them see things in terms of ‘what do I need to change so that my dog can understand this?’

The types of questions or complaints about dog behavior that I’d like to hear are:

“My dog keeps tearing up the flower bed. What haven’t I provided for him or what haven’t I communicated to him that makes him believe this is still acceptable behavior?”

“My dog keeps going to the bathroom in the house. What are the steps I HAVE NOT taken to ensure this won’t keep happening?”

“My dog is not listening to my commands. What dog training principles am I not employing in my dog’s education to help him understand what I want”

If you can approach your dog problems with that type of mindset you’ll be much more successful in your efforts.

Dog Training- Passive vs Overt Training Techniques

Like it or not, if your dog is the dog who is tearing up your garden, jumping on your guests, peeing in the house, and not listening to you, these things are occurring because of you…not in spite of you. These things are occurring because you ALLOW them to occur. More often than not I find the culprit is a lack of education on HOW to go about addressing these issues combined with a lack of determination to work to fix the problems. Regardless, make no mistake, by passive or overt methods you are allowing your dog to do the bad behaviors you don’t like.

Let me give some examples:

Let’s say you’ve got the dog who is peeing in the house and destroying the garden. Well, you don’t have to figure out HOW to fix that, the HOW has already been done. Whether you’re reading your dog training books, working with dog trainers, checking out my dog training blog or the blog of others you can quickly find out that one of the main keys in fixing a problem like this is to supervise your dog.

Now let’s say that you choose to ignore these proven training methods. That is a passive training technique that YOU are consciously choosing to employ. The result is obvious; destruction and messes. But at that point there is no use saying that you can’t figure out why the dog keeps doing these things. YOU decided to employ a passive training technique that is a proven failure.

Let’s look at an overt case:

Let’s say your dog is the dog who doesn’t come when called. Now let’s say that you do what many dog owners do and shout angrily at your dog to come when called and when he finally does come you scold him further.

You aren’t being passive in your training efforts. You are being overt, i.e. actually getting out and working with your dog.

It jus so happens that you are employing overt methods that are proven to not work. So when the time comes for you to complain that your dog does not come when called it is null. You ALLOWED yourself to employ bad methods and therefore have ALLOWED your dog to continue not coming when called.

Any way you slice it, through passive or overt methods you are allowing bad behavior to continue.

Dog Training- The Solution

So what is the solution? As I mentioned before I maintain that the solution is education.

There is no point in complaining that your dog doesn’t listen, doesn’t do this, lamentably does that, etc. Every problem you have had or will have with your dog has already been solved. Now, being a dog training who is good at what I do I always encourage dog owners to invest in my dog training programs. Having said that, I feel that dog owners simply need to educate themselves, whether that is through my training materials or other qualified trainers.

Many dog owners will willingly NOT get education on their dog’s problems and then complain about their dogs all along the way. This doesn’t work. It’s important to always remember that the buck stops with you when it comes to your dog.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: ,

Car Sickness In Dogs

Car sickness in dogsCar Sickness In Dogs- Reader Question

The following question comes from one of our valued clients about car sickness in dogs:

I do have one question that I really need help with. I just finished watching the part on the video about socializing my dog and I thought that just maybe you can help me with this problem. My puppy is a potcake, 5 months old, and was born in Freeport, Bahamas. I don’t know if it was the trip to Georgia (by plane??) or some other reason, but my puppy gets sick every time he goes for a ride in the car. The major drooling starts first and by the time he has a Santa beard of drool, he throws up. The last trip I gave him Dramamine and he didn’t throw up on the way back, but the back of my car was soaking wet. I just retired and I had visions of traveling with him. I want to go to Petsmart and take him with me to socialize him, but it is so traumatic for him. I’ve sat in the back with him and given him treats or played with him (without driving!!!) and it’s like Pavlov’s dogs - he drools and his ears lower. Is there anything you can suggest I do to help him? In the past, taking my dog with me just around town has helped to strengthen our bond and that is what I envisioned this time. Never thought about a dog that hates the car. Help!

Car Sickness In Dogs- Solutions

Car sickness in dogs is not uncommon. It’s a challenge I’ve dealt with many times with many of our clients. The video below gives some ideas for solutions:

Watch On Youtube- Car Sickness In Dogs
Here are some of the key points for dealing with car sickness in dogs:

  • Everything with the car should be obedience related. Dogs have one track minds so keeping the focus on you through obedience helps keep the dog’s mind off of the impending doom of the car.
  • Play the ‘car game’. Have your dog jump in the car for a treat and then allow the dog out. Getting in the car, for a car sick dog, is a big stress trigger. You want to desensitize that trigger by helping the dog realize that not every time he gets in the car results in a trip.
  • Desensitize your exit triggers. Note the things that you do before ever going to the car and do those more often to ‘trick’ your dog into getting over the beginning of the stress.
  • Plan out your trips so that you can fast the dog before going in the car.
  • Drugs like dramamine can have their place but those don’t do anything to alter the mental state of the dog. That happens through training.

Car Sickness In Dogs- Prevention

You can often prevent car sickness in dogs by having your pup ride in a crate in the car, giving your dog fun experiences in the car from a young age, and associating treats with the car.

Best of luck, happy training.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With:

How To Stop Puppy Biting (Puppy Manners)

How To Stop Puppy BitingHow to Stop Puppy Biting- Reader Question

The following came in from a reader of our site:

Hi Ty,

I have a 3.5 month old Chow Chow puppy and she is extremely bossy. She bites when she gets very excited and doesn’t stop. I’ve tried holding her mouth shut and telling her no in a stern tone but it makes it worse and so I have to take her outside where she throws a fit and starts to tear up her toys. I let her back in and then she starts all over again after a few minutes. Her biting is the worst when she is tired. She is also a bully. She likes to jump on you or on the cabinets and my attempts to get her back on the ground makes her angry and she lashes out. She also has to be the first one out the door, occasionally she will let me walk out the door first but usually its only when she is confused and doesn’t know what I’m doing. I’ve put her on the leash and tried training with her to get her to learn that she can’t just run out, but when she doesn’t get her way, she gets disinterested and stops paying attention. I’ve tried to slightly jerk her leash to get her to pay attention and refocus and correct her but it has no affect. This situation has gotten me extremely frustrated and I would like to teach her that she is not in charge and that I am the alpha.

I hope to hear back from you soon. Thanks so much.

Sincerely,

Maria

How to Stop Puppy Biting- Tips

Thanks for the question. This is definitely an issue you need to watch out for. It’s important not to have a young puppy grow up believing it’s okay to be in charge. Here are a few tips for how to stop puppy biting:

  • Puppy biting is normal but it’s not okay. Her puppy biting and temper tantrums are indicative of a pup that is very dominant for this age. Working on obedience, like you’ve been doing, is a good idea. I wouldn’t work on treat obedience, though. I’d work on obedience with the leash using commands, correction, and physical praise as motivation. Treat obedience will help her develop a relationship with cookies but we want her to develop a relationship with you.
  • Keep her on a leash at all time, not just for training. When it comes to how to stop puppy biting, or any bad puppy behavior for that matter, it is important that we can communicate with the puppy at any given moment. By keeping her on a leash you are in a position to train at all times. This is important as she is liable to ‘act out’ at any moment and you need to be ready.
  • Corrections should be ‘firm but fair’. You make note of using gentle corrections and this can be tantamount to ‘nagging’ the puppy. I always tell my clients that corrections should be dog-specific. What that means is that some dogs need more gentle corrections, other dogs need firmer corrections. Your pup needs a firmer correction as the lighter corrections cause her to challenge you. She’s a bit young but, in a month or two, you may want to get her a training collar so that your corrections are more meaningful.
  • Experiment with the correction type. When it comes to how to stop puppy biting, jumping on the cabinets, temper tantrums, etc. you may have more success with a spray bottle than with a leash correction. I’ve had many clients whose puppies were better served with a quick spray vs. a leash correction.

How to Stop Puppy Biting- Conclusion

Above all, when it comes to how to stop puppy biting it’s important to be patient. I always push for fast results so I don’t recommend that you ‘take it easy’ but you’ve got to allow for a bit of time for your dog to grow and understand.

Chow Chows can be very dominant dogs. I think you are doing a lot of good things right now and you have the right mindset for solving this problem. The key, though, will be tweaking just a few things and being consistent with that. Good luck.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems, Puppy Training Tagged With: ,

How To Fix Dogs That Fight In The Home

How To Fix Dogs That Fight In The Home

The following question comes in from a reader of our site-

Hello Ty,

I have the same question as Brenda did on thatmutt.com. (I wrote this message there a few days ago, also.) How about if its aggression towards another dog within the household? Same method? Or what can i do? I have 3 dogs (littermates) – I will call them Dog #1, #2 and #3 to differentiate them.

We got Dog #1 at 7 weeks of age, Dog #2 at 9 months, Dog #3 at almost 11 months old. Dog #2 and Dog #3 were owned by a person who then decided they didn’t have time for them (first Dog #2, then Dog #3). Those 2 dogs did fight at times and I don’t know the exact conditions they lived in. Dog #1 was neutered at 6 months old, we had Dog #2 and Dog #3 neutered as soon as we got them. Dog #1 gets along fine with both Dog #2 and Dog #3. However, Dog #2 and Dog #3 do not. Dog #2 attacks Dog #3 for no reason (we don’t have them all together now – we alternate keeping either Dog #2 or Dog #3 in a separate room with a gate in the doorway).

We bring Dog #2 on his harness and leash multiple times per day and there are times he can lay quite close to Dog #3 with no problem but you can see/feel him wanting to attack him again. From the time we had them all loose together in the house, we know that Dog #3 does not want to fight but will if he has to. (One time the attack happened under the kitchen table and it took me a little longer to be able to get at Dog #2 enough to pull him off of Dog #3.) I do not want to/will not re-home any of these dogs. I want to do the right thing to get them to get along or if not get along, at least tolerate one another so they can live together.

I never bring them outside together because we have a large fenced in yard and a fight could break out too far of a distance from me. I realize I am lucky that I have not gotten bit when I have pulled Dog #2 off of Dog #3. It just makes no sense – when we did have them all together, they could pass one another in the doorway 9-10 times, then in a split second, the 11th time, Dog #2 would instantaneously attack Dog #3 – no advance warning whatsoever. They will all be a year old at the end of this month (Dec 2012). I have spent countless hours researching on internet for ideas but don’t want to try the wrong thing. I found Ty Brown (you!) and have seen some of his videos and they seem so down to earth and sensible. Any help would be appreciated so very, very much.

The following is my response:

 

Watch How To Fix Dogs That Are Fighting In The Same House On Youtube

 

Dogs That Fight In The Home- Key Points

  • It all starts with obedience training. Obedience equals calm and respectful. As I always say, you aren’t going to fix aggression with basic obedience. You need advanced obedience.
  • Work on focused walks together. You should work towards one dog on one side of your body and the other dog on the other side. Both should be right by your side, no walking ahead, and paying attention to you.
  • You need processes for around the house. Lots of ‘down stays’, waiting at the door, rules, discipline, etc.
  • Control aspects of their life: doorways, toys, food, etc.
  • More than likely you’ll want to start with dogs on leashes and training collars for a while. No harnesses.
  • Best of luck!

For dogs with this level of aggression we recommend our curing dog aggression program.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: , , ,

Case Study Update- Aggressive Dogs At The Pet Hotel

Last week I met with a new ‘client’ here in Costa Rica. (I say ‘client’ in quotations because I’m not really getting paid. We’re doing some trade work) You can read the first part of the case study here- How to fix an aggressive dog, case study.

Initially I told you that I was working with a few dogs there. Primarily, we were working with Cleo, a Pit Bull mix, who was aggressive towards other dogs. We were also working with Canela, a friendly little mixed breed who had obedience and manners issues.

It’s only been a week and a half but we’ve already seen some nice things, and also some new challenges, pop up. Here is where we are:

Canela- Canela is about nine months old and is a sweetheart. Here are the key points on her progress and notes on what needs to happen at this stage:

  • Leash walking. We worked on my ‘Crazy man method‘ and she’s doing great. She was a bad leash-puller but is now walking like a champ. Truthfully, this is normally the easiest thing to fix. So, while I’m thrilled with her progress I’m not patting myself on the back too hard.
  • Sitting, Lying Down, and Staying. She’s actually doing really well with this as well. Her owner will ask her to stay while she goes and grabs something or goes to get something and she does just great. We are using this method to teach her to stay.
  • Today we started working on teaching her to come when called. This is a big deal as they live on an acre and most of it isn’t fenced. The owner was doing the thing that most people do wrong. That is to say:
  1. She was calling the dog with no way of ‘backing it up’. Most people attempt to train their dogs verbally by telling them to come. Dogs don’t learn well verbally. If the dog didn’t come she had no way of seeing it through.
  2. She was angrily calling the dog. Many people get tired of their dogs not coming when called so they call them in an angry tone. If your dog didn’t want to come before, it sure as heck doesn’t want to come now.
  • So we’ve started working on what I call a ‘casual recall’ and what I call a ‘formal recall’. We’re using some simple methods for these exercises: Train your dog to come when called, Come when called
  • Overall, Canela is doing really well. I’m surprised the the owner has had enough time to work with her as it’s only been a bit over a week and her Pet Hotel is getting busier with Christmas closing in. I don’t think we’ll have any problems in getting her obedience to continue improving.

Cleo- Cleo is the Pit Bull mix. She is about four years old and is incredibly dominant. Here are the key points and notes for how she is doing and what she’ll need to work on to become trained.

  • This dog is incredibly dominant and doesn’t like to be told what to do. She tried biting me once during the first session and she even tried a little growl at her owner today. Mind you, these were situations where we were simply shifting her a bit and she didn’t like it. It wasn’t as if we were pushing her hard and retaliation, although not okay, would have been understandable. It’s obvious that this dog needs much more obedience work. Obedience is the key to getting the right relationship with a dog.
  • The owner has actually done a good job of integrating some of the initial obedience we’ve been working on. She took Cleo on an on-leash walk yesterday and other neighborhood dogs were walking off leash near her. This would have made Cleo go nuts before but because we’ve been working on control work the dog’s mind was more focused and she did fine. The owner also mentioned that she’s had Cleo on leash on the other side of the fence of barking dogs. I like to see this. I always say that it’s one thing to work on obedience. It’s another thing entirely to apply that obedience to everyday life. That’s what she has been doing and it’s been paying off.
  • Today we started working on step three of my aggression formula, which is how to correct aggression when it starts. I taught her what I call my distance method (outlined in our Dog Aggression DVDs) which is designed to help the dog focus AWAY from their aggressive trigger. It worked well. In one session we were able to get the dog to stop focusing on a neighbor dog and be just inches away from her. I was assured by the owner that this was a big deal, she would normally be trying to attack.
  • We’ve seen nice things but we’ve got a long way to go with this dog. She’ll need to be around dozens of other dogs and improve her obedience a great deal in order to get over this aggression problem. If you’re dealing with aggression note that you can see quick improvements with my methods but long term character change takes a bit of time.

Other notes:

  • As a side note, I’ve mentioned that she runs a Pet Hotel. At any given time there are 5-10 dogs at her house hanging out. She was having issues with barking dogs, jumping dogs, dogs getting out of control, etc. I recommended she keep a spray bottle with her to use on the dogs when they start getting out of control. She’s reported back that it has worked amazingly. One of the problem dogs that spends months at a time is now quiet and not jumping, not rushing the gate, etc.
Filed Under: Advanced Dog Training, Behavior Problems Tagged With: , ,

Case Study- Aggressive Dogs and Pet Hotels

This is one of the rescue dogs, aside from the dogs with aggression problems, that we’re working with at the Pet Hotel.

I started working with a new ‘client’ today. Her name is Andrea and she is the owner of a Pet Hotel here in the town where we’re living, Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica.

Andrea has been a dog lover her whole life. For a long time she’d been helping out friends with their dogs when they went on vacation. She told me that she finally got so tired of helping for free that she opened up her Pet Hotel.

I met her at the library recently and found out she is living right down the street from me.

Andrea has two dogs that have to stay next door at her mother’s house because these two dogs are aggressive towards other dogs. She’s also got a few rescue dogs that she’s essentially adopted that live at the pet hotel and interact with the dogs who come to stay with her.

She’s frustrated because she can’t have her two pit bull mixes around the other dogs and she’s even had situations where these two dogs have attacked other dogs. We sat down today and I outlined for her the prescription that I want to apply to her and her dogs over the next couple months so we can see some progress.

Here is the plan I laid out for her:

  • We first need to establish some great obedience. Obedience comes from a calm state of mind and aggression comes from the opposite. The more we get solid obedience the more we kick out the aggressive state of mind. Also, obedience leads to solid leadership and a dog that sees it’s owner as a leader is much less likely to be aggressive.
  • Once we’ve established great obedience we need to start applying that obedience to moments where the dogs are likely to be aggressive.
  • I need to show Andrea how to properly correct the dogs when they are acting aggressively.

This is the plan that I set out for her, it’s the same plan I outline in detail in my dog aggression course, and I’ve got years of experience showing that this is going to help her start to see progress with her dog aggression issues very quickly if she does what I lay out for her.

Today we started working on some obedience exercises like proper leash walking and how to stay.

I foresee a few challenges that we’ll have to get over if we’re going to see the progress she wants:

  • These dogs are mostly loose in the yard at her mom’s house. They don’t get a lot of structure and giving them structure is going to be a challenge. There is no fence and the dogs are sometimes tied out but sometimes just end up wandering in the jungle and the surrounding neighborhood for hours.
  • The female is the worse of the two dogs and she is very lazy. What that means is that she doesn’t pull on the leash, doesn’t jump on people, and doesn’t cause too many problems outside of the moments when she’s around other dogs. It’s my experience that a lot of dogs like her can ‘float under the radar’ a bit. Because they aren’t causing a hassle, except in specific moments, a lot of owners find themselves less motivated to get out there and work on leash walking and other behaviors. What is important is that she gets a lot of training, even though it may not feel like she needs it as much.
  • The male is not fixed. He ends up wandering off their large property and finds himself in trouble. He’s still young, about a year or so, so I think that getting him fixed could help a bit with fixing his aggression issue.
  • Andrea spends all of her time at the Pet Hotel so leaving the property to go to her mom’s to work with the dogs will be difficult. I’ve run into this situation many times where the owner isn’t living with the dogs and it can make things very hard. Luckily, the dogs are only 50 yards away but it still will be a challenge.
  • The female is incredibly dominant. I pushed on her rear end just a bit to get her to sit when I came to a stop with some leash walking and she was so upset that someone was trying to tell her what to do that she tried to bite me.

Overall, we’ve got some big challenges but I’m hoping for the best. I’ll keep you posted as the weeks go on.

Filed Under: Behavior Problems Tagged With: , ,
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