Podcast- Create An Environment Where Your Dog Doesn’t WANT To Be ‘Bad’

Create Environments For Dog Training Success

I’ve come to realize, over the years, that you are far better off proactively creating environments where your dog WANTS to be obedient and problem free than you are trying to address dog problems one by one as they come up.

This podcast goes into checklist detail on what you can do to create the right environment for your dog.

The following is an abbreviated transcript of the call.

I once had a client several years ago who had beat cancer. When he got the diagnosis from his doctor he decided he didn’t want the chemotherapy and instead decided to treat himself.

He told me that cancerous cells can’t exist in a body that is pure, or something like that, I can’t recall 100%. So he decided that he would only drink pure and balanced water, organic foods with no pesticides, nothing processed, etc.

The result? His cancer went away.

Now, I’m not a doctor, I’m not a natural healer and I have no way of knowing what went on with his body.

Nor am I going to talk much more about the subject because I know that people get very strong opinions on both sides of this argument on how to treat cancer and that isn’t the purpose of what I’m talking about today.

What I wanted to get at with this example is that what he said made sense to me. That if you create a body that is running on pure fuel and doesn’t have toxins and contaminants then a cancer couldn’t live there. Whether that’s true or not it did make sense.

I also was able to relate it, however, to what goes on with our dogs. Let’s look at bad behavior…I’m talking aggression, destruction, hyperactivity, getting on counters, etc. as the cancer that plagues dog/owner relationships.

My experience has been that if the right environment is created for this creature that we invite into our homes, it becomes so much more difficult for that cancer to get a foothold.

An example. With our Utah dog training business, CommuniCanine, we have a service called our Boot Camp. That’s where we take our client’s dogs into the homes of our trainers. I can tell you, and many of our clients have a hard time believing it, but by day two, and frequently within the first half hour of the dog being OUT of their owners home and into our home the dog is COMPLETELY different.

I’m not exaggerating. In most cases the same dog who was trying to attack everyone, peeing all over the house, jumping on every guest, barking excessively at every noise, etc. is doing NONE of those things by day two. We typically keep the dog for 3 weeks because we need to proof the change, teach a lot of skills, and get lots of repetition but it never fails that we can see dramatic change almost immediately.

The ‘why’ is because the dog is coming from a toxic environment. Now, I don’t mean that in an offensive way. But the dog is coming from an environment where it was allowed to do awful things into a new environment where that behavior is not tolerated.

So when we do boot camps our challenge isn’t to get the dog to stop those behaviors or even get the dog trained. Our challenge is to take a newly trained dog and help the owners create an environment where that training can be maintained. Essentially, we’re taking this newly created, beautiful snowflake with all it’s complexity into an owner’s home and trying to teach them how to not blast the heater. That is our challenge as dog trainers.

I’m not saying creating the right environment is the only thing that needs to be done for our dogs but I’m becoming more and more convinced as the years go on that we need to be more proactive than reactive when it comes to our dog’s behavior. Instead of looking at ‘Crap, my dog is doing this, that, and the other’ I think we need to be creating an environment that is more prone to success for our dogs.

That is the purposed of today’s call.

I’m going to present a number of ideas to you. I’m going to do them in checklist form. I want you to understand, though, that not all of these are hard and fast rules. I’m simply going to present EVERYTHING that we’ve worked on with clients that has had some benefit in creating the right environment. Not all of these things need to be done with every dog. But I want you to have a cache of information so you can start experimenting and see what works best for your dog and your situation.

  • Free affection. There’s nothing wrong with giving your dog attention and affection because you love the big lug. The problem comes when dogs come to seek that attention and affection all the time. In a literal sense it becomes like a drug that when they can’t have it, due to you being busy with other tasks or you being out of the home. In such case we see a lot of destruction and anxiety. The dog is seeking his next fix and it comes out in the form of eating up your stuff, pacing, barking like a maniac etc. Try to tie a lot of your affection to tasks. If you want to give your dog some love have him do something first; even as simple as sitting, lying down, recall, etc. When your dog comes up to you and demands attention have him lie down a few feet away from you. Not as a punishment or a time out but simply to help him learn to relax on his own, at which point you reward that state of mind by allowing him up and giving affection.
  • Have your dog wait at doors. If your dog goes out the door first does that mean he’s staging a coup against your governance? Not usually. But I like to teach a lot of what I call ‘checks and balances’. Little behaviors that are super easy that can become habitual that are little reminders throughout the day about calmness, structure, respect of space, etc. Along with other checks and balance I like:
  • Sitting before eating.
  • Sitting before putting a leash on
  • Stopping when you stop on walks
  • Use a stabilized approach to training. Dog training has gone the route of child rearing. Years ago, my opinion is that the culture of child rearing was too harsh. Smacking the heck out of your kid with a belt is not my idea of good parenting. It seems like in order to compensate that society has done a complete U-Turn and now looking cross-eyed at your kids will get you a visit from social services. It seems like many of us parents lament the passing of balance and stability. The same is true with our dogs. Many decades ago training was too harsh. But now it’s completely done a 180 where you can’t ever use anything other than a treat and a firm tone. Any sort of training collar is taboo and heaven help you for giving a leash correction or e-collar. Folks, you can have your cake and eat it too. You can use corrections from leashes and collars that are humane. Corrections done well aren’t designed to hurt the dog, they’re designed to get the dog’s attention, move the dog into a different state of mind, discourage certain behaviors, etc. You can accomplish a great deal without hurting your dog.I say this because many dog owners that I meet see a disconnect. When I talk about creating an environment of calmness, respect, etc. they get that and want it. But then the other trainer is telling them that if the dog jumps they have to turn their back, if the dog bites they have to say ‘ouch’ and give the dog a toy and can never correct the dog. This new style of training is absolutely ridiculous. I study it and learn from it because I like to know how to better motivate my dogs with positive principles so I’m not saying it’s all bad. But any time you find a spectrum and you set yourself up on one of the spectrum I believe you’re doomed for failure. In this case if the spectrum is one side being zero corrections and the other side being all corrections and no motivation they’re both barking up the wrong tree. You need stability and balance. So when you are looking to create this environment I’ve been speaking of be firm but fair. Give humane corrections for misbehaviors. Dogs are physical learners and using a correction for misbehavior is warranted, humane, fair, and more. Make sure your corrections are not emotion based but are simple reminders of behavior you want.
  • Be careful how you leave and come home. You can be creating an environment of anxiety by placing too much importance on your comings and goings.
  • Do a few solid down stays per day. We often like to do them during dinner time and during our wind down time while we watch TV at night. This is something I’ve always done because it seemed to help but it wasn’t until I did an interview with Chad Mackin that I really nailed down the ‘why’. Many dogs get over-adrenalized meaning their adrenaline spikes and they use that chemical influx in their systems to make choices. By doing down stays throughout the day the dog learns to self-regulate that adrenaline and it leads to an environment that is calmer and more conducive to harmony vs. being nutty.
  • Be careful to not inadvertently reward negative behaviors. For example, I’m not a fan of people training their dogs to use a bell to go potty. Many dogs abuse it and it becomes a little butler bell for the dog to summon their owner every time they have a whim to go chase a squirrel in the back yard. The same is true for the dog who brings the ball in his mouth to the owner and nudges him until the owner throws it. The owner thinks the dog looks so cute there with his puppy-dog eyes and ball hanging out of his mouth but often, if the dog could talk, he’s be saying ‘Hey, you. Yeah you. Shut up, stop what you’re doing and pay attention to me.’ And what does the owner do? He acquiesces and does what the dog wants. There are a lot of behaviors like this. Dogs whining until you pet them. Dogs vocalizing to demand to be allowed on furniture. Things like this are ways that your environment around the home gets out of control.
  • Do teach kids how to interact with dogs. Our kids, which are wild and crazy kids like any others, typically ask to go play with the dogs. They generally don’t pay them too much attention around the house. We’ve taught them to leave the dogs alone when they are eating, chewing a toy, or sleeping. This is by design. Contrast this with dogs who live in constant anxiety because kids pester them, bother them, follow them around, etc. I’ve heard lots of excuses from parents that the children are young and can’t be taught just yet. While I understand the limitations of teaching a young child I also know that even the youngest kids who are just walking can be taught to leave the dogs alone. Does that mean that dogs and kids shouldn’t hang out and be friends? Nope. It does mean, though, that I, as the parent, want to be the gateway for that relationship. Dogs have a mentality of a 2, 3, 4, or 5 year old child. I said mentality, not intelligence level. I can’t very well expect that I can leave my two kids alone, who are 7 and 5 years old, and have them work out their relationship in a way that is acceptable to me. Why would I expect to do that with my dogs and my kids. I’m the gateway for my children to learn to respect each other, not hit, bite, punch, or slap one another. I need to be that same gateway for my dogs and kids.
  • Don’t let your dog be the first to greet your guests. It’s your job to greet guests and your dog’s job to greet them when you’ve allowed it. Make sure your dog does a down stay when someone comes over and only greets your guest when you let the dog up.
  • Work on high level obedience and ‘core behaviors’.

 

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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: ,

That Darn Leash

“Okay, the first thing you need to do is keep your dog on a leash…”

“With your dog on a leash you can keep the dog supervised…”

“With your dog leashed at all times you can better teach obedience and other wanted behaviors…”

“Keep your dog on a leash and you can use the leash to correct behavior problems when they occur…”

These types of statements are things that I find myself saying on almost a daily basis when I’m working with my clients.

My clients come to me with house training problems, aggression issues, behavior problems, destruction, manners, and more and the first thing that I teach them is to keep the dog on a leash.

I found myself saying it so much that I wanted to examine why.

The simple reason is that most people give their dogs too much freedom too quickly.

The dog isn’t house trained yet they allow the dog to roam the house not supervised. The dog doesn’t know what not to chew on yet the dog is allowed to go chew on whatever he wants. The dog doesn’t know the proper way to greet guests at the door yet is allowed the freedom to go jumping on new guests.

Everyone WANTS a dog that listens when off the leash, does what he or she is told, and can be trusted to follow voice commands. The problem is that most people attempt to start there. They start with a dog that is off leash yet has never even learned to be good on the leash. Life doesn’t work that way.

You don’t set the goal to be a doctor and tomorrow start dispensing medicine. You work your way to that point. You don’t desire to be a mechanic and tear apart your neighbor’s engine this weekend having never done anything mechanical. You don’t expect to hit a home run out of the park the first time you swing a bat.

And you don’t expect a dog to be obedient with great manners if you haven’t started in the right spot.

That spot for most folks is to keep a dog on the leash, yes, even in the house, for the first month, two, three or more depending on how fast you reach your goals. As your dog improves with obedience and manners you slowly move away from leash work and you end up at your target goal.

Don’t skip the hard stuff, though. You need it to get to the payoff.

Filed Under: Obedience Training Tagged With: , , , ,

Does Your Dog Have Laryngitis? (You May Not Even Be Aware)

These last three weeks in my life have been some of the toughest I’ve gone through in a while. About three weeks ago I started coming down with flu-like symptoms. Two days after that the symptoms developed into laryngitis and I completely lost my voice. Along with that I had a sore throat, headaches, nausea, and an overall ‘blah’ feeling.

I say this not to whine, I say it because having several weeks of not being able to talk has taught me a valuable lesson.

Those who know me know that I talk. Some even accuse me of never shutting up. It seems like I’ve always got something on my mind and I’m always telling everybody. In spending weeks without being able to talk, though, I went through some amazingly frustrating times just trying to get my point across.

It reminded me of the predicament that most dogs I meet are currently going through. Most dogs I meet are desperately trying to communicate with their owners. They are telling their owners what they want through their behavior. Their actions might be telling their owners that they need more structure, more exercise, more attention. Their behavior may be saying that they want leadership, they want training, and they want boundaries.

They are communicating all of these needs in the only way they know how. Sadly, most owners have no clue what their dogs are trying to tell them and, as a result, give them only a tiny portion of what they really need in order to be happy, well-adjusted, and well behaved.

What most people describe as bad behavior from their dogs is really a failure to communicate and understand one another.

Here is the thing, though. When it comes to dogs, they are never going to learn our language. It’s up to us as dog owners to learn how dogs think, speak, react, behave, etc. and how to use that understanding to help our dogs be the best trained dogs possible.

Filed Under: Dog Health Tagged With: , ,