Thursday, February 06, 2025

Dogs And Superbowl Sunday!

Super Bowl Sunday Is here… do you have a plan to keep your dogs safe? Here is a simple checklist... (MORE


Disturbing Dog News

I rarely partake in reading or publishing real, current news stories about dog abuse. While I will sometimes need to use a verbal illustration of a bad event or situation, I stay away from the gory stuff.

I see no benefit in wallowing in all the disgusting, horrible and illegal things that dogs experience. Sometimes you can know too much, and it becomes too much.

Besides, from a practical animal welfare standpoint, if the news is too gory, then people will turn away,  tune out, stop volunteering, and stop donating. Animal rescue groups and volunteers, take heed.

There is a way to learn about what not do with a dog without traumatizing yourself or others. 

Plan accordingly. 

Bad Training Methods Can Be Masked With High Drive Working Dogs

Working dogs, and I’m referring to the police service breeds, have very high prey drive. They will do just about anything for a toy, and don’t even perceive danger when in prey drive for a toy... (MORE)

Wednesday, February 05, 2025

When A Dog Makes A Mistake

If a dog makes a mistake, or doesn’t do what you wanted them to do, should they show signs of worry? (MORE

Real And Pretend Dog Trainers

There is a type of dog trainer I think you should be aware of. You can run across them in all formats, with programs and titles throughout the decades: books, magazines, seminars, events, social media, and/or TV. 

They all share a few basic traits:

1. They use various media to stimulate an interest in a promoting a narrow, gimmicky version of dog training. They are charismatic in their own way, whether by the way they can craft their words, to the media presentations they sell.

2. They don't have the commitment and knowledge to do the hands-on training to know what actually works. They don't grind it out with sufficient dogs to establish a true expertise.

3. The stuff they say sounds good in their heads, but that's as far as it really goes. The descriptions can sound plausible if you are not an animal-experienced person.

4.) They don’t really like training dogs. Instead, they prefer theorizing and pontificating. Thus, some of their stuff works and some doesn't; some might be good and some might be harmful or even dangerous. And that is why they never demonstrate any more than puppy training levels of performance with any dog, and many methods they use can result in only temporary fixes. Or if they are competitors, they can only excel in the ring, and we aren’t privy to the side effects on their dogs, inside or outside the ring. In some cases, they aren’t the ones who actually trained “their” dogs; someone else did it for them.

5.) They make more money talking about dogs than from working with dogs.

Are they real dog trainers? No.

Plan accordingly.

My Dog Doesn’t Like My Husband

Why is it that many dogs, especially new dogs introduced into the home, actively avoid or are hostile to the man of the home but tend to accept the wife? (MORE)

5 Best Dog Breeds For Families

There are innumerable articles and videos regarding what breeds are best for this or that... (MORE)

Dogs And Escalators

More social media video madness... showing people how to get dogs to use the escalator.

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

I would never let a dog go up or down an escalator. Too risky. Too dangerous. 

A paw could get caught, and then there is no toe or paw. 

Don't do it. 

Plan accordingly. 

Tuesday, February 04, 2025

Don’t Be Rough On Your Dog

Why do I feel the need to tell people to not be rough on their dogs? Because many people think that being rough on their dogs is the way to deal with a dog. That backfires, sometimes with disastrous results... (MORE)



 

Dogs And Social Media Videos

The latest trend is for dog training social media guru Jedi Masters to post their brilliant ideas about how you should train your dog. 

In my opinion, many of these are stupid, ineffective, harmful, or cruel. Some are ok, as well. 

My advice?

Don’t do any of that stuff with your dog. Especially the aversive stuff. Pick the wrong dog and give it the wrong treatment, and you’ll be the one in the ER needing treatment. 

The internet is not where you should be getting a plan to train your dog. Even if the person doing the video is 100% correct with the dog in the video, that isn’t your dog and that doesn’t mean it is right for your dog.

Plan accordingly.

 

Dogs And Movement

The primary advice most experts on human backs / spines recommend that walking is the very best exercise to keep your back in shape and to help heal injuries. 

Many dogs are susceptible to back injuries, either because of their anatomical structure, or because of age. While I am not a back expert nor veterinarian, I do believe that walks are good for your dog's back (and overall health). 

Many dogs are not walked. I don't think that is a good thing. If your dog needs training, then get it.

Plan accordingly. 

Monday, February 03, 2025

Dogs And “Kill” Shelters

The typical municipal animal shelter is broken.

Stop pretending otherwise. Tell the truth to motivate change.

It is a “kill” shelter. 

When you are killing adoptable dogs, that is not euthanasia. There is no nobility in doing so. 

Stop sacrificing to Moloch.

There are ways to reform these kill shelters. 

Plan accordingly.

Sunday, February 02, 2025

Do You Train Sick Dogs?

I have a rule: I don’t train sick dogs. What I mean by “sick” is any dog that isn’t feeling well… infection, raging allergies, recovering from an injury, overly stressed, and such. I want owners to tip me off in advance, if possible, if their dogs aren’t their normal selves... (MORE)

Saturday, February 01, 2025

My Dog Breed Blinded Me With Science

It's poetry in motion
She turned her tender eyes to me
As deep as any ocean
As sweet as any harmony
But she blinded me with science
(She blinded me with science!)
And failed me in biology, hey (huh, huh, huh)
-  [Song by Thomas Dolby]

Sometimes breeders, and breed lovers, have this entirely false story about the breed they so love. The history is wrong, what they say the breed is capable of is wrong, what they tell others about the potential of their breed is wrong. 

To them, their dogs are all poetry in motion.

As a result, the flaws in the breed aren’t noticed or fixed. Buyers get dogs for all the wrong reasons and get all the wrong results. Trainers fake the capabilities for the audience, and so do the competitors.

Sick dogs. Disabled dogs. Short-lived dogs. Medical dogs. Expensive dogs to own. Unstable dogs. Dysfunctional dogs. Miserable dogs. Outlaw dogs.

Rationality has gone out the door. 

Plan accordingly.

Do You Want A Calm And Submissive Dog? (Part 2)

What do you think it does to a dog to punish them for having a happy attitude? 

The outcome is not good.

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Overcrowded Shelters (Part 2)

... In similar ways, a dog needs a territory to operate correctly. When a dog is brought into a shelter, and put into a cage, that place will never be home. It is in an unquestionably stressful situation they can’t handle and can’t resolve... (MORE)

Creation Of Neuroses In Dogs

I am very concerned by a video I saw on the internet this morning. This internet guru Jedi Master trainer was teaching the viewers a procedure that will ultimately cause the dog in question to have a breakdown. 

I will not specify here what was happening and why it would result in damaging the dog. I don’t want to give bad people more ideas on harming dogs. 

In general terms, putting dogs in impossible situations is cruel. It is also unnecessary. Imagine a human example: a prisoner is made to hit themselves with a hammer on a toe before being given a piece of food. 

Furthermore, you can stand out as a trainer without resorting to unique, outrageous, and harmful practices. What the viewer sees is what is presented in front of the camera. What isn’t seen are the longer-term side effects of acute and chronic stress. 

Animals can go completely haywire, both mentally and physically with such treatment, and develop a debilitating neurosis that will wreck the dog. 

Stay away from strange and unusual methods. 

Plan accordingly. 


I’m Afraid Of My Puppy

I have encountered numerous people who were afraid of their puppies... (MORE)

Dogs Barking In The Middle Of The Night (Part 1)

I was house sitting for a friend a number of years ago. It was a big property with a long private driveway.

I knew these dogs and I knew this property. Normally it was a quiet place with no surprises.

Well, the dogs woke me up with some explosive barking, leaving the room and running all around the house. That wasn't normal at all. I knew something was wrong.

Sure enough, someone had driven up the private driveway up to the front of the home. It must have been around 2 am. I started putting on my street clothes and got ready.

After a few seconds, they turned around and drove away. 

I don't know what that was about, but there had been some late night break ins over the past few years in surrounding neighborhoods. 

If your dog barks, it isn't always a nuisance bark. I always go check it out with them. It could be something that needs your attention.

Plan accordingly. 

Friday, January 31, 2025

Dogs And Overcrowded Shelters

J. Calhoun (1962) did an interesting experiment on brown rats. 

Apparently rats like to eat alone. They take a bite of something and then they go over in a corner somewhere and eat it. So instead, they created some kind of rat cafeteria. All the rats of the colony had to go to this one location, and they could nibble or lick at the food, but they had to do it next to one another, and it was not possible to take a piece of food and eat it in private. And eventually all the rats died of stress.

There have been numerous studies of various mammals in artificial, overcrowded, abnormal social situations. 

Guess what happens to a lot of dogs in animal shelters. The story doesn’t have a happy ending. 

Plan accordingly.

Dogs In Movies

I generally don't watch movies that feature dogs. 

First, because most of them are dumb.

Second, because if someone kills the dog, then you know that person is going to end up dead. Too predictable... My one exception is Hondo. Love John Wayne movies. But I still hate that the dog dies.

Third, if the dog dies for any reason, I'll probably never watch it again, and not watch it if I know the dog is going to die. 

So, if we are going to watch a movie... 

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Unique Events

Science can't predict or explain creativity or unique events. 

Every once in a while I will witness, or hear from a student about, a dog doing something that can't be explained by the dog's previous experience or training. 

First example.

It's bed time. The owner opens the backdoor and tells the dogs to go outside and potty. Both dogs go outside and eliminate. The first dog, the older dog, is a well trained male adult Portuguese Water Dog. The second dog is about a year old female Standard Poodle, less trained. She calls the dogs inside. The older dog comes in. The Poodle decides to romp and run around, just for the sake of running around. After several times calling her, the owner is irritated. She tells the older dog to "get her". He runs back outside, and literally forces (chases) the Poodle back into the home. We had never trained this dog to do anything of this nature. 

Second example.

Adult male Australian Shepherd/ Border collie mix. We had mostly finished the first round of Basic Obedience. The owner also had sheep. As she was loading up the sheep into her vehicle (you can guess the destination), one of them hops out of the vehicle and starts running down the alley. She tells the dog to "get her." The dog takes off, practically tackles the sheep, and drives it all the way back to, and into, the car. We never trained that dog to do that.

Third example.

Past student. Adult female Australian Cattle Dog. "It absolutely amazes me how much my dog understands. She “tells” me when she needs help finding her ball. We just checked my room. I told her to look under the bed and pointed so she got down and peeked underneath the bed, sniffing the whole time. It wasn’t there, so we checked the bathroom. It wasn’t there either so I said, “It must be outside.” She ran to the back door. I let her out and she immediately spotted it, grabbed it and ran back inside." We never formerly worked on this, but this owner has an excellent relationship with her dogs.

I can give other examples, but you get the point. What I can say is that I spend a lot of time helping owners develop a working relationship, and proper communication, with their dogs. I can only guess that this type of work was the necessary condition to cause these incidents. If we were to try and do these things again, let's say as a test, I'm betting that they wouldn't just happen. The owner or dog had an urgent need, the dog picked up on it, they communicated with each other, and boom, the intentions turned into useful but unique responses.

Plan accordingly.

Dogs And Discovering Potential Talent

I am not an “old school” dog trainer. Here’s what I mean by that. Old School: You might have worked with the dog a bit to understand Sit, Down, Heel, and Come. OK, that is a good start. But then there is the switch. The mentality changes and then if the owner gives a command, that dog better well do that command or else. And then some kind of punishment is used... (MORE)

Thursday, January 30, 2025

Does Your Puppy Have Separation Anxiety?

There is a lot of dumb stuff on the internet. It seems that the internet is a magnet for fools to say foolish things. I saw a post about puppies and separation anxiety. In this case, the young puppy vocalizes a distress call and tries to be wherever the owner is. The so-called dog trainer said, yep, that is separation anxiety, and the owners are at fault. Then, this person wants you to start being aloof, distancing your relationship standing tall and confident, and disciplining the puppy.

Buzzer. Ding, Ding, Ding. Wrong answer... (MORE)

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Dogs And Forced Calmness

Forcing a dog to lay on a dog Place (bed, cot, mat) isn't the same thing as teaching a dog calmness. Calm, as in: no activity, no emotions, no goals, no interest in social interactions, no desire to play, no motivation to do anything at all when you tell the dog to stop. Just lay there like a carpet for as long as you tell them to.

In fact, you can't teach a dog calmness. 

You can calm dogs by exercising them until they are restful.

You will see dogs be calmer when they are no longer puppies.

Dogs will relax if there isn't something they want to do. 

You can avoid stimulating dogs in some circumstances so as to not trigger behaviors or feed expectations of activity. 

Do not buy into the idea that it is a good idea to force calmness in a dog. Learned helplessness isn't the same as calmness. You will find training programs that promise you can calm a dog on command.

Let's try this in a different context. Do you think you can force a 2 year old kid to be calm without causing harm? Try searching Google for "the terrible two's"... see what you find out. Do you think you can make 2 year old kid to be calm at your command?  

Plan accordingly.


Dog Training Should Be Fun

Often dog training is just too serious, and the dogs pick up on that and that interferes with motivation and adds stress... (MORE)

Do You Want A Calm And Submissive Dog?

Have you ever considered what these terms mean? ... (MORE)

Dogs And Preventing Food Guarding

Leave your puppy, or dog, alone when they are eating.

Plan accordingly. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Dogs And Multi-Level Marketing

Years ago, I was invited by some friends to have dinner at their house. When I arrived, there were a lot of other “friends”, and the entire living room was set up with rows of chairs, a podium and speaker system up front, and a viewscreen against a wall. Once everyone arrived, the presentation was made. And then the hard sell. The social proof, the swaying effects of the cheering crowd (and the “plants: in the crowd to influence the mood and emotions), was part of the way used to persuade people into buying.

At about the same time, I was getting calls offering lavish vacations for free. So, you showed up at the travel office, and they were hard selling timeshares. You had to agree to listen to a 4-hour presentation to get the free trip. 

Eventually, when I got invites over to friends’ homes, I would ask if it was just us or were they doing a multi-level marketing system. My so-called friends were using me, buttering me and others up to get us to sign up. It spread through the churches, especially, you thought you’d made a friend, instead you were fresh meat. 

These things were more about making the people rich than the quality of the products or services they were offering. Sometimes the products and services were good, many times they were not. You had to do your due diligence and not rely just on the power of their marketing materials and the relationships they had with you.

I’m warning you here that it might happen in the dog world. The difference here is that if a system isn’t good for the dogs, then dogs will break. Is that “Method” such a program, or is that Method just a well-designed program to train dogs in an orderly manner? Most trainers have a method, but I’m referring to something else. Ask yourself this: does this system serve the wellbeing of the dogs?

Plan accordingly.