Dogs And Barking At The Front Door

If your dog barks a lot when guests arrive, does that indicate you are not your dogs "leader"? 

No.

You are misdiagnosing the problem, and you are going to waste time and effort doing the wrong things.

Dogs And Kids Getting Along

One of the best ways to make kids and dogs get along peaceably is to set some fair rules for both...

Dogs And Traffic

Could you save your dogs life if it ran into traffic or across the street? If not, then maybe you and your dog need some additional training.

Dog Training Old And New Ways

Do you think dogs should be trained the same way today as they were in the “old days” (and I’m referring to decades ago)? (MORE)

Dogs And Internet Lice

Sometimes I’ll give away a free bit of good dog training advice on the internet. Especially if I think a dog is being harmed by whatever the current owner is doing that isn’t working.

But good advice always comes with the risk of attracting lice… parasites that want to suck the blood out of the situation. 

They have no skills other than to bleed the situation to fatten up their psychological needs.

Pesky things, lice. After ingesting people's valuable time, they leave behind their little dark feces everywhere. 

There is no cure, unfortunately. They reside in every corner of the internet. 

You can try picking out the lice if you run a forum. Good luck with that. 

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Trump Speech To Congress

So, President Trump gave a speech to Congress last night.

What did you think?

Everyone wants to know.

In fact, start arguing with everyone on social media about it.

In the meantime, dogs don't care about political speeches.

Plan accordingly. 

Not So Lucky Dogs

Not every dog was raised properly. We know that. Many a dog suffers from a lack of socialization to outright abuse. 

What to do?

Look for clues. You must assume an unknown dog has a variety of fears. Figuring those out is the first step to helping them out. 

You would be better off getting a mentor / coach to help you do this. Otherwise, you are already drowning with this dog. That’s what good dog trainers are for.

Plan accordingly. 

Wolf Hunting, Bears, Dogs, And Drones

After a lot of thought, I am not convinced that wolf hunting is a good practice anywhere at this point. I do not believe there are too many wolves or that hunting them is going to properly improve the welfare of their preferred prey species. What I do believe is that there should be more attention to providing good habitat for the wild prey animals that they hunt. Bear hunting is a bit different, since old male bears put a lot of pressure on younger bears, including killing and eating other bears. There isn't the same social structure for bears as there is for wolves. The destruction of a wolf pack can take many years to recover, if at all. Wolves have to learn what to hunt, and we want the adults teaching their offspring to hunt wild prey.

Humans are predators. There is a place for hunting and ranching. What do hunters hunt? Prey animals.  Humans eat prey animals, mostly in the form of domestic prey: cattle, sheep, and poultry.  That is different than going out and wiping out a wolf pack through intensive hunting, which invariably will result in the deaths of the older wolves who are there to instruct and feed the younger wolves. Bears should be subject to hunting, but not eliminated. People also eat bear meat. Wolves aren't typically hunted for their meat. Human hunters should harvest prey animals, too, to balance out their populations and also consume domestic prey so as to not overly burden the wild species. 

I do believe ranchers have the right to defend their livestock: firearms, flock guarding dogs, and possibly drones.

Wolves are predators. What do wild predators hunt? Prey animals, usually wild prey. Wild predators tend to harvest the weak and the old, food that humans don't want anyway. Seasonally, they get a chance at larger game during the winter, and find and eat animals that died during the winter and are buried under ice and snow. There are other smaller predators that also should be left alone, such as the mustelids... they do an amazing job of eliminating disease carrying rodents. That benefits everyone.

My recommendation: Put the planning, money and effort into improving prey animal populations and their habitats for the benefit of humans and wild predators. Prey is the food: make more wild food for the wild predators to take the pressure off the ranchers and their domestic livestock. Give ranchers the tools to protect and defend the herds they manage without having to hunt predators. 

There is no perfect solution. But I do think that wolf hunting is going to backfire. 

Dogs And Training Treats

What is an important test of a dog trainer? I think a simple test is to ask them if they use training treats. 

You should want to know if they use positive reinforcement when training skills. 

If you get back a macho answer, like "I'm a real dog trainer, I don't do that", or something along those lines... my experience is that type of person is going to bully your dog. And owners who insist on training their dogs without positive reinforcement are not the type of students I work with. 

I don't use treats to train everything. That isn't the point. The question is to find out what is going to happen to your dog during the lessons. You don't want your dog to endure discomfort and be forced into being a robot.

Plan accordingly.

Dogs And Psychology

Before you train a dog, it would be ideal that you understood the psychology of the dog.

There are differences between a child and a dog. A cat and a dog. A horse and a dog. A fish and a dog. And a cartoon dog and a real dog.

Generally, novices try to coerce a dog into doing or not doing and feeling whatever they envision. It is more about them and their idealized version of “dogs” rather than what is going on with the dog right in front of them... (MORE)

Dogs And Clarity

I think the biggest mistake people make when training dogs is punishing the wrong things and not rewarding the right things. The dog gives you what you are unintentionally training, but that result is contrary to your intentions. Dogs learn by what you do with them, not what you intend for them to do.

My recommendation: don’t double down on what you are currently doing, you can see that your dog isn’t getting it. Instead, provide clarity to your dog, and then it will be amazing how everything will start to work out. 

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And The HSUS

Did you know that Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has renamed itself as Humane World for Animals?

Hmm... Interesting.

Dogs And Old Lady Shoes

“There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.

She gave them some broth without any bread;

And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.”

I sometimes work with students who have too many dogs, either for the space they live in, or not matching their physical and financial capabilities. Most of the time, they don’t have the time, resources or grit to work it out with every single one of their dogs. Their overconfidence is risking the entire enterprise.

Once the training gets going, they give up, but the problems don’t give up. 

As Harry Callahan (Dirty Harry) once said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.”

Don’t get yourself into this bind in the first place. And if you are there, do you have the grit to see it through? And if not, then what is your plan for providing a humane and loving situation for all your dogs?

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Cockalorums

Over the years, being part of many online forums, covering many topics, you come to realize that many people aren’t honest debaters. They are in whatever cult of their minds, and no rational discussion will get through. Many argue to argue, some are fools, some are fanatics, some are knaves, and some are trolls. You are expending your life energy on these people. I remember debating dog issues on a Yahoo forum and getting nowhere. There is nothing new under the sun. It doesn’t matter the topic… it is… 

A total waste of time. 

Do what you want, but in my case, my goal is that if I am going to say anything on any topic it is going to be in the form of a personal conversation or private message. If you get those from me, then you can be sure that I hold you in higher esteem that most others. Real people that I know as real friends are the only ones deserving of my brainpower and opinions on any topic. They have skin in the game. I might slip up from time to time, but I always end up realizing it was a mistake and then I get back to doing what I do best: real dogs with real people.

Don’t debate a cockalorum. They will do more harm to themselves and their opinions than anything you’ll try saying to educate them.

Plan accordingly. 

Dogs And Uniforms

If you look at my photos and videos, you’ll notice I don’t wear a uniform when training dogs.

I used to. I used to have shirts and other items with my logo on it. But not anymore.

Here’s why... (MORE)

Dogs And Contagious Memes

Why are so many goofy, and sometimes cruel, dog training ideas spread all over the internet? It is even worse when these bad ideas are enforced by sanctioning authorities and committees, such as breeding, competition, evaluation, media, law enforcement, military, or governmental organizations... (MORE)

Patient Dog Training

Today's dog training concept... PATIENCE! When you have set up the perfect lesson, and the dog is doing a good job of trying to figure something out, don't do their homework for them. 

I was working on a breakthrough with a dog this morning. By giving him the opportunity to puzzle out the right answer, we did him a greater favor than if we had just made it too easy. 

The challenge was just right. He figured it out. Now he gets it. 

That's gold when training a dog.

Plan accordingly. 

Pit Bull Training - First Steps

Whenever I am starting first lessons with a pit bull, I recognize that most are very sensitive dogs. 

Contrary to their image, boisterous energy, muscular build... they are sensitive dogs. 

Often before I start, the owners have already been searching ways of controlling their dogs, and most of the internet advice involves some way of shutting the dogs down. 

I hate seeing a pit that has been put through that. I'm thinking of a black, male pit I worked with several years ago. Super nice dog... but when the owner called him to Come, his tail curled and tucked up between  his rear legs, his head lowered, and he slunk over like a dog that had been beaten. 

Ugh.

That's not the picture I want to see. Ug-ly.

We worked through that, but whoever had first worked with that dog had taken the spirit out of him.

So unfair.

Don't do that to your pit bull dog.

Plan accordingly.