Jillian, Sometimes It's The Little Things

I forgot to take Jillian's picture today. She was looking good too, since she has just been to the groomer. English Springers are a breed so filled with silliness, life, and in charge of themselves. Jillian is no exception and is very smart.
When Jillian disappeared from her (locked) house before her lessons, her owners were convinced there had been a break in. They called the police, who then looked at the door which had been locked. Know what they found? Teeth marks on the lever inside. Jillian also excels at dismantling crates that are collapsible.
Due to her previous life as a breeding dog, Jillian was getting so upset when her owners left her in her crate, when they went to their jobs. Because of her making accidents in the house when they were gone (and picking the lock) leaving her out was not an option.
This weeks lesson came with the report that Jillian is now found sound alseep in her crate, rather than panting, watching, barking, and carrying on when her owners leave her. Also her owner can now pump gas without Jillian trying to escape the car and have a fit. We just needed to let Jillian know that yes indeed her owner was coming back. We had also needed to teach her to relax in the crate for short periods of time first.
A problem like this seems so small, unless you are coming home to find the escape artist and resulting mess in the house every day. To the caregivers of the dog however, this is such a huge thing and relief. Part of taking care of separation anxiety is demonstrating to the dog that they have nothing to be worried about. Sit on the dog has also been a large part of this. It's a simple exercise, which I will post tomorrow. As simple as it is, without direction, most clients do it wrong. It's all about quiet, space, and following the leader. It does a lot to calm a dog down, when it's done correctly.
Jillian's obedience is coming along with her separation anxiety progress. Next time, perhaps I will take her picture. Until then, I am giving you a brown version of an English Springer. Her name is Pearly.

Jillian's Jitters (from one week ago)

This winter, Mannerly Mutts has been working on the case of Jillian. Jillian's owner actually contacted me last fall. On her first scheduled lesson, I got a call where the owner thought her dog had been taken out of the house!! In fact, Jillian had turned the lock, and traipsed down to the pond looking for her owner. Jillian's owners were referred to me from a previous client. My client's dog, Willie, liked to try and bite anyone and everyone who came into HIS house. Since then, Willie has hosted some family Easter and Christmas parties:), and being a delightful non-biting host, of course.

Jillian has gone through a few crates since that panicky day and the elapsing few months. Unfortunately, our schedules did not align after that first lesson, but now we have found a corresponding day to work each week.

Jillian was a breeder dog. She is an English Springer, and had just had her last litter of puppies when my client discovered her. My client's had decided on an adult dog, because it would be easier than training a puppy (or so they thought Hah!!). Jillian had never really had a family to her own, and was kept pretty much chained to a tree or in a crate. So upon bonding with the human female of the house, it became pretty upsetting to see her go. You can imagine that perhaps Jillian never knew when she would next get our or get attention in her previous life. Now she had doting attention and she did not want to loose it!!!

Due to her messing in the house when the clients were at work (and the subsequent ability to pick locks apparently LOL), Jillian has needed to be crated. However, she has been upset the full period of time that she is in there, and has been figuring out ways of dismantling crates!! Then it will only be a short trip to a door that she may figure out how to open. Yikes!!

The first step has been to get Jillian to become unconcerned when the crate door closes on her. So we started just by putting Jillian into the crate, waiting for her panting to stop, then treating her immediately. As the spaces get shorter and shorter, we just treat her as soon as her breathing becomes calm (thankfully she is very food motivated) for a period of reps. Once we got her there, (and now the client can put her in the crate and leave without poor Jillian getting into hysterics) we start timing her for five minutes, then wait for breathing to calm (if not already), then 10 minutes. These sessions are all done now while the owner is in the house, but perhaps not in the same room. It depends on what we need to back it down to for Jillian.

Obedience is also being used. Jillian has not bonded with the male owner of the house yet. Sit on the Dog is being done by the male owner (and I will soon describe this exercise) to 1) have Jillian stationary away from the owner she gets separation anxiety for and 2) to have a bonding experience start with the male owner. These sort of commands start to give Jillian more confidence, and the owners can direct her to more experiences where she feels safe, and KNOWS that her owners are coming back for her:)

Wish them luck. These are very committed and loving owners.

Friday Blog Fish

This blog talks about nutrition and dog food. Something that I look into a lot, and my client's ask me a lot about:)

This blog cautions about making your own recipe for your dog's food.

This blog talks about some crisis management at HSUS (Humane Society of the United States).

This blogger filmed a day of play!

Blog of dogs and their jobs.

Canine Legislation Resources

As dog owners (cats do not so much have this problem YET) or in the dog profession, it is wise to be aware and have a plan to act against certain legislation that may come to an area near you!! There are organizations out there compiling the facts for you if you are knowledgeable and looking for them.

The AKC keeps an updated list of actions being taken for canine legislation.

http://www.akc.org/news/sections/legislative_alerts.cfm

Karen Palmer, of the International Association of Professional Dog Trainers and a big part of their Canine Legislative Committee, keeps a running commentary on various legislation efforts on her blog.

http://gooddogowners.blogspot.com/

CPAC, which is the Canine Political Action Corps, also can keep you up to date on legislation for dog trainers and groomers specifically!! In fact, a hot topic of debate lately has been the NY bill that has been proposed.

http://www.caninepac.org/news.asp?article_id=24

CPAC is also giving seminars on this that can be found here:

http://www.caninepac.org/news.asp?article_id=25

The next two places are mostly for Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) but may touch on some other things. Understand-a-bull is a great place to check on places that you may travel through, to be sure that you and your canine won't end up in a tragic situation.

http://defendingdog.com/
http://www.understand-a-bull.com/index.htm

And one about People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, which illustrates why PETA should horrify all members of the animal owning public!!

http://www.petakillsanimals.com/

To belong to an organization that discusses this quite a bit for all dog professionals, consider joining IACP at dogpro.org.

Does your dog need training for real life? Call Maine and Southern New Hampshire's dog trainer, Robin Rubin, at Mannerly Mutts 207-361-4395. Or e-mail at mannerly_mutt@yahoo.com.

Apparently It's Time To Step Away

Leon knows how to get my attention during blogging time LOL. All he has to do is put puppy paws on my computer. Now that the backspace key has been hit several times, and the wireless keyboard relocated beyond his reach, I am taking this as a sign that it's about time to do something with my big puppins.

Heck, why not get some play in with the gang that is here, and my puppins.

Leon says "Just step away from the computer". Alright if I must. Turns out, it is a beautiful day today, and just the right temp for some outdoor frolicking in the snow!!

Puppy, Puppy Reo:)

****Note the slobber on Reo from another puppy in the room LOL. He was having a good time this day.

Every now and again, we are lucky enough to get a training client boarding with us while they are still a puppy. It's lots of fun for everyone, and also lots of additional work. Puppies are not smaller versions of dogs, they are dogs that are not mature mentally of physically yet. They are in the process of learning EVERYTHING. Sometimes people forget, since they have had and adult dog for the past 9-13 years, of the differences between puppies and dogs.

Here are things that I do additionally, and need to watch for when I have a "puppy in the house"!!!

1) Have plenty of opportunities for them to go out and do their business outside.
2) Supervise, supervise and then supervise some more. When you can't supervise, please crate them or have them tethered to you. For instance, puppy in the house threw up a dish cloth from his owner's home in the first few hours here. I am sure that he had made quick work of it, and the owner's never even knew he was in possition of it.
3) Which is a good lead in to the next point, that puppies are fill of wonder, curiousity, and mischief. The best idea is to make sure that puppy is entertained during his waking and non sleeping hours. Of course you can't do that 24/7, but you need to create interest for your puppy and many play opportunities.
4) Puppies are growing, and they can damage themselves. I try and make sure puppies don't jump from any unreasonable heights. (or expect them to jump into the cab of my truck at too young of an age).
5) Young mischievous puppy behavior sometimes effects the adult dogs LOL. As trusted Pluto proved the other day when he greeted me with the chewed up version of one of my favorite sneakers. He is usually the best boy.....sigh. Apparently he got caught up in some puppy memories even though the puppy had been in a seperate room napping.
6) As an owner or boarder of dogs, it's good to realize that puppies eat quite a bit. They eat almost as much or as much as their adult versions do. This is because they are growing things such as bones, skin, muscles, et.

Have fun with your puppies, but remember that they are growing and learning. It's our job to keep them as safe as possible in the meantime.

Wierd Things Dogs and Cats May Like

I was just reading another blog about a cat that likes bread.

http://www.underdogged.net/?p=246

That started me thinking about the things that my dogs and cats have liked.

My cat, Clyde (deceases a long time now), liked shiny gold things. He stole a ring once and hid it in the couch. He also liked to steal nail files.

My dog, Jazz (also deceased this winter), just loved bananas and marshmallows. Her brother, Neptune (deceased about four or five years now) also loved the marshmallows (we used to hide his heart medications in them).

My dog, Jack, LOVES bread. When we first got him, he would jump on anything or into anything to get at bread. He's more calmed down about it after training, but he still gets the "twirly eyes" for his bread. If you had a steak and bread side by side, I swear Jack would go for the bread.

My dog, Leon, likes coffee. I found this out in a very disgusting way one morning. I had gone to the shower, and my coffee cup did not have a lid on it that morning. I came out and went to take a sip, and something was not right. The coffee was all thick and gooey......like dog drool!!! How quickly did I spit that back into the cup LOL!! I haven't left my coffee alone with Leon since!

Trainers and Training Plans

Many things help a dog trainer successfully teach you to train your dog or puppy. One of these things a trainer should be able to do is to let you know their plan for training. They may not know your dog yet, and may not have the specifics all in place, but they should have a general idea, theory, and knowledge of the order of a set of skills and how they are built on each other. A trainer should be aware and know the changes they will make based on the age and temperament of your dog (once they have done a consultation). Again they may change based on your dogs responses, but the generalities stay the same.

Here is an example of a twelve week training plan to teach Basic Obedience (the skill sets needed for real life, and are also transferred to AKC Novice):

Week 1: Starts an exercise called sit on the dog. You would think I was crazy if I described it, but through it's gentle and non confrontational nature, it starts the dogs (or puppies) and owners off on the right foot.
Week 2: (New Commands) Starts longe line work. The many steps of longe line work in this week are the basis for heel and recall commands. However, neither are started on this week. As the weeks progress each previous exercise has new goals and polishing. New exercises are introduced ONLY after the client has proven they have done their homework first.
Week 3: (New Commands) Heel, sit, come, and release command are started. Week 2 is a very important basis to have started the dog's (or puppies) understanding of these concepts. Puppies get worked with more voice and play, and different equipment. The understandings are primarily the same, in fact, puppies are great to do this due to their natural bonding nature. They aren't as motivated to leave their owners as yet to explore, and easily diverted back. Their body weight is less, and their nature is very malleable. There is no reason that puppies can't have a quality training plan, you just tweak it a little.
Week 4: (New Commands) Place, Sit Stay, and Stand. So far many of these commands have molding or shaping included in them. The dog or puppy is getting more and more comfortable with soft hands shaping them into movements, and becoming more pliable. A dog or puppy should always come to trust the touch of the human leader. It also helps with leadership issues later on, and makes really crazy or chaotic future events much less likely.
Week 5: Down is the only new command. Work begins being done in four different outside locations, and two different inside locations for distraction work to begin in full force.
Week 6: Begin exercises to fade out the equipment for reliable performance.
Week 7: 50% of training without equipment. Pattern exercises are being done, but a string of performance exercises is not done together as yet.
Weeks 8 & 9: Identify weaknesses and distractions. Use these to polish performance. Also identify any distractions (noise, food, stranger, et) not used as yet. May include things like recall through stayed dogs, heeling through owner/dog teams, et
Week 10 & 11: Harder exercises in distracting settings. At the beach near a volley ball tournament for instance. Doing pattern exercises and drills with light lines or no equipment.
Week 12: Test for certification of my course. Otherwise no certification is given.



The above is just a summary of some things you should expect. With puppies, I normally have the additional crate training, alert to potty and pee breaks, schedules for potty and pee breaks with feeding regimes, out and leave it commands (actually for both dogs who need it and puppies), proper equipment use and handling (for both dogs and puppies), proper body position, and proper attitude when training the dog. A dog trainer's job is to get the best possible out of both the dog and owner.

There are different methods and ways to go about things, but the basics of a training plan and the knowledge of the hows and whys of a training plan are essential knowledge that a dog trainer MUST possess. Also look for a dog trainer to be able to demonstrate these skills with their own dogs!!!! AKC titles and such are outside evidence of a trainer's skills. They are not only telling you that they know what they are doing, but a judges in an outside entity have agreed that they know how to train a dog.

The problems come into play if a trainer has only ring trained their dog, however, most owners and dogs that go through this process have pride in their accomplishments and don't want to show badly outside the ring. It's easy to identify those that do, and this is where the performance in person with a trainer and their dog can help:)

Dogs Competing for Their Lives/Owners Competing for Their Rights

In the dog training world, legislation may be coming soon to regulate the dog training profession. As with all legislation, this is something that I could both welcome or be concerned about. I would welcome it if it did so to secure professional conduct and results. I do not welcome it, if it comes just to ban tools or methods. I also do not welcome it if it is to bring training to be prescribed by veterinarians who know nothing about training dogs. I also don't want to see this trend promote or degenerate the expected training performance of the professional dog trainer (as a result of some current trends in dog training today).

There are those in the dog profession, who feel that a measurable test of their skill in training a dog is useless or unnecessary. I disagree strongly, especially when reviewing what is going on with our world and the world of pet ownership today. One way professional dog trainers keep up on their skills is to compete in measurable tests of their training skills. I want this to become a requirement for all professional dog trainers in the future in order to keep our business and profession as successful as it can be. Success being measured in not only the ability of dogs to keep their homes or acquire their homes, but also in the ability of owner's to keep their rights of enjoyment of their dogs AND dogs to keep their rights to be able to exercise unencumbered (but not untrained).

My Concerns: It has been in the best interests of the Veterinarian community to secure market share by taking over the industry of dog training as well. They have done this by emphasizing scientific and behavioral studies in dog training, rather than also (or at all) focusing on skill in dog training. Every dog trainer should be aware of the theories, methodologies, and their history. However, being able to actually train a dog to a measurable standard (there are tests out there put on by the UKC and AKC) is equally important. These groups largely believe that it should not be required for a dog trainer to show any measurable skill in training a dog. They say things like "it's unimportant, people just want companion dogs" or "why spend all this time on a behaviorally challenged dogs when there are all these other "nice" dogs out there. (article to follow on some future date)



People like Ian Dunbar, of Dogstardaily.com, has been one veterinarian that did not sticking to his introduction of puppy classes and the correct upbringing for a dog. Although having earned nothing beyond a Companion Dog title on his own dog, he considers himself the authority figure on dog training at advanced levels and in adult dogs that have behavioral problems. In my opinion, this has been a great marketing scheme for him and others, which is motivated primarily by greed not by accomplishment or concern for dog and owner welfare. His stay on the Association of Pet Dog Trainers created a huge rift in the dog community, and offshoot organizations such as Truly Dog Friendly and the No Shock Collar Coalition. Names that sound innocent enough until you realize the misrepresentations and lack of knowledge of the dog training tools in question by these very groups. These groups and Dogstardaily seek to suppress and misrepresent the truth, which is apparent in that they do not allow open discussion unless it directly agrees with their views. For instance, you can not discuss how the Koehler Method of Dog Training ACTUALLY works, you can only discuss the bad parts of it, inaccurate or not. You can not explain the modern technology of e-collars that now offer various levels that include very gentle and almost imperceptible levels. You can not talk about how these are not used mostly as aversive or coercive, but as a gentler piece of equipment than the training collars with the additional benefit of better timing and off leash control. You can not discuss these things with these groups unless you misrepresent or present ONLY the cons to this group of "trainers".



NOTE: The Koehler Method of Dog Training is a progressive training program that relies on the owners putting the time and effort in to train their dogs. The problems usually come about when people do not follow the instructions in the book, go to fast, and become frustrated. Becoming frustrated and too harsh to dogs IS NOT ANY PART of the Koehler Method of Dog Training, in my opinion.



It's the results of these marketing tactics that cause misinformation to leak out to your average dog owner, that concern me most. Also the trend of some Veterinarians, such as Tuft's own Dr Dodman, who have in the past gone for medicating a dog rather than training a dog. Some of this has reported to have changed at Tufts, but I have had talked personally with at least two owners who did not find their answer in a pill as prescribed. Additionally, there was my own experience before I became a dog trainer, where I was expected to fax in the problem to Dr Dodman for my faxed back medical analysis. I am glad I was intelligent enough not to do that. Not all dog owners are aware of the pitfalls of these practices and the lasting harm that can be done.



This redirecting of the training industries to professionals who do not regularly train dogs to any standard AND do not recognize their own limitations, has increased the lack of knowledge that average people have of dogs and how they learn, in my opinion. Dogs that are studied in laboratory settings are not in real life situations. Theories, while good to know and contemplate, do not account for the flesh and blood living right in front of you. Unfortunately this has caused more and more people to be unaware of how to train and care for a dog. Instead, they expect a dog to be more and more like a stuffed animal, without the will to exercise, explore, and be an active living being.



My Hope: If there is legislation coming to regulate the dog industry, it takes an unexpected and welcome turn. One, it should require all dog trainers to demonstrate, through testing to a standard, their ability to (at the very least) train their own dog to this standard. I think further, that they should be able to train a client and the client's dog to take the test as well.



A multiple choice test of other skills and understanding of methodologies and science can also be given, but the tests for certification as a dog trainer through state or federal law need to include proof of skills. There are organizations out there that do give these sort of tests through Video and live demonstrated ability, I believe they should be included in the legislative plan. The NADOI and IACP both give certifications based on demonstrations of skill. IACP is in the process of revising their video taped test to be taken by dog trainers that will be titled as professional. The NADOI already requires uncut video tape of the demonstration of a trainer's abilities. There is no sane reason, in my opinion, why a professional dog trainer should not be required to submit proof of their actual ability to train. There should be NO EXCUSE as to someone in the field claiming that this is not necessary. If you are a professional dog trainer, you should be able to train a dog, at minimum, in basic obedience in a measurable way.

Behavior modification needs to be based on client satisfaction ratio, I think. It's relative to what the dog was, what the client expected, and is there improvement in both the lives of the dog and the clients. A multiple choice test in behavior theory will not flush out those results, although it may be useful just to be sure the dog professional is aware of these. However, a multiple test on theory is just a memorization exercise. Many times a dog of a different upbringing may give signals that veer from the path of theory to the path of reality.

What is the harm in not expecting professional dog trainers to be able to take a measurable real time test of their skills?

Here are just a few examples of legislation that is currently overtaking the United States by storm, due to poor or sloppy or no training?

Breed Specific Legislation
Limits of Numbers of Dogs that Can Be Owned
Dogs Banned from Public Areas
Leash Laws that Do Not Allow for Any Off Leash Places Outside the House

If professional trainers do not have the skills to train a dog, how will owners be able to train their dogs? Who will they learn from? Distaste for dogs in the non-dog owning public will grow, and these laws will continue to infringe on the rights of the responsible dog owning public.

Here are some other organizations unconcerned about the quality of training a dog and owner may be taught, in my own opinion:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (if you don't know their agenda, you should educate yourself)
Humane Society of the United States (Ditto)
Truly Dog Friendly (wants to direct methods and tools to be used, but does not place any emphasis or reliable training or the rewards of reliable training to both family and dog)
Dogstardaily.com (Ditto, and has many members from the Veterinarian community who have not trained dogs to any standard, as well as the main portion of their trainers that do not believe in training to any standard, of either their own or their clients' dogs)

JUDGE ME BASED ON MY CLIENT'S PERFORMANCE?

I just can't help myself today. I was reading one of the Dogstardaily's blogger's (I don't know yet if this particular post is on Dogstardaily.com) dog training blogs. In the this post, she complains about dog trainers being required to actually teach obedience skills in a measurable forum, and asks instead to be judged on her and her client's performance.

Not so long ago she proudly posted the following pictures and videos of her client's GRADUATION in a completely quiet gym at a school. No other dogs around, people, nothing. It should be a pretty stunning video of the end of a client's sessions, right? I'll let you decide.

http://k-9solutionsdogtraininginc.blogspot.com/2008/10/danno-graduates.html

Now if I had to judge a trainer based on this FINISHED product, I am not so impressed. Also a lot of trainers feel, as this one did, that if only they were interested in the sport, of course their dog could do it LOL. It's maddening that some people can't see their limits, or that they have limits. I readily admit that I have mine, and therefore, have referrals if necessary. Not having done this yet, they don't understand how the precision and handling help their client. For instance, this trainer could have let their client know that shoulders straight and walking briskly forward brings the dog forward. They would also understand that they lost the leash too soon, or did not properly train a heel position. Behind the owner and lagging is not heel position. I could tell the owner wanted the dog in heel, that's why they angled back to look. If they were doing that with an on leash heel, it will tend to drive the dog backwards not forwards just by body language.

On another trainer's site, here are some videos that show the BEGINNINGS (I couldn't find it, but there was one of his whole class working in a parking lot or something off an airport!!!) of another's training. I don't know this person personally, but I know impressive training when I see it. I also know happy dogs when I see them.

These are two extremes of trainers clearly. However, I think it's fairly important to know how to yourself, and show your clients how to train their dogs for distracting situations. In an empty gymnasium (and if you are showing something you are proud of) this should be a no brainer. If a trainer can't do this for you, and push you to your very best for the partnership and enhanced life of you and your dog, then you are wasting your money.

A trainer that had done the work of competing, might also notice how the precision and timing help and improve the behavior modification as well. And socializing, and performance, and relationships.....

Birthday Parties By Robin Bengston!

Robin (cool name huh?) Bengston is a trainer that I correspond with from time to time. I think she is really cool, and recently she shared some birthday party work that she and her canine partners do:) Enjoy!