Come Fido Come!

The most important command that you can teach a dog is COME. Most dog owners teach it without much problem, but often, it's a loose command that translates to come over here and pay attention to your person for a second. However, you want your dog to come to you 100 percent of the time and and give you 100 percent of its attention...not just come when you are yelling bloody murder or when there is nothing distracting it. What do you do if you have a dog (or two, like me) that is not really interested in coming when called, or only comes when there are no distractions? You can't punish the dog and expect it to want to come to you. We never want to punish our dogs for not coming, or when they FINALLY come, or it will poison the word. It makes sense then that we would only use this command in the most positive of ways. I have two dogs, who when I first got them, would not come when called and even ran away when I said the C word! For them it meant that the fun was over, or they were in trouble. So you'd better run or the game was over! They had been taught that COME usually meant, it's time to put the leash on and leave the park. I needed to re-define it and make coming fun and exciting for them, so that I could rely on the command. To start fresh I broke COME into three parts and worked on them individually.

These three parts or three R's, as I like to call them are:

Recognition, Recall and Release.

Name RECOGNITION is something a single dog owner might not give much thought to, but for those of us who have multiple dogs, it is necessary to preface all commands with the dog's name. Some trainers don't encourage the use of the dog's name, but I think it is very important. The name is really the foundation of all commands. You need to get the dog's attention before you tell it what to do. To establish name recognition, I call my dogs' names out separately and throw treats at them for looking at me. Looking at me, on cue, is all they have to do to get a treat! Do this three time a day, for five repetitions for a few days or a week. This might seem simple or silly to some, but for people who have dogs who don't pay attention when called, this is the first step toward bridging a recall. (Doing five times takes about five minutes, three times a day). The most important thing about name RECOGNITION is that it gets your dogs attention. You want to have, or be able to get it's attention at all times. Repetition of this assures that your dog will be well practiced in looking to you for the next command. You can use it to bridge all the obedience work you will be doing in the future. It is easy and can be fun if you keep it dynamic and set up a scheduled time to practice. I keep a bowl of treats in a candy dish that I can get at easily so I'm more apt to practice. If you are concerned with your pet gaining weight, cut back on it's meal size appropriately.

Next is the RECALL game. The dog might already be coming to you (in anticipation of a treat) when you call it's name. That is great, but at this point it needs to be happening without you saying COME! However, if the dog isn't already starting to head your way when you say it's name; then simply throw it a treat for looking at you when you call it and then show it a second treat. It should start to head your way for more treats. Now give the COME command. When it reaches you, say GOOD COME making a big deal out of it...then give the dog the treat. Do this three times a day for five repetitions. You can even do it while walking on leash and combine it with the name recognition. Call the dog's name...take a step back and lure the dog with a treat. This doesn't take much time and is an easy way of strengthening the bond you have with your dog. Don't worry, eventually, you can just call the dog's name and when it looks at you, say COME and treat it when it gets to you. Right now we are concerned with establishing a fast and consistent recall. The whole point of calling the dogs name and luring it to you is to teach it that great things come from you! The reason you want to say COME when the dog is already on it's way to you, is so you have a 100 percent success rate. Repetition of good behavior is what we want here. We want COME to be a 100 percent automatic knee jerk reaction. If COME has been poisoned by a bad experience, or the dog is just so used to hearing it and not responding this will re-condition the word to have a new value.

NOTE: if necessary you can change your recall word to HERE, if you think it will help things along. For many adopted dogs rescued from bad situations, it is necessary to change, not only the recall word, but also the dog's name to start fresh. I recommend changing it if there has been a history of abuse, or if the dog thinks COME means RUN!

This brings us to the final and most overlooked step, RELEASE. In order to build a good strong COME, that isn't sloppy, you want the dog to stick around and wait for further instruction. To teach the dog to wait until you say it is okay, you need a word that can be used to indicate the exercise is over. Some people use the release OKAY, but that is an overused word and comes up often in a conversation. This could pose a danger that you will say it unwittingly and the dog will take off, when you didn't intend to release it. I use BREAK for one of my dogs and FREE for the other. With two dogs, you must use the name again with the release word in order to strengthen the difference. So to teach RELEASE, you just throw a treat away from you as you say the word and let the dog get it. Eventually, you can let the dog go without a treat, with the RELEASE as the reward, but to start with, using treats is a way to mark the behavior and to create a definite marker. The importance of creating a release word is that it can be applied to anything that is considered an endurance command. You want your dog to understand that you expect it to do what you want, or ask it to do until you say otherwise. When you choose the word most comfortable for you, use it with everything. If the dog is laying down while you are having dinner, because you asked it to...say the word and throw a treat...it will let the dog know that it can get up now. If you have asked the dog to sit until you unclip it's leash, then throw a treat and use the command to let it know it can move around now that you say it is okay.

The fourth R is repetition!

REPEAT-REPEAT-REPEAT!

When the dog is coming successfully and knows that it doesn't mean the fun is over, add distractions, like other dogs.

Remember to be dynamic and fun, this will make your dog want to choose you over other stimulus and make it fun for you too!

Training=Consistency over Time!

Training the terrible two's...

As I get further into my studies as a dog trainer, I learn that there are many common threads between human development and canine stages of learning and behaviour. I often hear of people complaining that their previously sweet puppy, who is now a year and a half or nearly two is suddenly out of control and they need help. Recently, I began training a cute little mutt, a rescue from Mexico, named Sugar (above). She is adorable and smart, but very unruly. She reminds me of two year old child, discovering how to wrap adults around her little finger, or paw rather. Whether, the dog was brought home as a puppy, rescued as an adult dog, or just going through a stage, there will come a time when this cute little being will test you, its handler, to establish its boundaries. My advice to all dog owners who are struggling to get their dog under control is, ZERO TOLERANCE for any unwanted behaviour. Any repeated behaviour becomes learnt behaviour!

Many behavioral problems are in actuality training issues. With daily work, my dogs are getting progressively better behaved; nevertheless, some of their habits are unacceptable and seem to be chronic. Holly jumps up and pushes people over. She is a bully and barks at the neighbors. Miko, my boy dog, barks at everything, especially men. He also pushes past me and pulls on his lead. I have been working on improving their level of obedience and using positive training methods to reinforce their good behaviors. Unfortunately, even though they are improving and are more manageable; they are still misbehaving. The reason for this is that I have been unintentionally reinforcing their habits. Simply put, dogs only do things that work. They have a desired outcome, if achieved, the reward ensures they will perform the action again. The reason they continue to do these annoying things is because they bring about the desired results.

Regardless of your chosen training techniques, it is not effective to simply punish your dog for doing things you don't like! To decrease bad habits, you must give your dog the exact opposite of what it wants in order to make it clear that the action is not going to bring about the desired effect. Punishment, verbal and even physical, for some dogs is perceived as attention. For attention seekers like my Holly, the punishment becomes an enforcer! Squeaky noises, squealing and yelling at her makes her happy and reinforces the jumping. Pushing her down becomes a game. For Miko, his barking simply makes people go away. Even though he is often barking through the window and the passer-by is going by regardless; he perceives their retreat as a victory, which ensures he will do it again the next time. The same goes for pulling. Miko pulls me to get to the park faster and sure enough it does get us there! Even though I am correcting him the entire way, even treating him for heeling, he is reinforced by the fact that we get to the park because he has pulled me there. If I punish him by pulling back on the leash, it just amps him up!

To control unwanted behavior you must give the dog the opposite of what it wants. When Miko pulls, I turn around and walk him the other way. We don't move one inch toward the park until he heels nicely. If he barks through the window, he loses his privileges of looking out. I take away his ability to see the people move away. He values his freedom to look out the window and guard the house, so I made up a two bark rule. I take that freedom away from him, each and every time he barks (more than twice). When Holly jumps up for attention, she gets ignored and turned a back to. She must sit for any positive interactions. Jumping gets her nothing! Similarly, if she barks for attention or demands treats, she gets ignored or quietly put out of the room. This requires "Zero Tolerance" of bad behavior. I now do not allow her to pull on the leash either. She has a good heel, but lunges at other dogs. This results in me turning on my heels and walking the other way. She is aggressing over territory, barking, as well as lunging. This results in her losing access to that territory. What I had taken to be fear aggression may actually be a dominance issue. She wants to be top dog! Since aggressive displays now results in a loss of resources to her, the behavior has decreased.

Dogs are very simple creatures, in that they do what works! They learn like children, while we adults will bang our heads against a wall trying to fit a square peg into a round hole! Dogs will only try something a couple times without results. If it doesn't work, they will most likely move onto something that does. Figure out what is the most "basic" reason your dog is doing whatever it is you don't like and either make it impossible for the dog to continue that behavior, or give it the exact opposite outcome that it desires. This will aid in correcting them faster than verbal or physical punishment. (Technically, punishment is anything that decreases a behavior, but in this case I am referring to the familiar term of scolding or even physically dominating). In terms of reinforcing, I reward all good behavior too. Giving attention and / or resources (access to something), as well as praise and treats, will increase the good behavior while you are decreasing the bad. "Zero Tolerance" doesn't mean "punishment", it simply means consistency!

Recalls and Attention Games

Of course the structure of anything solid, comes from a strong foundation. It seems simple, but gets complicated...especially when you talk about dog training. We tend to look at trained behaviors as being separate and taught separately. However, when a dog lacks basic foundation behaviors, it is hard to teach it to do what we want it to do, like function calmly and properly in social situations. The most basic foundation behavior is one that people often fail to reinforce. We call our pets, or whistle to them and they come to us, or look at us in response. This is the most important tool that we can exercise with our pet, yet we often take it for granted. Every time your dog comes to you or looks toward you, it is a strengthening of the bond you share, a strengthening of the foundation of your relationship. Unfortunately, unintentionally people will sometimes poison this bond. If you interrupt your dog's (unwanted) behavior, perhaps calling the dog out of a potentially dangerous situation, then reprimand the dog for the event...this is poisoning the command. Humans expect dogs to understand what they are upset about; which is the outburst or the disobedience. However, the dog is probably connecting the reprimand to the action of coming when called. Because the dog often looks sheepish, we assume it understands and feels guilty about what it has done, but more than likely what we are perceiving is fear. The dog is actually coming to fear us and learning that it can't trust us as good leaders. Each time we punish a dog by calling it to get it to come, or to get it's attention and then reprimand it, we destroy the bond we have formed with it. We are in essence destroying the very foundation we strive to build.

Coming when called, or solid recall, is the most important foundation behavior that we as dog owners and handlers can work on. Most situations can be prevented or avoided by calling the animal out of it. A strong recall can save your dog's life! Most people that have problems controlling their dogs also have problems getting their dog to come. This reasons to say, that they might also have weak foundations on which they base the rest of their training. The way to begin properly training your dog is to first figure out how to get its attention. (I won't say undivided attention, because dogs will always have distractions that they find hard to resist). Nonetheless, at least knowing how to get your dog's attention will aid you in being able to keep its attention long enough and often enough to teach it the skills it needs to be a great companion and pet. All dogs have different distractions, drives and motivations. In the beginning you should practice all recalls without distractions and find out what is most likely to draw your dog to you. Is it food, is it toys that make squeaky noises, is it fun gestures or a game of chase? Dogs are simple...they will almost always give their attention and be drawn to the biggest distraction. The trick to teaching good recall is to make ourself as alluring as possible and practice it whenever possible. Often people call their dogs in a stern voice and expect them to obey. For the most part, they will come when called in this manner...unless there is something they like better or something distracting them that lures them away. We need to teach our dogs to choose us over their distractions. Through repetition and positive reinforcement the dog will learn to always choose you as the most interesting and consistent source of reward. Strong recall takes a lot of work, but it is the most important thing you can teach your dog.

The easiest attention getting exercise is rewarding any and all voluntary attention. If your dog looks at you, engage it, give it a treat or praise. If it comes up to you or returns it's attention to you...make a huge deal out of it. This is reinforcing good behavior. Sure it is not something that we commanded, but it is still an excellent foundation behavior that if gone unnoticed, will not strengthen. If you reward it, your dog will likely offer it more often and automatically. If your dog offers you its attention, then you will not have to worry about trying to get it! If you want your dog to come or do something other than what it is engaging in, you will already have done the ground work...with very little effort. In fact in this exercise the dog does most of the work for you. I think the reason this practice often goes unnoticed is because it is so simple it seems silly. Another reason people don't reward their dogs freely is that they don't want to spoil the dog or give it too much food. If you don't want your dog to gain weight from "excessive treating", then cut back on its daily meals. Eventually, you can find other things to give your dog as rewards. Food is simply something they relate to and instinctively strive to earn access to. If you don't want your dog to get spoilt, don't reward anything other than good behavior! If you want a dog that comes to you when called and is very interested in what you are doing or wanting it to do, make yourself the most delicious or interesting thing in the room or the situation. The easiest way to do this is through a reward system, treat training or praise. Getting a dogs attention is easy...make it fun! Ironically, making it fun for your pet, also makes it a lot more pleasant for you. Coming when called and recalls can be turned into attention games that are easy to do and will most likely lead to faster success for you and your dog.

Don't give up on defaults!

In order to build a strong stable nervous system you need to expose your dog to all sorts of experiences at a very young age, before four to six months old. Neither one of my dogs were socialized properly as puppies and as a result, are afraid of most things new or foreign. Exposing them to new situations is difficult and often unpredictable because of their lack of experience with common stimulus. Introducing a puppy to new things is fun, but introducing an anxious one and a half year old, or adult dog, to something new and exciting is not only difficult, but scary for both parties. I have done a lot of reading on desensitization and in the beginning of training Holly and Miko, I figured I would slowly and systematically expose my dogs to the things they were unfamiliar with, thus desensitizing them to their triggers. Little did I know that between the two of them, they are reactive to pretty much everything that moves and makes noise. On a daily basis they react to dogs, men, cats, birds, bikes, skateboards, motorcycles, trucks, lawn mowers, hair driers, vacuum cleaners and anything on wheels, including wheelchairs. Taking the two of them for a walk is hard work and I found it wasn't enjoyable for me. To turn things around I needed to work on a few basic foundation behaviors and bring some stability into our lives.

The behaviors that I now work on daily are COME, LOOK, TOUCH (or targeting) , DOWN, SIT, QUIET (or settle), as well as HEEL. I practice some of these commands in the house, looking out the window, in the back yard as people and dogs go by, as well as on our low stress walks. I can now walk both dogs, side by side, in a heel position, sitting on each corner in a controlled fashion. They don't pull me (very often) and walk on a loose leash (unless a dog or the mailman goes by). That might sound like an easy feat to some, but to owners of fear aggressive dogs, it can be a long road to enjoying a walk with "man's best friend". In fact, most people with fear aggressive dogs walk them at odd hours, when no distractions are present and a when they can avoid situations that leave them and their dogs rattled. I don't ever expect my dogs to be perfectly behaved or "off leash", but I do plan to enjoy the time I spend walking them. The foundation to successful rehabilitation of a fear aggressive dog is developing strong default behaviors, like the ones I have listed below, which can be taught through LOTS of repetition and LOTS of patience. Keep at them and DON"T GIVE UP on your dog!

COME: This is the most important command to work on. It can be used to pull a dog out of a dangerous situation. For fear aggressive dogs, a strong come default will save you much grief and could save you from unfortunate incidents, especially when you see something potentially scary and can avoid it by calling your dog to safety. I practice treating for COME every day so that when I need it, my dogs have an automatic and solid response to it and know it means good things to will follow.

LOOK: Most problems in training begin because the dog doesn't understand what the handler wants from it, or it is simply too distracted. The first step in communicating what you want from your dog is to get the dog's attention. Many times other distractions overshadow the handler's commands because the dog isn't paying attention to him or her. LOOK is an easy way to teach your dog to give you its focus. A strong look default will assure that you can get and keep your dog's attention when you most need it. Another form of "look" is name recognition. When you call your dog's name, you need it to look at you!

TOUCH: Teaching your dog to touch your hand or a target stick reliably, on command, is a good way to redirect it from a potentially reactive situation. Practice this command when there are no distractions and you can eventually use it to bridge many behaviors that will come in handy in the future. I use it to redirect my dogs after an outburst. I want to treat them for returning to calm behavior, but need something to separate the incident. By asking them to target my hand, it prevents me from accidentally reinforcing barking or lunging, because I need to treat them for ceasing the aggression and move on.

DOWN: As hard as it is to teach, an emergency down command can save your dog's life. It begins with practicing basic down commands in playtime, progressing to using a stern voice "DOWN" followed by praise and play. The point is to develop a strong and fast reaction to your voice...especially your panic voice. I do "downs" throughout the day in different tones of voice...even yelling it from a distance. It isn't abusive to bark a command at your dog in emergencies. They bark all the time! By practicing the word DOWN in a loud voice, you can be sure it will work when it really counts. (Don't give up on this one!)

SIT: If you can get your dog to sit, it can't jump or lung. (It is particularly useful for dogs who jump up). I use this for Holly when I position her facing away from her triggers. Sometimes I will go as far as holding her between my legs in a sit, so she can't look at the scary thing as it passes. It is always better to lure the dog away from the trigger, but in some cases, this is not possible and a strong sit will give me time to get my knees ready to block Holly from aggressing. I often put myself between the scary thing and the dog to physically block the reaction as well as visually block the stimulus.

QUIET: This is something I practice in the window of my living room for an hour or more a day. It can also be given as a "settle" or any word you prefer to use as a command. My dogs love to look out at the coming and goings of the neighbourhood. I keep a clicker handy and an ear cocked to ward off any window antics and to award any good behavior. I use the clicker as a marker for good quiet responses and as an interruptor of bad behavior (click and treat before they can start barking), as well as, as bridge to reward (to buy me a couple seconds of time to get the treat out). The trick is to award the calm quiet actions and redirect the barking into calm quiet behaviors, like sit or touch.

HEEL: Not to be confused with "walking on a loose leash"! My dogs must heel a block to earn a block of loose leash sniffing. It teaches them that they can have access to a good sniff, while working on a strong heel. The HEEL command is necessary in getting them through any social situation, be it walking down the sidewalk with men approaching, or allowing a cyclist to pass. This also allows me to walk calmly on the other side of the road, while a dog passes. Admittedly, I cross the street if I see a dog approaching (unless I am walking just one dog or the other). Together, two 65lb dogs can easily pull me off my feet. Miko wants to play and Holly wants to fight. I need a reliable heel to keep things under control.

ON and OFF game: Although this isn't a default exercise, it is a method of strengthening behaviors by adding distractions in a controlled way. I play with my dogs in the yard and get them really excited, (game ON) then ask them to quickly turn it OFF. I ask for a default behavior like sit, or down and make them settle down for treats. This is for practice in controlling their emotions and energy levels. By teaching them to turn their energy ON and OFF, I prepare them for settling down when they are over excited. It also allows me to figure out how quickly and under what circumstances I can expect them to settle down.

PRE-MACK Theory: This is a method of teaching more than a behavior. It works on the premise that you get your dog to perform a default in order to gain access to something or the freedom to do something. It is sometimes called the Grandmother Rule: "eat your veggies first!" I use it to strengthen desired behaviors by rewarding them with something the dogs really want, like sniffing when we are on a walk. In allowing the dogs a controlled amount of what they desire, it makes the desire to sniff less novel. They know that they will be allowed to sniff to their hearts content, as long as they heel for a block or even just as we cross a busy street. This can be applied to so many thing and is a great way to teach a default.

After months of training, unfortunately, Miko is still afraid of strange men and Holly is still afraid of other dogs. However, they are improving and learning to calm down on command. Instead of flooding them with their triggers while out and about (as I had done in the past with poor results). I now work on them at home and around my house without distractions, to build foundation behaviors which are incompatible with fear and aggression. I map out areas that are less stressful for the dogs. I keep the routes to low level exposures to their triggers. This way I can work on building up their threshold or tolerance to stimulus, rather than bulldozing through their fears in hopes of overcoming them. I concentrate on teaching them good behaviors and building the attention span, that they need to possess in order to feel more confident and calm in the face of perceived danger. I realized, not only had my dogs not been exposed to many types of things, people and stimulus, they had not been taught basic good manners and proper coping mechanisms. Before I could teach them to not react, I had to teach them what to do in place of reacting. I can't convince them not to be afraid of scary men and approaching dogs, but I can teach them to do something other than aggress.

There is more than one way to skin a cat!

When asked recently what I found most inspiring and surprising about learning to train dogs, I replied "the people!" The more I learn about dogs, the more I realize it is us, the owners, who need the training!

I've just started working with four dogs, all different breeds, with all different issues. (Above is Eva, a little Staffordshire Terrier who suffers from fear aggression and noise sensitivity) One thing that I have learnt from teaching is that there are many ways to treat issues and not all of them work for all dog handler teams. As I sit down with the perspective clients for the first time and ask them to tell me what their concerns and goals are in regard to their pets, I discover a lot and not just about the dogs. I learn what different expectations people have of their dog trainer, as well as their expectations of their pets. They provide me with a guideline of what they expect to get out of it and how much time, money and effort they are willing to invest. From this I can put together a plan for us to follow and a proposition for the training. During this consultation, I also get an insight into how the person communicates, which indicates the way they need to be taught. I can only teach the dog as much as I can teach the owner. Really the client is the student, not the dog.

Dog training is a service and must be customized to the client. Not all owners will be willing to put in the necessary hours required to fully obedience train a dog. It's hard work and requires time that many busy modern families and individuals don't have. They will however be able to make small changes to improve the communication between them and their pet, as well as teach their dog a few basics so that it can function within our society and enjoy a better quality of life. Many people just want a pet who is well behaved and good company. They don't realize that dogs are a lot of work and most need a lot of exercise and attention. This is common when clients acquire dogs that they like the look of and may know little about. What I have learned about pet dog training is that a client may actually want you to train the drive out of their dog. Drive is something that many purebred dogs, (as well as mutts) have in high levels and is considered a good thing by breeders. However, the very thing that makes a Labrador an excellent hunting dog, may cause it to chase things inappropriately and to possibly torment the family cat. The instinctive herding nature of a boarder collie, will drive some owners crazy with barking. The point is, that working dogs, or sporting dogs have high levels of prey, defence and pack drive that, if left unshaped, don't always transfer well into the pet dog category. So when training a pet dog, one must adjust the plan of action to the situation.

For a instance, the approach to teaching, lets say, a labra-doodle to be a good family pet, would not be the same as if we were teaching it to be an competitive agility dog. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of people who want to take their dog to a higher level of obedience, or have aspirations of competing, even just for fun in sporting and utility events. For this type of client, you can expect that they will be thinking more long term and want to layer the training you can offer them, even using multiple trainers to get a diverse education. However, most people who come to pet dog trainers are not looking to compete with their family dog. They may end up pursuing that at some point as a hobby, but that is not what they are coming to the pet dog trainer for. I am quickly discovering that the competitive show dog and sporting dog world is an entirely different one. Although many competitive dogs make great family pets, the training is very specific and not suited to the average dog owner. Nonetheless, all dog training shares some of the basics of obedience work and all dogs benefit from basic obedience training.

Like many people I stumbled into dog training because I started training my own dogs and got hooked. The more I learn about our canine companions the more I want to learn. They are such an amazing addition to our lives and such a compliment to our being. The more I learn about dog training, the more I realize I have so much more to learn. There are as many methods out there as there are trainers. Everyone has different advice; however, not all methods are appropriate to all dogs or all types of owners. The important thing I have learnt from Holly and Miko, is if it isn't working, try something else. When you figure out the thing that does work, then you can go back and try the other method again (if you really think there is something to be gained by it). For example, treat training works on Miko, but affection wasn't the best way to get this shy dogs attention. In the beginning, it was a case of the reinforcement (petting) being perceived as and adversary. Nine months later, he will do things just for love and enjoys a good bum rub! More surprisingly, with my dog aggressive Holly, now that I have her reactivity under control, using strictly pack order and traditional obedience training, I'm bridging back to clicker exercises and operant conditioning and it is working!

Leader of the Pack

Dominant Aggression:

Although it may seem cute when a young puppy growls, this could be the first signs of aggression. Food guarding and snapping at guests, may seem harmless when a dog is small, but people don’t understand is that this dog is showing the early signs of dominance. The truth is that this pup is probably going to grow up to be aggressive to family members in addition to strangers. Early growling can easily develop into an adult that tries to take control of the house. Dominant Aggression needs to be controlled from the start, (no matter how cute or small the dog is).

Often people will say that dog aggression seems to appear out of the blue, but there are always warning signs and early indicators of aggressive tendancies. For instance “offensive (dominance-related) aggression is often indicated by high postures, staring and chasing (Borchelt and Voith, 1996; Lindsay, 2001). Unfortunately, posturing and body language are often overlooked and growling as well as food guarding is simply punished, to the point the dog stops giving warning signals and goes straight to biting.

Dogs are pack animals and they live a pack life that has been bred into them since the beginning of time. Their very nature demands a pack order and if one is not set up for them, they will take it upon themselves to develop their own pack order by which they live. If the owner doesn’t establish itself as the pack leader and all humans to rank above the dog, it may take it upon itself to become the alpha. This is why many dogs will only obey one person in the household. It all comes down to how the dog views its order in pack.

Proper socialization at an early age can help reduce the chance of aggression. A dog “can be influenced by its experiences during early life, a time that is critical for establishing social relationships (Scott and Fuller, 1965). Puppies raised in isolation until the end of the sensitive period (12 weeks of age) tend to show deficits in play activity and to behave aggressively towards peers (Fox and Stelzner, 1967). Even if a dog learns to interact appropriately with littermates, these social skills may not be retained unless the dog continues to receive frequent conspecific socialization”. (Lindsay, 2001). The socialization must be ongoing and varied in order to expose the dog to as many things, people and stimulus as possible.

Prevention is the best cure, but to get control of an already dominant dog you must have his view of the pack order changed. He needs to be moved to the bottom of the list in terms of dominance. He must realize that all humans rank higher than himself. This is done by monitoring the order of every aspect of the dog’s life. Dominant dogs do not sleep on the bed or in the bedroom. The best place to sleep goes to the pack leader. Dominant dogs never eat from the table and are always fed “after dinner,” (lower pack members always eat last). Humans must have first access to all resources, to establish that the dog is the lowest ranking member of the pack.

Spaying and neutering the dog can help in reducing aggressive tendencies. However, not always in the case of females. “Most household aggression involves spayed females (Sherman et al., 1996) Furthermore: in regard to multiple dog homes.

“Overall (1997) observed that compared to neutered males, aggression in intact males is often more intense, quicker, and lasts longer. In contrast, spayed females have been found to initiate aggression more frequently than intact females (Sherman et al., 1996) and to display more dominance-related aggression after spaying”. (Voith and Borchelt, 91982; Kim et al., 2006).

The real key to controlling and preventing aggression is obedience training. This is a very important part of establishing some kind of order. The training method, when dealing with aggression, should not be the strictly a motivational approach. Motivation is used but it must be tempered with corrections for all unwanted behaviour. It is essential to interrupt all aggressive and dominant behaviour and provide the dog with a healthy and happy alternative. However, if the dog’s dominance has developed to a point where it tries to attack the handler when it gets corrected…then its time to get some professional help.

For information on the myths of pack order and dominance check out this link:

http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm

Close Encounters!

I was walking my dogs onleash a few days at a local park, when we were attacked by an off leash Chihuahua. Not surprisingly, my dogs were fine and the little dog was spared its life because, as I mentioned my dogs were leashed. Ironically, the lady bystander at the playground ran to see if the small dog was unscathed! Little did she know, I have spent countless hours training my dogs to not aggress and for the most part I can control them. However, I would never trust them off leash in a public place! Somehow, the owner of the aggressive small dog was not held accountable for not leashing his THREE small dogs in a public park. I on the other hand was feeling judged for my two dogs reacting badly to this holy terror.The bottom line is, if you have an aggressive dog, even if it is under your control and an off leash dog attacks you; you are still responsible for the damage your dog does! For this reason, I now carry pepper spray! Fortunately for the owner of the three off leash little dogs, who have repeatedly attacked my dogs (BTW: this is not our first encounter with him in out neighbourhood), I would never use it unless I absolutely had to. His dogs are very unruly, but not that big of a threat to me and my two 70lb Lab, Staffordshire Terrier mixes. I simply pulled my dogs into a sit and waited for the owner of the little dogs to come get his Chihuaha. A sitting dog can't fight!

Here's how I came to the decision to carry pepper spray. Not long ago, in a remote location, while my dogs were running off leash, we were surrounded by three Rottweillers. My female dog Holly, came running to me for assistance, or maybe protection. I grabbed her collar, turned my back to the dogs, as not to look them in the eye and held her fast to my crotch. At this point, I didn’t have a clue where my other dog, Miko was. He isn’t dog aggressive, so my main concern was to keep Holly calm and keep the dogs off her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man emerge from the bush. He was frantically calling his dogs, who were now circling me growling and sniffing, to no avail. Suddenly out of no-where Miko came running up. He circled the crew of dogs and lured them off into a playful chase. The three big dogs were no match for his speed, or his size, as he ducked and dove through the trees. I called to the owner of the the three dogs to continue walking and call his Rotties away from me, instead of back toward me. Thankfully, Miko was un-effected by the entire attack. The larger dogs followed him in a game of chase until I was safe to release Holly and heel her off in the opposite direction. Miko followed shortly thereafter, happily and quite proud of himself. I was so proud of both of them!

The Safest Way to Break Up a Dog Fight:

By Ed Frawley: http://leerburg.com

"To break up a dog fight requires 2 people. Each person grabs the back feet of one of the dogs. The dog back feet are then picked up like a wheelbarrow. With the legs up, both dogs are then pulled apart.

Once the dog fight is broken up and the dogs pulled apart it is critical that the people do not release the dogs or the dog fight will begin again. The two people need to start turning in a circle, or slowly swinging the dogs in a circle while they back away from the other dog. This stops the dog from curling and coming back and biting the person holding their legs.

By circling the dog has to sidestep with its front feet or it will fall on its chin. As long as you slowly continue to back and circle, the dog cannot do any damage to you. To insure that the fight will not begin all over again when you release the dogs, one of the dogs needs to be dragged into an enclosure (i.e. a kennel, the garage, another room) before the dog is released. If you do not do this, the dogs will often charge back and start fighting again or if you release the dog to quickly the dog will turn and attack the person who had his feet.

Dog fights are a very dangerous thing to try and break up alone. You should never rush in and try and grab the dogs to pull them apart. They are in high "fight drive" and are not thinking clearly when fighting. If someone grabs them they will bite without even thinking about who or what they are biting. This is how your loving pet can dog bite the living crap out of you in about a second and a half.

In reality it probably doesn't even know it's biting you. I compare it to a bar fight. If a person comes up behind 2 guys fighting and just reaches out and grabs the shoulder of one of the combatants most of the time the fighter is going to turn and throw a punch without even looking at who or what he is hitting. This is because his adrenaline in pumping and he is in "fight drive".

The worst case scenario is that you are alone when a serious fight breaks out. There are a couple things that you must keep in mind:

• Keep your cool you have a job to do.

• Do not waste time screaming at the dogs. It hardly ever works.

• Your goal is still the same; you must break up the fight without getting hurt.

• Go get a leash (allow the fight to continue while you do this).

• Dogs are almost always locked onto one another. Walk up and loop the leash around the back loin of the dog by either threading the leash through the handle or use the clip. I prefer the thread method.

• Now slowly back away and drag the dog to a fence or to an object that you can tie the leash to. By doing this, you effectively create an anchor for one of the dogs.

• Then walk around and grab the back legs of the second dog and drag it away from the dog that is tied up. Remember to turn and circle as they release.

• Drag the dog into a dog pen or another room before you release the back legs.

• Go back and take the dog off the fence and put him or her into a dog kennel.

• Sit down and have a stiff drink (or two).

People talk about using cattle prods or shock collars to break up 2 pets that fight. I can tell you that many times this is not going to work. The electric cattle prod or electric collar will only put the dogs into higher fight drive. When they are shocked they will turn and bite the prod, or when they are shocked they will think the other dog is causing the pain and they will fight harder. An electric collar is best used in conditioning training, but not during an actual dogfight.

A point I would like to make is that if you see two dogs out there squaring off through body posturing (i.e. one dog with stiff legs and tail straight up in the air putting his head over the shoulders of the other to show dominance) do not run out there screaming "NO NO NO!!!!" Most of the time this is going to trigger the fight. A lot of times dogs will posture and one will give in and back away. They settle their dominance issue without a battle. I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER recommend testing this situation. It's not worth the fight that erupts if you are wrong."

Dog Fights and Dog Bites:

Here are just a few of the facts that were explained by 20-20:

My source http://leerburg.com

• 90% of dog bites happen to people who know the dogs

• Most of the dogs that bite are the family pets

• 60% to 70% of dog bites are to children or the elderly

• 40% of the bites to children result in loss of facial tissue (lips, cheek etc.)

• 1/2 of the claims made on homeowners insurance are dog bites claims!

Ed Frawley wrote, "An interesting point that 20-20 made is that more dog bites come from small dogs than from big dogs. The University of California did a study and found that dogs under 16 pounds are more likely to snap at people. My personal feeling is that “SMALL DOG OWNERS” do not perceive their dogs as being very dangerous. The majority of large dog owners make some attempt at controlling aggression problems, (even if it’s just giving the dog away or having it put to sleep). While the small dog owners often tend to ignore the problem and feel that their little terrier is just being cute when it growls at kids or guests that try and sit on the couch next to it. The fact is small dogs can bite SMALL KIDS in the face."

On this note:

Aggressiveness in dogs has a number of different causes often due to poor breeding and / or poor socializing. Many pet owners don’t recognize the early signs of dominant aggression or fear aggression and over look it as either alpha behavior or shyness. For instance a cute puppy slowly developed into a fearful biter after not dealing with it growling at people who came to visit. The pet owner cannot deal with the, now adult, dog that becomes overly aggressive at friendly strangers. Understanding where aggression has its roots will help people understand the methods used in controlling the problem. Early detection of reactivity and early socialization is key in avoiding adult dog aggression.

Types of Aggression:

Dominant Aggression- when a dog is struggling for rank in the pack.

Territorial Aggression- when a dog is fearful of losing its resources

Fear Aggression- lack of socialization or weak nervous system

Prey or Predatory Aggression- instinctive prey drive and lack of socialization with other animals and sometimes small children.