Why is the Concept of Training Considered Extraordinary?

It seems I’ve been transported to a different era of dog ownership. Or maybe I’m just in a different area, having grown up in the Midwest and transplanted to Southern California over a quarter century ago.

Let’s start from my beginnings. I understood as a young child that having a pet was a responsibility. And not just feeding, cleaning, maybe walking if it could be taken on walks, but also understanding the possible health issues, the parasites that could affect said animal and certainly the training of that animal. Training was as ordinary as feeding.

Why are these aspects of animal ownership so ingrained in my head, yet as a professional dog trainer, training a dog seems so foreign to current owners? I think partially because my parents were trying to scare me out of the desire of a pet with the “RESPONSIBILITIES” that would be placed on my shoulders. That’s just being honest about the parenting skills of the ones who raised me. But I also think because we’ve shifted our paradigm somehow to forgetting that these pets are ANIMALS. Our pets are now “humans” and thus the importance of training is diluted down to “my dog will pick up what it needs to learn by living in a loving home with me.” kind of attitude.

Training has been diminished to just two pet-ownership scenarios: 1) only-if-you-want-a-hobby-with-your-dog, which occurs way less often than 2.) only-if-your-dog-embarasses-or-frightens-you-with-their-behavior. And often times to get to the latter scenario, the owner has to go through many levels of complete denial of the problem before they seek help.

The problem is that training is not just a “what if” when owning a pet like a dog. It is an absolute must like water and food. It is, to use a popular word today, ESSENTIAL, and not extraordinary. The reasons that training is essential can be boiled down to one thing….dog ownership is all about a relationship with a dog…who is indeed a DOG and NOT A HUMAN. A wonderful article that explains this in a less threatening way than I do can be found here.

https://www.littledoggiesrule.com/dog-blog/10-benefits-of-training-your-dog/

If one wants to insist a dog is more like a human than biology allows, then isn’t all your human contacts about “relationship building" as well? Why would you ignore that essential part of human to human interaction? You wouldn’t. Thus with your dog, you also should not ignore relationship building or wait till you need therapy (dog training in emergency mode) to start building a relationship, maintain that relationship and make it stronger. As in a romantic relationship, as an example, it’s not just about grabbing someone off the street and squeezing and feeding and clothing them that makes a marriage some day.

On that same note, there is nothing extraordinary about the cost of dog trainers. If you were to pay a marriage and family therapist, you would expect to pay a great deal of money for each session even though you were clearly going to be spending time with this therapist on an average of once a week. And many dog trainers operate on that model…that there would be multiple sessions so the price per session is just slightly over the cost of what it takes to live & do business for an hour.

Then there are trainers like me who aren’t going to see you every week for months on end. Instead, I will train you to be your own “marriage and family therapist” to use the above analogy. So there will be few lessons and the lessons must cost more than the cost of living for that hour. (Which I have always under priced for where I currently do business.) Plus on-call tutoring for no additional charge. Plus helpful tips, articles, handouts, directions towards proper tools for training and where to get them, et cetera.

And here’s the problem with the kind of trainer that I am. Although it satisfies my mission as a dog trainer, to educate people to have a healthy and strong relationship with their dog, people do not want to invest in that tuition. I suspect there are two reasons for this. One is that people have the idea that training is an extraordinary expense…only invested if you want a hobby with your dog or you have a behavioral problem. The second reason people are unwilling to pay trainers like myself who will teach you what they’ve learned over the past few decades (4 decades in my case) is that there is a perception that people who work with animals should do so as a non-profit, out of the goodness of their heart and never expect to pay normal bills like food, clothing, housing, car maintenance or God forbid their own healthcare, let alone a vacation once every five years.

I think you get my drift.

Good dog trainers are essential; good dog training is essential.. And by “good” I mean that the trainer and the methods include expertise in dog behavior, body language, the psychological needs of a dog well beyond play & affection, and a safe place with essential nutrients to live. And good dog trainer should be educating the dog owner, not just doing the exercises for them or supervising dog owners through once a week exercises and give the dog owner little-to-no tools for overcoming/conquering the inevitable challenges of pet ownership later down the road.

That knowledge and expertise with on-call tutoring, what I call my lifetime tech support, costs time that must translate to paying bills. Dog trainers are not eternal interns. They are not non-profits simply because they love animals.

And you are not a good dog owner simply because you love animals any more than you’re a good marriage partner because you love your partner. It takes intentional relationship building with the emotional, psychological and personality needs of the other.

If you do not know how to do that on your own, then be prepared to pay appropriately for that essential knowledge.

My Dog Is Friendly!

Inside every neighborhood there is a debate. Usually it’s quiet and understood to be kept among neighbors only. The hushed character is partially because the advocates of one side of the debate know they are breaking city, county or state laws, while the other side may just want to not have to fight about it or bring “the law” into the equation.

What is “it”, you ask?

“It” is the debate over whether or not every dog, no matter the training, the temperament, the desires of the dog or owner, should absolutely be on leash where the leash is lawfully required and maybe even when it is not lawfully required.

As a dog trainer, I’ve heard all the excuses. “My dog behaves better off leash.” “He listens to me.” “A dog needs freedom.” “I don’t want to crush her spirit.” “He enjoys sniffing around.” “She chokes herself.” “The leash is a form of slavery.”

I’ve also been guilty of breaking the leash laws. Just recently, my two chihuahua mixes were loose in the fence-less front yard. I was with them and watching for possible danger. Along comes a nice young woman with 2 small terrier mixes on leash. They were pulling out front which means that they were jazzed up and on alert. My dogs for the first time in a long time didn’t listen to me to retreat toward the front door but rather sidled right up to them.

Now they were not negatively aggressive to the other dogs in an obvious way, but I was not surprised that the terriers reacted with threats of charge. Not their fault. It was my fault. I had to scoop up my dorky dogs and apologize. It could have ended in a bite or injury. And the owner should not have to worry about her dog being approached by even a couple of happy-go-lucky “friendly” dogs.

In fact, that woman’s terriers should not have to deal with the invasion of personal & pack space by two “friendly” dogs. Notice that I keep putting that word “friendly” in quotes? There. I did it again. That is on purpose.

There is a huge misconception that dogs who don’t immediately fight another dog are automatically considered “friendly” or “safe”. That is not true. It’s all wrong in terms of how the canine thinks about these approaches. Invading the space of another dog, especially a group of dogs/humans, is a violation of boundaries and is, by itself, not matter the “intent” of the invading dog an ACT OF AGGRESSION. In other words, most dogs I observe on the street or at a client’s home or in a group class are a bunch of bullies for a long time before teeth are ever involved. We all know bullying is not okay.

This means that my happy-go-lucky, curious chihuahuas were actually being aggressive. It does not matter that they were playful or in a good mood of sorts. The behavior in canine understanding of proper socialization was aggressive because it lacked respecting the other pack’s space. It lacked the time needed to go through proper DISTANT and NOSE-ORIENTED introduction. Those terriers had every right to respond as they did with snarl and a stiff jump and huff to let my dogs know they crossed the line.

This brings me to another point that seems to be lost by those who proclaim that their dogs are friendly. In making such a proclamation, there is absolutely no regard for the hapless victim of said “friendly” dog. Your dog could be friendly, but what about the other dog and the owner. I’ve known people who are afraid of dogs in general except for their own. And most people have dogs who are reactive, fearful or still in training to some degree and your “friendly” dog is setting them back. Way to be selfish instead of thinking of your neighbor.

Did I forget to mention I am a dog trainer? Oh, yeah, I said that part. My dogs are, indeed, fairly well-trained. One of those chihuahua mixes actually does set work for film and TV. They are also my demo dogs to show people what they want to achieve and how they achieve it in terms of obedience for their dogs. And yet, my dogs failed that moment. Or…more appropriately, I failed. I took for granted my control over my dogs and expected them to be 100% obedient 100% of the time. That’s an unreasonable expectation, thus I failed by putting them in that situation. The consequences of such failure could have caused a great deal of harm - physical and behavioral - for four dogs altogether.

To be more accurate about my faults, I did cause behavioral harm to that lovely woman’s two terriers. From now on, they are going to be more agitated and alert on their walks. They will react more forcefully and sooner than they did on that morning I stupidly relied on my dogs’ obedience. That lovely woman will now have to find a way to help her terriers overcome that aggressive invasion of space and, certainly, others will judge her for dogs’ behaviors. And it wasn’t her fault…entirely.

Look how I switched a bit there and I will explain. Taking my dogs out of the equation, anytime dogs are in front of their owners rather than lining up their heads and peripheral vision to your particular gait - slow or fast - you are telling your dogs that they are in charge of two important things: 1) protecting the pack and 2) investigating/owning the environment. This makes you and your leash just a dead weight anchor in their missions. This causes frustration, excessive pulling, choking, dog aggression, leash reactivity in general and disobedience. It is upon the dog(s) to determine the relationship of the pack, which includes you Mr. or Ms. Dead Weight Anchor, to every other pack you encounter. To do that, they insist on invading space or giving warnings with body language or vocalization. You and your dog(s) eventually pass by this approaching pack and thus your dog(s) learns that the pulling, growling, invading of space (basically dominant behavior) caused the threat to leave. Now all this aggressive leash behavior becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, a reinforcement upon itself.

Space is a commodity for which dogs vie or compete to gain control from other dogs and humans. Of this commodity, there are 3 aspects - personal, positional and territorial. If you are not in charge of the environment and the protection of the pack by maintaining the proper personal, positional and territorial space in your home and on your walk, you are creating anxiety and it will result in aggressive behavior over time. So when another dog that is off-leash invades the space of another pack, this is an act of aggression even if all the tails are wagging. And if that encounter happens without reference to the owners, well, good luck having any control of the dogs if something goes dangerously wrong.

So let’s get back to the friendly dog issue. A wagging tail is not equivalent to harmless and friendly. A wagging tail could indicate fear. A wagging tail could indicate dominance and warning. A wagging tail could mean “I’m over-excited and unpredictable and therefore a danger to you.”

Avoid making mood judgments of an approaching dog and respect the space and temperament of all packs. This is best done by making sure everyone is on leash and no one "says hi” up close and personal. Let’s remember that we live in the city…a motorcycle whizzing by with a backfire could startle a well-trained dog and you may find yourself having to suddenly chase your spooked dog. If that dog is off-leash, the chase could be long and dangerous.

I know, I know, your dog has never done that before…. But dogs are animals and there is nothing that makes them 100% solid and that moment they do something they have “never done before” could be horrible experience for all involved or even their last moment on earth.

Your dog may be friendly, but it is your responsibility to ensure that everyone, including your dog, feels safe in any environment. A leash, when properly used for communicating with your dog rather than controlling it, is your best tool to accomplish that sense of safety for you and your neighbors.

To learn proper heeling technique and properly addressing distractions or leash-aggression, I invite you to attend one of my monthly Heeling Workshops. Contact me at hello@kazzidogtraining.com or thatdogtrainingshow@gmail.com.

Socializing a Dog to Not Be a Public Jerk with People

Even before I became a professional dog trainer, I knew better.

I knew not to let people grab or squeal at or lower their head to approach or simply pet at will my new puppy as I took her to work and as we engaged in our daily walks. I knew allowing excited interaction was cause for a near future disaster. I knew that I wanted a dog that did not lose control when she saw people. I knew that I wanted her to listen to me when it was time to leave the company of said people.

And after becoming a professional dog trainer and having to help people repair or rebuild the damaged relationship that their dogs have towards people - whether it was fear or over-excitement or both - I can tell you it’s much harder to “fix” this damage than to develop that relationship properly. Even though…and I mean absolutely it WILL happen, not IF…people will literally call you names for refusing to let them play with, pet or otherwise distract your dog. In their embarrassment over getting caught in a selfish/rude act of touching something that didn’t belong to them, people will tell you how to socialize your dog, predicting you are causing them great harm. They will throw their dog training credentials at you with the books they’ve read or how they’ve treated their own dogs and they are great and you should listen to them, yada, yada, yada.

And you have the firm knowledge that they can just piss off. Or at least, I hope you do. You wouldn’t feel obligated to let people test drive your car if they simply complimented it. Nor would you likely feel that people were being polite if they started pulling out the groceries in the bags you were carrying from your car to your house just to see how awesome your dinner is going to be. I mean, if you struggle with that sense of personal boundary, maybe having a dog is too much for you…or maybe having a dog that can be negatively affected by that rudeness will give you a good kick in the pants. You decide.

You see, people somehow have it in their minds that if they like the look of your dog, whether they directly announce it to you or not, YOU - the owner and caretaker of that dog - are OBLIGATED to let them interact with your dog.

That’s a myth! That’s a myth that is perpetrated by selfishness of the awestruck person who attempts to engage with your dog, usually without your permission or even a greeting to acknowledge your existence. It’s also a very bad habit, because someday that self-indulgent stranger is going to be bitten. I’m kind of rooting for that in a behavioral point of view, but in a legal sense, especially here in California, this is very bad news for the dog and it’s owner. Even if it is the stranger’s fault for assaulting another person’s dog, the dog and the owner are put to blame and highly penalized. If this has happened more than once, i.e., your dog is particularly irresistible, the dog may be court-ordered PTS.

Speaking of myths! It’s an absolute myth that your dog will enjoy or like people more if they are “exposed” to more people. Here’s where this myth got started…it’s partially true, but only IF the environment of exposure is controlled and the amount of exposure is passive and progressive in intensity. In other words, short spurts of allowing a young dog to investigate people without people getting into their faces, grabbing them or making high pitched noises. Which brings me to a side note, I do like watching dog rescue videos except for one thing…all the DAMN high pitched googly talk or “it’s okay” repeated over and over. To a dog you sound like you’re whimpering or injured or stressed and that DOES NOT CALM a dog. It’s your body language and their innate desire for cheeseburgers after starving for weeks at a time that did the trick. Quite honestly, these people would spend less hours trying to capture these dogs if these people would just shut up or speak at a sound frequency of Billy Holiday after a cigarette. But that was my informative digression. Now back to the main meat of the situation.

Given the myths/bad habits I’ve mentioned, you can imagine the horrors expressed to outright arguments with me regarding petting a dog in public. It’s particularly amplified in emotion when it comes to their people-fearing rescue dog. They want that dog so badly to just “love” people in a couple of weeks they expose their dogs to big dinner parties with their new shy rescue dog multiple times in a row and then wonder why their dog gets worse, and, inevitably, ends up biting the “biggest dog lover” of the dinner party groups after several meetings. “But they were friends!”

I can go on and on in greater detail about socialization but instead I will give you free information about exactly how you develop proper socialization techniques that will allow your dog to be pet by strangers and friends without destroying your training or causing fear for the dog. Let me just say this: You have to be tough. You have to say NO…a lot…to your friends, to strangers, to children. You have to abort mission if things start going a different direction than you want, even if you gave permission for someone to pet your dog. This is called RESPECTING your dog and where it’s at. That is your job. Not pleasing your friends, not acquiescing to becoming a free petting zoo on the word of a simple compliment, like a hooker turning a trick. The street walker doesn’t want to do what’s coming, but does need the money or the drugs and the brain has been trained to literally turn on a dime on a simple code phrase that sounds like a compliment, but is actually a demand.

Don’t do that to yourself and your dog in the name of teaching your dog to “love” people. But do practice the steps I outline below. If you’ve spent enough months practicing these steps, plus teaching your dog to accept awkward touches and tugs and hugs after mastering these steps, then and only then is it appropriate to let people pet your dog in public…on YOUR COMMAND only by those whom YOU CHOOSE.

May the Training Force Be with You…so your dog isn’t a public jerk.

“Go Visit” Command

Used primarily for film/tv production dogs and therapy dogs. The purpose is to make receiving attention and even affection from others a matter of a “job” or “task” for the owner/handler.

The reasons this trained behavior is useful in pet dogs, especially those with poor socialization habits with people, are the following:

1.   The Dog is less self-indulgent and is still aware of the owner/handler’s wishes in the midst of receiving attention and/or affection. This also means that the dog remains calm or, with repetitive practice, becomes calm eventually. In addition, because the dog is always released by the owner/handler from the “visitee” and jackpotted with rewards of affection and even food or toy upon return, the dog’s self-indulgence is kept in check. It is an important skill for a dog to “let go” of a possible reward upon the request of the owner/handler.

2.   The Dog is not pressured into making the decision as to the person they are “visiting” is friend or food. Removing the decision-making or discernment process from the dog and placing it squarely on the owner/handler’s shoulders, helps the dog focus on the task and relieves anxiety. This is particularly important for dogs who are anxious or reactive.

3.   The Dog learns personal space boundaries. Not only is the dog required to never lean on or cross over the “scrimmage line” of the owner/handler, but the owner/handler purposely shapes the “stopping point” at which a dog may approach a stranger. For very reactive dogs, this may mean the initial space between dog and “visitee” is 5 or more feet. The goal is to have the dog stop a foot away from the “visitee” and sit to wait for interaction.

4.   The Dog learns to receive attention and/or affection like petting without become overexcited. During the process of shaping the “go visit” command, but before it is finished, at separate training sessions, the owner/handler must teach or retrain the dog to receive petting “without moving”.

The definition of “without moving” is far more restrictive and specific than just a “stay”. Generally, “stay” means to not move from a position in a specific location. Asking the dog to accept petting without moving includes the stay (sit in this spot on the floor, for instance) but also not moving their head up, to the side, down. It also includes expecting the dog to not wiggle or excessively wag their tail. A slow wag of a tail in an s-shape that lays below the spin is the appropriate response. High-speed wagging or raised wagging is not appropriate.

The result of this training is that the dog learns to accept petting by “melting into place” rather than wiggling in excitement or driving for more dominant spatial invasion without the invitation.

Phase 1:

A.   Start the dog at heel, sitting at your side, not in front of you or across your body or behind. If they are not leaning into your personal space or violating the scrimmage line, this is the only time you can give them direct eye contact, which is a reward.

B.   Be sure they are not leaning into your space. You should be able to put your leash arm down between you in a relaxed position without your dog touching your arm or hand. If not, move your dog away from you saying “off” and then “good” when they are in a better position.

C.   Be sure that your dog minds the line of scrimmage – the front of their shins should not be past the front of your shins, not even one leg. If they are ahead of you, pivot in front of them using your “leash-side” foot as the pivot point while you say “back up”. This is called “crowding” and once they have moved back an inch or two without moving further away, say “good”.

D.   Upon eye contact from your dog, holding 4 treats in your hand opposite your “leash hand”, you will indicate to your dog to go forward (leading with the treats) to the extent of your arm length in front of you. At the same time you may say “go visit” or simply use your release word. At the end of your arm’s length in front of you, guide your dog into a sit. You may use the word “sit” as a command at the same time. Upon the sit, you will give the dog just one of the treats. As soon as the dog is chewing the treat, you take your fist of 3 more treats and guide your dog back to your side, saying the word “heel”. You will like need to guide them behind your hip on the “leash-side” and back forward to match up everyone’s shins, aka, the line of scrimmage. Upon the sit at heel, you give three treats in a row (as opposed to all at the same time) like shooting marbles into their mouth right at their mouth. Make sure they are not able to drive their head forward or up to receive the treat; they just open their mouth.

E.    Throughout this process you are not to leave the original foot position at which you started. The exception would be in the case of physical strain for a lower back problem, knee problem, et cetera, where you are encouraged to step only one foot forward to bend the knee and brace your arm stretch in front of you.

F.    The distance of the visitee (or even no visitee if the dog’s sensitivity requires it) cannot be any closer than a foot at the end of your reach. The visitee should never move, look at or speak to the dog during this phase.

G.   When this process has been practiced enough to where the need for treats almost unnecessary, then Phase 2 is applied.

Phase 2:

A.   Start the dog at heel, sitting at your side, not in front of you or across your body or behind. If they are not leaning into your personal space or violating the scrimmage line, this is the only time you can give them direct eye contact, which is a reward.

B.   Be sure they are not leaning into your space. You should be able to put your leash arm down between you in a relaxed position without your dog touching your arm or hand. If not, move your dog away from you saying “off” and then “good” when they are in a better position.

C.   Be sure that your dog minds the line of scrimmage – the front of their shins should not be past the front of your shins, not even one leg. If they are ahead of you, pivot in front of them using your “leash-side” foot as the pivot point while you say “back up”. This is called “crowding” and once they have moved back an inch or two without moving further away, say “good”.

(Note that this is the same as Phase 1…if you are having to still correct more than once this part of the behavior pattern, go back to Phase 1 and do not continue with Phase 2)

D.   Tell your dog to “stay” as you hand a treat to the visitee. The visitee should still not speak to or look at the dog. The treat should be held in their fist over their sternum. It’s best the visitee observer with their peripheral vision, meaning they will have their head turned to the side with the chin as parallel to the floor as possible.

E.    With 3 treats in your fist, repeat the behavior pattern or sequence of Step D of Phase 1, excepting the following changes: Do not ask the dog to sit, rather wait for the dog to sit. As soon as the dog sits, you will withdraw your hand of treats while the visitee takes the treat in their hand and pop it into the mouth of the dog.

a.    If the dog retreats with the handler’s fist of treats, stop using treats for the send out.

b.   If the dog retreats from the visitee’s hand approaching their space, let the visitee hand you the treat while your arm is already outstretched for the send out and then feed the dog in the sit position.

c.    If you dog growls or shows fear upon the visitee’s hand, then the visitee is encouraged to say calmly “good sit” while the owner/handler feeds the dog in that position.

Follow through with the “heel” and bring the dog back to a sit position next to owner/handler and jackpot the reward. Do as much as possible to marry the eye contact, verbal praise and food as all intertwined. This allows the owner/handler to eventually remove food from the whole process.

F.    When this is practiced enough that the dog willing takes a treat from the visitee without eye contact or petting, then you can move to the Phase 3. If there is regression, go back to Phase 1.

Phase 3:

A.   The send out is exactly the same as Phase 2 except for these following changes:

a.    The visitee asks for the sit. Then as part of the reward, the visitee says good boy and gives the treat as a reward.

b.   Upon repetition as the dog is ready, the visitee will ask for the sit and give eye contact before the treat is given as a reward.

c.    The final goal in this phase is that the owner/handler fakes giving a treat to the visitee at the start and the visitee can ask for the sit if the dog does not offer it immediately. The visitee gives only praise and eye contact.

B.   During this phase, it is important that the dog is not called for “heel” by the owner/handler until the visitee removes their eye contact, stands straight and turns their body slightly away with the fist (with or without treat) is against the sternum.

C.   The owner/handler is still to jackpot the return on heel; treat use should be continued.

Phase 4:

A.   Send out the dog to “go visit”, passing a treat to the visitee.

B.   Visitee must ask for the sit if the dog does not automatically do so and the visitee must reward the dog with praise, no eye contact and then extend hand for petting at the chest or under the chin. Preferably the visitee will lean to the side rather than over the top of the dog.

C.   Upon repetition and success by the dog, the visitee eventually gives either eye contact with the above petting, or no eye contact with the hand working towards the jowl line and eventually the top of the head. The choice is based on what the dog accepts more readily. The goal is that the visitee can give eye contact and direct petting on the head without the dog getting overexcited or fearful.

D.    When the dog is successful of all the above, practice returning the dog to heel while the visitee is still interacting with the dog. The heel should still be jackpotted with affection and treats.

E.    Final step is that the dog no longer needs treats from either the visitee or the handler.

If at any time during these 4 Phases that the dog aggresses or tries to make contact, it is best the visitee becomes an inanimate, upright and may only move to turn away from the dog. The owner/handler must body block between the dog and the visitee and say “heel” at the same time to walk away. At this point, the dog is likely to be too excited to recover and the exercise of “go visit” should be abandoned. If a crate is nearby, the dog should be crated.

Be sure to practice this indoors in various places, as well as just outside in a controlled environment and eventually in public places like parks. This is a multi-month process to master.