The Three Problems

Almost all behavior problems come from just three issues. Now some dogs have one, some have two, and some have all three.

They are:

Pack Order Confusion. In the pack the pecking order is very clear. Every dog knows how high they are in the pack. Pack order changes from time to time. A young dog, as it matures, may move up. Ultimately a new male and a new female will become the alpha pair. And the old pair will move down. But everyone knows their place.
For many dogs in homes, the pack order is not that clear. A dog with high alpha drive may challenge you to become alpha if your leadership is not clearly established. A dog with low alpha drive may still challenge you because your lack of clear leadership makes the dog insecure.

Fear Aggression. All aggression in dogs comes from fear. When the dog is triggered by an event the aggression shows. For example a dog bitten by a badly socialized large dog as a puppy may become aggressive with all dogs, with big dogs, or just that breed. I have a lot of dogs come in that are afraid of vacuum cleaners. So I have what I believe is Colorado Springs only dog training vacuum cleaner.

Trust. Your dog can love you, be a faithful companion, and still not trust you. This is the one that is always hardest for my clients to hear. Because trust issues almost always come with the dog when you first get it. But people want to blame themselves. And they don’t need to.

I have some breeders who bring all their puppies to me for imprinting prior to being sent to their new homes. Now I know these people, I know their dogs and kennels, and I know how they raise their dogs. But in a litter of six, I know I will find two or more puppies that have already developed problems trusting not only humans but other dogs.

The key to successful training is to identify which of these issues exist in your dog and making sure they are dealt with during training.

Doug

Having a Training Center

The other day I was finishing the first lesson with a new dog. My client looked at me and stated that this was so simple that we could have trained the dog in the park. He then asked my why do I have such a large center, with all the overhead, when Manners in Minutes training could be done anywhere.

I told him when I started I had three other choices. I could work with dogs in their homes, in a park, or in a space rented from someone else.

I will train in people’s homes, but only if they have physical problems that keep them from coming to my center. When you train a dog, you are changing their habits. A dog’s home is its den and pack area. I am a stranger. The dog has too many advantages and we make accepting change that much harder on the dog. In my center is obvious to the dog from the minute they come in that this is my den and I am in charge. The training goes quicker and more smoothly.

Parks are nice, but this is Colorado. We had a huge snowstorm this week and I would have had to cancel sessions. Plus when you are in the park there is always someone who wants to take up lots of time either asking questions or giving suggestions (and the less they know the more suggestions they have). My clients are paying me to work with them and their dogs, not talk to bystanders. And I always worry about the person with an out of control dog off line that they think is friendly. Often it is a poorly socialized dog that causes unnecessary worry and confusion in my client’s dog.

Renting space for an evening pretty much limits you to doing group classes. I don’t mind doing group classes but I prefer privates. In group there is always one dog that has so many problems and or an owner who has so many questions, that the other students don’t get their fair share of instructor time. And I limit my group classes to just four dogs at a time. If I was paying rent on a room somewhere I would have to put too many dogs in a class to make it as effective.

So I have a 3700 square foot facility. Outside we have a huge open area to work with. Inside we can practice stay at 50 to 70 feet, not 10 or 15 feet. We work on long lines so your dog doesn’t think you are only in charge if they are less than six feet away.

Today I was in one of the big pet stores picking up some new collars. I looked at their training area. My office area has more space. Hope they don’t work with many Mastiffs or Great Danes.

But in the end the biggest advantage is that every piece of equipment and supplies is readily at hand. I don’t care how well you plan and pack, everywhere else you run the risk of not having the one thing the client and his dog need to get the most from every training session.

Doug