Pat Muller and Manners in Minutes

I check the stats on this blog on a regular basis along with the stats on my website, www.ppmim.net. Among other things I can see what web pages or articles get looked at and how many people looked at them. I also get the search phrases that found each site.

One of the more common search phrases is Manners in Minutes or Pat Muller Manners in Minutes. I think some people are looking for her rather than me.

So if you came to this site looking for either Pat or her wonderful training system, let me tell you about her.

I met Pat about seven years ago when she gave a seminar in Denver. We had taken Chicklet, our female Lakeland Terrier, to that seminar when a fairly good and very likeable trainer in town here had worked with Chicklet. And unfortunately his training had not helped, it had just made things worse. When I asked my breeder what to do, she sent me to Pat.

I attended a lot of seminars when I was in law enforcement. Most were pretty good, some were excruciatingly bad (usually the subject was okay but the instructor was lousy) and a very few that had an immediate and important impact. When Pat stood up and explained how her system and tools worked, a light bulb went on over my head. This was a system that both the dog and the owner could understand. And this was a system that mimicked how dogs learn when raised in a working pack. And Pat is one of those speakers who leave an indelible impression on you.

A few months later we attended a Lakeland event at Pat’s Quansa Kennels in South Beloit IL. There is a reason I call this blog the Accidental Dog Trainer. Somehow from those two events, without intending for it to happen, I ended up opening a Manners in Minutes training center here in Colorado Springs when I retired.

It did not take me very long, due to the Manners in Minutes system, to start to build a solid reputation as a dog trainer here. And it would be easy for me to get a swollen head. Cops aren’t known for having modest egos. But for the first couple of years I got to go out and train with Pat for a few days each year. And that has kept me humble. It still does.

When each dog finishes in here, it goes out a well trained and well mannered dog. A big part is my experience in using the system, an even bigger part is the system itself. But the biggest reason for that dog and owner’s success is the talent and brilliance of Pat Muller.

So if you got here today because you are looking at training in the Manners in Minutes system, then yes, you should use it to train your dog.

There are a couple of ways to train in this system. Pat does mail order both a book and a DVD on how to train the dog yourself, along with the necessary training equipment. And she has a Yahoo group that supports her system. A few of you may know someone who has trained in the system who can help you. I think it really helps to have someone with experience in the system to work with you, but I know that is not always possible.

Through Pat I know a number of people who are not doing this professionally, but help out with rescue and other organizations.

If however you want to travel where you can work in a training center in this method, at the moment you only have two choices, Pikes Peak Manners In Minutes here in Colorado Springs with me and Quansa Kennels in South Beloit IL with Pat.

As much as I would like you to come here for training, and I will add that I think it’s prettier with a nicer climate, if you can't come here, go to Quansa.

Listen to Pat, do what she teaches you. You will end up with a wonderful, well mannered and obedient dog.

I did.

Doug

PS The picture is Pat Muller training me at Quansa a couple of years ago. The dogs were fine, I needed some extra work.

Puppy Training Part III, the worst two weeks to own a dog

I think the hardest two weeks to own a dog are weeks 14 and 15.
Because of the way a dog’s mind develops weeks 8 (usually the youngest age a breeder will sell a dog) through week 14 are pretty easy. Again during that time you aren’t really training, you are conditioning.

Training differs from conditioning in that in training we give the dog a command and if it performs, we reward the behavior. If it does not we correct. In conditioning there are no corrections, just distraction.

We take advantage of the fact that during that period, the puppy’s whole world revolves around its owner(s). When we tell the puppy to sit we raise our closed hand. Since a dog has to sit down to look up, it sits and we praise. When the dog comes running to us we praise it effusively while giving a recall command. Since puppies are all about pleasing us, the praise reinforces the reaction to our words.

If we walk by and the puppy stands up we tell it “good stand” and if remains laying there we tell it “good down.” If it bites our hand we shriek or use a rattle can while saying “no bite.” When it releases we praise.

Because a puppy is all about pleasing us during these weeks, it seems like the puppy is already training. And if it were not for what happens in weeks 14 and 15, it would be.

Then the puppy hits week 14. This stage in a dog’s development can be described as the worst parts of the terrible twos and puberty all wrapped up in one. The world is not about you, it is about the puppy. The dog has gone from pleasing you to pleasing itself. It truly believes it is now smarter than you and you are there to do what they want, not the other way around.

I see this all the time in Neighborhood Pack Sessions (group). Puppy came in for puppy class and now comes to Neighborhood Pack every week. It sees how the adult dogs listen to their owners and tries as hard to work for its owner as the big dogs do for their people. Exposure to adult dogs in a pack situation is one of the best things you can do with a puppy.

And Mom and Dad are just beaming. By week 13 I can see it in their eyes. Their little darling is going to be the best dog ever. Why they won’t even have to spend the time or money on adult class.

The next week the phone rings here at Pikes Peak Manners In Minutes. It is puppy’s owners. I get told that the dog will be 16 weeks and one day (the point where it can train as an adult) on the 22nd. They would like the 7:00 AM appointment.

I know what they are going through. And I can usually give them the 7:00 AM appointment.

Oh and the picture is Vino, the legendary service dog Rottweiler, as a puppy in 2009.

Doug

The only way to train a dog is

The other night after our Neighborhood Pack Session three of my dog owners were outside talking. I joined in.

These three have been working with me for a while. And each of them has an awesome dog.

Vino is a Rottweiler. He started his training at nine weeks. He has been trained to be a service dog and is the subject of an earlier blog. He is 22 months old now and just an incredible dog. He works for his twins. He now gives an alert up to 45 minutes before the little girl goes into grand mal seizures and will intervene if her brother starts bumping his head into the wall he will push him away and sit with him until he calms down. He has passed every test and certification with flying colors.

Athena is a Rottweiler, Aussie cattle dog and Akita mix. She is a rescue. She is a one in a thousand dog. She took one look at her new owner, decided she loved her new mom, and has been a jewel ever since. Training her was a breeze and she is one of my pack leaders in Neighborhood Pack. She will often quell bad behavior in another dog with just a look.

Charlie is a young pit bull. When he started he was dog aggressive. We got him past that quickly and he became playful but at the first sign of any rough play would get pretty defensive. Now he is just playful with everyone. Maturity and experience will tone that down.

Vino’s Mom started the conversation by telling us that she had taken him into one of the chain stores. He was wearing his service vest. The store “trainer” came over and told Mom that she trained service therapy Rottweiler’s. She immediately asked if Vino had been trained in a method that uses corrections. Mom answered yes and the “trainer” launched into a harangue that dogs can’t be trained with methods using corrections.

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Athena’s Mom also added that she had a similar experience in another of the chains. The trainer had lectured her about the “only way” to train dogs. She went on to explain the superiority of food based training, the favored method of many chains.

Charlie’s mom got stopped by a neighbor. Apparently this is one of those “I come to you” trainers who lives in her neighborhood. The trainer had seen Duke jump on her as they left the house for their walk. The trainer then told her how her training methods are wrong and she should change trainers. The trainer did not realize that jumping only occurs at the start of a walk and is a way he expresses pleasure. It is also the sign of a young dog who hasn’t quite understood why he should not do that yet.

Each of these three different trainers told my client that their training method was the “only way” to train a dog.

At that point one of my clients said that the “only way” to train a dog is the Manners in Minutes system. I disagreed. I believe that a good trainer can train a dog in any method.

I know I could train in any system; choke chain, pinch collar, clicker, food based, or any of the others. . I use the Manners in Minutes system because it is efficient. Not only do I think the dog catches on quicker, I believe the owner learns this method faster than any other. And I have set up my training lesson plan and center to maximize the method.

I have a training center rather than train in a park because I can control the environment. The center also means I don’t have too little or too much space. And I can control who and what the dog is exposed to as the training progresses.

I use very little food because I have long since realized that a client training for the first time will often use food as a crutch. The temptation to offer the food too often or too soon is hard for someone to resist when they first start working with a dog. As a result the client ends up bribing rather than motivating the dog.

I don’t like choke or pincher collars because for an inexperienced owner it is too easy too over or under correct. Under correction has no effect on the dog, over correction results in resentment. Electronic collars don’t make sense to the dog. I don’t use harsh alpha methods because a pack leader is firm, fair and consistent, not a bully. I don’t use clickers, even though I think they are the fastest way to learn to properly time praise, because too many owners have no control when they do not have a clicker at hand.

I stopped offering group classes to start training because I noticed that in every group there was always one dog that was so out of control that too much of the allotted time was spent on that dog to the detriment of the others. Every group always had someone who for various reasons needed a disproportionate amount of my time. Group tends to put the owner with an easier dog at a disadvantage.

So to make sure that the time I spend with you and your dog is efficient I start you in private sessions. That way you and the dog get my undivided attention. Then when the dog and you are ready I move you into group since there are many things we can do in group you can never do in private sessions.

If you have found a good trainer then there is no “only way,” just what they believe is the best way. And if you have found a trainer who has the “only way,” odds are you do not have a good trainer.

Doug

Neighborhood Pack II

One of the frustrations when you are building a business (especially in a recession) is not having a big enough customer base to do some of the things you want to do.

So by the end of summer when we had enough dogs to make getting together in group possible, we started doing Neighborhood Pack sessions. Of course we did not call it that until we met Pat Rock.

The name is a dead on description of what happens. We form a pack. Last week's pack had a Border Collie, two Boston Terriers, a Min Pin, a Jack Russell Terrier, a Norfolk Terrier, and a Standard Poodle. Three of the dogs were under a year in age. One dog had extreme dog aggression and another was a rescue with severe seperation anxiety.

Now each of these dogs had finished their private lessons and was making progress. But to complete the training process the dog needed a couple of sessions in a pack. And that night they were.

We don't turn dogs loose. But there is a pack leader, me. And there are higher ranking members of the pack, who have to be respected. That is the owners.

There were no miracles. But there was progress. Everyone learned that the rules their owners have established apply in every situation.

The excitement of the night was when the dog aggressive dog managed to snap open his lead and get loose. He challenged every dog in the center. But there were no bites, just bluffing. Ane he quickly learned that unacceptable behavior results in a frim, but fair, correction. He still has a way to go but that was a big step for him. And every other dog in the room learned they can trust their owners.

Neighborhood Pack has be so successful that now every dog finishes training by attending three sessions. Since the dog learns from the other dogs, and the owners learn from each other, the dog and owner finish the training and cement their relationship.

This gives us the ability to take advantage of both one on one training, and group training.

Plus now you have a place to come back to from time to time to sharpen you and the dog.

Doug

Neighborhood Packs

Earlier this month my wife and I took our annual vacation. We like to pick somewhere we haven’t spent time before and head there to explore the region. Since neither of us had ever been to Williamsburg VA we headed out that way.

We were fortunate enough to be invited to visit Pat Rock who lives in the area. Pat is the president of the United States Lakeland Terrier club and a long time breeder.

The visit was wonderful. We talked about dogs, and got to meet all the dogs in her kennels, including two of our Tag’s pups. And much to our surprise, we found out Pat has Chicklet’s father. That will have to wait for another blog but led to some wonderful discoveries.

In one of our conversations we discussed the behavioral problems in dogs today. One of my observations is that more dogs than ever seem to need training.

Pat said that one of the reasons is that there are no longer neighborhood packs. When she said that a light bulb lit up.

I grew up in the late fifties and early sixties. As soon as she said that I remembered the neighborhood in Arlington, Texas where we lived while I went to grade school. One of the differences between that neighborhood and the one I live in now was that almost no one had fenced yards. You could step out our back door and look north to four or five open backyards. We had enough room to play football.

As a result there were always three packs running through the neighborhood. One was all the boys, one was all the girls, and the other was all the neighborhood dogs. The dog pack usually traveled back and forth to the two human packs.

There weren’t any leash laws back then. And people were much more careful about not letting intact dogs accidentally breed (I can’t remember a single litter in the neighborhood).

When a new dog came into the neighborhood, there was already an existing pack to join and rank had been established. The new dog quickly figured out its place. And if it was foolish enough to challenge one of the neighborhood kids, the pack quickly put it in its place. I can remember the occasional fight but not once was any blood shed.

And as I am writing this I suddenly remembered that the one dog we were all afraid of lived in one of the few houses with a fenced back yard. When he got out their was all kinds of confusion. Because he was not socialized to the various packs, he simply did not know how to act.

When a dog finishes its primary training here in our center, it goes into group sessions to make sure that both the owner and the dog know how to handle themselves around other dogs. What I am forming is a neighborhood pack. And as a result, these dogs are learning what the dogs from so long ago knew.

I kind of wish I could pull down some fences in my neighborhood.

Doug

"Don't Tase me Bro."

Last week I played phone tag with a gentleman about training his dog. I finally got in touch with him late that evening.

He has a rescue dog from breed rescue. I was really excited because the dog was of a breed that I had as a child. I really like that breed and have not had one in to train yet. I really want to work with that breed.

He told me they had already picked a trainer. I asked him if he minded telling me who he picked. There is one trainer in this town who is an out and out crook. I figured if he had picked this trainer I would do my best to talk him out of it.

He told me it was the chain that uses shock collars. I asked him if he understood what shock collars did. He said he did. I offered my standard free demonstration and asked him to reconsider using a system that gives an electric shock. I told him to read my blog about shock collars. He said he would and then call me the next day to arrange to come in.

He never called.

Losing client to someone else is no big deal. But this one really got to me. I figure if you go to the crook you get what you deserve. But I couldn’t get over why someone warned about what shock collars do would still chose that method.

I finally figured out why it bothered me so much.

I was one of the first deputies on my department to carry a Taser. When we first got them there were not enough of them for everyone to have one so they selected certain people to carry them from each shift. I believe the criteria was that you were known to be a $%*# magnet.

As part of the training you had to be hit with the Taser. I had spent more than one end of shift in the emergency room over the years. Plus I had both back and neck surgery. I understand pain. But when they turned it on, it was the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced. I would have bought the operator a car to turn it off. And I am talking a good car, like a Rolls.

Maybe we should require owners to get tased before they are allowed to use a shock collar.

Doug

PS. The dog in the picture was not shocked, but it was taught to trust.