Recently I read a blog by one trainer criticizing another for putting a video on You Tube that showed a dog trained to hump on cue. I could see if it was a mild criticism that focused on training methods however the critique turned to a moral outrage usually reserved for legitimate acts of animal cruelty.
Suzanne Clothier is a dog trainer that specializes in “many things” as her web bio states. It’s funny that in all her years she’s never figured out that humping in dogs is a Fixed Action Pattern, and in the family of the four F’s. It’s also surprising that Ms. Clothier would not have put together that dogs have amazing discrimination, and that a dog with a strong FAP to hump would do best with it on cue so it could be rehearsed in the strict context trained humping only. This will create a decrease and possibly eliminate the humping during dog play and with other humans. Then again maybe she does know all this? I don’t know. I do however know the trainer in question, Jean Donaldson, a mentor of mine and I also consider Jean a friend. I do not like it when people attack my friends. Perhaps there is some professional jealousy at work here?
Or is Ms. Clothier a Christian/republican/conservative? I wonder? Care to answer?
I put my female dogs humping FAP on cue and it has greatly reduced it during dog play. In addition my dog is an APBT; she is a strong desire to clutch with her front paws/legs. Most likely somewhere in her lineage her relatives were probably what is known as a “catch dog”. Dogs used to catch hogs and bulls, by the ring on their nose or by grabbing them and holding them down. My female APBT also likes to hang by her front legs onto anything that dangles, a rope affixed to a ball big enough to grasp is one of her favorites, and she sometimes even humps in the hair while she has a tennis ball in her mouth. Is that rope toy now a sex toy!?!?! Oh my!
Chow Chow’s are one of the world’s oldest dogs. They have a long history as guarding and fighting, and hunting dogs. Buffy the dog in the video is a female Chow Chow. Humping is normal. Attacking a trainer for putting it on cue is sad. Especially when there is zero to gain from the attack.
When one trainer levels an accusation of abuse at another trainer they had better be able to back it up with exacting proof that the animal is/was under duress, in pain or feeling fear at the hand of the “trainer”. Not an “opinion”. Ms. Clothier has an opinion. Her opinion it seems is based in her morals, not in the science of animal learning and her blog never explained humping and FAPs/4 F’s. She took shots at Jean for her wardrobe though. Jean is a fashionista for dog’s sake!
For Clothier to lump Jean Donaldson into the Milan/Vick abuse category is ludicrous. Clothier says if Milan had done this people would storm the doors of Nat Geo.” If this were Cesar using humping behavior to prove that any behavior can be trained and put under control, there would probably be a march on National Geographic's headquarters”.
No they wouldn’t. Why? Because people are asleep, that’s why. People watching TV Dog training is the equivalent of 13 year old girls in the front row of the Jonas Bros. People get all tricked by the fancy lights and the music and the pretty dogs.
Millions of People have watched Milan shock, choke, hit, kick and submit dogs into learned helplessness and so far he’s just making more money. Why have you not stormed the headquarters of Nat Geo Ms. Clothier? After all it can be proven that Milan has abused dogs and disseminated misinformation. This disinformation hurts and kills dogs just as much as any physical abuse will, because not understanding dogs is what is killing them.
To lump Donaldson into the Vick/Milan/Abuse category as Clothier does is just downright comical. I agree that there is a line there and the thread runs through both of those idiots. What Clothier lost here was an opportunity to show people that fact in another blog that would have better served the agenda of all people working towards the betterment of dogs. Instead Clothier chose to blast one of the best dog trainers in the world because of her moral opinion, not because Donaldson did anything wrong.
With few to people realizing just how interrelated Vick & Milan are this could have been a blog about that. Those two are connect by their actions whether you want to make the connection or not that’s up to you. Milan has “lost dogs” (had to be euthanized) due to his “methods”. Intellectual laziness is killing dogs every day in shelters, it is also the main cause of why breeds get banned and owners resort to pain and fear. It seems Clothier suffers from this intellectual laziness, or is she just player hating?
Jean Donaldson admits to being a cross over trainer, someone who figured it out. She has worked tirelessly to promote positive training and has educated thousands of dog trainers and owners. Her mission is to help people and dogs. Her books are legendary, her Academy is legendary, and her status in dog culture is also legendary. In fact it is cemented.
Clothier? Ah not so much. Not one of my clients has ever mentioned her to me in 10 years. Not one of her books is on any required reading list I know of to be certified as a dog trainer. She never comes up in any conversation or blog or anything I’ve come across in the past 10 years in my study of dog training.
Jean Donaldson has a sense of humor, something Clothier clearly has lost or never had, or her sense of humor is rooted in some parochial Pollyanna delusion about dogs and humans. Clothier goes on a jag in her blog about APDT and how Donaldson is no longer a member, how she is “only speaking at this year’s conference”. I’m a member of APDT, and you know what, it’s a joke. They have pain trainers in their ranks. The good old shock, jerk n pain crowd flying the APDT logo all over the place. APDT has zero accountability or standards or any type enforcement of positive methods in dog training. Being a member of this organization is no great feat or credential. It’s a logo on a website, period.
Clothier served as a committee member for the American Humane Association's Task Force for the Development of Humane Standards for Dog Training, so why is the profession still such a disaster?There are no standards, why could you not get this job done Ms. Clothier? What happened?
At least Jean Donaldson puts her money where her mouth is and created the Academy for Dog Trainers at the SFSPCA. They do their damnedest to instill in all of the students that dog training is dependent on that state of the dog, if the dog likes what is happening then its ok, if the dog does not like what is happening then back off and rethink your plan. In addition they educate about dog behavior from a humane scientific standpoint.
This seems to be the year of disappointments for me in regards to positive dog trainers. I’ll just add Clothier to the list. Hey I have no issue with the women not wanting to put a strong FAP on cue, but to vehemently attack Donaldson is uncalled for. It makes Clothier and whoever alerted her to the video look like a bunch of jealous bitches. Don’t make it personal unless you want it that way.
All time does is make you old. It does not make you smart, kind, insightful or savvy. It can, but it is not a guarantee. This type of sniping is what we do not need in dog training among people who promote positive dog training.
Just because someone does not understand something does not make it wrong. I was educated by Jean Donaldson to ask questions, observe and base my deductions on legitimate dog behavior and to always consider the emotional state of the dog. As Jean says “Dogs vote with their feet”, if they don’t like it they won’t be willing do it. In all her years in dogs perhaps Clothier never distilled it down to something that efficient. I don’t know I’ve never read her books or attended her seminars, and now I won’t for sure.
How this will play out is as follows, some will be on Clothier’s side and say “humping is bad”. When in fact humping is normal, and it can be reduced or extinguished. If allowed in a specific context it helps the dog get it out of their system. That is what should be the message here. Fortunately Clothier’s blog is not all too popular, so it’ll probably go largely unread.
As Dunbar says “Make sure you touch the dogs goolies”, referring to the dogs private parts. He shout’s this in his puppy training video during a class and everyone compiles and chuckles. No outcry here for Dunbar’s handling exercises! Oh the humanity!
When I bath both of my dogs I gave to get rather invasive with their “goolies” as it were. They tough it out and I reward with small food bits. It could be misconstrued as some canine Caligula by idiots or someone with such a moral stick up their behind they can’t see clearly. However those of us who are living on planet earth with even a modicum of legit dog knowledge know that well sometimes that is just a fact of life when you have a dog. So is humping, get over it, and get it on cue! It will be reduced quicker folks!
Clothier says “This is not a beer drinking moron or senseless stoner armed with a video camera and hell bent on demonstrating their dog's willingness to hump a person. This is a prominent, highly regarded award winning trainer/author's video.
Exactly, that is why Clothier should back off and perhaps have just let this one go, or asked Jean herself? Because Jean Donaldson is not a hack trainer. She has earned the respect to be given slack. Maybe Clothier is intimidated, or maybe just intellectually lazy? Either way it’ll all be ok, the world will not fold in itself because there are dogs humping on cue or otherwise. Well maybe Clothier will lose sleep; the rest of us most likely will be able to get past it. What I am miffed at is the disrespect leveled at my friend and mentor.
I’m a fellow blogger on Dog Star Daily with along with Clothier. I could post this at my private blog and accept no comments like she did. However I’m putting this up at DSD. Maybe I’ll get a direct reply? Maybe she can level abuse at me too! I always like a good laugh, so bring it on.
The only thing that will come of all this is that another trainer has just been “found out “to be less than what we thought she was, and it’s clearly not Jean Donaldson.
The video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaA4k4SdTg
The blog
http://flyingdogpress.com/content/view/121/52/
Links to dog humping behavior & FAP’s
http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/down-amp-dirty-humping-sex-status-and-beyond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_action_pattern
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
In The Dog House - A new show with outdated info
It’s always interesting to see what a dog trainer says, and then what they do when training a dog. When they do not match up as in the case in the case of Brad Pattison, I guess the reward is a TV show. This was also the case with the now familiar Cesar Milan. The difference here is Pattison does claim to be a dog trainer, Milan does not.
Saying one thing and doing another seems to be the modus operandi of these two idiots. I know that people will get all miffed and ruffled about me getting a bit mean, oh well too bad. I absolutely abhor people who hurt dogs, period; and if anyone has a problem with my attitude too bad. After all is this not the same attitude these guys use with dogs and owners, so why not toss it back at them? The polite approach has gotten us nowhere. It is time to call these types of methods out and hold the people who use and promote them accountable.
One of the problems with legit dog trainers and legit dog behavior people is they are not tough enough on abuse trainers. Get with it people, these guys get away with it because enough people who know better look the other way and say “oh it is not that bad” or “ Oh wll what can I do”. It’s bad and here is why.
People are attempting these “methods” and they are creating more problems such as aggression, fear and anxiety in dogs. These types of shows create junior versions of the TV trainers, and it’s not a good thing. This force based methodology then gets used by owners as a way of interacting with the dog on a daily basis. This leads to quite a bit of squelching behaviors with harsh verbal’s, varying degrees of physical abuse from both hands and equipment. Not much teaching or training as it were, and well a rather adversarial relationship. Building bonds not binds should be a guiding principal, especially on these shows. They play like it is, but in reality there’s a whole lots of negative associations and fears getting instilled in dogs.
Learned helplessness is not being calm and submissive. Smacking a dog in the face until it submits is not being alpha; it’s being abusive. This has been proven time and again by many scientific findings with verifiable data. But like in the court of law where credible science in relation to dog behavior gets ignored so it seems it gets left out in TV network board rooms and among some people who are self proclaimed “experts”.
So along comes Brad Pattison. A guy with what seems to be zero legit education in dog behavior or training. A guy who it appears is making it up as he goes along by cherry picking ideas and approaches. It makes his views on dogs and training quite contradictory. His beliefs and actions seem miles apart.
Watch this video http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/brad-pattison-gets-annoyed/14534450, or watch his show on Animal Planet Sat at 8pm, In The dog House.
* It seems the video has been taken down since this blog was first published*
Read Pattison’s interview here with Slice dot com
http://www.slice.ca/Shows/AtTheEndOfMyLeash/QAndA.aspx?Title_ID=105200
I always find it amazing that people who say they are helping dogs by hitting, hanging, choking and abusing them are allot like the people who say they love children and abuse them. These are deeply confused and disturbed individuals indeed. Actions do speak louder than words, so those of you who get all mazed out and delirious in the face of a TV or video screen, wake up and pay attention. I say this because I meet people and read blogs where people say “ we don’t like what he does but he’s so fun to watch”. Are these people serious?
It’s great to have people like Pattison & Milan do interviews; I say get these guys talking more! That is the sure fire way to reveal the sheer ignorance of what they do with dogs and how they view dogs. It is obviously not enough to show what they do, TV execs at Animal Planet and Nat Geo obviously could care less about dogs, science is ignored and people much smarter than I have spoken up and so far it’s not helped. It backs the case for people who train dogs with non abusive methods each day when we speak to people about dogs. Past that the real change is yet to come.
I met with an Animal Planet exec; she was dead in the eyes! She is a corporate hack of the highest magnitude. She said “we use operant training on our shows”, that was her big buzz word she used to connect with me, operant. It’s also a loop hole. I know the quadrants lady, don’t play around with me.
I suspect that is also the common denominator with Nat Geo’s execs. The entertainment execs I get, it’s the people who claim they “love dogs” and “work with them” and claim to be an “educator”, but are causing dogs pain and spewing false and unsafe advice to millions of dog owners. Those are the people that don’t make sense to me. All I can think is they are frauds and have a deep disconnect.
It seems Animal Planet wants some of that demographic that Nat Geo has to tune in when the dog owners are not salivating over Milan’s nonsense. I wonder how Ms. Stillwell feels about sharing the AP brand with a guy like Pattison. It must really suck for a very outspoken R+ dog trainer such as herself to work for the same company as this guy Pattison.
She is at least an outspoken critic of Milan and pain based training. Yea her show has flaws; however she has really come around and taken a stance, especially on electronic collars and pain training. I wonder if she will have anything to say about Pattison.
Ok back to Pattison. The guy has/had a show in Canada, now a show on Animal Planet, so it’s no great stretch to see how having TV connections in one country can lead to TV connections in the US.
Let’s dissect Mr. Pattison’s “theories”. These are excerpts from an interview Pattison did with http://www.slice.ca/
“My main objective when training dogs is to empower the owner and help place him/her, and the rest of their family, in a superior position to the dog”…
The problem here is that humans are already the dominant superior species. You can pretty much kill a dog and get away with it. Unless the dog has grabbed you by the throat and has you down on the ground and the dog is killing you; the dog is not dominating a human by displaying behaviors humans do not like. Fear or anxiety based issues and issues of aggression, especially where bites have occurred, need to be addressed with humane, legitimate and carefully calculated behavior modification. If the dog is simply frustrated, and you punish it you’ll be creating aggression.
The use of pain/force based training in the case of fear, aggression and anxiety is detrimental, in the case of obedience and manners’ training it is idiotic. One would think the common agenda would be to explain dog training & leash mechanics, timing of rewards both food and life rewards, and how to implement humane consequences to decrease unwanted behaviors. Along with providing a basic understanding of learning theory most people will do ok.
“One way dogs will try to determine their owner’s status is based on the quickness of their movements. Once a dog has calculated our weaknesses, it begins to assume the alpha position.”
The problem again here is the complete lack of understanding about how dogs learn and what is important to them. Dogs are not concerned with “status” among humans; that is the human thinking the dog is a human, when it is not. That line of thinking is called anthropomorphism. In fact this “theory” is so wacked out that it is hard to believe this guy has ever worked with dogs. Dogs do not “calculate weakness”, they calculate what pays off, food wise, social wise with dogs and human contact, fun things. Dogs view the world as safe or unsafe. Also if being fast with dogs is so great why is it the suggestion of ALL humane organizations that kids and dogs be supervised? Because kids are fast and erratic, and it is a known fact that can make some dogs upset, excited and possibly fearful. IE: Fast erratic movements equal potential danger for dogs.
He goes on to say…
“A critical tool dogs employ when interacting and disciplining other dogs is speed. Remember that a dog can move its mouth seven times faster than the human hand…”
It is true that a dogs mouth is faster than a human hand, so why then would you want to try and out maneuver a dog with your hands or body, wouldn’t it be safer and more effective if you found out what motivated the dog and determine what humane consequence one could place as a deterrent to unwanted behavior? I mean expecting people to be faster than a dog is ridiculous. In the case of fear and aggression, knowing you cannot out maneuver a dog I guess Pattison would be at a loss. Or ramp up the violence? He’s lucky most dogs come with pretty decent bite inhibition, but not all.
“Let me reassure you that I would never put my dogs, or any other dog, in a situation that it couldn’t manage. Usually I find that most dog owners who have issues with their dogs tend to have a low opinion of their animal…”
Watch the video I have attached to the blog – you decide if the dog is in a dangerous position. I guess we’ll see in the weeks to come just how not dangerous the situations he places dogs in really are. http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/brad-pattison-gets-annoyed/14534450
* This video has been taken down since this blog was first published*
Usually I find that most dog owners who have issues with their dogs tend to have a low opinion of their animal, and low expectations of what it can do and handle.
Wow, most owners who have issues with their dogs have a “low opinion of their animal”!?! Geeze, I thought it was just the opposite. It has always been my understanding that most owners have a very high opinion of their dog. This seems to be a direct contradiction to the dominance model, as most “trainers” who use pain/force etc.. Claim people coddle and praise too much. Hmm, quite odd.
The best recommendation I have for dog owners is that they take the time to study and observe their dogs and learn from them.
Ok, I thought that he wanted owners to move fast so the dog does not find the human weakness? Taking time and studying dog behavior usually is not coupled with speedy movements, assessing dogs fast and force based training.
I don’t believe in being either rough or cruel. I am firm and determined to demonstrate to the dog that it is not allowed to attack or bite me. Many people forget that dogs are animals and don’t communicate or show respect and love the same ways that humans do. The dog pack is always defined by who is the Alpha. Discipline is prevalent in the animal kingdom and our ignorance of this fact has cost many dogs their lives.
Ah, ok…this is where the man clearly has no idea what he’s speaking about and he’s just spouting some stuff he read or heard. First off, the point of aggression in dogs is to create distance from the thing it is afraid of as all aggression is rooted in fear. Secondly, he is right dogs are different from humans, but earlier on he does equate dogs and humans in the dominance model he proposes so which one is it? Lastly dominance is not a behavior it is a relationship paramiter.
Protracted warning signs are not an invitation to confront the dogs, rather the dog is saying “hey back off”. The other thing that Pattison has clearly ignored or has not looked into is that dominance among dogs is contextual and can be ever changing, also had he ever read Ray Coppinger or David Meech past 1970; he’d have discovered that dogs are NOT pack animals, they are scavengers and group up for power in numbers and procreation of the species. When dogs are subjected to stupid people doing stupid things it costs many dogs their lives, not a “lack of discipline” as Pattison suggests.
“Dogs do not reward each other with food. This is a behavior humans have created to express their love for the dog, but it is the opposite of what would happen in the real dog world.”
Wow, this is astonishing. Check it out, a puppy that bites too hard on a mother dogs teat will be kicked away off the food, operant conditioning in full effect, a consequence; and the puppy will be rewarded with continuing the milk delivery for a soft mouth, positive reinforcement, so dogs do reward each other for food, right from the start actually. Like I said has this guy ever really even worked with dogs?
In addition anyone who has even taken a basic science class in high school has been taught about rats being rewarded for following a maze by getting food. Food is not the problem, teaching people how to fade and use the food is the challenge. Understanding criteria shifts is something Pattison should be concerned with as well as conditioned emotional responses.
What this interview proves is that this guy is clueless. Now we’ve got two TV “trainers” that are spreading the gospel of dog ignorance.
As far as I can tell Pattison is not backed by Hollywood money like Milan, so he can probably be off the air sooner rather than later. He’ll either have his place as the number two after Milan, or maybe he’ll even ramp it up to do more heroics of harm than Milan, after all he’s just as stupid as Milan when it comes to dog behavior but he seems to have a better ability to speak. That is bad combo. Dumb and talkative is what has gotten many dogs killed. Breeding ignorance is killing dogs, not a “lack of discipline”.
Just watch what he does and read or listen to what he says see if they match up, or watch with the sound off….that is really all you need to do. Now that we’ve got another person practicing cruel and unusual punishment on dogs in the name of “training” on TV, Milan’s people can no longer say we are “picking on him” anymore, nope now it is really about methodology and humane dog training and what side of culture do you side with. This is why Pattison is good for the cause. He is another example that legit dog people can point to as an example of what not to do and how not to counsel the general public or paying clients.
I’ll be keeping an eye on how many clients call me with fear and aggression that are influenced by Pattison’s new show. The really sad part is now there are two shows on the air that promote the hurting of dogs so it’s twice as likely people will be influenced by this abusive approach.
Save the hate posts, save the hate mail. If you like these guys and what they do fine, that’s on your head and you’re conscious of what is happening to these dogs or maybe you’re not aware of it. Either way it is happening; it has a bad ripple effect in dog culture, especially with owners who attempt to copy them and junior hack trainer versions of the TV trainers claiming they are "gifted". If you attempt to copy them, and people do copy these guys, when it goes wrong and your dog bites or has deep fear/anxiety/aggression issues, you’ll only have the humane approach left. Sad thing is it might be too late and your dog could be euthanized or traumatized. Do you really want to take that risk?
Brad Pattison
http://www.endofmyleash.com/
http://www.slice.ca/Shows/AtTheEndOfMyLeash/QAndA.aspx?Title_ID=105200
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/brad-pattison-gets-annoyed/14534450
Dr. Sphia Yin
http://www.askdryin.com/dominanceindogs.php
AVSAB Position Statement
http://www.blogger.com/
UPenn Study
http://www.blogger.com/
Jo Jacques CPDT, CPCT & Sandy Myers CDBC
http://www.blogger.com/
Dr. Karen Overall
http://www.pitbullguru.com/shock.html
http://www.goodnewsforpets.com/articles.asp?ID=147
AVSAB Position Statement
http://www.blogger.com/
UPenn Study
http://www.blogger.com/
Jo Jacques CPDT, CPCT & Sandy Myers CDBC
http://www.blogger.com/
Dr. Karen Overall
http://www.pitbullguru.com/shock.html
http://www.goodnewsforpets.com/articles.asp?ID=147
Australia SPCA Links about humane training for dogs
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science16.pdf
Links to information about what is really happening with Milan
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/opinion/31derr.html?_r=2
http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm
http://www.4pawsu.com/cesarfans.htm
http://www.americanhumane.org/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/06-dog-whisperer.html
http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1006-ESQ100_20-21.FINAL.rev_1
http://www.urbandawgs.com/divided_profession.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-belzer/first-do-no-harm_b_61755.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL
http://www.stevedalepetworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204&Itemid=71
http://www.blogger.com/http://www.dogwhispererdvd.com/faq-national_geographic_dog_whisperer.html
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-05-05-dog-whisperer_x.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL
http://www.komonews.com/home/video/37440019.html?video=pop&t=a
Dog Trainer abuse cases
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/dogtraining/
Saying one thing and doing another seems to be the modus operandi of these two idiots. I know that people will get all miffed and ruffled about me getting a bit mean, oh well too bad. I absolutely abhor people who hurt dogs, period; and if anyone has a problem with my attitude too bad. After all is this not the same attitude these guys use with dogs and owners, so why not toss it back at them? The polite approach has gotten us nowhere. It is time to call these types of methods out and hold the people who use and promote them accountable.
One of the problems with legit dog trainers and legit dog behavior people is they are not tough enough on abuse trainers. Get with it people, these guys get away with it because enough people who know better look the other way and say “oh it is not that bad” or “ Oh wll what can I do”. It’s bad and here is why.
People are attempting these “methods” and they are creating more problems such as aggression, fear and anxiety in dogs. These types of shows create junior versions of the TV trainers, and it’s not a good thing. This force based methodology then gets used by owners as a way of interacting with the dog on a daily basis. This leads to quite a bit of squelching behaviors with harsh verbal’s, varying degrees of physical abuse from both hands and equipment. Not much teaching or training as it were, and well a rather adversarial relationship. Building bonds not binds should be a guiding principal, especially on these shows. They play like it is, but in reality there’s a whole lots of negative associations and fears getting instilled in dogs.
Learned helplessness is not being calm and submissive. Smacking a dog in the face until it submits is not being alpha; it’s being abusive. This has been proven time and again by many scientific findings with verifiable data. But like in the court of law where credible science in relation to dog behavior gets ignored so it seems it gets left out in TV network board rooms and among some people who are self proclaimed “experts”.
So along comes Brad Pattison. A guy with what seems to be zero legit education in dog behavior or training. A guy who it appears is making it up as he goes along by cherry picking ideas and approaches. It makes his views on dogs and training quite contradictory. His beliefs and actions seem miles apart.
Watch this video http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/brad-pattison-gets-annoyed/14534450, or watch his show on Animal Planet Sat at 8pm, In The dog House.
* It seems the video has been taken down since this blog was first published*
Read Pattison’s interview here with Slice dot com
http://www.slice.ca/Shows/AtTheEndOfMyLeash/QAndA.aspx?Title_ID=105200
I always find it amazing that people who say they are helping dogs by hitting, hanging, choking and abusing them are allot like the people who say they love children and abuse them. These are deeply confused and disturbed individuals indeed. Actions do speak louder than words, so those of you who get all mazed out and delirious in the face of a TV or video screen, wake up and pay attention. I say this because I meet people and read blogs where people say “ we don’t like what he does but he’s so fun to watch”. Are these people serious?
It’s great to have people like Pattison & Milan do interviews; I say get these guys talking more! That is the sure fire way to reveal the sheer ignorance of what they do with dogs and how they view dogs. It is obviously not enough to show what they do, TV execs at Animal Planet and Nat Geo obviously could care less about dogs, science is ignored and people much smarter than I have spoken up and so far it’s not helped. It backs the case for people who train dogs with non abusive methods each day when we speak to people about dogs. Past that the real change is yet to come.
I met with an Animal Planet exec; she was dead in the eyes! She is a corporate hack of the highest magnitude. She said “we use operant training on our shows”, that was her big buzz word she used to connect with me, operant. It’s also a loop hole. I know the quadrants lady, don’t play around with me.
I suspect that is also the common denominator with Nat Geo’s execs. The entertainment execs I get, it’s the people who claim they “love dogs” and “work with them” and claim to be an “educator”, but are causing dogs pain and spewing false and unsafe advice to millions of dog owners. Those are the people that don’t make sense to me. All I can think is they are frauds and have a deep disconnect.
It seems Animal Planet wants some of that demographic that Nat Geo has to tune in when the dog owners are not salivating over Milan’s nonsense. I wonder how Ms. Stillwell feels about sharing the AP brand with a guy like Pattison. It must really suck for a very outspoken R+ dog trainer such as herself to work for the same company as this guy Pattison.
She is at least an outspoken critic of Milan and pain based training. Yea her show has flaws; however she has really come around and taken a stance, especially on electronic collars and pain training. I wonder if she will have anything to say about Pattison.
Ok back to Pattison. The guy has/had a show in Canada, now a show on Animal Planet, so it’s no great stretch to see how having TV connections in one country can lead to TV connections in the US.
Let’s dissect Mr. Pattison’s “theories”. These are excerpts from an interview Pattison did with http://www.slice.ca/
“My main objective when training dogs is to empower the owner and help place him/her, and the rest of their family, in a superior position to the dog”…
The problem here is that humans are already the dominant superior species. You can pretty much kill a dog and get away with it. Unless the dog has grabbed you by the throat and has you down on the ground and the dog is killing you; the dog is not dominating a human by displaying behaviors humans do not like. Fear or anxiety based issues and issues of aggression, especially where bites have occurred, need to be addressed with humane, legitimate and carefully calculated behavior modification. If the dog is simply frustrated, and you punish it you’ll be creating aggression.
The use of pain/force based training in the case of fear, aggression and anxiety is detrimental, in the case of obedience and manners’ training it is idiotic. One would think the common agenda would be to explain dog training & leash mechanics, timing of rewards both food and life rewards, and how to implement humane consequences to decrease unwanted behaviors. Along with providing a basic understanding of learning theory most people will do ok.
“One way dogs will try to determine their owner’s status is based on the quickness of their movements. Once a dog has calculated our weaknesses, it begins to assume the alpha position.”
The problem again here is the complete lack of understanding about how dogs learn and what is important to them. Dogs are not concerned with “status” among humans; that is the human thinking the dog is a human, when it is not. That line of thinking is called anthropomorphism. In fact this “theory” is so wacked out that it is hard to believe this guy has ever worked with dogs. Dogs do not “calculate weakness”, they calculate what pays off, food wise, social wise with dogs and human contact, fun things. Dogs view the world as safe or unsafe. Also if being fast with dogs is so great why is it the suggestion of ALL humane organizations that kids and dogs be supervised? Because kids are fast and erratic, and it is a known fact that can make some dogs upset, excited and possibly fearful. IE: Fast erratic movements equal potential danger for dogs.
He goes on to say…
“A critical tool dogs employ when interacting and disciplining other dogs is speed. Remember that a dog can move its mouth seven times faster than the human hand…”
It is true that a dogs mouth is faster than a human hand, so why then would you want to try and out maneuver a dog with your hands or body, wouldn’t it be safer and more effective if you found out what motivated the dog and determine what humane consequence one could place as a deterrent to unwanted behavior? I mean expecting people to be faster than a dog is ridiculous. In the case of fear and aggression, knowing you cannot out maneuver a dog I guess Pattison would be at a loss. Or ramp up the violence? He’s lucky most dogs come with pretty decent bite inhibition, but not all.
“Let me reassure you that I would never put my dogs, or any other dog, in a situation that it couldn’t manage. Usually I find that most dog owners who have issues with their dogs tend to have a low opinion of their animal…”
Watch the video I have attached to the blog – you decide if the dog is in a dangerous position. I guess we’ll see in the weeks to come just how not dangerous the situations he places dogs in really are. http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/brad-pattison-gets-annoyed/14534450
* This video has been taken down since this blog was first published*
Usually I find that most dog owners who have issues with their dogs tend to have a low opinion of their animal, and low expectations of what it can do and handle.
Wow, most owners who have issues with their dogs have a “low opinion of their animal”!?! Geeze, I thought it was just the opposite. It has always been my understanding that most owners have a very high opinion of their dog. This seems to be a direct contradiction to the dominance model, as most “trainers” who use pain/force etc.. Claim people coddle and praise too much. Hmm, quite odd.
The best recommendation I have for dog owners is that they take the time to study and observe their dogs and learn from them.
Ok, I thought that he wanted owners to move fast so the dog does not find the human weakness? Taking time and studying dog behavior usually is not coupled with speedy movements, assessing dogs fast and force based training.
I don’t believe in being either rough or cruel. I am firm and determined to demonstrate to the dog that it is not allowed to attack or bite me. Many people forget that dogs are animals and don’t communicate or show respect and love the same ways that humans do. The dog pack is always defined by who is the Alpha. Discipline is prevalent in the animal kingdom and our ignorance of this fact has cost many dogs their lives.
Ah, ok…this is where the man clearly has no idea what he’s speaking about and he’s just spouting some stuff he read or heard. First off, the point of aggression in dogs is to create distance from the thing it is afraid of as all aggression is rooted in fear. Secondly, he is right dogs are different from humans, but earlier on he does equate dogs and humans in the dominance model he proposes so which one is it? Lastly dominance is not a behavior it is a relationship paramiter.
Protracted warning signs are not an invitation to confront the dogs, rather the dog is saying “hey back off”. The other thing that Pattison has clearly ignored or has not looked into is that dominance among dogs is contextual and can be ever changing, also had he ever read Ray Coppinger or David Meech past 1970; he’d have discovered that dogs are NOT pack animals, they are scavengers and group up for power in numbers and procreation of the species. When dogs are subjected to stupid people doing stupid things it costs many dogs their lives, not a “lack of discipline” as Pattison suggests.
“Dogs do not reward each other with food. This is a behavior humans have created to express their love for the dog, but it is the opposite of what would happen in the real dog world.”
Wow, this is astonishing. Check it out, a puppy that bites too hard on a mother dogs teat will be kicked away off the food, operant conditioning in full effect, a consequence; and the puppy will be rewarded with continuing the milk delivery for a soft mouth, positive reinforcement, so dogs do reward each other for food, right from the start actually. Like I said has this guy ever really even worked with dogs?
In addition anyone who has even taken a basic science class in high school has been taught about rats being rewarded for following a maze by getting food. Food is not the problem, teaching people how to fade and use the food is the challenge. Understanding criteria shifts is something Pattison should be concerned with as well as conditioned emotional responses.
What this interview proves is that this guy is clueless. Now we’ve got two TV “trainers” that are spreading the gospel of dog ignorance.
As far as I can tell Pattison is not backed by Hollywood money like Milan, so he can probably be off the air sooner rather than later. He’ll either have his place as the number two after Milan, or maybe he’ll even ramp it up to do more heroics of harm than Milan, after all he’s just as stupid as Milan when it comes to dog behavior but he seems to have a better ability to speak. That is bad combo. Dumb and talkative is what has gotten many dogs killed. Breeding ignorance is killing dogs, not a “lack of discipline”.
Just watch what he does and read or listen to what he says see if they match up, or watch with the sound off….that is really all you need to do. Now that we’ve got another person practicing cruel and unusual punishment on dogs in the name of “training” on TV, Milan’s people can no longer say we are “picking on him” anymore, nope now it is really about methodology and humane dog training and what side of culture do you side with. This is why Pattison is good for the cause. He is another example that legit dog people can point to as an example of what not to do and how not to counsel the general public or paying clients.
I’ll be keeping an eye on how many clients call me with fear and aggression that are influenced by Pattison’s new show. The really sad part is now there are two shows on the air that promote the hurting of dogs so it’s twice as likely people will be influenced by this abusive approach.
Save the hate posts, save the hate mail. If you like these guys and what they do fine, that’s on your head and you’re conscious of what is happening to these dogs or maybe you’re not aware of it. Either way it is happening; it has a bad ripple effect in dog culture, especially with owners who attempt to copy them and junior hack trainer versions of the TV trainers claiming they are "gifted". If you attempt to copy them, and people do copy these guys, when it goes wrong and your dog bites or has deep fear/anxiety/aggression issues, you’ll only have the humane approach left. Sad thing is it might be too late and your dog could be euthanized or traumatized. Do you really want to take that risk?
Brad Pattison
http://www.endofmyleash.com/
http://www.slice.ca/Shows/AtTheEndOfMyLeash/QAndA.aspx?Title_ID=105200
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/brad-pattison-gets-annoyed/14534450
Dr. Sphia Yin
http://www.askdryin.com/dominanceindogs.php
AVSAB Position Statement
http://www.blogger.com/
UPenn Study
http://www.blogger.com/
Jo Jacques CPDT, CPCT & Sandy Myers CDBC
http://www.blogger.com/
Dr. Karen Overall
http://www.pitbullguru.com/shock.html
http://www.goodnewsforpets.com/articles.asp?ID=147
AVSAB Position Statement
http://www.blogger.com/
UPenn Study
http://www.blogger.com/
Jo Jacques CPDT, CPCT & Sandy Myers CDBC
http://www.blogger.com/
Dr. Karen Overall
http://www.pitbullguru.com/shock.html
http://www.goodnewsforpets.com/articles.asp?ID=147
Australia SPCA Links about humane training for dogs
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science16.pdf
Links to information about what is really happening with Milan
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/opinion/31derr.html?_r=2
http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm
http://www.4pawsu.com/cesarfans.htm
http://www.americanhumane.org/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/06-dog-whisperer.html
http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1006-ESQ100_20-21.FINAL.rev_1
http://www.urbandawgs.com/divided_profession.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-belzer/first-do-no-harm_b_61755.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL
http://www.stevedalepetworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204&Itemid=71
http://www.blogger.com/http://www.dogwhispererdvd.com/faq-national_geographic_dog_whisperer.html
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-05-05-dog-whisperer_x.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL
http://www.komonews.com/home/video/37440019.html?video=pop&t=a
Dog Trainer abuse cases
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.blogger.com/
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/dogtraining/
I’m not worried or how funny is it going to be when you’re on trail for animal abuse?
There seems to be two trains of thought running concurrently through dog training. There is the positive and the well, the not so positive. As with anything that gets called into question, these old fashioned methods now have to explain themselves. At least the trainers who choose these methods should be able to detail how it will affect the dog’s behavior past the momentary squelching.
There is no shortage of studies on how electronic shock causes pain and elicits fear in dogs. That is well documented in humans, monkeys, rats and dogs. The trouble is there are few too people who know better speaking up. Which leads to unaware dog owners, i.e.; consumers paying for devices that harm and often times on the ill conceived advice from a dog “trainer”?
This leaves quite a few people in the dark about what goes on with not only shock, but other forms of fear eliciting methods to “train” a dog. I always remind people that whether your pro dog anti dog, or somewhere in the middle, we all want safe dogs that have less aggression, less fear and owners attached to dogs that have legitimate skills and an understanding of at least their own dogs. You do not need to know as much about your car as the mechanic, it’ll help but you can do fine driving safe, changing the oil and filling it with the proper fuel. However if you call yourself a dog trainer you’d better be able to back it up with something more than the “good with dogs” credential., which is usually self - credentialed.
I am always amazed when certain people challenge me on training ideas/advice and even become offended, or feel I’m a “know it all”. Wouldn’t you want the most well informed and best credentialed person you could find for yourself in any capacity? Indeed we do, however some people feel as those it is an effrontery to their very self worth if someone else knows more about their dog.
Dogs require and deserve quite a bit more than folk wisdom or the advice from un- credentialed self professed experts. Dog owners in these highly media driven, litigious times with financial down turn concerns would do well by getting the most humane understanding of dogs they can. Why? It’s the right thing to do for you and your dog, it is the most cost effective way to address dog issues, and pretty soon it will be against the law to make your dog feel fear and pain in the name of training. With addition of a third CTC dog trainer my business is on a trend towards working with 800 – 1,000 dogs a year by 2010. In 2008 the dogs we worked with are part of group classes, private training sessions, board and train programs, plus a variety of volunteer work. Every dog that we’ve worked with that has been the recipient of harsh aversives has displayed some kind of fear based behaviors.
In many cases it is fear over seemingly innocuous interactions with people or dogs or a generalized sense of fear to the world. Hand shyness, hesitation of doorways, stairs, approaching strangers, fear of other dogs, and fear of losing resources, i.e. resource guarding, such as food, toys or sleeping locations. Fear is the precursor to aggression.
One large part of legitimate dog training and behavior modification/study is normalizing behaviors for dog owners. When I am speaking with perspective clients I remind them if a “trainer” cannot explain it how they can train it? The days of “I’m great with dogs, they all love me” are coming to a close. The reason being is there is no more room to run for these types.
It really has become a game of either figure it out or get out of the business. Media and the internet have changed the game. Verifiable scientific facts on how animals learn, and learn best are available. The fallouts from using aversive methods are easily obtained. Now it’s just up to those of us who are not afraid to speak up, too speak up.
In email exchanges with Corporal Al Peterson head investigator for the NJ SPCA cruelty division, I found out that the courts do not take an animal’s emotional state into account in cruelty cases. This is dumbfounding. Science proves that animals do have emotional states both positive and negative, called Conditioned Emotional Response. However in the court of law slick defense attorney’s can charge “prove it”. Well we can, the trouble is there are not enough educated people to go around in defense of animals. If a dog “trainer” applies shock or aversives to a dog and there was no sign of aggression prior to that person applying the aversives, is that not a direct correlation to how the dog developed the new aggressive behavior? It sure is. I have seen it many times in varying degrees. In order to claim abuse the dog has to be severely injured or killed. The court will not enter a dog’s emotional state into evidence.
Recently I read about a way to “use punishments and not feel guilty”. Hmm guilt? Is that not an intellectual emotion based on the morality and inner consciousness of one’s self? Isn’t guilt contextual/cultural/religious? Some people feel guilt over things that are harmless, like eating chocolate cake, while others look the other way in the face of elephant sized atrocities grazing in the room. If you’re not doing anything harmful, why should you have to intellectually stuff down or avert guilt?
When a very matter of fact without incrimination time out is issued to a dog for barking after giving a warning cue such as “that’s enough”, it’s not damaging to the dog to lose freedom. P- for those following at home. It’s frustrating, the equivalent to a bummer for us humans. We’re talking parking ticket level bummer. What has happened here is a chain of events, and we know that dogs pick up on sequences really well, especially when they are consistent. If done right you can ask many dogs “That’s enough” or incorporate other basic conversational verbal cues to quite or calm. You have to for a bit get off your duff and do some leg - work and not frighten the dog. Any dog “trainer” who does not clue you into the “secret” that dog training is mechanics and timing and understanding or interpreting dog behavior correctly as well as being kind, is a snake oil salesman.
Let’s flip the script, the person uses some form of violence, hey let’s call it what it is, the dog stops the behavior, and the human feels empowered. Instant success so it seems. The problem is, what do you do when the dog is outside the home in a new context? Once the human ramps up the fear or the pain level the dog will kick into high gear survival mode, this means the dog is not doing well. This is all happening at the hands of in many cases the dog’s owner.
One can always reward the dog for correct responses, and the good behavior we ask for. Not just constantly hammering the dog for all the things people do not want the dog to do. Many of these behaviors dogs display that people don’t want to tolerate are behaviors intrinsic to being a canine! Unfortunately quite a few people only punish or squelch the behaviors they don’t want and rarely reward the good behaviors beyond praise. In addition if you are not consistent and you do not train your dog to increase the probability of the behaviors you want, then what are you doing? You’re busting your dogs chops quite a bit is what you’re doing. Not a fun way to live for dogs or humans.
Trust is essential for dogs and humans to coexist. Once that trust is compromised dogs become fearful, hesitant and possibly aggressive. The worse the pain the worse the fallout, it’s a real easy flow chart. The sad part is people interact with their dogs in fear based ways as a mode of “communicating” quite a bit without any knowledge of how it effects the dogs overall behavior; sounds quite selfish.
I was speaking with Kris Crawford who has trained search & rescue dogs for 20 years. She told me that during the training for S&R dogs, which takes 2 – 3 years, the dogs have to learn to jump from 10 – 12 feet into the handlers arms. That takes trust. Dogs ultimately view the world as safe or unsafe, no matter what you think or want to believe this how quite a few decisions are made by dogs, if not all.
Creating bonds are the goal, not building binds. So make sure that all interactions with a dog are kind, conversational and consistent. One day you’re going to need your dog to trust you, if they don’t it may cost them their lives.
Our society is fascinated with quick fixes and instant gratification. Dogs provide that in the form of being happy to see us, needing little more than some food, water and companionship. However what dogs also teach us if we’re willing to learn, is to slow down for a second and not be self absorbed, dogs will teach us patience, dogs will teach us selflessness, dogs can teach us valuable skills in science and math; If we’re willing to learn from them.
I remember Janis Bradley reminding us upon graduation from the SFSPC’s Academy for dog Trainers, to at least once a day just “be with your dog, don’t require it to do anything, just be with it and be kind”. We demand quite a bit from dogs, and in many cases they are really going against their instincts to please us. Its part of life and it’s not the worst thing as long as we’re being gentle and respectful about it. Results in behavior happen whether you want them or not, so being humane at least ups the odds your dog will be padded somewhat through these frustrating or even fearful circumstances.
I saw a piece recently on Current TV about a program that teaches female inmates in upstate NY to care for and train dogs from 8 weeks to 12 months. The dogs go on to become detection dogs in law enforcement. All the women were literally transformed by the experience. I don’t doubt it. In order to be a really good person “with dogs” you have to remove ego and personal baggage. It’s essential you focus on the dog, not all your feelings about all that is “happening to ME”! Get over yourself and get into your dog.
At the end of an advanced basic training three class two clients were discussing their dogs and one man said to another that he was not sure if he’d ever own this breed gain (pit-bull) , they’re “allot of work” “ allot of “responsibility”, when he asked the other man if he’d own a pit bull again, he said no matter what dog he might have in the future he “learned so much about dogs from his Pit Bull” that he would be prepared for “any type of dog”, and then he gleefully admitted “ yea I would own a Pit Bull again, they’re really great fun dogs”.
Having the perspective that dogs are a gift and a way to enrich your life can really change your daily interactions with dogs. Dogs unlike anything else I’ve seen can unite and connect people from the most varied backgrounds. Dogs however are also caught in the midst of a division. There are factions out there in and out of “dogs” who just don’t understand them. Who are using them for their own ends and in some cases ignoring the intrinsic way dogs learn and how human behavior affects them.
So it boils down to people having to take stock in themselves. The legalities and abuses of dog training methods are not going unnoticed. Each time someone gets busted for abuse in the name of dog training, it just mounts the case that the use of these methods for training dogs are not effective or well liked by the majority of the general public. I have only met one or two people in the past 10 years who actually want to hurt dogs and enjoy being aversive. The rest are willing to give up their archaic ways once they have found a more humane and effective way to address their dog.
Remember squelching behavior with harsh aversive methods in dogs comes with a behavioral price. The momentary short burst of human anger and the resulting canine fear has a cumulative effect, especially with daily repeats. It may also only take one time for your dog to become really undone by it. Is that worth the risks? One day all these pain trainers and dog owners that gravitate towards harsh methods could wake up to law suits or jail time for animal abuse? At least the dogs will be safer and the public more aware and educated. Is that not the point of all this?
References
http://www.goodnewsforpets.com:80/Articles.asp?ID=147
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29180079/
http://d.scribd.com/docs/cc67d04frp7scr59jka.pdf
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/dominance%20statement.pdf
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/Combined_Punishment_Statements.pdf
http://www.ust.is/media/ljosmyndir/dyralif/Trainingdogswithshockcollar.pdf
http://www.komonews.com/home/video/37440019.html?video=pop&t=a
THE DOG WHISPERER, CESAR MILLAN, on THE O'REILLY FACTOR
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/opinion/31derr.html?_r=2
http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm
http://www.4pawsu.com/cesarfans.htm
http://www.americanhumane.org/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/06-dog-whisperer.html
http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1006-ESQ100_20-21.FINAL.rev_1
http://www.urbandawgs.com/divided_profession.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-belzer/first-do-no-harm_b_61755.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL
http://www.stevedalepetworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204&Itemid=71
http://www.stevedalepetworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=203&Itemid=71http://www.dogwhispererdvd.com/faq-national_geographic_dog_whisperer.html
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-05-05-dog-whisperer_x.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL
(http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20081129/COMMUNITIES11/811290326/1005/NEWS01#)
http://www.zootoo.com/petnews/abuseclaimsquestiondogtrainers-1164
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/dogtraining/
UPenn Study
http://www.livescience.com/animals/090217-dog-training.html
Jo Jacques CPDT, CPCT & Sandy Myers CDBC
http://www.4pawsu.com/IAABC_Ecollar.pdf
Dr. Karen Overall
http://www.pitbullguru.com/shock.html
Australia SPCA Links about humane training for dogs
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science8.pdf
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science9.pdf
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science14.pdf
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science16.pdf
http://www.endofmyleash.com/
http://www.slice.ca/Shows/AtTheEndOfMyLeash/QAndA.aspx?Title_ID=105200
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/brad-pattison-gets-annoyed/14534450
There is no shortage of studies on how electronic shock causes pain and elicits fear in dogs. That is well documented in humans, monkeys, rats and dogs. The trouble is there are few too people who know better speaking up. Which leads to unaware dog owners, i.e.; consumers paying for devices that harm and often times on the ill conceived advice from a dog “trainer”?
This leaves quite a few people in the dark about what goes on with not only shock, but other forms of fear eliciting methods to “train” a dog. I always remind people that whether your pro dog anti dog, or somewhere in the middle, we all want safe dogs that have less aggression, less fear and owners attached to dogs that have legitimate skills and an understanding of at least their own dogs. You do not need to know as much about your car as the mechanic, it’ll help but you can do fine driving safe, changing the oil and filling it with the proper fuel. However if you call yourself a dog trainer you’d better be able to back it up with something more than the “good with dogs” credential., which is usually self - credentialed.
I am always amazed when certain people challenge me on training ideas/advice and even become offended, or feel I’m a “know it all”. Wouldn’t you want the most well informed and best credentialed person you could find for yourself in any capacity? Indeed we do, however some people feel as those it is an effrontery to their very self worth if someone else knows more about their dog.
Dogs require and deserve quite a bit more than folk wisdom or the advice from un- credentialed self professed experts. Dog owners in these highly media driven, litigious times with financial down turn concerns would do well by getting the most humane understanding of dogs they can. Why? It’s the right thing to do for you and your dog, it is the most cost effective way to address dog issues, and pretty soon it will be against the law to make your dog feel fear and pain in the name of training. With addition of a third CTC dog trainer my business is on a trend towards working with 800 – 1,000 dogs a year by 2010. In 2008 the dogs we worked with are part of group classes, private training sessions, board and train programs, plus a variety of volunteer work. Every dog that we’ve worked with that has been the recipient of harsh aversives has displayed some kind of fear based behaviors.
In many cases it is fear over seemingly innocuous interactions with people or dogs or a generalized sense of fear to the world. Hand shyness, hesitation of doorways, stairs, approaching strangers, fear of other dogs, and fear of losing resources, i.e. resource guarding, such as food, toys or sleeping locations. Fear is the precursor to aggression.
One large part of legitimate dog training and behavior modification/study is normalizing behaviors for dog owners. When I am speaking with perspective clients I remind them if a “trainer” cannot explain it how they can train it? The days of “I’m great with dogs, they all love me” are coming to a close. The reason being is there is no more room to run for these types.
It really has become a game of either figure it out or get out of the business. Media and the internet have changed the game. Verifiable scientific facts on how animals learn, and learn best are available. The fallouts from using aversive methods are easily obtained. Now it’s just up to those of us who are not afraid to speak up, too speak up.
In email exchanges with Corporal Al Peterson head investigator for the NJ SPCA cruelty division, I found out that the courts do not take an animal’s emotional state into account in cruelty cases. This is dumbfounding. Science proves that animals do have emotional states both positive and negative, called Conditioned Emotional Response. However in the court of law slick defense attorney’s can charge “prove it”. Well we can, the trouble is there are not enough educated people to go around in defense of animals. If a dog “trainer” applies shock or aversives to a dog and there was no sign of aggression prior to that person applying the aversives, is that not a direct correlation to how the dog developed the new aggressive behavior? It sure is. I have seen it many times in varying degrees. In order to claim abuse the dog has to be severely injured or killed. The court will not enter a dog’s emotional state into evidence.
Recently I read about a way to “use punishments and not feel guilty”. Hmm guilt? Is that not an intellectual emotion based on the morality and inner consciousness of one’s self? Isn’t guilt contextual/cultural/religious? Some people feel guilt over things that are harmless, like eating chocolate cake, while others look the other way in the face of elephant sized atrocities grazing in the room. If you’re not doing anything harmful, why should you have to intellectually stuff down or avert guilt?
When a very matter of fact without incrimination time out is issued to a dog for barking after giving a warning cue such as “that’s enough”, it’s not damaging to the dog to lose freedom. P- for those following at home. It’s frustrating, the equivalent to a bummer for us humans. We’re talking parking ticket level bummer. What has happened here is a chain of events, and we know that dogs pick up on sequences really well, especially when they are consistent. If done right you can ask many dogs “That’s enough” or incorporate other basic conversational verbal cues to quite or calm. You have to for a bit get off your duff and do some leg - work and not frighten the dog. Any dog “trainer” who does not clue you into the “secret” that dog training is mechanics and timing and understanding or interpreting dog behavior correctly as well as being kind, is a snake oil salesman.
Let’s flip the script, the person uses some form of violence, hey let’s call it what it is, the dog stops the behavior, and the human feels empowered. Instant success so it seems. The problem is, what do you do when the dog is outside the home in a new context? Once the human ramps up the fear or the pain level the dog will kick into high gear survival mode, this means the dog is not doing well. This is all happening at the hands of in many cases the dog’s owner.
One can always reward the dog for correct responses, and the good behavior we ask for. Not just constantly hammering the dog for all the things people do not want the dog to do. Many of these behaviors dogs display that people don’t want to tolerate are behaviors intrinsic to being a canine! Unfortunately quite a few people only punish or squelch the behaviors they don’t want and rarely reward the good behaviors beyond praise. In addition if you are not consistent and you do not train your dog to increase the probability of the behaviors you want, then what are you doing? You’re busting your dogs chops quite a bit is what you’re doing. Not a fun way to live for dogs or humans.
Trust is essential for dogs and humans to coexist. Once that trust is compromised dogs become fearful, hesitant and possibly aggressive. The worse the pain the worse the fallout, it’s a real easy flow chart. The sad part is people interact with their dogs in fear based ways as a mode of “communicating” quite a bit without any knowledge of how it effects the dogs overall behavior; sounds quite selfish.
I was speaking with Kris Crawford who has trained search & rescue dogs for 20 years. She told me that during the training for S&R dogs, which takes 2 – 3 years, the dogs have to learn to jump from 10 – 12 feet into the handlers arms. That takes trust. Dogs ultimately view the world as safe or unsafe, no matter what you think or want to believe this how quite a few decisions are made by dogs, if not all.
Creating bonds are the goal, not building binds. So make sure that all interactions with a dog are kind, conversational and consistent. One day you’re going to need your dog to trust you, if they don’t it may cost them their lives.
Our society is fascinated with quick fixes and instant gratification. Dogs provide that in the form of being happy to see us, needing little more than some food, water and companionship. However what dogs also teach us if we’re willing to learn, is to slow down for a second and not be self absorbed, dogs will teach us patience, dogs will teach us selflessness, dogs can teach us valuable skills in science and math; If we’re willing to learn from them.
I remember Janis Bradley reminding us upon graduation from the SFSPC’s Academy for dog Trainers, to at least once a day just “be with your dog, don’t require it to do anything, just be with it and be kind”. We demand quite a bit from dogs, and in many cases they are really going against their instincts to please us. Its part of life and it’s not the worst thing as long as we’re being gentle and respectful about it. Results in behavior happen whether you want them or not, so being humane at least ups the odds your dog will be padded somewhat through these frustrating or even fearful circumstances.
I saw a piece recently on Current TV about a program that teaches female inmates in upstate NY to care for and train dogs from 8 weeks to 12 months. The dogs go on to become detection dogs in law enforcement. All the women were literally transformed by the experience. I don’t doubt it. In order to be a really good person “with dogs” you have to remove ego and personal baggage. It’s essential you focus on the dog, not all your feelings about all that is “happening to ME”! Get over yourself and get into your dog.
At the end of an advanced basic training three class two clients were discussing their dogs and one man said to another that he was not sure if he’d ever own this breed gain (pit-bull) , they’re “allot of work” “ allot of “responsibility”, when he asked the other man if he’d own a pit bull again, he said no matter what dog he might have in the future he “learned so much about dogs from his Pit Bull” that he would be prepared for “any type of dog”, and then he gleefully admitted “ yea I would own a Pit Bull again, they’re really great fun dogs”.
Having the perspective that dogs are a gift and a way to enrich your life can really change your daily interactions with dogs. Dogs unlike anything else I’ve seen can unite and connect people from the most varied backgrounds. Dogs however are also caught in the midst of a division. There are factions out there in and out of “dogs” who just don’t understand them. Who are using them for their own ends and in some cases ignoring the intrinsic way dogs learn and how human behavior affects them.
So it boils down to people having to take stock in themselves. The legalities and abuses of dog training methods are not going unnoticed. Each time someone gets busted for abuse in the name of dog training, it just mounts the case that the use of these methods for training dogs are not effective or well liked by the majority of the general public. I have only met one or two people in the past 10 years who actually want to hurt dogs and enjoy being aversive. The rest are willing to give up their archaic ways once they have found a more humane and effective way to address their dog.
Remember squelching behavior with harsh aversive methods in dogs comes with a behavioral price. The momentary short burst of human anger and the resulting canine fear has a cumulative effect, especially with daily repeats. It may also only take one time for your dog to become really undone by it. Is that worth the risks? One day all these pain trainers and dog owners that gravitate towards harsh methods could wake up to law suits or jail time for animal abuse? At least the dogs will be safer and the public more aware and educated. Is that not the point of all this?
References
http://www.goodnewsforpets.com:80/Articles.asp?ID=147
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29180079/
http://d.scribd.com/docs/cc67d04frp7scr59jka.pdf
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/dominance%20statement.pdf
http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/Combined_Punishment_Statements.pdf
http://www.ust.is/media/ljosmyndir/dyralif/Trainingdogswithshockcollar.pdf
http://www.komonews.com/home/video/37440019.html?video=pop&t=a
THE DOG WHISPERER, CESAR MILLAN, on THE O'REILLY FACTOR
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/31/opinion/31derr.html?_r=2
http://www.4pawsu.com/dogpsychology.htm
http://www.4pawsu.com/cesarfans.htm
http://www.americanhumane.org/about-us/newsroom/news-releases/06-dog-whisperer.html
http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ1006-ESQ100_20-21.FINAL.rev_1
http://www.urbandawgs.com/divided_profession.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-belzer/first-do-no-harm_b_61755.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL
http://www.stevedalepetworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=204&Itemid=71
http://www.stevedalepetworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=203&Itemid=71http://www.dogwhispererdvd.com/faq-national_geographic_dog_whisperer.html
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-05-05-dog-whisperer_x.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/15/CMGPHL9D1N1.DTL
(http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20081129/COMMUNITIES11/811290326/1005/NEWS01#)
http://www.zootoo.com/petnews/abuseclaimsquestiondogtrainers-1164
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/dogtraining/
UPenn Study
http://www.livescience.com/animals/090217-dog-training.html
Jo Jacques CPDT, CPCT & Sandy Myers CDBC
http://www.4pawsu.com/IAABC_Ecollar.pdf
Dr. Karen Overall
http://www.pitbullguru.com/shock.html
Australia SPCA Links about humane training for dogs
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science8.pdf
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science9.pdf
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science14.pdf
http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science16.pdf
http://www.endofmyleash.com/
http://www.slice.ca/Shows/AtTheEndOfMyLeash/QAndA.aspx?Title_ID=105200
http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/brad-pattison-gets-annoyed/14534450
Friday, March 7, 2008
It's Just A Dog
It's Just A Dog
I am sometimes given the answer or solution to a troublesome canine scenario with the following statement “It’s just a dog”. Meaning it is not worthy of any further consideration.
This mindset of a dog as lesser than or unequal to humans is sad. In my own experience nothing that I have ever been involved with has brought as much joy to others as my dog Mojo, notice I said to others, not just myself. The smiles and the joy Mojo conjures up in people is quite a site to see. He is one of only millions of dogs who bring untold happiness to millions of people, other than their owners, simply by existing.
This “it’s just a dog” mindset comes up in discussions about the use of pain or force when training and maintaining dogs. The dog; who some so callously toss aside like dead leaves during yard work has the ability through nothing more than existing, to cause joy.
If mistreated and abused this same dog may become a menace, however when you look closely at the numbers, some 300 million Americans and some 70 million registered dogs – now add up the yearly adversarial fatalities you get less than 20 deaths a year from dogs and less than 200 fatal attacks on humans. Those are big years by the way, it is usually less. It looks that despite all the various factors, dogs and humans are a good match.
All living creatures in our world deserve equality. Dogs are the only animal that has willingly made an alliance towards a better existence with humans. All other animals were and are subjugated to some extent.
I could go on an on about the countless stories that dot the history books about how the dog human dynamic it is not only good for both dogs and humans but it is necessary for both.
In 2007 the world saw the horrendous acts of animal cruelty played out on TV through the Michael Vick case. One of those dogs is Leo and now creating joy is his game. He works as a therapy dog, causing joy by simply existing.
There is perhaps no other aspect of life that can erase political and social differences like dogs. Of course dogs are also the subject, not the cause mind you of intense political and social differences. Being the subject of debate and being the cause of debate are two very different things. People have caused the debate over dogs. Dogs are stuck in the middle with no say at all. Just those glaringly positive numbers they produce each year.
If it is just a dog as some put it, why the worry and the concern over 20 yearly deaths, and that is a bad year by the way. Why the cause for concern over less than 200 fatalities a year?
When I interviewed Jean Donaldson (director of the Academy For Dog Trainers at the SF SPCA) for my documentary film Judging the Innocent she said “when it comes to animals with pointy teeth, it hits something primitive in us, and we do not think about it rationally, she then went on to say “the only way out of this (the troubles we face with dogs) is to think our way out of it rationally”.
Logic and rational are what we need when it comes to dogs and humans. We already get along well with dogs, though we can do better.
In a recent phone conversation with Marthina McClay founder of OUR PACK Inc. (who is now Leo’s owner) she said that she reminds her dog training students that-
“It is the responsible dog trainers and owners who are the executives of the decisions that are made on behalf of dogs” - “don’t let those who do not know about dogs make executive decisions about dogs.”
I am sure there are people out there that “work” with dogs who are not all that fond of them. There are dogs right now in a home with someone or perhaps a number of people in the home do not really like the dog, and the dog is caught up in the human condition.
It all boils down to how each person at all times in the dog’s life treat and interact with that dog. This means ALL people at ALL times. If done correctly and humanly it ensures the dog will make as many positive associations as possible to people and the world around it. This is a tall order.
There will always be a segment of society that does not like dogs or that even down right hates dogs. What these people need to keep in mind more so than the millions of dog lovers, is that dogs are innocent. They are not able to morally construct past, present and future events and conspire and transgress against humans.
Dogs either feel safe or unsafe, it is not always about what we want from our dogs, sometimes the dynamic of humans and dogs requires that the humans simply help the dog, and not judge. This is done best by understanding how they actually learn and what their limited range of expressions may mean. Dogs learn through association & consequence, that’s all folks. There is no other known form of learning that we have scientifically documented for dogs or animals in general.
When we toss dogs aside and do not respect them for who they truly are it is a reflection of our worst human qualities of selfishness, greed and ego.
It says more about the people who blame and hate dogs, than it does about the dogs who get blamed for being dogs.
In order to have a major shift towards treating dogs better in the USA, we need a shift in consciousness. We need the people who actually know and understand dog behavior to put aside petty differences and get education in abundance to the public through the infrastructure of ACC, SPCA’s, Humane Societies and Rescues. In addition these pockets of society will in turn be educated as well.
There are some 70 million registered dogs in the USA, there is no reason why those of us who scientifically know about dogs and their behavior, how to best maintain dogs in our society, cannot put forth a concise educational mailer via email or snail mail to the millions of registered dog owners, which would explain how dogs learn and what the side effects of aversive training or harsh interactions may bring about behaviorally in dogs. We have the infrastructure of government in place, and their job is to get information to people. Let’s use our existing resources.
This is one way to have fewer people saying it’s just a dog, and perhaps have more people saying, “That is a dog, and it needs to be treated with respect”. When people know the truth about dogs and their intrinsic natural qualities, they can make better decisions about their dogs. Especially the people who are afraid of them.
People will catch on if given the proper information. Dogs can either cause joy or misery, simply by existing. It is up to humans to decide which side of the equation dogs will be on. Furthermore which side of the equation will the humans be on? Are we going to keep thinking that “we know dogs” even when we don’t? Or are we going to educate and elevate the consciousness?
Thomas Kuhn famously observed -
Paradigm shifts happen not when the investors in the old paradigm change their minds, but when they die.
Let’s not wait.
I am sometimes given the answer or solution to a troublesome canine scenario with the following statement “It’s just a dog”. Meaning it is not worthy of any further consideration.
This mindset of a dog as lesser than or unequal to humans is sad. In my own experience nothing that I have ever been involved with has brought as much joy to others as my dog Mojo, notice I said to others, not just myself. The smiles and the joy Mojo conjures up in people is quite a site to see. He is one of only millions of dogs who bring untold happiness to millions of people, other than their owners, simply by existing.
This “it’s just a dog” mindset comes up in discussions about the use of pain or force when training and maintaining dogs. The dog; who some so callously toss aside like dead leaves during yard work has the ability through nothing more than existing, to cause joy.
If mistreated and abused this same dog may become a menace, however when you look closely at the numbers, some 300 million Americans and some 70 million registered dogs – now add up the yearly adversarial fatalities you get less than 20 deaths a year from dogs and less than 200 fatal attacks on humans. Those are big years by the way, it is usually less. It looks that despite all the various factors, dogs and humans are a good match.
All living creatures in our world deserve equality. Dogs are the only animal that has willingly made an alliance towards a better existence with humans. All other animals were and are subjugated to some extent.
I could go on an on about the countless stories that dot the history books about how the dog human dynamic it is not only good for both dogs and humans but it is necessary for both.
In 2007 the world saw the horrendous acts of animal cruelty played out on TV through the Michael Vick case. One of those dogs is Leo and now creating joy is his game. He works as a therapy dog, causing joy by simply existing.
There is perhaps no other aspect of life that can erase political and social differences like dogs. Of course dogs are also the subject, not the cause mind you of intense political and social differences. Being the subject of debate and being the cause of debate are two very different things. People have caused the debate over dogs. Dogs are stuck in the middle with no say at all. Just those glaringly positive numbers they produce each year.
If it is just a dog as some put it, why the worry and the concern over 20 yearly deaths, and that is a bad year by the way. Why the cause for concern over less than 200 fatalities a year?
When I interviewed Jean Donaldson (director of the Academy For Dog Trainers at the SF SPCA) for my documentary film Judging the Innocent she said “when it comes to animals with pointy teeth, it hits something primitive in us, and we do not think about it rationally, she then went on to say “the only way out of this (the troubles we face with dogs) is to think our way out of it rationally”.
Logic and rational are what we need when it comes to dogs and humans. We already get along well with dogs, though we can do better.
In a recent phone conversation with Marthina McClay founder of OUR PACK Inc. (who is now Leo’s owner) she said that she reminds her dog training students that-
“It is the responsible dog trainers and owners who are the executives of the decisions that are made on behalf of dogs” - “don’t let those who do not know about dogs make executive decisions about dogs.”
I am sure there are people out there that “work” with dogs who are not all that fond of them. There are dogs right now in a home with someone or perhaps a number of people in the home do not really like the dog, and the dog is caught up in the human condition.
It all boils down to how each person at all times in the dog’s life treat and interact with that dog. This means ALL people at ALL times. If done correctly and humanly it ensures the dog will make as many positive associations as possible to people and the world around it. This is a tall order.
There will always be a segment of society that does not like dogs or that even down right hates dogs. What these people need to keep in mind more so than the millions of dog lovers, is that dogs are innocent. They are not able to morally construct past, present and future events and conspire and transgress against humans.
Dogs either feel safe or unsafe, it is not always about what we want from our dogs, sometimes the dynamic of humans and dogs requires that the humans simply help the dog, and not judge. This is done best by understanding how they actually learn and what their limited range of expressions may mean. Dogs learn through association & consequence, that’s all folks. There is no other known form of learning that we have scientifically documented for dogs or animals in general.
When we toss dogs aside and do not respect them for who they truly are it is a reflection of our worst human qualities of selfishness, greed and ego.
It says more about the people who blame and hate dogs, than it does about the dogs who get blamed for being dogs.
In order to have a major shift towards treating dogs better in the USA, we need a shift in consciousness. We need the people who actually know and understand dog behavior to put aside petty differences and get education in abundance to the public through the infrastructure of ACC, SPCA’s, Humane Societies and Rescues. In addition these pockets of society will in turn be educated as well.
There are some 70 million registered dogs in the USA, there is no reason why those of us who scientifically know about dogs and their behavior, how to best maintain dogs in our society, cannot put forth a concise educational mailer via email or snail mail to the millions of registered dog owners, which would explain how dogs learn and what the side effects of aversive training or harsh interactions may bring about behaviorally in dogs. We have the infrastructure of government in place, and their job is to get information to people. Let’s use our existing resources.
This is one way to have fewer people saying it’s just a dog, and perhaps have more people saying, “That is a dog, and it needs to be treated with respect”. When people know the truth about dogs and their intrinsic natural qualities, they can make better decisions about their dogs. Especially the people who are afraid of them.
People will catch on if given the proper information. Dogs can either cause joy or misery, simply by existing. It is up to humans to decide which side of the equation dogs will be on. Furthermore which side of the equation will the humans be on? Are we going to keep thinking that “we know dogs” even when we don’t? Or are we going to educate and elevate the consciousness?
Thomas Kuhn famously observed -
Paradigm shifts happen not when the investors in the old paradigm change their minds, but when they die.
Let’s not wait.
Monday, March 3, 2008
How Past Professions Can Help You Be A Better Dog Trainer
Many people who come into the profession of dog training have diverse backgrounds. I am no exception. I have found that over the past 8 years working with dogs, 5 of those years spent running www.urbandawgs.com an LLC dog training business. My past professions and personal pursuits have laid a good foundation for being a professional dog trainer.
One of the more educational jobs I held in the past was being the CFO of a digital reproduction house in Soho NYC. I held the position until August 2000, some 8 odd years. My job consisted of collecting money, making pay roll which was $10,000 dollars plus a week for the staff of roughly 26 people. In addition I was in essence the number two in charge after the owner. Quite a bit fell into my lap. If I did a poor job, we did not get paid so pressure and being responsible for other peoples general welfare through getting a pay check was with me daily.
Many times when working with a dog training client you carry the responsibility far past the consult, you become connected with the dog and the humans in the exchange. Especially if there is serious behavior modification involved.
Speaking on the phone and listening for key information while collecting debts is an art. I am sure every dog trainer who speaks with clients via telephone knows what I am speaking about. Getting pertinent information in the midst of emotions be it money or dogs is essential to doing a good job.
After 8 years of being a phone detective and chasing down an average of 5 million dollars a year, you get good at knowing when people are telling the truth or not.
The last thing you want when getting to a dog training session is key info left out about the dog and the people. Each component of the dog’s behavior and the human’s life and approach to the dog is necessary for a thorough consult.
From my time working at the digital reproduction house I am able to take my phone skills, my people skills and my managerial skills and apply them in my profession as a dog trainer. In addition running a business that only involves myself and my wife is much easier!
Prior to working at the digital reproduction house, I was a bike messenger in NYC. In fact I got the job at the digital place when I dropped off a package one day.
As a bike messenger you have to be fearless. No matter what else you take with you on the job, you have to be unafraid to ride your bike at a steady clip in the midst of NYC traffic. If you are a bad messenger you can die. Literally each day around the park where we all took breaks bike couriers told stories of someone who was hurt bad or died. So we were all very supportive of each other “out there” as we called it. It was a fraternity I am proud to have been a part of.
Fearlessness had to be combined with excellent timing, impeccable judgment, eye, hand foot and body coordination must be fine tuned. If not you could die or get very badly injured.
I’ve often said it would be good for most everyone to experience something that is interconnected with their monetary survival and their physical well being. It builds character and adds perspective to ones life. After all, if you face death each day how bad can other aspects of your life be?
Many times while working with dogs I see others who are afraid of dogs. Even owners and caretakers of dogs can be afraid of the dogs in their lives. This is not all together a bad thing, as being cautious of a dog can help you from being bitten in some circumstances.
However when working with dogs if you have a fear and the dog is actually not a threat to your well being, it causes disconnect in the approach to training and behavior modification. That trepidation bleeds over into the trainer’s ability to get the job done. I am sure this is one of the many reasons why some trainers do not take aggression cases. I do not blame trainers for not taking aggression cases, they are difficult.
My time on a bike in the midst of traffic presented constant dangers. I faced a life or death situation daily, that has helped tremendously as a dog trainer. It gives me perspective. Along with my personal experience as a bike messenger combined with the education about dog behavior I received at the SFSPCA’s Academy for Dog Trainers I am very comfortable around dogs of all behaviors.
I have said for years even before I was training dogs “I am brave but I am not stupid”. I continue to follow that axiom to this day. Especially as it relates to aggressive dogs, I do not mention this for machismo. Assessing situations as safe or unsafe is part of a dog’s life, and should be part of responsible dog trainer’s skill set. Knowing when to proceed further or stick with the current criteria especially in resource guarding cases and approach phobias are critical to the plan being successful. I tested my own limits on the streets of NYC as a bike messenger; however I always take the well being of the dog and the humans in the dog’s life into consideration, and do not suggest or try anything that might endanger either. I was a cowboy on a bike, but not as a dog trainer.
In some cases where an aggressive or even a highly exuberant dog is in a home with small kids, a dog trainer must have keen awareness of potential hazards and set the home up properly with management and counsel the people in the art of humane and effective management and D&CC.
Dog training is safer than being a bike messenger, and it is much more rewarding all around, however those 5 years I spent on a bike in NYC made me physically strong and gave my mind an acute ability to look at the horizon and make nano second adjustments for my safety, much like you need when walking and working with leash reactive dogs.
I was recently asked, “Are you afraid of being bitten by dogs”. My answer was “no”. This is because dogs are predictable once you understand their actual behavior, especially if it is my dog or a dog I have been working with on in an on going behavior modification. Cab drivers, busses and especially pedestrians are extremely unpredictable. I could go about near death experiences where I came within an inch of my life, but I am still here to tell the tales so I guess I was a good bike messenger.
As dog training has many physical attributes, my practice of working out, martial arts, yoga and leading an all around healthy active life style have also all played a part in my continuing advancement as a dog trainer.
My official training and education in life is in music. I am a graduate of the Musicians Institute. For many years I taught music privately. So the dynamic of transferring skills both verbally and displaying the mechanics of a skill are firmly imbedded in my repertoire as a teacher.
In addition I have no fear of standing on stage and speaking, performing or being stared at as you have to deal with all these scenarios on many occasions as a dog trainer, stage experience comes in handy.
In my musical travels I have been fortunate to know the highs and the lows that you hear about in the music business. The highs include playing the pier in NYC (twice) to 10 thousand + people. I know the thrill of getting fan mail and receiving glowing praise from the press from all over the world.
I have performed with amazing artists such as Green Day, De La Soul – both of whom I opened for. Becoming friends with true geniuses like Jon Brion and Jeff Buckley, both of whom I am friends with (RIP Jeff). I have made records in million dollar studios that failed to see the light of day and I have been lauded for home recordings that cost a few thousand dollars. I have been broke and I have been well off. The ebb and flow of money as a musician is very similar to running a dog training business, as you have to be really savvy at spending and saving and holding steady in times of slow to no business.
I have felt the pain of rejection by my piers, the press and the audience sometimes all in the span of a day or two. In addition you can be a hero to your clients or get the blame when they are looking for a reason to be mad at the dog.
The preparation and the grind of being a musician have striking similarities to being a professional dog trainer. There is an intrinsic mechanical quality to both. What astounds me is that no one would pick up a guitar and start strumming away unless they could do it well, for fear of embarrassment or fear of breaking the guitar! However I see people holding the leash of dogs and “training” who have zero mechanics in the art of walking a dog. Yet they have a dog and feel they “know” what they are doing simply because they have a dog.
Another other parallel quality is the hustle to be known and procure clients or gigs. In both dog training and music you have to market, promote and sell yourself to some degree. Other wise you cannot do what you love effectively. In both cases you need an audience to execute your skills. Also in both cases one can be self contained and get along well, you will find many of the best musicians and the best dog trainers are solo artists at heart.
Music is an art and a science. Dog training is an art and a science. Both require very good eye hand coordination and an understanding of the principals of a theory. Music has a harmonic theory known as music theory and dog training has the theory of animal learning. Musicians who are “hacks” are people who fudge through the music and barley get by, or perhaps have an abundance of charm so they get away with it. In dog training there are also “hacks”. The major difference is if you half ass a song no on gets hurt, if you fudge through dog training with your “charm” you can cause a great deal of harm and stress for both the dog and the humans in the dogs life. In both music and dog training one needs to work on their “chops”, IE: mechanics and theory in combination. In dog training you really have to leave out the emotions and the drama and get down to the theory, music is not that easy. In music you have to hold the emotions at times but not too much, and if the music is all science it might be boring – too mechanical. It is that human element that makes the notes alive.
In dog training that human element can get in the way, especially if that means trying to figure out what the dog is “thinking”. In dog training you can go all science and no emotion and get great results. In fact it is highly suggested from some of the best trainers and behaviorists out there, to stay the course of the dog’s assessment and use the science, be humane at all costs, however, keep your heart free of too much emotion. That has to be saved for when you are through with working with the dog and the clients and you are at home reflecting.
Many times in music especially while in the studio, a musician has to be connected to the emotion of the song yet slightly disconnected so the technical execution is correct, yet retains the human quality needed for the track. This is especially hard for singers; (yes I am a singer), so I know that delicate balance first hand. Dog training has this same delicate balance of disconnect and connection to your subject, IE: the dog.
If anyone reading this has experienced a dog owner who cannot get past the emotions involved with their dog, you know how hard it is to make any progress in the training or behavior modification. In music it is the same thing actually, a lot of the emotion that you see or hear on records is acting. Not that the people do not have a connection to the song, or are insincere etc…but they need a certain amount of disconnect so they can execute the material, and concentrate on the mechanics.
An aspect of being a world class musician is mastering the art of listening to many sounds at once. This is especially true when mixing a recording. A person must learn to differentiate not only different instruments but also different frequencies. The following is a story from a few months ago where my hearing expertise came in very handy while with my own dogs.
One day as I was about to unlock my front door and let my male dog Mojo in the house after his walk, however I heard a sniff. I was not sure if it was Mojo or not as it sounded like it came from the other side of the door. I was busy with the keys and so forth so it was hard to tell.
It was a faint sniff, and with the traffic, the wind, the other ambient sounds, I was not sure exactly where this sniff came from.
I turned to Mojo and he was sitting in expectance of the door opening. I leaned down a little further towards the door and I heard another sniff.
I had left my female dog Keyshia behind a pressurized gate and an Xpen on her side of the house while I was out walking Mojo. So I wondered how she could have gotten over the barriers. Pits are great escape artists, so I knew it was possible somehow.
I tossed some treats away from the front porch and Mojo dutifully took his 6 feet of leash freedom and went for the goodies. I cracked the front door ever so slightly to see Keyshia’s little black snout. I issued some quick jolly talk and praise “good girl” and shut the door.
I put Mojo in the back yard and went in to see how Keyshia got around the barriers.
If I had just opened the door there would have been a nasty dog scuffle. Perhaps Keyshia would have even got loose in the front yard? I would not have been able to get her as I had Mojo on leash. They get along on leash, but under these circumstances who knows? Also traffic is moderate on our street so that was also a potential hazard. It would have been a nightmare to say the least. Mojo and Keyshia do not get along inside, and that is all Mojo’s deal, Keyshia loves pretty much all dogs, once she warms to them. Imagine if I had gone in and let Mojo off his leash only to find Keyshia was upstairs or around the corner it would have been a nasty dog fight indeed. I shudder to think.
Had I not had the ability and the mindset to listen to many frequencies/sounds at the same time from countless hours in front of speakers listening critically, to be aware of anomalies in my audio spectrum I might be writing a different story about now Xpens and gates are not always as safe as we think, or how management fails at some point. I am really thankful for my ears! You never know what skill might get you out of a dog jam.
The next time you are looking to be a better dog trainer or get some new inspiration perhaps something form your past might be the key to taking your skills to the next level. Doing things to improve your eye-hand coordination, breathing etc, can be very helpful in dog training, after all dog training is a mechanical skill based on timing and recognizing behavior.
The difference between knowledge and wisdom is doing. –
Dan Millman – Author of The Way of The Peaceful Warrior.
One of the more educational jobs I held in the past was being the CFO of a digital reproduction house in Soho NYC. I held the position until August 2000, some 8 odd years. My job consisted of collecting money, making pay roll which was $10,000 dollars plus a week for the staff of roughly 26 people. In addition I was in essence the number two in charge after the owner. Quite a bit fell into my lap. If I did a poor job, we did not get paid so pressure and being responsible for other peoples general welfare through getting a pay check was with me daily.
Many times when working with a dog training client you carry the responsibility far past the consult, you become connected with the dog and the humans in the exchange. Especially if there is serious behavior modification involved.
Speaking on the phone and listening for key information while collecting debts is an art. I am sure every dog trainer who speaks with clients via telephone knows what I am speaking about. Getting pertinent information in the midst of emotions be it money or dogs is essential to doing a good job.
After 8 years of being a phone detective and chasing down an average of 5 million dollars a year, you get good at knowing when people are telling the truth or not.
The last thing you want when getting to a dog training session is key info left out about the dog and the people. Each component of the dog’s behavior and the human’s life and approach to the dog is necessary for a thorough consult.
From my time working at the digital reproduction house I am able to take my phone skills, my people skills and my managerial skills and apply them in my profession as a dog trainer. In addition running a business that only involves myself and my wife is much easier!
Prior to working at the digital reproduction house, I was a bike messenger in NYC. In fact I got the job at the digital place when I dropped off a package one day.
As a bike messenger you have to be fearless. No matter what else you take with you on the job, you have to be unafraid to ride your bike at a steady clip in the midst of NYC traffic. If you are a bad messenger you can die. Literally each day around the park where we all took breaks bike couriers told stories of someone who was hurt bad or died. So we were all very supportive of each other “out there” as we called it. It was a fraternity I am proud to have been a part of.
Fearlessness had to be combined with excellent timing, impeccable judgment, eye, hand foot and body coordination must be fine tuned. If not you could die or get very badly injured.
I’ve often said it would be good for most everyone to experience something that is interconnected with their monetary survival and their physical well being. It builds character and adds perspective to ones life. After all, if you face death each day how bad can other aspects of your life be?
Many times while working with dogs I see others who are afraid of dogs. Even owners and caretakers of dogs can be afraid of the dogs in their lives. This is not all together a bad thing, as being cautious of a dog can help you from being bitten in some circumstances.
However when working with dogs if you have a fear and the dog is actually not a threat to your well being, it causes disconnect in the approach to training and behavior modification. That trepidation bleeds over into the trainer’s ability to get the job done. I am sure this is one of the many reasons why some trainers do not take aggression cases. I do not blame trainers for not taking aggression cases, they are difficult.
My time on a bike in the midst of traffic presented constant dangers. I faced a life or death situation daily, that has helped tremendously as a dog trainer. It gives me perspective. Along with my personal experience as a bike messenger combined with the education about dog behavior I received at the SFSPCA’s Academy for Dog Trainers I am very comfortable around dogs of all behaviors.
I have said for years even before I was training dogs “I am brave but I am not stupid”. I continue to follow that axiom to this day. Especially as it relates to aggressive dogs, I do not mention this for machismo. Assessing situations as safe or unsafe is part of a dog’s life, and should be part of responsible dog trainer’s skill set. Knowing when to proceed further or stick with the current criteria especially in resource guarding cases and approach phobias are critical to the plan being successful. I tested my own limits on the streets of NYC as a bike messenger; however I always take the well being of the dog and the humans in the dog’s life into consideration, and do not suggest or try anything that might endanger either. I was a cowboy on a bike, but not as a dog trainer.
In some cases where an aggressive or even a highly exuberant dog is in a home with small kids, a dog trainer must have keen awareness of potential hazards and set the home up properly with management and counsel the people in the art of humane and effective management and D&CC.
Dog training is safer than being a bike messenger, and it is much more rewarding all around, however those 5 years I spent on a bike in NYC made me physically strong and gave my mind an acute ability to look at the horizon and make nano second adjustments for my safety, much like you need when walking and working with leash reactive dogs.
I was recently asked, “Are you afraid of being bitten by dogs”. My answer was “no”. This is because dogs are predictable once you understand their actual behavior, especially if it is my dog or a dog I have been working with on in an on going behavior modification. Cab drivers, busses and especially pedestrians are extremely unpredictable. I could go about near death experiences where I came within an inch of my life, but I am still here to tell the tales so I guess I was a good bike messenger.
As dog training has many physical attributes, my practice of working out, martial arts, yoga and leading an all around healthy active life style have also all played a part in my continuing advancement as a dog trainer.
My official training and education in life is in music. I am a graduate of the Musicians Institute. For many years I taught music privately. So the dynamic of transferring skills both verbally and displaying the mechanics of a skill are firmly imbedded in my repertoire as a teacher.
In addition I have no fear of standing on stage and speaking, performing or being stared at as you have to deal with all these scenarios on many occasions as a dog trainer, stage experience comes in handy.
In my musical travels I have been fortunate to know the highs and the lows that you hear about in the music business. The highs include playing the pier in NYC (twice) to 10 thousand + people. I know the thrill of getting fan mail and receiving glowing praise from the press from all over the world.
I have performed with amazing artists such as Green Day, De La Soul – both of whom I opened for. Becoming friends with true geniuses like Jon Brion and Jeff Buckley, both of whom I am friends with (RIP Jeff). I have made records in million dollar studios that failed to see the light of day and I have been lauded for home recordings that cost a few thousand dollars. I have been broke and I have been well off. The ebb and flow of money as a musician is very similar to running a dog training business, as you have to be really savvy at spending and saving and holding steady in times of slow to no business.
I have felt the pain of rejection by my piers, the press and the audience sometimes all in the span of a day or two. In addition you can be a hero to your clients or get the blame when they are looking for a reason to be mad at the dog.
The preparation and the grind of being a musician have striking similarities to being a professional dog trainer. There is an intrinsic mechanical quality to both. What astounds me is that no one would pick up a guitar and start strumming away unless they could do it well, for fear of embarrassment or fear of breaking the guitar! However I see people holding the leash of dogs and “training” who have zero mechanics in the art of walking a dog. Yet they have a dog and feel they “know” what they are doing simply because they have a dog.
Another other parallel quality is the hustle to be known and procure clients or gigs. In both dog training and music you have to market, promote and sell yourself to some degree. Other wise you cannot do what you love effectively. In both cases you need an audience to execute your skills. Also in both cases one can be self contained and get along well, you will find many of the best musicians and the best dog trainers are solo artists at heart.
Music is an art and a science. Dog training is an art and a science. Both require very good eye hand coordination and an understanding of the principals of a theory. Music has a harmonic theory known as music theory and dog training has the theory of animal learning. Musicians who are “hacks” are people who fudge through the music and barley get by, or perhaps have an abundance of charm so they get away with it. In dog training there are also “hacks”. The major difference is if you half ass a song no on gets hurt, if you fudge through dog training with your “charm” you can cause a great deal of harm and stress for both the dog and the humans in the dogs life. In both music and dog training one needs to work on their “chops”, IE: mechanics and theory in combination. In dog training you really have to leave out the emotions and the drama and get down to the theory, music is not that easy. In music you have to hold the emotions at times but not too much, and if the music is all science it might be boring – too mechanical. It is that human element that makes the notes alive.
In dog training that human element can get in the way, especially if that means trying to figure out what the dog is “thinking”. In dog training you can go all science and no emotion and get great results. In fact it is highly suggested from some of the best trainers and behaviorists out there, to stay the course of the dog’s assessment and use the science, be humane at all costs, however, keep your heart free of too much emotion. That has to be saved for when you are through with working with the dog and the clients and you are at home reflecting.
Many times in music especially while in the studio, a musician has to be connected to the emotion of the song yet slightly disconnected so the technical execution is correct, yet retains the human quality needed for the track. This is especially hard for singers; (yes I am a singer), so I know that delicate balance first hand. Dog training has this same delicate balance of disconnect and connection to your subject, IE: the dog.
If anyone reading this has experienced a dog owner who cannot get past the emotions involved with their dog, you know how hard it is to make any progress in the training or behavior modification. In music it is the same thing actually, a lot of the emotion that you see or hear on records is acting. Not that the people do not have a connection to the song, or are insincere etc…but they need a certain amount of disconnect so they can execute the material, and concentrate on the mechanics.
An aspect of being a world class musician is mastering the art of listening to many sounds at once. This is especially true when mixing a recording. A person must learn to differentiate not only different instruments but also different frequencies. The following is a story from a few months ago where my hearing expertise came in very handy while with my own dogs.
One day as I was about to unlock my front door and let my male dog Mojo in the house after his walk, however I heard a sniff. I was not sure if it was Mojo or not as it sounded like it came from the other side of the door. I was busy with the keys and so forth so it was hard to tell.
It was a faint sniff, and with the traffic, the wind, the other ambient sounds, I was not sure exactly where this sniff came from.
I turned to Mojo and he was sitting in expectance of the door opening. I leaned down a little further towards the door and I heard another sniff.
I had left my female dog Keyshia behind a pressurized gate and an Xpen on her side of the house while I was out walking Mojo. So I wondered how she could have gotten over the barriers. Pits are great escape artists, so I knew it was possible somehow.
I tossed some treats away from the front porch and Mojo dutifully took his 6 feet of leash freedom and went for the goodies. I cracked the front door ever so slightly to see Keyshia’s little black snout. I issued some quick jolly talk and praise “good girl” and shut the door.
I put Mojo in the back yard and went in to see how Keyshia got around the barriers.
If I had just opened the door there would have been a nasty dog scuffle. Perhaps Keyshia would have even got loose in the front yard? I would not have been able to get her as I had Mojo on leash. They get along on leash, but under these circumstances who knows? Also traffic is moderate on our street so that was also a potential hazard. It would have been a nightmare to say the least. Mojo and Keyshia do not get along inside, and that is all Mojo’s deal, Keyshia loves pretty much all dogs, once she warms to them. Imagine if I had gone in and let Mojo off his leash only to find Keyshia was upstairs or around the corner it would have been a nasty dog fight indeed. I shudder to think.
Had I not had the ability and the mindset to listen to many frequencies/sounds at the same time from countless hours in front of speakers listening critically, to be aware of anomalies in my audio spectrum I might be writing a different story about now Xpens and gates are not always as safe as we think, or how management fails at some point. I am really thankful for my ears! You never know what skill might get you out of a dog jam.
The next time you are looking to be a better dog trainer or get some new inspiration perhaps something form your past might be the key to taking your skills to the next level. Doing things to improve your eye-hand coordination, breathing etc, can be very helpful in dog training, after all dog training is a mechanical skill based on timing and recognizing behavior.
The difference between knowledge and wisdom is doing. –
Dan Millman – Author of The Way of The Peaceful Warrior.
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