This morning I was on WQNA with the Flyover zone show. I met Hugh and Lana at an art show I was showing last month. My shirts tend to catch attention which is a great ice breaker.
The question I get asked all the time is "Pit Bull Zen? Isn't that an oxymoron? " Well, today I got to answer that and more on air.
I was nervous and scared to death. I took my good friend and former client (she's the mom to Cupcake) Kayla with me. I needed moral support and possibly someone to push me in the studio. Face it, facing a room of pit bulls with behavior issues makes me less scared than the human population! Humans...scary breed, I swear!
Anyway, on the way there I caught the promo for me and was squealing in delight! "Dee Goings, jewelry artist and dog trainer will be on shortly. We have three words for you...Pit Bull Zen!" Since I've started this path, it still gives me butterflies in my stomach every time I hear my name and dog trainer in the same sentence.
The big question was what is Pit Bull Zen. Zen isn't just force free training. It's also about what I can give the breed. It's about showing true breed ambassadors and taking this breed that has been vilified by the media and showing what they are capable of into the community and showing people well trained, loyal, and loving dogs. These dogs are loyal and have been so mistreated and a true disservice has been done them by humans. Humans fight them, over breed them and don't rightly train them as they should. A dog untrained and I mean ANY dog is capable of being dangerous.
In short, I am Zen. The dogs are Zen. We are Zen together through humane, force-free training and we are Zen to each other. That to me is the definition of Pit Bull Zen.
Pit Bull Zen, created in Cleveland by Dawn Streator and Liz Wyant has become a haven for Pit Bull owners, dog advocates, and dog trainers alike. It is a community where we can discuss intelligent conversations as well as ask for help. Dawn and Liz hold a myriad of great classes and I suggest anyone within driving distance check them out.
Hugh, the host of The Flyover Zone brought up the fact that he is scared of dogs. He was attacked by a German Shepherd and has always avoided dogs since. The dog he was attacked by was running loose and went after him and his bike for 30 minutes. I explained that more than likely that dog was quite scared of bikes (moving objects with humans attached tend to be scary) and the dog probably lashed out in fear. I offered to bring Grey in and click and treat every time Hugh could look at him while slowly moving Grey closer. Hugh wasn't thrilled but the prospect of treats he was into. See, I'm the cookie pusher. I treat for good behavior and a thing called extinction tends to happen. Good behavior is repeated and bad behavior becomes extinct as a dog will repeat behavior it is rewarded for. It's amazing what I can get a dog to do when I have a treat pouch full of nummy food roll chopped up. Yep, I'm a cookie pusher and proud of it.
Hugh mentioned that he had caught a couple shows of a Hispanic dog trainer. I asked if he meant Cesar Milan. Hugh wasn't sure but I wanted to explain that those methods of intimidation, domination, invading a dog's space is dangerous, and can be deadly for the dog. Dogs who are punished for signalling can become shutdown. Would you rather be warned by a growl, baring of teeth, and snarl or just have a dog go for it. What I do is scientific and has been proven to work. Cesar Milan is entertainment and when the general public start using those methods, they are risking having their dog bite. I don't even consider it good entertainment. It's painful to watch the dogs be served a dose of Milan. I'll stick with having dogs signalling.
Signalling brought up another topic. What signals? How do dogs communicate with us? I like to use Grey as an example. As he's been relearning to signal he will prick his ears forward, portions of the white of his eyes (commonly called whale eye) present, lips pulled back in grimace, and tail high and wagging slowly with a stiff body. When I see this combined I know to remove Grey from the situation as he has moved out of his comfort zone and is showing me loud and clear that bad things can happen if threatened. We take dogs, put them in our homes and expect them to follow all these rules humans come up with. We owe it to these dogs to teach them what we expect of them.
I touched on Grey and his sisters, our two cats. All three of my highly managed companion animals are dear to me and I know with our training and consistent reinforcement we are a much happier family.
Oh and I had to vote Bacon or Tofu. I don't like Bacon so I went with tofu. According to my husband that means I'm a Communist and should be investigated. Ha!
The photo is Greyson performing a random down which is a touchy position for him being so close to a human. All through positive reinforcement training.
You can download a copy of the interview at http://www.flyoverzone. com in the archives section.
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