Improving... Leaps and Bounds

I still remember the day I met him.  He was under the table I was sitting at when the words "he doesn't like feet" were said.  I was trying to get him to take treats and he refused. He was so far over threshold all he could do was bark at me.  When his owner stood up to move towards his room he backed up into her and continued barked at me.  He clearly wasn't comfortable with me being in his home. 

Honestly,  at that point I wasn't comfortable with him either.  He made me nervous but I felt such a strong conviction to help him. Watching him was like watching a child who was conflicted beyond help. 

We set out on helping him learn to make better decisions in life.  When he wanted left alone,  we taught him to retreat to his room.  When he was upset,  we taught him his room was comfort and safety.  Most of all,  we made his world extremely small.  His family,  Kayla and I interacting with him. 

He lived with two other dogs and one of the other dogs were bullying him.  He was found as a stray and the animal control officer wasn't able to catch him so a rescue came out and picked him up.  Loud noises set him off on barking fits and fast movement of hands and feet cause his fear to rage out of control.

We started teaching the family the most important part. We showed them exactly what they were seeing when he reacted badly to things. We had a couple touch and go moments but this summer we saw something amazing happen.

The family adopted a fourth dog and we normally tell families to not adopt another when they have a dog who has such emotional baggage. In this case,  it worked the opposite.  The new addition is a beautiful pit bull.  She's a sweet and very amazing girl. 

While the family was on a trip to Arizona for 11 days we cared for the dogs in their home.  We knew boarding was out as our problem dog resource guarded,  the bullying dog became an emotional wreck without his family and the other two kept having scraps with each other.  We were their best option. So,  we packed our bags and hung out with their dogs for 11 days.

The dog who had been bullying had a hard time with it.  He whined a lot and we tried to engage him every chance we got.  The fearful dog suddenly started politely asking for attention. I would sit on the couch and he would hop up near me and lay down. He would rub his head against my hand and would run around the yard with their pit bull.

Fast forward to two weeks ago.  I was stopping to let the dogs out and sat down on the couch.  He came running and jumped on the couch and just sprawled across my legs.  My first reaction was to not move but he was wiggling against my hand so I softly petted his side.  Today,  I let them out and again he asked for attention. This time,  I was in his room. I fed him treats while he gently rubbed his side against my hand.  I offered treats while I sat in his room and softly touched his legs and rubbed his rear. 

With his fear this was huge.  We've come so far and I am so proud of his family who have worked tirelessly with him.  He has become my favorite part of my day when I get to see him.  He has such a great loose body wiggle for me. Compared to that scared dog who backed up into his owner and just barked for me to leave is huge. 

We have built this relationship on trust and reinforce of the good things and even more reinforce of the bad things in life.  Touching my hand resulted in jackpots of treats. Removing himself to his room got him treats.  His safe room in the house has become his place to relax and unwind.  He is the only dog in that room although today I didn't close the gate and his best friend,  that same pit bull, was giving him licks on the mouth to soothe him as I was touching him and giving treats.

Two years and a lot of love and positive interactions with a very small world has brought us to this day.  And now it's time to start making that tiny world slightly larger.  We go at his pace though and we never force his interaction.

And if need be we have "his pit bull" there to help him through it.  He's a good boy and his family has been one of the most amazing families I have ever met.

    

World Trainer's Transparency Challenge

It's been a while! Things have been super busy with us getting the building ready, but I have something that I feel is super important to share.

I'm part of the World Trainer's Transparency Challenge. Now, you may wonder just what the heck that is, so let me give you some information. The challenge was created by Jean Donaldson. In an attempt to make the dog training consumers aware of what we're really saying and to make it dog owner friendly, she gave us three questions to answer.

Here is Lili Chin's graphic that showed the questions:

This graphic has been now circulating around Facebook with the captions of "Always ask questions" but the posts are missing the most important part...and that is the answers to the questions. I see so many sharing it who are trainers but there are no answers posted as well.

So, here are my answers and these answers go for everyone here at Peace, Light & Love For Dogs.

1) What exactly will happen to my dog if my dog gets it right?

Depending on if it's a new skill or a skill already known depends on what happens. Your dog may just get a click and a small treat. Your dog may get a click, or YES!, and a party thrown. There will be rewards and those rewards may range from treats, playing a game of tug, a frolic and sniff, playtime with a toy, or some serious lovings. It really depends on what your dog enjoys most. And, we will always work with our clients to find out what motivates them to learn the best.

2) What exactly will happen to my dog if my dog gets it wrong?

Well, nothing will happen TO your dog. We have a strict no punishment rule. We will NEVER hit your dog, harm your dog or punish your dog. We use only kind and humane methods. Now, what will happen is we will stop and try to figure out why your dog isn't "getting it". We will look at several questions: "Are we moving too fast for the dog?" "Is the dog being overloaded with distractions?" "Is there something wrong with the way we're asking the dog to perform the cue?" Simply stated, if your dog isn't getting it, then WE are doing something wrong...not the dog and we want to always set up dogs to succeed so we will work at finding out where it went wrong.

3) Are there less invasive/aversice alternative to what you propose?

We have not found them yet if there is so our answer is "NO!" Now, as our clients always are told, we are always learning more as science and behavior becomes more mainstream so if there is a less invasive way, we will gladly work towards using that!

There you have it. This is our answers for the questions Jean posed to us. We are very happy to take part of this. I feel transparency in everything we do is important. There is no smoke or mirrors, no expensive collar, or some magic to what we do. What we do is simple. We want to work with your dogs capabilities to learn and help enrich the owner/dog bond.

As always, we look forward to seeing your dog and you out and about or even just in your yard. And yes, always ask questions and get references from potential dog trainers before you even let them near your dog!

How can we say goodbye

Today is one of those days where I am reminded that every dog I work with I form an attachment with. Their success is part of me. Their failure is part of me. I fall in love a thousand times.

It has taken a long time but when Greyson lays his head on my leg, looks up at me with those dark eyes and just sighs my heart melts. I've worked long and hard on our bond. It's one of the reasons I use only positive reinforcement now. I love the bond that is formed between dog and dog owner. I relish in seeing an owner know that their dog is truly happy.

I was in the paper last week and the headline in the middle page said "I don't train dogs. I teach owners to work with their dog's capabilities. " It is a phrase I  stand by. I love when an owner checks in and is so excited about what their dog can do and to see the dog happy brings me joy.

In the process I thrive on the interaction with the dog. I love being able to have them eager to work on cue for me and be thrilled to do it. Every time a dog greets me with a wagging tail and happy smile I melt just like I do with Greyson.

I bond as well with our dogs we work with. To have the dog come running at me to sit and get rewarded with even a pat on the head is important to me.

This past summer I held puppy classes. Toby was one of our students.  His owner is the type of student who wants to do it all right. She cooked for Toby. She clicked and treated his good behavior. She checked in routinely and we visited together. Part of our teaching is that we are a lifetime support. We are here to help. Always!

Toby was diagnosed with HGE disease.
( http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/hemorrhagic-gastroenteritis-in-dogs/764) Toby was treated and came home. He went back to being normal, silly Toby. This Monday we met at the pet store to discuss him joining a group class as an adult dog. He was skittish of men so we wanted to make sure he was comfortable in the setting. When a man came into view we got his attention and he took treats and was doing well so he was a perfect candidate for group class.

Last night his HGE came back. He had already been at the vet for IV fluids and his owner was doing all the right things still. Today he lost his battle. He passed away and to say I'm sad is an understatement.  I love our client dogs and I take this personally.  To lose a dog so young is heartbreaking. 

Then I start to think of Greyson's mortality. How is that a dog who has had everything possible done to him and had all the wrong treatment AND a shortened life span and he is still here. Life is truly unfair. Tonight I will stay home and curl up with Grey and be thankful for life's little miracles.

This picture is Toby when I visited him. His transformation from goofy puppy, to gangly teenager was an honor to be part of. To say he lived with positive in his life because of me is an honor!

Now, let's be fair...

A lot of times some other trainer will say "Well, my methods fix dogs and are easier to do!" Normally these trainers use pain or force when it comes to dog training. And, I will admit it just this one time...punishment does work BUT punishment must be done at the exact precise second, be the appropriate amount of punishment and let's be honest...most owners will fail on both counts. The punishment will come well AFTER the crime and the punishment will not fit the crime. 

That being said, you're probably wondering why I'm talking about punishment when I abhor it so much. Well, Kayla, my assistant went to the State Fair yesterday. She went and was looking at the dogs and most of the dogs there from Illinois Humane of Springfield and Springfield Animal Protective League had on prong collars and shock collars. Now, if these organizations are SO up on the times why are they still using methods from the 70s?? Kayla brought it up and next thing she knew she was being yelled at by some cocky trainer named Joe Blankenship who is toting himself as a behavior expert. (The website originally stated he was a canine behaviorist but it suddenly has been changed!) According to his facebook page he went into business in July of 2013. I'm sure that month of classes he's been holding has made him an expert! I should also mention that as soon as Kayla brought up the fact she is in school for dog training he went nuts and demanded the cops be called to remove her. I'm amazed at how professional this guy is! A little girl of 120 pounds scared him enough to make him start screaming for the police  WOW! Hate to see what he would do with a human aggressive dog. Oh wait, he would just hang it until it gives up or hold it down until it stops snapping at him. He is a graduate of Tom Rose Dog Training School. Good for him. Here is some of the reviews I found for that school:

  "All I know is, I've seen some pretty piss poor "certified" helpers come out of there."
  
  "The Tom Rose School is not far from where I live/work, so there are a number of the school's graduates working in my area. Please, please think about attending a different school. I've seen what happens to dogs those people have trained. Once perfectly confident, stable dogs suddenly develop all sorts of fear problems, complete with peeing all over themselves. I don't know what exactly is taught at the school, so it's possible the graduates aren't following the directions they were given, but I have to wonder why more than one of them thinks it's a great idea to start puppy training by sticking a shock collar on it and zapping it for every mistake. I know groomers and kennel workers who have worked alongside trainers who went through the Tom Rose School, and I've heard all kinds of behind the scenes horror stories that I could potentially get into legal trouble for if I repeated them here. "

Ouch! So, my question is simple...why is the Illinois State Fair still having people come in to help with dogs who have this kind of attitude? Even the gun dog trainer was speaking about positive reinforcement today! David Dodd who was one of the "experts" they had do demonstrations with Joe Blankenship was once dismissed from a court as a witness because the judge found he had no education or training in order to be a credible witness. Doesn't that speak volumes by itself? 

So, here's my challenge to the Illinois State Fair (Department of Agriculture), Illinois Humane of Springfield, AND Springfield Animal Protective League and EVERY OTHER ORGANIZATION who is using these types of methods. Man up and learn to train a dog. Learn to train a dog so you don't have to cause them pain. Learn to train a dog so you can bond with them and have a mutual level of respect. Stop taking the "easy" way out and damaging dogs. Furthermore  the AVSAB position statements can be found HERE!  So, no need to believe me! Go look for yourselves. You can clearly see that the American Vet Society of Animal Behavior has denounced dominance AND punishment. 

Now should you want to contact any of those people above who's voice makes a difference, here is their email addresses and how to contact them:

Department of Agriculture: agr.pio@illinois.gov
Illinois Humane of Springfield: jmcbridenator@gmail.com
Springfield Animal Protective League: http://www.apl-shelter.org/dotnetnuke/ContactUs/tabid/128/Default.aspx You can use the drop down box to change it to send the message to the president of the APL. 

Demand that these people use better training practices rather than shocking dogs and using torture equipment! 

Even I get it wrong

This past few weeks have been chaos. I have puppy classes running, private classes, planning on heading to Ohio in two weeks for a seminar. Even typing it makes me tired. Oh, and I'm setting up a new website AND planning basic obedience group classes. No rest for the wicked, I say! In the mix of all that, there is my personal dog, Greyson.

Grey greeted me every time I came home at the door with his tail wagging and seemed like a happy camper. I would lay down and he would curl up on the floor next to where ever I was. My first real afternoon and evening off, I curled up on the couch and encouraged Greyson to join me. Instead, he went into the other room and laid down. My first thought was that he was bothered by me being going so much.

I started to analyze how Greyson greets me. Tail up, wagging, loose body language, and typical good natured Greyson. There's never been a doubt in my mind that Grey didn't love me. I take good care of him, we've bonded through our training sessions, and he is happy go lucky with me at home. So why when I started not being home as much did I think he was changing his attitude towards me? Simple....I was feeling bad for what I was doing.

Greyson had adapted to my weird flip flopping schedule and while he still sniffs every inch of me when I come home to make sure I don't smell like a dog he knows, he never holds a grudge. And now that I look at it, dogs don't hold grudges! So how did I become convinced that he was upset? Well, I was feeling guilty.

So, after coming to this realization I started to look at other aspects of our lives with Greyson where I was wrong. Like the fact that he doesn't get to go to events with me. I always thought it was unfair to him to have to sit at home while I went to all these places, but I realize (and it was literally an AH HA moment) that Greyson doesn't care. Greyson is comfortable at home. He feels safe, no stress to make him panic (most days) and he is comfortable to be himself. Some dogs don't ever go out to events and be in the public all that much. I come home and love him, that's what makes his world tick. So once again, WHY am I stressing out about this?

I'm projecting my feelings onto Greyson. I see this a lot in dog training. "My dog is mad at me so he ate my shoes!" "I didn't come home when I was supposed to so my dog went potty in his crate!" "My dog didn't like that I wouldn't share my food with him so he dumped over the trash can!"

Now, let's look at each of these.

1)You dog ate your shoes? Did you leave them in his space? In other words, have you taught him what is his and what isn't his? Did you explain this to him in doggie language? Does the dog know that not everything in his domain (i.e. the floor) is his? Nine times out of ten the answer I get back is "Well, no." There you go! He isn't upset with you! He just simply doesn't know those aren't his to chew!

2) The dog went potty in his crate/bed/your bed/your floor? When was the last time he went potty? Did you feed him and then leave him to go in his crate or area of the house? Did you take him out to eliminate after he ate? How old is the dog and is he capable of holding his bladder for that long? If you depended on someone to take you out to potty and they didn't show up when you normally scheduled to go out, what do you think would happen? You would probably potty where you weren't supposed to.

3) Your dog knocked over the trash can? Does he normally do this after you throw something away? I prefer trash cans with lids or having the trash can where the dog can't get to it behind a gated area.

So we see that I'm not the only person who does this. We project how we think they feel onto our dogs when normally there is a simple answer for their behavior. In our case, Greyson is very happy being at home and not being taken places where he is going to be stressed out. He's happy to see me when I come home and he isn't pouting because I was gone. In fact he was probably pouting because during my nap I was snoring like a lumberjack! :)

And in the meantime Grey will continue to love life in a low stress environment!

Do or Do Not, There is no Try

Goals...do you make them with your dog in mind? I remember one of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was "Go home, make a list of what you want to be able to do with your dog. Make an entire list. They can be anything short term, long term, what you want to do tomorrow with him or a year from now. Write them all down." I did just that. The list was rather short. 

• Pass Obedience 101.
• Be able to go in the car without being puked on.
• Be able to walk in the park.

I went back to class and showed them to the trainer. She giggled and told me to please take the lesson seriously. I thought I had. I made goals. I did what she asked. Well, okay so I didn't put a lot of thought into it. I looked at Greyson as being defective and that was how I was writing the goal list. Shame on me. Shame on me for not believing he was capable of more than just walking in a park. 

“[Luke:] I can’t believe it. [Yoda:] That is why you fail.”

Have faith in yourself, in your dog and really reach for the stars. If I wrote that list today, over a year later, I'm pretty sure it would be a totally different list. In fact I know it would be. It would probably be a page and a half long. And now I know that Grey is capable of some very amazing things. 

See, it's all about putting what your dog is capable into perspective. By looking at short term goals and long term goals you have solid points you can cross off. They can be as simple as my "Be able to walk in the park" or as wild as "Gain a title as a champion trick dog". What I'm saying most though is, don't cut your dog short. Your dog is only limited by what you are capable of teaching him or her. Nowhere does it say you have to leave your house to gain a trick dog title. Nope, you can do that right from your living room! And if you think I'm kidding, I can explain further on how. 

The biggest lesson I learned though was to not cut Greyson short just by thinking he wasn't capable of things. I still remember how on a Pit Bull Zen Pack Walk I almost cried. Here we were, surrounded by dogs and other owners and Grey was just cruising along. Right next to other dogs and not a problem! People passing him on bikes, roller blades, people with their dogs and no problem! He did get tangled in his leash once and face planted but that was MY fault and not his. Here was my crazy, reactive dog and he was just being a dog, enjoying a great walk and was so exhausted afterwards he slept the entire way back to my parent's house. I was one proud mom! Granted he did introduce himself to another dog by slamming his paws into their face (AND that dog was blind) but the other dog just took it in stride and even spent a good amount of time walking with Greyson. He made me one proud Mommy ..and probably people thought I was crazy cause normally he just is a hot ball of mess with new people.

So, in short, make goals. Make them anything you want to. They don't have to be done in the next week, month or even a year from now. Now, take that list, and pin it to the fridge. You will be amazed at how quickly you start checking off those goals. Just keep at it. Keep working with your dog and see how many you can check off the list. 

And, while we're at it, here is some of the stuff on our list. :) 

Pass Obedience 101.
Be able to go in the car without being puked on.
Be able to walk in the park.
Go on a play date 
Learn focus protocol
Go an entire week without climbing into bed before morning.
Be able to complete day 15 of relaxation protocol in public.
Use focus protocol in public when necessary.
Learn 5 new tricks.
Learn 10 new tricks.
Pass CGC test.
Be left alone for 4 hours without dragging out my pajama pants.
Attend a party.
Attend a BBQ outside.
Attend a training clinic.

You get the idea...it's about making lists and then every chance you get to cross one off do it! Now, go make a list of goals and be as wild as you want to be! You never know what you'll be able to accomplish! 

Accidently reinforcing bad behaviors

A lot of times I see people trying to calm a dog who is clearly stressing by petting and loving on a dog. This has even happened in my own house. Dog barks, you acknowledge the dog and let him in; dog jumps when you walk in the door, you pet him and say, "Oh! You've missed me"; or, a dog growls when scared and you reach down placing your hand on his head muttering that the dog is okay. So, let's break it down and look at what you're doing when you do those things.

By petting or trying to reassure Fido when he's doing something bad, you are feeding him the attention he wants. You're showing him, "Okay, nip at me so I pet you." Or, "Okay, jump all over the place when someone walks in the door".

So what do we do instead?  I always ask for a sit. Some dogs are not comfortable sitting, so go with your dogs most comfortable position. When I walk in the door, I ask "Sit" and until I receive a solid sit, I turn away and ignore. I even avoid eye contact as some dogs can be intimidated if you stare at them and even watching them is contact at the basest form. So, I turn away and face my door. I watch carefully up in the reflection of the glass. Once Fido sits and has calmed, then I acknowledge him. If he starts to get up and move again to jump around, I turn away again.

Now, say I'm having company over? I start off by filling a Kong with a mix of what I call half and half of love. It's Greyson's favorite Kong treat. It's half peanut butter and half ground pure pumpkin. Grey loves it. So, I give him a fully filled Kong right before the first guest walks in. Now here's the hard part. Everyone who walks in my house has already been given instructions. It's the no contact rule. If you can't ignore the dog until he calms, well I probably won't have you over again.
Reinforcing proper behavior isn't as easy as it sounds. A lot of times it may feel like a battle of wills, but between management and ignoring and moving away until you can reinforce the good behavior, you'll be setting your dog up for success and not trying to correct failing behavior.

The picture is Greyson waiting calmly while we have company over.