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!

BSL, Little People and Saving America's Dog from being banned.

The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind.  As we enter winter months group classes in the park have wound down and we have been picking up more private sessions than anything.

A couple weekends ago we were at the St. Louis Pet Expo. It was my first huge expo and while it went well, events like this is a huge amount of stress for me. Seeing dog after dog in choke, prong and shock collars is rough on me. Seeing those dogs on tight leashes going nose to nose with random dogs they don't know is even more stressful.  I saw small dogs snapping at large dogs, and large dogs getting yanked and cranked on their leashes. Yes, I needed a shutdown protocol after all that.

I did get to talk to Shorty Rossi of Animal Planet's Pit Boss show though and meet a lot of people who want to remove BSL in Missouri towns.

Shorty, Hercules and me at the St. Louis Pet Expo

The next day one of the people here who had adopted a husky contacted me. They wanted to know if there way any way I could help a family in Missouri. The family lives in a town where there is a breed ban and they had been given a week to remove their dogs from the town. The dogs were rehomed and the family is doing everything possible to try and get the ban lifted. 

There is a reason BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) doesn't work. People who own pit bulls and pit mixes who use them for bad will simply just house them in a basement or where they can't be seen. Meanwhile, the families who have well behaved dogs, who have never hurt anyone or anything are ripped apart and have to rehome their family member. BSL doesn't punish bad owners, it punishes the good owners who have done nothing wrong. 

The cost to maintain BSL is very expensive. Animal Control Officers are constantly having to go on calls burning up fuel in their trucks, being paid after hours, and if they take a dog who is CLEARLY not a pit bull, then they have to fight a very expensive legal battle. Most owners, even who have done nothing wrong will simply hide the dog. Now you have a person who doesn't want to break the law breaking the law. The city now has to pay to euthanize healthy dogs. For every shot they use, every turning on of a gas chamber it costs money. Training is expensive for officers and animal control officers. 

To identify a pit bull dog is very difficult. Even people who have the breed can't agree. How is Animal Control and Police Officers supposed to identify a pit bull? What percentage of pit mix makes the dog fall under the ban law? Is every square boxy head going to be confiscated? Where does it stop? So a lab who is bulky will be banned? Most dogs are mutts and they obviously don't come with a pedigree. And DNA testing? DNA is not all that reliable. I've seen dogs who look like pit bulls and the DNA comes back that they are part Papillion. 

BSL started to stop dog bites. Responsibility stops dog bites. Education stops dog bites. Leash laws and Spay/Neuter stops dog bites. Banning an entire breed that can't even be recognized on sight does NOT stop dog bites. It's not the dogs who are dangerous, it's the person holding the leash (or in a lot of cases not holding the leash) is the danger. It starts with education and showing the public that these dogs are not demons. 

Talk to your councilmen. Show them your well behaved dogs. Talk to your community. Get out there and educate people! Bring in trainers who can show what fun a well trained pit bull can be. Teach your dog manners so when out in public the dog isn't a hot mess. And NEVER EVER bring a dog to a rally or an event who has the potential to be a headline in the making. I KNOW they can be good dogs! I see it ever day with clients, shelter dogs, and friend's dogs. 

Now, if you would like to see the dogs from Florissant, MO that have been removed from the city you can go HERE. And I caution you about EVER taking a banned dog into a city that has a breed ban. When I was trying to save two dogs in my breed neutral town here in Illinois, the Animal Control Administrator said to my client "If it was any other breed, we wouldn't be having this talk". Those two dogs are dead. 

Now, for fun....go to Pick The Pit and play the game. I got it right on the first try, but as the statistics state, the average is 9 tries to get it right! Leave a comment here on the blog and let us know how many tries it took you! 

Worst Idea Ever

So, upon my nightly cruising of the internet I found an ad on Facebook that caught my eye. "Register your Emotional Support Animal". My first response was pretty typical of me..."What the heck is an Emotional Support Animal???" Then I realized what I was looking at.

It is a website that allows you to register your dog as a "service" dog and then buy certificates for it. I am floored by this! I have a friend who is a very nice all around guy who has a dog who he has had to fight to keep because of her breed and she helps him with his PTSD. He's a former Afghanistan Vet and she soothes him. The hell he has went through to keep her because of her breed has been insane but it has worked out. To see a "company" basically selling certificates just makes me queasy.

Dogs who are untested, unproofed, and basically not setup for success at being a service dog can now be a service dog. Wait! That makes no sense! This is a liability waiting to happen. This is a chance for the humans once again to screw it up for the legitimate service animals who are working their rears off for their humans.

Ever wonder why so many places don't allow dogs? It's things like this that cause that. The website is in no way affiliated with the ADA and I suggest that if you want a service animal you have your dog tested, trained and skilled in the ability they need. Otherwise, don't screw it up for everyone else!

Here is a link to the site should you wish to pelt them with rotten tomatoes...or just tell them they are going to ruin a good thing for so many deserving people! http://www.servicedogregistration.org/ Oh, and should anyone ever tell you "Fill out this webform and your dog can go anywhere it wants for free" is full of crap!

</Rant off>

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! 

Learning to Focus

Lately I've been working hard on organizing group classes. It's been a pretty good success. We had a lot of interest and our turn out has been good. I'm thankful the public is finally seeing that training is key to a happy and healthy dog.

I've also picked up more private session clients which means I am keeping busy. Between homework and clients and a day job, I'm pretty sure sleep is becoming more and more optional. We do not advertise. We have fliers and cards, but all our business comes from word of mouth (and perhaps my big mouth, but that's another story). We survive off client referrals and we are thankful for each and every person who refers us!

Let's see, in the last two weeks, I drove almost to Arkansas, met a dog who reminds me so much of Greyson it could be his long lost twin (other than she's 8 months old and no where near the same breed mix), had Greyson get extremely ill, had to tell a family their dog is dog aggressive and they shouldn't let him try to make new friends, oh and we secured a building for training classes.

Back to the whole dog aggressive thing though. It's something I have experience in. I live with it day in and day out. Sometimes it's called Dog Reactive, Dog Selective or downright Dog Aggressive. Greyson didn't start out this way. He played with the neighbors dogs when he was young. I thought he would be golden with all dogs. Imagine my surprise when he wasn't. It really made me step back and review what I could have possibly done wrong.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. It's not what was done wrong. It's not what I didn't do with him. It's just...well...he's a dog. And just like humans, not all dogs like all other dogs. Greyson has playmates. He has Cupcake. Being that he doesn't enjoy 99% of the dog population doesn't mean that he can't have a full and happy life. It means we work harder to avoid situations that will set him up for failure.

So how do we do that and exist you ask? I taught Greyson to "Focus". We started out small. I asked for simple eye contact at first. Just glance at me and you get treats. Of course, Grey being Grey and being highly food motivated helps here. Look at me and boom you get cheese cube! Suddenly I had a dog who always wanted to look at me. Please note: I did NOT feed him cheese every time he looked at me. We did it to the point where Greyson was willing to play the lottery with me in hopes of getting treats.

As we slowly upped the ante, we moved out in the real world. Obviously just being in the living room wasn't going to work. He HAD to leave the house sooner or later. So, I sat down and wrote out a training protocol to train Greyson with a cue of "Focus". I then had it proofread by two others, one being a CPDT Trainer and the other being Kayla. Then I put that baby in motion.

In no time Greyson was making some great strides. Then we hit a plateau and we stumbled back a few steps. It was my fault though. Anytime you increase Distance, Duration, Different Environment, or Delivery of Reward you have to lower other criteria. I didn't do that. I realized it though and we moved on past it.

The "Jackpot" came at the pet store when someone with a small dog came around the corner as I was paying on a retractable. One quick "Grey Focus" and he was on it! He sat looking up at my nose like it was going to jump off my face and do tricks. As soon as I was done paying I think I shoved about 5 treats in his mouth as I was loving on him and "Good Boy"ing him like crazy. A situation that could have become very volatile VERY quick was saved by a single word and a lot of saying the word in sessions throughout a few weeks.

The kicker of this is even though Greyson knows the cue for "focus" it has to be practiced. Training isn't something you can do, chalk it up to being known and never work on it again. Training is continual. We have to keep up sessions with our dogs. It not only strengthens the bond with them but it keeps their minds active and honestly it's tiring to a dog. I'll never forget a session with a client and their German Shepherd where the dog was exhausted from working and went and laid at the door to go out. Keep the sessions short and focused. Use everyday events as a training exercise! Going for a quick stroll? Take your treat bag and work on "heel" as you go. Your dog will be exhausted and satisfied at the end!

So, in close, having a dog who doesn't like every other dog you meet isn't the end of the world. It doesn't mean you can't ever leave your house again. It means you have to have a very trained dog who is well behaved is what it means. Can you go to dog parks? Nope. Can you go off leash all the time? No (and there are laws against that anyway for a reason). Can you go to doggie daycare? Nope! But your dog can still go places with you. Your dog can be a Canine Good Citizen, a champion trick dog, or just a dog who his family loves and takes him on vacations with them. It doesn't change who your dog is, just changes what you teach him to do!

And for now I leave you with a picture of Greyson from this morning. He decided it wasn't worth it to get out of bed. Please ignore the goopy eye (he's still getting over being sick).