Our goal is to help you raise a happy, well behaved dog, and the key to a dog's happiness is stability. Creating clear boundaries & limitations reduces stress & bad behavior.
We need to make a commitment to meet our dog's instinctual needs. In nature, dogs wake up, hunt, relax/play, sleep, and repeat. The Alpha, has the responsibility to lead the pack to food & protect. This is one of the reasons walking our dogs in follower mode (next to us or behind) is so important. Symbolically, we are reminding our dog that we are in charge, and they can relax and enjoy the walk.
We can show you how to communicate with your dog in a calm fashion, so that he respects & OBEYS your commands (especially NO!) without a leash, collar or even touching the dog.
To do this, you must establish yourself as the unequivocal leader. Once this is done (and can be done in a matter of minutes if done properly), all you have to do from here on out is maintain. Dogs will not challenge leadership if they feel they cannot take that top spot.
Of course you brought a dog into your home to share a loving bond & for companionship, not to be a drill sergeant. We understand this & agree completely. Our dogs are FAMILY too. They are not robots by any stretch. However, they do know their place. They show us respect by looking at us every time we say their names, not pulling on a leash, not jumping on us, obeying us when we give a command or tell them not to take the baby's food or bark, etc. Therefore they enjoy the freedoms & rewards well behaved dogs can have: sleeping on the bed with us, up on the couch, off leash freedom, road trips & visits to family & friends without that "oh she's bringing that damn dog again". Well behaved dogs are welcomed & therefore happier than having to stay home because they might knock over grandma when they jump.
Leadership reduces stress
Taking on the role of leadership, helps your dog relax & enjoy being a dog. Dogs that pull on leash or bark /lunge at others are anxious because they feel like they have to protect you, or themselves. This creates severe anxiety in naturally submissive dogs, and blatant aggression in status-seeking dogs.
You need to have the dog see you as an authority figure, rather than a playmate. This does NOT mean "bullying a dog" or "showing him who is boss". Being a good leader means being a calm, confident authority figure. Someone to protect & provide guidance, peace of mind.
Effective leadership humbles the bold dog, and gives confidence to the timid dog. Although the overall philosophy is that leadership is needed for all dogs, we go about it differently, according to the dog's temperament. Dogs that are overly confident need to be put in their place, while dogs that are extremely nervous need a quieter, non-threatening approach. You use the Minimum Effective Dose of discipline to achieve the goal.
How do you do all of this? Well, it starts off by walking your dog in the proper form. We will teach you how to walk your dog so that he pays 100% attention on YOU, no matter what the distractions are.
Walking Your Dog Properly
Most breeds were originally bred for stamina, yet we expect our dogs to lay down quietly for most of the day & make do with just a few short walks. This goes against instinct. Most behavioral problems stem from lack of exercise & stimulation.
Dogs naturally want to pull on the leash because they want to go faster. Since they are usually stronger than us, we get tugged along and they are rewarded by their perseverance. Not only is this putting unnecessary pressure on your dog's neck, but the most harmless dog can trigger a dog fight by pulling his owner in this way.
The purpose of walking your dog on leash is not only to tire them out, but to build focus on you. This is a daily reminder that you are the leader. Your dog should give you eye contact when you slow down, speed up, or change directions. This is the foundation of all the commands.
Your dog should be able to ignore other dogs, people, kids on bicycles, squirrels, trucks, etc. & focus entirely on YOU. once you've achieve this basic goal, your dog has earned the PRIVILEDGE of sniffing & checking things out. Here is an example:
Now that this dog responds to his name when he's out ahead sniffing, he can have more freedom. The more you can gain your dog's focus in intense situations, the more freedoms he earns. Everything else builds upon this. Now you build on this by adding more & more distractions. This is the core of all leadership.
On social issues
Dogs live in a social hierarchy world and we can show you how to communicate in their language. We teach your dog not just about commands, but how to get your dog to respect you so that he OBEYS your commands.
We help you make sure the dog is properly socialized towards other dogs & towards people. Most of what they learn is from interacting with other dogs & people. Adult dogs teach the young dogs social order & respect for their own kind. Our dogs here are all balanced & either trained, or in the process of. If you see any of our videos, you'll notice that all the dogs have soft faces & their tails are in the middle-signs that the dogs are relaxed and having fun.
When dogs aren't properly socialized, they have no way of learning the subtle signs of others. They also have a hard time sending the proper signals themselves to avoid trouble.
This does not mean that you cannot socialize an older puppy or dog, it's just important to have guidance from a professional in addition to good natured dogs.
Dogs need to learn to be with their own kind. They are social creatures, just like us & keeping them in isolation isn't fair to their primary needs. Imagine you living in a pack of wolves? It's selfish to think you are all they need. You get to go out into the world every day. Shouldn't your dog get out of the fenced in yard? No matter how big your yard is, your dog thinks of it as jail. Fences aren't natural to dogs & cause a plethora of social issues. Although I do understand they are helpful in providing safety for your dog, they should be used for quick potty breaks or for playing safely in the yard with the kids.They need to get out on walks daily to meet their mental & physical needs. And walking your dog every day is a great way to remind him every single day that he is to walk at your pace, going in your direction. The more you do this properly, the better dog you will have. I promise you that.
We show you in training how to read dog's minds & predict their actions based on their ears & tails. We can tell when a dog is about to bark or cause mischief. I bet you can too, you just have never studied it like we have.
As I was describing to a client in training yesterday how important the dog's ears are, she reflected that the series usually goes like this:
The small dog's ears perk up, then he runs to the window, then he barks like crazy, then the big dog gets up & joins in. now there is complete mayhem... So learning how to stop the series at stage 1 can prevent the chain of events.
Status Building
Dogs live life in a social hierarchy, arranging themselves by status order. The strongest & smartest get the best food & the best sleeping places. Good pack leaders make sure their subordinates are well fed, comfortable, & safe.
Puppies spend their first 6 months assessing the weakness & strengths of other pack members (canine & human). They play with their pack members to determine where they belong in the pack. It seems like they are just playing, but in reality they are putting us & other dogs they encounter through a series of tests. A simple game of tug-of-war seems harmless & fun to play with our pups, however depending on your pup's temperament, it could be a challenge. They want to see who is the strongest mentally & physically. This is one of the reasons it's a bad idea to play this game with a dog or puppy that is (or will be eventually) stronger than you. The more of these little games they win, the more entitled they feel. We don't even notice a lot of these challenges because we are lost in our human world.
Everyday challenges we overlook
Walking through door ways is something we mindlessly do multiple times a day. In our dogs mind it is a status contest. Dogs that think they deserve high status will barge through trying to be first in a room. We don't notice this, but to an ambitious dog, it's an indication they should be in charge.
When we give in to whatever our dogs want, we are telling them that everything is on their terms & we are the subordinate. Examples of this are: demanding to be pet, barking for a treat, scratching at the door to go out, demanding play, pulling on walks, and jumping.
Being pushy & attempting to get your own way at all times is likely to wear down the competition so that they give in to your demands. This is what our dogs do to us. The only solution is to beat them at their own game. This can be difficult depending on the stubbornness of your dog, & how long they have been able to get away with this behavior...
A Study on Prong Collars was done in Germany:
100 dogs were in the study. 50 used choke and 50 used prong.
The dogs were studied for their entire lives. As dogs died, autopsies were performed.
Of the 50 which had chokes, 48 had injuries to the neck, trachea, or back. 2 of those were determined to be genetic. The other 46 were caused by trauma.
Of the 50 which had prongs, 2 had injuries in the neck area, 1 was determined to be genetic. 1 was caused by trauma.
The numbers seem to speak for themselves. (Information about above study taken from an Anne Marie Silverton Seminar)
A short list of people/dog teams that have benefited from the use of prong collars.
Small people with large dogs.
Any person with a dog that seems calm but suddenly bursts into action in some circumstances.
People with dogs that are pullers. (dogs choke/gag on a slip collar or ignore a buckle collar)
Disabled people with limited strength or range-of-motion to properly 'snap' correct a dog wearing a slip collar. A light touch is all that is needed. Sometimes the collars are put into a cloth tube (like a scrunchy).
Persons with dogs with damaged trachea or collapsing tracheas.
Persons 'fine-tuning' a dog's responses to commands.
Bouncy puppies that are difficult to control in any other collars.
Walking more than one of these dogs at the same time -- you don't want ride your belly like a skate board while 200 or 300 some pounds of Anatolian in a team or troika take off with you.
Walking a large protective dog at night in an area where the normally calm dog is walking high on his toes, ready to react before you are. He is on 'predator alert'. http://www.cobankopegi.com/prong.html
Reasons our dogs should not pull on leash
When dogs pull, they are putting pressure on their trachea & choking (obviously this doesn't bother them!)
Whoever walks in the lead is responsible for safety (this is especially important for anxious & little dogs)
Safety. When your dog pulls to see another dog, it can cause a fight. Most "aggressive" dogs are not aggressive with people but with dogs from lack of exposure to other friendly dogs. In the dog world, it is very rude to come straight at another dog (Imagine a stranger running up & giving you a bear hug). This can trigger a fight or flight response. When a dog is on leash, we are taking away their flight option so their only defense is fighting.
I hope this has given you a good overview of how we can help you achieve your goals. Please fill out an application if you would like to start training. If you would like to come by & meet with us, we can schedule a few minutes to chat with you. You may bring your dog as well. Please still fill out an application so we have all the info we need to discuss your specific dog problems & goals.
Doggie Fun and Fitness Center
