Training

I love the Whole Dog Journal and have implemented many of your positive dog training techniques and suggestions with our dog, Izzy. I hope that you may be able to further help us with her issue. Izzy is a wonderful 31/2-year-old Australian Shepherd/Border Collie-mix. She’s super smart and well-trained, with lots of energy and a constant need for learning and exercise. In the last couple years, however, her canine aggression has gotten to be a problem (I’m guessing it’s a protective instinct). She barks (like a yell) and confronts people in a number of situations.

Counter conditioning and desensitization (CC&D) involves changing your pup's association with a scary stimulus from negative to positive. The easiest way to give most pups a positive association is with very high-value, really yummy treats. I like to use chicken – canned, baked or boiled.

Radio talk show psychologist Dr. Joy Browne offers her listeners a stress-reducing “Square Breathing” technique. To relax before or during any potentially anxiety-producing experience, try square breathing: Inhale to the count of four, hold to the count of four, exhale to the count of four, and hold for four. With practice, you can increase each side of the “square” to a count of eight or even 20; the longer the count, the slower and more calming the breathing.

Counter-conditioning involves changing your dog’s association with a scary or arousing stimulus from negative to positive. Desensitization is starting with a very low-level intensity of aversive stimulus until the dog habituates to (or changes his association with) the aversive, and then gradually increasing the strength until the dog is comfortable with the stimulus at full intensity. The easiest way to give most dogs a positive association and to help them become comfortable with a stimulus is with very high-value, really yummy treats. I like to use chicken – canned, baked, or boiled; most dogs love chicken. Here’s how the CC&D process works.

With your dog sitting at your side, hold her food bowl at chest level, and tell her to “wait.” Move the bowl (with food it in, topped with tasty treats) toward the floor 4 to 6 inches. If your dog stays sitting, click your clicker and feed her a treat from the bowl. If your dog gets up, say “Oops!” and ask her to sit again. If she remains sitting, lower the bowl 4 to 6 inches again, click and treat.

Touch dog’s shoulder with one hand, feed treat with other hand, remove both hands. Repeat multiple times until touch to the shoulder elicits an automatic look for the other hand to arrive with treat. Move touch process to various other parts of dog’s head and body until a touch anywhere on the dog elicits an auto-look for the delivery of a treat. Pay extra attention to any body part where your touch seems to elicit a more intense response from the dog.

Many years ago, when I was a Customer Care Supervisor at the Marin Humane Society, in Novato, California, we received a frantic phone call from a woman who had glanced over her fence and noticed her neighbor’s adolescent Dalmatian tangled up in her tie-out rope so badly that she couldn’t move. Rushing to the address, the Society’s humane officer did, indeed, find the tangled dog, but there was something suspicious about the scene. The rope was coiled and knotted so neatly around the dog’s legs that it left no room for doubt in the officer’s mind.

I think it’s really important for dog trainers to get a lot of experience being a student before becoming a teacher. Take as many classes as you can, in numerous disciplines, with your own dog. You’ll learn how different classes are structured and what you like and don’t like about them. When not actively working with your own dog, observe the other students and see how the instructor works with a variety of dogs and people.

Despite a lagging economy, the pet care industry continues to thrive, experiencing a steady increase for the past 17 years. According to the American Pet Products Association, we spent more than $50 billion on our animal friends in 2011. With an estimated 46 million American households owning at least one dog, many long-time dog lovers are considering a career partnership with man’s best friend. Regardless of what inspires you to explore a career training dogs, it’s critically important to recognize that, above all, dog training is a profession. As such, there are many important considerations and obligations to be aware of.

The dog's behavior makes something good happen. Positive

so he's trying it again.üIs this dog dominant or acting like an "alpha dog"? No; he's been trained to jump up and bite on cue."

Properly used, the crate is a marvelous training and management tool. Improperly used, it can be a disaster. Overcrating, traumatic, or stimulating experiences while crated, improper introduction to the crate, and isolation or separation anxieties are the primary causes of crating disasters. If, for whatever reason, your dog is not a fan of the artificial den you've provided for him, and assuming he can't be trusted home alone uncrated, here are some things you can do...