When people call me wanting to know if I can help them with their dog’s aggressive behavior, they often want me to see the behaviors. Believe it or not, Behavior Consultants don’t need to see a behavior to help you and your dog with a behavior.
Many trainers like to make a dog act up so they can use equipment, such as a pinch collar or an e-collar, to shut them down. It is a great feeling for the owners. They get to actually see their dog do things like a “normal” dog. The problem is that many times the dog doesn’t know why they had to stop. They don’t know that we are trying to teach them, “do this, not that”. They just know that they get corrected when they do a behavior, see something, or feel a certain way. This in turn creates what I call, a loaded weapon. So many times, in sessions I have seen dog’s trained like this realize they are not under control when the handler is changed, or when the equipment is taken off. There is nothing like standing in a room with a 120lb dog, watching it realize mom has the leash instead of dad, and being the only person that can save the other dog in the room when the 120lbs charges…
Behavior Consultants typically don’t do things this way. We will talk quite a bit before the training session because knowing a dog’s history and the way humans have handles the situations, up to this point, is much more helpful for us when analyzing and mapping out a training plan. Towards the end of the consultation, when the dog is nice and calm, and maybe even comfortable with the training facility surroundings, that’s when the magic can start to happen. Every trainer does things different, but in the end, a good trainer can teach a dog to begin to puzzle through life’s stressful situations. I use play therapy, movement, puzzles, and basic obedience to teach dogs to think before they act. This method creates a THINKING DOG instead of the push button dogs we used to train when I worked with police dogs. In real life dogs will encounter situations where processing through a situation could save their lives. I tell all of my clients to expect management to fall down at some point in a dog’s life. Wouldn’t it be nice for them to realize things are outside of the norm and look for direction instead of just taking things into their own paws because no one can control them at that moment?
Do you want to get started helping your dog handle life’s situations better? This is a great book that can help you learn more about how dog’s speak so you can answer with more knowledge in the future.
Carrie Galvan, CBCC