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Aim high: Deepening the human-dog bond through training
By Liz Palika
July 13, 2010
My grandfather grew up on a farm, worked his way through college, got an engineering degree and with my grandmother, raised six kids who were born during and after the depression. He was a loving grandfather who took great joy in all of us grandkids.
My grandfather was also a dog owner who believed dogs needed rules to follow. His dogs didn’t dig up the vegetable garden, didn’t chase the chickens and didn’t bother the milk goats. His dogs didn’t annoy the neighbors and weren’t allowed to jump on people.
I remember his setter mix, Molly. Her favorite place to relax was on their front porch. She would play with us kids but then would go back to the porch where she would watch everything that happened in the neighborhood. Molly had never had any formal training — Grandpa wasn’t a dog trainer by any means — but Grandpa had taught her, through daily living, that he expected her to follow certain rules. And she did.
I think that really impressed me, even as a kid, because my mother’s dogs at that time never had any training nor were there any expectations for good behavior. I decided back then that I wanted dogs like my grandfather’s, or like Rin Tin Tin, or like Albert Payson Terhune’s collies.
In our training classes at Kindred Spirits, I tell each of our classes that I have high expectations for my dogs as well as for their dogs. That doesn’t mean their dogs must work as hard as mine do; nor does it mean that their dogs compete in obedience or agility, or become a therapy dog, or work as a search and rescue dog. If people want to do that, awesome, but those aren’t the expectations I’m talking about.
I expect that their dogs learn to be good companions. That means each dog should master the basic obedience exercises so he can sit at open doors and not dash out. He should be able to walk nicely on a leash without choking himself or pulling his owner’s arm out of the socket. He should come when called every time he’s called and not just when it’s convenient for the dog. The basic obedience exercises can make life easier for dog and owner as well as help keep the dog safe.
I also expect that companion dogs should not make life significantly more difficult. The dog who tears up toilet paper and spreads it around the house (when past puppyhood) is not making life easier. The dog who gets into the kitchen or outside trash cans could make a mess, eat something dangerous, and could end up at the veterinary hospital. The dog who lunges at visitors to the house or jumps on guests can hurt someone.
I also have high expectations when my dogs are out in public, and I encourage our students to have the same expectations. My dogs are not to drag me down the sidewalk to greet someone; even a friend or neighbor. They will greet people nicely and sit for petting. My dogs are not to lunge and bark at other dogs, get into other dog’s faces or sniff butts unless I give them permission (and the dogs are known) because that’s how fights start. My male dogs do not urinate on every upright surface; that’s rude and dirty because every other male dog will end up urinating there, too.
Having high expectations doesn’t mean that the dog cannot “be a dog” or that harsh training methods need to be used. At Kindred Spirits, we set high expectations by showing our dogs what we expect them to do, rewarding them when they cooperate, and by teaching the owners how to prevent the dogs from getting into trouble.
We also recommend that dog owners aim for the AKC’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program. This is a wonderful way for owners to aim towards nice public manners.
I also have high expectations because I think most dogs are capable of much more than they ever get a chance to do. Now, that doesn’t mean every herding dog should earn a herding dog title or that every sporting dog needs to hunt. But I do think that most dogs should get a chance to learn and achieve something. The dog and owner can earn the CGC, do trick training, learn to track for fun, learn to air scent for fun, learn to pull a cart, or become a therapy dog. There are lots of non-competitive sports and activities.
I have found that the bond achieved through training, working, laughing, having fun, and accomplishing something together significantly strengthens the bond my dogs and I share. These shared experiences take the relationship to a whole new level. There’s nothing wrong with having high expectations.
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What a wonderful article…we own a bearded collie….our first dog…he was easy to train, we have shown him in the ring, received his championship…taken him herding…he loved that….but when I call Angus to me….my husband being the alpha…sometimes he turns his back to me and completely ignores me….and when he wants to he comes….how do I change that….curious , Heather Snook, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada…
Comment by Heather Snook — July 13, 2010 @ 10:57 am
I think you’re absolutely correct! I have a coworker who recently purchased a shih tzu puppy, and her husband gets very frustrated at the fact that the puppy doesn’t obey directions. The thing is, the pup has never been trained!!
As someone who grew up around well-trained hunting hounds, he has an expectation that all dogs come with certain traits and abilities already established, but he doesn’t realized that some inherent traits in a beagle are not the same as those in a shih tzu!
I’m hoping they get the puppy into obedience classes soon so they can prevent any stubborn problems from arising; I think it would be a great bonding experience for their family, too.
Great post!
Comment by Mad About Pets — July 13, 2010 @ 11:12 am
Some of the problems you speak of seem to me (garbage can raiding, toilet paper shredding) to be problems that lend themselves to management rather than training. OTOH, if you’ve got a positive method for teaching a dog not to indulge in such behaviors, I’m all ears :)
Comment by Susan — July 13, 2010 @ 12:06 pm
Susan, I’d agree that they’re management problems while the dog is learning. But dogs ARE perfectly capable of learning that certain things are off limits, physical boundaries or not.
Sensible trainers don’t always rely on this (or no one who trained their dogs would have fences) but at the same time, you CAN raise a dog who is a perfectly lovely companion that you expect him not to touch things that aren’t his- and to stay out of areas that are off limits.
Comment by Cait — July 13, 2010 @ 12:50 pm
Thank you, Cait - exactly!
Comment by Liz Palika — July 13, 2010 @ 12:58 pm
Cait and/or Liz, care to share specifics? How, for example, do you teach a dog (who, btw, does have her CGC, to stay away from the toilet paper — and do so using positive methods?
Comment by Susan — July 13, 2010 @ 2:35 pm
Someone else will have to answer that, Susan, as I do not train using 100% positive. I use as much positive as the individual dog will allow - according to behaviors, problems, etc - but I do say, “No,” when necessary.
Comment by Liz Palika — July 13, 2010 @ 3:26 pm
Susan - you teach a very strong leave it and then you proof, proof, and proof some more, until the behavior generalizes that that item is ALWAYS off limits. Same for areas (the tops of tables, etc). You can teach the leave-it however you want- shaping a leave-it is pretty simple, though.
Comment by Cait — July 13, 2010 @ 3:30 pm
PS: This- especially as 100% positive- won’t work for every dog. But I think that’d be pretty obvious.
Comment by Cait — July 13, 2010 @ 3:58 pm
Susan, you know I think the world of you, and we’ve had this conversation off-line before. :)
But honest to God, I am sick to DEATH of being told a solution has to be “all positive” or it’s not acceptable.
I don’t have an “all positive” relationship with my business partner, my colleagues, my friends, my family, former BFs, my past employers, my editors, my neighbors, my pharmacist, my doctor, my veterinarian, my broadband provider, my …. well, you get the point.
And I don’t have an all-positive relationship with my dog. Yes, I manage a lot of behavior instead of correcting it, because I am basically a wimp. But dogs are not chickens, and I do not train them like a chickens. I LOVE clicker training, and I am very patient in molding behavior. But there are some behaviors that just not gonna fly.
My dogs learn that behavior, “good” or “bad,” has consequences. I am not a sadistic bitch for insisting on this.
I think the “problem” of Cesar Millan is not so much that he is “old-fashioned,” “cruel,” “unscientific” or whatever you want to call it. I think the problem is that he has made the “all-positive” trainers lose their effing minds and stop considering any shred of common sense and history in dog training because they HATE HIM that much.
By the way, you see the same in the horse world. Ten thousand years of wisdom and real “natural” horsemanship, tossed out the door because someone hasn’t the guts to tell their toddler, dog or 1200-pound horse … “NO!”
Flame suit on.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — July 13, 2010 @ 5:38 pm
Susan’s question is a trap.
“What you say is impossible — I could never teach my dog the manners you describe without compromising my ethics — which, it just so happens, are far more ethical ethics than yours.”
I can provide you with dozens of ways to train a dog to leave things alone, all humane, and all effective (though not one effective every time for every dog, which is why there is more than one way.)
Additional irrelevant criteria — Christ-centered methods, vegan methods, Leninist methods, “all-positive” methods — sorry, not interested in backflipping through your special hoops. Just a dawg trainer. Find yourself a vegan socialist Christian positive trainer and go to town. You can entertain yourself for decades erecting extraneous ideological hoops, and end up with a well-managed dog skeleton still in its crate.
Comment by H. Houlahan — July 13, 2010 @ 6:21 pm
My training technique is not all positive - not 100% positive - even though in theory that sounds wonderful. But that said, for my own dogs, I let them set the tone as to exactly how their training progresses.
My three Aussies are half brothers - all have the same father - so they are closely related. That gives a good demonstration as to how the training can vary.
Bashir has always tried very hard to comply with everything I ask of him. If he can figure it out - if I can communicate with him - he’s on it. His training has been - for all six of his years - probably 97 percent positive - if there is such a thing. And the harshest I’ve had to be to interrupt behavior I don’t want to continue is an “Ah ah!”
Even though we were Archer’s 4th home and he came with some bad manners, he’s just about the same way. I can stop any unwanted behaviors with an “Acck!” And he also tries very hard to figure out what I want.
Now my old man, Riker, is another story. I could take a 2x4 to him (example, folks, and exaggeration to make a point) and he’d bounce back with a smile! When trainers say behaviors that are rewarded will be repeated, Riker took that to heart. The problem is everything is self rewarding to him. So my training for him was as positive as I could make it but with far more interruptions and far more control than for the other two dogs. Even now, at 11 years old, I have to use tighter controls on him.
My point is, every dog is an individual, every dog owner is an individual, and every household routine is unique. Training must be tailored to each situation.
There are certain behaviors I will not tolerate and most of those are potential dangers to the dog or to people. Dogs are not allowed to steal things; dogs are not allowed to steal food; dogs are not allowed to dash out open doors or gates; and so on. I begin teaching these behaviors as soon as the dog joins our household and during the learning stages, the dog is tightly controlled/managed so the behaviors don’t happen. When I feel the dog has the training and maturity and desire to please, I will allow him more freedom. If he makes a mistake, he is stopped and he goes back on leash and back under closer control.
When Kindred Spirits was working with the Camp Pendleton Pit Bulls and Rottweilers this past winter and spring, trying to get those dogs to pass the CGC so they could remain in their homes, we couldn’t use all positive training techniques. Some of those dogs hadn’t left their homes or back yards even for walks in three or four years. As an example, I got bit in the face by one of those dogs (who did NOT pass the CGC, in case you were curious!) Were their owners negligent, yes of course. But we weren’t there to argue about it - not at that point in time. Those dogs were going to be killed (because shelters were refusing to accept any more) unless we could change behavior immediately. We were able to help 50 - 60 dogs remain in their homes - with the training and owner education to hopefully make a difference in the dogs’ (and owners) lives.
I’ve been to many seminars for dog trainers - dozens and dozens of them. Some were taught by all positive trainers and some weren’t. (One of my dogs is - or was - in Terry Ryan’s presentation on dog body language and behavior.)
However, I became utterly disgusted with a number of all positive dog trainers a few years ago at one of those long weekend presentations for dog trainers - not the public - but trainers. My business partner, Petra, and I took a dog each and drove about eight hours. Far too many of the dogs belonging to trainers were causing so much disruption the speakers had a hard time speaking. Far too many dogs relieved themselves in the lobby and hallways. Far too many owners didn’t pick up after their dogs. Dogs lunged at Petra’s and my dogs. We were so disgusted we left a day early.
Now I am NOT blaming ALL positive trainers; no way and please don’t think I am. I have seen some wonderful dogs and trainers who use these techniques.
However, I wish some of those trainers had higher expectations for their dogs and if the technique they are using isn’t working, then try something else!
My sincerest desire is that ALL trainers would keep in mind there are MANY effective and HUMANE ways to train dogs. I would love to see more tolerance for varied techniques. And understanding that every dog, owner and household is unique.
This may be asking too much but it’s my desire and lifelong goal.
Comment by Liz Palika — July 13, 2010 @ 9:37 pm