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Children should have higher social status in the family than the dog, but they may be too young to be taken seriously as dominant (or Top Dog) by the dog. dominants by the dog. Even a child who’s taller than the dog is not as well armed – or he or she had better not be.
As a result the pooch learns to ignore or distrust the teenager. None of these outcomes is the fault of the dog. The dog is ultimately the responsibility of the adult humans of the family. If you have a puppy, watch the relationships with the kids when the dog hits adolescence.
Teach your dog to lick the kids’ hands but never to use teeth or claws. Be careful about faces. Dogs probably should not lick babies’ faces, though they often want to very much for they are loaded with yummies after a meal. Be guided by your child’s reaction. If the baby does not like having her/his face licked, don’t let the dog do it, but if the kid loves it, OK. Watch for teeth, if the yummies are dried on a bit. Pulling off hard, sticky yummies often requires teeth, from the dog’s point of view. Mom or dad’s hands must be right there. Don’t assume that anybody is going to remember these lessons for more than a few seconds. BE THERE.  Scott Cook, a professional K-9 Trainer of 45+ years, has been an avid Canine Enthusiast since childhood and it is worth mentioning that he successfully trained his first dog (a rescue dog with behavioral aggression issues) at the age of 11!
His passion, enthusiasm and love for the dog is evident in his many years of experience as well as his hunger to learn more and it is all this that has made him what he is today! He has had extensive training in the area of canine behavior and training! His studies have included 2 summers in the kennels of the New Skete Monestary, 1 year mentoring with Dr. Ian Dunbar, 1 year mentoring with Ed Frawley, and 2 years association with Michael Ellis! He is a current Professional Member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and owns and operates his own dog training business with 45+ years of professional Canine Training experience in his kitty! You are in good hands with Scott!
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I’m going to go through something I repeatedly tell my clients in class. Perhaps some different wording will help…… Say the cue once. What? Say. The. Cue. Once. If you do nothing else to improve your dog training skills, learn this tip. Say your cues one time to facilitate efficient learning. If you repeat cues, “Sit, sit, sit, sit” you are doing two things incorrectly. 1. You are teaching your dog to ignore you and working against reliability. Most people would say that they want reliability, which is the act of getting a requested behavior on the first attempt – every time. If you repeat cues, you are teaching your dog to ignore the first, second or third request and turning your voice into meaningless background noise. “Blah, blah, blah, blah.” Your dog is not going to magically hear the cue and do the behavior. There is also a good chance that your dog doesn’t even know what the cue means. 2. You are not teaching your dog to perform behaviors in the presence of distractions, and have inappropriate expectations. Often the biggest mistake novice trainers make is expecting too much from their dog too soon. PATIENCE!!!! If your dog is at a dog park playing with his friends and you ask him to “Come!” there is a good chance that he will not do it unless you have systematically worked on this cue in less distracting environments and worked up to a high level of distractions. I find that the serial repeaters are the same people that say that their dog is “willful” or “stubborn”. My take on this is to say the dog was taught to ignore the trainer and that sloppy or non-existent training is taking place. Just because you ask a dog to do something doesn’t mean that they should automatically do it. Why are school teachers expected to go through years of training in order to teach children effectively (and it is still a challenge) and someone can take one puppy class or read one book and blame their dog if they don’t do all the behaviors on cue? Become a better teacher and your dog will learn faster and more effectively. How to Be a Better Teacher I know most people say “trainer” but I think the term teacher focuses a little more attention on the student. Let’s face it, a dog is a student when you are teaching him something new. Your communication skills as a teacher can make or break whether your student learns something or not, or how quickly they learn. New behaviors must be worked until they become new HABITS! Here are specific ways to become a better teacher and avoid repeating cues. If your dog cannot perform the required behavior around distractions, take a step back in your training and ask for something easier. Many people get frustrated if their dog doesn’t perform a behavior that they have seen him do before. He might have forgotten the behavior, he might be distracted, or there might be some other reason why he isn’t performing the cue. Have the final cue in your mind, but also give encouragement and rewards for partial behaviors in order to keep your dog enthusiastic about the behavior and training. An example is “down”. If your dog lies down beautifully and reliably inside your home, you can’t expect him to do it the first time at the dog park without prior experience in that location. Instead, ask him to do something easier such as “sit” or “leave it” and make a note that you need to practice “down” in a less distracting environment before you can expect it to happen at the dog park. Remember, introduce the three D’s of training IN THIS SPECIFIC ORDER: Duration first, Distance second, and finally Distractions. Understand and Use Helpers Helpers are simply a backup plan if your dog doesn’t perform the requested behavior. The “helper” is a humane, gentle way to coax your dog to do the behavior and avoid repeating the cue. Eventually after enough repetition, the helper goes away after your dog makes the connection between the cue and the behavior and is performing the cue on his own without help. Do not worry about how many times you need to help your dog before he performs the behavior on his own. Simply follow my 3-step rule of providing help and eventually your dog will do the behavior on his own: ask your dog to do a cue ONE TIME wait for a moment to see if he needs your help provide help, as needed An example of help can be illustrated when describing how to teach a dog to “come” around distractions. The help can be anything that humanely motivates your dog to come to you. This could include tapping your leg, kneeling down, gently moving both your body and hand to stimulate prey drive in Fido, or running the other way to motivate him to chase you. As you do more training, the helper will be unnecessary because your dog will make the connection between cue and behavior and will do the behavior on his own. This happens after many repetitions. Do not get frustrated if your dog doesn’t learn something immediately. Every dog is different and has a different rate of learning. Pay attention to being a good, patient teacher and do not repeat cues. If you always have to help your dog, look at decreasing the level of distractions present by moving away from what is causing your dog’s behavior to fall apart. If you follow these simple directions, your dog’s behavior will improve and you will become a better trainer, or teacher!  Scott Cook, a professional K-9 Trainer of 45+ years, has been an avid Canine Enthusiast since childhood and it is worth mentioning that he successfully trained his first dog (a rescue dog with behavioral aggression issues) at the age of 11!
His passion, enthusiasm and love for the dog is evident in his many years of experience as well as his hunger to learn more and it is all this that has made him what he is today! He has had extensive training in the area of canine behavior and training! His studies have included 2 summers in the kennels of the New Skete Monestary, 1 year mentoring with Dr. Ian Dunbar, 1 year mentoring with Ed Frawley, and 2 years association with Michael Ellis! He is a current Professional Member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and owns and operates his own dog training business with 45+ years of professional Canine Training experience in his kitty! You are in good hands with Scott!  In recent months, I have once again been asked for my opinion regarding “invisible” type underground electronic boundary fence and collar systems which are used for doggie containment. So I thought I’d put this out there for everyone who ever has, or will in the future consider this type of containment for their dogs. Simply put, I DO NOT recommend them. What you’ll read below is not the invisible fence manufacturer’s marketing approach. They will tell you all you have to do is spend about one month with your dog on lead training your dog where the boundaries are. Well, DUH…..why not spend that time on teaching and reinforcing SIT, DOWN, STAY and COME? Why not spend a fraction of the cost of the fence on a good Sensible or Sensation halter, a mendota show lead, and a good 6 foot leash – Then WALK WITH your dog……….? Here are the reasons I cannot recommend an invisible type fence:
(invited or otherwise) are very easily intimidated by a barking dog in an invisibly fenced yard because they can’t see the fence and don’t necessarily trust the “invisible fence” sign. If these people panic and hurt themselves while getting away from (what they perceive to be) a ferocious dog, or frighten themselves into a heart attack, they can (and do) sue and collect from the owner — regardless of the legality of the owners’ claim that the dog was effectively confined. Unfortunately, it’s happened and is continuing to happen. Think about these factors before you consider an electronic fence. A “real” fence or a good training halter and leash is much safer for your dog.  Scott Cook, a professional K-9 Trainer of 45+ years, has been an avid Canine Enthusiast since childhood and it is worth mentioning that he successfully trained his first dog (a rescue dog with behavioral aggression issues) at the age of 11!
His passion, enthusiasm and love for the dog is evident in his many years of experience as well as his hunger to learn more and it is all this that has made him what he is today! He has had extensive training in the area of canine behavior and training! His studies have included 2 summers in the kennels of the New Skete Monestary, 1 year mentoring with Dr. Ian Dunbar, 1 year mentoring with Ed Frawley, and 2 years association with Michael Ellis! He is a current Professional Member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and owns and operates his own dog training business with 45+ years of professional Canine Training experience in his kitty! You are in good hands with Scott!  Finding strategies to properly exercise dogs is always an ongoing challenge for most clients. As puppies get older they might slow down a bit, but they still need daily mental and physical stimulation. I constantly reinforce to my clients that dogs need MUCH more exercise than most people realize. Exercise is simply good for the dog; for behavior, for their physical and mental well-being. A walk on a leash should NEVER be considered true exercise for your dog. Walking is simply not enough. Walking with your dog is a “sensory excursion” for Fido. But it is certainly NOT exercise for him. Visit a dog park playgroup and watch the dogs GO for one solid hour in large space, even acreage……then you will understand what I speak of. I ran a private membership dog park for several years. The members paid a fee because they had come to realize the Scott mantra – “EXERCISE your dog” is a truism, and they saw remarkable improvement in the overall behavioral and physical health of their dogs. I frequently hear the puzzled remarks of people that have a fenced backyard, yet their dog still doesn’t behave properly. It is important for you to remember that dogs often will not self-entertain in terms of exercise. Dogs find things to do in whatever space they are in, often choosing activities that we deem inappropriate. Backyard examples include digging, barking and chewing on landscaping. Letting a dog “out” into a fenced back yard without interaction on your part is also NOT exercise. They MIGHT exercise for a bit, but more than likely they will lay down and rest. Sometimes people remark that there must be something wrong with their dog because they still need so much time and attention even though they are in the back yard for hours each day. Being in the back yard alone won’t cut it. Dogs need structured play and training no matter how much space they have to roam. The fantastic benefit of a backyard is that it provides easy access for training sessions, games of fetch and play. But putting a dog in a back yard without engaging them YOURSELF and interacting with physical and mind play does not accomplish what most folks believe. The other issue that I see with backyards is that people get into the habit of letting their dogs out, playing in backyard and not going on walks. The biggest issues that can arise for dogs that don’t get a lot of time out of their yards are decreased skills in leash walking as well as decreased skills in dog-to-dog interactions. If you have a backyard, I urge you to continue leash walking, training and ensuring dog-to-dog and dog-to-people social skills throughout your dog’s life. To make the most out of your backyard, and to avoid problems, I recommend the following tips: 1. Do not allow your dog to bark at people, dogs or squirrels – or barrier frustration can develop. 2. Schedule play sessions with dogs in the neighborhood to allow your dogs some true play time 3. Get your dog out in the neighborhood and go on field trips to new neighborhoods and dog-friendly businesses – dogs get bored and need new stimulation 4. Perform structured training sessions in your backyard 5. Schedule dog training on your calendar 6. Work on off leash control; LOOK, WITH ME, and HEEL are all wonderful (yet often forgotten) commands. 7. Teach your dog to retrieve or play frisbee  Scott Cook, a professional K-9 Trainer of 45+ years, has been an avid Canine Enthusiast since childhood and it is worth mentioning that he successfully trained his first dog (a rescue dog with behavioral aggression issues) at the age of 11!
His passion, enthusiasm and love for the dog is evident in his many years of experience as well as his hunger to learn more and it is all this that has made him what he is today! He has had extensive training in the area of canine behavior and training! His studies have included 2 summers in the kennels of the New Skete Monestary, 1 year mentoring with Dr. Ian Dunbar, 1 year mentoring with Ed Frawley, and 2 years association with Michael Ellis! He is a current Professional Member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and owns and operates his own dog training business with 45+ years of professional Canine Training experience in his kitty! You are in good hands with Scott! |
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January 2019
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