All choked up over this question

16.52 in all, choked, Dog, over, question, this, up

I was having a discussion on the use of choke chains with dogs - and the question came up about using them on stronger dogs, especially Pit Bull Terriers. Let me say this first: 1) I love Pit Bulls. 2) I am NOT breed biased. Doggy DNA is doggy DNA - they all have the propensity to act like dogs whether they be a teacup chihuahua or an american pit bull terrier. The difference is obvious when it comes to the injury itself, and in that: size does matter... This is what I told my friend who asked the innocent question of using them on APBTs (she lives in a big big city with APBTs everywhere...and she doesnt own a dog herself...its okay, shes still really cool)... Anyway, this was my answer for her:

but what if you have a pitbull in brooklyn (there are millions!)? just askin.. > Are you kidding? Please allow me to pass on some info: "all" animals learn the same way- So, if you have a 6 8" athletic boxer, or a 3 tall little girl, a lion, a tiger, a bear, a fish, a hamster, cat, or Pit Bull Terrier - all will learn the same way - The way that humans use choke chains for training places them (the collars) under the "Learning by Consequence" path - Based on the consequences of the animals own behavior you can either give them something they want, or take it away - or you can give them something they dont want, or remove it, or prevent it from happening. (BF Skinner come to mind here?) Anyway, the more *humane* techniques are: give something they want, or take it away - like sports (three strikes, penalty box, and that whole deal)... Dog sits = he gets a treat and gets to say *hi* to person - Dog jumps up = dog doesnt get treat and doesnt get to say hello to person. 

Choke chains, prong collars, squirt bottles, jerking the collar (collar corrections), electronic shock collars, citronella collars - all of these *positive punishment* techniques are threats, considered abusive, and only motivate the dog out of pain and fear! Plus, they only focus in on what you DONT WANT, not what you do want... If you were involved with someone that walked around with a belt in their hand, ready to hit you with it if you did something THEY didnt like, and only paid attention when you were doing something *wrong* (only in their eyes mind you - could be a normal behavior of yours...) how long would you stay with this person? 

As I mentioned above choke chains (and the like) are used for the purpose of "Consequence Learning". However, both types of learning are taking place at the same time (the "emotional" learning by association path), and thus creates a main reason for dog aggression to start - but thats a different email (post)...Ill let you digest this one first. 

This is just some of the info I talk about in my classes and workshops here in Ventura... you to can learn more about this path of learning, and well as the other - stronger path... You and your dog will love it! 

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Dressing Dogs Up Borderline animal abuse Not if you make it fun!

23.08 in abuse, animal, borderline, Dog, dogs, dressing, fun, if, it, make, not, up, you

I just read a question posted to a reporter news feed about wanting opinions from animal professionals on the topic of dressing dogs up... Okay, so this just happened to fall on the birthday of my beautiful, handsome, lovely, love of my life, baby boy Poncho! Of ALL days! Why today??? Today is one of those days Im going wear my "dog mom" hat - not my professional certified pet dog trainer, dog behavior counselor hat! 

Whats my opinion? Hmm, my usual m.o. is to change up his collar...I admit, Poncho the dog has quite a few to choose from. I switch his license and ID tag to whichever he ends up wearing. As I tell my dog training class and private dog training clients, one key element in being a responsible pet owner: "Your dogs collar is similar to our wallet. Its used for carrying ID and license. Other than that it can be used for a fashion statement, personality statement, or to match your outfit." It shouldnt be used for "training" (like those nasty aversive training methods using collar correction). 

As for other "outfits"? Yes, Poncho has various sweaters, t-shirts, a couple of vests/jackets... and the ever popular lobster costume he wears at Halloween, the hawaiian lei I have him wear many times throughout the year...we do live in Ventura, which is a beach town. Besides the annual Halloween event, all of his clothes are more about function...if its cold out. Oops, wait a minute...some of his t-shirts are more about statements I want to make...like when he goes to races with me. Poncho is one of my running partners, and he likes to brag about that. 

This specific reporter asked the question: "Other than essential winter coats, do dogs generally hate having to wear people clothes, and is it cruel to dress dogs up?"

My answer to that: I have no idea what theyre thinking. Therefore Im not sure if they hate it or not. I know that when I dress Poncho in clothing that hes not used to, like his fuzzy green birthday hat, or lobster costume, I head down the "creating pleasant associations" path, and feed him little bits of yummy high-value treats while hes wearing them. This way, hell learn to love the outfits! Classical conditioning is a wonderful thing! 

As for the latter part of the question, "Is it cruel?" That all depends upon the motivation of whomever is dressing the dog up. If the person is intending to hurt, humiliate (intentionally), bully, coerce, or intimidate the dog in question, then "yes" I do think its cruel. If the person is doing it to have fun, provide love, attention, and steak for their dog, then why not? Just like when my parents dressed me in striped pants and paisley shirts - they werent cruel, it was the 70s. 

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Crazy Dogs Curing Jumping Up and Hyperactivity

18.12 in and, crazy, curing, Dog, dogs, hyperactivity, jumping, up

Puppies are naturally noisy and hyperactive. 
Puppies are exuberant when greeting, playing, and when expressing friendliness and appeasement. 


However, adult dogs are noisy and hyperactive because they are untrained and have unintentionally been encouraged to act that way. For example, eagerly jumping puppies are petted by people, who later get angry when the dog jumps up as an adult. The dogs only crime? It grew!


Sadly, adult dogs receive considerable abuse for expressing their enthusiasm and exuberance. For example, "The Trainers from the Dark Side" recommend teaching a dog not to jump up by shouting at the dog; squirting him in the face with water or lemon juice; swatting him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper; yanking on the dogs leash; hanging the dog by his choke-collar; squeezing the dogs front paws; treading on his hind paws; kneeing the dog in the chest; or flipping the dog over backwards. Surely these methods are a bit cruel for a dog thats just trying to say hello. Indeed, in the words of Confucius, "There is no need to use an axe to remove a fly from the forehead of a friend." Why not just teach dogs to sit when greeting people?

Sit and Settle Down

Train your puppy or dog to come, sit, and lie down. Simple instructions such as "Sit" and "Lie down" are extremely effective solutions for nearly all doggy activity problems. Rather than telling the pup "No, no, no!" and "NO!" for everything she does that annoys you, simply ask her to lie down, and then praise and reward her for doing so. If she lies down obediently, she cannot run around the living room, chase her tail, chase the cat, hump the cat, jump on the furniture, jump up and down in the car, run out the front door, or chase and jump on children. Lying down and most behavior problems are mutually exclusive; your dog cannot lie down and misbehave at the same time. Take the initiative and direct your puppys behavior by teaching her to lie down on request.


Rather than feeding your puppy from a bowl, weigh out his kibble in the morning and use individual pieces as lures and rewards during oodles of five-second training interludes throughout the day. Practice in every room of the house, in the car (while stationary), and on walks. Pause every 25 yards and instruct your puppy to perform a series of body positions: for example, sit- down-sit-stand-down-stand. Within just a couple of days youll have a totally different dog.

Be smart. Be kind. Teach your puppy (or adult dog) to settle down and shush when requested and how to greet people in a mannerly fashion. Both dog noise and exuberance may be controlled and channeled into appropriate outlets.

Simple reward training methods work wonders with out-of-control adolescent and adult dogs. Hold a piece of kibble in your hand but dont give it to your dog. Stand perfectly still and give no instructions; simply watch to see what your dog does. Characteristically, the dog will run through his entire behavior repertoire. Your dog will wiggle, waggle, circle, twirl, jump-up, lick, paw, back-up, and bark...but eventually he will sit or lie down. Praise him and offer the piece of kibble as soon as he sits (or lies down—your choice). Then take a gigantic step (to reactivate Rover), and stand still with another piece of kibble in your hand. Repeat the above sequence until Rover sits immediately after you take each step and then begin to progressively increase the delay before offering the kibble. Maybe count out the seconds in "good dogs"—"Good dog one, good dog two, good dog three, etc." If Rover breaks his sit while you are counting, simple turn your back on him, take a three-second timeout, and repeat the sequence again. In no time at all you will be able to count out 20 "good dogs" as Rover sits and stays calmly, looking up at you expectantly.

Move from room to room repeating this exercise. When walking Rover, stand still every 25 yards and wait for him to sit, then praise him and continue the walk. After handfeeding your dog just one meal in this fashion indoors and on one long walk with sits every 25-yards, youll have a calmer and much more attentive dog.

Jumping Up

Jumping up deserves a special mention because it is the cause of so much frustration and abuse. Right from the outset, teach your puppy to sit when greeting people. Sitting is the obvious theoretical solution because a dog cannot sit and jump up at the same time. However, it may initially be difficult to teach your dog to sit when greeting people because he is so excited that he doesnt hear what you say. Consequently, you will need to troubleshoot his training.

First practice sits (as described above) in locations where your dog normally greets people, e.g., on-leash outdoors, and especially indoors by the front door. Then invite over ten friends for a dog training party. Today your dogs dinner will be handfed by guests at the front door and by friends on a walk. After eventually getting your dog to sit to greet the first guest, praise your dog and have the guest offer a piece of kibble. Then ask the guest to leave and ring the doorbell again. In fact, repeat front-door greetings until your dog greets the first guest in a mannerly fashion three times in a row. Then repeat the process with the other nine guests. In one training party you will probably practice over a hundred front-door greetings. Then ask your all your guests to leave one at a time and walk round the block. Put your dog on leash and walk around the block in the opposite direction. As you approach each person, instruct your dog to sit. Praise him when he does so and have the person offer a couple of pieces of kibble. After five laps, you will have practiced 50 sidewalk greetings. Now your dog will be ready to sit to greet bona fide guests at home and strangers on the street.

Put Doggy Enthusiasm and Activity on Cue

To be fair to your dog, make sure that she has ample opportunity to let off steam in an acceptable fashion. Sign up for flyball and agility classes. Play fetch with tennis balls and Frisbees and do yo-yo recalls (back and forth between two people) in the park. Formalize "crazy time"—train your dog to jump for bubbles, or play "tag" and chase your dog around the house. And maybe train your dog that it is acceptable to jump up on cue—to give you a welcome-home hug.

To learn more, read Doctor Dunbars Good Little Dog Book and our HyperDog booklet, available on-line from www.amazon.com.  Reprinted by www.dogstardaily.com with permission of Dr. Ian Dunbar and James & Kenneth Publishers, behavior blueprint by Dr. Ian Dunbar

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CANINE RUNWAY First level Finalist AND runner up!

18.30 in and, canine, Dog, finalist, first, level, runner, runway, up

Splash! was picked as one of the two finalists in Canine Runway from San Diego.  The next level is in Los Angeles and finally Los Vegas!  Guess who was one of the two runners up? KIKO! 

Keep paws crossed for Splash!

Kiko sucks up to one of the judges after the prizes! 
My friends Pom Libby should have one if it was based mainly on Fashion (which it should have been according to the rules), as she is awesome at making dog leashes and harnesses... Not to mention how ADORABLE Libby is being only 2 pounds.

A fellow youtube clicker trainer and friend Nan Arthur filmed the event, check out the videos-

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Getting All Choked Up Over the Use of Coercion in Dog Training

07.52 in all, choked, coercion, Dog, getting, in, of, over, the, training, up, use

Maybe its the latest applied behavior analysis class Ive just taken, maybe its the decongestant and antihistamine stupor Im in, but it occurred to me, just now, that maybe I need to try a new approach when speaking to those who still prefer to use choke, prong and Citronella collars to train their dogs.

Being of the positive reinforcement, humane, least intrusive approach to training dogs type of dog trainer, this means when I hear or see people go to the dark side, I try to get them to come on over to my camp, usually by explaining and demonstrating all of the wonderful and simple techniques such as shaping, lure and reward, with or without the use of a clicker. This is what I teach in my dog training classes, private dog training clients, and of course all throughout my dog training game!

But sometimes humans dont want to listen; I guess they might find it to be punishing. So instead of all of that, how about if I ask them this: How does it make you feel, deep down inside, when you choke, yank, coerce, yell at, berate, or cause harm to your dog just to get them to do what you want? Do you find it to be fulfilling and reinforcing to yourself? Or, as when one person called me today, do you feel bad inside about doing things like that to your dog?

If you feel bad about it, then I encourage you to dump the aversive techniques and try something different! Simple steps such as:

• Reward behaviors you like and want! Praise, belly rubs, games of fetch and tug, or giving your dog a part of their meal - all will send a message of "I love when you do that!" And youll get more of that behavior.
• Manage your dogs environment so theyre less likely to perform those undesired behaviors.
• Provide outlets for your dog to let all of those doggy behaviors out!

Trust me, these three simple steps will help anyone achieve baby steps to their final goals. If you know someone who prefers the dark side, you might want to take that first step and forward them this information - who knows, you might find helping others to be reinforcing.

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