Take this advice and…

At tracking yesterday there were a few interesting conversations running. It was nice to hear some Millan bashing (I can’t stand the _ guy) from professional trainers. Comments were also made about owners who say that they know how to train dogs, but then want to bend the prof. trainer’s ear on the phone about the dog problem they have, without making a booking or taking advice. One gal said she uses a line out of a daytime TV talk show- “and how is that working for you?” That is, she asks the owner how their training methods are working (obviously they are not). This is to get the foot in the door (so to speak) to get the owner to open up to what the prof. trainer has to offer.

I like that. But I also have another take on it. Another dog person at morning tea asked how I was getting on with Amika and was being pushy about attending a class. OK, I can understand where she is coming from, especially in the context of the above- BUT!

No one on the planet knows my dog and our situation as well as I do. I acknowledge that there are people out there that do know more than I do about the behaviour, and they likely have valuable advice and help for us. But how is that working for me? Well, I’ll tell you sister, I’m fed up to the eyeballs with all of the pushiness behind the advice. There are a lot of ways to skin the proverbial cat, but that does not mean you should start one way, then change your mind and start doing it another way part way through because you haven’t got to your end goal yet. (You’d end up with a really shoddily skinned cat- the shredded pelt wouldn’t be worth the effort.)

“Where are you at with training your dog?” is probably a better question for a professional trainer (or friend who wants to give advice) to ask me initially. Is re-training a reactive dog a quick process? NO**. Therefore, I can be in one of three places: haven’t tried it yet / in the process of using some training / finished with that. For number one, they can then advise if that method sounds effective, if and how it should be implemented. For two (trying it) they should NOW be asking “how’s that working for you?” If it is working, well then KEEP GOING!!! This is NOT the time to ‘change horses in the middle of the race’. If it isn’t working very well, NOW is the time for fresh ideas and advice. Same for the last phase- tried that. If it didn’t get you to your end goal, you should try something different.

“Where am I at?” I’m in the middle of implementing a training plan. “How’s that working for me?” It seems to be working well so far. This is not the time to change horses!

**Treating reactivity IS a quick fix if you are Cesar Millan. You just exhaust the dog (both physically and emotionally) using proximity to the thing it fears (claiming that the dog is aggressive). You include the use of enough physical force to completely cow the dog in your pressence. When the dog can’t take any more and stops responding to anything, you call it cured. Here’s a video of CM doing just that to a little pittie:

Thank goodness the local Perth “trainer” who used flooding (the technical name) didn’t go that far with Amika. But she still has a much worse emotional response to other dogs than before that fateful training session. So my advice on advice is to seek it when you need it, but don’t just do what you are told because you are talking to an “expert”. Do your own research (there are dozens of good dog books out there: www.dogwise.com ) and grill (sorry, ask questions of) multiple experts BEFORE you choose a method and try it (and possibly pay to make your dog worse). There IS good avice out there, but we need to seek it wisely.