We hear a lot these days that we should be a Pack Leader to our dogs. And it's true that dogs thrive when they follow the Pack Leader, and suffer if there is no clear direction from above. Why is this?
Dogs have been companions to man for no less than 15,000 years. So we tend to forget that dogs are actually built on the platform of wolf. DNA testing shows that our pet dogs today and very closely related to their wolf ancestors. Wolves form close knit societies, known as packs. Dogs are also pack animals, although millenia of domestication may have prepared them to be more adaptable to changing pack structures than wolves.
Still, dogs depend on leadership.
What do Pack Leaders do? Leaders set rules, boundaries and limitations on the behavior of their packmates. Or, according to the ultimate Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan, good Pack Leaders do this. I spoke to a child psychiatrist who told me that children also depend upon their parents to have boundaries and rules set for their lives. If parents do not structure the lives of their children, then youngsters beccome neurotic or aggressive because subconsciously, they do not feel safe.
How can you, a human Pack Leader, easily set rules, boundaries and limitations for your dogs? Simply control your dog's resources. Resources are the "stuff of life," or anything your dog needs or wants.
Let's put this in human terms first. If your two year old child tries to stuff his face with candy bars at WalMart, we stop him. (We're controlling food.) If your four year old child tries to run into traffic, we stop him. (We're controlling space.) And if your eight year old child doesn't want to do her homework, we sit her down and help her through it. (We're controlling activity.)
We control resources for children every day. If you want to borrow the car, then mow the lawn first. If you want to go out with your friends, then clean your room first. If you want to play a video game, then finish your homework first. And on it goes.
But with our dogs, we tend to give them access to everything while holding them accountable for nothing. Here is a brief list of suggestions designed to earn you more respect from your dog by becoming a better Pack Leader.
1. Before feeding your dog, ask her to sit and wait. Don't put the bowl down until she has done a 10 second sit. You may want to have your dog on leash until she becomes reliable.
2. Do not feed your dog all at once. Divide her meal into three portions, and ask her for that sit before you give each portion.
3. Do not allow your dog to walk through a door before you. You might need to use a leash at first, but when you crack the door open, make sure your body is blocking the dog so you can exit first. Eventually, your dog will get out of your way and let you out first.
4. Petting doesn't always have to be free. Sometimes you can and should charge your dog for affection. If your dog is simply demanding your attention by pawing or barking at you, do not pet her. Instead, give her a simple command that she understands, such as sit or come. Then you can reward your dog for a job well done.
5. When walking your dog, do not permit her to pull. Instead, teach her to walk calmly by your side. Many owners struggle hugely with this issue so you might need a bit of professional help. We teach polite leash walking to client dogs in just minutes. So feel free to contact us if we can help you.
Remember, dogs follow a Pack Leader. Who makes the rules in your house?
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
How to find a dog trainer
I have been working with dogs since I was 12 years old so it has always been my passion. As a child, I mentored under some of the foremost dog behavior experts in the country, and now count among my friends many famous trainers and celebrities with whom I have worked.
Currently, I am President of the International Association of Canine Professionals. IACP is the trade group for dog trainers with over 1,400 members. You can find professional dog people all over the world by going to the IACP web site at www.dogpro.org.
I mention all this because selecting a dog trainer for your pets can be a daunting task. Due diligence in this industry is not always easy because there are many conflicting approaches. Too many dog trainers are harsh which is not only unnecessary, but immoral. Many other trainers are not necessarily harsh, but are ineffective which means you may not always get what you pay for.
Our system of training takes advantage of all the dogs' natural instincts to collaborate and to thrive on cooperating with their owner. Dogs who are selectively obedient or stubborn usually become softer, gentler and far happier.
Timid dogs come out of their shell and gain confidence and balance. We use a variety of tools, which we select in discussion with the owners, but the system of gentle, fair but effective training is always our hallmark regardless of the training tool. This is why we guarantee our training for the lifetime of the dog. We don't often have to re-train, but on the rare occasion when we do, we're happy to assist the family to capitalize on an excellent and loving relationship with their pets.
We live here on our small dog farm with a very select few dogs at a time so everyone has a great deal of personal attention, supervised play groups, along with a profound and happy learning experience.
Currently, I am President of the International Association of Canine Professionals. IACP is the trade group for dog trainers with over 1,400 members. You can find professional dog people all over the world by going to the IACP web site at www.dogpro.org.
I mention all this because selecting a dog trainer for your pets can be a daunting task. Due diligence in this industry is not always easy because there are many conflicting approaches. Too many dog trainers are harsh which is not only unnecessary, but immoral. Many other trainers are not necessarily harsh, but are ineffective which means you may not always get what you pay for.
Our system of training takes advantage of all the dogs' natural instincts to collaborate and to thrive on cooperating with their owner. Dogs who are selectively obedient or stubborn usually become softer, gentler and far happier.
Timid dogs come out of their shell and gain confidence and balance. We use a variety of tools, which we select in discussion with the owners, but the system of gentle, fair but effective training is always our hallmark regardless of the training tool. This is why we guarantee our training for the lifetime of the dog. We don't often have to re-train, but on the rare occasion when we do, we're happy to assist the family to capitalize on an excellent and loving relationship with their pets.
We live here on our small dog farm with a very select few dogs at a time so everyone has a great deal of personal attention, supervised play groups, along with a profound and happy learning experience.
Friday, October 31, 2008
The Power of Dogs
Can you explain why learning foreign language commands is just as easy for a dog as learning their first language?
The language of dogs is physical while communication among humans is largely verbal. This does not mean our language is richer than theirs. They can actually ‘speak’ to one another quicker than we can. A simple squint of the eye can mean ‘come no closer.’ A play bow is a clear invitation.
Having lived with man for at least 15,000 years according to scientists, dogs have learned to interpret our body language nearly as well as their own. Couple certain body language with the English word ‘heel,’ and dogs learn what it means. They learn it equally well when using the same body language, you say the German word ‘foos.’
What types of motion are dogs great at detecting? Do you have a story about a dog who noticed a miniscule movement?
Different breeds of dogs have varying responses to motion. Sighthounds such as Greyhounds respond to movement on the horizon. This instinct goes back to the formation of the breed nearly 5,000 years ago when they were bred to run down game on the Egyptian desert.
Why do dogs have such great motion detection skills?
Our best friend fits into our lives so well that we sometimes forget he is a predator. The dog is blessed with a portion of the brain that instinctually responds to movement and triggers a response. DNA shows us that dogs are close descendants of wolves. Even today’s companion animals are not far from their predator roots. Thus, they respond to movement as any land predator would. Shake a toy in front of a Jack Russell Terrier, originally a ratting breed. Even one who has never seen a rat will respond by chasing, catching and shaking the toy, precisely emulating the hunt.
What was the most smile-eliciting thing that you ever saw a dog do?
My Greyhound Bobbi was a registered therapy dog. We made many visits to hospitals and nursing homes to comfort the patients. Marklund Home is a facility in the Chicago area for profoundly brain damaged children. We visited a class of these beautiful kids and showed them Bobbi’s tricks.
Afterward, a nurse asked if Bobbi could spend a moment with an 8 year old boy in her care. “Danny” as I’ll call him had sustained a traumatic brain injury rendering him not quite vegetative. Danny could not sit up by himself, so the nurse cradled him in her lap and I walked Bobbi up to the little boy.
My big white Greyhound nudged the boy’s hand, but he could not respond. I thought Bobbi would then solicit attention from the nurse instead. But she did not. She lay down and rested her head in Danny’s lap. She promptly fell asleep.
The nurse and I just looked at one another. Both of us were aware that something was happening, but I, for one, was not quite sure what it was. So I simply stood there and let whatever “it” was happen. Danny made facial expressions, but to my eyes, Danny did not seem to be aware.
Ten minutes later Bobbi woke up, shook herself off and pulled me to the next child. As we were leaving, that nurse ran up to thank me.
“Thank you so much for letting Danny visit with your dog. He smiled!” she said.
I gently told her that I did not see Danny smile, and asked how she could be sure. It turned out this nurse had been Danny’s neighbor before the brain injury. She had known him his whole life.
“I’ve been very worried about him,” she told me. “He used to smile all the time,” she continued, “but he has taken a turn for the worse and I haven’t seen him smile in two weeks.”
By this time, both the nurse and I were crying. That was the most beautiful smile my dog ever brought from a person.
The language of dogs is physical while communication among humans is largely verbal. This does not mean our language is richer than theirs. They can actually ‘speak’ to one another quicker than we can. A simple squint of the eye can mean ‘come no closer.’ A play bow is a clear invitation.
Having lived with man for at least 15,000 years according to scientists, dogs have learned to interpret our body language nearly as well as their own. Couple certain body language with the English word ‘heel,’ and dogs learn what it means. They learn it equally well when using the same body language, you say the German word ‘foos.’
What types of motion are dogs great at detecting? Do you have a story about a dog who noticed a miniscule movement?
Different breeds of dogs have varying responses to motion. Sighthounds such as Greyhounds respond to movement on the horizon. This instinct goes back to the formation of the breed nearly 5,000 years ago when they were bred to run down game on the Egyptian desert.
Why do dogs have such great motion detection skills?
Our best friend fits into our lives so well that we sometimes forget he is a predator. The dog is blessed with a portion of the brain that instinctually responds to movement and triggers a response. DNA shows us that dogs are close descendants of wolves. Even today’s companion animals are not far from their predator roots. Thus, they respond to movement as any land predator would. Shake a toy in front of a Jack Russell Terrier, originally a ratting breed. Even one who has never seen a rat will respond by chasing, catching and shaking the toy, precisely emulating the hunt.
What was the most smile-eliciting thing that you ever saw a dog do?
My Greyhound Bobbi was a registered therapy dog. We made many visits to hospitals and nursing homes to comfort the patients. Marklund Home is a facility in the Chicago area for profoundly brain damaged children. We visited a class of these beautiful kids and showed them Bobbi’s tricks.
Afterward, a nurse asked if Bobbi could spend a moment with an 8 year old boy in her care. “Danny” as I’ll call him had sustained a traumatic brain injury rendering him not quite vegetative. Danny could not sit up by himself, so the nurse cradled him in her lap and I walked Bobbi up to the little boy.
My big white Greyhound nudged the boy’s hand, but he could not respond. I thought Bobbi would then solicit attention from the nurse instead. But she did not. She lay down and rested her head in Danny’s lap. She promptly fell asleep.
The nurse and I just looked at one another. Both of us were aware that something was happening, but I, for one, was not quite sure what it was. So I simply stood there and let whatever “it” was happen. Danny made facial expressions, but to my eyes, Danny did not seem to be aware.
Ten minutes later Bobbi woke up, shook herself off and pulled me to the next child. As we were leaving, that nurse ran up to thank me.
“Thank you so much for letting Danny visit with your dog. He smiled!” she said.
I gently told her that I did not see Danny smile, and asked how she could be sure. It turned out this nurse had been Danny’s neighbor before the brain injury. She had known him his whole life.
“I’ve been very worried about him,” she told me. “He used to smile all the time,” she continued, “but he has taken a turn for the worse and I haven’t seen him smile in two weeks.”
By this time, both the nurse and I were crying. That was the most beautiful smile my dog ever brought from a person.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Rainy weekend activities for dogs and their owners
Rain, rain, go away. All our dogs want to play!
Much of the country is rainbound this weekend and Chicagoland is no exception. We're cooped up with the dogs here at the happy dog farm. And that got me to thinking: What do we do with our dogs when they don't want to be outside for more than a quick potty?
The first thing we need to understand is that dogs are intelligent creatures, created to fulfill a function. In evolutionary terms, it is only in the last 80 or so years that dogs have been kept as pets, with no real responsibilities. It is no coincidence that the happiest dogs in the world are those who still find employment as service dogs, guiding the blind, herding sheep, in obedience competition, and so forth.
Today, most dogs collect unemployment in the form of free room and board with a great health plan, zero deductible, and as much petting and cooing as they can swallow. It's no wonder they get stir crazy on rainy weekends when they don't even get to move their bodies and use their brains on that short daily walk.
Imagine a healthy, intelligent 8 year old boy or girl cooped up in the house for days on end with no computer, no books, no television, no telephone and no exercise equipment. It's a recipe for disaster. For sure, you'll come home and find a fort built out of your best furniture, or a mosiac made out of pieces of the good china.
Intelligence combined with energy and no outlet equals trouble. No wonder our dogs get harder to live with in bad weather. Dog trainers like Marc Goldberg, an IACP Certified Dog Trainer from ChicagoDogTrainer.com recommend you play productive indoor games with your dog to use up some of that brain and body power.
As a child, I remember playing Hide and Go Seek for hours on rainy days. It was a great way for kids to use move their bodies and use their brains. Play Hide and Go Seek with your dog, using food as the object for them to find. Here's how you start.
Begin with a hungry dog. Show her a tasty treat, something high value like a small bit of chicken, and toss it on the floor in front of her. Tell her "find it." That won't be difficult as it's in plain sight. However, toss the next treat around a corner so it lands out of sight. Tell her "find it" again. Slowly work your way up to hiding the treats behind curtains, under furniture, eventually in other rooms. Get her started by pointing in the right direction.
If your dog is well trained, she can be on a sit stay while you're hiding the food. If not, then you may have to close her in another room for a moment. In short order, you can simply point in the general direction of the food, and your dog will use her nose to find the source of that delicious smell.
Although this activity might seem less exhausting that a run in the park, the fact is that your dog will be actively using her strongest sense, the sense of smell. The olfactory center of your dog's brain occupies a tremendous amount of resources. This means that working scent busily for 15 or 20 minutes can be quite tiring.
If you have a treadmill in your home, bad weather days offer the perfect opportunity to teach your dog to use this equipment. Start with a hungry, leashed dog and another bit of chicken. Turn off the treadmill. Simply lure the dog up onto the belt and reward with the treat. Do this multiple times, then quit without ever turning it on.
Several times per day, bring your dog near the treadmill. Be sure you use a flat buckle collar, not a slip collar. Within a couple of days, most dogs will happily hop up on the treadmill waiting for that treat. This is the time to accustom your dog to walking on the machine. Be sure it is level, with no incline. Hold your dog's leash close to the collar, but leave it a little bit slack. Turn the machine on to it's slowest level. Encourage your dog to walk by holding the leash or collar and giving verbal encouragement.
Be prepared to quickly turn off the machine if your dog becomes frightened. Just reward again a few more times while the machine is turned on, making its noise, but with the dog held several feet away on leash.
In short order your dog will hop up on the treadmill and be ready to go for his rainy day walk. Be aware that some dogs are more comfortable at the walk, while others work better at a trot. Play with the speeds very slowly so you don't frighten your dog.
Most important of all, never tie your dog onto the machine. You must be there, holding the leash or collar, ready to hit the treamill's emergency stop button in case something goes wrong.
Rainy weekend? Pull out those raing day games and let your dog exercise her body and her brain!
Much of the country is rainbound this weekend and Chicagoland is no exception. We're cooped up with the dogs here at the happy dog farm. And that got me to thinking: What do we do with our dogs when they don't want to be outside for more than a quick potty?
The first thing we need to understand is that dogs are intelligent creatures, created to fulfill a function. In evolutionary terms, it is only in the last 80 or so years that dogs have been kept as pets, with no real responsibilities. It is no coincidence that the happiest dogs in the world are those who still find employment as service dogs, guiding the blind, herding sheep, in obedience competition, and so forth.
Today, most dogs collect unemployment in the form of free room and board with a great health plan, zero deductible, and as much petting and cooing as they can swallow. It's no wonder they get stir crazy on rainy weekends when they don't even get to move their bodies and use their brains on that short daily walk.
Imagine a healthy, intelligent 8 year old boy or girl cooped up in the house for days on end with no computer, no books, no television, no telephone and no exercise equipment. It's a recipe for disaster. For sure, you'll come home and find a fort built out of your best furniture, or a mosiac made out of pieces of the good china.
Intelligence combined with energy and no outlet equals trouble. No wonder our dogs get harder to live with in bad weather. Dog trainers like Marc Goldberg, an IACP Certified Dog Trainer from ChicagoDogTrainer.com recommend you play productive indoor games with your dog to use up some of that brain and body power.
As a child, I remember playing Hide and Go Seek for hours on rainy days. It was a great way for kids to use move their bodies and use their brains. Play Hide and Go Seek with your dog, using food as the object for them to find. Here's how you start.
Begin with a hungry dog. Show her a tasty treat, something high value like a small bit of chicken, and toss it on the floor in front of her. Tell her "find it." That won't be difficult as it's in plain sight. However, toss the next treat around a corner so it lands out of sight. Tell her "find it" again. Slowly work your way up to hiding the treats behind curtains, under furniture, eventually in other rooms. Get her started by pointing in the right direction.
If your dog is well trained, she can be on a sit stay while you're hiding the food. If not, then you may have to close her in another room for a moment. In short order, you can simply point in the general direction of the food, and your dog will use her nose to find the source of that delicious smell.
Although this activity might seem less exhausting that a run in the park, the fact is that your dog will be actively using her strongest sense, the sense of smell. The olfactory center of your dog's brain occupies a tremendous amount of resources. This means that working scent busily for 15 or 20 minutes can be quite tiring.
If you have a treadmill in your home, bad weather days offer the perfect opportunity to teach your dog to use this equipment. Start with a hungry, leashed dog and another bit of chicken. Turn off the treadmill. Simply lure the dog up onto the belt and reward with the treat. Do this multiple times, then quit without ever turning it on.
Several times per day, bring your dog near the treadmill. Be sure you use a flat buckle collar, not a slip collar. Within a couple of days, most dogs will happily hop up on the treadmill waiting for that treat. This is the time to accustom your dog to walking on the machine. Be sure it is level, with no incline. Hold your dog's leash close to the collar, but leave it a little bit slack. Turn the machine on to it's slowest level. Encourage your dog to walk by holding the leash or collar and giving verbal encouragement.
Be prepared to quickly turn off the machine if your dog becomes frightened. Just reward again a few more times while the machine is turned on, making its noise, but with the dog held several feet away on leash.
In short order your dog will hop up on the treadmill and be ready to go for his rainy day walk. Be aware that some dogs are more comfortable at the walk, while others work better at a trot. Play with the speeds very slowly so you don't frighten your dog.
Most important of all, never tie your dog onto the machine. You must be there, holding the leash or collar, ready to hit the treamill's emergency stop button in case something goes wrong.
Rainy weekend? Pull out those raing day games and let your dog exercise her body and her brain!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Monday Night Football, um, dog training
Well it must be football season for Marc Goldberg and the trainers from ChicagoDogTrainer.com. This month we have dogs in from star players from both the Chicago Bears and the Cleveland Browns. To protect their privacy, we won't mention which players are involved, but they are names you'd know.
Football players and their families have the same goals as every one else. They want to have a happy family experience with their dogs.
Later, when these NFL player dogs go home, we hope to have permission to share their stories with you here and on our web site at http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com.
Stay tuned!
Cheers,
Marc Goldberg, CDT
IACP Certified Dog Trainer
Football players and their families have the same goals as every one else. They want to have a happy family experience with their dogs.
Later, when these NFL player dogs go home, we hope to have permission to share their stories with you here and on our web site at http://www.chicagodogtrainer.com.
Stay tuned!
Cheers,
Marc Goldberg, CDT
IACP Certified Dog Trainer
Friday, September 12, 2008
To bed or not to bed...that is the question
One of the most frequent assumptions people make is that a dog trainer will scold them for allowing their dog to sleep in bed with them. But the reality is that some professional dog trainers sleep in bed with THEIR dogs! So why the contraversy?
The reality is that sleeping in bed is a privlege. If the dog earns the privelege...and doesn't abuse it...I find no reason to boot your dog out of bed. How can a dog abuse the privlege? Ah, that's where all the dog psychology comes into play.
Dogs who respect their owners, are not destrcutive, are not commonly defiant, who never growl at or bite family members, dogs who don't suffer from separation anxiety--these guys are great candidates to sleep in bed with you. Why? Because they are well balanced, cooperative dogs. So if you enjoy sharing your bed with them, no worries.
The question remains, then, why not sleep in bed with the less balanced dog? "What can it hurt? Won't it bring us closer? Besides, I like it!"
Well of course you like it! Studies show that just stroking a dog lowers your blood pressure. Having that dog snoring snoring softly by your side all night provides a sense of well being and comfort to the human.
But in any relationship, we must consider the best interests and happiness of both parties. Yes, it benefits you to sleep with your dog, but how does this intimate sharing of sleeping space affect the dog himself?
Get ready for the dog psychology lesson now!
Because you spend more time being still in your bedroom than any other place, your bedroom, and especially your bed, smell more like you than any other place on earth. The dog's sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than our own. Thus, he is well aware that sleeping next to you, bathing in your scent, gives him special status. For a balanced, well behaved dog, the special status is trust. That status causes no problems because your dog earns that trust every day.
For unbalanced, misbehaving or anxious dogs, the special status is power. Or at least that is how the dog interprets this privlege. In the wild, the canine who sleeps in the choicest spot is the Leader. The one who sleeps closest to the Leader is second in charge. It is normal in the dog world for a certain amount of competition to take place between the lead and second dogs. Thus, by permitting an unbalanced dog to sleep with you, you're actually encouraging him to challenge your authority.
This challenge does not always take the form of aggression directed at you. It can be much more subtle than that. If your dog does not respect your authority to place his body in a crate, he'll howl and bark for hours. If he does not respect your right to leave him to go to work, he'll chew apart your house. And so it goes.
If you sense any competition whatsoever between your children and your dog, here is more food for thought. In the human world, status is accorded by giving your child his own room. Your child has more status than the dog because the child has his own, private sleeping space.
But in the world of dogs, the least powerful, lowest status dogs sleep the farthest from the Leader. So your dog will be convinced that you are telling him that you grant him more power than your child because you have forced your child to sleep apart from you, while you permit your dog to snuggle against you all night.
That different view, your dog's view, can become important if your dog ever growls at your child over food, space on the sofa, or for possession of a toy. The only way to show your dog that he does not have more status than your child is to be sure that the canine does not believe that he has more status than your kids.
So the long and the short of it is this: if your dog sleeps with you and he's not nervous, destructive, aggressive or disobedient...enjoy sharing the covers. Otherwise, you might want to snuggle up with a teddy bear. They don't eat the house or growl at the kids!
Marc Goldberg, CDT
IACP Certified Dog Trainer
The reality is that sleeping in bed is a privlege. If the dog earns the privelege...and doesn't abuse it...I find no reason to boot your dog out of bed. How can a dog abuse the privlege? Ah, that's where all the dog psychology comes into play.
Dogs who respect their owners, are not destrcutive, are not commonly defiant, who never growl at or bite family members, dogs who don't suffer from separation anxiety--these guys are great candidates to sleep in bed with you. Why? Because they are well balanced, cooperative dogs. So if you enjoy sharing your bed with them, no worries.
The question remains, then, why not sleep in bed with the less balanced dog? "What can it hurt? Won't it bring us closer? Besides, I like it!"
Well of course you like it! Studies show that just stroking a dog lowers your blood pressure. Having that dog snoring snoring softly by your side all night provides a sense of well being and comfort to the human.
But in any relationship, we must consider the best interests and happiness of both parties. Yes, it benefits you to sleep with your dog, but how does this intimate sharing of sleeping space affect the dog himself?
Get ready for the dog psychology lesson now!
Because you spend more time being still in your bedroom than any other place, your bedroom, and especially your bed, smell more like you than any other place on earth. The dog's sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than our own. Thus, he is well aware that sleeping next to you, bathing in your scent, gives him special status. For a balanced, well behaved dog, the special status is trust. That status causes no problems because your dog earns that trust every day.
For unbalanced, misbehaving or anxious dogs, the special status is power. Or at least that is how the dog interprets this privlege. In the wild, the canine who sleeps in the choicest spot is the Leader. The one who sleeps closest to the Leader is second in charge. It is normal in the dog world for a certain amount of competition to take place between the lead and second dogs. Thus, by permitting an unbalanced dog to sleep with you, you're actually encouraging him to challenge your authority.
This challenge does not always take the form of aggression directed at you. It can be much more subtle than that. If your dog does not respect your authority to place his body in a crate, he'll howl and bark for hours. If he does not respect your right to leave him to go to work, he'll chew apart your house. And so it goes.
If you sense any competition whatsoever between your children and your dog, here is more food for thought. In the human world, status is accorded by giving your child his own room. Your child has more status than the dog because the child has his own, private sleeping space.
But in the world of dogs, the least powerful, lowest status dogs sleep the farthest from the Leader. So your dog will be convinced that you are telling him that you grant him more power than your child because you have forced your child to sleep apart from you, while you permit your dog to snuggle against you all night.
That different view, your dog's view, can become important if your dog ever growls at your child over food, space on the sofa, or for possession of a toy. The only way to show your dog that he does not have more status than your child is to be sure that the canine does not believe that he has more status than your kids.
So the long and the short of it is this: if your dog sleeps with you and he's not nervous, destructive, aggressive or disobedient...enjoy sharing the covers. Otherwise, you might want to snuggle up with a teddy bear. They don't eat the house or growl at the kids!
Marc Goldberg, CDT
IACP Certified Dog Trainer
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
How to become a dog trainer
The question people most often ask me is “How do I stop my dog from jumping?” The second most frequently asked question is, “How can I become a professional dog trainer?”
Before making any life altering decisions, I always advise people to first ask themselves not “how” to become a trainer, but first, “why?” There are excellent reasons to join this profession. Then there are not-so-good reasons.
The worst reasons to become a dog trainer are because you want to be self employed and make a lot of money. Or because dog trainers are in charge and get to be powerful people. That you love dogs, although critical to your eventual success as a trainer, is not necessarily the best reason either.
If you come into the trade for the wrong reasons, you may be disappointed, and quickly. I believe the best reasons to become a dog trainer include multiple factors among which are: You love dogs. You have great people and communication skills. You’re a motivated self-starter. You are entrepreneurial with an interest in sales and marketing. You like to teach.
Yes, loving dogs certainly comes into play. But that affection for the species is only part of the equation because you don’t get to train a single dog until you persuade the owner to hire you. That’s where your sales and marketing skills come in. Training dogs can be a fun hobby, even a profitable one. But if you intend to make a full time career of it, you’ll be answering your own phones, working crazy hours including most weekends, and take client calls at night. You’ll also arrange your own liability and health insurance, make your own tax deposits, and be ready to devote years to honing your craft.
If I haven’t scared you off yet….good! The profession of dog trainer is an honorable one and it allows you to make a big difference in the lives of people and their pets. For the right person, this is a highly rewarding job, and frankly, it’s fun!
So how do you become a dog trainer anyway? Although all roads lead to Rome, three ways stand out as routes to fulfilling your dream.
First, you can purchase a franchise. At least one franchise exists to put you instantly into the business. This company is highly rated from the standpoint of franchise watchdog groups. It is somewhat less highly rated on the part of some practicing dog trainers, less because it is competition, and more because the franchisee takes a course of only six to eight weeks, a course which is confined to only to the franchisor’s method. Some dog trainers believe this leaves you lacking exposure to other methods and lacking skills. Still, if you have fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars to invest right now you, too, can become an instant dog trainer. And with the franchise’s national marketing campaign, you won’t have to sell nearly as much as other dog trainers.
Second, you can attend one of the many schools designed to assist you in living the dream. Perhaps the only difficulty is sorting through all the schools to determine which actually give you what you need. Enrollment fees, quality and duration of study vary widely. Some schools are longtime institutions with good reputations. Others are fly by nighters with no credentials. Almost all offer “certification” to their students. To receive certification from some schools is an honor requiring much learning and testing. Other schools certify everyone who pays the fee. So when shopping schools, Let the Buyer Beware.
Here is a list of only a few of the schools offering dog training education right now. These are among the highly regarded possibilities, although there are others. So do careful research: Triple Crown Academy in Hutto, TX. National K9 in Columbus, OH. That’s My Dog! in Hazel Green, WI. International School for Dog Trainers in Montverde, FL. ChicagoDogTrainer.com in IL.
Enrolling in a school gives you the advantage of access to staff with decades of experience in the training and business aspects of this industry. The disadvantage is that you must leave home for a period of time and dedicate yourself to the learning experience. Most students report learning a great deal. Many go on to open their own businesses. Like all businesses, some succeed. Some do not.
The third way to begin a career as a dog professional is to find a highly regarded local trainer and take your dog through every one of their classes. Then, take a second dog through each class. By this time, you may be advanced enough to attract the trainer’s attention and you may be allowed to assist at classes. If not, then begin the process all over again with a new trainer, preferably one who uses a different method. In this way, you expose yourself to various training philosophies so you can select the one with which you are most comfortable. Simultaneously, read every book on the topic you can find.
The advantage of this method is that it is relatively economical and you don’t have to leave home. Most classes are offered in the evenings after work or on weekends. If you don’t decide to continue on the path of becoming a professional, you’ll have beautifully trained dogs. If you do continue, you’ll have an enormous head start due to all that practical experience.
Becoming a dog trainer need not take years to achieve. Becoming a great dog trainer always requires a commitment of time and effort. You will find additional resources available from the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP). You can find them on the web at www.dogpro.org. Even if you have limited experience, you can join as an Affiliate Member and gain access to many dog trainer publications and learning opportunities.
To arrive as a dog trainer is not necessarily easy. But it certainly is a wonderful career choice if you love both dogs and people plus have a head for business.
Before making any life altering decisions, I always advise people to first ask themselves not “how” to become a trainer, but first, “why?” There are excellent reasons to join this profession. Then there are not-so-good reasons.
The worst reasons to become a dog trainer are because you want to be self employed and make a lot of money. Or because dog trainers are in charge and get to be powerful people. That you love dogs, although critical to your eventual success as a trainer, is not necessarily the best reason either.
If you come into the trade for the wrong reasons, you may be disappointed, and quickly. I believe the best reasons to become a dog trainer include multiple factors among which are: You love dogs. You have great people and communication skills. You’re a motivated self-starter. You are entrepreneurial with an interest in sales and marketing. You like to teach.
Yes, loving dogs certainly comes into play. But that affection for the species is only part of the equation because you don’t get to train a single dog until you persuade the owner to hire you. That’s where your sales and marketing skills come in. Training dogs can be a fun hobby, even a profitable one. But if you intend to make a full time career of it, you’ll be answering your own phones, working crazy hours including most weekends, and take client calls at night. You’ll also arrange your own liability and health insurance, make your own tax deposits, and be ready to devote years to honing your craft.
If I haven’t scared you off yet….good! The profession of dog trainer is an honorable one and it allows you to make a big difference in the lives of people and their pets. For the right person, this is a highly rewarding job, and frankly, it’s fun!
So how do you become a dog trainer anyway? Although all roads lead to Rome, three ways stand out as routes to fulfilling your dream.
First, you can purchase a franchise. At least one franchise exists to put you instantly into the business. This company is highly rated from the standpoint of franchise watchdog groups. It is somewhat less highly rated on the part of some practicing dog trainers, less because it is competition, and more because the franchisee takes a course of only six to eight weeks, a course which is confined to only to the franchisor’s method. Some dog trainers believe this leaves you lacking exposure to other methods and lacking skills. Still, if you have fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars to invest right now you, too, can become an instant dog trainer. And with the franchise’s national marketing campaign, you won’t have to sell nearly as much as other dog trainers.
Second, you can attend one of the many schools designed to assist you in living the dream. Perhaps the only difficulty is sorting through all the schools to determine which actually give you what you need. Enrollment fees, quality and duration of study vary widely. Some schools are longtime institutions with good reputations. Others are fly by nighters with no credentials. Almost all offer “certification” to their students. To receive certification from some schools is an honor requiring much learning and testing. Other schools certify everyone who pays the fee. So when shopping schools, Let the Buyer Beware.
Here is a list of only a few of the schools offering dog training education right now. These are among the highly regarded possibilities, although there are others. So do careful research: Triple Crown Academy in Hutto, TX. National K9 in Columbus, OH. That’s My Dog! in Hazel Green, WI. International School for Dog Trainers in Montverde, FL. ChicagoDogTrainer.com in IL.
Enrolling in a school gives you the advantage of access to staff with decades of experience in the training and business aspects of this industry. The disadvantage is that you must leave home for a period of time and dedicate yourself to the learning experience. Most students report learning a great deal. Many go on to open their own businesses. Like all businesses, some succeed. Some do not.
The third way to begin a career as a dog professional is to find a highly regarded local trainer and take your dog through every one of their classes. Then, take a second dog through each class. By this time, you may be advanced enough to attract the trainer’s attention and you may be allowed to assist at classes. If not, then begin the process all over again with a new trainer, preferably one who uses a different method. In this way, you expose yourself to various training philosophies so you can select the one with which you are most comfortable. Simultaneously, read every book on the topic you can find.
The advantage of this method is that it is relatively economical and you don’t have to leave home. Most classes are offered in the evenings after work or on weekends. If you don’t decide to continue on the path of becoming a professional, you’ll have beautifully trained dogs. If you do continue, you’ll have an enormous head start due to all that practical experience.
Becoming a dog trainer need not take years to achieve. Becoming a great dog trainer always requires a commitment of time and effort. You will find additional resources available from the International Association of Canine Professionals (IACP). You can find them on the web at www.dogpro.org. Even if you have limited experience, you can join as an Affiliate Member and gain access to many dog trainer publications and learning opportunities.
To arrive as a dog trainer is not necessarily easy. But it certainly is a wonderful career choice if you love both dogs and people plus have a head for business.
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