Finding a Dog Trainer 101

Here are some clarifications to help you decide what kind of trainer and training you need for your dog. Resources and links to listings of certified trainers are at the end.

A trainer trains you and your dog to do specific commands -- sit, stay, heel, come, etc.
A behavior consultant or behavior counselor helps you and your dog with problem behaviors -- jumping on people, aggression, separation anxiety, etc.
A behaviorist is a person who has a degree in animal behavior.
A veterinary behaviorist is a veterinarian who specializes in treating behavior problems and can run medical tests and use drugs to modify your dog's behavior.

So if you want help on, let's say, aggression, a person who only trains classes in obedience (or one who is just starting out as a trainer) may not be the best one for you. However, many trainers call themselves trainers but are behavior consultants or counselors as well and actually do behavior modification in addition to as obedience training.

Training Formats are, in general: group classes, private lessons for training your dog, private lessons for training you and your dog, board and train, or a combination of any or all of the formats.

Group classes are with a number of people and dogs generally held at a set time and place with a set format.
Private lessons are held at a time and place mutually acceptable to you and the trainer.
Board and train is where you send your dog away for training.

Training works best if you are involved in the process at some point. Otherwise, the trainer can get your dog to behave, but you can't. You have to know what to do to get the desired response from your dog.

Group classes are generally for teaching obedience skills -- sit, down, come, stay, etc., and some specialty training such as agility. Classes are for teaching cues or commands to groups of people. If your dog tears up your house while you are away, that is a behavior issue which is best addressed in private sessions because the trainer or behavior consultant needs to work with you individually to develop a program specifically to meet the needs of you and your dog.

Some Questions to ask the trainers as you decide which is right for you:

1. What are the exercises and/or procedure used?
2. Does the trainer provide handouts or written materials?
3. What kind of equipment is used? Will you need to bring it yourself, or is it furnished?
4. Has the trainer had experience with your breed of dog or the issue you need help with?
5. Should all your family members attend the training?
6. What kind of insurance does the trainer carry?
7. Does the trainer give information about care and ownership?
8. Will the trainer give referrals and recommendations, or are there some on his or her Web site?
9. Does the trainer belong to or work with any obedience clubs, dog-related organizations, or rescue groups?
10. Guarantees?? There are so many variables in temperament of dog (and their owners/guardians!!!) that a trainer should not make a guarantee as to the outcome of his or her training but should guarantee the thoroughness of his or her professional services. If a guarantee is offered, find out exactly what it is for.
11. What is the cost, and what is the method of payment?

Other information you may want to know and ask:

1. How did the trainer become a trainer, and what is his or her education?
2. What experience does the trainer have and with whom?
3. Does the trainer train full time or part time, and for how long?
4. Does the trainer have knowledge of your specific breed traits?
5. Has the trainer worked with the specific problem you are calling about?
6. Does the trainer specialize in any type of training?
7. Does the trainer keep up with innovations in training, tools, and techniques -- in other words, does he regularly attend any seminars or conventions?
8. Does the trainer belong to any professional organizations, and what are the qualifications for those organizations?
9. Is the trainer certified? Where did that certification come from?

Lists of certified trainers/behaviorists:

http://www.ccpdt.org/rstr/index.html
http://www.apdt.com/po/ts/default.aspx
http://www.sfspca.org/academy/referral.shtml

Dog "Training" Operation turns out to be Fighting

As much as I find this hard to believe, it's important that awareness of the plight of these dogs is raised. Well reported story.

Links to Jean Donaldson's lectures are online!

Her body language series is part of the current RSS feed on our site! Fascinating lecture that goes into great detail to demystify what it means when your dog is trying to communicate. Enjoy the series! Links are at the bottom of our site on each page.

Amazing Dog Featured on Ellen

How amazing is that?!

Moo-Moo-Q's

One of the many tricks in a trainer's bag is the right motivational tools. Included are the tasty treats that dogs cannot resist. When you're thinking about training, your also thinking about adding more calories to a dogs diet. Let's face it, most of us don't have the willpower to not feed our dogs at the regular feeding time and none of us wants to create a health problem while trying to get training done. So for those times when you've got some training to do and still want to feed a regular dinner, there ARE some treats out there which can help you do both.

These Moo-Moo-Q's are made from cow lung. That means there's a LOT of air in them. I describe them like marsh mellows to my clients. The lung is a safe food to add to your dogs diet without worry of overfeeding and the pieces can be broken up to 15-40 treats each. The only downside is that they are not pre-cut into bite-sized pieces. Intended to be fed whole, one bag will last you through many, many training hours if you selectively use it for training only (which I highly recommend, since it makes this a VERY high value treat that must be earned and only appears once training).

After training so many dogs, I've yet to meet one that didn't work hard to earn these treats. I've yet to resort to trying the Bah-Bah-Q's (lamb lung, naturally) since the Moo-Moo's work so well but if you're looking for something a little different or have a lamb-treats-only policy - the good people at Old West have got you covered.

Canine Body Language : The Basics

Reading a dog's body signals is always a conversation starter and I get a lot of questions about what it means when a dog does something. Here's a little information to help you figure some of that mystery out!

Ear and Tail Carriage...
The position of the ears and tail are often very telling about what a dog is going through at that moment. In general, a dog with a tail that is expressive (is sometimes up, down, parallel to the ground...) is easier to read. Dogs with tails normally carried high (like a husky or chow chow) are oftentimes misread because they do not drop their tail as often to express themselves. Same is true for ears. A dog with expressive ears (like a German Shepherd) is easier to read then a Basset.

That said, take both into account when you are assessing a mood in your dog. A dog with a low, tucked tail and lowered ears may be showing fear, submission, anxiety or insecurity. There's still a wide range to what may be going on inside so you need more clues. A dog with a high tail and ears perked forward may be confident, alert, aroused, aggressive or insecure. Again, there's a wide range to what is going in within.

Beyond Ears and Tails...
It's pretty obvious that we need more to go on then just the ears and tail, so let's look at facial expressions. Specifically, paying attention to the eyes and mouth will give you a lot more insight into what your dog feels. "Soft eyes" are typically the eyes you see when your dog looks up at you with affection. They are slightly closed and relaxed. This is a clear sign of relaxation. "Whale eye" or "fish eye" is used to describe when your dog's eyes are so wide that you can see the whites. This is usually a sign of stress. Take it with a grain of salt because if your dog can't move it's head (Say, while wearing a Gentle Leader) and is trying to look behind it, you may still see the whites while the dog is not necessarily stressed.

Mouth and facial expressions can tell you a great deal since the exposing of teeth is generally relative to how comfortable your dog is. A dog exposing all it's teeth (when not playing - which we'll discuss in another post) it's a pretty clear sign that the dog is NOT OK with what is going on. There are many different levels of teeth exposure from slight lip curls, which only expose the very tip of the canines, to front partial exposure, where you see the full canines but not the front small teeth, to full frontal exposure, where you see all the front teeth but not the back. These are generally warnings of some sort from slight "Ew! I don't like that" all the way up to "IF YOU MAKE ME DO/SMELL/FACE/GET CLOSER TO THAT I'LL BITE YOU!". Beware when your dog is exposing a lot of teeth.

The Whole Body...
The last element to take a look at is the rest of your dog's body. It's becoming more and more accepted by behaviorists that we know only a small fraction of what dogs are trying to communicate through their body language. The body area and interpretation of it is open to the widest debate. In general, however, you can safely bet that a dog who's body is loose and wiggly is relaxed. Conversely, a stiff body is considered to be alert, aroused or defensive.

General Canine Body Language Recap:

• Ears & Tail Up : Alert, Aroused, Aggress
• Ears & Tail Down : Fear, Anxiety, Submissive
• Soft Eyes : Relaxed, Submissive
• Whale or Fish Eye : Stressed, Anxiety
• Little Teeth Showing : Negating, Warning
• Some Teeth Showing : Negating, Larger Warning
• Lots of Teeth, Grimace : Strong Warning
• Full Teeth Showing : Strongest Negative Warning (Bite Coming)
  
• Wiggly Body : Relaxed, Happy
• Stiff Body : Alert, Aroused, Aggress

Behaviorists Take on Puppy Socialization

Great PDF to check out about puppy socialization and how important it is for the life of your dog. There's a great deal of information out there for free and one of the goals of this blog is to gather it for our clients, provide it to you in an easy to read format and be on top of the latest in dog behavior, training and philosophy. We know you depend on professionals in any field to find relevant and correct information for you. You'd expect a carpenter to know how to build a project out of wood for you and so you should expect your dog professional to know the latest about what's important for you and your dog.

Training Tips for Fun Ball

So you've got your fun ball and you are wondering how to get started with it for training. Well, the first step is building an association and this is VERY easy.

Fill the ball with dry dog food and somewhere in the mix, throw in a special treat like a single cube of cheese. Then place the ball on the floor and watch your dog explore how to get the treats out.

On it's own this ball creates a great association because of the use of food, but you can do far more with it if you're resourceful.

There are squeakers in squeaky toys which are removable. They are also available for purchase (very inexpensively) at almost all pet supply stores. Pick one up or dissect a toy to find one and put it inside the ball. You can bounce or squeeze the ball to get the noise. Either way, watch the reaction from your dog. Throw the toy and see what your dog does. I've found in training that many dogs will begin to retrieve a squeaking toy in less time then a non-squeaking. Be sure to reward for bringing the toy to you when you train for retrieve.

The Everlasting Fun Ball

This little guy is worth it's weight in gold! I use it in training about as much as I use a Kong. The big difference is that with a Kong you can stimulate your dog to lay down and chew, which has it's own advantages, but with the ball, you can stimulate your dog to chase, run, jump and fetch. This is a very effective tool for the flexibility you get out of it. It works as a reward when stuffed with treats, as a ball for play when empty and as a training tool when used to lure or bribe.

The cost is minimal for all that functionality. Smalls will run you around $5 and the large around $12. It depends vastly where you buy from. Here in San Francisco, all the boutique shops will be higher then buying online and the mega-stores (Petco, Pet Food Express) have slightly better pricing but I've noticed them running out of stock.