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Contact Info
Email:
eurotrng@comcast.net
Phone:
(925) 228-1206
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions regarding: Obedience, Aggression, and other Dog-Related Problems such as, digging, chewing, escaping, etc.
Included, at the bottom, is a list of common questions with respect to Personal Protection Training.
Q: How old should my dog be before I start training him?
A: Training begins the moment you introduce the puppy to the household. Unfortunately, there is still a prevalent belief that training begins when the puppy first attends classes, which is usually after he has received his inoculations. The truth, however, is that the most important training for the new puppy is teaching it the basic disciplines of good behavior in and around the house. This should begin immediately.
Q: My dog knows how to sit, lie down, and shake; but he just doesn't listen when I need him to?
A: Chances are your dog has been taught these exercises in fun, or for treats. Nothing wrong with that, but because he knows how to sit and lie down doesn't mean he will do so when you need him to. For a dog to respond consistently to these commands in distracting situations he must be properly trained.
Q: My dog has been to training classes before, but I still can't control him?
A: Each dog is an individual and although most dogs will benefit from group training classes, some do not. These dogs, either because of their temperament or the temperament and ability of the handler, or a combination of both, may need some private coaching before being immersed in a classroom environment.
Q: My dog knows his commands and is good on the lead, but goes crazy in the house especially when visitors arrive!
A: It would seem that your dog has been conditioned to behave well on the lead when walking, or in class, but considers the house his own. The house is yours, your den and a privilege for the dog to be there, not a God-given right. It should be a controlled environment, controlled by you, the leader. The visitors are coming to see you and your family, they will get round to greeting your dog eventually, not vice versa.
Q: My neighbors are complaining because my dog is always barking?
A: Probably the single biggest cause of complaints to Police and animal control agencies is that of nuisance barking. To give you a quick answer to a very thorny problem, determine when and what causes the barking. If it occurs mostly at night, bring the dog indoors. If it happens during the day when you are away, likewise, it may be necessary to keep the dog inside, if needs be in a crate. For nuisance barking in your presence, correct forcefully. The problem has become so acute that several police departments now rent electronic bark collars to owners of barking dogs. These collars can be very effective when used correctly on suitable candidates. However, I recommend professional advice on their suitability for use with certain dogs and in particular barking situations.
Q: My dog has been housetrained but he still messes indoors.
A: Chances are that your dog has not been fully housetrained. My advice is to go back to basics, treat you dog as a puppy and start all over. If, however, you are convinced that your dog is already housetrained, the breakdown in your dog's elimination habits may be due to a number of different reasons. These reasons could include:
Territory marking
Submissive urination
Excitable urination
Fearful urination
Separation anxiety and stress related urination or defecation.
Disease and health related urination or defecation.
Try and pinpoint the exact cause of the breakdown in you dog's household etiquette. This way you can focus on removing the source of the problem without the need of restricting the dog unnecessarily.
Q: I just want my dog to come when I call him, I'm not interested in anything else.
A: The age old problem of the dog not coming when called is usually symptomatic of a faulty dog/owner relationship. For a dog to come when called he must, first and foremost, accept you, the owner/handler, as being in charge and leading the pack, and not him. In your situation, the leadership role has not been properly established, thus making it very difficult to isolate and remedy this one problem area without addressing the broader issue of overall control. This general control of the dog can be achieved in a number of ways, and usually through a course of thorough obedience training.
Q: My dog has been trained and is, generally, well behaved, but he still jumps up on everybody.
A: Frankly, your dog is not properly trained if you cannot control its jumping. Remember, however, in order to isolate and deal successfully with this jumping problem, you must have some way of correcting the dog the instant he jumps. Prepare in advance, and be sure to have the dog on a lead or a long line when being introduced to people. This way you can time your correction perfectly, that is , when the dog's feet leave the ground, but not when his four feet are on the ground, and he is being petted. It must be clearly conveyed to the dog that it is the act of jumping, and not the socializing, that we want to discourage. When off lead, the dog must receive no attention from the visitor until it sits, or at least keeps all four feet on the ground. It will also help if the person, verbally, but sternly, tells the dog "no" as he jumps up, and pet him only when staying off.
Q: My dog has been to obedience classes and knows his commands but when he's off lead he won't listen!
A: The transition from on lead to off lead control can be a tricky one depending, to a large extent, on the breed and the temperament of the individual dog. The subtlety with which this switch over is achieved is also of the utmost importance. Return to working on lead and long line in all those situations where you are having difficulties.
Q: My dog can be very kind and loving but sometimes he becomes aggressive to me, especially when I try to take something from him, move him, or make him do something he doesn't want to do.
A: This type of behavior is indicative of a dog with a dominant mindset, and one that doesn't understand his proper place in the pack. The dominantly inclined dog will attempt to rise to the highest level possible within the pack which, in this case, is your family or household. The dog must be shown that his place in the pecking order is on the bottom rung of the ladder. Dislodging the dominant dog from this elevated status can be a very tricky, and potentially dangerous job. Obedience training alone, although it helps, will not solve this issue. In fact, attempting serious obedience work with a very dominant dog can have the unintended consequences of exacerbating the dominance behavior by giving the dog more opportunity to challenge you. Furthermore, meeting aggression head on with more aggression -- as is sometimes advised -- can have disastrous consequences. A much more comprehensive and subtle approach will be needed to help modify this unfortunate behavior trait. The approach will depend on the particular dog in question, and the degree, or severity of the dominance. When dealing a dominant dog, and particularly one that directs his dominance and aggression towards members of his own pack, you and your family, it is always advisable to seek the help of a good professional, and preferably before someone is injured. Bear in mind too that this Alpha-type dominant behavior in dogs afflicts both male and females.
Q: My dog is very loving with the family but is aggressive to strangers.
A: Dog aggression is a very involved and complicated subject and, as such, a quick response is difficult. However, if you can narrow down the exact cause of the aggression, it will help to understand it. For instance: Is the dog showing aggression only to strangers who come to your home, or is he aggressive to all strangers, regardless of where he is? If it's the former, then we may be dealing with territorial aggression (which, in my experience is usually a symptom of dominance aggression). If it's the latter, then we must consider the possibility that your dog may have had insufficient socialization, and hence apprehensive when around strangers. Depending on the temperament of the particular dog, this fear can cause timidity or aggression -- but regardless of how the dog responds, in this case, the underline cause is fear.
Perhaps the aggression is specific to certain people, or certain locations or environments. For instance, is the dog frightened of, or aggressive to men? If so, is it all men, or just certain men? Is it children that cause the fear? All children, or children of a specific age group? If location is the factor that induces aggression, is it the vet's office, the kennel, the grooming parlor, the car? etc. If you can say, with some degree of certainty, that it is a particular type of person or situation, or combination of people and situations, that causes the aggression, then we must consider the possibility that the dog's response is due to previous negative associations. This can be especially true of the dog that has been rescued, or has had previous homes. With these dogs we simply do not know what they have experienced in the past. The best we can do is to have an educated guess. I must add here, that investigating and deducing that a dog is responding aggressively to certain people, the vet, men, children, etc. in no way suggests that intentional, inappropriate handling is the cause of the dog's aggression or fear. Some dogs are extremely sensitive and, as such, can overact to perfectly normal handling, or typical, everyday events. On the other hand, especially with the rescued or re-homed dog that responds aggressive in certain specific circumstances, previous inappropriate or abusive handling cannot be discounted.
Perhaps your dog becomes aggressive only when you are present. Maybe he has no issue with strangers when on his own, but only reacts aggressively when strangers approach you. If so, it is quite possible that your dog is possessive of you, he's guarding you, his property. This is indeed a dangerous situation to find yourself in. The dog that is possessive of, or guards his owner (without having been especially trained to do so in certain, and only certain situations) is showing signs of dominance behavior. He is making decisions which are not his to make. He has decided that you belong to him, and not visa versa, as it should be.
Finally, if none of the above apply to your dog, then genetic factors may be at play. Occasionally, albeit very rarely, a dog may suffer from genetically induced fear or hostility.
Hopefully, the above explanations have helped you in understanding what is going on inside your dog's head. Understanding why your dog is aggressive is essential, for without this understanding we cannot apply a suitable behavior modification program. Indeed, lack of understanding, coupled with an inappropriate approach to dealing with the issue, can have extremely negative consequences.
Should you be in any doubt as to your dogs behavior, or decide to you need help in modifying that behavior, feel free to call me and I'll be happy to discuss your dog further with you. After all, understanding the causes of aggression is one thing, successfully modifying the behavior is quite another matter altogether.
Q: My dog is great with people but hates other dogs. What can I do about it?
A: As with the above situation it needs to be determined what is the root cause of the aggression. As with aggression towards people, dog on dog aggression has many origins, and an evaluation of the dog is essential to understand the cause of the problem before attempting to remedy it.
By far and away the single leading cause of dog on dog aggression is lack of socialization to other dogs. Dogs that have not been adequately and properly socialized to their own kind form an early age will develop a fear of them. This fear will manifest itself in different ways, depending on the temperament, or genetic make up of the dog. It can be displayed by excessive timidity and shyness, or it can result in offensive aggression.
Another leading cause of dog on dog aggression is dominance induced aggression. Some dogs are born leaders, and are prepared to challenge any threat, or perceived threat to their assumed status. The truly Alpha dog, and one that is otherwise well socialized and adjusted, is usually tolerant of those other dogs that pose no threat to his leadership -- puppies, females, and easy going males. Serious conflict can arise when confronted by another dominantly inclined male. Occasionally a very dominant female can provoke a serious confrontation, though inter male friction and rivalry is far more likely.
Along with the 'big two' causes of dog on dog aggression come a host of other reasons, including: Sibling rivalry, possessiveness (of objects, or people), and those dogs that have been exposed to aggressive incidents during their early, formative period. Trauma can have a lasting effect on the young dog.
Q: My dog is always digging holes and destroys my back yard, how do I cure it?
A: As with chewing, many dogs, particularly young ones, like to dig for a variety of reasons: Stimulating exercise, boredom, to escape, if digging is near the gate or fence, to bury or recover objects such as bones, etc. A quick solution is to build your dog a run, one with a cement base, and this is where he goes when he can't be supervised. Access to the back yard is restricted to those periods when you can watch him and interrupt his hole digging hobby.
Q: My dog is always escaping, how can I stop him?
A: Locate his escape hatch and fix it. If the fence needs to be raised or mended, do it. Check to see if he is using a table or bench by the gate or fence to assist his assent. Investigate your dog’s reason for wanting to escape constantly. If it's boredom, some walks and obedience training will help; also, try bringing him into the house more often, the company of his pack may work in your favor. If he's chasing female dogs in heat, consider neutering. If, for whatever reason, all of the above have been tried to no avail, build him a secure, covered run if you want or need to keep him outside. Of course, bringing him inside will also solve the problem. If he's got good house manners, he can have limited access to the house. If he's a young dog, or one that, as yet, cannot be trusted to have the liberty of any part of the house, then it may be necessary to confine him to a crate in your absence. Once conditioned properly to the crate, most dogs can happily be confined to their crate for up to eight hours, if necessary. Make sure the dog has had plenty of exercise beforehand, and his feeding and watering schedule is consistent with his new routine.
Q: My dog chews on everything inside and outside the house, what can I do?
A: Dogs, especially young ones, are chewing machines. Chewing is a normal, healthy activity for all dogs. Give your dog suitable chew items and put all else out of reach. When he can't be supervised, do not leave him unattended, put him in his crate, on a short tether, or in an outside run. When he can be monitored, guide him to his own chew items and suitably correct for chewing on anything else. With time and consistency, he'll learn.
Q: What breeds are suitable to be trained for protection work?
A: The German Shepherd Dog, the Rottweiler, and the Doberman are the three breeds that are most suited to this work, though I have trained some wonderful protection dogs of different breeds. What's important to bear in mind is that only dogs that were bred for this purpose should be considered for this work: -- "Horses for courses" as they say in my part of the world.
Q: I have a Pit Bull; can I train him for personal protection?
A: I do not recommend you do so. Simply stated, they were not bred, or designed for this work. That is not to say they can't do it -- since I've seen many Pit Bulls do a very formidable round of protection work indeed -- but it's my opinion that there is more to be lost than gained in training these dogs for this type of work.
Q: I have a German Shepherd Dog; can I train him for personal protection?
A: It's my experience, only about 10% of the dogs, even within the breeds designed for such work, have the necessary qualities to be properly trained in this work. Your dog needs to be evaluated to see if he/she is a good candidate for this training.
Q: So what are these qualities that my dog needs?
A: First, he/she needs to be of sound temperament, well socialized, and well disposed to people. Second, the dogs needs to display a high degree of prey drive. Third, the dog needs to have a level of courage that enables him to deal with challenging and threatening situations.
Q: If my dog is trained for personal protection work; does this make him more aggressive, or more likely to inappropriately bite someone?
A: No! Quite the contrary; my experience tells me that the right dog, correctly trained, will, in fact, become an all round better and more reliable companion dog. This work takes the dog to a new level of awareness and control; makes him more discerning; more secure and confident; more fulfilled and contented -- since he is doing what he was bred to do; and less likely to make mistakes.
Q: How can I be sure that the dog I get will be capable of being trained as a personal protection dog?
A: Alas, with puppies, there is no guarantee that it will develop into the dog you need, not even with the best of handling, since many of the traits needed are innate, genetic qualities. Nevertheless, you can minimize the gamble by choosing a dog from strong working lines, e.g. Schutzhund breed lines (Schutzhund, being the German word for protection -- and the sport of Schutzhund is probably the greatest working dog sport in the world).
For more information of this topic you can visit the websites of the breeders who specialize in German Shepherd Dogs from these lines -- the link below will give you some idea:
However, let me close on this subject by emphasizing that I am not recommending this type of training to for all German Shepherd Dogs and their owners; far from it, since, once more, only a small percentage of these dogs and owners will have what it takes to take the dog to this level of proficiency.