K9 Behavior Modification

I’m booking board and trains into the new year!! 🎉

Reach out 🫶🏻🐾
Let’s get your dogs behavior under control 🐕🦮🐕‍🦺

A Portland police K-9 on his last shift and a suspect were killed as multiple law enforcement agencies tried to take a violent offender into custody Thursday afternoon in Southeast Portland, officials said.

Kylo was serving his last shift before retirement. Officials said the dog was taken to two separate animal hospitals in an effort to save his life.

“Kylo is a beloved member of the Portland police,” Benner said. “It’s not a stretch to say that our K-9s are like officers. It’s emotional over here. People lost a partner. We haven’t lost a K-9 since 2014.”

Police planned a procession Thursday evening to take Kylo’s remains from the Blue Pearl Pet Hospital in Northeast Portland to the Oregon Humane Society, officials said.
https://mrf.lu/2mjtF

I’m so fu***ng tired of the training industry lying to owners. And this goes for the force-free trainers AND the balanced trainers. All sides are complicit in this refusal to acknowledge the most simple aspects of reality and how it impacts dogs, the choices they make, and the lives of the owners living with them.

In 20 years of dealing with everything from the most common and mundane issues, to the most severe, the TRUE answer to why the dog engages in the problem behavior is always the same.

Because they can.

“Oh no, they can’t help it. They’re afraid, they’re unsure, they’re confused, they’re overwhelmed, they’re frustrated, they’re stressed, they’re anxious, they’re in pain, they were abused, they were traumatized…”

Nope. All excuses. We’ve applied bu****it modern psychotherapy concepts, along with highly dysfunctional narcissistic empathy, mixed with a healthy dose of cultural passivity and permissiveness to the dog training world—and we wonder why we have an epidemic of behavior issues.

I know the training industry (all of it) will despise me for saying this, as will countless owners, but here’s the truth no one wants to acknowledge:

Your dog reacts on walks—because it can
Your dog resource guards—because it can
Your dog goes after guests—because it can
Your dog fence fights—because it can
Your dog eats poop—because it can
Your dog doesn’t recall—because it can
Your dog jumps on people—because it can
Your dog demand barks—because it can
Your dog redirects on you—because it can
Your dog is being an asshole—because it can

And same goes for countless other issues not listed.

We’ve framed dogs as helpless, hapless victims who can’t be held responsible for their choices. And as long as we continue to view them this way, they will continue to struggle and unravel in situations they could absolutely flourish in.

Do we have to train them fairly so they do know what is desired and what isn’t, what they can do and what they can’t? Of course.

But as long as we continue to infantilize our dogs as victims incapable of quickly comprehending the social landscape and quickly understanding what they can and can’t do—and making decisions which serve them based on that information, just like you and me—all of our training approaches will be stupidly derailed and bogged down with bu****it excuses, requiring bu****it complexity of protocols, management, and medication as the foundational starting place. Rather than giving our dogs the credit they deserve for being the clever, crafty opportunists they are.

Because in this 20 year career, there’s been one theme that’s been strangely obvious. Regardless of the “why” of a behavior that the human mind attempts to formulate (which it can only guess at and never know, even though bu****it artists will tell you they can know), when we clearly help a dog understand what they can and can’t do, and what the consequences are for deviating from this mutual understanding, behavior issues disappear. Even without a bu****it 50 page behavior history and a bu****it help-the victim feel better/safer/happier diagnostic 6 year plan.

You don’t have to like this—most folks find reality quite unsavory, and so they refashion it to their liking. But there’s a reason I can take dog after dog after dog, and transform them. Is it because I possess magical abilities? Absolute not. It’s because I do possess an absolute refusal to deny the reality that repeatedly unfolds before my eyes.

We had an evaluation scheduled and there were already some red flags but I always prefer to meet people and give them a chance.

When they showed up, I could feel the judgement radiating off them. They were 30 minutes early so I politely greeted them and asked if they minded waiting a few minutes while we got the last couple dogs out to potty. They agreed but while we were walking the dogs, they started pulling out of the driveway.🤔

They waved me over and asked "Is that little brown house thing where the dogs stay?"

I replied, yes ma'am.

They said, "yeah, I'm not thrilled with this."

I replied with a smile, that's fine.

And they went on their way.

Don't judge a book by its cover folks. We will always prioritize QUALITY care, training and education over looks. I've built a damn good reputation for this business and it started living in a school bus and operating out of an office trailer.🤷‍♀️

For other trainers out there, here's your reminder that you won't be everyone's cup of tea and that's okay. If you feel confident in the care, training and education you're providing, keep going. You'll find your people.🤎

‼️ Closures & Availability ‼️

I also have some Day training availability🐾

Reach out in your interested!

Which is why I train obedience in a very, very specific fashion. Because I have multiple goals.

Let’s clarify.

The checkers: I want my owners to have a highly useful, comprehensive communication system, so they can include their dogs in their daily lives comfortably, harmoniously, and safely to the highest degree. This of course means the dog also enjoys the biggest, most included, and safest life.

For this I need super reliable obedience, and dogs who can operate within this obedience with a healthy mindset—calm and chill when appropriate, fun and crazy when appropriate.

That’s the first layer. And it has tons of value and benefits for all involved.

The chess: I want there to be a crystal clear understanding between my owners and their dogs as to who is and who isn’t running the show. That means an unapologetically clear hierarchy, with the human clearly leading, and the dog clearly following. The rules are non-negotiable, the standards are non-negotiable, and the consequences for deviating from what’s been fairly trained are non-negotiable.

This piece isn’t about creating flashy, impressive looking obedience—it’s about creating a super healthy relationship dynamic between owner and dog via the obedience. Because the primary cause of problem behavior isn’t due to a lack of flashy obedience, it’s due to a fundamental respect issue between dog and owner.

Thus the approach: I don’t use food to lure and create the behaviors. The approach is simply guiding the dog into the desired position via light prong pressure, or e-collar pressure, or a combination of both “married.” Why not use food and lure? It’s super easy, and can be super fast, and creates “peppy” dogs—but for those paying close attention, that approach has a bribing, transactional, food-focused (rather than human-focused), and arousal-inducing dynamic.

Not what I want for my above stated goals.

I want the commands done when I ask for them to be done, because I asked for them to be done. I want the reward (the affection, joy, play) to be our intimate experience and connection—not the food. I want the dog focused on us, I want the interaction imbued with respect, and I want the dog to be able to be calm and chill while doing it all.

Done right, this creates a very different experience, a very different dog, and a very different relationship. You get all the reliability, fun, freedom, and inclusion, and you also get all the respect, deference, and downstream positive choices in all the other aspects of life together.

I know lots of folks will bristle at this, and that’s totally cool. All I know is that I, and my clients love the results. Happy owners, happy dogs. Zero apologies.