Twice so far this week I have responded to two calls for what the clients described was aggression on their submission forms. In one case I went in with my bite sleeve, bite gloves, and my tennis racket (used to shield my legs from bites). That family was a Mom and Dad with two young kids. At no time could I get the dog to even growl at me or them, much less nip or bite. They were happy and so was I.
In the second appointment they were afraid they were going to have to get rid of their 3 year old lab because he had nipped when Dad reached over him while he was eating. I would learn that Mom and Dad were sharing their food with him. This is unnatural as higher ranking dogs would never share with lower ranking dogs. The lower ranking dogs know that they can eat as the one above them steps away. Just because they did not challenge him over food did not mean he would not challenge them. He was doing the same thing with the bed because by their actions he had been led to believe he was sharing his bed with them.
There is no behavior a dog exhibits that cannot be traced back to one of the Five Canine Commodities; Food, Water, Space, Toys, and Attention. You cannot be equals. You are either above them or below them. A dog not having at least one person above them in the pack is the cause of the majority of unwanted behaviors including separation anxiety. Dogs cannot have confidence in themselves, it has to come from a person. It’s the same thing as how child feels secure in a stable family. Just like a man without confidence they will posture and make a lot of noise to fake it. Dogs need leaders. Doing this is actually so simple it’s painful, but the past hundred years of constantly talking to them and feeding them treats like your a Pez dispenser has caused the issues we have because they are generational. People will mimic what they see others doing to train their dogs. Over the last 20 years it’s gotten worse because people get information about all subjects from the internet. They cherry pick what they have seen most or makes sense to them, not considering what makes sense to the dog. They try it for a short period of time, fail to get the results they anticipated, and try something else. It is the human condition. Really it comes down to trying to run Windows on an Apple. Traditional dog training is based on talking and treats. If it were effective then there would not be thousands of people unhappy with the behavior of their dog after spending $1000’s on training.
When you contact other trainers they will assume you are talking about one dog. When you use us we will work with all dogs there. The reason is that we train dogs as canines, not individuals. All dogs have the same back needs and communicate the same way. Your dog is not a snowflake. The only thing that matters is results. After 3000+ dogs over 85% of our clients only need us one time. This includes families like the two I discussed in the beginning of this post.
Very few trainers will work with a dog that is reported as having aggression. This is strange to me since it is the #1 concern of all people with dogs, not getting bit. You know what techniques I use with dogs who are “aggressive”? The same ones I use for a dog that pulls on the leash, runs out the dog and jumps. We communicate to them in their language that these behaviors are unacceptable. Then they are immediately praised for not doing the behavior and right after correcting the behavior. Traditional dog training focuses on getting the dog to do what you want, we focus on getting the dog not to do what you don’t want. This is where the stress comes in between owners and their dogs.
If your dog is doing anything that is causing your personal stress or stress among your family, call us today and see what we do in under an hour that has made us the most effective and recommended dog trainers in York County, Adams County, Lancaster County, and Dauphin County.
Read some of our almost 400 reviews and find dozens of stories that will remind you of your own situation.