Boogie's blog

From Dog Whisperer to Dog Listener

DISCLAIMER: This blog post was written in 2009. We no longer do Obedience Training using “dominance”-based methods. We no longer use collar corrections. These methods made Boogie MORE TENSE, MORE TRIGGERED and more prone to aggressive behaviors. We switched over to reward-based methods in February 2010 and saw improvements. 

I am reading two books at the moment: Cesar Millan’s BE A PACK LEADER and Jan Fennell’s THE DOG LISTENER. At the same time, taking lessons from Jill’s Obedience Training program, and also browsing through a training manual by Brad Pattison. Am I confused yet? ha.

It’s too soon for me to know which “trainer” I feel most comfortable with.(Some of these authors don’t see themselves as “trainers” per se; they refer to themselves as dog communicators or rehabilitators/behaviorists) So far, I can already see very stark differences in opinions and methods between these different authors. The one thing all these theories do have in common though is the basic notion that we, the dog owners, have to establish ourselves as the ALPHA or LEADER in the pack relationship. Everyone agrees on this one.

The first chapter of Jan Fennell’s THE DOG LISTENER really hit me hard – she tells the story of being forced to put one of her dogs down because he (very randomly and unexpectedly) bit her young kid on the face. This emotional trauma and confusion over having ‘failed’ her dog and family is what drove her to learn about communicating with dogs in a more effective manner that goes deeper and beyond “obedience training”. Her basic philosophy is very similar to Cesar Millan’s. CALMNESS and CONSISTENCY are the most important aspects of being a good leader, just as Cesar Millan keeps reinforcing the CALM and ASSERTIVE mantra. Dogs naturally follow and respect calm leaders. Body language and energy are more important than talk. Both Fennell and Millan are big believers in “silent leadership”.

Jan Fennell goes a step further in saying that she does not believe in forcing the dog to do anything against his will at all… be this with commands or physical touching/pushing, tools like choke chains and prong collars etc. She is totally against any sort of mental or physical coercion. Her aim is to consistently establish and reinforce a type of day-to-day relationship with the dog so that the dog will WILLINGLY and happily want to please his/her owner. She believes that even though your star pupil dog might obey every “sit/stay” command, he may still be stressed doing so.

This is so different to the training regimen that Boogie and I are going through right now where I am 100% dependent on the leash, prong collar and commands to have Boogie be a “good dog”. Yes, the Boogs is responding well but I admit that a part of me wonders if he really gets the point of all this, or does he still see himself as Alpha? Like I said, every time I slacken off a little bit, I lose a little bit of obedience. If there are no treats or no corrections, the Boogs just does what he wants to.

Here’s a summary what I have read so far….

Jan Fennell on how to establish Pack Leadership: (and some thoughts)

These four methods have to work concurrently…

1. When the pack reunites after a separation, who is the boss now?
According to Jan Fennell, whenever we reunite with our dog (after going out and coming home again) we have to redefine the relationship every single time. Every time we come home, we have to IGNORE our dog for five minutes. (!!!)

No eye contact, no hello, no petting, nothing. The dog will be excited – he may lick our faces, bring his toys, jump up and down… we have to completely ignore him and go and do something else like make a cup of tea. When he finally walks away and goes lie down, we wait another couple of minutes (give him time to process what’s happening) and only then do we make eye contact, CALL HIS NAME and lavish praise, rewards, love on him when he comes to us. This teaches the dog that it is a wonderful experience for him to come to us on our terms. Not on his. Seems really tough, this one. (Boogie is so cute and I am excited to see him too! How can I possibly ignore him?) This “ignoring” process has to happen every time we go out and come home and is supposed to be crucial in dealing with separation anxiety and the dog’s question of who is Alpha.

2. When the pack is under attack and or there is a fear of danger, who is going to protect them?
This one deals with dogs who bark or go beserk when someone comes to the door. The dog feels he is responsible for protecting the home, alerting the human and identifying the intruder. Jan Fennell has something VERY interesting to say about this one…. First of all, we have to THANK our dog (!!!) and praise him for alerting us to potential “danger”. As soon as we have done this, we remove the dog from the decision-making process (of what to do about the visitor)… like put the dog elsewhere, and then explain to the visitor that he/she has to ignore the dog for five minutes… If the visitor refuses to comply, then the dog should be put in a different room before visitor enters.

The rest of this section in the book is a bit vague… there is mention of Sit/Down/Heel commands…and using treats for positive reinforcement.

3. When the pack goes on a hunt, who is going to lead them?
This section is about Mastering the Walk… same principles as Cesar Millan’s. In fact, all trainers agree that the dog should never walk ahead of the owner. According to Jan Fennell, if our dog is excited and hyper and pulls ahead, we stop, stand still and don’t go anywhere until he comes to us and heels. When the dog is by our side, then off we go again. Cesar Millan gives the same rules about reverting to Sit/Stay when the dog pulls forward ahead of us. Only when he is “calm-submissive” do we continue on our walk.

Now, interestingly, our trainer Jill believes the opposite: if Boogie pulls on the leash, we MUSN’T STOP. We have to correct him and KEEP MOVING FORWARD. “If you stop, he wins. He will have succeeded in controlling the Walk”.

4. When the pack eats food, what order do they eat in?
Jan Fennell offers a techique she refers to as “gesture eating”. When preparing the dog’s food, we should place something like a snack or a cracker next to the dog’s bowl (on raised surface/kitchen counter) and make sure the dog sees us eating this. And then we feed him, and walk away while he eats. The idea here is to establish pecking order… the Leader eats first, the Submissive eats later.

Unfortunately in my case it’s going to be tricky because sometimes, Boogie does not hang around when I prepare his food. I feed Honest Kitchen so prep time is like 5 minutes – which Boogie is fully aware of. He’s a smart (or lazy?) boy. He would rather go hang out on his bed and wait for me to call him into the kitchen when the food is ready. He isn’t interested in sitting there watching me prepare the meal. I guess I could eat the snack when I call him into the kitchen, before I put his bowl down…

These four rules should be practised consistently everyday for 2 weeks before we see a marked difference in behavior. (With more “damaged dogs” it could take longer).

That’s as far as I’ve got up to… Chapter 6.

Please feel free to chime in with your comments and experiences!

May 28, 2009 at 8:38 am 2 comments

Walking on leash: Boogie makes progress!

DISCLAIMER: This blog post was written in 2009. We no longer do Obedience Training using “dominance”-based methods. We no longer use collar corrections. These methods made Boogie MORE TENSE, MORE TRIGGERED and more prone to aggressive behaviors. We switched over to reward-based methods in February 2010 and saw improvements. 

Posted Date: : May 15, 2009 12:01 AM

Here’s a video from today when Wes was walking Boogie. LOOK! No more pulling on the leash! And he sits when Wes stops. 🙂

It is SO true what people say about this dog training stuff  – with any tiny bit of “freedom” that we give Boogie; we lose a tiny bit of “obedience”. Consistency is key.

For example, this morning, I had Boogie on the bed with me (after he had spent another full night in his crate)

When I wanted him off the bed, he wouldn’t get off. I gave in, and let him remain on the bed while I showered and dressed etc. Then I called him off the bed again and still he refused. I had to give him a correction so that he would get off the bed. And then on our walk this morning it was as if all the rules that he had mastered in the past couple of days had gone out the window. He refused to sit when it was time to sit. I had to correct him something like 3 times – thank goodness no Rodan-esque yelping – before he sat. And prior to this morning, he was doing so well with the “breaking HEEL”/SIT action. It was only after 20 or so minutes of walking did he get back with the program…

Regardless of my own inconsistencies, Boogie is doing REALLY WELL.

– Now he willingly goes into his crate whenever we lead him towards it. We no longer have to pick him up and put him in there. I think he digs his crate.

– Likewise with “his place” (cushion or doggy bed). When I lead him to it,  he willingly lies down and chews on a toy or goes to sleep.

– He knows “Stay”. Now he sits and waits outside the kitchen door while I prepare his food. He stays there even after I put down the bowl and waits for me to call him to it. (WOW!!)

– Now he knows that it is not OK to jump up onto the couch without being invited. He still does it though. And when we send him off the couch, boy oh boy, does he sit there and BEG and look so CUTE it’s hard to turn away. “pleeeeease let me come up on the couch… pleeeeaaase…”

Yeah, sometimes he doesn’t respond. He does what he wants to do, but a “Uh-uh!” or sharp “Hey” will stop him in his tracks.

Re: “Down” command, we have a teeny bit of success! Last night I said DOWN when Boogie was seated, and slowly pulled his two front legs towards me. The trick is to pull them forward and down, not to one side. The second time I gave the DOWN command, Boogie responded on his own! And again today. However… this command only works when he is sitting on carpet or on his cushion and only if I have a treat in my hand. No soft surface and no treat – Nope. He refuses to lie down.

Training is hard because it means breaking all the habits that I am used to. It means having to emotionally let go of the Boogie that I know, so that he can become a different calmer, obedient, more ‘fulfilled’ dog.

Is Boogie more fulfilled now? I don’t know. The fact that my dog is no longer running to the door to greet me, or snuggling onto my lap whenever he wants to, or bringing me his ball, or leaning against me under the covers or following me around my apartment from room to room …. I think I am experiencing more separation anxiety than he is…

P.S. He still lunges and growls at big dogs on the street.

May 15, 2009 at 12:01 pm Leave a comment

First ever consultation with a dog trainer

DISCLAIMER: This blog post was written in 2009. We no longer do Obedience Training using “dominance”-based methods. We no longer use collar corrections. These methods made Boogie MORE TENSE, MORE TRIGGERED and more prone to aggressive behaviors. We switched over to reward-based methods in February 2010 and saw improvements. 

Posted Date: : Mar 21, 2009 3:38 PM

Jill Bowers, dog trainer came to visit for our first consultation today. She remarked on how “non-aggressive” and “calm” Boogie was. While she was talking with us, Boogie was snoozing on the couch. She also commented on how cute and adorable he is… which of course, we already know. 🙂

So what causes a dog like Boogie to indulge in naughty destructive behavior when home alone? Why does he pull on the leash and what makes him lunge at people and other dogs? Why did he go over to the dark side?  Jill said it’s not uncommon for rescue dogs to be fairly calm and docile at first, and then when they get settled and comfortable in their new homes, they show their true colors.

I think the biggest myths and lessons that we learned today were as follows:

Boogie thinks he is Alpha Dog. Yeah, no kidding. But here’s the twist. I always thought that being Alpha Dog was like a status of privilege for any member of a pack, a position that dogs fight for. When in fact according to Jill, being Alpha = Anxiety. Dogs don’t really want to be Alpha. It’s in their nature to fill the position because they haven’t been told otherwise. When Jill worked with packs of wolves, the Alpha wolf was the most stressed member of the pack. The Alpha feels he has to take charge. He feels he has to lay down the law, set the routine, lead the way etc etc. The purpose of training is to convince the dog that he does not need to be Alpha. (Reminiscent of Cesar Millan philosophy) More than anything, dogs crave routine and consistency. A non-Alpha dog who is told what to do, is a more relaxed and happier dog than an Alpha dog. Which now makes sense when you consider what happens when you leave an Alpha dog at home alone…

Crate-training. Sigh. I admit that I still don’t feel comfortable about putting any animal in any cage … but for training to be successful, Jill says that we need to get Boogie a crate, and I am starting to understand the potential benefits. When Boogie has a safe place that is his own to chill out in when home alone, this will address his separation anxiety issues and relieve anxiety in general. Jill said that an important part of our training will be the command “Go to your place”… and Boogie will know to settle down in his crate/cushion. I could say “Go to your place” before I leave the apartment and Boogie will know what to do and relax (instead of rearranging the furniture and chewing cushions). Eventually he will go to his crate by his own whenever he feels stressed.

Jill: “The first 20 minutes of being left alone are when dogs are the most stressed because they don’t know what to do with themselves. This is when they go through the trash and chew things.” Having Boogie crate-trained also means that when we let him stay at someone else’s place with his crate, he has some place to go and feel secure. (Christa, your cushions and trash too, will be safe!)

Me: But what if my friends’ dogs aren’t crated and Boogie is crated? Will this be unfair to him?

Jill: YOU think it’s unfair. Boogie will be glad that he has his own space. In fact he may not want other dogs around him all the time and will be relieved that he has a crate to go to.

Jill’s Mailman Theory: “Everytime a dog barks at the mailman and the mailman turns around and walks away, the dog WINS. When the mailman returns, he barks again. The mailman walks away as he does, the dog thinks again that he has won. If the mailman keeps returning to the same territory, the dog gets angrier and angrier with him.” This explains why dogs have a problem with the mailman. Fortunately today, Mr. Mailman was around to witness Boogie under Jill’s leash control. “Yeah, train that dog!” the Mailman said, and then we told him the Mailman vs Dog theory and he laughed. He got it 🙂

Boogie’s random  acts of aggression. Jill thinks that this is an “energy” thing. It could be Boogie picking up on the other person’s energy or it could be our energy, or it could be a symptom of his anxiety in general.

The Myth that dogs aim to please. Jill doesn’t believe in rewarding with treats while training. “I want the dog to focus on me, not on getting a treat, so I reward with praise”. Dogs love praise and are the most loyal beings ever but this doesn’t mean that they live to please. That’s a myth. Dogs are very selfish beings. They are out for themselves as sweet as they are. Boogie has his own interests at heart. I have no doubts about this.

Pulling on the Leash. Jill: “This is because he hasn’t been taught to HEEL”. Heeling will be one of our first lessons when we start the training. Boogie will also be corrected by leash  and Boogie will learn to know which behaviors are good or bad. I think this training will be awesome for all of us. I think a big part of the problem is that we are not communicating effectively with the Boogs… He doesn’t understand what we are saying through no fault of his own.

Things that we should not say. The word “NO”. Don’t say NO unless you are sure that the dog understands what the word means. If you keep saying NO over and over it becomes a totally meaningless word. Likewise, if you give a command and the dog doesn’t respond, don’t repeat it. Give a correction, then when he responds, praise him. We will learn how to “correct” with a Sprenger collar and leash. (No more harness!) She also advised us not to say Boogie’s name too often. This one is hard because we like saying Boo-gie... We say it all the time just because he looks so cute.
So, our 5-lesson training will start on April 11th. after Wes and I return from our overseas trip. That’s a total of 6 hours. ($650) and includes two free weeks of bootcamp…

We are going to buy a crate this week. Let’s see how Boogie adapts to having his own space. Will be leaving the crate door open until training starts.

Me: “Is it true that by the end of this training I can walk Boogie off-leash and he will be obedient?”

Jill: “Absolutely. Some dogs learn in 2 weeks, with other dogs it can take 2 years. But the goal of this is to no longer be dependent on leashes or collars. You will be able to have him off-leash and trust him.”

Wow. That is some goal. I love it.

March 21, 2009 at 7:42 am 2 comments

Boogie Monster Update

Posted Date: : Mar 9, 2009 11:09 AM

Poor neglected blog.

I have posted before that Boogie has a lunging problem and this doesn’t seem to be going away. I try to make him sit, but when he is in that zone, he completely ignores me. Yeah, Boogie is pretty much the same as before. When we are out walking and he sees a new dog – he lunges with teeth bared, snarling. If I pull him back, stop and chat with the other dog’s owner and slowly allow Boogie to sniff the other dog’s behind, then he is more likely to chill out and be nice. If we don’t stop and go through a controlled butt-sniffing introduction ritual, he acts like a freakin’ red zonecase. He is fine with dogs that he already knows. The problem is with new dogs.

On the weekend, Christa’s Butch and Emma came to stay. The dogs get along well if there are no toys involved for the boys to fight over. They also walk well together (or should I say I am getting better working three leashes at the same time).

Just one problem… When a strange dog passes us by, Boogie would go into ATTACK MODE. Most of the time I see the other dog before he does, and we cross the street or move away in a different direction. But on the odd occasion that Boogie sees the other dog before I can do anything about it, Boogie is already the zone, pulling and lunging, deaf to all commands. And then Butch barks, and before you know it, Boogie is fighting Butch and Butch is fighting back and we have a scary situation.

In addition to this bad behavior, recently Boogie chased the mailman and circled him, barking. He did not come when I called, so intent he was on giving the guy a hard time. My poor mailman looked down at the dog that he would so love to pat, and then over to me (running panicked to the scene) “Whatever have I done to this dog to deserve this?”

It was embarrassing.

Anyway, I think it’s time for a trainer. Yes, it will cost some $$$ in times when money is tight, but I have thought about this many times… Wes wants to put a muzzle on Boogie when we are out and about but I really don’t like the idea.

I did some research online and found a trainer called John Van Olden who has received lots of positive testimonials. I really like that he has not only trained military dogs and knows the Cesar Millan method but that he also wrote in his blog:

while I do think it’s necessary to teach a dog basic commands like “sit”, “stay”, “heel”, and “come”, what I really do is try to teach people a different way to relate to their dogs. Again, I differ from some of the personalities you see on television who often imply that you can’t spoil your dog, and who advocate affection as the least important thing to show your dog. (In fact, I believe that it’s the MOST important. What’s the point of having a dog if you have to administer discipline and exercise before you can show them affection???) What I do is first help people digest the massive amount of information and misinformation they have been given about their animals, then teach them a consistent way to communicate with their animal in a way that their dog can understand, while also helping them correct their dogs behavior issues so that they can live more peaceful and calm lives together.

Like I was saying to Wes – I want well-behaved, “calm-submissive” dog, but I don’t want to have to kick him out of my bed every night. I love that Boogie sleeps under the covers. I can’t let go of the “affection” part.

John Van Olden is in the Bay Area, so I am considering getting a trainer in L.A. who has worked with him and who uses the same philosophy and methods. Researching right now….

I’m open to your feedback! Would love to hear some training stories…

March 9, 2009 at 7:41 am Leave a comment