Loving a Difficult Dog: The Story of Gus pt.1
Yup, it’s true. Dogs can be difficult. And I don’t mean difficult like they won’t come in the house when you call them or they keep jumping on you. Difficult like you have to be one step ahead of them at all times. Difficult like you can’t travel unless you bring them with you. Difficult like you have to warn people not to use paper towels when they’re at your house. Difficult like you can’t even have guests over. Difficult like your life looks completely different now. And if you have ever owned a dog like this, you understand exactly what I mean. How does one deal with a difficult dog? How does one love a difficult dog? Let’s talk about Gus.
Gus was my French Bulldog who I recently said goodbye to this summer at the age of 8 years old. I got Gus when he was just about a year old. He was a client’s dog and what I would classify as a dominant and difficult dog. In his first home, he was a sweet and social dog… until he wasn’t. He was brought home by a couple who wanted to start their family with a puppy, as most people do. Unbeknownst to them, they would not have the typical puppy experience that most of us get. Gus was challenging. He was not afraid to assert his opinion on things through aggression. During his time with his original owners, he was loved and cared for and provided with everything a little French Bulldog could ever want. And yet, he was still difficult for them. Because the reality is love doesn’t fix these things. If it did, these owners would have been able to keep their first dog.
His previous owners worked really hard and for a long time trying to curb his aggression and make things work. Unfortunately, dealing with a difficult dog takes a lot of experience, a lot of patience, and a lot of time to obtain the skills necessary to manage the dog. And often times, a lot of mistakes which in this case means being able to take a bite. With a new baby in the house, it just was not a safe situation for the family to continue trying to work through things and so they made the very difficult decision of loving him enough to rehome him to me.
As a new trainer, a rehab project dog that I could train and rehome was a challenge I was up for! At the time, I didn’t want to add another dog to my pack, so the plan was to get these issues under control and find someone who could manage Gus and his quirks while loving him. I was humbled so quickly by this little, difficult dog. I obviously had more experience than his original owners, but man was he ready to challenge me and give me a run for my money.
I integrated Gus into my pack rather smoothly, which consisted of my pitbull mix Ransom, a Belgian Malinois named Outlaw, and our family dog Ace who was a vizsla mix. Admittedly, this was the easiest portion of his integration for two reasons. One, a dog like Gus thrives when communication is clear and when his communication is clearly understood and respected— and dogs are generally very good communicators with eachother. And two, I happened to have a pack of rather submissive, go with the flow type dogs so this Napoleon Complexed little foster easily made himself king amongst the big dogs. He was very much a “as long as things go my way, we’re good” kinda guy. Respect. He didn’t mind challenging others whereas my pack was very conflict avoidant which allowed him to to easily get along with them.
Gus and I had a rough start. The first few months were filled with blood, sweat, tears, and frustraion. He bit me. A lot. He challenged me constantly. He lived with his ecollar and leash on at all times for awhile because he was so quick to get triggered and would go from 0-100 real quick. But over time, I began to learn his triggers better:
if he vomits, which as a frenchie was not uncommon, either let him eat it or get him away from it quickly and don’t let him watch you clean it up
don’t use scissors in front of him
don’t walk into the house if he’s standing by the door. Get him to move away from the door first.
Don’t pick up dropped food on the ground
Don’t zip up your jacket in front of him
don’t let him see you put your shoes on
don’t leave the house in a way that draws attention to you leaving
don’t put him in the crate without a reward, and don’t shut that door unless he is distracted by the food he’s eating
I mean seriously, it was ridiculous. I and my family walked on eggshells for months with him in the beginning. But I was committed to my goal of training him and finding him the perfect home. So over the course of many months, I finally reached a point where I felt like his behaviors were managed enough where he was safe, his offleash obedience was on point, he was completely neutral to everything and anything in public. I mean, aside from his issues he was really a cool ass dog! Atleast he was for me….
Herding Dogs Gone Wild: This Weeks Evaluations
What happens when a herding dog is in control? Chaos. That’s what happens. And before I begin, not all herding dogs are created equal. I like to classify dogs into two categories when evaluating a dog: pet dogs and working dogs. And some herding breeds are great pet dogs (like my friend JD, a border collie who has a great disposition and temperament. He loves lounging around just as much as he loves being active! Although he’s slowing down a bit as the years pass, but who isn’t) and then you have herding dogs that fall into the category of “working dogs”. Dogs that are genetically wired to do what the breed was meant to do. And this week, I got to meet two different herding dogs, each a different breed, and both with the same exact issue! Exciting, right!?
The two dogs I evaluated this week were a sheltie and an Australian shepherd. Both have extremely dedicated owners, so don’t worry about the dogs— they’re going to do great! But what’s interesting is both of these owners reached out for the same issue— separation anxiety. Or so they thought it was.
Leaving the house has become a nightmare for these owners. The one owner had to set up a gate at the end of the hallway so that when her dog tries to attack her as she leaves, her neighbors won’t have to see it at the door. She often uses her pocket book as a shield to try and sneak out the gate and fears that she may get bit while trying to latch it one of these days. The other client has a system of giving the dog a Kong stuffed with food before leaving to try and pacify the dog’s urges to bite him as he leaves the house. He also shared that at times, they’d leave through a window just to avoid the conflict of trying to get out the door. As you could imagine, this behavior makes leaving the house really difficult for these owners. But why are these dogs so upset that their owners are leaving? Surely this has to be some crazy separation anxiety, right!? Wrong.
This is all about control. Both of these dogs are completely content with being separated from their owners. They each choose to sleep in a room away from the owner, they both settle down immediately after the owner leaves and will relax and sleep for the duration of the owners absence, and both dogs are really rather neutral when their owner returns. So then why do they have such an issue with them leaving the house you may be asking?
See, herding breeds like this were bred to control livestock. They herd and move and direct livestock from one pasture to the next, often with human direction. But what happens when that human direction is missing? And when the dog doesn’t view the human as the leader? Well, some of these herding dogs turn you into their livestock. And that’s exactly what these dogs have done. Because the dogs know that when their owner leaves the house they will “lose control” of them, the desire to intensely control them kicks in when the dog believes their “sheep” are trying to “escape”. And so the dogs, tapping into their primal wiring, step up to the plate and try and take control of that situation by nipping, biting, and trying to “herd” the humans away from the door and back into the house. This has nothing to do with the anxiety of separating and has everything to do with the dogs desire to control things.
To fix this, it’s imperative to begin showing the owners ways to assert leadership in situations aside from leaving the house first. Teaching things like body pressure (a language often very well understood by these breeds), an “out” command to help create space in tense situations, setting psychological boundaries like “you can’t come in the kitchen right now”, a solid place command to control the dogs movement throughout the day, maybe some crate training, just to name a few.
By setting firmer rules and boundaries outside of these high stakes moments like trying to get out of the house, we can start to shift the dogs state of mind from one that is in control to one that is looking to follow and take direction. This shift in state of mind allows the owners to become relevant to the dogs which we can then use all the skills and that relevancy to then communicate what we do want the dog to do when we leave the house. Which would be watch from afar — either on a place bed, in a crate, or just stand over there and don’t come near me.
And sure, this behavior could eventually be corrected and it may— but I’m a big fan of showing the dog what I want before I get to the consequences. Sometimes, the alternative behavior that is taught becomes preferred by the dog over the old habit. And sometimes, the original behavior needs to be corrected. But I am fairly confident with these cases that through clear communication from an empowered leader will get the message across clearly!
So if you’ve had your eye on a herding breed, be warned! They’re not all created equally and you’ll really want to do your research in where you’re getting the dog and that dog’s genetic background, as well as investing in a good dog trainer who can help you navigate training in a way that allows you to avoid these issues altogether!
Virtual dog training?! How is that possible?
Oh it’s possible! There are so many benefits to virtual dog training and so much potential for what you can work on. Let’s dive into what working with a dog trainer virtually looks like!
Most people are surprised to hear that we offer virtual dog training consultations because you’d think that dog training is very hands on. And it is! But your dog trainer doesn’t always really need to have their hands on your dog. And I’m not discrediting the value in having a dog trainer work with your dog hands on— because there can be a lot of value in that for the right dog with the right trainer! But a great dog trainer should also be able to help you without being hands on with your dog.
The truth is, a lot of dog training is conversational. Because dog training is rooted in relationship, your dog trainers job goes far beyond teaching your dog tricks. And because dogs can’t talk, we have to talk to you to understand your dog better. An experienced trainer is able to ask you the right questions to get the information they need to be able to guide you toward your goals. Think of virtual consults almost like a therapy session for your dog!
In a virtual training session, we begin with a general background on the dog and your relationship with the dog. Your trainer is going to want to know things like if your dog is crate trained and how often you’re using it, how often you’re walking the dog, if you have concerns around your dog and food, what problems are you having, etc. Through a series of questions, your trainer is able to assess your dogs temperament, get an idea for how you and your dog learn best, and will help create a plan for you to reach your goals through training.
When working with us virtually, we always recommend and encourage clients to send us video clips of them working with their dogs and behaviors that they’d like evaluated. We’ll watch the videos and provide comments on what’s looking good and what you can change to get better results. The more you share with us, the more feedback we can provide to you! Some clients will have friends/family film them, some people prop their phones up and work within their camera frame, and some people don’t take videos to share. It is optional, but we do find the most success in those that share consistent content for us to provide feedback on because that allows you to make adjustments in between your sessions. So send us your training videos!
We can work on just about anything through virtual consultations. We have had success virtually with things like resource guarding, place command, separation anxiety, Ecollar introduction, loose leash walking, crate training, reactivity, new baby introductions, new puppy management, and so much more!
And the best part is, you can live anywhere in the world and still work with us! We have worked with clients on the west coast, the UK, and even Australia! Virtual training makes working with us accessible to all!
If you’re interested in working with us virtually, submit an inquiry form and we can get you set up!
The First 48: Welcoming your new dog
Whether you just got a puppy or you welcomed an older dog into your home, congratulations! But you may be wondering… now what?! And we’ve got the answer for you. This blog post is a general recommendation of things to do, not do, and keep in mind while you transition your new dog into your home.
The biggest mistake that most people make in welcoming a new dog into their home is giving that new puppy/dog too much freedom too soon. Limiting your dog’s freedom early on helps you avoid having to begin your relationship in conflicting circumstances. For example, when raising puppies I like to utilize exercise pens to limit the dog’s access to things I don’t want them to get into— shoes, pillows, wires, etc. By keeping your dog in a space that is specifically tailored to there needs (toys inside the pen) you can prevent so many destructive habits from starting and you can prevent conflict with the puppy early on.
For older dogs, exercise pens can still be used, but you can also keep the dog leashed in the house. Having a leash on the dog in the house helps you redirect and regain control when needed. You don’t always need to be holding the leash, but having it on allows for a safer, more effective transition to the rules of your home.
Another thing that we recommend you do when welcoming a new dog or puppy into the home is to hand feed those first meals! Give your dog a reason to find value in you. It’s so common to hear that a dog isn’t “food motivated” and more often than not, this just means that the dog knows that there’s food waiting for them if they turn down what’s in your hand. By starting your dog or puppy off on hand feeding, you’re not only building relationship and trust, but you’re also laying a foundation for the ability to use food in your training— that’s huge! So put the bowls away, break out the kibble, and start hand feeding your dog their meals. Have them follow you around the house as you feed them, work on obedience commands, teach them their name— get creative!
Bringing a new dog home is often very exciting! And a lot of times, our family and friends are dying to get to meet the new four legged friend. We’d recommend keeping things low key the first 48 hours. Try to limit/discourage guests from coming over to see the dog in those first 48 hours so they have time to acclimate to the stress of transitioning. You want your puppy to feel safe and secure when you start to welcome visitors, and giving them some grace to settle in can make a huge difference!
Similar to inside the house, if you have a fenced in backyard we still recommend you keep your dog leashed in the back yard for a bit. This allows you to keep them out of areas that you don’t want them to get into, prevents a run away situation should you have a nervous/flighty dog, and will allow you to establish the rules of the backyard — when I say it’s time to go inside, we go inside. Otherwise, prepare for your new dog to make the backyard their new freedom zone where they can blow you off without any repercussions!
Start crate training! Right away! Don’t wait until your dog starts destroying things when you leave them unattended to decide to introduce the crate. Make the crate a part of their life from day one. Feed meals or treats in the crate. Leave the door open and allow them to explore the crate. Make sure your dog knows that the crate is safe and that it’s a regular part of their life. Having a crate trained dog can be a life saver! Literally!! If you need help with crate training, set up a consult with us!
Create and commit to a routine. You don’t need to have things strictly scheduled, but have an idea of how you want your days to go based on your work schedule, and abide by your rules. Don’t let your dog or puppies emotions dictate your schedule! Be firm in your boundaries and create a healthy relationship with your dog.
And finally, enjoy them! Congratulations on your new friend. Owning a dog is such a rewarding experience and through training you’ll see exponential benefits! No one should have to raise their dog alone, so if things get tough or if you want to have someone to coach you through the process, we’d love to help you! Submit an inquiry through our website and one of our trainers will get in contact with you.
Does your dog really know their name? An explanation of how dogs understand words
Well, kinda. But maybe not in the way that you know your name.
The concept of words doesn’t exist to dogs. So while we choose “words” to have meanings for dogs, the dog’s aren’t hearing words. They’re hearing sounds. And when you think of a word as a sound, you may begin to realize how many sounds you can make with one word. See where this is going yet?
Let’s look at the word “Good”. Which is often a marker word that is used in dog training. The word “good” can be said in a staccato and to the point way— “Good.”. Or you could say “goooOooOoOod” in a more upbeat, excitable tone. To humans, both mean “good” but for a dog without any prior conditioning? Those are two different sounds, and therefore they are two different words. This is why your tone and inflection is so important to be aware of when communicating with your dog because you could change the word completely from the dog’s perspective by just changing how you say it.
Now how does a dog come to understand what a word or sound means? Through association. For example, a dogs’ name is often taught through calling the dogs’ name, and then offering a reward to the dog when they acknowledge you making that sound. Eventually that sound, if repeated consistently enough, becomes a cue for that dog that you have something for them. And if what you’ve been offering is valuable enough, they’ll start looking for you when you call their name. But it’s not because they’re thinking “oh! That’s me, I’m ‘Clyde’. I’ll be right there!” They’re just playing out a pattern that has been conditioned over time.
Which brings me to the question that some of you may have: can you change a dog’s name? You can! It’s really not that big of a deal, and you can very easily change your dog’s name through conditioning. So if you’ve had your eye on that one rescue dog and you just can’t stand the name ‘Darla’ — don’t let that stop you from getting that dog!
And the next time you’re communicating with your dog with words, think about the sound you’re making and notice how your dog responds when you change the inflection or tone a little bit. Have you conditioned your dog to understand those words? Or are you creating more confusion?
How can I prepare my dog for boarding?
With the summer season in full swing and vacations approaching— you may be wondering how you can prepare your dog for boarding! Or maybe your dog is going to a board and train program and you want to help prepare them. Either way, these tips should help you and your dog feel a little bit better about your time apart from each other.
Now, boarding with us looks very different than boarding at a kennel. So a lot of the information you’ll find here will be based on an “in home” boarding situation. But, I’ll try and weave some tips for those that are using a kennel facility for boarding. And to be clear, some dogs really don’t need much preparation at all. Some dogs are super adaptable and handle transitions well. And other dogs aren’t, and don’t. Most people know their dog, but if you’re not sure if this would be helpful for your dog or how much or which aspect of this could be helpful, let’s talk about it! Send us a message and we can set up a consult with one of our trainers to help you figure out a plan to best support your dogs’ needs in preparing for boarding!
The first thing I would recommend would be finding out where the dog is kept when they’re not “active” and when the person watching them isn’t home. In our program, we utilize crates as a way to keep all the dogs safely managed. When boarding dogs of various sizes, ages, and temperaments— it’s imperative to the safety of the dogs that they are not able to interact while someone isn’t present to monitor and control interactions. So - if your boarding situation is going to be utilizing a crate, do a little crate refresher with your dog if they don’t typically use one at this stage in their life. Start with just asking them to go in, and if thats going well, close the door and leave them in there for short periods while you’re home, and maybe eventually working toward a short crate session when you leave for a quick errand. By familiarizing your dog with the crate, that’s one less unfamiliar thing they’ll experience while boarding, which could lower their stress! If your dog is left unattended in a kennel run, you can simulate this by practicing having them in a small room or a gated off area in the home.
Depending on where you’re boarding, your dog may or may not be offered the opportunity to be off leash. Each of our locations have fenced in yards, and we do allow dogs to be off-leash in our yards. However, until we can reliably recall that dog and we develop trust in them, we keep them on leash in the back yard for your dogs safety. Some dogs have a hard time going to the bathroom on a leash if they’re used to being off-leash in the back yard. So, practice getting your dog to go to the bathroom on a leash! Clip them up, walk outside, walk around the yard with them. Try not to engage with the dog and keep them moving and sniffing. When the dog does eliminate, you can unclip their leash and allow them to roam and explore. You’d be surprised how many dogs struggle with going to the bathroom when in boarding. Or maybe you wouldn’t, if you prefer to use your own bathroom at home as well! But, this can be really helpful for those dogs that are a little more nervous and fearful, and isn’t a bad skill to make sure your dog can do regardless of their temperament and behavior. You never know when your dog may need leash restrictions due to a medical event or something!
Find out from your dogs’ boarding provider what their rules are. This more so applies to dogs being boarded in someone’s home, as most boarding facilities are pretty lenient when it comes to things like jumping, barking, and high excitement. For instance, in our boarding program we don’t allow dogs to blast through thresholds and doorways. And I’d say 90% of the dogs that return to us for boarding are very pushy at doorways. The less familiar the rules are somewhere, the more opportunity for conflict and stress. To minimize this, start reinforcing similar boundaries that your boarding facility may use while your dog is with them. Familiarize your dog with their place command, refresh those door way boundaries, and stop rewarding that jumping!
And finally, grooming! If you have a doodley grooming dog— shave that dog down!!! This is more so for a long term stay, like a 3 week board and train or a long vacation boarding. Getting your dog groomed short prior to a long term stay allows your dogs time to be spent doing things that are more fun than having knots brushed out! It’s much easier to keep your dog clean and easier to inspect for things like ticks and potential injuries with a well maintained coat. So try and schedule your dogs grooming in coordination with your next long term boarding to make your dogs stay less… hairy.
If I was boarding my dog, these are some of the things I’d do to make that easier on him! Depending on your dog, you may need to start this process months before your trip, and other dogs maybe a few weeks is enough time to prepare. If you need help creating a plan to prepare for your dogs’ next long term stay— set up a virtual consult with us and let’s help you and your dog enjoy your next vacation!
Communication Simplified: Marker Words
One of our jobs as dog trainers is to help enhance communication. We help dog owners understand their dogs and what the dog is communicating to them. And we help the owners better communicate with the dog. But why is communication so difficult between humans and dogs? The answer is so simple and yet so overlooked.
Dogs are not humans and therefore they do not naturally communicate like humans! Human communication is primarily verbal while canine communication is primarily physical and tactile. Dogs communicate through body language, touch, and pressure whereas humans mainly speak to communicate.
In an effort to merge our world with the world of dogs, humans have learned how to condition dogs to perform behaviors with a verbal cue. For example, sit and the dog will sit.
But imagine living in a world where you were commanded what to do, but you were never clearly shown what behaviors were allowed and what behaviors were not allowed…. You’d be stressed out!! Well, that’s most dogs!
Obedience is cool and all, but the conversation needs to be much simpler before we start commanding dogs to do things. Here’s where Marker Words come into play.
Marker words are words we use to mark certain behaviors to help the dog pair an association to that behavior. Think of it like this: every time you use a marker word you’re taking a picture of a moment in time and filing it under “desirable behavior” or “undesirable behavior” in your dogs brain, depending on which marker word you’re using. Your dog will begin to create a “photo album” of all the memories and moments you’ve captured with your marker words and they’ll use those past experiences to shape new behaviors and patterns! The goal here is to have more “photos” in the “good photo album” than the “bad photo album”!
In the most simple form of marker training you will use a positive marker, like “good”, to mark the desired behaviors and a negative marker, like “no”, to mark undesirable behavior. Before we can utilize these marker words appropriately, you must condition the dog to the markers.
With properly conditioned marker words, you have just unlocked the most basic and arguably the most effective form of communication with your dog— Yes and No!!
These marker words can be used to provide clarity to your dog on your expectations and will enhance your communication tenfold! Pairing marker training with other training techniques can help provide clarity and reduce stress when learning new things by helping the dog see that we’re there to help them!
If you’d like help getting started with marker training and would like to learn how to condition your markers, book a virtual consult with us!
Why should you work with a dog trainer?
I think a lot of people have a misunderstanding of what a “dog trainer” does. Sure, some dog trainers are solely teaching obedience and tricks. But we do things a little differently around here. We work beyond obedience and tricks to help you create a mutually beneficial relationship between you and your dog. We help you understand your dog so that you can connect with your dog beyond tricks and toys. I can only speak on my experience as a dog trainer and what I’ve offered to people over the years. But why would someone want or need a dog trainer?
An experienced dog trainer is worth their weight in gold if you value your relationship with your dog and your ability to communicate with them. An experienced dog trainer will have had plenty of interactions with various kinds of dogs at all different stages with different issues and temperaments. Meaning, they’ve probably seen “your dog” before. And with that, they can provide you with more insight on how to handle things and what potential outcomes can be. They can help you become aware of things to look out for in the future, how to avoid potential future issues, and how to best manage situations based on prior success with other clients. This insight and feedback can act as a “playbook” for you to follow to help ensure your goal is reached! This takes the guess work and uncertainty out of things, which allows you to progress at a quicker rate with less stress for you and your dog!
Now, sometimes plans don’t go accordingly. Or sometimes plans need adjustment if things aren’t playing out how “the book” said it would. And the beauty of having a dog trainer to work with is you have a source to help you problem solve. The reality is, dogs are animals. They cannot be programmed and not every scenario can be predicted. So when things don’t go your way, or you feel like things aren’t clicking and you need a better breakdown of a concept— your dog trainer should be able to help you find a solution!
Having a reliable source to ask questions and get instruction on how to improve your relationship with your dog is the biggest benefit to hiring a dog trainer! Even if you’re not experiencing dangerous issues or having serious problems with your dog, you can benefit by enhancing your relationship and communication with your canine companion. And a quality dog trainer can help you do this! I have worked with so many clients who just simply wanted their life to be better with their dog. They wanted to set their new rescue dog up for success or want to get started with training their puppy to avoid future problems. There are dog trainers (like us!) out there that can help you just be better!
Although these type of consultations can be difficult, we have also had sessions with clients where we met with them once to discuss options for their dog, such as rehoming and behavioral euthanasia. This is an unfortunate reality for some owners and we’re honored to be able to help people with these discussions and in helping them decide if either of these options is the right choice for their family. These are really challenging decisions, and sometimes getting validation from a professional is important to people before they make that call. Some people want to explore and exhaust all options, and some clients need their thoughts and feelings around the decision validated— we are here for you.
Hiring a good dog trainer is one of the best things you could do for your dog. You can learn to understand your dog at a greater level and how to communicate fairly and effectively. Set up your consultation today and find out how you can improve your relationship with your dog!
Welcome to our blog!
Happy to have you here! As we work on expanding our reach, we thought “why not start a blog!?” So here we are!
This blog will serve as a source of education and information as well as fun stories about our adventures as dog trainers! We’ll share stories about cases we’ve had in the past, we’ll talk about common problems like excessive barking and how to navigate the vets office, and really what ever comes to mind! This is a form of sharing that we haven’t done in the past, so please stick with us as we learn the ins and outs of blogging!
We’re always open to feedback and would love to hear what you think about our posts or what things you’d like us to dive into and talk about!
Thanks for stopping in and we look forward to providing some new content for your guys!