Great article on TIME magazine (internet) that brought up some fallacies towards the public's idea of dog training. The last few years i've been asked about Cesar Milan's methods. It's been met with mixed reviews but mostly positive ones in favor of him cause the majority of the public have no idea what it takes to train a dog. He's accomplished much since he's been on TV but also given the public a rather "get it done now" attitude. Victoria Stilwell is the new trainer on the block and I've given her a lot of props for her way of dealing with owners and there dogs yet she too has made dog training look easy for the public. If you have an plumbing problem you call a plumber. If you have an electricity issue you call an electrician but when you have a dog problem, you either ask your friends/family or simply look at what they are doing and try to solve them yourself. Truly it is not as simple as that.
My reason's for this entry on my blog is to share my opinion (we all have one) in what I believe is REAL behind dog training. To also share my beliefs in the methods we see on TV and how we can better live with our dogs knowing what we've created today and how to deal with it for the future.
I've always said there isn't a true method in training dogs."If you train 10 dogs the same way, 9 dogs aren't trained right!" Let me explain, ANY teacher will vouch. You have 20+ (in LAUSD 30+ lol) kids in your classroom and as a teacher they realize that kids learn at different rates and with a different approach. Dogs are NO different, one of the most popular methods of the last 30 years has been the Koehler method. In our industry, it's called the "force method" where you basically enforce by "motivating dogs by anticipation of punishment" (the red light effect, we all know that RED LIGHTS means to stop but it was embedded in our heads by law and of our upbringing - family members. If we break the law, we pay a consequence)
I've seen many, many dogs fail from it. Why? you simply can't force every dog to do what you want them to do. Some dogs simply don't have the mental nerves to handle the corrections that is brought forth with this method which in turn is why there are other ways (methods) to approach and reach the same results.
"If you treat a dog like a human, he'll turn around and treat you like a dog" (remember that) is what i've said since i began training dogs. We live in a world where we're humanizing our dogs. Most of the material and methods you find are from 20 to 30 years ago. New books are not so new, it is information that have been copy/pasted and no one's really written anything about it.
A prevalent issue today that wasn't 20+ years ago is "Separation Anxiety" 20+ years ago, owners simply left there dogs outside and never allowed them into homes. Dogs were dogs, backyard pets that only saw human contact whenever someone came outside to clean, feed, and/or lounge in yards. Dogs were never allowed to be in homes let alone furniture, in the bed or around family gatherings.
All has changed, we live in a world that dogs are allowed in all the above situations but even more so. This new way of living with our pets have brought on new habits and new problems that dog trainers have to deal with and the books of past never made a mention of it cause it was not prevalent. Which brings me to the methods that are being used today, dogs need to be addressed and trained differently than before. I call it the "Humanization of the Dog World"
Some see Mr. Milan's method's as "downright cruel" The article makes a mention of the "Hierarchical packs in which the aggressive alpha male rules over everyone else. Therefore, humans need to dominate their pet dogs to get them to behave" It furthers states that it is now a DEBUNKED MYTH. I tend to disagree with this statement, mainly for the reasons that dogs are pack animals and that they see humans in 3 ways: "either your above them, equal to them or below them" just as we humans view each other but not for the same reasons. Dogs need direction, they've been domesticated for the purpose of fulfilling the needs we needed them for at the time. Now-a-days we allow technology to do mostly everything but dogs still play a major role in our society.
Ms. Stilwell's wants the viewer to see it differently, she "uses positivity as a counterpoint to dominance theory and reserves her aggression for the poorly behaving humans" WHY? She wants to make money, who doesn't. She has to appear different to the public and have her own method of training. She's done a fantastic job in getting owners to see there problems and learning how to deal with them, i've said that since I watched her show. All in all, owners are the one's to blame NOT the dogs. I've stated to my clients that in the last thousands of years, dogs have not changed. WE HAVE!
Which is why I began writing this entry in the first place, to explain that NO ONE'S method is better than the next. We all simply want dogs to be better family members. So why not find the method that works with the type of dog you have.
Both trainers love dogs, its obvious. They both have an understanding that dogs don't talk back so it is important to understand what's going on in the dogs head before passing judgement. Yet I disagree with this statement as well:
"Both agree that punishment is only effective during or within half a second after the offending behavior: yell at Butch for peeing in your kitchen after he's already walked away, and Butch will think he's in trouble for walking away"
How many times have you left your home, come back an hour or so later and found your dog hiding from something they've done? From chewing up a pair of shoes or Peeing on the kitchen floor they realize they've done wrong and therefore begin the process guilt by hiding. It could've happened 2 mins before you got home. DOGS have no concept of time so they don't understand if it's been a one minute or one hour. They know what's wrong and right. So why wouldn't you not correct the dog for this behavior and let them know what they did wrong?
"If you treat a dog like a human, he'll treat you like a dog" remember that statement above? this is the humanizing of your dog, once it feels accepted as a family member (a human) it begins to act as if home is a den and whatever goes, GOES. Urinating, chewing, jumping and such is accepted in a dogs den so why not your home. Dogs don't have the capacity to treat you like a human cause there dogs, we humans can mimic and THINK we are dogs.
Now for the importance's of this entry,"In order to correct a problem, you have to allow the problem to happen" a simple philosophy that must be understood when dealing with your dog. Dogs are all the same, it's a matter of cause an effect. They do something wrong, we teach them how to do it right with all the AVAILABLE methods to get it done. Not what 2 people and there methods have to say. You have one using the words "Dominance" and another saying "Leadership" but there both the same. Look, they are both right is my point but to get the bottom of it all available methods should be seek and understanding the type of dog you own will help you better navigate through the madness of dealing with dog training.
I always say "dogs need affection but more importantly they need direction" so love them all you want but remember they're still dogs, teach them and stop "enabling" your dogs by looking for excuses. Look at yourself in the mirror and see what your doing wrong, a method I found when dealing with dogs is simple: do the opposite of what your dogs wants to do and usually it will work in your favor. (if he wants to walk fast, walk slow. if he wants to go right, go left. if he wants to hump your leg, don't allow him) simple method that no one can take credit for, just one that seems to work with many dogs but again not all.
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