Category: Dog Training

Are you considering adopting a dog but are hesitant to adopt an older one? Adopting a dog is a big decision. As we stated in our previous blog, 6 Things to Consider Before You Adopt A Dog, there are several things you should consider when doing so. That list expands when you are looking at a more elderly dog. Adopting an older dog has several pros and cons, such as bypassing inevitable puppy behavior (pro) and knowing the dog’s personality (con). One of the things that there are many misconceptions about is whether or not you can still train an older dog. The short answer is yes! Despite the saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, you can absolutely teach an older dog new responses so it is never too late for dog training. Before we dive into that, let’s get a better understanding of what dog training can entail.

Types of Dog Training

Styles of Dog Training

In another blog about needing a trainer, we discussed what might prompt someone to get a trainer, what to consider before hiring a trainer, getting input from others and how animal communication can be a resource. Now, let’s look at the different types of dog training. According to Pet Keen, there are 4 different styles of training.

1. Positive Reinforcement. (My personal favorite). This is all about praise for good behavior.
2. Dominance Training. With this training, you’re utilizing methods that communicate to the dog that you are the alpha and that the dog submits to you.
3. E-collar Training. E-collars use shock, noise, or vibration to correct unwanted behaviors. 
4. Clicker Training. This signals the dog that it’s reward time when they’ve done something good. 

Specialized Dog Training

Outside of the 4 styles of training, there are also 8 different specialized trainings. Some of these are not fit for all dogs so it’s important to hire a reputable trainer that will thoroughly discuss each. 

1. Behavioral
2. Tracking
3. Obedience
4. Therapy
5. Agility
6. Retrieving
7. Service
8. Protection

Finding the Right Dog Training

Take a moment to think about the way you learn. Do you have to write things down or do what you’re learning yourself to get it to “stick”? Humans are just like dogs in that we each learn differently so knowing how your dog learns and understanding each type of training is important. For instance, if you have a hound, tracking could be a really good way to train your dog since they are natural hunters with extra-strong sniffers. As I just demonstrated, the breed may be something to consider when choosing a type of training. The type of training you choose will also depend on things like:

• Age – you won’t necessarily want agility training for a 14-year-old dog.
• Health condition – if your dog has severe anxiety, you may not want it to do service training. 
• Desired outcome – if your dog is showing undesirable behaviors that you want to diminish, you wouldn’t want to focus on therapy training. 

No matter what type of training you choose, the only time age should be a factor is if their age is directly related to a health condition or physical ability. Otherwise, age should not deter you from teaching your dog a new behavior or trick. 

Dog Training for An Aging Dog Could Be Difficult, Not Impossible

When it comes to training your dog, it is easier to teach a new response than to “un-teach” one that has already been learned. So, you can teach an old dog a new trick but it is harder to re-train a trick or behavior pattern that they have already learned.

It is much easier to teach a young dog that is open, energetic, and ready to explore. Young dogs have not had much time to learn about themselves and their environment so they don’t have predetermined responses to new experiences or commands. However, please note that you should be mindful of what you teach a young dog. They learn quickly whether you mean to teach a behavior or not.

As dogs grow and age, they gather information about their environment. They make assumptions and “download” patterns of responses based on past experiences. These “learned” responses may be correct (desired) responses from the human point of view or they may be labeled undesired or incorrect by the human. The dog does not label events and responses as “good” or “bad” as we do. They tend to learn what brings positive responses (praise, reward) and negative responses (pain). 

Their labels and our labels do not always agree. 

With all of this considered, be strategic and intentional about the way you are interacting with and training your dog and you’ll continue to strengthen your bond!

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “A dog is a man’s best friend”. There’s no denying that these loyal and loving animals can really be our best friends and companions. While they can be our best buds, this doesn’t mean that we completely understand each other. Think about our relationships with humans whom we speak the same language with. There are still so many misunderstandings. Imagine how many misunderstandings there are between dogs and humans! Below, I outline some common dog behaviors and common misconceptions about them to help you foster a better relationship with your furry friend.  

Barking

Dogs will be dogs and barking is what they do to communicate with everything – humans and animals. While barking is normal, it can be excessive so it’s important to be aware of why your dog is barking.

If they are barking because someone is at the door, it’s their instinct to protect you. If your dog is just standing in front of you and barking for no apparent reason, they could just want attention, may need to go outside, or may be hungry. The reasons a dog barks are infinite so remember that if it’s starting to get on your nerves, yelling is only going to fuel the fire. It’s important to remain calm and communicate in a non-aggressive way. After all, your dog doesn’t necessarily know what you’re communicating to him. 

Misconception: The dog should understand what I want from him.

No dog instinctively understands the rules for living amongst humans. The boundaries and expectations that we hold for our pets must be defined and trained for the dog to understand. While our dogs do learn to interpret our tone of voice, posture, and facial expression, they do not understand our words. Consistency, patience, practice, and positive reinforcement are our best tools to cultivate understanding in our dogs.

Aggression

Do you have that dog that, no matter what, always shows aggression towards people or other animals, especially dogs? If a dog doesn’t get much time around others, they may show their protector instinct as a default behavior because they don’t know how to communicate with others, even their own kind.

Misconception: Dogs always understand one another.

It is true that dogs have a “language” all their own. They use stance, posture, facial expression, and tail wagging to indicate to other dogs their intent to play or avoid contact. Most dogs will pick up on this non-verbal language shared by many breeds and interpret it correctly. However, there are many dogs that were not socialized at an early age, or at all, and will not understand the customary signals. Help your dog to learn this language early through careful socialization and plenty of dog play.

Chewing

If you’ve had a puppy before, you’ve probably experienced the chewing stage to some degree. Dogs are chewers because they use their mouths for exploration, second to their noses. Since puppies have so much to get familiar with, they tend to chew more often. What about those dogs who are no longer puppies that are still chewing everything? You may get very upset with them because they should “know better”, which brings us back to our first misconception. It also may be because they are not given what they need to keep from being bored and use chewing as a way of entertainment. They could also not like their environment and chew to destruct it. Regardless of the reason for chewing, it’s not always the dog’s fault. 

Misconception: It’s always the dog’s fault

There are so many times when a dog is punished or corrected for what we call “bad behavior” when in fact, the behavior is a completely natural one for a dog. Quite often the misbehavior is simply a misunderstanding of our expectations. As responsible dog owners, we should always ask ourselves what role we have played in this behavior we have labeled “bad”. Have we taken the time to clearly teach the required skill?  Have we trained clear boundaries and made our expectations clear so our dog can understand? Take the time to put yourself into the dog’s perspective and see the world as they do. Is it still clear that this was “bad behavior”?

Digging

Going back to the point of being bored, your dog could be excessively digging because they have nothing to keep them entertained. Remember that dogs who spend a lot of time outside will naturally dig because they want to bury a toy or because they want a cool place to lie down. If your dog is digging, you don’t have to task them with a “job” to stop it. There are other ways to mitigate digging.

Misconception: Dogs need a job

While it is true that boredom can cause all sorts of behavior issues, a “job” is not always the answer. Dogs have no concept of a “job” as we do. Dogs do need regular activity, and an environment that is enriched with sensory stimulation, and for some dogs, trained tasks give them stimulation and focus for their energy.

Dog Behavior Misconceptions Can Be Lessened with Animal Communication

Misconceptions are a part of life and at the same time, there don’t have to be so many. Hiring an animal communicator can help you get an understanding of why your dog has certain behaviors. Once you have an understanding, you can work together to change those behaviors.

I’d like to leave you with two things to keep in mind about your dogs as you embark on the journey of better understanding. 

1. Dogs don’t experience guilt. The postures and expressions we see in a dog and interpret as guilt are usually fear or anticipation of punishment. This is based on the owner’s posture and tone of voice, not guilt from a past behavior. Therefore, you should use positive reinforcement to change behavior, as scolding them will not make them feel guilty and not do the act again.
2. You can teach an old dog new tricks. Old dogs can absolutely learn new tricks. If the dog is mentally and physically able to respond to cues and rewards, it can learn. In fact, learning a new skill or trick can add interest and energy to an older dog and enrich his senior years.

Do you have a puppy that’s starting to display aggressive behaviors or an adult dog that is the neighborhood terror? No matter the age of your dog or how long they’ve been displaying aggressive behaviors, dog aggression is a difficult situation for both the dog owner and the dog they love. If you’re starting to consider when to invest in dog aggressiveness training, you’re in the right place!

When you’re dealing with dog aggression, you essentially have 2 choices:

1. You can use punishment tactics to dissuade your dog from being aggressive.
2. You can get rid of the root cause of the aggression. 

I personally believe that finding the root cause is the ONLY way to approach this as punishment is not effective, and is cruel. Plus, did you know that when you use punishment, your dog’s aggression is likely to get worse – 43% worse to be exact.

Identify Triggers

First, you’ll need to identify triggers to get to the root cause. Is his response triggered by fear of a situation, a particular person, or even another animal? Or is his behavior motivated more by territory protection or male dominance?

Some of the common causes of dog aggression include:

• Fear
• Pain
• Illness
• Anxiety
• Uncertainty
• Frustration
• Protectiveness
• Resource guarding
• Misunderstanding
• Past experiences

Address Health-Related Triggers

If your dog is being aggressive because of a health issue or being in pain, it’s important to get those addressed right away by your veterinarian. If you don’t have one, make sure to:

1. Find one that specializes in treating dogs.
2. Ask about their approach to pets and medicine.
3. Ensure they have a clean facility.
4. Get a good feeling from them – sometimes those hunches are all we need.

Animal Communication for Determining Specific Triggers

Once health- or pain-related issues are resolved and they are still showing signs of aggression, it’s time to bring in an Animal Communicator to dig a little deeper.

An animal communication session can be quite helpful to identify the specific trigger(s) for your dog’s aggression. Once the trigger is identified, it is much easier for you and your trainer to develop training strategies to modify the behavior. Otherwise, you’ll just be trying different things and hoping they work. Asking your dog how he sees and interprets the situation and how he feels during the experience are important clues that can lead you to a successful outcome. Such a successful outcome that it may be something you can correct on your own without the use of a trainer. If you’re not sure about how an Animal Communicator can help or what it is, take a look at these frequently asked questions.

When to Invest in Dog Aggressiveness Training

If your dog is snapping, growling, or biting, once you’ve identified and resolved their triggers, it’s time to invest in dog aggressiveness training. As a dog owner, you can’t take any chances of your dog lashing out on someone or something and you being held responsible for it. So, it’s better to be safe than sorry and if they’re still displaying aggressive behaviors, chances are they need aggressiveness training to course-correct them.

Have you been trying to get your dog acclimated to you, the kids, or even the delivery guy who frequents your house and it just seems like no matter what you do, it just isn’t working? You’ve probably tried so many things like getting rid of all the distractions, breaking training up into short sessions, giving a favorite treat as a reward, and so on, only to still not be able to keep your dog’s attention. After putting so much effort into training your dog and not getting anywhere with it, you have to be saying to yourself “I need a trainer for dogs near me – sooner than later!”.

I get it! The time has come and you can’t put it off anymore – you know your dog needs a trainer. So, how do you choose the best dog trainer? Not all dog trainers may be right for your dog – or even you. Before your search begins, ask yourself these questions:

1. What do I need to effectively train my dog?
2. Has my dog been difficult to housebreak? 
3. Is my dog chewing on our belongings or barking all the time? 
4. Is my dog aggressive to other dogs or visitors?
5. Is my dog difficult to walk on a leash?
6. How is my dog when riding in the car?

Each of these situations requires a different approach and technique, and possibly even a different location, for training so it’s important that you get an understanding of exactly what the issues are so that when you are interviewing trainers, you can ensure that they have experience solving these problems and have the ability to train where you need them. 

What to Consider Before Hiring a Trainer

Before committing to a trainer, consider the questions above and determine whether it would be feasible to train your dog elsewhere or if, without a doubt, you’d need to train your dog at your home. When making this determination, you may even want to consider some free webinars or training classes held by Your Dog’s Friend so that you can become more knowledgeable about behavior issues, health issues, and training techniques. These classes are especially good for those who are new dog parents! Equipping yourself with this knowledge can help you make this determination and ask potential trainers the right questions to ensure they are the right fit for you and your dog. 

Some other things to take into consideration are:

1. Do you need hands-on, more individualized training?
2. The age of your dog.
3. Is your dog a puppy that is just beginning to learn manners and commands?
4. Did you adopt an adult dog that has some behavior or fear issues from the past?
5. Are you looking to teach basic commands such as “Sit” and “Stay” or have you reached the point of advanced agility training? 
6. The breed of your dog – is yours a working dog, such as a herding breed, or is your dog a small companion breed?
7. The items you’ll need to effectively train your dog.

Getting Others Input On Dog Trainers

Once you’ve considered these, start asking others who they’ve used and even make a trip to your local pet supply or feed store for recommendations. My personal preference is always to choose a trainer that uses positive reinforcement training. I personally believe this is the most effective method of dog training. Positive reinforcement training essentially focuses on rewarding your pet for good behavior, rather than punishing bad behavior. No matter how much you trust the people you get suggestions from, always interview the trainer. Ask about their training and experience and then evaluate if it matches your needs? Even write a checklist if you have to. Also, The American Kennel Club offers a good article on choosing a dog trainer if you’re looking for more guidance.

Animal Communication as a Resource for Choosing a Trainer

No matter what your training challenge or the trainer you choose, animal communication can really help you! During an Animal Communication consultation, I am able to ask your dog about particular triggers for their behavior. 

• Is it fear or aggression driving their reaction? 
• What is your pet’s personality – outgoing and friendly or wary and reserved?

Each pet has a unique preference for learning styles and environments. With Animal Communication, we can discover these unique preferences and choose a trainer that best suits their needs. We can ask general questions such as “how do you feel in a large group of dogs?” or get more specific and ask “what is holding you back from entering the tunnel on the agility course?” Once we discover how the environment feels to your dog, we can better select a trainer that matches its unique personality and learning style. This can save you a lot of time and headache when searching for the right trainer!