I am not a dog behaviourist
I am not a dog behaviourist - I'm a trainer, a trainer that prevents behaviour issues starting in the first place!
I am the first to tell people I am not a behaviourist when they contact me with behaviour issues.
But, I do tell them that owning and working a number of dogs in different disciplines and having experienced some of the problems many dog owners face, I can normally give them some advice to try and make a bad situation better. Based upon experience, not text books or theory, or my mate down the pub who had a dog 30 years ago said ‘xyz’!
Yes I have thought about becoming a behaviourist many times, working through copious amounts of theory and text books in pursuit of a piece of paper that says I did well and passed. But, why ?
Years ago my mentor at the time made a comment I paid attention to, she said that if anything happened to her people would be queuing up at her door to provide a home for her dogs. Dogs that had recall, knew their boundaries, were obedient, had a job, were well rounded and well looked after. So I have strived to do it with my own dogs, make them the best they can be around the house and when out, either socially or when working with them.
That means dealing with various issues, but more importantly, having learned from those issues, preventing them in the first place. Through building trust and a solid bond, treating them well and damn well training them too (not an hour a week, but every day, in some way). So much so that I can rest easy knowing I too would have a queue at my door offering a suitable home for them, there may even be fights over some of them :-) !
So what have I done with my clients and my own dogs that most people don't?
I’ve prevented problem behaviours happening in the first place, and here are a few things I have done / been doing and some of the reasoning behind what I do.
Over the last 2 years or so I have bought 8 puppies (mainly for clients) and had a litter of lab pups which went to carefully selected excellent homes, none, that's right, NONE, were allowed, whilst training and in their most formative months, to say hello to every Arthur Martha or Fido that they came across, but they did see dozens of dogs!
None were allowed to follow me around the house all day, all knew how to settle when we wanted them too. Which meant they were happy to be on their own, and NONE have separation anxiety.
None have been into classes to train or socialise, but all have socialised properly with other dogs. None are dog reactive.
All have been 'familiarised' rather than socialised with strangers in many different situations. None are human reactive.
All were give experiences - in the fields, in the woods, in town, in different vehicles, eating their food in different places, ‘meeting’ different people (none being allowed to fuss or play with the pup). All have been exposed to many experiences in the right way to ensure we have a pup that is confident to take on new experiences / suprises with confidence.
All have been taught at a very young age that good things happen when they stick with US.
All have been taught to walk close to heel before a lead was ever introduced, which resulted in NO pulling on the lead before they left for their new homes.
All were taught a solid recall cue from day one (verbal and whistle) and distractions were introduced to proof it, but having not let them say 'hello' to every Arthur Martha and Fido from day one. I never have to shout those words 'it's ok he /she's friendly' which translated means 'oh shit I have no recall and sod all chance of calling them back!’
All were taught the importance of the crate, routine and manners, ensuring they settle on their own during the day, either in their crate or kennels, or runs.
All were fed an appropriate diet, removing anything they didn't need in it !
All were given ample opportunity to exercise, without the need to teach them to pull us around the village every single day.
All were trained in a force free way through shaping behaviour using positive reinforcement. Building a good solid bond with the pup which has easily transferred to the owner / client.
All were taught by 16 weeks, what the following commands were, and in order of importance to the pup....
1st - 'ok'
2nd - 'good
3rd - 'sit'
4th - 'come’
5th - 'heel’
We did not worry about paw, high five or any of the other ‘important’ things that people would rather teach than the most important things.
Alongside these we introduced 3 different whistle commands from as early as 5 weeks old (with the litter we bred)
5 pips - get your arse back here
2 pips - this way / follow me
1 pip - sit
All pups were set up for success from day one, by shaping behaviour that I wanted. All those pups have progressed in their homes working from the foundations laid by us in the beginning.
Our training is simple and effective, and does not involve shoving cooked chicken, squirty cheese down our dogs throats every time they breathe, Neither does it involve any harsh handling.
It's effective because pup knows what's expected, pup is set up for success at EVERY opportunity, and my training is so easily transferred to the client when pup goes home.
For those clients about to collect their puppy, get in touch with us, for everything you can be doing correctly, before you start making the mistakes that many new puppy owners make.
As I have said, I am not a behaviourist, I (along with my puppy training advisors) help you train the behaviours you want from your pup from day one Shaping the Dog you want through the puppy you bring home!!
Steve Swallow ABIPDT
