#cpdtka

[sassafraslowrey]

dog trainer rant: LEASH. YOUR. DOG. i don't care how well you think your dog is trained (they prob aren't), or how nice you think your dog is (dogs are unpredictable). if you are in a public park, hiking trail etc. that does not EXPLICITLY allow off leash dogs i don't want to see your dog running around without a leash. Never allow your dog to approach other dogs without permission. Your dog doesn't need to "say hi." Your dog doesn't need to play with strange dogs. your dog needing exercise is not an excuse - your responsibility as a dog owner is to find a way to meet your dogs needs without putting them or anyone else in danger. if you can't do that - maybe you don't need a dog. period.

This reminder brought to you by the off leash dog (Aussie - sharing breed to avoid speculations) that jumped my polite not reactive and leashed dog who was calmly walking through a park/school field where dogs are NOT permitted to be off leash. Thankfully my dog is heavy coated and the Aussie just got fur when it made contact with her.

[dogtastictraining]

Pack Leader Pack Smeader

Some ideas get so ingrained in society that it can take a really long time to see that idea change.

In this case, it’s the alpha/pack leader theory, which has been debunked now over 20 years ago. 

Yes. 

TWENTY years ago! 

And I STILL see and hear those words on a day to day basis. 

Here’s the deal. In the 70s, a researcher named David Mech was studying adolescent male wolves in captivity. He noticed they would fight to have one leader of their pack, and from this observation he coined the alpha/pack leader idea. 

Almost 30 years later, in 1999, he published a paper correcting his original conclusions after he had studied actual wild wolves outside of captivity. He noticed that wild wolves have a more similar structure to our families, and actually a male and a female both are top. The elders are respected the way we respect our parents and grandparents, and that was no assertion of physical dominance to gain leadership. The reason for the fights in the original study is because they had a group of adolescent male wolves together that would not have naturally been together in the wild. 

However, despite the actual original person who coined the term telling us it’s not true, it is still SO prevalent! I cringe and cry inside when I see yet another person saying they are the pack leader or are showing their students how to be a pack leader. 

It is literally setting our dogs and our training methods back 20+ years.  🤦‍♀️  

And I instantly know they do not really understand dog behavior or training. 

  Unfortunately, the idea sounds good and seems to make sense if you don’t really understand what is happening. 

Why does your dog behave with one person and not another? Because dogs understand circumstance and situations, as do humans. 

If you weren’t allowed to eat cookies at home but were at a friend’s house where they were allowed to eat cookies, would you abide by the rules at home or the new rules at your friend’s house? 

Some percentage of you will say you’d still abide by your parents, but honestly most people would eat the cookies at their friends. Does that make these people stubborn or dominant or that parent less of a leader? No. You saw and opportunity and you took it. Your dog behaves better with the trainer/dog walker/friend that comes over that implements rules from the get-go. 

For example, when I work with student dogs I start training them from the minute I walk in the door. I NEVER pet dogs for jumping up on me. NEVER. Even if the family does not mind it. I immediately start working on sit or down or reward when they are calm... all while we are doing our initial evals or catching up on past weeks of training. 

So what starts to happen is when I come over to work with the dog, they are good.. they offer me a sit or a down, they do not jump, etc. Does that make me a better pack leader than you? No! It means I have a rule and I stuck to it and your dog learned that. 

And don’t humans do the same?? You know which is the pushover parent or boss that you can get more things out of who will always say yes. Does that make you dominant? No! It makes you an observant person with a history of rewards from the easier person! This is all your dog is doing. 

Why do some groups of dogs from different families follow each other? Not because of some hardwired genetic code of being a pack. Seriously. Your herding mix and lab and frenchie and poodle and whatever else are not syncing up as a freaking pack. 

Lots of breeds were not even bred to BE pack animals (not in the way that huskies and beagles/other hunting breeds are actually bred to work with other dogs). 

At the dog park dogs follow each other around because of fear of missing out and because don’t we all do that too?! The other day I stopped downtown to watch a ton of birds flying and a bunch of people stopped too to see what I was looking at. Haha Is it a pack mentality thing? No! It’s curiosity! 

Have you ever been somewhere where people were handing out free giveaways? Man when they first start people flock to them like flies on honey. And then more come to see what the crowd is about, and it steam rolls from there. Dogs are no different... they want to smell the good pee too, or sniff the new dog, or whatever else. 

Why does your dog pull? Not to be alpha, that’s for dang sure! Because dogs walk faster than we do. We are slow! Seriously, their fundamental gait is faster than a normal human’s pace. Also because the world is interesting and we don't out take them out enough to explore that world. And 1/3 of their brain is dedicated to scenting and they want to sniff! One third! And also because they do not naturally walk straight and our walks are straight as an arrow. Or they pull because you let them. If you ever, ever take walks forward while your dog is pulling, if you ever let them pull you to say hi to meet another dog, or pull over to sniff a tree or pee, then you are rewarding that behavior right then and every time. It is rewarded behavior that makes a behavior increase... not your dog's desire to be alpha. 

Why does your dog try to push his way out of the door or jump out of the car before released? Because he is excited for a walk and you are going slow. Because you let him do that 50% of the time when you are not paying attention or are tired. Because someone is your family lets him do that. Again, because he has a behavior history of being rewarded for that. Not because he is alpha and wants to go first. 

And again, don't we all do the same thing? Crowds of people push into stores at Black Friday to get inside first.. it is a competition for resources at its finest. Or, I naturally walk really fast and if I am behind a slower person and I am approaching a spot where I would get stuck behind them, I speed up and try to dart in before them so then I don't have to go slow. Does that make me an alpha? Probably. Haha JK. No, it's just I am busy and experience dictates that times in the past when I have been stuck behind slower people and have been trying to get somewhere, it was frustrating. So I am trying to avoid having that situation occur again. 

Your dog is doing no different. Again, we are slow, we stop to check our phones, we are talking, etc. and your dog wants to go go go! Or it's the first time they have been out all week and they want to go go go! They are not being rude intentionally, they are just being dogs. 

And yes we can have good manners at doorways and in cars... I teach that to all my dogs, but that is for good manners and safety, not because of a pack leader thing or alpha thing. 

Why does your dog have bad behavior at home? Because they are young, untrained or badly trained, and because what dogs want to do is vastly different than what we want them to do. 

Yes you should be a good leader for your dog by being the leader that anyone of us wants to see. 

You should be clear, consistent and fair. 

Those are the sorts of leaders we need more of, and it has nothing to do with your dog thinking you are part of his pack. 

News flash, he does not. 

You are not a dog. 

He knows you are not a dog. 

You are not his pack in any sense of what that would meant for a dog. 

You are a person. 

You are a person with a responsibility to train and guide your dog, and love them too. 

Many people can and do get some results with the pack leader/dominance-based style of training (dominance-based meaning that you are trying to establish yourself as the more dominant one), because if a dog has no rules and structure, then anyone implementing some rules will immediately be better than nothing. 

But I just want people to realize it has nothing to do with you being the pack leader or alpha. It is literally a made up concept that is proven incorrect over and over and over and over again. So many times in fact that it’s hard to believe it hasn’t gone away. Unfortunately, trainers like Cesar Milan have made it popular and will continue to perpetuate it for as long as his TV show airs. Before his TV show we were actually getting traction with getting that concept to die out, but now it is more prevalent than ever before. 

So, train your dogs. Be kind to them, be fair, and think about how it is from their perspective. Are you clear in what you are asking? Is everyone in the household on the same page? Are they being rewarded for their behavior intentionally or accidentally? This is mostly where people run into trouble. 

If your dog is doing a behavior that you are having trouble with or think that he/she is doing it because of being alpha, please message us to ask. I guarantee we can help you figure out what is really happening. :)

Becky Pesicka, CPDT-KA, CNWI is a certified professional dog trainer and a certified nose work instructor. She has been running Dogtastic Training since 2011 and has worked with students all over the country and world. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @dogtastictraining​ for more training tips and dog conversation. 

[krystttle]

so thailand was amaaaazing.

i’m sad to be back in this cold weather however, I am back and ready to tackle my next goals. I’ve been accepted into a dog training academy so that’s my nxt big thing, until then dundundunnnn.

ill be back when i’m on the road to krystle soto, CPDT-KA working for the ASPCA ARC’s behavior team.

Give me a few months, just wait.

WATCHHHHH!!!!

[muddydogtraining]

So I got my certificate today that I am a certified professional dog trainer nbd

And I was also approved to be a CGC evaluator so yeah

[iamthemotherfuckingfox]

I did it! #cpdt #cpdtka

[dogtastictraining]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Becky • Dog Trainer (@dogtastictraining)

DOOR MANNERS! They are important, for dogs of all sizes! Rushing through the front door is dangerous for a number of different reasons, especially if you live off a busy street, have big dogs that can knock someone over (like kids), have multiple dogs, have an excitable or easily aroused dog... the list goes on! I call this door manners procedure "Open Sesame Sit." If the dogs are sitting, the door opens sesame, if the dogs get up, the door closes and no sesame. Going outside is contingent on good door manners and sitting patiently. Also, noticed that I require ALL dogs to be sitting, so if one gets up, we start from scratch. I love this video for a number of different reasons. Greta (the shepherd on the right) was smart and the fastest to sit. She has a habit of door dashing so I have been working with her a great deal on not doing that, so she is used to the door routine. But I don't typically do this with all 3, so she's not used to sitting for a long time. By contrast, the two dogs on the left are my dogs and I don't always require them to sit before going outside, so they both look at me like, which time will this be? But once sitting, they are used to sitting and waiting for a release for very long periods, so they have no problem staying put. I really wanted to point this differences out because they are differences in each dog's expectations and learning experience, NOT traits like pushiness, stubbornness, playing dumb, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #dogtraining101 #dogtrainingtips #trainingtip #trainingtips #howto #animalplanet #akc #doormanners #dogtraining #positivedogtraining #positivetraining #happylaborday #laborday #training #trainer #dogtrainer #cpdtka #sanluisobispo #slo #slotown #smallbiz #dogtastic @kimberly.a.walker (at San Luis Obispo, California)

[krystttle]

Proud as fuck.

Ya girl enrolled into an official dog training program TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like literally making shit happen, shout out to the remaining energy from that aries full moon, I am with the shit! It’s been such a long time coming, last year this time I was so fucking sad, Henry passed away but I never lost sight of my goals and or the path I had to take. I’m still living in NYC, passion is on a thousand, the aspca has been a huge foundation step for me and now it’s time to elevate, I’m so fucking proud of myself though because I said i’d stay at the A for a year and then move forward, I stayed at the A for a year and two months, started my own business and now I’m on the road to becoming a dog trainer...Arizona is so close I can smell the heat!!!!!!!!!!!  I can taste the tacos LOL, I am so fucking happy.

This literally goes to show how attainable all goals can be if you put in the fucking work. Once I’m a dog trainer, I’m going to work with abused and neglected animals like I do now, but on a one to one standpoint. Rehabilitating dogs to help make their chances at finding homes greater. I am so fucking pumped.

Thank you universe, thank youuuuuuuuuu!! I am so grateful