 "Hiding toys or treats around the house, yard, or park would be an excellent way to address the instinct to search and scavenge for food. Hide-and-seek can be a fun game for both you and your dog. Ask Fido for a sit-stay or have someone hold him as you run off and hide. Call his name or use your cue for "come". When he finds you, reward him with a play session or a treat. Not only will this satisfy some of his drive to search and stalk, but it is a great way to strengthen your recall and stay commands."
- Emily Keegans, Seattle Humane Society  "Some clients cannot avoid provoking the dog's undesired behavior because they can never control the stimulus (e.g., thunderstorms) or they cannot always control the stimulus (e.g., leaving the house). However, they do not have to reinforce the dog's anxiety associated with those things. So we ask clients with dogs who are in stressed situations to not say to their dogs, "It's okay" Why not? Because the dog clearly does not think it's okay...and, by using a signal the dog associates with rewards, you may have inadvertently encouraged the anxiety."
- Karen Overall, University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine Behavior Clinic  "Giving commands and not enforcing the dog's response is the major reason why reliability goes down hill."
- Dr. Ian Dunbar  "Nothing is more maddening to most people than a dog that ignores them and only comes when she feels like it. In many cases, a frustrated owner will reprimand a dog after she does return. Dogs live in a world of cause and effect, so that pet has no clue why she is being yelled at. Now you have taught her that there is a negative association with coming to your call."
- Cesar Millan, from Cesar's Rules: Your Way to Train a Well-Behaved Dog  "Dogs are dogs are dogs. If anybody says 'yes, but Chows, or yes, but Jack Russells, or yes, but field bred Labs' - just remember dogs have more things in common than differences, and if you manage them correctly, they can die of old age in their homes,"
- Joel Walton, founding member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers  "If a behavior is truly predictable, then it is avoidable."
- Karen Overall, University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine Behavior Clinic  "Obedience has nothing to do with behavior modification, and that valuing obedience above all else can actually get in the way of helping the dog."
- Karen Overall, University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine Behavior Clinic  Don't be. He's just exhibiting natural behavior.
"Many toys can address the instinct to kill and dissect. Toys that squeak and have floppy parts are great for shaking to death. Pulling the innards out of a stuffed toy is an enjoyable dissection project for many dogs, or you can use old pieces of fabric or socks to tie knots around squeakers and cookies." - Emily Keegans, Seattle Humane Society  "While she's young, concentrate on conditioning your puppy to believe that the very best, most satisfying things in her life happen when she's with you - not when she's out on her own sniffing in the grass or interacting with another dog."
- Cesar Millan, from Cesar's Rules: Your Way to Train a Well-Behaved Dog "Many dog behavior problems are actually normal dog behaviors. We have expected dogs to stop being dogs, to curb their natural instincts regarding the ways they interact with humans and other dogs. Instead, we expect them to understand this foreign world of ours - and to value the same things we do, such as furniture and carpets."
- Jean Schinto, author of The Literary Dog |
AuthorJeff Dentler, CPDT-KA, IAABC-ADT, FFCP, CTDI Archives
December 2023
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