Superfluous Act of Reconciliation

I played a little, teeny tiny role in the success of National Geographic Channel's Dog Whisperer show.

It's time I atone.

Although many, in fact whole organizations, may lay claim to first allegiance, it was in fact I and a little correspondance I intercepted that started a whole chain of events that led to the eventual airing of the show, and it's continued success on the air.

Some people will hate me for this.

Some people will thank me for this.

Most people will go on blissfully unaware or unwilling, to acknowledge my role in the success of the Dog Whisperer show.

But it's all there. Any current member of the International Association of Canine Professionals on or about August 2004 should remember or anyone with access to their Yahoo Groups archives can look up a post by me directed to the SafeHands list on the 26th of August under my ALCOEUR email address. (message 19801)

I'm not a gold digger, nor do I care that the success of the show has marched largely on without me; I was a successful, full time Professional Dog Trainer prior to my involvement with either the IACP or the subsequent association of Cesar Millan and the IACP, and will continue to be so long after my association with either party is at an end. One hopes anyway.

But in the interest of the genesis (my new favorite word besides 'ostensibly') of this post and the last five years of angst over the Dog Whisperer show and Cesar Millan specifically, here is the post I sent to National Geographic's website after intercepting a rather threatening consortium who had tasked themselves with the mission of not having the show air at all.

(My outrage was not from their allegiance to any one method or dog training philosophy, but their unadulterated willingness to eviscerate our constitutional right to free speech and the freedom of expression.)

Here it goes, before it is lost forever:

"I applaud your efforts to provide a demonstration of dog training on the National Geographic channel. I am sure that by the time you read this post, you have already been inundated with posts from around the globe from a faction of people alleging that what you will be televising is 'old fashioned', 'unscientific', 'cruel' and possibly even potentially dangerous to both dogs and
humans. Although I myself have neither seen the teasers for this show nor excerpts, I assure you that after almost 30 years of working with dogs, including dangerous ones, and using a variety of methods, I doubt that you would display something over the airwaves that poses a threat to canines or humans.

In an oversimplified view of their world, where most of their practical dog training experience comes from working with perhaps their own pet dog and a lot of books, they have limited scope on the reality of dog training, and what it may take to achieve success with a non compliant, difficult dog. 'They' being the collective 'Positive only' dog training camp who utilize only two of the four learning quadrants all animals employ. Although science is a convenient way to attach nomenclature to an activity or behavior, what it fails to do successfully is to take out of the laboratory or the book and successfully apply that nomenclature to a practical, real life experience.

Positive dog training should mean successful dog training, but the very term has acquired a life of it's own, demeaning the application of methods that are both ageless and timely. Ageless, since no living thing can survive successfully without consequence, as your specials on animals living both domestically and in the wild have shown us, and timely because by the time a professional
trainer gets a call for someone's wayward pet, that dog has achieved inappropriate levels of disobedience that the owner wants resolutions to immediately.

For the numbers of pet dogs in the world today, there are infinite ways to train them, all depending on the nature of the dog, the behavior one is trying to extinguish, age of onset, and a whole host of other variables that need be taken into consideration.

Traditional training methods are traditional because they work. The methodology invoked requires skill and are often misaligned by the Positive only camp as cruel because they have never seen them demonstrated correctly, if at all. To intimate that they are potentially harmful is an excuse for this inappropriate use or demonstration. Take for example the words "choke collar". It's proper use is slip or training collar. It has one application, is worn by the dog in one specific fashion, and is the most maligned article of equipment in the dog training trade today. How it acquired it's malicious use as a 'choke collar' is simple. When applied incorrectly, it does not release automatically, nor would it if it is fitted incorrectly.

By virtue of it's simplicity, it can only be used one way successfully. So, instead of the trainer invoking it's usage incorrectly being the target for education, all training collars are 'bad' and should never be used.

A 'correction' is another term that is not only misunderstood, but horribly misapplied in the context of the new vernacular. To 'correct' a dog physically is harmful, causing stress and emotional trauma. In nature, consequences drive survival. if a wild animal cannot learn from it's failures, it is doomed.

Take for example some of the wild canidae.

As a collective unit, known as a pack; they seek, drive and bring down large game.

The social hierarchy determines who eats first, who mates first, who sleeps where. If a wolf is driven from the pack, as is often the case of adolescent males, they must learn to survive without benefit of the assistance of the pack. Their own unsuccessful attempts either make them better hunters, or drive them to starvation. Discomfort is a part of natural life, for humans and animals.

What better correction to a toddler who accidentally touches something very hot. The parent may have reprimanded the toddler verbally to stay away from a hot surface or item, but curiosity is often the best teacher as the toddler equates the words "don't touch, it's HOT!" to the burning sensation on his fingertips as he reached for the iron or stove top.

Much is the same with dogs. A correction can be as simple as a verbal reminder, "NO!", or a snap on a correctly applied training collar. It is an attention getting aide to assist in communication between two species. Teaching "human" to a dog is far more time consuming than teaching "dog" to a human.

With the advent of electronic training devices, this communication occurs even more readily between the two, and has even wider applications for the training of dogs previously determined to be "beyond training".

I am sure there are dozens of "trainers" who have no skill in the correct application of either traditional training equipment or methods who have done more harm than good. They have besmirched an honorable profession that is still in it's infancy. There are precious few of us who support ourselves exclusively as "Dog Trainers".

We could only do that continuously if we provided a product (training) that was both successful and satisfactory to both dog and owner. I seriously doubt that if we, the collective Professionals who actually sustain ourselves as trainers to the pet owning public, were to beat, choke, kick or otherwise abuse dogs, would survive successfully as trainers.

In a society where the 'management' of dogs is preferable to the training of dogs is a horrible injustice to both dogs and their owners. What a person wants in a pet is the nostalgia of a 'boy and his dog" from years gone by. The comfort of a family pet, protector and friend who is a pleasure and a joy to live with. It is a blatant disservice to so noble a relationship as the one we
share with our first friend, the dog.

National Geographic enjoys a storied history of worthy publications, information and photographs that have enlightened generations of people from around the world. Although as I watch this program, I may not agree with everything applied by Mr. Milan, I am certain you will reach millions of people who would otherwise not seek professional help when they witness what training their pet can accomplish.

Thank you, and many more successful years of education and entertainment to you.

_________________

What really surprised me whas when I got a response from one of their Executives, Michael Beller later that afternoon:

Dear Linda,

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts about this series. We appreciate your support. You will be hearing more from us soon, but in the meantime I wanted to ask how you heard about the series and the controversy. Are there websites where this is being discussed? For a program that has not even aired yet, it certainly is generating some heated debate. We hope you'll watch and continue to support the series.

Please do not share my e-mail address with anyone, I would prefer all comments to continue come in through the comment site. But I wanted to give you my address if you would be so kind as to respond to my questions about the source of the debate Thank you.

Regards,

Michael Beller

_____________________

So I responded.

The original email is lost, however I distinctly recall activities on one of those inane listservs that populate the internet on pets and behavior. I was also party to some indiscreet conversation amongst some 'trainers' regarding the series, the star and the messages it may convey to an unsuspecting public.

My email was then forwarded by Mr Beller to a gentleman named Russell Howard who contacted me via phone later that same afternoon.

__________________________

Here is my report to the IACP SafeHands list:

"Mr. Beller forwarded my email to Russell Howard, Executive VP of
Communications in Washington, DC.

He called me yesterday evening and we spoke at length about the training industry and the complicated issues surrounding the "positive only" factions and those of us who consider themselves "balanced trainers".

I had provided both Mr Beller and Mr Howard for the websites of IACP and NADOI so they could read the Position Statements of both organizations. I also provided a bit of background information on the formation of IACP and APDT, and where a lot of the difficulty between the two lie. I also provided the web address for the APDT, in all fairness.

It IS an issue of censorship, amongst other things, but the primary hope of the National Geographic executives, in defense of their program choice and subject matter follows in Mr. Howard's email to me as follow up of our conversation."

_______________________

And here THAT is:

"Hello Linda,

It was good talking with you earlier.

We very much appreciate your support for our upcoming series "The Dog Whisperer" and your insight on the balanced vs "positive-only" dog training debate.

I wanted to let you know that we have forwarded your contact info to Randy Rylander, one of our senior researchers, who has been working with us on this series.

Randy will follow up with you on some of the questions that you and I discussed. Specifically, we were hoping you might be able to help direct us to individuals you feel would be receptive to reviewing this show without a prejudiced point-of-view against all dog training techniques other than a "positive-only" method. We also would like to identify someone in a senior role from NADOI and/or IACP who would be willing to speak with press on the topic.


Thank you again.

Best,
Russell
RUSSELL A. HOWARD
VP COMMUNICATIONS

And the rest, as they say, is history.

_____________________________

I contacted stewards to both the IACP and NADOI for input and comments and sought the pillars of the dog training community to assist with the review that the executives of the show had requested.

Cap Haggerty was one, Margot Woods was another. Tony Ancheta, Heather Houlihan and myself were the first possibly ever, to see the show before it even aired.

I still have the first four or five episodes from that very first season on tape and unedited.

_________________

Why now, after all this time you may be asking, do I really think anyone actually gives a rats patootie?

I don't really, exceptin' about every 5 months or so, the topic raises it's insidious head like the Spectre of Death and the townsfolk shake their pitchforks and melt their silver to make shivs and bullets.

Because even all these years later, Millan and his show are still a hot topic. Bloggers, pseudo science, and average Joes are all still talking about him; Professional dog trainers are either maligning him or capitalizing on their vague association with him.

And besides, I just wanna stir the pot.

Do I regret my involvement? Naaaaah. Not at all. I think a little discourse is healthy and competition is always a good thing.

Have I benefited in any way from my association with the IACP and their resultant association with Cesar Millan through my actions? I can honestly say; Nope. What others do is none of my concern. My feeling is that the cream will rise to the top, regardless of who they know or how they know them.

I am secure enough in my ability as a trainer, a Professional Dog Trainer to not be overwhelmed by gimics and fads, nor be intimidated by populist opinion.

I just wanna train dogs.

Dilettante Dog Training or Worse Yet, Idiot Dog Trainers

There are a lot of things that really twist me up these days; politics, taxes, the cost of food, the cost of fuel, the increasing frequency of unemployment and the corpulent gasbags in Washington not seeing the bigger picture of the immediate needs of a suffering Nation, but painting one of their own with my tax dollars.

But this is a dog blog.

What has really been scorching my noggin are the number of calls I have been getting recently from people who are looking for help after having been failed by other "trainers". The quotation marks are on purpose. They indicate my derision directed at someone who takes peoples' money and cannot complete the job they were contracted for.

Now, don't get me wrong, I know the ratio of owners who are non-compliant from my own dog training students over the last 30 years and I know how 'life' gets in the way and certain events supersede the need or time for pet concerns. Priorities change and that is reflected in drop -out rates from both group classes and private training.

I am also fully aware of the owner who seeks absolution as opposed to putting forth any real effort and is more than willing to blame anyone other than themselves for their personal failure with any attempt at training, regardless of method or trainer.

But I'm talking about the deeply committed owners who have painstakingly sought the advice of a Professional Dog Trainer to help them with real problems. The kind of problems that prevent them from enjoying their pet reasonably and without concern. The kind of problem that can manifest itself as a serious risk to the owners or even the public.

I am speaking specifically of two types of dog "trainers".

The Dilettante "trainer" (referred to as a 'trainerette' by my colleagues) is often a second-career trainer, often coming to the trade as a mid-lifer looking for a change, may or may not even own a dog, has seen the exponential growth of the industry and figures that 'playing with dogs all day' would be a fun way to make a living or supplement an existing one. They are deluded into thinking that dog training is fun (it can be, but it is more often very hard work) and easy (richly rewarding when done well, which takes a degree of commitment that can never be called 'easy').

The Dilettante "trainer" is often educated by reading a few books written by popular* authors, maybe goes to a dog training 'school' for a week or so, belongs to one of the larger trade organizations and spends a few weekends out of the year at seminars by popular* speakers. Or takes a test drive through the newest fad in "Become a dog trainer TODAY" schemes popping up all over the country.

The Dilettante "trainer" usually finds employment at the local chain Box Store, where they must adhere to a one-size-fits-all training methodology passed down by corporate officers to mitigate risk, or bad press. They are often well-intended, but are most often sorely lacking in sufficient experience whether with the dogs themselves or with the dogs' owners, who know even less.

The Dilettante "trainer" can also be identified by their incomprehensible adherence to a philosophy that rejects any and all methods but their own as "dangerous", "inhumane", "cruel" or "ineffective/outdated/outmoded or otherwise disproved by 'science". Mostly through the indoctrination of their mentors; always offered as third hand accounts are the tales of cruelty at the hands of trainers; the kicking, hanging, beating or shocking of dogs.

I have a colleague who has a suspicion about these folks, but we won't go there....

The current rising popularity of "dog trainer" TV shows is another mitigant in the pervading fantasy that "anyone" can train a dog, any dog.

None of these things are inherently bad. Everyone has to start somewhere, but the risk comes in these people actually thinking that they have enough experience, that they are sufficiently prepared to handle anything beyond the socialization of puppies.

Nor is continuing education a bad idea, as long as the mind is not closed to the possibilities of learning from many different teachers. Remember the experiments in perception using an apple. We may all look at the exact same object, but our perspective will not allow us to get the whole picture, until we perceive it from every angle.

So these Dilettantes have a few successes with a few easy dogs, consider themselves fit for public consumption and hang out a shingle as a Professional Dog Trainer.

And then there is the Idiot.

The Idiot dog "trainer" may have similar roots. They can be from military backgrounds or fancy themselves as such, may or may not have attended a school for dog training for any length of time; from the weekend fares offered by many successful trainers or the actual brick-and-mortar variety from a few weeks to a few months, read a variety of books on the topic, or just simply had a dog that they took through some other trainer's course and fancied that they could do that and how much easy money it would be.

The Idiot perceives the answer to every problem in one dimension and tends to think that dog training is a battle of subjugation and 'dominance'. Just as inept as the Dilettante, these Idiots are wholly responsible for the bad press and current legislation that injures the reputations of Professional Dog Trainers who ultimately are stigmatized by tool use or training methodologies.

The Idiot "trainer" can also be identified by their incomprehensible adherence to a philosophy that rejects any and all methods but their own as "ineffective". Mostly through the indoctrination of their mentors; always offered as third hand accounts are the tales..... You should know by now where I am going with this....

The Idiot "trainer" is the antithesis of the Dilettante and from where the Dilettante gets most of the fodder for their smear campaigns against tools or methods that in an of themselves are not harmful to dogs.

Idiot dog "trainers" are not always easy to identify until they have been hired by an unsuspecting public; and specifically relating to me; the troubling, worrisome accounts I receive from their victims....er... unsatisfied students. Their reputations usually get them in the end, or the lawsuits do...

I answered a call from a woman yesterday who had employed the services of a local Idiot and after several months of no progress decided that her dog getting traumatized by this bully was enough for her to realize that there was something profoundly wrong.

In another call, a young lady contacted me out of desperation for her large mix breed dog that had started showing aggression towards her infant. The dog had also displayed leash aggression towards other dogs and even humans and had a protracted history of aggression towards house-guests and even other family members.

The owner had engaged the services of a "trainer" previously to address these concerns prior to the birth of her youngest child with group classes. She had judiciously applied all of the training methods recommended for her dog, attended all of the classes offered and still was without resolution to her problem.

It was clearly obvious to me that this poor woman's needs were not only not met, but that the "trainer" in question had absolutely no problems with taking her money while offering no substantive solution to her problems.

I asked her if she had contacted the other "trainer" to allow them an opportunity to follow up with their training and was told that she was advised "...that she could continue to come for more group classes at a reduced rate." Needless to say, she declined.

Dilettante and Idiot dog "trainers" are a dime a dozen. A Dilettante "trainer" may be an Idiot too. It would seem that they are both being mass produced in record numbers these days.

Dog Training as a service is one of the last recognizable trades to be wholly unregulated.

It is easy to disguise any income from it.

It is easy to profess expertise since it is not regulated or licensed beyond 'certification' offered by different membership supported organizations. Each with their own Mission, Vision and Agenda.

And owners in the search for potential trainers have little if any information, expertise or guidance with which to draw upon in their selection process.

In an attempt to help with what should be a decision with as much importance as the next movie you want to see, the next new restaurant you want to try or what color your new iPod should be, here's some sound advice:

• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor will permit and encourage you to audit classes already in session or view dogs in training before you make a commitment to enroll.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor will protect the health and well being of the dogs in their care by requiring all participants to provide a verifiable veterinary record of all immunizations to date.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor will protect the safety of all participants by maintaining control over the class and the students in an effort to avoid conflicts that could result in injuries to either owners or animals.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor is approachable and willing to answer questions from the students and interacts confidently with the participants.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor will provide clear instructions and demonstrations of the behaviors being taught, either in written, oral or demonstration form.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor will aide students during training time to execute proper techniques in the teaching of behaviors to their dogs.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor is never abusive to their human or canine students.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor is familiar with and is capable of demonstrating the correct application and use of a variety of training equipment and avoids the practice of adhering solely to one training principal, as one size does NOT fit all.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor practices humane training principals, with their ultimate goal being the willing work and companionship of a well trained dog.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor welcomes interaction and participation of family members, and encourages exchanges of information to the benefit of all the participants.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor is committed to providing a positive experience for their students in a dynamic, interactive learning environment.
• A Competent Dog Trainer or Training Instructor should be prepared to provide additional assistance to struggling students to ensure a satisfactory experience that is both productive and worthwhile.

As an aside, if you become uncomfortable with something your trainer suggests, or something you see your trainer do, do not be afraid to question it, interfere with it or take your dog and leave.


*Popular: 1: of or relating to the general public 2: suitable to the majority: as a: adapted to or indicative of the understanding and taste of the majority popular history of the war> b: suited to the means of the majority : inexpensive popular prices> 3: frequently encountered or widely accepted popular theory>4: commonly liked or approved popular girl>

Just thought I'd let ya know...

Foreign Bodies and Colorful Poop

I have been getting a rash of desperation calls lately and I recently fielded a call from a potential client with two neutered male dogs aged 2 and 4.

She had previously lost a middle-aged dog to an emergency bowel resection that turned septic and had already experienced a few late-night emergency vet visits with both of her current dogs after they had ingested foreign objects that they were having difficulty 'passing'.

She regaled me with tales of their exploits with 'stealing' and the melee that usually followed pursuing the dogs and wresting the objects from them, or watching in dismay as they sucked socks like kids with their first bowl of spaghetti, consumed a half-pound of rich fudge brownies like a vacuum cleaner consumes a dust bunny and other articles as if they hadn't eaten in ages.

Or worse, growling from under the dining room table as the humans gathered around them in some sort of reenactment of a prehistoric fight for the last piece of edible mammoth meat for miles.

There are a bazillion hazards associated with a dogs' ability to acquire and consume articles not meant for digestion and of their owners trying desperately to reclaim these articles before they are destroyed or consumed.

I cannot count the calls I have received from owners who have lost objects as small as diamond earrings to cell phones, television remote controls, articles of clothing, whole baseballs, golf balls, pocket knives both open and closed, lighters, hats, you-name-it; gobbled whole by their pets in the blink of an eye with the appetites of garbage disposals. I cannot recount the number of owners who have vigilantly observed their dogs bowel movements for signs of the article's return to them and I cannot imagine the number who have waited hopelessly, vainly for the obstruction to pass unassisted.

Unfortunately I DO know the numbers of dogs who have died. I also know the number of dogs who have had the life saving intervention from conscientious veterinarians who open them up and fish out the erstwhile contents of their gullets, stomachs or intestines, patch them up and send them packing; back to their homes and the 'special diets' that await them as they recover from their surgeries.

To turn around and have to do it again. And again. And again. I can count those dogs too.

YouTube is resplendent with comical images of dogs with cone-heads that still manage to acquire articles unfit for canine consumption.

Which leads me to the point of this topic.

There are a lot of places I can start with this; but I'm going to start at the beginning.

• Put your stuff away, as in where the dog can't get it. That includes making your kids be responsible for their own stuff and put it away too.
  
• Supervise the dog appropriately (on a leash, with you, IN THE SAME ROOM AS YOU) so you can prevent him from getting your stuff, or your kids' stuff.
  
• If you cannot supervise your dog, confine him in a crate so he cannot get anything but his own stuff.
• If you are lax in your supervision and forget to confine your dog so he does manage to get your stuff, DON'T RUN AFTER HIM AND WRESTLE HIM TO GET IT BACK! To do so sets you up for any portion of the first part of this article, including the creation of resource guarding and the associated growling and biting and even faster consumption of stuff you would rather not have to fish through poo for in order to get back, or pay exorbitant fees for surgery you probably could have prevented if you paid attention to the first point and/or the second point.
  
• Provide appropriate toys! My rule is: man-made toys (you know, the ones you pay top dollar for made of stuff that your house and it's contents are made of) are considered interactive toys and are to be played with under the supervision and with the cooperation of the owner. This way the dog learns appropriate self control as far as acquisition, possession and relinquishment of toys in a controlled and fun way; gets interaction with his owner and equally important, exercise which will mitigate both attention seeking behavior and the boredom that leads to attention seeking behavior.
• Toys of a more organic nature can be used as pacifier toys and can be enjoyed by the dog either in his crate or during 'quiet times' (under supervision, of course). Pacifier toys are pretty limited to bones. Big bones. Hard-baked are best, the entire shank if possible, knuckle to knuckle. They disintegrate as opposed to splinter, are digestible and offer HOURS of fascination for most dogs. They can be used effectively for crate training and to help avert resource guarding behaviors if the dog is allowed controlled access either in his crate or while at large (under supervision, of course). Bleached shank bones are good too. You can stuff them with stuff. Stuff that you approve of, like peanut butter (out of a jar from a manufacturer that is not affected by the most recent recall) or pate' de foie gras if you want. It's up to you. Not the dog.
• Did I mention adequate exercise? They need to exercise their bodies, they need to exercise their minds. They need this routinely, as in every day, to some degree. For any dogs, young and old alike or any derivatives thereof; a walk around the block once a day or the expectation that he will 'self exercise' if his owners turn him out, unattended, in the back yard is just not going to satisfy the dogs' desire to chase, frolic, run, jump, wrestle, dig or otherwise act like a dog. Leave him to his own devices and he'll find things to do on his own, like strip the siding off your walls, or break teeth chewing the cinder-blocks or bricks that comprise your foundation.

• Not lastly, more like firstly, or anytime you forget any of the other important stuff here, never EVER run your dog down to get something back. You invite disaster. Maybe not that time, or even the next time, but I assure you; you are teaching your dog several important things:
• To defend articles with avoidance, escape or aggression
• To run from the bigger, scarier predator. YOU!
• To hide in the cubby under the bed, chair, couch, corner, closet, crate or anywhere the dog feels he is defensible from at least three sides, so he can consume his prize and drive you off more efficiently
  
• To chew harder and swallow faster so the bigger predator can't get it.

Don't set yourself up for failure by trying to wrest away that sock, or cramming your hand forcibly down a dogs throat after the other half of your sandwich or your kid's iPod. You invite disaster by thinking you will be successful. You may be once or twice, but try calling that dog to you after a few sessions like this and see what happens, or better yet, when you REALLY NEED him to drop something, and you move toward him, watch what happens. It ain't purdy, the things people inadvertently teach their dogs....

They say it is far easier to ask forgiveness than to ask for permission. In the case of dogs who ingest foreign objects, it is far easier to mitigate access and teach them to respond to some basic commands than it is to have to suffer the consequences and often heartbreak of having allowed them unadulterated access to your stuff.