3 Steps To A Better Dog And Relationship – And None Involve “Dog Training”.

What do YOU want from YOUR dog? What do you want your dog to be? Most times when I ask that question of people face to face, they don’t know how to answer it – they have never been asked that question. Your dog is your dog. I do not want any opinion on the outcome of what your dog should be. No trainer should have that opinion – but it’s funny how they all tell you that you need a trained dog. What are your goals for your dog – and I want to try to help you get there.

I have spoken with alot of dog owners over the years – and a “trained” dog was never once a response. Think about that long and hard.

Why isn’t this working! A phrase I hear all too commonly – and this blog is going to explain why all the dog training isn’t working for you – and what you should be doing differently. If this blog helps you to help your dog – then share it with others to help them help their dog. This is going to get longer as time goes on.

If the dog trainers out there trying to “fix” dog behaviours told you what is in this blog? They would be out of business.

Aggression is the primary issue today with dogs. But aggression isn’t a diagnosis, it’s not an underlying cause. A 5 year old child can watch a dog rage on a leash and declare it “aggressive” – that doesn’t say much about trainers skills to diagnose a dog. Dog training is providing solutions without diagnosis – imagine if mechanics worked that way?

Aggression isn’t isn’t a condition that you can “fix” – it’s not a condition at all. It’s the animal body’s response to something in the environment – just like in the human animal. The dog has likely “operantly conditioned” themselves to show aggression at targets that they are afraid of.

B.F Skinner was doing behavioural experiments on animals in a lab in order to understand us – the human animal. We – humans – were the target of his research – not the dog. He proved that the causes of your behaviours are no different from that of the dog. So. What pisses you off? What makes you “aggressive”? What scares you? What makes you “reactive”? Now look at your dog. That’s the real science – not “scientific consensus”.

Negative and Positive Reinforcemet – fear and desire. Yes, that’s what they really are. Positive Reinforcements are the things you desire – but it’s also your response to removing negative reinforcements in your life. Negative Reinforcements are the things you don’t want in your life. And when you are in the face of a negative reinforcement – your response is fight (aggression) or flight (reactivity) or become indifferent. Positive Reinforcement needs to be looked at through your dogs eyes – not the humans. And certainly not the trainers. Trainers have to creating this world of reward and punishment (quadrants) for the dog to operantly condition themselves to. You’re trying to apply reward and punishment – but that’s a lack of understanding and looking through the wrong eyes.

Why are trainers selling Operant Conditioning as a method of behavioural modification using reward and punishment? Why do they blame Skinner for this definition when Skinner defined it differently. Operant conditioning is about the choices or actions you take in the environment that are essential for the survival of the animal and the species. Survival of the fittest. Someone is lying.

Introduction

People have been made to be so focused on “training” everything with your dog. And it starts as a puppy – this is the time you should be focused on relationship. But step back and realize that you cannot train a dog to behave. Dog trainers should be focused on “training” dogs, not trying to fix behaviours – there is a big difference between the two. Behaviours are supposed to be the job of the behaviourist – but all behaviourists tend to learn is the quadrants of dog training too – reward and punishment. But all we hear is “hire a trainer” and “you can’t possibly do it on your own!” Why?

The reality is – once you understand why your dog is acting out – and focus on the cause – then you will realize that you are the only one that can help.

This blog is going to attempt to show you how to do that without the need of hiring a trainer. Trainers have you laser focused on the dogs behaviours, they have you trying to control or fix your dogs behaviours – and you can’t. Fix the cause of the behaviours – and the behaviours go away as a result. This is extinction.

The object of the science of behaviour is discovering its causes. B.F Skinner. We know about our behaviour – but not its’ causes. Jonathan Edwards.

The fact is – lack of relationship is the primary cause of your dogs behaviour – you can’t train a relationship. What is the primary relationship that is missing? The working relationship that we’ve had for 30000+ years – dogs are our tools, they want to do for us. Your dog can only meet their needs with the resources that they have – your job is to provide all of those resources. But it seems the majority of dog owners don’t know what those resources are – all you’re being told to provide is treats, tools and protocols and it’s all the stuff that the dog doesn’t need.

We don’t have a need for the dog anymore. Our lives are convenient – and the dog in reality isn’t convenient anymore. We should be fitting into our dogs lives, but instead we train them to fit into ours. And it’s not working very well is it? Why are dogs bouncing off the walls? Why are they reactive and showing aggression?

Your human best friend is a bond between 2 animals based on mutual trust and respect – cause that’s what builds confidence in any relationship. Number one thing I hear from dogs owners is “I don’t trust my dog” – and there is the very problem. If you can’t trust your spouse, then the relationship is toxic – no different for the dog. You will never respect that which you don’t trust. You will never be confident in that which you don’t trust. You as a human can choose to leave a toxic relationship – the dog doesn’t have a choice. If your dog is running away, could it be that they don’t want to be your friend? But buy an e-collar and punish the dog for that. If I treated my human friends the way you are being told to treat your sentient dog? Nobody would want to be my friend. Ask yourself a question – if my dog were human – would they want to be my friend? Do they trust me and respect me? Only you can answer that question.

The first question should be “why” don’t you trust your dog – and it generally comes with a string of behaviours. You’re on a treadmill and can’t get off.

Humans cannot teach a dog how to be “dog”, you can only teach a human to be a human – and even that is highly questionable today. Dogs need to learn how to be dog from other dogs – that’s reality. How many people try to house break their dog to the backyard – only to fail? My dog peed and pooped on a mat in the basement for 5 years of his life but housebroke over night with me cause he learned to be a dog, learned from dogs to pee outside. We are working against the animal called the dog.

Lets begin – where do you start?

There are 3 primary steps you need to take in order to help your dog – and that comes from focusing on the things that only you can do. Focus on things you can do without a trainer – and you would be surprised at the results. What are the steps? And they are explained below.

Step 1. Forget about the behaviors, don’t focus on the behaviors – step back and ask yourself why these behaviors exist in the first place. Focus on the cause – not the outcome.

Step 2. Meet all of your dogs needs – with proper exercise and such. Walks are not exercise. Every breed of dog was bred for a purpose – that is their reason for existing. Does your German Shepherd ever get to be a German Shepherd? That’s important to the dog – that’s their “Positive Reinforcement” – their desire. Then move to step 3.

Step 3. Focus on calm – be calm – the the change you want in your dog. Be indifferent in the environment. That’s socialisation. That will give you an overall calm dog – once you achieve that. Then move to step 4.
Step 4. Focus on social skills with your now calm and social dog.

Everyone wants an overall calm dog – calm dogs are never a problem. It doesn’t mean they can’t get excited and go out and have fun. An uncalm dog isn’t social and you cannot develop social skills in an uncalm dog. Excitement is your enemy, but excitement has been normalised. So where do you start?

Step 1. Understanding the “why” of your dogs behaviours.

Your dog isn’t broken, it doesn’t need to be “fixed” – that’s not how behaviours work. Understand that the vast majority of behavior issues stem from fear and anxiety. The reactivity, the aggression, the pulling on lead, the barking etc – are happening because of fear. You dog isn’t “fear aggressive” – the dog is showing aggression cause they are scared. Focus on the fear – the lack of trust – and the resulting behaviours will disappear. Behaviours are a symptom, the outcome of a problem.

Alot of behaviours are out of pure frustration. Some are caused by undiagnosed medical issues – like hypothyroidism. If the cause of behaviours are medical – it’s important to diagnose it. If you don’t understand the cause of a problem – there is zero chance of fixing said problem. If your dog is hypothyroid and having behaviour issues as a result? You can’t train that. But, keep throwing training at it is always the response. People are looking for ways to stop behaviors, to shut them down – that’s suppression which leads to “control and management” – and trust me, you don’t want that. Instead, step back and understand why the dog is behaving the way it is. That’s the very object of the science of behaviour.

I don’t care about behaviours – don’t focus on the behaviour. I don’t care if a dog is displaying aggression or reactivity, any animal is capable of that – so too with the animal that you are. I don’t care that a dog is barking all day. I don’t care that a dog is pulling me down the street. I care about why it’s happening in the first place – I need to understand the “why” and I’m going to focus on the why. Don’t focus on the outcome of a problem.

I’m going to get into some possibles of “why” the dog is acting out. Answer that very question – and you’ll never need to “hire a trainer” again. In reality, you are the only one that can “fix” your dog. The dog isn’t broken – your relationship with your dog is. You are trying to “train” a dog that you don’t have a relationship with. And you are the only one that can build that relationship. Throw training aside for now, put away the treats and tools and lend me an ear. I’m going to tell you how to do it.

Fear is lack of trust and understanding – you fear what you do not understand. The dog has trust issues – earn their trust and reflect it to the world. But before you can really do that – you need to focus on calming the dog. There are far too many dogs getting “mental stimulation” when they really need mental exercise.

Step 1 – forget about the rest of the steps for now. A dog can only meet their needs with the resources that they have. It’s your job to provide the resources that your dog needs and wants.

Lack of proper exercise is the underlying cause for so many behaviours – the behaviour is the outcome of not enough exercise. If this is the case with your dog, then providing the right exercise that allows the dog to blow out the lines both physically and mentally? You will see a different dog – that I guarantee.

Lets get into the different types of breeds. Every dog has genes – and if you don’t invest in your dogs genetics – then you don’t get to blame the dog for the outcome. If your dog is tearing up the house – that’s the dog meeting their needs with the resources that they have. Every dog owner should look up what their breed was meant to do – and provide it to the dog. I have a Miniature Pinscher, they are a potent little vermin breed so I encourage the hunt – but he’s never made a kill. They are called the King of Toys for a reason – and it’s not because they have the largest toy box.

If you have a Shepherd of any kind – German, Dutch, Australian etc – they were bred to run, chase and herd other animals. That is the very reason for their existence – their purpose in life. Those genetics are not going to disappear. Does your German Shepherd ever get to be a German Shepherd? Do they every get to fulfill that purpose? And no, I’m not expecting you to buy a flock of sheep – but there are lots of analogies for it. I’ll get into that further down. No, your German Shepherd isn’t happy with 2 walks a day and a toy in a crate.

A Corgi for example needs that aggression, they are nipping the heels of cattle to make them move forward. Small dog with big attitude – so aggression while chasing anything would be natural to a Corgi. They need a time and place to get that out of their system – because if it leads to frustration? Any animal can be their target – dog reactive? Maybe that’s why. That furry Pomeranian barking at the world is a sled dog – surprised? Put the dog in a harness, and let them pull a comfortable weight to let them get that out of their system. Do you see a difference?

We have nose hounds like the Beagle, Basset, Blood Hound etc. Their purpose is to hunt and/or track. Does your hound ever get to hunt and track? That is their reason for being – the reason why they exist in the first place. Tracking is mentally and physically tiring. Feel free to look up your dogs breed – what were they bred for?.

Small breed hunters need purpose as well. That cute little Dachshund was bred to dig a badger out of their hole and drag them out. It hurts me to see a fearful Dachshund, they are bred to be fearless. That cute little Yorkie is a vermin dog – bred to hunt and kill vermin. So is the Jack Russel. I would take my dog to a gopher patch and let him go. There are too many sentries on a gopher patch, and most dogs aren’t fast enough to catch them. However, my Miniature Pinscher dug, shredded, tore at the holes to get at the gophers. 45 minutes of that, and he was so tired that I’d have to carry him back to the car. Mission accomplished, he’s tired, he’s calm, and he’s content – purpose fulfilled. Try it – do you see a difference in your dog?

Everyone – and I mean everyone – wants an overall calm dog. Wouldn’t that be the very definition of “impulse control”? Give me calm and I’ll give you want you want – within reason. That doesn’t mean that your dog can’t get excited and go out and have fun – but they need to understand that there is a time and a place for excitement. Calm dogs have no reason to be ill behaved. When people say they have an “aggressive” dog, I always ask, how is that aggressive dog in a calm state? So focus on calm – don’t focus on the aggression – forget about the behaviours. They aren’t conditions at all – let alone a condition you can fix. The aggression and reactivity is the outcome of “uncalm”. So, how do you calm your dog? And this is only step one.

I encourage owners to invest in useful tools and here is a small list explained and it’s by no means exhaustive. Find a tool that your dog loves and be consistent with it every day.

The Flirt pole is one of the best tools there is, large version of the cat toy. Lots of great videos on how to build and use. Side note, haven’t met a pitbull yet that didn’t like it – and it’s the number one tool that saves pitbull lives. If you have a large dog – then don’t buy a flirt, they won’t last long. You can make one very cheap. 6 feet of plastic pipe, some dollar store paracord and a lure. Dogs are colorblind, so try to use colors like yellow and blue. The flirt pole encourages prey drive and that’s a good thing – you’re offering the dog a time and a place to get those genetics out of their system.

Treadmill, carpet mill, slatmill (slats don’t come cheap) offer great physical and mental release to a dog. Many dogs learn and understand that the treadmill helps – they will get on it of their own accord. All you have to do is turn it on. I don’t care how positive you think you are – on an electric treadmill – when that floor starts to move under the dogs feet – a little bit of force is going to be needed. Call around to boarding centers and such, they might offer treadmilling by the minute – try it and see if there’s a difference before buying one.

Remote controlled vehicles. These are great for the herding, tracking and hunting dogs. A run is physical exercise – the reason for the run – the purpose, there is the mental that the dog isn’t getting. Dogs get mental stimulation – excitement has been normalized but excitement is your enemy. Dogs need mental exercise, not mental stimulation. Let your dog chase an RC vehicle until they have had enough. Some dogs can run surprisingly fast – use a vehicle that they can’t catch. Do you see any difference in your dog?

Remote controlled cars are great for tracking/hunting breeds as well. Take the dog to a large field, put a couple of drops of animal urine on a rag tied to the back of the car and keep it well ahead of the dog. Let them do it til they are tired. Dogs depend on their nose, and sniffing with purpose is mentally tiring.

If meeting your dogs needs has given you a calm dog – now you’re ready for step 2. Not too many steps left.

I need to go off on a tangent now and talk about Negative Reinforcement and positive reinforcement – fear and desire. The environment is full of natural negative reinforcements. If you’re scared of spiders, then a spider is a negative reinforcement to you – a big deal. What is your “positive reinforcement” – what do you desire? To remove the negative reinforcement. In the face of a negative reinforcement – you are going to fight (aggression) – kill the spider. Or flight (reactivity) – jump on a chair – or you can become indifferent to the spider – make it “not a big deal”. That’s called “socialised”. That negative reinforcement is punishing you – the spider is shaping your behaviour through fight or flight. Jumping on a chair is not a act of free will – it wasn’t a choice.

That’s your bodys reaction to an external stimulus – and it’s taking your mind along for the ride. That’s a behaviour.

Indifference is socialized – nothing is a big deal anymore. But socialisation is always confused with social skills – but that’s far different – and the next step.

When your dog is reacting – fight or flight – stop. Be calm. Do Nothing. Let the dog freak out – at some point they will disengage and start being calm. Many dogs look at me and I swear they wonder why I’m not freaking out with them. I’m calm, unemotional – I’m not making anything a big deal. Why is the dog? Always let your dog disengage.

A state of calm is the desire for all animals on the planet. No negative reinforcements exist in the moment to react to. A calm state IS a Positive Reinforcement – something that the animal desires. You don’t want to be scared or angry – you want to be calm. Same for the dog. So focus on calm – be calm – be positive reinforcement for your dog and give them the choice to join you in calm. When the dog starts to look at you as a source of calm and protection – watch the changes happen.

The human is the only animal on this planet that follows bad leadership. Our politician suck, but yet, they still lead us. But the dog is looking to us for leadership – those that follow bad leadership. Dogs don’t follow bad leadership – no other animal does. If the leader can’t do the job, they are replaced by another that can. Think about that long and hard.

Step 3 – social skills and this is where “be the leader” comes in. And more importantly – the dogs choice – let the dog use their brain. They not only have to learn through social cognition – they have to understand that learning. Take the lead, show the dog that you are not afraid in the environment – but be calm. Trainers tend to have owners focused on the environment around them – but the only environment the dog is concerned about is the one holding the leash – you. If you’re suspicious or scared, they are going to follow suit. Focus on the dog, learn their behaviours. You can’t learn to understand your dog if you’re scanning the environment around you.

Your dog is your mirror – a refection of the animal that you are. If you want to understand your dog, go take a long hard look in the mirror at the reflection of the animal staring back at you. Science has proven that the dog isn’t that different from you. Humans created the dog, and the dog has driven human evolution moreso than any animal on the planet. We have been co-evolving for 30000 years – the dog knows you.

All you are to a dog is a catalogue of smells, a bag of emotions and some crazy body language. Your dog can detect your heart rate from across a room. You can’t hide anything from the dog, they read us like a book – and they do it in real time. If you suddenly get scared – the prey animal that you are emits a fear pheromone that the dog can smell. They don’t need to see you in order to understand your emotional state. They are reading us in ways that we don’t see.

So – Social skills. By now, your relationship with your dog is much better. You are meeting their needs, and getting the dog into a calm state. You can obtain social skills from a dog that is socialized to the environment – nothing is a big deal. You’ll have a hard time trying to develop social skills in a dog that isn’t calm.

So, what kinds of things does your dog react to? The night I got Monty, he was scared of everything. His first time at a pet store, we stood outside the doors for probably 5 minutes. He needs time to sniff, take everything in – and I let him. He’s smelling dogs and cats, birds, food, treats, snakes – that’s an assault to the senses. I’m not going to drag him in – I want him to choose to go in. I’m waiting for him to make the choice to have some trust in me and choose to move forward. Everything was Monty’s choice. If he stopped, I stopped. When he moved forward, we moved forward. The first thing he went fight/flight on was a rabbit in a cage on the floor. I extended the leash, I sat down by the rabbit and put my arm on the cage. The onus is on Monty – I’m calm, he’s freaked out. Choose to stay there scared or join the calm positive reinforcement I am and meet this thing. I’m not making the thing a big deal. He chose to come to me, he sniffed the cage, and made it not a big deal. Any time he got scared of something – I did the same.

Operant conditioning is all about the consequences or our actions – positive and negative consequences. If you child touches a hot stove – the negative consequence of a burn is operantly conditions the child to see the stove as a negative reinforcement – something to flight from – avoid. It’s the consequences that are the reinforcements that shape your behaviour – that operantly conditions you.

You are a product of the environment. So is your dog. So what is in the environment that’s causing your dog to fight and/or flight?

If your dog is scared of people, leave them where they are – and go squat down next to the people, have them squat down too. You can see me do this in video. You would be surprised at how many people are willing to help your dog overcome fear. Again, put the onus on the dog – let them choose to trust you – to come to you. By squatting down and being calm – this is called giving the scared dog some respect.

When it comes to dogs, dogs should always be nose first. Ask owners to turn their dog around and encourage your dog to sniff bum. Let them be a dog and meet dogs the way they should. Dogs sniff Monty’s bum, and they get up in his junk – it’s what dogs do. Why?

Encourage your dog to sniff the environment. When a dog poops, the anal glands – if functioning properly – spay on the poop. When a dog smells poop – they are smelling the anal gland scent on the poop – and that’s a dogs fingerprint. They are meeting the dog through scent – without actually meeting the dog. But when your dog meets the dog that pooped – they will very quickly link that up. It’s the same for urine – and the reason dogs get into Monty’s junk. If I smell a fire hydrant, I’d smell pee. Monty is able to distinguish every dog that peed on that hydrant recently. Again, meeting dogs without meeting dogs – this is why sniffing is important to a dog – encourage it. These are the dogs fingerprints. Monty wasn’t housebroken when I got him, peed and pooped on a mat in the basement for 5 years. The first morning he was with me, he was barking at the door to get out and be a dog – he housebroke overnight and never peed in my condo.

On walks and such, if your dog gets scared – squat down and invite them in. You’re giving the dog the choice. You can stay there scared, or choose to come to me, I will protect you. And it doesn’t matter if you’re dealing with a 2 pound Yorkie or a 200 pound Mastiff – they need to know that their leader has their back.

If you can accomplish all that – and as you can see – it’s not that difficult – you will see a different dog. No “training” required. The whole point to this is build a relationship with your dog based on mutual trust and respect. That is also your human best friends – a bond between 2 animals based on mutual trust and respect.

Some other things to keep in mind.

Toys only serve to drive a dog crazy. When did toys and dogs become normalised? Squeak toys emulate dying animals – prey. It’s encouraging prey drive in the dog. Some small dogs when excited will actually make a squeaking sound – and that makes them a target – it makes them a squeak toy. And we wonder why dogs attack small dogs? Get rid of all the toys – but keep those that are engaging. Engage your dog.

If you have multiple dogs – it’s alot of work. Dogs can get sick of each other as well – they need time away from each other. If you force husband and wife to be together 24 hours a day for months on end – it’s likely going to come to blow. Well, dogs aren’t much different.

And to add to that – If one dog is reactive or manic, that can drive another dogs behaviour. Think about you living with someone that is manic or scared all the time. It will frustrate you at some point, or drive you to the point where you want to smack them upside the head. Corrections tend to come with blaming the wrong dog – which dog is your real problem child?

Focus on lowering cortisol levels. You don’t need a trainer for that. In my experience, the environment creates a stress – the body creates cortisol in response to that stress. The animal is reacting to the cortisol level increase – not so much the environment. Bring cortisol back down, and the dog has less to react to. How do we do that?

There are 2 ways to bring down cortisol – your fight or flight hormone, and they should be used together.

Real human grade CBD oil and good hard exercise. Both create endorphins and dopamine and serotonin etc – and these naturally counteract cortisol and afaik, they control the production of it. I’ve seen real CBD work wonders in dogs – and I recommend starting out with 1 mg per pound of dog twice a day. I would much rather see a dog taking a natural plant instead of being on pharma like fluoxitine (prozac), trazadone or other – these are hard on a dogs system and they also don’t interact the same way with cortisol. These drugs can lead to behavioural issues like reactivity and aggression.

Pet store CBD is actually illegal to sell in Canada and the US – how are they getting away with it? Pet store CBD also is made with very few restrictions – and the CBD is removed from hemp the plant with some questionable measures and chemicals. Human grade CBD should be made in a lab under strict rules. Pet store CBD stems from hemp, not from real cannabis. Different plant, different product. Hemp contains some 30 cannabidiols – where real cannabis contains over 100. THC and CBD are cannabinoids for example, and all interact with an animals endocannabinoid system – yes, the dog has one too, and it’s stronger than ours.

CBD oil is dosed by weight. When you buy a 30 ml bottle, you should get a 1 ml syringe with it (1 ml is 1 gram). I typically buy low dose – around 15 mg/ml. A 40 pound dog would get around 1/2 ml – or 7.5 mg of CBD. You can increase that dose if needed, the dog won’t overdose.

A couple of warnings about CBD oil. Dogs that have run hot on cortisol for a long time can get weird after the first couple of doses. They aren’t capable of generating the same amounts of cortisol – the addiction has disappeared and they just need time to adjust. Let them be for a day, let them have that good night of sleep – and maybe you can be prepared for a different dog in the morning. The only other side effect of CBD that I’ve heard of was black spots on the tongue. This could be a sign of addisons disease – too little cortisol – or the dogs adrenal glands becoming exhausted. Yes, fear and stress long term can cause addisons or cushings – especially if a dog has been neutered or spayed. Cortisol long term can cause depression. And cortisol is responsible for addictions.

After all this – how is your relationship with your dog?

This particular blog will be a work in progress. Updated as feedback comes in.