Many dogs today simply don’t know how to “dog”, they haven’t been given the tools to simply be a “dog”, especially during lockdowns through covid. If a dog has never been around dogs, then how can it possibly learn to be “dog”.
The assessment isn’t about fixing the dog – an assessment is all it takes for owners to understand the dog, and understand why it’s acting out. The assessment is a chance for the owner to meet me and to see that I’m capable of handling their dog. For me, meeting new dogs is a job interview, every time. Anyone can call themselves a trainer or behaviorist – but prove it. And just because I’m on your doorstep, doesn’t mean you should hire me. That’s is simply honest truth.
The assessment time is about talking to the owners, find out what they believe is wrong with the dog and what they would want from their dog – end goals. I also want to find out what other people believe is wrong – like other trainers diagnosis and what they tried. Lets talk about the history of the dog, and find out what brought the dog to this point. The dogs past has made the dog what it is – the future is going to be different for the dog.
Then meet the dog one on one, find out the real underlying causes for the behaviours – and start working on change right away. Owners need to see change, they need to see their dog interacting with people and dogs, need to see their dog capable. Most dogs that are declared aggressive are not aggressive, they are responding to a target to protect their own. I meet dogs one on one so there is nothing to protect, I’m taking the fearful owner out of the situation. If all goes well, I’m creating a positive memory for when we move on to phase 2 – and that is typically a dog park.
I generally bring my dog during initial assessments, he’s a very confident and easy going Miniature Pinscher. We run dog parks, he has no fear at all of dogs – he knows “dog”. He’s a mentor for fearful dogs, and sometimes a trigger for dog aggressive dogs – it’s hard to diagnose if a dog really is dog aggressive if there is no dog to trigger a response. He trusts me to put him in harms way – also trusts that I won’t let him get hurt. If our dogs get along fine, then there is no “dog aggression”. Dog aggression is all dogs.
When you call me to talk about your dog, think about a few questions and have some answers ready to go. This isn’t an interrogation, but these are some of the questions I’m going to ask. And honesty is always best, I’m not here to judge, only help. It’s ok if you are afraid of your dog.
- What are your realistic goals for your dog?
- What are your unrealistic goals? What would you really like from the dog?
- Are you afraid of your dog or what your dog is capable of?
- How do you perceive your dog? Aggressive? Reactive? Fearful?
- Have you dealt with trainers? Positives? Negatives?
- If you’ve dealt with trainers, what techniques did they use and were they effective?
Commenting is on if you have questions you want answered anonymously.
Robert Hynes Dog Training
Serving Edmonton, Alberta and surrounding areas.
admin@roberthynesdogtraining.com