As you may have noticed, I have been away from my computer for a couple of weeks and missed writing my blog, for those of you who look forward to the information, I am very sorry. My son had to have surgery and that changed ALL my plans for awhile.

This week’s entry is a topic that is extremely important to me. As a matter of fact, it is one of the biggest reason I decided to use the skills I learned growing up in the dog world to help other owners with their dogs.

We have all heard the pleas from veterinarians, rescue groups, and even Bob Barker to “Spay and Neuter your pets!” because we have been told that overpopulation is the reason all of our shelters are overflowing. While I completely agree that the average pet owner should DEFINITELY get their dog spayed or neutered, I have always felt that we were overlooking the bigger issue with the majority of shelter dogs and that is behavior problems. What we don’t like to admit is that most of the dogs that are in the shelter had a home at one time and were not able to keep it, not because there are too many dogs in the world, but because they did not “fit in” like the owners expected.

I wanted to find some research on this topic to support my idea that behavioral problems are being overlooked as a major source of dogs being relinquished but sadly I found very little. Surprisingly, very little research has been done on this topic but what has been conducted supports my ideas. I found a research study conducted by the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy called The Regional Shelter Relinquishment Study that was published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare in 2000. This study questioned owners giving up dogs and cats at 12 shelters in 4 different regions of the country. This blog entry will only be focusing on their statistics on dog relinquishment.

What the study found was that of the dogs surrendered, 40% of the owners who were surrendering those dogs listed at least one behavioral problem as the reason for relinquishment. It also found strong associations between relinquishment and several other categories: number of pets in the household, neuter status, training level, age of pet, length of ownership, and where the pet was acquired.

They found that there was a strong association with acquiring a new pet in the household and relinquishment of dogs.  Almost 60% of owners relinquishing a dog for behavioral reasons admitted to adding at least one new dog or cat, to their household within the last year. What this tells me is that many of the dogs being surrendered to the shelter did not adjust well to a new animal being introduced into the home. Acclimating animals to each other is something I work on with owners on a daily basis and are usually easily addressed. I know there are some extreme cases where two animals just should not live together but the majority of the time, a little bit of training can go a long way.

They also uncovered a relationship between the neuter status of the animal and frequency of relinquishment. While this area has little to do with training, I still wanted to include it because I think the idea of spaying or neutering your dog goes way beyond overpopulation. While I never promise spaying or neutering a dog will end your behavior problems, it certainly cannot hurt, and this study proves that you are more likely to relinquish a dog that is unaltered versus one that is spayed or neutered. I will say that if you are going to keep your dog intact, against my advice, it is very likely that the role of training will become even more important than if you had made the decision to get them “fixed”.

The average age of a dog being relinquished to the shelter and the length of ownership were also determined by this study. What they found was that the average age of relinquished dogs was 1-2 years of age and the average length of ownership was only 3 months! This completely shocked me, what this means is that we move a dog into a completely new environment and give them only 3 months to adjust before giving up on them? Imagine you moved to a different country where everyone spoke a different language than you, do you think you could get completely settled in just 3 months time? The other reason this scares me is that, from a training point of view, this gives me a VERY small window of opportunity to help new owners. It has been my experience that when I take the initiative and contact a new dog owner, they want to see if they can handle it themselves which I have no qualms about. However, if it does not work out, they usually call me the day before they are ready to get rid of the dog and expect the problems to get fixed overnight! It is impossible to fix issues that a dog may have had for months, possibly even years, overnight or even in just 3 months time (if I get to start working with the dog the day it gets adopted! ).

This study also found that there was a strong relationship between a dog being acquired from the shelter and ending up back at the shelter. According to their survey, 39% of dogs surrendered for behavioral issues had been acquired from the shelter. This is the equivalent of a repeat offender! The dog gets relinquished because of a behavior problem, if it gets adopted out again but no one intervenes to fix the issue, there is a high probability that the dog will end up back in the shelter for the very same reasons as the first time! I will never forget the dog that started one of my group classes who was 7 months old and on his fourth home! Thank God his fourth owner new the importance of training or who knows how many homes this dog would have seen! We have to figure out how to break this cycle.

Finally, and what I believe to be most important to this entire issue, is what they found about the relationship between the amount of training (or lack thereof) and dogs being surrendered to the shelter. They found that, of the dogs being relinquished because of behavioral issues, 91.3% did not have any private instruction by a professional trainer, 88.1% said that they had not bothered to take their dog to a group obedience class, and 36% admitted they hadn’t taught ANY basic commands to the dog! If these statistics do not scare you, I think you should read them again!

 To summarize the study, the statistics show that we as dog owners are introducing new animals and expecting them to naturally figure out how to get along on their own, we are keeping them as intact breeding stock without realizing how that can affect their behavior, we give them a very limited amount of time to adjust to their new home, and all of this with little to no training to help them make these transitions! This study was done several years ago but I don’t believe much has changed since, or at least not enough. A separate study done in 1993(Spencer, L. (1993). Behavioral services in a practice lead to quality relationships. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 203, 940–941) found that 50-70% of all dogs and cats euthanized were the result of behavior problems and unfortunately, I don’t believe that number has changed much in the last 20 years. So what can we do about this issue? Educate, educate, educate. Let people know that not all dogs naturally learn to live with us, they need training and time and sometimes you need the help of a professional. Don’t wait until its too late to get help, and if you see a member of your family, a friend, a neighbor, or even a coworker going down this path try to recommend a better solution than taking the dog to the shelter or rehoming the dog. Many people tell themselves that the dog just doesn’t fit into their house, when in reality, unless someone intervenes and changes the dog’s behavior, you are just letting someone else inherit your dog’s problems because they will not magically disappear in a new environment.

Shelter dogs are not born, they are made…

Over the past week, I have been involved in a few different situations, all with different clients, that had a common theme, respect.  Particularly, the respect given (or not given) to owners who are trying to work with their dogs out in public.  This particular blog post is not just for dog owners. It is for anyone who encounters someone with a dog who is not behaving appropriately, maybe even aggressively, and the owner is obviously trying to work through the dog's issues.

The first topic I would like to address is off-leash dogs, dogs on retractable leashes, or dogs that are ON a leash but are allowed to run up to other dogs. I wanted to share my opinion on the following issue because I have spoken to many owners who say that it never occurred to them how their dog being off-leash could effect other dogs around them. I cannot stress enough how disrespectful it is to  allow your dog to roam freely in close proximity to their dogs without asking the owners if they are comfortable with it. 

Usually when I tell an owner this, their rebuttal is, "But MY dog is very friendly, it LOVES other dogs and would never hurt anyone!" The issue I have with this statement is that I have heard it too many times before and the dog proves the owner wrong.

Even if you are correct and they wouldn't ever hurt anyone, your forgetting that there are at least two dogs in this situation, and the OTHER dog may not share your dog's feelings of friendliness.

Let's imagine that, instead of your dog, you are out for a walk with your child. Would you not ask the owner before you allowed your child could greet the dog?

It is the polite thing to do with your dog as well!  Let's say the other dog is shy, reserved, or maybe even aggressive.  If your dog approaches the other dog off leash, not only are you putting your own dog into danger, guess who is liable if anything happens? The person whose dog is off-leash.

You may think that people who own aggressive dogs have no business being out in public, however, as long as they have adequately secured their dog (i.e. the leash) and your dog is unrestrained and comes up to theirs, YOU are responsible, even if the other dog is the aggressor. Besides, how would they ever go about remedying the problem without taking them out in public for some training sessions?

Which brings me to my next topic: how the general public reacts to owners who are working with aggressive dogs in public. Many of my clients are very hesitant to go out and work with their dogs because of what people might think. I have been out at several city parks with a few of my clients working through their dog's issues and have seen firsthand how some people react to us. Let me tell you, I can't blame them for dreading these training sessions because you can feel the contempt lingering in the air long after some of the people pass by. You can almost hear them thinking, "they have no business being out in public with that dog!"
The problem is, most aggression issues are fear-based. In other words, most do NOT show aggression purely for the fun of it, but because they are over-whelmed or over stimulated. How are we to get them over those fears and rehabilitate them without taking them out in public? The answer is we cannot. So next time you see an owner trying to do the responsible thing and work through their dog's aggression issues, instead of dirty looks, try being encouraging to the owner, who needs all the support they can get.

 I was working with one particular dog at a park in Topeka recently who was acting just as I have been describing. Each time someone passed by the dog growled and lunged (I was working responsibly, standing at least 10 feet off of the trail), every time someone passed by, the dog seemed to get worse, and why wouldn't it? It was scared, it barked at them, and then they left. The longer we went on, the more difficult it got until I saw a man approaching with a dog, I thought, "Oh here we go again", and began working my dog, trying to improve her reactions. Suddenly I hear the man say, "Beautiful dog", as she is barking and lunging towards him! He stopped, instructed his dog to sit quietly, and I said "Thank you, we are currently working through some socialization issues." To that he replied, "Don't worry, it will just take some time." and then he quietly went on with his walk. Not only did his words of encouragement help me feel better about the situation, by stopping and not allowing my dog to "scare him away" with her barking and lunging, it stopped the inevitable reward my dog was getting before.  What a wonderful gesture of kindness that was!

Now, a note to my fellow owners who are out working with aggressive dogs, if someone does have the decency to stop and offer help or simply encouragement. Fight the urge to secretly wish they would just go away because it would make our dog "go back to normal" more quickly. Believe me, my first instinct when he uttered the first sentence was "Oh great, now I have to work my dog while he sits here and chats", but I quickly realized he was affording me the opportunity to actually be effective in my training session!

 So next time you are enjoying the park with your dog and you see someone with a furry friend who is a handful, make sure you are giving them the space they need, but also the support. These owners should be commended for trying to rehabilitate a dog in a society where everything is disposable. It is amazing how good you can make someone feel just by showing a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

  I get many, many owners asking questions about electronic collars (or shock collars as they are also known) so I wanted to write an entry about my honest opinion on these devices.  While writing this, I already know that some will not agree with what I have to say and that is fine. This entry is an opinion piece, my opinion. If you do not agree, well, then I guess it is a good thing we live in America where it is your right to disagree! :)

 The first issue I have with shock collars is that companies are marketing them as "electronic collars" because that is more politically correct than shock collar. In this article, I will refer to them as shock collars because that is what they do. The companies marketing them have tried very hard to get away from the name "shock collar" by telling pet owners that the collar's effect on the dog is no different than the mild static electric shock that you get from walking around your house with socks on and touching a metal doorknob. I call baloney. They are saying that a shock like that is enough to deter a behavior. Think about it, has the electric shock you get from touching the doorknob ever deterred you from leaving your house? I may not look forward to getting into my car during the times of year I know static electricity is at its greatest but I can honestly say it has never actually kept me from getting in my car and going somewhere. So if it doesn’t deter our behavior, what makes you think a shock like that would deter your dog's unwanted behavior you have tried EVERYTHING else humanly possible to get rid of? The answer is it wouldn't. That means the collars either don't work, or you are kidding yourself if you compare it to a static electricity shock.

The second (and even bigger) issue I have with shock collars is their misuse by dog owners. This will be a good time to address trainers that use these shock collars "responsibly". There are many dog trainers who use these collars as only a part of an entire training program to help with a dog that is extremely stubborn or working with a dog at a great distance away (i.e. hunters). I still believe that, even in the situation stated before, it is a tool of convenience rather than necessity. What I mean by that is the collar makes the training easier for the trainer, not the dog, and is not actually necessary for the training. However, that is not the worst misuse of this product. What I see more often than that is dog owners purchasing a shock collar with the idea that the collar will train their dog. This could not be farther from the truth. Shock collars do not train your dog, they are only the consequence for bad behavior. It is up to the owner to figure out how to communicate which behavior is getting the consequence (and which behavior we would rather they exhibit). Let's set up a hypothetical scenario with my dog "Tru":

    Tru is a Corgi who used to get riled up easily and bark at people ,dogs, cats, squirrels, and occasionally nothing outside. So let's say I decided to purchase a shock collar because I was tired of her behavior. The first time she exhibited the behavior I pushed the little red button. Now, she knows she has just been shocked but has no idea why. She may not even realize at first that it was something that she did to cause it. Will she eventually avoid the shock in the future? Probably, but since no one explained to her exactly which behavior was unwanted and which reaction would have been more desirable (training) she will simply stop ALL the behaviors she was exhibiting when the shock came. Which could include: being outside, interacting with people or other dogs, running, barking, doing her "business", etc. Some of those were unwanted behaviors but some were not. So what kind of dog will this give you in the end?

The answer is a dog that is afraid to exhibit any behavior for fear of getting in trouble. I am not saying that an experienced handler that uses this tool as  merely a part of an entire training program will end up with a dog like this (but they might). What I am saying is, a novice dog trainer (and some not-so-novice too) who use it as a quick fix and expect the collar to do all the work will end up with a very confused dog.

I can spot this dog a mile away. Most people who see this owner and dog say "wow he sure listens well!" What I see is a dog who cowers every time his owner speaks to him because his first reaction to a command is the fear of being shocked if wrong.

Imagine what game shows would look like if we shocked the contestant who had the wrong answer. (I sure hope there isn't a TV executive reading this right now, thinking "What a great idea!")While some might find it entertaining to watch, I would venture to say we would have to make people be on the show and they wouldn't want to answer any questions because of their fear of being wrong. Then when they did answer, because we forced them to, they would probably flinch as they spoke the answer, bracing for that shock even if they were pretty sure they knew the answer.

Well folks, this is what we are doing to our dogs! Instead of making training fun and rewarding for both of us, we are running some sort of twisted game show where the prizes don't matter because they are overshadowed by the consequences of being wrong. Now don't get me wrong, I do discipline my dogs when they are in the wrong. However, only after I have taught them what I expect of them. I also do not use methods that are more extreme than most dogs need nor do I focus only on when they are wrong. Who wants to be taught that way?

Another reason I don't believe that shock collars are a good alternative is because, just like other "training equipment", we either become dependant on it, or we must figure out how to wean them off of the equipment (See my previous blog entry If you take this handy dandy pill, you can have a trained dog?) . I have had many owners who I have quizzed about using the shock collar say, "Well it works...as long as he is wearing it."  In other words, they associate the collar with the punishment and will only behave when wearing it. At this point you either have them wear the collar for the rest of their life or go to work weaning them off of it (which, interestingly enough, I think is more work than doing all the work without the collar from the beginning).

Finally, if you are turning to a shock collar because it is your last resort in training your dog because nothing else has worked, you probably need to take a good look at your training methods as a whole picture. The reason I say this is because, if used as intended, a shock collar is simply the consequence for not doing what you have asked of him. If you find yourself at this "last resort", chances are one of two things has happened: 1. You are not communicating as effectively as you think. In other words, if other consequences have failed, it could be because they are still confused on what you want them to do. In this instance, raising the consequences when your dog is still confused will not lead to success. 2. If you have gone through all of the lower levels of consequences and they have all failed, then you have already taught the dog perseverance. If he can resist the threshold of punishment long enough YOU will give in and he will get his way. Since this precedent is already set, a shock collar will only raise his tolerance for punishment and he will eventually be able to exhibit the behavior even through the pain of being shocked because he knows you will quit using it if it doesn’t work. Reaching this point with ANY dog, requires a serious makeover to your entire training program, not just his discipline.

Should professional trainers use these methods? I will leave that decision up to them hoping that IF they choose to, they are educated on how to use them  correctly. Should novice dog owners use them without the help of a professional? Absolutely not, and once you weigh the pros (are there any?) and cons of using these devices I hope that you chose not to use them at all.