Dogs Above and Beyond

Don't think that Dog Trainers' dogs don't have the same problems you do, they do, since puppies/dogs do things to annoy us but which is totally normal for them.

The difference is, that knowledgeable dog trainers know what is normal and natural for their pups/dogs, and prevent problems before they become ingrained bad habits. They also know that their pups/dogs need to be exercised, trained, taught tricks, given toys, bones, etc for mental stimulation. They need to work, to do something rather than spend the whole day doing nothing and so get into trouble to amuse themselves.

Dogs form habits just as we do - and some of them are just as destructive as ours 🙂 When left too long, aggressive behaviors can become a habit. First the dog understands that certain behaviors work either to chase scary things away or to get a human to do something for them. Then they practice and practice and even start looking for the triggers that cause the aggressive behavior. Why? Because it feels good - or so the dog thinks. The behavior is reinforced, that's pleasure, that's survival. It can only get stronger like a drug addict looking for his next fix.

I've seen this with Chesovy over these months of working on his reactivity in the mobile home park. He is so much better now than he was at the beginning, but there is still work to be done. The work centers around the "pleasure" he gets from the release of tension when confronted with a trigger and responding to it. And, it's also interesting to note that it has some to do with trigger stacking as well.

He sees a cat, basically ignores it. Then he smells something and starts huffing. It's at this point I usually get out the tug, but depending on the smell, the tug may not be enough. It's always a smell after that first sighting. He can ignore what he sees now, but if a strange smell is added, watch out.

And of course, this is a 55+ mobile home park. Too many of the residents smoke that wacky tobaccy and he hates that smell. So morning walks (5:30am) are easy, it's the rest of the day that I have to be alert.