(100) A dirty Little Secret

First, let me say, 100 posts! Wow and thanks for reading along. I'm looking forward to the next 100.
Next, this is a long post. I hope you will continue to read along and tomorrow I will post the second part of this story. I had to write it and I hope you will understand as you read it, let me know... Again, Thanks.

This is a difficult post to write. I have been putting it off for a few days trying to decide if I could actually write about it. I guess that I need to write about it if I am honest with myself. I can’t proclaim to be writing and sharing my thoughts and then skirt around the hard issues that are really on my mind. I’ve finished reading the book Chase!, by Charissa von Reinheardt. This is the book that I requested Brad to order for me. It trains readers to manage their dog’s predatory instincts. The book takes a very positive approach to training and discloses up front that the author lives in a wooded/forested area of Germany. She acknowledges that she is able to allow her dogs to run free of leashes when she is working with them and suggests that we (the readers) find areas that allow us to do the same, such as large fenced in areas. She reiterates from the beginning that we must understand that our dogs are predators and that predatory behavior is an instinct in dogs. It is one of the reasons that man first domesticated dogs, to help in the hunt for food. She also wants the reader to understand that different breeds have been bred to perform chase and prey behaviors, and knowing what your particular dog was bred for is important for working with your dog. She reviews the predatory sequence and the dogs’ physical behaviors so that owners can learn what to look for and the actions to take when the dog begins the sequence. For instance when Max or Beeker identify some movement they stalk it or focus intently on the movement. Although predisposed for predatory behaviors she suggests that stalking is a learned behavior. This makes sense since we know that dogs do learn many things by imitation and modeling. Training fundamentals and equipment are reviewed including the use of voice and owner observation of the dog’s nonverbal physical responses. She suggests that a harness is extremely important for working with your dog since a harness will not injure the dog’s throat, if it pulls to chase while you are working. So far so good, I’m with this and I get that dogs innately want to chase and find food by hunting. The author starts training by suggesting walking with your dog and communicating by eye contact and touch. Here I’m with her also. I know that a dog that is focused on me and what I am trying to get it to do will be less likely to do something else. You know, hard to do two different things at the same time. She continues on to teaching games to increase the dog’s focus on owner, and also important behaviors to master such as sit and down. She believes that “sit and down” are extremely important so that the dog will respond immediately to the command when distractions are in the area. She suggests that positive reinforcement is the best way to get dogs to learn these behaviors and states that food is a great reward for following commands. In fact, she believes that owners should not restrict the amount of food treats since we want the dog to know that good things happen when they listen to their owners. Interestingly, she believes that the “Come” command is good to teach with a “sit” as well as without a sit since sometimes we need to get the dog on a leash quickly without negotiating the sit (like in cold weather) The last real training chapter deals with playing with the dog. She states that it is important to play with your dog and not just have the dog respond to commands when you are with him. I believe this is true as well. Having a modern dog is now like having a family member in which, we understand that the existence of the dog with feelings and needs. She gives good examples of interactive games you can play with your dog. One of her favorite is the Sausage tree game in which the owner puts food all over a tree and then goes on a hunt with the dog and together they find the tree. Up high on the tree is some of the food where the dog needs the owner’s assistance. This is a game that has multiple positive behavioral rewards for increasing the bond between owner and pet. I’m in agreement and understand all of this so far. In fact I agree with the basis of this book and believe that in theory this is a wonderful way to train my dogs. In the puppy class that we went to we discussed many of these same behaviors and how to positively “motivate” our dogs to follow our commands and to get them to listen to our commands when we needed them. We practiced in our subsequent classes how to engage with our dogs and increase the bond between us.

In the very back, in the last chapter of this book, the last 24 pages are on training methods and devices to avoid. Some of these are so obvious that it is almost silly. Weighted saddlebags, chaining the dog to a heavy object (such as a tire), spray collars, shooting dog with air rifle. Some of the “NOs” are training nos, no life on a leash, no hiding from your dog (this will increase a dog’s fear of abandonment), no, fetch, (teaching your dog to go after an object which is just what we are trying to get the dog to quit). No using avoidance tactics only (impossible if you really think about it).And then there is the big NO-NO for positive training, no electric shock collars.

Now the confession and the dirty little secret. We own and use a shock collar. There, I’ve said it. It’s difficult to even type the words. We use it whenever Max goes outside. We don’t use it on Beeks, although I’ve sometimes been tempted to get one for him. I’ve always struggled with this issue. Let me explain why we have one and when we decided to get one for Max.
When we first met Max, he was a one year old relinquished dog that was given up to the humane society. We heard about Max from my sister who learned of Max’s existence from a worker there. Since we had owned two well behaved Newfoundlands and had trained them both, one from a four month old pup and one from age 1, we believed that this would be “doable”. When we first saw Max, he was completely grungy, matted and wild. I don’t mean wild in a good way. He was not aggressive if you mean it with the anger of hate that some dogs get when they have been repeatedly abused. Max was overly friendly, unaware of his size (underweight at 100 lbs at 1 year), and he lunged. He barked and he didn’t know what to do on a leash. When the worker met us (outside) he was bouncing, and lunging at everything and trying to get off the leash. We probably should have walked away at that point, but we loved the breed and we saw how exuberant he was and we loved the idea of rescuing a needy dog. At the time, we had our two oldies but goodies at home, waiting for us to return, we thought it would be helpful to foster this dog with the old ones, they could teach him control, and he could breathe some life back into them. We almost made the decision on the spot. Oh, yea… Max had not been altered either, so his hormones were probably kicking in as well. We decided to take him home after they had neutered and chipped him. I personally thought that neutering would make a huge difference in his behavior. Little did I know that yes, it would, but it would take some time before we would notice any real calm. We were told that Max had come from a home that had a large number of St. Bernard’s, al living in a fenced yard. Max had never been inside a house when we got him. He had been living in a pack situation where he clearly was not the leader. He stunk so bad and had so many flees that we put flee and tick medicine on him before he could meet the other dogs. So, to make a long story even longer, here’s what we did and why he has a shock collar.
When we got him home, we brushed the heck out of him, to get the mud and some of the stink out of him. Then we went on a walk with the other two dogs (if you can call it a walk). It wasn’t very productive, as Max couldn’t concentrate on anything. He was so stressed out and so overwhelmed with the new situation that he was out of control. When we brought him into the house the first time, he did a remarkable thing. He calmed down. He did not go wild, he did not chew up the house, he did not knock down the furniture and he made his place with the other two dogs. We were stunned that his inside behavior was so different than his outside behavior. We guessed that Max didn’t know what to expect from a place he had never been, so he behaved the way the other dogs did. He imitated them. He continues to have the one issue he always had, inside or out. He barks and gets excited to the point of out of control, if the door bell rings, or if he hear someone talking or hears a car in the circle. During CGC training, we could answer the door bell without him barking, but here at home he barks and lunges at the door. Now, I have figured out that I can just say, “Okay Max. I see, kennel up! Go on Kennel up!” and he will go back to the laundry room that he knows as his kennel and lie down. But the lunging at newcomers is still there. Inside or out, until he gets a smell of the new person, he lunges to get a smell, and sometimes jumps up to their faces. It’s a rude behavior and it is intimidating. He is now 135pounds.

Outside is a different situation. When we first brought Max home, I had decided that Max was going to be my dog, he would be the best therapy dog (I’m a non-working social worker). This turned out to be a joke as he was a dog that needed therapy! I worked with him all of the time, I brushed him and talked to him, I walked him day and night, three times a day. Here is the crux of the situation, I got scared of him. Whenever we would encounter any person, dog or situation coming towards us, Max would go into chase drive! After he had dragged me down the gravel road three different times I called a trainer/behavioralist. I’m a therapist, I know when to ask for help.

Tomorrow I will continue to share Max’s story with how we decided to use the collar and where we are with its use now…