Buyer Beware Regarding Dog Breeders

Many breeders offer attractive Web sites, detailing credentials and services, but do not be taken in by a polished, professional presentation. Just about anyone can create an impressive website. Client referrals continue to be a quality breeder’s best form of advertisement. Contact the Better Business Bureau or Humane Society in your city or town to determine a breeder’s business record and timely response to consumer complaints. 

Is the mother dog available for inspection?

Avoid patronizing breeders who will not allow you to interact with the mother dog prior to an adoption. A mother dog not living on the premises or unavailable for immediate inspection should be a warning sign to the consumer. A mother dog that is overly protective or fearful may have temperament issues, which she will pass on to her litter. You don’t need those kinds of problems. Walk away no matter how cute the puppies may be.

 A client made a reasonable request to view the mother dog before agreeing to an adoption. The breeder declined; he did not want the mother dog disturbed, and asked my client to please respect the agreed upon adoption date.

Three days before the adoption my client made a surprise visit to the breeder’s facility. The breeder was not there at the time but a kennel assistant offered to take her to see the mother and her puppies. She was appalled to find the mother dog and litter confined to a chicken coop among all the filth and feathers created by the previous occupants!

          

Divorce Settlements: Who's paying for the care of the family dog?

I have been a canine behaviorist/trainer for more than 18-years, and I continue to be shocked by the number of individuals filing for divorce who fail to ask for financial compensation toward the family dog's long-term care. 

The minimum cost to own a dog per year is approximately $1,200.00. This figure includes: cost of food, minor essentials and yearly veterinary exams, but doesn't cover unexpected expenses; such as, obedience training, medical emergencies, kenneling, doggie day-care, grooming, personal or property damage due to a dog's aberrant behaviors. 

Clients (especially women) seem to get stuck with the family dog's care after a divorce. They often have to request paying for my services in installments, due-to-the-fact, they either could not afford an added expense or needed to request financial assistance from family or friends. Asking for additional monies from an ex-spouse might not only be embarrassing but lead to a confrontation. It's all unnecessary.

Whether you are a woman or man, before taking sole responsibility toward the care of the family dog, procure a divorce settlement that either provides you the means to meet all the dog's needs or a trust fund from which money can be drawn to cover costly medical or legal procedures. 

CBS This Morning: Determining Canine Intelligence 2/7/2013

The CBS feature showed dogs being tested for their intelligence. Unfortunately, every dog in the study was being motivated with treats. The mother dog doesn't use treats to train her puppies, when then, did the concept of bribing dogs to determine their intelligence or ability to follow directives (commands) come into fashion?

It was distressing for me to see the trainers in the presentation using treats as a reward system for getting a dog to respond to a command. The treat - not the trainer (mother dog) became the stimulus. 

The presentation also failed to address the fact that men and women acquire, interact and then train their dogs differently. How could this not have an impact on determining a dog's intelligence?  

I have been training dogs for more than 18-years and have never had to resort to using treats to motivate a dog to perform a task. Instead, I depend on a dog's natural instinct (allelomimic behaviors)to mimic my behaviors, much like a mother dog expects her puppies to follow her lead.

I am also aware that men and women, who sign-on to a training program with their dogs, have different behavioral characteristics: as well as, goals and expectations. Why weren't these factors taken into considered during the CBS presentation? Whether it was a journalistic oversight or ignorance, the results remain the same - misinformation regarding canine intelligence. 

  

6 Dog Ownership Questions & 6 Unique Answers that may surprise you.

          Despite the numerous books on dog training and behavior, the almost mushroom-like growth of national pet supply stores offering dog obedience training courses and the increased number of celebrity canine trainers on television, I continue to receive questions from clients that reflect a profound lack of knowledge or naivete regarding canine behavior.

“Will spaying or neutering my dog make it calm down?”

          Answer: No. A dog’s personality and temperament, two key components of a dog’s psychological profile, cannot be altered by a medical procedure.

           "What steps do I need to take to gain control of my alpha dog?”           

          Answer: There is no such thing as an alpha dog because dogs are not wolves or pack animals - they are scavengers. Do you doubt that?  Next time you view a National Geographic special being firmed in a third world village, take note of the number of dogs milling about waiting for a hand-out or an opportunity to steal an unguarded food morsel. They work alone and don't need an Alpha dog or pack to help them  find food.  

Out-of-control dogs, often misdiagnosed as alpha dogs, typically belong to owners who fail to establish house rules that provide a dog with behavioral boundaries. These same owners will sometimes deliberately or inadvertently allow the family dog to become a decision maker, opening the door for many unwanted, aberrant canine behaviors to foster and develop.

“Can I use a squirt bottle or a can filled with pennies to control my dog’s jumping-up behavior?”

Answer: No. A human implement used as a disciplinary tool can trigger some dogs to attack or display fear when the object is later used for its intended purpose.

“If I give my dog human food, will this cause it to beg at the table?”

Answer: It is impossible for a well-trained, uninvited dog to beg at the table. But don’t refrain from occasionally giving a dog (away from the table) unprocessed human food (chicken, fish, beef, grains, vegetables and fruits). They have been eating what we’ve been eating for more than 8,000 years.

                                       

“My husband dislikes having our dog sleep in our bedroom, but several national canine celebrity trainers promote the idea. What should I do?”

Answer: The important issue that needs to be addressed is how any canine professional can theoretically offer canine behavioral modification advice when so many unknown factors such as the dog's home environment, temperament or health profile is unknown.  Before venturing an opinion or recommendation, I believe it is imperative for any canine training professional to adhere to the following guidelines:

• Observe the dog in the home to determine if the environment is conducive for supporting its needs. How might a national canine celebrity be expected to do this? To my knowledge, no in-home consultation service is offered at any national pet store either, yet these facilities offer group training sessions and puppy socialization programs without first ascertaining this vital information.  My hope is that this will one day change. Ultimately, consumer dollars decide the success or failure rate for book sales or businesses offering, in my opinion, less-than-stellar advice or services.     

• Conduct a canine psychological profile to determine the dog’s temperament and personality. This information aids the trainer in determining if the dog is mentally prepared to receive training instructions and then possibly better predict how a dog will react in a familiar or alien (public) environment.

• Recommend client lifestyle changes and create house rules that will enable their client toward providing consistent and predictable guidelines to their canine companion; and establish acceptable rules of conduct that will enhance the human-canine bond.  

“My dog failed obedience class at a local pet store. Now what do I do?”

 Answer: Your dog didn't fail, nor did you. Group training classes are conducted with the implied assumption that all owners and their dogs are the same. You know that defies common sense, don’t you? This one-size-fits-all approach to training a dog also negates several important, undeniable facts. Dogs participating in a group training session will vary in breed affiliation, and like their owners will also vary in age, personality (a physiological trait often displayed when a dog is in a familiar or comfortable environment), temperament (a psychological trait often displayed when a dog is in an unfamiliar environment, e.g., public park, or someone else's home)  as well as physical and mental ability. How could this hodgepodge of human and canine characteristics, traits and the distractions possibly be conducive to learning? 

Thank you for joining my Linkedin/Blog community. I look at these forums as an excellent medium for sharing information and helping others to achieve their goals. I have a project that humbly needs your assistance or guidance.

I am currently trying to promote a program called: Just a Dog Gone Minute. Each one minute televised visual tweet will attempt to dispel many myths regarding canine behavior and training. I hope to syndicate this program to local, as well as, national television stations.

1. ·       Are you aware how women are often being disenfranchised by the professional dog training community?
2. ·       Ever met an “Alpha Dog”?  If you think you have, let me explain otherwise.
3. ·       Did you know that dogs are not pack animals – they are scavengers and consequently adhere or mimic few wolf behaviors? Perhaps someone needs to explain this concept to dog trainers who continually ask their clients to become “leaders of their pack.”

Dogs are like computers. Junk in = Junk out! Help me to stop the nonsense permeating the dog training profession.

Sincerely,

Roger Alan Bernard

www.Savvycaninetraining

704-249-1567

6 Things Every Savvy Dog Owner Should Know

1. Dogs are scavengers not pack animals; therefore when a dog trainer encourages you to be an "Alpha Dog" or "leader of your pack" they are providing you with misleading information that could compromise or undo your human-canine bond. A puppy's most influential teacher is its mother (daddy dog has long since departed and contributes virtually nothing toward helping a mother dog raise and protect her young.) 

2. Training a puppy or dog in a pet store/building is ludicrous. A dog's psychological profile consists of two different components. One is personality and the other is temperament. A dog's personality is most apparent when the dog is in a familiar or comfortable environment, e.g., in the home. Its temperament is most likely to be displayed in an unfamiliar environment, e.g., outside the home. Be pet smart: train your dog in the real world and not in a pet food warehouse where both the dog's personality and temperament may be misdiagnosed by the instructor.

3. No dog trainer has ever been state certified. Despite the impressive list of credential behind many dog trainer's names, there simply isn't a governing board of directors testing, guiding or censuring a dog trainer for unethical behavior. Buyer beware! Arborist, psychologist, plumbers, and most professional services require state certification before being issued a business license. The only requirement for becoming a dog trainer is a business card. Anyone can become a dog trainer and unfortunately, any one is.

4. Clicker training is to dog training what a baton is to learning Italian. When did dog owner become so gullible? Isn't it odd that clicker trainers always seem to charge more for their unique service? You have hands to clap? You have a mouth to whistle? You have a voice to give commands? Wonderful, now save your money and leave the clicker training to less savvy dog owners.

5.  Your Dog is a Unique Creature.  Enrolling your dog into a group training session implies that a one-size-fits-all-approach to training will fulfill your needs and accommodate your dog's ability to learn. Might you be ignoring some important considerations? Not all dogs have the same ability for learning because dogs follow three distinct instinctual patterns of learned behavior: Stalking prey, circling prey and killing prey. That's why some dogs are better at herding sheep while others provide a service for the visually challenged. The most egregious thing about group training classes is: Men and women are taught the same. Men and women acquire, interact and then train their dogs for different reasons. Women have been disenfranchised by the dog training community for many years. When will it stop? When women stop supporting this method of training and begin hiring dog trainers who provide in-home training services.

6. Your Veterinarian Might Be Getting A Kick-Back. Certainly this applies to the many vets who sell less-than-quality dog foods that are comprised mostly of grains or treats/rawhides that have been treated with chemicals that come from third world countries. Ask yourself, "Why does my veterinarian only recommend this dog trainer and not others?" You will receive a plethora of answers, but mostly you will hear, "We know and trust that company." Really? I have been in the dog training business for more than 18-years and have appeared on NPR four times, international radio, authored a book, produced a video on canine behavior in 2000, presented more than 50 lectures on canine behavior/training for libraries and dog clubs throughout the Southeast and and have a regular guest spot on a local television show in Charlotte, N.C.  Yet, not one veterinarian in Charlotte recommends my services. Do you know why? Refer back to title #6:) 

'Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't." - Pete Seeger, (1919 - ) American songwriter.