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WELL-TRAINED BUT NOT WELL-BEHAVED


During my career I’ve seen some of most well-trained dogs that had some major behavioral issues. These dogs could do a lot of “tricks”, like sit, stay, shake hands, fetch, roll over and lay down. But these same dogs would also attack other dogs, not allow people into their home, bark non-stop, pull on the leash and chew up shoes and furniture.


---DOG TRAINING---


Training teaches a dog to perform a specific task or “trick” when given a specific command followed by a treat. It associates a word with an action. The most common form of training is positive reinforcement. If the dog does the trick, the dog gets a cookie or a toy or something else. Dogs are willing to do anything for that cookie, toy, etc. With enough repetition, you can possibly even get the dog to do the trick without the reward. You say “give me five” and they lift their paw. It’s a conditioned behavior that they do because there is an incentive for them to do so.


---DOG BEHAVIORAL PROBLEM---


Dog training does not solve behavioral issues. Have you ever experienced calling your dog to come to you (or something similar), and you’ve trained them to do this, but they ignore you because they see a squirrel, another dog, the mailman, or something else that gets their attention. Or even worse, what about a dog that is great with basic obedience commands but is aggressive toward dogs or human (even within the same household), is afraid of noises or is afraid of people. In these cases, the training goes right out the window. In the TV show “Lassie,” one of the dogs who played Lassie, a male named Pal, had several behavioral issues including barking and chasing motorcycles. One of the most well trained dogs in the world still had behavioral problems because training a dog does not address the issues that actually cause misbehavior.


---DOG REHABILITATION---


In order to rehabilitate a dog, you need to figure out what it is in the dog’s environment that is causing the misbehavior. Are they bored? Frustrated? Nervous? Overexcited? Fearful? If you don’t deal with those issues, you can have a well-trained dog that will sit, stay or lay down on command and still be completely nervous, frustrated, fearful, aggressive, etc. Dog training is a man-made system that has no value in the real world if the dog has psychological issues or has no respect for the human. The biggest factor that affects his behavior is the energy (emotional state of mind) of the people around him. Dogs are our mirrors. They reflect back the energy we give them. And if we are not calm and firm, they cannot be calm and submissive.


---PEOPLE TRAINING FOR DOG REHABILITATION---


This is why I focus on giving people the skills and knowledge necessary to understand and communicate with their dogs properly. I am not a dog trainer. I don’t like being called a dog trainer. A client once told me I was like a bridge between 2 species. I teach people how to speak dog language. I teach people how to understand the psychology of a dog. I show humans how their energy is affecting their dog, and then how to change that energy to get the behavior they want. I also show people how to give their dog what he wants and needs to be happy, fulfilled and balanced which will allow the dog to be calm and relaxed.


If you want a well behaved dog, you need to have a happy and fulfilled dog through the work, rules, reward formula.


If you continue to have problems, let me know if I can help.


Always remember: BP4 – Be: Patient, Positive, Peaceful & Persistent


www.packmantotherescue.com / 201-937-6123

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