Growling? Oh No!

Dogs don’t have a say in the training methods you use.

Dogs do have feelings and are emotional beings.

Dogs do feel pain and aggression exhibited through growling, lunging and biting can become the go to response depending on the methods used. This can lead to very serious concerns for the dog and the family.

Dogs also can also learn to suppress behaviors like growling if they are punished for doing so.

THIS IS DANGEROUS!

A dog with a suppressed communication like a growl will result in your dog going straight to a bite.

Zero warning.

I understand if you have small children in the home and you hear your dog growling and your child is nearby, you’re scared.

You’re really worried about the safety of your child and your go to response is yelling and punishing your dog.

Please stop.

Meeting a dog’s displeasure of the experience in the environment with your “mean voice” or scary body language or even physical force will make the problem worse, it will also impact your relationship with your dog which will degrade over time. It can also lead to more growling or worse like snapping and biting towards your child.

What will you do then?

Teaching children about how they impact and influence their dog’s behavior is utterly important.

Not only is this for the immediate, but learning for both the child and animal is life long.

Empowering children to understand how they can impact the world around them is also confidence building, encourages compassion and empathy.

Teaching children how to safely interact with dogs, encourages your dog to seek out your child for all things.

Together, your dog and child can build a strong bond which is mutually rewarding.

In order to get here, teaching both appropriate ways of having fun and building a relationship is necessary and taking small steps.

Learning is never linear and it for sure requires repetition and everyone in the home caring for the dog and child have to be on the same page.

Not sure where to start?

Get your school aged kids enrolled into the G2G: Kids Virtual Game Series!

Graduates of the G2G Kids Program 🙂

https://fourpawsandyoudogtraining.as.me/G2GKidsProgram

Leash Walking with Frenemies

Leash reactivity is a learned behavior.

Dogs that bark and lunge while on a leash are reinforced to do so because the behavior of barking and lunging makes the bad thing (person, other dog ect) go away.

Or

Dogs that bark and lunge while on a leash do so because they learn to be frustrated greeters. The barking and lunging happens when they see the other dog or person and they anticipate the tightening of the leash.

Well, if its a learned behavior to bark and lunge on a leash, your dog can learn to be calm and relaxed in the presence of another dog.

Jack for sure is one example.

Jack was for sure a menace when we first brought him home. Always barking, totally frustrated and had a hard time relaxing in the presence of another dog.

He learned to be more relaxed.

Now he’s teaching other dogs to do the same 🙂

This is another Growl to Grow client. They brought home a new dog and Charlie had some trouble with seeing other dogs, kids whatever.

My clients took to Force Free training right away.

They integrated the desensitization and counterconditioning plan into their routine.

They achieved more calm departures, door greetings and now adding into the mix leash walks.

Charlie is still learning, but the consistency of her pet parents really shows.

They’ve come a long way and they are so proud of all the learning she’s done.

AND I’m proud to say, another powerful breed not needing a choke, prong or shock collar to teach the behaviors you do want!

All that was needed was Charlie’s pet parents being benevolent leaders and established a secure and trusting relationship with her.

Do you want the same?

Find a time that works for you to set up a free Discovery Call with me: https://fourpawsandyoudogtraining.as.me/

Do You Want to Become a Dog Trainer?

🙋🏻‍♀️ if you were interested in exploring dog training and behavior?

🙋🏽‍♀️ if you’re not sure where to start?

🙋‍♀️ if you find the whole exploration of schools to credentialling bodies to be confusing.

You’re for sure not alone!

There are so many options and finding the best ones may be more challenging than what you expected.

Let’s peel back the layers and get to the heart of what you’re looking for in both an education and a credential you stand behind.

Your values carry forward when choosing the one that matches your core beliefs in caring for and teaching another living being.

As you know, the dog training world is unregulated. Even though there is an obvious downside, I’m going to look at the upside to this.

The main focus of more mainstream dog training follows a different model or a limited scope in a standard of care. This other model focuses strictly on learning theory and behavior.

Limiting the understanding to behavior science alone, leaves the animal vulnerable for the human’s misapplication, timing or even misunderstanding of how to effectively teach what the pet parent wants. While you may never consider the use of punishment in training, this model still leaves the door open for those who do.

Of course focusing on learning theory and behavior is important in understanding behavior modification, it isn’t the only factors to take into consideration.

You’re wanting to gain a deeper understanding of Do No Harm principles and how ensuring the welfare for all the pets in your care also extends to every pet parent and pet professional too.

Do No Harm is limitless.

Force Free dog training schools teach the trainer how to meet all of the dog’s needs humanely and with only reward based methods while remaining grounded in the science of why it works. This focused attention on science in dog training allows for the student to have a holistic approach in their learning and development and how to be effectively in their approach.

Force Free credentialing bodies acknowledge the hard work and the commitment trainers have towards doing no harm in training, education and coaching. They set a standard of how to maintain a pet professional’s affiliation. One avenue is through continuing education credits. CEUs are the lifeblood of a life long professional trainer. The CEUs offer opportunities for the pet professional to remain grounded in current trends and research and above all else, best practices.

From the Pet Professional Guild, “Do no harm. Do good. Act fairly. Be faithful to promises made.” With this guiding principle, there is no room for pain, force or intimidation.

Here are some links to Force Free schools and credentialing bodies:

International School of Canine Psychology (ISCP): https://theiscp.com/about-the-iscp/

INTODogs: https://www.intodogs.org/

Pet Professional Guild is an educational resource as well as a credentialing body for Force Free trainers: https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/