 My name is Winnie. I’m an 8 year-old Bassett hound. Betty Hegarty owns me. Today we start a new series of articles on “How to Train Your Dog”. In this column we will cover some “basics” and also begin to talk a little bit about food aggression, whether it be directed toward our owner or toward other dogs or animals.
Did you know that there is a list of dogs on which breeds are numbered according to intelligence? Well, I am a Bassett Hound. Sad to say, I am not a retriever, or a German shepherd, a poodle, or even a cocker spaniel. While these 4 dog breeds are in the top 20 on the dog intelligence list, I am #86. The whole list is only 89 dog breeds long. That might give you a clue as to what my life has been like. My life has been filled with people commenting, “Winnie is so cute but doesn’t have a clue.” “Winnie is a dumb dog.” “Winnie is sweet, but hopeless.” The truth - I was an 8 year-old training failure. I’d been to obedience school and had even flunked out of that.
Recently, I met Joe Pierson of Joe Knows Dogs. Joe is now training me, even in my semi-old age, and he is also training my dog housemates. We recently added a few dogs to the household and now have an almost Brady bunch of dogs. Joe came to teach us all how to get along together and behave better. We all think Joe is a true miracle.
Because of Joe, I am finally beginning to feel that I am not a failure, and that I am a good dog after all. Since your dog might suffer from the humiliation of not being properly trained, I thought it especially wonderful to help my owner write about various dog training experiences I have been having with Joe and my owner. I am happy to say that, even at 8 years old, I am finally starting to feel like I am a real and good dog and am no longer a failure.
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DOG – PART I – THE BASICS
Today we’ll talk first a little bit about basics. The first time I met Joe, I knew he loved me. He is fun to be around. He is firm, but he is fair. When we interviewed Joe for this article, he said these are the basics. He said training should be fun for the dog, the trainer and the owner. He said it is okay to be firm with your dog when you are training her/him. But it is also important to be fair. He said if you don’t teach your dog the proper command, you can’t expect her/him to know what you want her/him to do. He said our dogs shouldn’t just be treated as pets, but as companions. He said we should respect our dogs, and they will respect us. I never felt respected before I met Joe. He is teaching my owner to respect me, too. He makes me want to do a good job for him, and now for my owner, too.
Joe explained that we dogs are pack animals and are very social. He told my owner that if she doesn’t become the leader of the pack, I or one of my housemate dogs will. That is when problems happen. He explained that age has nothing to do with any of this. He said that from the time a dog is born until the time the dog dies, the main goal of any dog is to move up in the pack. So this explains why I always want to steal food, toys, or anything else from my owner or the other dogs with whom I live, why I lunge at dog biscuits, why I run after the dog toy in the yard but keep it for myself instead of returning it to my owner, and generally show other undesirable forms of behavior.
FOOD AGGRESSION IN DOGS AND HOW TO ELIMINATE IT –
PART I OF A 2-PART CASE STUDY – BERNIE THE COCKER SPANIEL
I (and my housemate dogs) am sometimes food aggressive. This is especially true of my housemate dog, Bernie, a cocker spaniel. Bernie was originally a rescued dog, so nobody really knows what Bernie’s life was like before he was found in the Harlem section of New York City a little more than 2 years ago. Bernie’s vet, Dr. Catherine Hegarty at Colonial Veterinary Hospital, was able to determine that Bernie was probably between 6 and 8 years old (which makes Bernie about 8 to 10 years old now), that he probably ate wet dog food and was fed a lot of food from the refrigerator or table. Bernie probably didn’t have much veterinary care before he was rescued, as he wasn’t neutered, some of his teeth were missing and he suffered from dental disease. We all could tell that Bernie’s former owner loved him, as Bernie is generally a very affectionate dog and was happy to be around people, but his former owner may not have known that dogs need to go to the vet for shots and a yearly physical, just as people do.
Bernie joined 2 other dogs already in the house. He usually got along fine, until recently, when another 2 dogs unexpectedly joined the family. All of a sudden, Bernie started to have trouble getting along with other dogs. Whenever there was food around, whether it was dog food, or even the odor of cooking people food, he started trying to bite the other dogs. He even tried to bite our owner, when the owner moved his food dish. Bernie thought his food was being stolen. He was worried he wouldn’t get it back. Bernie was definitely food aggressive.
Joe is always very calm. He explained to the owner that an owner has to be calm and not nervous when the dog is being trained. He said if the owner is relaxed, the dog will be at ease. This is true. We feel very calm around Joe. Joe also explained that timing is everything. He has to say the command to us at the time we are behaving inappropriately. The training doesn’t work if the command is said to us after the inappropriate behavior is over. It only works when the owner says the command at exactly the right time. Joe also explained that the best way to train a dog in a house with other dogs is to first train him/her separately. Joe also suggested that the person training should get down to the dog’s level – don’t try to train the dog by standing up when the dog is close to the ground.
Finally, he told us that, once a few basic commands are taught to a dog, they can be used in other different negative behavior situations. Example, when one of the veterinarians at Colonial Veterinary Hospital examines me or Bernie or any of the other dogs in our family during our yearly physical, the veterinarian has to look in our mouths, check our ears, and other parts of our bodies. If we try to bite the veterinarian, it is difficult to find out if there is anything wrong with us. If, after visiting the vet, we are found to be sick and need medication in the form of pills, or even injections, we can’t bite our owner’s hand that is trying to give us the medication in pill form or the veterinary technician who is trying to administer an injection. Likewise, if I or Bernie went to someone’s home and small children were there, who knows what they might inadvertently do to Bernie to make him want to bite them by mistake? This could be very dangerous for everyone.
So the first thing Joe did was teach Bernie (and later me) the “Leave It!” command. Joe acted very calm. We were calm, too. Using the “timing is everything” method, when Bernie was in the process of trying to steal food, Joe said to him in a stern voice, “Bernie, Leave It!” He repeated this several times. He sounded like he really means business. He’s not cruel to Bernie, but he is firm with Bernie. Once Bernie or I or any of the other dogs learn this command, whether we are barking, chasing Smudge, the family cat, or doing anything else we shouldn’t be doing, and someone says, “Leave It!” to us, we know to stop whatever we are doing right away. So, basically, the “Leave It!” command tells us to STOP whatever we are doing.
Since my owner was most concerned about Bernie’s aggression with food, Joe used a few hot dogs, broken up into little pieces, to help teach us this command. By the way, dogs LOVE hot dogs. Joe suggested to my owner to use hot dogs when she teaches us a new command. The reason hot dogs are used is they are so wonderful and desired by us, we will usually inappropriately behave just to try to get the hot dog. This allows Joe (or the owner) to correct the inappropriate behavior at a time when a dog might not be interested in eating a common dog biscuit.
Joe said the first goal is to be able to hand-feed your dog without having the dog bite you, or anyone else. He said if you can’t hand-feed your dog, the dog might bite you when you are trying to give him/her medication. If you can’t hand-feed your dog, your veterinarian might be bitten when she/he is trying to examine the dog. If you can’t hand-feed your dog, your dog might try to steal the cookie your grandson is carrying around the house and hurt him in the process.
Joe put a little piece of hot dog in his hand. The smell of the hot dog is so wonderful! Bernie was just about dying to get the hot dog. Every time Bernie tried to lunge at the hot dog, Joe said, “Leave It!” He kept repeating this command over and over again until Bernie finally calmed down and STOPPED trying to lunge for the hot dog. When that happened, Joe said, “Easy!” He kept saying that until Bernie GENTLY took the hot dog piece from him. When this method was used several times, it didn’t take Bernie long to realize that the hot dog will be given to him when he is calm, when he is gentle, and when he isn’t lunging after it.
Once learned, hot dogs do not have to be used anymore. They only have to be used when a new command. It is true that Bernie isn’t a young dog. It may take him a longer period of time to master this command, especially when food is around. But Bernie has so dramatically improved that we other dogs no longer have to feel that we are going to be eaten up by Bernie when he and food are around. Thanks a lot, Joe!
Next week we’ll learn more about food aggression problems and also discuss how to help a dog who doesn’t like going in a car want to get in willingly.
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