I spent six days last week working from a beach house in Los Angeles, California. Hermosa Beach to be exact. It was an unbelievable week for many reasons. A big part of it was the people who were there with me. I have belonged to a small mastermind group for six years now. We get together in person three or four times a year and stay connected beyond that through an email group and through Facebook. We all run online businesses and are all “heart-based entrepreneurs” who want to make the world a better place. I am the only “dog trainer” in our group which, I think, keeps it interesting for everyone. 🙂
Last week we rented a beach house as we were all going to a two-day workshop so we decided to stay the week to hang out and work together.
The food, the beach, the learning, the weather and of course the company were all amazing however there was one thing that was somewhat disturbing for me.
Every morning when we sat down to work we would open our “beach doors” to bring the surf life into our living room. From where I sat I could look up and watch the beach volleyball players, the surf and the people walking the boardwalk (which was directly behind the yellow wall you can see in the picture above). Of course, when I saw (or most times I heard) a dog I would stop work to take a look…if you are a dog lover away from home, that’s just what you do right? In addition to that, at least a part of each day I would go out on the deck, with no work in mind at all, just chillin’ and watching people and dogs.
It was awesome to see how many people got out to exercise their dogs each day! Dogs of all sizes out walking/jogging/rollerblading/biking alongside their people. So cool. I guessed over the course of the week I saw at least 100 or more dogs.
The thing that saddened me though was that of those 100 or so dogs maybe 10-15 were walked on a flat collar or harness. The rest were being walked on pinch/prong collars with the odd one on a choke chain. I didn’t see one single head halter being used over the entire week. Additionally, I noted that very few of these dogs could walk anywhere near another dog without aggressing at the end of the leash at that other dog…regardless of how close or far that dog was passing by. I can’t help but believe the trend of the prong collar is directly related to the trend of the aggression that I saw.
Now I am not writing this to be judgemental of those people. They are simply a product of those who are teaching them their dog training. I know this is a geographical thing and the “influencers” in that area. For example, if you walk down the streets of the small village where I live you will also see a lot of dogs being walked. The vast majority of these dogs are walked using one of three restraints either; 1. A head halter (I would guess close to 50% are on head halters). 2. A flat collar or 3. A harness. It is a rare occasion when I see a dog being walked on a prong collar here in Ancaster. I would like to think I have a small influence on this trend, but additionally, the largest school in our neighbourhood promotes head halters for all dogs that go through their programs. Hence we see a lot of head halters on the streets of Ancaster because of the “influencers” in this area.
It stands to reason that the “influencers” in the Hermosa Beach area promote co-operation with a dog through pain or the threat of pain from the owner. Once you have that mindset, regardless of how much you love your dog, your first instinct is to control through intimidation. This is not only sad for the dogs but also sad for the owners and the relationship they are missing out on with their dogs.
Let’s go back to the example of the dogs on leash aggressing at other dogs. What I observed was that in many cases the person walking the dog starts his “aggression” towards his dog almost before his dog starts. The owner sees the oncoming dog and then starts to “warn” his own dog by getting a better grip on his leash. The dog is then given a pop back off of their front feet and a scolding from the owner the moment the growling/barking/lunging occurs..or shortly afterwards. The assumption of guilt and the punishing consequence is delivered at the moment the dog spies the other dog coming towards them.
The quote “Violence begins where knowledge ends” came to my mind frequently as I watched this interaction. Unsure how to make the dog behave, the only solution is to punish the dog. In the case of dog aggression though, correcting the aggression is like trying to put out a fire by throwing gasoline on it. Of course, the flames are going to get bigger and stronger. As will our dogs learn to become more intent on the act of aggressing.
A dog has a few ways they can communicate with us. I would like to think I can read my dog’s minds but the truth is dogs can only communicate with us through their eyes, their posture including their tail, their movements, their breath, the lay of their fur, the way they hold their mouth and ears and finally their voice (whining, “talking,” growling or barking). The key is to learn the language your dog is speaking. To understand how they communicate.
Dogs are often “forced” to growl/bark or lunge because their cries for our help/protection from what they are worried about have gone unnoticed. Growling/lunging/barking/snapping is the dog escalating up the chain of communication. Well, that is how it starts anyway. Once a dog learns that when another dog comes near, you are going to scold him then correct him your dog will learn he hates other dogs nearby and will do his best to keep that other dog away (hence more growling/barking/snapping/lunging). Correcting the “growl” is telling your dog he has no right to be afraid. That if he shows fear you will meet his fear with violence.
The way I see it our job when raising dogs is all about creating confidence in the dog. Confidence for those dogs to WANT to make the choices that we want them to make. So imagine if prong or chain or electric collars didn’t exist? What if rather than trying to “force” a dog to “get along” we focused on creating confidence in that dog to get him to choose appropriately? What would that look like?
First of all our goals while out for a walk would be about the dog rather than us. Rather than taking your dog for a 2-mile power walk down the boardwalk we would consider:
1. We wouldn’t choose the boardwalk where the dog has no outlet when worried. On the boardwalk there are three-foot walls on either side of the walkway creating the perception of the dog being trapped inside this concrete walkway.
2. We wouldn’t try to get in our 2-mile power walk but instead would focus on creating ten minutes of positive experiences for the dog. Ten minutes that would help to build trust between you and your dog and at the same time grow his confidence in that situation. At the end of the ten minutes (or less), you would break off for a game of fetch, tug or just a good old belly rub (for your dog :)).
3. The sole purpose of your walk would be for you to spot other dogs first. Every time you do you throw a handful of tasty treats on the ground in front of your dog and keep adding a new treat so he keeps his head down or focused on you until the other dog has passed. Yes, you would do this regardless of the reaction of your dog towards the other.
Those three suggestions are a great step towards changing the experience of the walk for your dog. It gives your dog a chance to learn how to behave appropriately while enjoying time on a walk with you. It gives your dog the opportunity to not only tolerate but possibly even enjoy the sight of another dog nearby while out on his walk with you.
Scenario one: Your dog walking on the boardwalk in his view is “trapped” by two walls. When he sees another dog he knows first comes a scolding from you then comes a pop where these metal nails dig into his neck.
Scenario two: Your dog has 10-minute sessions on an open path where he plays games to focus his attention on you and in addition to that gets handfuls of his favourite treats any time another dog comes near.
Which scenario gives the dog the opportunity to grow into the kind of the dog you would like him to be?
I would love to think as a community of dog lovers we can contribute to a world where dogs are not being “controlled” through pain or the threat of their owner “dominating” their choices. Collectively we as dog lovers are the answer. It is all about educating and inspiring the “influencers” to want a better life for the dogs in their community or for that community to grow new influencers.
Today I am grateful for each of you out there influencing your own communities, regardless if it is just your family or friends. We can make a difference one dog owner at a time. Collectively we are the answer and today I am grateful to each of you who are inspired to be an example of growing confidence in your dog by providing choices, guidance and positive consequences.
#DogsDeserveOurBest #OneDogOwnerAtATime
This is a great article that draws a parallel to what I am saying about punishment in dogs but in this article, it is with respect to children. The bottom line here is “communication is the base of a healthy parent/child relationship.” The same is true for the relationship we have with our dogs …the difference is that many times our dog’s primary tool is to communicate their confidence or discomfort by way of how they use their body. Allow your dog to guide the choices you make for him so that he can learn to shine for you as your family’s pet.
*Note: As always I do welcome your comments to this post…even if you disagree with my point of view. However, I ask that all comments are respectful of others. I recognize that criticizing someone’s choices for their dogs is like criticizing how someone raises their children. This post was not written to give people a platform to defend their choices. It is simply meant to paint a picture of possibilities. Us dog owners can be a passionate group. However, we are not going to inspire change through finger pointing and blame. We need to be tolerant of others current choices if we want to be given a chance to inspire them to consider different choices. Please be respectful when you comment. I will delete any comments I believe are crossing the line of being courteous to others.
Thank you Susan, a very good article, I was taught, about 12yrs ago that I should make it more painful for my dog to show leash aggression than to walk calmly past the other dog. Needless to say he got worse and lasting harm had been done before I met someone who could show me better. Even at the time I was sure it was fear that was making him reactive but you trust those who call themselves trainers.
I hope that, nearly 5yrs on from this article things are changing but still meet to many people who think force is the way to go and want to treat aggression with aggression
I got a puppy, who from very beginning was dog aggressive. Big dog little dog no matter, he would see a dog 100 feet away and go into a frenzy. I spoke to several dog trainers and got a variety of suggestions from just ignore it to use a prong or choke collar and string him up. None of those worked actually making situation worse. Then I bought a book called “click to calm”. I would click him between the ferocious barks and give him a treat. Eventually he would see another dog and look to me for a treat! Also he loved to play ball so I carried one with me and show it to him and he forgot about other dogs. He didn’t have any doggie friends until years later and I got another puppy, who he loves. I agree with you violence begets violence.
I done recallers since my new pup Sheltie 3-4 months. It been awhile since I had a dog. I started this because puppy classes were limited with covid and than I found recallers online program. He very active all boy full energy and early sipping chewing etc. I started walking him early since he had so much energy. With patient he learned not to snip chewing improved. I am able to do, the with-me and treats and or distraction and have build trust to draw his attention at me plus sometimes I do it’s with a search game or sit or change directions whatever situation makes sense. He rarely will bark does not growl much I am Working on him not pulling a leash and with recallers techniques such patting my knee hip and encouraging maintain the side hip zone area. He does most of the walk. He come along way with not pulling as often. . After reading above I’m going add more fun games he loves tug so,I do that and i do a counting to three with search throw.
I taken him few classes to,get use to others. Recently he a had his first dog park so he could run and it was for small,dogs. he surprised me he was very good with other dogs and try to get them to chase him. He never took their toys or showed aggression. Rarely bark but had a so much fun just running freely and when callled he came to me. Thanks to recallers and the games have has help me so much and we still have more to learn he almost 9 months now but I so happy with his progress Love him
What a great article. Unfortunately, I am one who uses a print collar with my Aussie. He lunges at squirrels and birds and can literally pull me off my feet. The harness does no good and the prong collar is the only thing that is working so far. Is there a better collar/harness to use when we walk? We walk on paths with lots of open space, and he does not lunge at other dogs.
Hi Valerie, a Head Halter can be great, Susan has a podcast with video with all the details on how it can be conditioned for our dogs to wear and how it sets up success. Here’s the link for you:
https://dogsthat.com/podcast/40/
Awsome article !! Just love your positive suggestions, and we are actually doing as you suggest giving the other dogs as much space as we can and throwing out kibble for a search refocus for Mack. It really works and he tries really hard to disengage with the other dogs, but they all are small happy dogs who seem to be afraid of our Mack ……….will we ever be able to shorten the distance with oncoming dogs and just walk on by ???
Great article and much appreciated. I am a prong collar user on my Pit. She is a puller as well as dog reactive. She is EXTREMELY dominants and territorial. We have made progress with her reactive ness but if another dog throws off negative body language or gets mouthy, she becomes unglued. She has been attacked 4 times by dogs unrestrained in a public place. She can back a dog off in 10 seconds while on leash and never use her teeth. I am aware that she is much worse when on leash but I have to have control. She is a rescue and came to me with this problem. I can walk her out of it now for which she receives a huge amount of praise. I do not react negatively when she’s reactive, just praise when she’s not. This dog absolutely loves people and this is truly her only vice, aside from no control on her tongue lol. I would greatly appreciate you input and am willing to pay for your time. I have had many dogs all competing in agility as well as fosters and this is the first dog I’ve encountered like this.
Thank you
Linda
I have a young Pom puppy and she is full of it. I have learned to stop the activity when she escalates or tries to bite me.I am trying hard to read her behavior order to redirect her.Sometimes I can and sometimes I can’t. Crating her helps her calm down but I don’t know if its the right thing to do. Sometimes her biting behavior seems aggressive tome.She reminds me of an out of control toddler.
The link is dead. Here is another to the actual chart:
https://info.mstservices.com/spare-the-rod