You love your dog. But you just can't figure out why he's afraid, tries to attack other dogs or snaps at people coming too close to his food bowl or favorite toy.
You're not alone. These types of behaviors are all too common among our domesticated poochie friends. Our goal is to help your pooch behave more appropriately and give you the tools to manage these circumstances.
Common dog behavior problems include fear, aggression, resource guarding and separation anxiety. After an initial Behavior Evaluation and Consultation, Pooch Pawsitive will develop a behavior modification plan for you and your dog to achieve your training goals.
Dear Heidi,
Thank you for helping us restore health, balance and cheerfulness to our household: the positive training methods you've taught us have literally saved our dog and our relationship with him.
We rescued Bunsen nine months ago from the streets of the Turks and Caicos Islands. There are no spay and neuter programs or animal shelters on the islands. This has contributed to a severe overpopulation problem there, and the animals born on the streets suffer greatly. Most are exposed to the elements, disease, starvation and rough treatment or violence from islanders (who also struggle with their own cycles poverty, violence and hunger). Consequently, Bunsen arrived here as a highly anxious 16 week-old puppy who was distrustful of human strangers and unknown places.
Initially, we took Bunsen to puppy classes at a local obedience school. He demonstrated an ability to learn commands quickly and increased confidence when he was around other pups in class. And while his anxiety lessened somewhat at home, it did not improve in new places or around new people. He continued to show signs of anxiety, fear and fear-aggression. We also noticed bad-manners at home: he jumped up to greet us, tried to steal food from the counter-tops and chewed objects to the point of destruction. Although we tried to employ the commands we learned in puppy school, none of the unwanted behaviors stopped.
Eventually, we admitted that we didn't know how to teach Bunsen good manners at home or how to help him feel safe and comfortable outside but that we wanted to do both! Our veterinarian recommended you and your approach as a healthy and effective way to transform all these patterns. Happily, the reward-based clicker training method you've taught us has worked.
Through bi-monthly home visits from you and lots of practice in-between, we've seen real changes. For example, Bunsen no longer jumps up in greeting or on the counters for food. He's quickly realized that he gets what he wants - attention or a snack - when his rump is on the floor. Remarkably, we've also seen a decrease in anxiety. We've learned how to be predictable and calm when working with him, and he has followed suit. The chewing has stopped. We've even noticed changes in his body language and energy.
In my experience, your approach is effective because it teaches humans how to communicate well with dogs. We've learned that by asking for behaviors we want, Bunsen understands what is expected of him. We've realized that the clicker is a powerful tool in human-animal communication. It bypasses language and marks action, which is how animals experience the world. You have taught us how to work with our dog - not against him!
Again, thank you so much for teaching us effective and simple ways to help our dog. We look forward to our training sessions and relish the fact that Bunsen is healthier and happier now than ever seemed possible during his early life.
Warmly,
Lucy, Kevin and Bunsen McKenna
(May 2011)
