First there was Barbara (Woodhouse) then Uncle Matty, then David (Dykeman) Then… Victoria (Stilwell), Now Cesar. There’s also your friend Jenny who has a marvelously well behaved (notice didn’t say well trained) dog “Puck”.. The wonder lab who miraculously brings back anything, absolutely anything you toss, throw or hurl on land or into the water. There’s also your Uncle who had a dog that seemed to know exactly what you Uncle wanted and sat waiting patiently until your Uncle gave “the” command or even ‘the look’ that signaled the dog to do/get something amazing… So many ‘experts’ so many well behaved dogs.. Except maybe yours..
You would like, ok, desire, ok crave a well behaved, trained dog so you get a book, or many books; “Cesar’s Way: Be the Leader of your pack..” or “The Art of Raising a Puppy” by the New Skete Monks, or “ 7 Days to housebreak your dog (Revised Edition). You get a clicker, you get a remote control, then you get a choke collar until you find it doesn’t work well so then you get a pinch collar. You hate how it looks (you refuse to ‘pinch your dog to train it) so you get a different type of choke collar one that advertised to “Make your walks with your dog as easy as power steering”…
And it all gets you, well…. More confused.
You get a dog harness. Looks great on the dog in the advertising picture until you find its more difficult to put on your dog than doing Origami and writing Haiku’s simultaneously. Then your friends friend recommends a head halter, you know the one that looks like a muzzle – you hate how it looks- but you think, “ok, I watched the video and it Works like a hot knife through butter- amazing- until you try to put it on the dog. How do normal people do this? You have to have a calm dog to get one of these put on- you blurt out to yourself. After all if you need a calm dog to utilize one of these then you wouldn’t need this device for controlling out of control dogs. Oh the craziness of dog training contraptions!
So, what is the best device for controlling a dog? Well, as dog trainer I love, absolutely love questions like this. Short answer: It depends. Real answer: If there was THE answer then we likely wouldn’t be continually asking the question the answer would be as obvious as breathing air is to most living creatures. “What should I use then to control my dog” well it depends it really depends. Unfortunately a specific behavioral ‘symptom’ does not usually equate to one answer. Calling your doctor asking for a prescription when you have a sore throat may seem like the logical thing to do. The good doctors know that all symptoms (insert specific dog behavior here) do not always equate to the same treatment. So the best solution to a specific dog ‘problem’ is to consult a professional dog trainer. Not just any dog trainer but a trainer with behavioral training expertise.
More tomorrow with: “Finding a good dog trainer. What should l expect”