Outa the Dog House

03/10/2025

If you’re considering a border collie for your family pet, please watch this video.
Border Collies are magnificent working animals with endless energy and intelligence that all has to go somewhere.
If it’s not spent in a pasture, it’s typically channeled toward herding children, cars, and bicycles! Agility, fly ball, herding, frisbee, and running buddies offer great *daily* outlets.

02/17/2025

“Dear AKC. We have a problem.”

To the American Kennel Club,

For decades, you have positioned yourselves as a leading authority on dogs in the United States.

With that position comes immense responsibility, to ensure that policies and practices reflect the best available science and prioritize the well-being of the animals entrusted to us.

Yet, when it comes to modern, science-backed dog training, your policies remain alarmingly outdated and increasingly at odds with every major behavioral science organization worldwide.

Let’s be clear: there is no credible scientific body that supports your stance on allowing aversive training methods, including shock collars, prong collars, and coercive techniques.

The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (ACVB), the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB), the British Veterinary Association (BVA), the European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioral Medicine, and even your counterparts, The Kennel Club in the UK, have all reached the same conclusion: aversive training methods are harmful, unnecessary, and counterproductive.

And yet, you continue to stand in opposition to legislative efforts aimed at protecting dogs from these outdated practices.

In 2025, you actively lobbied against New Jersey Senate Bill 3814, which sought to establish humane, evidence-based regulations for dog training by eliminating cruel and scientifically discredited aversive methods.

You opposed Bill 3814 to protect aversive training methods, yet had no issue with its exemption allowing violent and inhumane practices in police dog training. Your priorities are clear, and they are not in the interest of canine welfare.

Instead of embracing this opportunity to lead, you defended archaic techniques that have been shown to cause fear, distress, aggression and unnecessary harm.

You labeled the bill “restrictive,” insisting that trainers need “flexibility” in their methods, even when those methods violate the overwhelming body of research demonstrating the dangers of aversive training.

This is not leadership; it is negligence.

Your current stance is not merely outdated, it is dangerously out of step with scientific consensus and directly undermines canine welfare.

Research consistently shows that punishment in training increases stress, anxiety, and aggression in dogs while offering no advantages over positive reinforcement.

So, why does the AKC continue to defend the indefensible? Is it a reluctance to evolve? A desire to appease outdated training factions? Or a fundamental misunderstanding of the science that governs animal behavior?

Whatever the rationale, the consequence is the same: you are obstructing progress and putting dogs at risk.

Contrast your actions with those of The Kennel Club UK, which has embraced modern science, championed humane training, and lobbied for a complete ban on electric shock collars in England.

They took this stand because they recognized that dog welfare must come before outdated traditions.

The question before you is not a complex one:

Should the public trust the overwhelming consensus of the world’s most credentialed veterinary behavior experts, or should they believe that the AKC alone possesses knowledge that somehow eludes the world’s leading experts in animal behavior and welfare?

It’s time to modernize your stance to one that prioritizes dog welfare by eliminating harmful training methods.

Take a leadership role by publicly rejecting shock collars, prong collars, and coercive techniques.

Align your policies with the overwhelming scientific consensus that positive reinforcement is not just the most effective method, it is the ethical path forward.

History will remember those who led the way and those who stood in the way.

Zak George

Sources for more info
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SW-sUZ8bhZxXqKGv1qz9wLVqfTy9wzbdY_suFGG_OrA/

02/07/2025

LET’S GO!

Next session begins Tuesday, February 18!

5 Tuesday evenings. Apison, TN.
Puppies. Adults. Continuing. Therapy Dog Readiness. Tricks.

(Call to inquire about spaces available. 423-580-3582)

01/02/2025

January 7 is gonna be glorious.

12/13/2024

I am so passionate about this. World, we need to do better. Your ‘emotional support dogs’ have NO PLACE out in the world. Emotional support dogs have ZERO legal rights, other than those that are *housing* related.

11/26/2024

Note: There is no dog in this picture. ⬇️

Gosh. The anticipation is building. Thanksgiving is almost here, and we’re thinking about the HOLIDAY!

(Ellie, however, is asleep. She’s thinkin’ about nothin’.)

Dogs have no anticipation of ‘holidays’. They don’t give a RIP about pilgrims, and their expectation-ometers are set at zero. Holidays are OUR deal. Not theirs.

So.

First. Consider this. Since no one can do two things at once, it might be best for your pup to skip the party- and maybe even the majority of the day.

Seriously. They won’t know what they’re missin’. And- besides- you can’t train a dog and cook a turkey at the same time.

True. If they aren’t right smack dab in the middle of the gathering they’ll definitely miss out… of unsupervised accidents, overexcitement, play-biting, zoomies in the house, unrestrained jumping, interacting with non-dog people, food stealing, and access to the wrong foods...

You get the picture.

Sometimes it’s just better to have some quiet time.

*Guest* behavior is *learned* behavior-
if you’ve not yet *taught* it- they can’t be expected to *know* it.

Let me repeat that.

*Guest* behavior is *learned* behavior-
if you’ve not yet *taught* it- they can’t be expected to *know* it.

If your pups don’t yet have good manners with *you*, how can they be expected to have good manners with *guests*?
And, if a pup behaves poorly and goes without correction/ redirection, or gets punished for behavior you’ve not yet taught or aren’t supervising- no good thing has been accomplished.

Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zip.

If you feel you ‘need’ to take your rogue puppy out to interact with your guests (which isn’t wrong!), do.

Take him out, supervised, maybe even on leash, and *train*. Seize the moment. Set the tone. *Teach* him how to interact with guests.

Create positive *events* where your puppy can practice new skills, maybe fail, try again, get it *right*, get rewards, earn praise, have fun, and end up with a whole set of *positive* experiences that END. WELL.

If your pup is HAPPY and trustworthy with guests (including small children and elderly people), ENJOY sharing the day with him- as long as you make sure that every one of his experiences with others are supervised and POSITIVE.

Think *long term*.
Remember that this isn’t about enjoying a puppy for a day, but instead is about creating an extraordinary dog for a lifetime.

I considered my long range plans for Ellie in *every*single*setting* I shared with her when she was young. Like. “Who/ what did I want her to be in two years?””How did I want her to behave?” “Would (this experience) help her grow into becoming a Welcomed Guest in the future?”

Why? Because experiences (gatherings, people, teenagers, babies, groups, noise, general chaos) *and a dog’s conclusions about them* all stack together and create a *foundation*... the lens they see life through. If those are negative, you’ve sabotaged some of your own goals for the future.

Remember. Dogs aren’t trained in a day, but weeks worth of training can be UNdone in a day.

So!

•Make provision for their CARDIO exercise EARLY in the day. They need it.

•Remember that tired dogs have the BEST manners.

•Make provision for an acceptable resting place that feels ‘safe’ to your dog, preferably a familiar one (crate, their ‘room’, your room, etc). Prepare it in advance.

•Make provision for feeding and pottying throughout the day. Set a timer for yourself if you anticipate being distracted.

•Share your (friendly) puppy/ dog with guests in controlled settings, where the dog, the people, and the house are all kept safe.

•Enjoy your guests.

•And be thankful. We have MUCH to be thankful for.

Originally published in the Bledsonian Banner.
Copyright Deb Mileur
Outa the Dog House

11/03/2024

It’s TIME
to get your dog
OUTA THE DOG HOUSE!

Last class of the year begins on TUESDAY!❤️

(omg. best job ever.)

#4235803582 ❤️

10/21/2024

LOOK AT THE DOG!

Why can't people see it? Isn't it obvious?

I am often baffled at how people, including dog training professionals, are liking content on social media that shows a dog being **successfully trained**, whilst quite clearly appearing very stressed. What’s more concerning is that a professional is proud enough of the results to showcase it.

The behaviours I am often observing are; tighty closed mouth, ears pulled back, slow (careful) behaviour, tail tucked, avoiding eye contact, dull eyes, slow blink rate, lowered head, hunched posture, and an absence of behaviour associated with positive anticipation of reward.

Indeed, undesired behaviour can be stressful and dangerous for others to be around. It can be stressful, dangerous and restricting for the dog exhibiting the behaviour and for their owner. If a dog is no longer exhibiting the behaviour, then yes- you've hopefully made things safer for others and better for the owner. But how does the dog (learner) FEEL now?

The cessation of a problem behaviour does not by default improve dog welfare.

How the dog FEELS about no longer engaging in the undesired behaviour will tell us whether their overall (emotional) welfare state has improved.

LOOK AT THE DOG.

Does the dog look RELAXED?

Does the dog look HAPPY?

It's entirely possible to make the training experience and outcome a positive one for all, regardless of the problem behaviour.

** I say 'successfully trained' because, let's face it.......are we seeing evidence of these 'fixed dangerous dogs' being handled by the owner in the problem context? Are we seeing videos of these dogs months down the line?

One video doesn't tell us much. But what it can tell us how the dog FEELS about the training and whether that professional is improving dog welfare, as they so often claim to be

Photo by Matt Elliott Pet Photography

10/05/2024

“Hi. We’re doing great, so we’ve decided that we’re going to wait on class until our dog’s a lot bigger and we have some problems.”

😂 You can’t make this stuff up.

09/29/2024

People. Seriously. Who has the best job ever?

09/28/2024

IT’S TIME!
Our next set of classes starts Tuesday, October 1!

Call 423-580-3582 for info or to secure a space. It’s the greatest❤️

08/22/2024

Let me just say once again that dogs are one of God’s most magnificent, thoughtful, and most generous gifts to mankind.

07/17/2024

I just love texts like this.

This is HANK. Hank is young and carries a. lot. of joy in his big golden doodle body. He has the. best. mom. After Puppy Class and then Continuing, this is how he acted in the vet’s waiting room this am.

Behavior outside of home and becoming a ‘Welcomed Guest’ is a huge focus of our Continuing Class. Hank’s mom sent these pics today with a text said, “Came in and settled at the vet.”

OH, LORDIE. This is such a victory. PEACE. This is consistency and hours and practice and work. The is the *absence* of shock collars. This is kindness and peace and success.

I just love texts like this.
Happy Happy Happy!

07/10/2024

When circles turn to spins. ❤️
SMITTY! You have my heart.

07/10/2024

This handsome dude earned his Novice Trick Title and his CGC last night and scores as the BEST male Staffordshire Terrier I have ever met. He loves to learn, is super fun, is super photogenic, and is just an all around great sport.
What a gift he is! Tor and Angie, we adore you.