The DogSmith of Boston North

10/02/2024

27/08/2021

I'm always amazed at the mental gymnastics the shock collar trainers go through to justify and defend their approach. It's a total ABSENCE of education, not a lack of. When I start asking them questions, not knowing who I am or what I do, they can never even come close to keeping up with even remotely sufficient answers. They don't even understand BASIC dog behavior and/or cognition, nevermind training techniques. It's so discouraging.

21/08/2021

Absolutely let them sniff!
Graphic by our own Welfare For Animals

04/08/2021

I remember hearing Dr. Susan Friedman say “control the environment not the animal” and writing it down. It struck me at the time because it gets at the core of the way we’re conditioned to see behavior. We tend to focus on controlling the individual, rather than looking at the conditions under which their behavior occurs.

All behavior occurs under certain conditions. If we want to change behavior, but don’t address those conditions first, we’ll be destined to fail and rely on compulsion. The traditional punishment mindset tells us that this is the only way, but it’s not.

Shifting our mindset gives us an opportunity to see behavior and how we go about changing it differently. We can help our dogs learn better by making the behaviors we want to teach easier to achieve and arrange the environment so that problem behaviors don’t occur. It’s a not as difficult as we might think, and it’s a lot more rewarding.

[ID: On a light pink background words in dark gray read A punishment oriented mindset asks, “How can I control my dog’s problem behavior under these conditions?”A positive reinforcement oriented mindset asks, “How can I change the conditions to prevent the problem behavior and make the wanted behavior more likely?”]

04/08/2021

When looking for and/or speaking with a trainer, can they provide peer reviewed, verified scientific studies and /or papers written by industry recognized PhD experts in the field? If not, they're NOT actual trainers or behavior experts, nevermind a DogSmith 😉

26/07/2021

A world of YES

21/06/2021

When balanced trainers claim that punishment works, it well might "work" in the sense that you temporarily suppress behaviour, but there is not one ounce of doubt from these photos that it also results in the most horrendous emotional harm.
These are not happy dogs. These dogs are afraid and miserable. Ask yourself if this is how you want your dog to feel? Then ask how someone who supposedly loves dogs and claims to have a knowledge of behaviour can use this to advertise their services - are they completely ignorant of body language and stress signals or do they think it's acceptable to cause anxiety and depression to create "compliant " dogs?
I am probably going to get into trouble for posting this, but I am tired of seeing cruelty and abuse advertised as "training". Our industry needs to be regulated and acceptable practises must be based on the highest welfare standards. We need to speak out against abuse masquerading as training.

08/06/2021

This post will rub a few people up the wrong way – and I could not care less.

Some might feel guilty – I couldn't care less about that either.

If I am sounding judgemental – tough.

I have had too many people moaning lately about how their dog is being an inconvenience, and I am done being friendly about it.

I am not talking about if you are ill and can't help not being 100% for a few days. That is different.

I am not talking about if you have genuine struggles and are willing to seek help – that actually makes you a good human for your dog, and I would love to work with you on this.

I am talking of people who ignore their dog day in, day out.

Who expect them to lay quietly, sleep, eat, sleep and never so much as bark in between, being good little robots while their human flits about doing whatever humans do.

Humans who forget that a little fluffy person has been looking forward to being with them all day.

The only attention these dogs get is when they are being told to go and lay down, be quiet, get down, hurry up, and so on.

What fun is that in life?

Don't ignore your dog.

It's not complicated.

You wouldn't routinely ignore your child.

Your dog has most of the same feelings and emotions as a two to a three-year-old child, and if you try ignoring one of those for too long, then you are going to find yourself regretting it reasonably quickly.

There is a saying. "Your dog is part of your life, but you are your dog's whole life". And you are. Imagine if the love of your life couldn't be bothered anymore, no matter what you say or do.

Humans get very upset when it is done to them. So what makes them think their dog feels any differently?

Too many people play with their new dog or puppy, the novelty wears off, and then they are bored of their dog.

Or they have got new hours at work, or something in life has changed slightly, and now they have less time for their dog.

Their living, breathing, thinking, feeling dog.

Their dog, who spends all their time wishing their human still played with them, still got their tuggy toys out, still gave them belly rubs and took them to lovely places and rolled around on the floor playing kissy-face or whatever they used to enjoy doing.

And then these same people wonder why their dogs start to display "problem" behaviours when they are bored.

And yes – I get that you have been to work and you are tired. That the kids played up, and it's been a long day.

Guess what? It's been a long day for your dog, too, sitting around bored and missing you… and 15 minutes of your time spent playing, having fun and showing them you care might do you both some good.

You made a commitment when you got your dog to look after them, love them and be their human.

Just because you have had a s**t day or your situation has changed slightly does not mean that you should emotionally neglect your dog.

And quite frankly, some enrichment, a walk or even just 20 mins playing with the ball down the garden will more than likely mean they are happy enough to let you have a rest afterwards anyway.

So why not spend that time curled up on the sofa with them instead of telling them to get down?

After all – you are their human and any time spent with you brings them great joy.

Dogs are for life, not just for Christmas or Lockdowns.

31/05/2021

Those who choose to do harm....

I had a weak moment yesterday and found myself doing something I should know better than to do - I commented on a dog training advert on Facebook that really upset me. I knew it was a lost cause and would only invite pointless arguments, but my filter failed and instead of scrolling on, I said something.

The post featured a burly trainer walking a Labrador on a slip lead. The dog was walking next to him (but not too close) avoiding eye contact, tail down, subdued and with frequent lip-licking and quick glances behind him (hypervigilance). The dog was clearly stressed and anxious and not having a good time at all. The trainer in the video spoke at length about how well-behaved his dog was and how anyone could get their dog to be the same by following his methods and training courses.

The look on that dog’s face upset me so much, that I threw common sense out the window and expressed my concern about the dog’s demeanour and what training methods had been used to get this level of “obedience”. I knew I was asking for it and sure enough I got several responses I could have written myself, from past experience with the balanced training brigade:

“I have never seen him do anything horrible to a dog”
“He is only using a slip lead high up on the dog’s neck and no nasty tools”
“He has a massive YouTube following – what do you have?”
“He rehabilitates aggressive dogs and saves them from being put down – how many dogs have you saved”
“Dogs can’t just do what they like – they have to listen to us”
“He always starts with positive reinforcement and only uses corrections when that doesn’t work”

As I had already stuck my neck out, I did try to address these objections to my comment. I pointed out that a dog’s emotional state, as reflected by their body language, does not lie. If a dog is clearly anxious and unhappy working with this trainer, then clearly what he is doing is making the dog feel that way – even if he does not intend to make the dog miserable, any half-decent trainer would recognise that there was something going seriously wrong and would not use a video like that as an advert! I explained that a slip collar high up behind the ears is in fact an aversive tool, designed to cause pain and choke the dog. I contested the misconception that rehabilitation requires pain and suffering on the part of the dog, when we have so many successful humane and science-based alternatives today.

Of course, I got nowhere. I was mocked and derided as I fully expected to be. But it made me think of something which I have occasionally discussed with colleagues. Something which we don’t often talk about publicly, because it is unsettling to acknowledge, but something which we perhaps need to admit to prevent us wasting our time and energy trying to win arguments with people who will never listen.
What I am referring to is the simple fact that some people like hurting dogs. It doesn’t matter how much evidence you present, how much you try to educate or how many scientific studies back up using force free, dog-friendly training methods, the reality is that there is a subset of trainers and dog owners who actually get satisfaction from frightening, subduing, punishing and hurting dogs (or whatever animals they may work with). Whether it is a feeling of power, control, dominance (yes, humans are the ones with dominance issues, not dogs) or something even more disturbing, we cannot pretend that everyone who uses aversive methods only does so, because they don’t know better. There are certain people who can be shown all the evidence in the world, yet will never be moved, because it is not about evidence or what is right and wrong – it is about the feelings that they get from what they are doing, which powerfully reinforce their behaviour.

Of course, there are people who are using aversive methods because they don’t know better, because someone has convinced them that it is necessary to keep their dog safe or because they are desperate and don’t know what else to do. But those people will change as soon as better information comes their way. I have often encountered clients like this, who are so relieved that they want to cry, when they find out that the horrible things some trainer told them to do, which they knew on some level were completely wrong, they don’t have to do anymore. Clients who become the biggest and most vocal “converts” when they find out that they can be kind to their dogs while addressing training issues.

But sadly, not everyone is like this. Some people will reject all information that undermines their right to frighten, hurt and control their dogs and their clients’ dogs. It is simply who they are. Perhaps one day they will change. Perhaps they have deep trauma and struggles they need to overcome in order to find better ways to feel satisfaction and pleasure than hurting others, but until that happens, we are unlikely to reach them.

As for me, I will keep trying to reach those who would do better, if only they knew better. Those who deep down, just want their dogs to be happy and safe and need to be shown how to achieve that.

23/05/2021

TO TRAIN OR NOT TO TRAIN

I have written quite a few posts expressing my concern about the emphasis we see in some dog training circles that we should focus exclusively on operant behaviour and not be distracted by the underlying emotional content of the behaviour. My particular objection comes from statements made by followers of a particular methodology who often make claims that training a dog not to be reactive to other dogs is no different to training a dog to sit: it is all just about manipulating operant responses until you get the behaviour you desire. This kind of thinking completely ignores the WHY of a dog’s behaviour – in fact it regards the “why” as irrelevant and is only interested in changing the behaviour. As I have said many times before, I find this extremely troubling, because behaviour is a reflection of emotional state and an animal’s specific needs. Ignoring what the behaviour is telling us about how the animal feels and what the animal needs and focusing exclusively on how to change the external picture, is in my opinion an ill-considered approach which disregards the fundamental welfare of the animals we work with.

In recent times it seems that many more trainers and behaviourists have expressed similar concerns and there is a growing movement looking at the ethics of to what extent we should be changing behaviour: Instead of viewing behaviour as something we can easily manipulate for convenience, perhaps we should rather be viewing behaviour as information which teaches us how our animals are feeling and how we can best meet their needs.

I certainly agree with this approach. So often people contact us for help to change “problem” behaviours, when it is quite clear that the behaviours are arising from unmet needs or from dogs being put into situations they cannot cope with. People have ridiculous expectations of dogs in general and when their dogs do not meet those expectations, training is sought to change behaviour so that owners can be satisfied. We spend a lot of time educating people on how to meet their dogs’ emotional and physical needs and by doing so, avoid simply manipulating operant responses in a “quick fix” manner. It is not easy, because it is often not what people want. Why should they have to make fundamental changes to how they care for and interact with their animals when we trainers should be able to just “train” the dog to do what they want?

On the other hand, I am also starting to get the first ni**le of apprehension that the positive strides the dog world is taking to move away from the purely operant approach, may end up going to the opposite extreme. I have seen several posts and discussions which advocate for no operant conditioning at all. Posts and comments that seem to suggest that training any behaviour is unethical and likening dog sports to turning dogs into circus animals. This line of thinking seems to come from the idea that it is unnatural and unethical to manipulate behaviour in any way and creates an artificial life for dogs who should be doing very little other than sleeping, going for very occasional sniffy walks and perhaps having puzzle feeders. Asking a dog to do any more than that is somehow exploitation.

I want to be very clear that I believe this kind of thinking is extreme and just as problematic as the purely operant view that it is no doubt a reaction to. We have to remember that the dogs we have today were for the most part selected over thousands of years for specific work. We have dogs whose very behaviour patterns have been carefully manipulated for such work and having the opportunity to carry out those behaviours is a major factor contributing to their emotional wellbeing. Dogs that may not have been working with humans in a specific capacity, would generally have survived (and still do) by foraging and scavenging for food. This is also a form of “work”. However, most of our dogs today do not have the opportunity to do the work they were selected for or to “work” for their food. They are expected to relax around a small, enclosed environment all day and get given a meal or two which is eaten in a couple of minutes. Training and various dog sports can play a vital role in fulfilling a dog’s need to carry out internally reinforcing behaviour patterns and to “work” for their food.

In addition to this enormously positive aspect of training, the reality is that dogs do live in our world and in order for them to join in with activities which will provide enrichment and help them live rich and full lives, we have to teach them certain skills and behaviours which will keep them safe and help them cope in that world. Bringing them into our lives and then failing to give them the “education” or tools they need to get the most out of life with us would be incredibly selfish, thoughtless and irresponsible.

To what extent a dog should receive training really depends on the dog. The fact that dogs are individuals is something that we need to keep reminding ourselves of. Some dogs thrive participating in certain dog sports (that doesn’t mean I don’t have huge reservations around many of the outdated practices of organised dog sports), while some would find the experience utterly horrifying. Some dogs love training classes, while others are simply not suited to a group class environment. Some love working with their humans at home or on walks, while others tend to prefer to do their own thing, but can learn the benefits of responding to certain cues which keep them safe when out and about. While I do believe that most dogs will end up loving working with their owners, if the human understands how to make training fun and enjoyable for their specific dog, not every dog needs tons of formal training or has to learn a million cues. The dog and owner may find other ways to spend quality time together and enjoy life.

The bottom line is we need to find a balance between treating everything as a matter of simple “training” and throwing training out altogether. We need to be guided by our individual dogs’ needs and our responsibilities as dog owners.

07/05/2021

Preparing ahead of time for going back to work. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Set yourself and your dog up to succeed!

As vaccines become more available and we start to gradually return to some semblance of normal, it certainly couldn’t hurt (and likely would help) our dogs to “remember” that sometimes we leave without them.

01/05/2021

For the record... Your dog is my dog too.

30/04/2021

When it comes to training, attitude may not be everything, but it certainly counts for a lot!

Just like dogs, people have different personalities and different skills that they are particularly good at. We don’t expect everyone to view training dogs as their passion. We know that some owners are quieter and more reserved, while others are more outgoing and demonstrative. We know that some of our clients are confident trying new things and others may feel a bit anxious. But what we also know, is that regardless of skill set or personality, having a POSITIVE ATTITUDE to working with your dog, will make all the difference to both your training experience and your dog’s training experience.

Our clients are individuals. We don’t expect them to all learn at the same rate, to all have the same level of coordination or natural training ability and we don’t expect them to all magically become pro-trainers overnight. However, we have learned that there is one factor that will consistently determine how successful training is in the long run and that is ATTITUDE. People who come with a positive attitude, because they love their dogs, want to spend time with them and see building a strong human-animal bond as a priority, tend to enjoy training. People who view training classes as an opportunity to bond with their dogs and have fun together tend to reach their training goals. People who come along excited to learn about their canine companions, how they can best fulfil their needs and form good relationships with them are open to listening and trying new things and so make willing students, able to learn and excel.

On the other hand, people who attend training with the sole purpose of “disciplining” or learning how to “correct” their dogs, start from a point of view of negativity. The dog is viewed as something needing to be “sorted out” and moulded to behave in certain ways that are convenient for the owner. The trainer is expected to give instant formulas for success and quick ways to “fix” behaviour problems. Any other information the trainer may offer on how to be a better teacher for their dogs is disregarded and opportunities the trainer provides to build a strong bond with their dogs are ignored.

The person with the positive attitude is committed to training and doesn’t easily give up. The person with good attitude supports their dog through the learning process, because they see their dog as a friend or family member and not as an unwilling subordinate that has to be shown who is boss. The person with positive attitude is willing to play with their dog, to put energy into what they are doing to increase their dog’s excitement for a task and to act like a complete idiot, if it motivates their dog. Why? Because this person cares more about what their dog thinks than about what other people think.

And it pays off. Dogs love being with people like this. They feel safe and happy with people who support them and want to have fun with them. Because they feel safe and happy, they are able to learn and they WANT to work, because training is a positive experience!

You don’t have to have perfect timing or the greatest understanding of learning theory. You don’t need to exude confidence, be super coordinated or have some magic energy. You just need to love your dog, want to build them up rather than break them down and be willing to listen to those who are trained to help you!

Photos: I chose these photos for this post, because this is one of our clients who has an amazing attitude to training. These are large, strong, teenage dogs, but they are stars in class, because their “mom” supports them all the way and is ALWAYS smiling and having fun with them. 😊

28/04/2021

"Wolf packs don't actually have alpha males and alpha females. The idea is based on a misunderstanding."

You may have heard that a wolf pack is led by an alpha pair.

27/04/2021

Though none of the dog car harnesses we reviewed are perfect, the few companies that are truly serious about car safety have made huge improvements.

27/04/2021

Balanced training. There's nothing "balanced" about it.

"Anyone can strap on a prong collar and effectively bully their way into suppressing that dog's behavior, but it takes a true understanding of canine cognition and behavior to be able to change the way the dog thinks, feels, and reacts."

Home >> Victoria's Blog >> Balanced Dog Training: There’s Nothing “Balanced” About It Balanced Dog Training: There’s Nothing “Balanced” About It By: Victoria Stilwell Tweet Photo by Patrick Danforth | www.clicktozen.com Every time I hear someone talk about "balanced" dog training, I can'...

14/04/2021

🗣️ "I need a trainer who is an expert with _____ breeds"

No, in actual fact you just need an expert trainer.

And when it comes to behavior... you need someone who has a deep understanding of dog psychology.

Currently the Fédération Cynologique Internationale, or FCI, recognizes around 400 breeds of dog. So while it is good that your next dog professional has an understanding of different breed-type characteristics, it is not important for them to have worked with a specific breed.

If this were true who would work with crossbreeds?

And mixes?

What about dogs who you don't know their breed?

Would you need to have a DNA test first - just to be sure you are getting the best professional for your breed of dog? 🤔

Thankfully no.

Every dog I work with has an in-depth assessment first so that I can get to know you and your dog - as individuals. This helps make sure that I am treating your dog, not just a breed stereotype.

If you're looking for your next dog professional to work with, let's connect and make sure your dog gets the treatment they deserve!

www.rplusdogs.com

Quote by Patricia McConnell, Ph.D.

10/04/2021

Fear of rabies are one of the most common reasons that people kill coyotes. While it’s certainly not a good idea to approach, provoke, or handle any wild animal, coyotes are actually one of the less likely carriers of rabies in the United States.

In the 1970s, mass vaccination helped to eradicate the strain of rabies that preferentially infects dogs, wolves, and coyotes. Although this strain is often seen in other countries, and any mammal can catch any strain of rabies, the epidemic of rabid dogs and coyotes is long-gone from the United States.

Statistically, a coyote is much less likely to carry rabies than a stray cat, a raccoon, or even a cow. When coyotes do have rabies, they typically contract it from another species and don’t typically live long enough to spread the virus.

With that being said, if you do see a coyote that appears to be sick or unusually aggressive, it’s a good idea to keep a distance and contact your local animal control or game wardens as soon as possible. While it’s unlikely that the animal is rabid, any sick or aggressive coyote could be dangerous.

10/04/2021

Is it possible for a dog to actually experience jealousy? New data suggests that dogs are capable of feeling jealousy when they feel that a rival dog is stealing away their owner's affections. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/canine-corner/202104/is-it-possible-dog-actually-experience-jealousy

Dogs are capable of jealousy much like that seen in young children.

29/03/2021

16/03/2021

"Did Misty’s whiskers move forward? Did Gypsy’s ear posture fit with the direct stare she was giving to the other dog? Check out today’s blog post for an in-depth discussion of visual signals on the video of Misty and photo of Gypsy that I introduced last week. What did you see? What did you miss? What did I miss that you saw?!"

This is Part Two of last week’s discussion about what visual signals can and can’t tell us about the internal state and future behavior or our dogs. I should mention right away that I had planned to add my own comments about what we could discern from the video of Misty and the photo of […]

09/03/2021

"What can we, if anything, discern about Gypsy’s internal state or her next action, while not knowing anything else about her? Of course, we know that we are just guessing, and we know that any still photograph conveys very limited information. But still, there’s value in making our guesses, especially in terms of how we would respond if we looked up and saw our dog with the same face as Gypsy’s, in the same context. Of course, we don’t know Gypsy. But what if it was your dog on the right and you saw Gypsy’s face? How would you react?

Misty, My Little Misty, aka MistyCuffs (no idea where that came from) was afraid of dogs she’d never met. She was one of those dogs who wanted to be in control all the time, and yet had no self confidence to go along with the power. (I called her the Richard Nixon of dogs.) I’ve […]

17/02/2021

"What questions should we ask when we’re looking to adopt a dog? (Spoiler alert: It’s not just “what breed should I get?”) Deciding to adopt a dog is a big decision, and the happiest outcomes come from knowing what questions to ask. I suggest some good questions, and share how I selected Skip, along with looking forward to your thoughts and experiences, in my newest post.
"

A thorough answer to this question is too complicated for any one article, but it’s a common and important one. Actually, the question I am usually asked is this: “What breed of dog should we get?” The quick answer is simple: “It’s not about the breed.” Well, but, of course it is in some...

01/02/2021

I am not a fan of labels.

I think that labels do a disservice to all of us, regardless of the situation, but especially to dogs because they do not have a voice to defend themselves or the choices that they make.

Labels are sadly very prevalent around aggression. That’s why this is one of the many topics of discussion in an initial aggression consult. Understanding the “why” and the “how” can go a long way in dissipating the appearance of labels. And once you stop hiding behind them or using them as excuses, you can get down to the real stuff and build the stronger foundation needed to improve your dog’s behavior.