Lionheart K9, Dog Training in Maryland

01/08/2025

Your dog's behavior is a reflection of YOU.

The young couple sat side-by-side in the training studio; their adolescent, mid-sized dog dithered between the legs of one owner while the other owner reached down to stroke the dog intermittently. As the dog’s movements became more agitated, the owner would stroke the dog faster, occasionally snatching at the leash in an attempt to get the dog to ‘settle’.

The owner actually holding the leash would alternately gather leash to inhibit the dogs movements, or allow leash as the dog weaved its way between their legs and the chair legs, or when the other person started tugging on it, which caused them to loosen their grip. Frustrated, that owner would also occasionally jerk the leash in an attempt to settle the dog down.

Four hands on one dog. None of them in helpful ways.

My husband’s sudden appearance from the doorway behind us set off a barrage of barking and hysteria, and both owners simultaneously tried unsuccessfully to console, reprimand, or redirect the dog’s behavior.

On multiple occasions, I gently suggested not petting the dog at all, and to control the leash length so the dog couldn’t continue to oscillate between each owner.

Predictably, the dog started to wind up like a kid’s toy. His behavior amplified by the realization that his owners were no longer paying him any mind. What was initially just simple movement between the two people became a bizarre carnival of clawing and jumping to seek that affirmation which had come without effort just moments before.

The dog would alternate jumping on each owner, causing the other to try and discourage the dog by grabbing at it, or by pulling on the leash. The victim would start with admonishing the dog, offering it treats, then eventually petting it because that was the only thing that seemed to calm the dog down.

After several re-enactments of the same scene, I took the dog from them, and retreated back to my seat.

As the dog tried to scrabble back towards the owners, it didn’t take too long for the dog to figure out that comfort was no longer available from them, so the dog started on me. Nosing my hand, pawing my lap, trying to weave between my legs as I sat, crawling under the chair I was sitting in, etc.

Every attempt to elicit attention was met with emotional neutrality and leash management to keep the dog off of me and out of my personal space. I was not going to reinforce this dog’s emotional vampirism.

That nervous arousal is a feedback loop that creates an endless re-direct and affirms the dog’s behavior is a reflection of you and your responses to its actions.

What you allow *does* continue.

After about 25 minutes, the dog resigned himself to his fate, laid down at my feet and remained there quietly.

I cannot count the times this behavior reveals itself during most of the evaluations I conduct. The proclivity of owners to micromanage their dogs’ behavior is only matched by their desire to do it in stereo.

When I finally started to move with the dog, immediately the same behaviors resurfaced, alternating between escape and appeasement. Each of the owners alternated with a constant litany of “suggestions” until I had to remind them that they had come to me for help, not the other way around.

As I coached each owner on appropriate leash management, the other owner would offer an invocation of suggestions that were couched as support until I was sufficiently motivated to silence them.

Within the category of “Your Dog Is A Reflection Of You”, is the subtext of “Your Dog Is Conflicted Because Of You."

I do not understand why there is a lot of variance in “parenting” styles between human parents with human children, as this is something I believe parents should have come to a consensus on, long before that kid ever entered the picture.

With dogs, it should be the same. Not that one ‘parents’ a dog, but the ways we interact with that dog should be universally agreed upon, accepted and applied.

Humans have the gift of a common language, opposable thumbs and other attributes that we do not share with dogs. Although culturally, humans may share a common language, our individuality and mannerisms are sufficiently unique that even common signals can be muddied and rendered incoherent by the dog.

It doesn’t matter how clear you think you are being, the dog is the ultimate judge. His response becomes the litmus test for your consistency and clarity.

I cannot help but sympathize for the dog that begs for clarity and is denied every time. Compound that by adding two voices, two sets of hands and two sets of expectations and it’s easy to understand where things go south.

I cannot help but sympathize for the handler working the dog while their partner barks out suggestions for work that they, themselves have yet to master.

A dog’s behavior is a reflection of you. Multitasking is beyond them (with the exception of the retrieve, where they are capable of not only maintaining multiple thoughts, but manage to accomplish sequential tasks). Add the frustrating distraction of two externally competing entities and it devolves into an emotionally laden, confusing s**t show.

As a human instructor it is annoying to have to remind people that dogs do not practice a verbal language, and if their constant soliloquies haven’t worked so far, what expectations do they really have for that to change? The conflicting signals being broadcast all over my training floor in this scenario is the problem.

Silence is the solution.

I tell this story often, because most folks have either done it or experienced it from their own children, significant others, employees, employers, etc.

You’re on the phone. Someone enters your periphery and just stands there. Soon they start to fidget. Maybe shifting weight from one foot to the other, or re-enacting the James Dean Lean in the doorway of the room you both occupy. Just enough to distract you. Just enough to break your concentration. Just enough to disorganize your thoughts to the point where you are easily confused and slightly disoriented.

Now have someone else, a spouse, boss, whatever, come in and start rapid-firing demands at you as you try to gather your thoughts to complete the one task you started out with.

Not easy, is it.

Now imagine you are a dog.

We specialize in interspecies communication. We make your life easier by teaching you how to make your dog’s life better. If you want to learn how to eliminate conflict in your relationship with your dog, we are only an email away.

01/06/2025

The rare 'good dog' doesn't exist. Somewhere along that dog's personal trajectory, it learned from some thing or some one how to conduct itself in accordance with its circumstance, whether it was an upland dog on wild birds, a hound chasing a hog that chose to fight, a livestock guardian learning not to harass it's intended charges, or a Maltese learning not to foul its owners home.

Someone had the willingness, the desire, and the ability to create a training strategy sufficient to complete that singular goal, or a circumstance existed where the dog was taught by virtue of participation - no human required.

People call me all the time wanting a change in their dog's behavior. Well, this is what it looks like. We can help you facilitate that change. It's really this easy; I will be happy to do it for you, but you are not exonerated from at least some of the work. I can help you do it, and you'll be doing all the work. I can provide you with a step-by-step plan on how to do the work, but you still have to do it.

I have yet to meet a dog trained by osmosis.

More in the comments-

When you are ready, we are here.

01/03/2025

I talk about ritualized behaviors all the time; how it impacts our practice and acts as a cue to the dog.

A good read. I'll be exploring this a little more this weekend.

12/31/2024

Well folks, another year behind and another year ahead!

To friends past, present and future, may you experience the best year of your lives in 2025!

Happy New Year!

12/30/2024

Is your new puppy already making you crazy?

Puppies are tons of fun until they’re not! That late-night puppy screaming and potty accidents are already starting to make you crazy.

Without the Right Start©, that cute Christmas puppy can quickly turn into a real pain in the you-know-where!

Getting the Right Start© with your puppy will help prevent ALL of the common issues that every new puppy parent faces; chewing, house soiling, barking, biting, and much more.

More info in the comments!

12/27/2024

Here is everything you need to know about creating successful outcomes when training your dog, in less than 3 minutes:

Do not give a command you are not willing or capable of reinforcing.

Once you issue a command, you have to follow through, regardless of protest or refusal, whether you are in public or in the privacy of your home.

There is no malice in this correction, and the dog learns that there can be consequences for refusal. You don't need to be aggressive with your correction, nor should you *ever* be permissive, and allow the refusal to slide, especially with a known command.

Learn to 'read' your dog. This fellow offered a behavior in a high-traffic area and should have been allowed to explore that on his own, with enthusiastic reinforcement for doing so. The primary reason he refuses when he is given the command to lie down is because he had just been corrected for volunteering the exact same behavior a moment before.

Think things through. Pay attention to your dog's behavior. If your dog is showing signs of fatigue, have the wherewithal to recognize that and give him some relief. This was a big ask for such a young dog, and he had performed exceptionally well.

The fact remains that once given a direct command, cooperation is expected, and must be secured, which reduces the risk of refusal in clinch situations where absolute obedience is required.

How you handle your dog's decisions today will influence your dog's future experiences, so be thoughtful in where you go, what your expectations are, and how you handle outcomes.

Your dog depends on it.

When you are ready, we are here.

12/26/2024

I'm not trying to slag on this creator, which is why I obstructed the contact information and as much of the identifying imagery as possible.

I gotta say, though, I really detest this mentality that paints all dogs as lemon-brains, incapable of learning self- control.

It's not true.

It's not true that you "have tried everything!"

It's not true that Greyhounds can't learn to sit or to recall.

It's not true that herding breeds can't learn not to 'herd' the kids.

It's not true that your Cane Corso will never stop barking at the neighbors.

If you were foolish enough to add a JRT to a home with small animals without thinking that through, you sorta get what you deserve. Still, it is possible to own both successfully. You just have to want it bad enough.

Your dog can absolutely learn to control its impulses.

What *is* true is the singular lack of commitment most people have to get the dog to that point.

Between not committing to changing, not putting forth the effort to change, and relinquishing any attempt to the belief that dogs can not be taught to govern their actions is the same mentality that ultimately strips our rights as owners to live with our dogs in meaningful ways.

It is so easy to lower standards because the solution looks like work and smells like effort, when every time we do that, it diminishes the value dogs bring to our lives.

Instead of breeding away from working qualities because people want the look of a Shepherd, but not the drive of a Shepherd, or Terrier, or Hound or other working breed, select a suitable breed for your lifestyle.

If you choose a breed with a working history, remember that even though genetically that dog may not have the same degree of drive as a working counterpart, there are enough genetic remnants to make life interesting for you, if you cared enough about the breed to research it's behavior tendencies.

There are consequences for every action. Choosing the wrong dog, choosing the wrong candidate for your lifestyle once you settle on a breed, not making an effort to help that dog succeed, isn't a *dog* problem. It's an owner problem.

Instead of getting frustrated at an animal for your bad choices, you can make it work when you select a trainer who understands how to develop drive, channel drive, redirect drive, focus drive, or, if necessary, suppress drive.

Stop blaming the dog. Stop listening to people who make these vague generalities based on an incomplete model of untrained - or poorly trained dogs.

If your dog is do***ng like it's never dogged before, maybe it's time to look for someone to help you understand how to fit that square peg into that round hole.

The only thing separating you from the dog you want and the dog you have is TRAINING.

When you are ready, we are here.

12/25/2024

Here's wishing a Very Merry Christmas to you and your amazing dogs!

12/24/2024

Leash Handling 101:

The equipment your dog wears determines how you handle your leash during each phase of training.

Dog training equipment is designed to facilitate learning, and knowing how to handle it correctly makes the training job easier.

Learning how to functionally control a leash facilitates the process and enables the dog to learn from its own actions far faster than anything we try to convey.

Allowing things to happen is far different than making things happen and helps the dog understand its role in its own comfort or discomfort.

I am not one to chatter like a magpie to my dog during training, either. I provide a cue, and once the dog has demonstrated proficiency, I hold it accountable for that information.

This dog is wearing a Starmark High Impact plastic prong martingale and a chain back-up. The leash is a 1/2" 6 foot leather from Bridgeport.

My hands find their place along the leash length based on my height and the dog's height relative to me. This will change from dog to dog or handler to handler, but the mechanics are identical.

For this set-up, we only allow the dog a small amount of latitude to make a decision, as he learns how not to oppose pressure. This ensures that the dog feels *just enough* pressure to be reminded, but not so much that it becomes overwhelmingly uncomfortable.

The dog learns how to maintain the loose leash, without the handler snatching at it, jerking it, or maintaining tension constantly.

This method is for this equipment, and is modified only as the dog learns how to maintain that equilibrium between the presence of pressure and the absence of pressure.

Mastering the leash is so much more than wadding it up in a fist and just jackhammering the dog when it pulls.

Learn how to manage your equipment efficiently to maximize your training goals.

12/22/2024

It doesn't take a lot to figure out what makes dogs tick. It's usually the same things that make us do things. Our visions may be a little more grandiose, but for the most part, we are essentially the same animal.

I think so, anyway. Your MMV.

Anyway, linkee in commentee for my FB readers, since FB Algo HATES it when I post them here.

Tell me, oh great audience- what would you like me to address before the year end?

Politics? Training? Populist 'views'?

12/20/2024

This isn't anything groundbreaking, unless you consider a 4.5 month old puppy learning to cope with the close proximity of 7 other dogs for the first time to be compelling.

Milo learns about the consequences of refusal without anything other than a brief physical reminder, the absence of reinforcement, or both.

There's only one way for young dogs to learn how to keep their emotions in check. Teach them what you want, reward them for doing it, and hold them accountable for the knowledge.

It isn't a 'once-and-done' trial. It's a deliberate, ongoing process that helps the dog learn how to control its own emotional state.

Milo is equipped with a Starmark collar on a chain back-up.

As he becomes more adept at understanding expectations, he will be able to wear *anything*, or *nothing*.

When you are ready, we are here.

12/19/2024

I have this conversation frequently. People come for training, having been to other instructors that were either poorly equipped to help them with their problems, or expect every client to fit into their narrow purview.

I have expectations for my students, just as they do for me.

What I also have is experience based on over 50 years of personal development because I WANTED to improve.

Even now, I work to make myself better, because my own personal initiative demands it.

I can't want it more than my students, nor can I make them want it more than me, but I can certainly help them understand that there are many paths to Rome, even though there is only one destination.

Why are correct basics not being drilled into novice level riders?

Why is there so much bad equitation out there, so many riders who are loose, or unbalanced or unfit, who can’t make adjustments, who have no idea about creating a better canter, who have no ability to find anything resembling a decent take off distance, who are so profoundly ignorant about riding theory?

Well, damn if I know the answers, but here might be some---

Maybe the instructor is not teaching from a place of knowledge and experience? As in, you can’t teach what you don’t know,

Maybe many riders think that they know enough to get by, and won’t make the effort to learn, don't take lessons, don't read books, don't watch instructional videos?

Maybe the rider or the teacher, or both, are in too much of a hurry to move up the levels before solidifying the basic building blocks?

Maybe ignorant parents, unaware of the danger, want their child to be jumping at a level beyond her skill level?

Maybe the various organizations do not have rules in place that prevent inept riders from being allowed to move up before they are ready?

Maybe what else?

(The bad rider in the photo is me on Cat about 55 years ago before I learned how to ride better. I can say this stuff because I lived it.)

12/19/2024

And this:

I agree- one of the reasons I am in support of some form of trade certification and oversight of dog trainers is because of the lack of uniformity in a trade where the result is the product, and the lack of growth.

There is such a critical lack of intellectual curiosity in this industry; where everyone thinks they have all the answers, yet their product is still reliant on a device or some form of feedback to perform even the most simple of tasks - like walking down a street without blowing up at other animals or not raiding the trash.

The notion that training is something that you *do* to a dog as opposed to *with* a dog is part of it, as is this mental stagnation that chokes most new trainers who think a 3 week "school" and a certification from the leading seminarian makes them an 'expert'.

It doesn't.

It really doesn't.

12/14/2024

Lol! Well, duh!

Dogs generally pull about 60 per cent harder on a leash when wearing a padded harness compared with a collar, even when the equipment is marketed as “anti pull” – putting the people walking them at risk of injury.

Some dogs – especially smaller breeds – pull with a force more than twice their body weight on the collar, potentially damaging their throats, says Erin Perry at Southern Illinois University.

“It’s really very shocking,” she says. “The dogs are almost choking themselves on that collar repeatedly. But the harnesses in our study just didn’t inhibit pulling in any way, and that’s definitely a wake-up call – especially because of the risk to owners.”

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2459747-dogs-pull-harder-on-the-leash-when-they-wear-a-harness-than-a-collar/

Image: CBCK-Christine/Alamy

12/14/2024

It has been brought to my attention that there are folks who have tried to comment here and have not been able to.

I *rarely* block people, and if you have tried to comment but can't, it's most likely a FB issue and not personal.

I just received the third notification in as many days that a follower that I have interacted with in the past is no longer able to interact with this page.

I will try to find out what is going on!

12/13/2024

I hear a lot of absolute nonsense from folks who although well-intended, is often more harmful than helpful.

Case-in-point; the notion that dogs from shelters or 'rescues' should have a 'cool down' period of weeks on end before any demands are ever made of them.

In order to integrate that dog into your home successfully, boundaries and expectations need to be outlined from the moment that dog crosses the threshold of your home.

Another one is if you think that somehow your dog's genetics will be sufficient to compensate for your lack of attention to their education, you are destined to fail. If this is your second or third rodeo with the same issues over the course of several different dogs, well, pilgrim, that there's a YOU problem.

In the meantime, linnkie in commentie for your viewing pleasure.

As always, when you are ready, we are here. We have been building and repairing dogs in the Mid Atlantic since 1989.

12/12/2024

Training has to overcome instinct.

For those of you that think dogs are incapable of overcoming their desire to 'mark', mount, fight, roam, free-hunt, seek mates, stop suggesting that just because ~you~ can't do a thing, it can't be done.

Stay in your lane.

I wrote this several years ago-

"In the absence of desire for the work, the request must be such that the dog sees the logic in accepting the task."

Still true.

I had a friend in Southern Pines, NC who had been the commanding general of all US Special Forces, and this conversation that we had is well worth knowing.

We had a mutual friend who, when he jumped, had a habit of throwing his upper body ahead of the motion, a very common bad habit which many riders share.

I was saying something along the lines of, “It is a hard habit to help someone break, because it’s such an instinctive thing to do.”

Sid replied as follows---“If soldiers are ambushed, the most instinctive thing there is is to turn and run, which is the most dangerous response to have. We have to train them to run directly at their attackers firing their weapons. So, Denny, if I can train my guys to run into live rifle fire, you can train someone not to jump up the neck. Training has to overcome instinct.”

Again, for those in the back, and for those playing with their phones---

“TRAINING HAS TO OVERCOME INSTINCT.”

12/09/2024

It's nice to know you are able to impact a person's life in beneficial ways that transcend *dog* training.

Combining the final lessons of several students into one this past weekend, we had an opportunity to hear exactly how.

Each of these dogs struggled with uncertainty that led to various degrees of defensive behavior that made it difficult to enjoy them, even in the home.

Resource guarding, destructive behavior, anxiety, defensive aggression on walks, and the usual pulling, jumping, barking, obnoxious behaviors that make dog ownership a burden.

Training is more about our understanding of dogs than making them do things or not do things.

Training helps owners communicate with their dogs more effectively, more enjoyably.

I am grateful for the folks who stick it out in crappy weather, when it was inconvenient, through some difficult moments-

You have so much more than a trained dog to be proud of!