Tracy Severino- Dog Trainer

02/11/2023

Today is Remi’s Gotchya day. We are lucky she is still here and with us. In February, our dogs and family were charged by two extra large dogs let out of the house without a leash. Remi was tackled, pinned, and chased several times until she made it to our garage and a bystander helped distract the attacker. She suffered a broken canine and several bites., not to mention the emotional trauma. In honor of her Gotchya day, and in honor of our late dog Raven who dealt with her share of trauma and off leash dogs, I want to bring awareness to the reality of the effects of off leash dogs. Report everything, even if the dogs are causing no harm. One missed report could be tragic for another family. We were walking out seven month old at the time of the attack and thankfully he was unharmed. Report all animal violence, escapes, and neglect.

14/09/2023

16/07/2023

🇬🇧⬇️
Hunden, korna och stängslet. 🐶 🐮 ⚡️

Det var en gång en hund som var ute och gick med sin människa, de var ute på en trevlig promenad som så många gånger tidigare. Plötsligt kom de till en hage med kor som som stod och betade en liten bit ifrån stängslet. Hunden tyckte detta var mycket intressant och gick därför närmare. Hunden ville få nosa och ta reda på mer om dessa nya djur, men nosen nuddade stängslet och ZAPP! sa det. Hunden fick en stöt och tjöt till! 😱
Bra!, kan man kanske tycka, hunden borde ju ha respekt för, och hålla sig borta från stängsel. Nu borde väl hunden lärt sig detta...
Problemet var bara det att i hundens ögon så var det korna som hade orsakat den plötsliga stöten, inte stängslet...
Så från att ha varit nyfiken och intresserad av korna blev hunden istället rädd och osäker så fort dessa uppenbarligen farliga djur fanns inom synhåll. Trotts att de tidigare så ofta gått denna väg vägrade hunden nu att gå mot det ställe där så farliga djur kunde vistas. Även om de efter lång tid och mycket övrttalning kunde börja ta samma väg igen, så förblev kor i hundens ögon ändå mycket läskiga och förknippade med obehag.
Korna, inte stängslet...

Detta är en sann historia som tydligt visar hur lite kontroll vi har över vad hunden kan tänkas förknippa ett obehag med och är ett av många argument till varför vi bör avstå korrigeringar/bestraffning i vår träning samt vardag med hunden. För oss som ser det utifrån är det så lätt att se kopplingen mellan beteende och konsekvens men vi glömmer lätt att hunden ser på det hela med andra ögon.

Det hunden gör är för den fullt naturligt, rimligt, och normalt så varför skulle hunden då tro att det är den själv som är orsaken till att ett plötsligt obehag* uppstår? Nej, betydligt oftare kopplar hunden obehaget till det den ser, till situationen eller till ägaren. Särskilt om den redan innan har negativa känslor (så som rädsla och osäkerhet) eller erfarenheter till det den ser/situationen.

Känslor av obehag och rädslor är knepiga, hunden kommer vilja slippa det som den anser är orsaken men ska den fly eller fäkta? I exemplet ovan blev hunden märkbart rädd för kor och ville då undvika dessa samt platsen där de fanns, men lika gärna hade hunden av rädslan kunnat gå in i försvar och försökt få korna att hålla sig borta genom att uppvisa reaktivitet.

Jag tänker till exempel fortfarande då och då på konversationen jag råkade höra för flera månader sedan där en ägare berättade om hur hens unga hund hade morrat åt en grupp barn som gick förbi och hur hen då nypt hunden i örat så att den tjöt till med syfte att visa för hunden att det beteendet minsann inte var okej...

Jag undrar vad den hunden kommer börja koppla obehaget till, sitt naturliga utryck för osäkerhet eller till barn? Och om hundens förklaring är att barn innebär obehag, kommer den då välja att fly eller fäkta?🫤

*Vad hunden finner obehagligt är helt upp till individen och kan vara allt ifrån arg röst eller sprut med vatten till ryck i kopplet eller fysisk bestraffning.

# English

The dog, the cows and the fence. 🐶 🐮 ⚡️

Once upon a time there was a dog who was out walking with his human, they were going on a nice walk like so many times before. Suddenly they came to a fenced in area with cows grazing just a few meters away from the fence. The dog found this very interesting and therefore went closer. He wanted to sniff and find out more about these strange new animals, but his nose touched the electric fence and ZAPP! it said. The dog got a shock of electricity and cried out! 😱
Good!, you might think, the dog should have respect for, and stay away from, fences. Surely the dog must have learnt this now...
The only problem was that, in the dog's eyes, it was the cows that had caused the sudden pain, not the fence... So from being curious and interested in the cows, the dog instead became scared and unsure as soon as these obviously dangerous animals were within sight. Even though they had walked this path so often before, the dog now refused to go towards the place where there could be such dangerous animals. It took a lot of time and convincing from the human part before they were able to walk close to the place again, but in the dog's eyes cows remained a scary animal that were associated with pain and discomfort. The cows, not the fence...
This is a true story that clearly shows how little control we have over what the dog might associate a discomfort with and is one of the many arguments to why we should refrain from corrections/punishment in our training and everyday life with the dog.

For us who look at it from the outside, it is so easy to see the connection between behavior and consequence, but we easily forget that the dog looks at the whole thing with different eyes.

What the dog does is completely natural, reasonable, and normal according to the dog, so why would the dog think that he himself is the cause of the sudden discomfort*? No, far more often the dog connects the discomfort to what it sees in the moment, to the situation or to the owner. Especially if the dog already has negative feelings (such as fear or anxiousness) or previous negative experiences towards what it sees/the situation.

Feelings of discomfort and fear are tricky, the dog will want to create distance to whatever it considers to be the cause, but should the dog then fight or flight to meet that need? In the example above, the dog became noticeably afraid of cows and wanted to avoid them as well as the place where they were, but the dog could just as easily out of fear have gone into defense and tried to get the cows to stay away by showing reactive or aggressive behaviour. Maybe even causing them harm if they were to get to close.

I still think from time to time of the conversation I overheard several months ago where an owner told me how her young dog had growled at a group of children that were walking by and how she then had pinched the dog's ear so that it cried out with the purpose to show the dog that such behavior definitely wasn't okay... I wonder what that dog associated the discomfort with, its natural expression of insecurity/need for distance or with children? And if the dog's explanation is that children brings discomfort, will the dog then choose to fight or flight?

*What the dog finds unpleasant is entirely up to the individual and can be anything from an angry voice or squirtbottle of water to a pop on the leash or physical punishment. The correction or punishment does not have to be severe for the dog to make a negative association to something.

15/07/2023

Reminder: No class July 22. We will resume the following week.

15/07/2023

At KAD we advocate force free training methods, and gentle parenting… because

When kids and dogs get punished for being angry, they don’t stop feeling angry, but they stop feeling safe!

Please, be mindful of that 🐶❤️

02/06/2023

I have a few slots left for Saturdays and will open up Tuesday evening if there is enough interest.

02/06/2023

There are a few slots left for June 10th. If you’re interested in a Tuesday night class let me know ASAP!

17/05/2023

Contact me to register for summer classes. I am currently scheduling Saturday mornings and Tuesday evenings for June start dates. , Illinois

13/05/2023

Henry and Ann worked hard to become certified and they are rocking it. They are such a great team. Thanks for supporting students Tails of Tranquility, LLC

07/05/2023

It pays to learn about dog body language.

Dog owners are even worse than non-dog owners at interpreting canine body language in interactions with children, according to research.

06/05/2023

Summer classes are starting in JuneI at Sev’s Smarty Paws Message me ASAP to reserve a spot!

Manners Matter: Saturdays 10AM
Proactive Puppy Parents: Saturdays 9AM
Manners Matter: Tuesdays Pm

Slots are limited to six dogs per class so sign up today.

01/11/2022

Today is Remi’s Gotchya day! This was the first pic we took of her at home. we don’t know her full history, but when we adopted her she was so scared she would t leave her crate for 3 days. We had to go in the crate (not recommended) and get her to make sure she had her bathroom breaks. It didn’t take her long to warm up though after that and she is now loving life and enjoying being a big sister!

31/10/2022

Hey all!

Check out this new local relaxing dog service my friend started up.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087227110882

At-home canine massage therapy providing
comfort for the dogs in our lives.

28/10/2022

26/10/2022

26/10/2022

I actually use this technique with Augie when walking in my backyard. He gets overstimulated and overaroused when I’m out there, but doing this works like a charm.

26/10/2022

I’m so honored to be working with Henry and his human,Ann again. He’s practicing at Blain's Farm & Fleet for a very special task in his future!

24/10/2022

By the way, I am a be a tree presenter so if you have a group of kids who could benefit from learning about dog safety- contact me.

24/10/2022

Intersecting article on aggression.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/202210/factors-other-breed-predict-aggression-in-dogs?fbclid=IwAR1SZikKmd27JszLfPl_evBfjzjgvOt0t5ZJDXZZ32IW50TK0E6IQ5eoRzY

A dog's environment, training, and social interactions can predict aggression.

23/10/2022

I do think there are a few dogs that like wearing clothes, but the majority of them do not. Use good discretion, and when in doubt, don’t do it.

20/10/2022

People have been contacting me a lot lately about working with their dogs who are not getting along. I always tell them I won’t promise the results they are looking for and here’s why.

🐶Once a dog shows aggressive behaviors, they are likely to default to it. We can train coping strategies and work on management issues but…. If they are startled, over threshold, or in pain it could happen again. In fact, without effective training and management it will happen again and will likely be more frequent and more intense each time it occurs. Dogs showing aggression are not bad dogs. Aggression most often stems from fear, or pain. Aversive methods cause fear and pain, so on the long run are likely to increase the aggression.

🐶Some dogs just don’t like other dogs, and most dogs only like some dogs, not all dogs. Dogs are like people. Ever have a co-worker or sibling you just couldn’t find a way to get along with no matter how hard you tried? Dogs can be the same way.

🐶The amount of training that would be required to get some dogs to get along would be a full time, around the clock job by a professional and that is not feasible or practical for most people.

🐶Dogs change, like people. While your dogs may have used to get along, something happened and now they don’t. They may not ever be trustworthy together again.

🐶Living with a dog showing aggression is stressful….on EVERYBODY, including you, your dogs, and any other witnesses. Increased household tension can continue to fuel the fire. You may feel like you’re waking on eggshells on your own home even if the aggression isn’t happening to people, and it is still so exhausting.

🐶Management and training protocol need to be followed consistently and precisely. Forgetting to latch a gate, leaving a room, leaving out food, yelling at a dog for growling, etc. could have disastrous consequences. The results can only happen with consistent practice. Are you good about doing your training homework? Not doing it, or doing it incorrectly, and simple mistakes can be very costly. Remember, we cannot be perfect all the time.

🐶Sometimes, it’s not just about training. It’s about eterinaey intervention. I always recommend a vet visit when aggression occurs suddenly. It could be pain related, or anxiety. Sometimes adding some medication is an easy fix, once you find the right dosage and type. And sometimes, its not enough.

🐶Sometimes, no matter how much you love the dog, how much money you spent, how much time you put in, your heart will break in the end with having to make some very hard decisions.

Is there hope then? Maybe. Sometimes the problems can be solved with some simple management changes and positive training techniques. It really depends on so many factors. Find a good positive trainer or behaviorist, and ask for a consult. Even if the trainer doesn’t take the case, ask them about alternative options. Also, don’t forget to talk to your vet about the behavior changes.