For a very good guide to all sorts of dog training processes and dog behavior challenges, I use and recommend Clickertraining ...that link goes to the description of this terrific ebook you download immediately, wherever you are! -- Rosana

Recently I was at a party, chatting with a man who mentioned that he is a fan of Cesar Milan. I couldn’t help but make a slight face. “Don’t you like his show?” the fellow asked. I said that I don’t watch it but that I had seen several episodes and I didn’t care for his approach. “What’s not to like?” demanded my acquaintance. I said I did like how Cesar Milan emphasized the need for exercise, and let it go at that.

Another time recently, I was talking with a couple who said they watch the program regularly. They know I have a dog training website, but they didn’t ask my opinion so I kept quiet.

But I don’t want to keep quiet any longer. I am really in a different place than Milan and it’s worth saying why.

I think it’s beneficial that Milan has increased interest in dog training, but a lot of his techniques are not what this website is about. They are not positive or pain-free dog training methods, and that is what I think this world needs. Milan makes dogs afraid of him if that is what it takes to have them obey his will. I would never hang a dog by his neck. While I used choke chains in the past, I have not in some years now.

The belief that you have to be dominant over your dogs in the pack you form is part of the problem. I have read in various places that this is based on bad science. I think that is likely true, but what I do know is that clicker training is based on how animals — not just dogs — learn most effectively. So I will stick with positive, pain-free dog training.

I was very pleased to see that there is a new two-DVD set at Dogwise, with Dr. Ian Dunbar and Jean Donaldson, two of the dog trainers/writers/public speakers I respect most. It’s a bit pricey but I’ve put it on my wish list, to learn more about dominance theories and how true they are. This is pertinent not only to Milan but to the work of many other dog trainers.

The DVD set is titled Fighting Dominance in a Dog Whispering World, and it is about four hours, from a seminar given in the summer of 2007.

Here is part of the blurb at Dogwise:

Watch Jean Donaldson and Ian Dunbar take on the controversial and often misunderstood concept of dominance behavior in dogs. Do dogs really try to be “the boss”? Learn what science knows, and doesn’t know, about canine behavior. A timely subject given the popularity of television shows featuring dogs behaving badly and trainers rehabilitating them–all within an hour!

Often, viewers are told that the problem is that their dog is trying to be “dominant” and that the owner simply needs to assert him/herself as the “leader of the pack”. While this may make for compelling TV, dominance in dogs has not been subject to much scientific research… In this new DVD, leading canine authorities Jean Donaldson and Ian Dunbar take on this sometimes-controversial subject.

Click on the image or the title to go to the Dogwise page and read more. There is a very interesting short online video clip you can watch, where Jean Donaldson is talking about what really constitutes a wolf “pack.” I’d way rather watch Fighting Dominance in a Dog Whispering World than get all upset by watching Milan’s methods.

I did some articles a while ago about deaf dog training, and now I have some more, this time from Kate Stolle, of Columbia, Missouri. She writes:

As for training tips:

• I highly recommend using a harness when you are getting your dog used to walking with you. It was so much easier for us to train Lilly with that than a regular leash. Now when she sees her harness being brought out she knows that it means she gets to go somewhere special: like camping or swimming.
• Persistance, Persistance, Persistance!!! Training a dog can be frustrating but it is even harder when your dog can’t hear the commands.
• We use some ASL sign language for her when we sign to her. Like the letter “T” for toilet which is making a fist and tucking your thumb under the pointer and middle finger and shake your fist at the dog.
• A bell attached to the door is very convenient, as a way she can get our attention. It is also a way for her to communicate with us and other people who may not know the signs we use for Lilly.
• The main thing that I was told is to figure out what works for you and your dog. You aren’t asking them to steal second base but simple, direct commands are easier for you and the deaf dog.
• Reward constantly. I have dog  treats everywhere, my car, the kitchen, my art studio, my husbands car, my office.
• I am constantly working with Lilly on new commands and old ones. Sit is a command that she doesn’t quite know yet.
• LOVE LOVE LOVE. Just because your deaf dog can’t hear doesn’t mean that they love any less or any differently than a dog that can hear. I admit we spoil Lilly constantly because of her deafness but she is the most loving and grateful dog.
• Some people use those laser pointer pens when they want to get their dogs attention,. We have never used one on Lilly other than for her to play with it. Usually I wave my arms above my head and the movement attracts her attention.
• We do flip the lights off and on when she is outside at night. When we do that she knows it is time to come in. This was a fast learning process for her. We would flick the lights off and on and when she would come to the door we would give her a treat and hug her and pet her.
• You would be surprised how much the dog respond to our facial expressions and body language. Now all I have to do is give Lilly a look and she knows she is doing something bad.  After my husbands mother died and we were so upset, Lilly was very affectionate and followed us everywhere, licking our ankles and giving us kisses. When we reprimand her or the other dogs I make sure to stand as tall as my 5ft2 will allow and puff my chest to make myself seem bigger and like I am in charge. Some people may not approve of the following but my father and I have done it for years with our dogs and they have always listened to us and ignored anyone else. If the dog is doing something bad and you tell them to stop and they keep doing it we pin the dogs on the floor and kneel over the top of them and hold their faces and look into their eyes and say “NO!” several times over and over in a loud commanding voice. I only did this with Lilly once or twice before she knew the look on my face. We call it ‘Alpha Dogging”. Soon the dog gets the point by the look on your face and the tone of your voice.
• Learn to walk away. When you are frustrated with the dog, walk away. Training is difficult and I am not going to tell you any differently.  It takes time and patience like with any dog but they need more because they simply can’t hear you.  I would walk away from Lilly when she made me angry and I would work on my jewelry or walk around the outside of the house or anything to calm down. They will see they have irritated you and they will continue to do whatever rotten thing they have done because they see it has gotten your attention. But not the kind of attention you want to give them.

Want to know more about deaf dogs? Check this category on my category list, which is on the right side of the page. Also, Dogwise offers books on deaf dog training.

Last year I got an email from a friend which included the comment, “Another thought about pets in general is that the more one pays attention to them the clearer their needs are transmitted. This is kind of obvious but we do tend to forget.”

I mulled over that “obvious” thought. How closely did I actually pay attention to my dogs?

• Sure, if LarryDog is out in the sunroom barking, I may tune the sound out if I’m working on the computer in my adjacent office. But I do notice pretty quickly, specially if it is the particular bark that means he wants to come in as opposed to his more common barking at the world outside.
• When Lola gets her fixated look at our feisty cat Misty who loves to tantalize Lola by lolling on the sofa next to me when we are watching television, I usually watch the dog-and-cat show more closely than whatever might be on the screen.

But how attentive am I to the body language of my dogs? Not immensely. How much of what they say through their bodies do I miss? A lot, I’m sure. With these thoughts in mind, last year I bought a DVD called The Language of Dogs. The subtitle is Understanding Canine Body Language and Other Communication Signals.

I’ll do a full review of the DVD soon, but now here are some bits from the scribbled notes I put in the DVD case after watching it last year. Yawning is typically a sign of stress in a dog, but if you yawn at your dog, he may yawn back. Sweaty palms and repetitive lick licking are also signs of stress. Hmm, I’ve seen LarryDog do that licking. Ears pinned back can also be stress, but it depends on the breed or breeds and the kind of ears the dog has for how evident this will be. Pacing is stress too.

I think that before I watch the DVD and get into paying attention to what I see on it, I will pay closer attention to the body language of Lola and LarryDog.

How much attention do you put on the body language of your dog or dogs? Comments welcome.

Clicker training and agility have a lot in common — they are both lots of fun –  and Click and Play Agility, by Angelica Steinker, brings the two worlds together. But even if you don’t do agility, the book has a lot of good ideas for ways to play with your dog.

Be warned, though, that it may get you interested in doing agility with your puppy or dog. That happened to Jean Donaldson, author of The Culture Clash and other books, who said, “This book made me want to immediately start doing agility! A fabulous weaving of learning theory into the latest agility teaching technology. The games and proofing exercises are truly first-rate.”

Angelica Steinker, author of Click and Play Agility, starts the book out by saying, “If I had the opportunity to live my life as a dog, I’d be a Border Collie.” Why? She explains that “Working and learning are addictive to me.” This thorough book shows that even if she is doomed to remain a human, she did bring boundless, Border Collie-like energy to the task of writing this book. (I’ve written several books myself, and I must be one of those breeds that takes a lot of sofa breaks!)

She describes numerous games, organized in what she calls the click and play pyramid: attention, consistency, attitude and motivation, self-control, and win-win. The back book cover describes this pyramid:

The Click and Play Pyramid is made up of five layers. The bottom layer, which everything else builds on, is attention. The dog gives the handler attention and vice versa. Consistency—the next layer—is critical to the dog’s learning process. Without consistency, the dog’s learning is slowed or stopped. Consistency leads to the next layer, which is attitude and motivation. Are both you and your dog having fun? Fun can be exciting, and excitement can lead to issues with self-control. Self-control is the fourth layer. Both dog and handler’s self-control are critical to an agility team’s success. The pinnacle of the pyramid is the concept of win/win training. Ideally, in all interactions both the handler and the dog win. Use this book and the Click and Play Pyramid concepts to help you and your dog become the best agility team you can be!

People who have actually used the book are very enthusiastic about how it brings clicker training and agility training together, in ways that are great fun. It even has some charts you can use for keeping track of your progress! To read reviews of the book at Dogwise, and to get it if you decide to, click on the image of the book cover… and I promise you won’t find yourself turned into a Border Collie!

(Umm, can I really promise that?)

(Here is a link to Click and Play Agility at Amazon, but when I was there, they didn’t carry the book… just had a used copy.)