Dialogue on Dogs
Tracie Explains: When I interviewed Allison Denlea of Paws for Positive Training on the January 26th show, it was as the official trainer of Dog Talk. One of my listeners - who is now Allison's client - wrote in to further explain the discussion we had on the air about customizing a dog's training to his personality and response. Bambi's thoughtful feedback follows:
Dear Tracie,
What I have to say sounds like it's about training with the e-collar-- but it's about much more. The e-collar just happens to be the catalyst for this important conversation. I want to talk about choosing a good trainer and the importance of listening to our own instinct and to our animals. My letter is long. Grab a sandwich.
The background: A couple of months ago, I began using the e-collar under Allison Denlea's instruction. Mostly because The Bean, my Cardigan Corgi/Panda/Appaloosa pound puppy, is an indiscriminate eater. We walk on the beach every day and I need to keep him safe by reinforcing both the "come" command as well as "leave it".
I practiced exactly what Allison told me to do using the lowest level of electronic stimulation (which I tested on myself first to know how it feels). The Bean became scared of me. I stopped immediately and called Allison. We agreed that I would wait until she could work with us in person before I used it again. I refused to work through trouble and Allison reinforced my opinion. I can imagine that someone else may have told me, "Oh, he'll get over it, you're doing just what the instruction manual says."
Turns out that Bean's experience with our Invisible Fence (another great life-saving tool) caused him to associate the stim sensation with punishment. When Allison saw this in action, we immediately switched to the vibrate feature. It now works brilliantly, and whether he has a juicy dead sting ray or a deadly treble hook to munch on, or even a sea gull to chase, as soon as I ask, he stops in his tracks and comes happily running back to me.
So, knowing our story.... here goes. It really doesn't matter if it's about the e-collar or any other training situation.
It is imperative that one chooses a trainer (I am sooo lucky to have Allison Denlea, one of the few, whose objectives are waaaaay beyond her own ego and recognition), who is able to adjust to fit the situation - the animal, the human and surrounding circumstances – someone who can see when rote doesn't fit, and is able to try something new-- maybe even an idea she creates on the spot after observing the dynamics in place.
Anyone who trains their dog, cat, bird or horse using only conditioned response without assessing the situation, whether it's with voice commands, clicker training, or an e-collar--may miss the opportunity to have a great partnership with that animal, and at worst, may create a situation where they are living with an animal who feels like a servant or prisoner. Except that none of these animals got to choose to live with us in confinement under our rules, our relationships with our animals are no different than our relationships with humans. When we look objectively, like it or not, we will always see our own personality reflected in the behavior of our animals. Do you have a friend who always seems to get bad service in restaurants? It's not by chance.
Our relationships with our animals must be based on two-way respect.
All animals are living, breathing, thinking, decision making beings. To effectively communicate with them requires we humans use feel, timing and balance with careful presentation. Would you rather dance with the fellow who grabbed you by the shirt collar and dragged you across the floor, or the one who gave you a subtle look and a smile? Would you remove an eyelash from a baby's cheek the same way you brush dirt off your pant leg?
So, thank goodness Bean and I have a trainer who has good feel, good presentation and most of all, good sense.
This time, my situation happened to be with the e-collar. It really doesn't matter that what brings this up is a particular tool - any tool is only as effective (or gentle or cruel) as the person using it -- except that that the e-collar is a tool which almost always requires a professional's help to achieve the finesse and nuance needed in order to avoid creating a bad outcome.
So this is just a very round about way of saying: think and feel. And, most of all, find and use good professional help! I've seen people spend lots of dollars and time on finding just the right outfit for their little baby. The dog would appreciate it a whole lot more if the human used their money and time learning how to effectively communicate with him.
And, maybe the most important point----we all need to learn to trust our own judgment. If the trainer we've hired teaches the dog to heel by dragging him across your yard on its side with his legs in the air (like the fellow who advertises, "Are you at the end of your leash?" did with my Bean), send him/her packing. If our dogs tell us something ain't working, listen.
Thanks again Tracie, for the voice you've given to us and our animals.
Warm regards,
Bambi
Tracie Explains:
On the 26th January show when I was talking to Diane Monahan from Friends for Pets, I mentioned on the air that my first Weimeraner I adopted from her, Lulu, was a runaway. She was a petite gal of indeterminate age who was a renowned escape artist and I was warned she could get over 6 foot chain link fence. As it turned out, i spent a decade with her, during which Lulu never missed an opening to take off. In response, I received this charming and touching email from a California listener:
Dear Tracie,
Thanks for having Diane on today. She does a heck of a job. I have had 3 FFP Weims over the years. Duke, Velvet and Smokey. All were wonderful. I first met Diane when she was at her old location is Canoga Park. My wife and I had just bought a home in Venice CA and wanted a 2nd dog to be a pal to our Golden we had at that time. Duke was that guy and what a character he was. He was 3 years old and had spent the last 18 months at FFP. So he was ready to party and take over the world. I didn't pick Duke, he picked me. We were trying out different dogs and I took Duke for a brief walk. When we came back we stopped and my wife and I were discussing him with Diane when I felt this warm liquid running down my leg. Duke marked me. I didn't get mad, I started laughing and Diane thought if I can handle that, I could handle Duke. Like your first Weim, Duke was an escape artist. He broke into the crawlspace under our home repeatedly to break out the other side. We would get calls from the dry cleaners down the street so often it became the first place we looked. The owner of the dry cleaners often made tamales and Duke loved them. I can't tell you how many hours I spent trying to Duke proof the vents under my home's crawlspace. It got to the point where I wound up using construction steel and three different types of metal wire fencing to secure him in. One night Duke escaped through an open bedroom window knocking the Sony TV off the bureau in the process. We were desperate and worried about Duke, forget the damn TV. We got a phone call at 1:00 am from a hardcore biker bar about a mile away. They had Duke, he was hanging with the guys. They had him tied up with a garden hose on his collar. He was snacking on bar snacks and had a big bowl of water while they were drinking beer. These great big burly real hardcore biker gang-types almost didn't want to let Duke go, they wanted to make him a mascot. I bought them a round of beers, then we were cool. We had Duke until almost 15, what a terrific friend and character. We thank Diane for the opportunity.
Chris and Janet W.
Venice, CA
Tracie Explains:
There have been a couple of shows devoted to anti-cruelty and anti-chaining encouraging everyone to be pro-active and keep their eyes open for dogs being kept chained or in otherwise unacceptable conditions. The funny story below came from a listener:
Dear Tracie,
My younger sister just told me a true story about my older sister. She drives around her neighborhood watching for animals that are neglected or abused. I thought you might get a kick out of it.
Joanne, (older sister) had been driving past a certain house in her neighborhood. She has been watching it since the beginning of the summer. There was a dog on the porch that never left and it was in the heat and now in the cold. She would pass by, see the dog, then go home and worry about it. She even called the Miss. Animal Rescue League about the dog. She became so obsessed with the plight of this dog, that she finally turned into the driveway and honked the horn. Well, no one came out, but the most importantly, that the dog didn't move!! IT WAS A STATUE!!! She had been worrying for months about this statue!
I thought you might enjoy this chuckle for the day.
Have a great weekend.
Smooches & Hugs,
Judy P in MS
