July 4th Pet Safety!

Fireworks can be very scary for dogs causing anxiety.  Follow these tips to keep your dog safe and enjoy the holiday! 

Puppy Potty Training

Training your puppy can be tough! At Attention Dog Training recommends that you follow the above guide and crate train your puppy! Crate training is one of the most quick and effective ways to help your puppy adjust to their potty schedule.  Be consistent!  

We provide in-home training including assistance with potty training for your puppy! 

Time To Get Motivated

One of the most fundamental concepts in animal training is finding something that the animal wants. With dogs, food is usually a good place to start. Most dogs are food motivated, which means they are highly likely to do something in response of a food reward. Finding the right motivator for the right exercise is often the difference between a good dog trainer and a great one! All dogs are different! Some like food, some like toys, others enjoy doing the task and no motivator is needed. It all depends on the dog and the 'thing' you are asking the dog to do. 

Think of this example, imagine I asked you to run 5 miles. Now, what if I told you I would pay you 5 dollars for doing it. Would you do it? most would probably say no. Unless, you were a person who loved running, then you would do it because it is self-rewarding. But if you are like the rest of us, doing that amount of work for only $5 dollars hardly seems worth it. But what if I offered you $100,000 dollars? Would you run a mile then? Most people would have already put their shoes on. This is what motivators are like for dogs. When we are training dogs, we are asking them to do things and the dog requires payment for the action. It is up to the handler (or trainer) to use the proper motivator to get the desired results. 

If we try to teach a dog to recall and he isn't very food motivated, training treats will likely not work. Maybe a filet mignon would do the trick, but that seems ridiculous. So, perhaps that particular dog is motivated by toys or a tennis ball. So, what If we teach him to recall using a tennis ball reward? Now we are on to something... Does that dog like the sound of toys and squeakers? If so, get a ball that has a squeaker in it. Oh boy! this is getting good for the dog now. 

So, now that you found something that is highly motivating, how do you use it properly? Well, the trick is to only give the dog access to the motivator when he does an action that you are asking him to do (such as come, sit, down, etc.). Avoid falling into the temptation of giving the dog access to this ball simply because you love your dog and want them to feel good. If you give out this high-value-reward 'willy nilly' then it will begin to lose value. With dogs, high-value-rewards are very valuable to us as dog trainer's because we can use them to get dogs to do just about anything by using positive based, force-free training.

Happy Training!

Not All Dog Trainers are Created Equal

Looking to hire a good and decent dog trainer can be a daunting task. It is important for everyone to understand that not all trainer's are created equal. What I mean by this, is that the dog training industry is completely UNREGULATED, unlike many other professions whereby you entrust someone to care for your well-being. For example, for a lawyer to practice law, he or she must pass their state's BAR exam. This creates a bottom line so every crook with an idiots guide to law can't legally practice. Unfortunately, no official exam exists for dog trainers. With the status quo, you get any man or woman with some home-brew methodology with a few episodes of the dog whisperer behind them trying to train people's dogs. This is incredibly dangerous because anyone who understands dog psychology will tell you just how fragile a dog's psyche is. 

I have seen many trainers take the shortcut of using old school brutal methods to train dogs. From their point of view, this makes sense to them because honestly, using pain and fear to train a dog is effective and can produce faster results then alternative methods. However, the problem is that this many times can damage the dogs psyche and allow bad behaviors to surface usually manifesting themselves through aggression towards people or other dogs. Additionally, when using brutal methods such as shock collars, prong collars, and whips, the dog will feel apprehension towards its handlers/owners. This is not how you foster a balanced relationship between your dog and yourself.

The science has been studied and the results have shown that positive reward based training is the most effective in the long term and leads to stronger bonding. Ironically, a good dog trainer will get results very quickly that are longer lasting because the dog is not only enjoying the training, but he/she is doing the behaviors themselves and not being forced into doing them. 

So here is my advice as a professional dog trainer. When looking for someone to hire to train your dog, for the sake of your dog's wellness, find someone who is science-based and utilizes positive reinforcement and has credentials. Ask if they are a member of the Pet Professional Guild (PPG).

Don't be afraid to ask the trainer if they use E-collars or prong collars. Ask them if they have had any formal training with many of the different positive science-based dog training schools.   Check out their reviews online and see what previous clients have said about them. Are they using painful, brutal and fear based tactics? Or do they subscribe to a positive based reinforcement methodology. If any red flags pop up during any of these questions, take your time, money, and your canine friend elsewhere. Trust me, these impostors are not worth your time. 

If you wanted to find the right surgeon to do heart surgery on a family member, wouldn't you want to make sure they are qualified? The same applies to dog trainers. Ask the questions you need to know before you hire them and they irreversibly damage your dogs psyche.  Dogs are not born mean or aggressive. They become this way due to old school training tactics that should have died out decades ago once the scholarly articles started coming out. 

Do your research. Protect yourself. And Protect your dog from these crooks who will take your money and leave you with bigger problems in the future. 

Photography Credits: Wag Your Tail Photography - Pet Photographer