Interview: Alexis Toriello Of Zen Dog Talks Training, Communication & The Best Pizza In Town

I was interviewed and featured on Park Slope Stoop today, check it out!

Alexis Toriello Of Zen Dog Talks Training, Communication & The Best Pizza In Town

3 Common Dog Behavior Problems Solved.

Everything your dog does has a purpose. Think of a behavior you want to change. Identify its purpose. Show your dog that she can achieve this purpose with an easier and/or more purposeful behavior than the one you want to eliminate.  That's dog training, plain and simple.

Here are some examples:

1. Your dog pulls on the leash.
Purpose of pulling on the leash, for your dog: To move forward.
The behavior you'd prefer to result in moving forward: Walking on a loose leash.
Solution: When the leash is loose, move forward faster. When the leash is tight, i.e. your dog is pulling, don't move forward at all.
Result: Dog learns that he can exert less energy to move forward AND move forward more efficiently by walking next to you than by exerting a lot of energy pulling on the leash.  This will become his default behavior.

2. Your dog jumps on you.
Purpose of jumping on you, for your dog: Food and/or attention.
The behavior you'd prefer to result in food and/or attention: Calmly lying on dog bed.
Solution: Only give her food or attention when she's lying calmly on her dog bed. Ignore her when she's jumping on you.
Result: Dog learns that she can exert less energy to get food and/or attention by lying calmly on her dog bed than by exerting a lot of energy jumping on you.

3. Your dog chews your shoes.
Purpose of chewing your shoes: It feels good.
The behavior you'd prefer to result in that good feeling: Chewing on appropriate things.
Solution: Make sure your dog likes the chews you're giving him more than your shoes.  Then associate chewing on his own things with the sight of your shoes.  I.e., dog sees shoes, dog gets kong filled with peanut butter.  Dog sees shoes, dog gets braided bully stick.  Dog sees shoes, dog gets frozen marrow bone. Dog sees shoes, dog gets squeaky stuffed toy.  Remove your shoes from his vicinity when you're not around so he loses the memory of how good it felt to chew on them, and they only remind him of how good it is to chew on his own things.
Result: Dog learns that chewing on his own things feels good. Having your shoes around reminds him that chewing on his own things feels good. Having your shoes around makes him want to chew on his own things.

Why Real Trainers Don't Guarantee Results

You can never guarantee results of behavior modification if the behaviors you're trying to modify have an emotional cause, as all extreme behaviors do.  How silly would it be for a psychologist to guarantee results for a patient suffering from severe anxiety?  I think we could all safely say that psychologist is a quack.  The reason is that you can never know the boundaries and all the complex factors in a being's emotional makeup.  So how can we say we can pick out the ones that are effecting a certain behavior and address them effectively?  We can do our best and often have great success, and at the very least we hope to provide some comfort.  But we can never guarantee anything.  Professionalism prohibits us from being disingenuous, and guarantees are most certainly that.

So, no trainer who aims to address the actual emotional causes of a behavior (the only way to get lasting and healthy change), can guarantee results.  But here's the thing - some trainers CAN guarantee a change in behavior, because they DON'T address the root cause.  Instead, they use pain, fear or intimidation to change a surface behavior, exacerbating the underlying emotion that causes it.  Sure, a psychologist might be able to get a person to kick a drug habit by threatening his life.  But will they be able to stop that person from jumping off a bridge spurred by the underlying emotion which has probably been made worse because of the fear of pain or death at the hands of the psychologist?  This may sound extreme - but the fear of death is ultimately what trainers who use pain are tapping into with dogs.  Physical pain is life-threatening to them, and causes deep fear.  If your dog is stressed and pulling on the leash, put a prong collar on your dog and she'll stop pulling because she's afraid of the pain caused by the sharp metal edges digging into her neck.  She'll learn to suppress that behavior.  But she'll still be stressed.  And that stress WILL find an outlet in ANOTHER behavior.  And it will be a less predictable, more extreme behavior - often a much more dangerous one than pulling on the leash.  That's why even though it is tempting to go with a trainer that guarantees results, it's a huge, bright, waving red flag.  Opt for honesty and compassion and you'll be doing right by your dog and yourself.   

Tip of the Day: Signaling Calm

Tension in the leash translates to tension in your dog.  Keep the leash loose and remain calm - this way you’re not inadvertently signaling to your dot that something’s wrong.

Tip of the Day: Cats Are People Too.

Have CATS too?  Create perches at varying heights on your walls in the rooms where you spend the most time.  This way your cat can be together with the gang while not being in the middle of the action.  This can have a surprising effect on common behavior problems and histories of conflict between your cat and dog.  And it’s totally DIY!  You can use regular shelving with carpeting glued on top.  No one will know the difference between the perches and normal shelves.  (Just make sure the perches are long and wide enough so that your cat doesn’t feel like she’s going to fall off the end).