Dog Training Blog

Spay and neuter?

Much has changed in the Veterinary world in regards to spaying and neutering in recent years. When I first got a dog about 15 years ago, every Vet that I talked to was 100% firm on spaying and neutering at 6 months of age. More research has been done in this area and the hearts and minds of some Vets have come to change. I’m not a Veterinarian, so please don’t take anything in this blog as medical advice. This blog post is only to give my opinions, and you should know that I never give medical opinions because I’m not a trained Vet. I’m… Read More »Spay and neuter?

Should you correct your dog for growling?

Should you correct your dog for growling? A question I get frequently and one that’s worth investigating. The answer….drum roll, please…. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. A common sentiment among dog owners, trainers, and most other pet professionals is that you should never correct your dog for growling because if you do, your dog will stop growling and go directly to a bite the next time. While this is true, it’s not the full story. First of all, we need to define the fact that there are different types of growling. –Play growling.Play growling is very common, and not an issue. Some breeds growl a lot… Read More »Should you correct your dog for growling?

Socialization basics

Let’s start with some simple terminology A dog fight is serious—The dogs involved have serious intentions to hurt or kill the other dog. A dog argument—Much more common, and they look a lot like a dog fight. Often the dogs are up on their hind legs, and their teeth are smashing together. Plenty of noise, but it looks and sounds a lot worse than it actually is. Pinning—A dog pins another dog on the ground in an effort to control the other dog. It’s extremely rare that the dog who was pinned will be hurt. The desire is to subdue and control them, not to… Read More »Socialization basics

Livestock Guardians

As a dog trainer who trains and specializes in rehabilitating aggressive dogs, I feel the need to sound the alarm on livestock guardian breed dogs. The most common (LGD) we tend to see here in Nova Scotia would be Great Pyrenees, but we also see Anatolian Shepherds and Maremmas. They are beautiful dogs but their size and behavioral traits are often overlooked by well-meaning dog owners. I hate to be the jerk who overgeneralizes and says none of these dogs can fit into a normal city home because that’s just not true. However, I have two reasons for writing this blog. 1. Most people who… Read More »Livestock Guardians

Most aggressive dogs are not fearful

When asking thousands of past clients why they think their dog became aggressive, two answers stand out. Often I hear their dog’s behavior changed immediately after being spayed or neutered. More common still, dog owners tell me of their dog became fearful of other dogs after being attacked or getting into a fight. It’s this final scene that I will unpack in today’s blog, as I think it’s an area in dog behavior that is rather misunderstood. When dogs are attacked, they really only have three options.1: Fight2: Try and run away3: Freeze and do nothing I’ve always found it fascinating that some dogs do… Read More »Most aggressive dogs are not fearful

The fearful puppy

Fear is not the default when a puppy is born. Surely there are dogs who are born with the genetics that make them more prone to becoming fearful but dogs not born fearful. Some dogs are born more skeptical than others, and some more confidence. It’s easy to assume that some dogs are born fearful because we all inherently know that nature plays a role in a human’s development, but that’s not the entire story. More often than not, these skeptical dogs are reinforced for their reclusive temperament, to the detriment of our four-legged best friend. In this blog, we’ll examine some of the reasons… Read More »The fearful puppy

Codependent dog/human relationships

Yesterday I had a young woman come in asking me to help her with her dog. Her dog had bitten one person and also struggled with some leash reactivity towards others dogs and people. As we dove into a good long chat, a few things quickly became obvious. This young woman had a lot that she was working threw and she had a relationship with her dog that was in need of some intervention. The owner had acquired her dog at a young age, an age to which the puppy should have been with his mother. The owner got this puppy just after her mother… Read More »Codependent dog/human relationships

Is it Nature or Nurture?

Is it nature, is it nurture? The debate has raged for millenniums. How much of dog ownership is a result of the way the dog is raised and how much is the environment in which the dog is trained. Last week I ran into a man who recently adopted a dog and he was so proud of the new dog he had recently adopted. His dog had a great temperament. He was of the opinion that dogs are a product of the person who raised them and that aggressive dogs are a product of aggressive ownership. While I agree with this notion, for the most… Read More »Is it Nature or Nurture?

Is your dog Dominant?

I’m not a scientist claiming to have the definitive answers to the dominance theory, but I might have some thoughts on the dominance that I hope will make you think. The dominance question is an extremely polarizing one. Typically you’ll hear dog trainers emphatically proclaim that the dominance theory has been 100% debunked. The other tribe seems to think that if a dog steps on his owner’s foot he’s clearly a dominant dog. I personally have met some seriously dominant dogs in my career as a dog trainer who specializes in rehabilitation aggressive dogs, but they are very few and far between. Maybe I’m skewed… Read More »Is your dog Dominant?

Pitbulls are like cars.

Over the last few months, dog enthusiasts have been closely watching the tension in Montreal surrounding a woman being killed by a “Pitbull”. The ruling has now passed to bring in BSL. (Breed Specific Legislation.) The only problem is, the dog who killed that woman was not a Pitbull, or anything close to a Pitbull. A DNA test recently uncovered that the dog was actually a rottweiler, mastiff, golden retriever mix. A Pitbull is a type of dog, not a true breed. It’s more like a group of dogs, which makes it hard to be specific about what a Pitbull is in the first place.… Read More »Pitbulls are like cars.

Looks can and will be deceiving.

The generalization of fear: Over compensating aggression. What you are about to read is absolutely not going to be received well in the dog community. It goes against everything most dog trainers and dog professionals have thought and taught for years. Allow me an ear while I unpack a concept that may change the way you think about the vast majority of aggression seen in dogs. Many dog professionals believe that the vast majority of aggression seen in dogs is fear aggression. Five years ago I also believed that. Some have even gone to such an extreme to say that all aggression is fear based.… Read More »Looks can and will be deceiving.