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K-9 Guru Bill GLATZEL's T.L.C. K-9 Online Academy TM

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T.L.C. K-9 SOLUTIONS e-Newstm

February 2005

Vol.1, No 2

Canine Aggression Part II

By Bill Glatzel, - K-9 GURU â€“ Head Trainer/Director T.L.C. K-9 Academy

"What do you do when â€˜clickersâ€™, â€˜Chokers,â€™ â€˜Treats,â€™

â€˜Positive Reinforcement,â€™ â€˜Play,â€™ â€˜Prong Collars,â€™ and â€˜the

Dreaded â€˜Dog Hangingâ€™ ...(DON"T EVER DO THAT!!!)...

DON'T WORK!â€

"Rusty" is a 4 y/o male, non-neutered Dalmatian, a â€œChristmas Puppy,â€ bought after the release of the remake of â€œ101 Dalmatians.â€ This dog had little to no canine socialization, and was bought from a "puppy store/puppy mill." "Rusty" has allot of canine aggression. The temperament and personality of "Rusty," however, make training him difficult. "Rusty" needs almost ALL (TPR) Total Positive Reinforcement Methods of training, or he just freaks out and will not respond.

However, this is only true when not confronted by another dog. "Rusty" was almost killed by a large boxer while being trained to calm the canine aggression. What had always worked best, the only thing that ever worked with "Rusty" was (TPR), "Click-N-Treat" or "Click-N-Reward/Praise."

But in a setting when confronted with a dog, "Rusty" lost all food drive, and reward drive. All the (TPR) in the world will not help "Rusty" with this problem, in this setting. That is not to say that a dog, with the right temperament and personality can't be successfully trained to extinguish canine aggression. I have had great success with these kinds of dogs and have had good response with the use of (TPR), and this is always my first preferred method of training.

But what do you do when (TPR) doesn't work? What do you do when (TPR) is causing confusion, stress, fear, and anxiety, for both dog and handler?

In the case of "Rusty,â€ another trainer used a choker, as well as a prong collar. From what I was told, "Rusty" was "HUNG" a few times when being aggressive towards other dogs. This should have helped??? Wrong! "Rusty" did not respond to the choker, the prong collar, the hanging. What did happen is that "Rusty's" canine aggression increased, and "Rusty" began to develop aggression towards humans now. Both "Rusty" and dog owner were a mess, confused.........frustrated...and told that they would have to "Put the Dog Down."

I came into the picture, as a last resort. I was told if they could not fix the problem, "Rusty" would have to die. How many times has this happened? How many dogs in rescue shelters are there because of this? THIS DOES NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN WITH THE RIGHT TRAINING AND AN OPEN MINDED "Whole Method" Dog Trainer.

So I took on the task, and I worked with â€œRusty.â€ I used a very high quality professional remote training collar. Yes an electronic collar! I know there is allot of controversy about their use. Most of the negative disinformation is out of ignorance, and the inability to understand that REMOTE TRAINING can be the most effective, stress free, force free method of training. Todayâ€™s technology is incredible with over 30-60 levels of stimulation and in my case; my collar has an optional tone substitute. When working with a dog owner that has some concern, I place the collar around my neck and let them test it. Then I have them place the collar on their arm, and they feel the actual level of stimulation that I will be using. Then I explain about the tone feature, the â€œElectric Clicker!â€â€¦more on that in a bit.

Initially with â€œRusty,â€ I worked about three 15-minute sessions on basic obedience with (TPR). He did great. I even taught him some cool tricks. I then later worked with "Rusty" using the remote training collar teaching him yard boundaries. I did this so I could slowly find out what the appropriate level of stimulation would be needed to get "Rusty's" attention. The goal was to get his attention, but keep the stimulation level to a minimum so it was not something that was harmful, hurtful, and did not cause ANY distress for â€œRusty.â€ This pre-testing phase of introducing in a gentle positive way the remote training collar was essential for any success we would have dealing with canine aggression later.

"Rusty" learned the boundaries in about two 15-minute sessions. Later distractions were added to be sure "Rusty" would not leave the yard. What if he was in the yard off leash, and another dog walked by??? You can guess the answer. A canine distraction was not used at first on boundary training.

So now "Rusty" understands the remote collar, and the tone feature. I use classical conditioning with the tone and the stimulation, so quickly the stimulation can be extinguished. Very quickly, the tone can be substituted. How's that for an "Electric Clicker!" The tone is now the clicker. All of the boundary training and use of the remote collar was to prepare us all for the big challenge--the DOG PARK!

â€œRustyâ€ and I were ready. It was time to take a trip with me to the local dog park. I chose to go to a dog park to take advantage of an unrealistic, or overly realistic situational problem, "Rustyâ€™s" canine aggression, and now to some degree aggression towards people. It was a Saturday afternoon in the dog park with about 50 or more dogs and their handlers/owners. We were going to have our work cut out!

It was within 20 seconds, and the approach of other dogs to "Rusty," that he did as expected. "Rusty" went after another dog. In the dog park, "Rusty" was corrected one time with a quick tone and stem correction. The timing is as always critical. "Rusty" backed off, and he quickly came under control. "Rusty" got all kinds of praise and play right after that, again timing is critical.

A few minutes later, "Rusty" tried to test us out again. As I watched him go after another dog, as there were about 50 running all around off leash, it did not take long. This time, the moment "Rusty" lunged for the other dog; I quickly tapped the tone button, no e-stimulation this time. I wanted to see if the tone was classically conditioned to the pairing of the stimulation.

HURRAY!!! As soon as "Rusty" heard the tone, "Electric Clicker," he came under control immediately.

There was another correction that was later made with the tone/stim combination when "Rusty" made another attempt. It was this correction that had the finalizing effect of extinguishing "Rusty's" canine aggression, and to this day there has been no regression, no aggression towards other dogs, animals, or humans. "Rusty" is aggression free, has been taught off leash reliability, and loves to lay in his front yard, unleashed and watch the neighbors walk past his house with their dogs. â€œRustyâ€ does not bolt from the yard. "Rustyâ€ got to live and continues to provide love for the entire family.

One of "Rusty's" and his ownerâ€™s favorite weekend activities is to go to the dog park and play with all the other Good Doggies!!!

!!! HAPPY TRAINING !!!

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