Dr. Phil’s Dog Training

In the words of another great dog behaviorist…most trainers train humans and rehabilitate dogs.  I work with a lot of dogs who are, fortunately for them, not so much in need of rehabilitation given their age and history as they are in need of consistency.  And, in much dismay to their humans, they are excellent at being puppies.

In my training of humans, I try to keep things light and also get the point across.  For instance, as I am leash training their dog, the human will get excited when the puppy attempts to chew the leash as they repeat, “see, look what he does, look what he does!” If, when I provide instruction, they don’t want to hear what I’m saying, I’ll ask what they have been doing when Pookie chews the leash.  After they respond, I hear myself asking, “how’s that workin’ for ya’?”

Another example is in the guidance I provide for house training a puppy.  It almost always involves my suggesting crate training and complete supervision when the puppy isn’t in the crate.  By now, they are exhausted from cleaning up poop and pee and not sleeping because of a destructive pup in the house.  They will assure me it would never work and every reason why.  I wait and listen because I do understand their frustration.  Then, if they continue to negate my suggestion, I may hear myself ask, “do you want to be happy or do you want to be right?”

So, you see, this really is about human behavior modification as much as it is canine behavior modification.  As I always say, dogs are great at being dogs.  While it may not be the same in every case, behaviorists have learned what works.  I’m sure there are a lot of other Dr. Phil-isms I could and do use.  If what you are doing, isn’t working or in the way you had hoped, please contact me!