dog myths

Choosing a dog trainer in Montreal

Dog training montreal vaudreuil Quebec Canada

Folks, be careful who you trust your dog’s training to.

The advice you follow will dictate the outcome of your dogs behaviour and ultimately guide the path you and your dog are on for years to come.

I’m working with an array of dogs & their owners right now, who have gone to other trainers before me who have suggested or employed the most bizarre, useless and in some cases harmful “dog training” leaving both the dogs and owners confused and frustrated.

Here are but a few examples of what I see and hear on a regular basis from people who have gone to dog trainers who have misguided them:

“if you don’t like what your dog is doing, ignore it”
“ if you don’t like your dog nipping or jumping up, poke him in the ribs”
“if he doesn’t listen, put him in his cage for time time out”
“If he doesn’t listen, don’t feed him”
“your dog is anxious and needs Prozac“
“your dog is hopeless. There’s nothing to be done“
“this dog is untrainable“
“Your dog is stubborn and like a dumb blonde in high heels (I actually have video of this dog on my site after I trained him and he is a lovely dog who is very trainable and his owners were thrilled to find out how wrong their original trainer was!)

This is a short and sanitized version of what I hear on a regular basis.
Every single case the dogs were trainable, in most cases, very trainable, and a lot of fun to work with.
The owners were unfortunately duped into believing what the trainers were telling them based on the trainers ability to “sell“. Either through Credentials (certifications and memberships), experience “… I’ve been doing this for X years“ and in some cases the hard sell (think used car dealership).

Real dog training providing quality of life for both human and dog

At the end of the day, dog training should provide results. Real results that improve the quality of life for dog and owner.
Results take time and require knowledge, energy and effort, patient and consistency.
Results should show themselves when things are being done properly. Is after several weeks or even months of working with a trainer and your dog, you are not seeing an improvement or in some cases things are going from bad to worse this is a clear sign that things are not working.

Dog Behaviour & Training Myths Busted! Should you play tug-of-war with your dog?

Tug-of-war? Why you should play it with your dog.

Dogs love to play and most dogs love to play in a rough and physical way.

Dogs also love to use their mouths. By showing them that they can use their mouths and satisfy their need to bite, pull and thrash around with their owners it helps the dog live a much more satisfied lifestyle. It also helps the dogs spend energy and is a very bonding experience for the dog and owner.

Situations where it may not be advisable to play tug-of-war with your dog.

If your dog is a resource garter or displays any type of possessiveness or aggression to its family, it is not advisable to play tug as you will very likely create a bigger problem and potentially put yourself in harms way.

Of course, if the dog is physically incapable, or has health related issues that prevent it from playing tug this is also another instance where we need to be tuned into.

Frequently asked dog training question: will tug-of-war make my dog aggressive

Assuming that the dog has no behavioural issues and that you have a healthy relationship with your dog tug-of-war will definitely not create an aggressive dog.

If anything, it will teach the dog that there is a “time and place” rough and rowdy behaviour and that is when we initiate play with a toy.

Watch the video clip provided here and take a look at how my bulldog puppy hooligan crashes around like a madman while we were playing tug.

He’s well into it, pushing and pulling and growling and carrying on.

Pay special attention to what he does when I release :

He comes running right to me with it because he wants the game to continue. This tells us everything we need to know about what the motive of the dog is.
The dog is not trying to “possess” the toy.
He is not trying to drive me away from the toy.
He is not taking the toy and running away with it.
He is not anchoring himself over the toy and preparing for war war.
He is simply asking for me to continue the game that he loves and the toy is the tool we use to share a game toget.