- AKC Certified Dog Trainer
- Bachelors in Psychology, with a focus on social psych
- Been dog training off/on for 8yrs
Dog Training
Qualifications
Philosophy
Dog’s in Western society 99.99% of the time do not get the opportunity to behave like dogs, I myself am guilty of this to some extent. When I have a dog my first goal is to explain to the owners how social groups work as a baseline, issues with dogs are never fault to the dog but rather the owners, who do not understanding how dogs operate. Once a baseline is established at a rudimentary level, I can then start working with the dog itself through clear and concise non-verbal communication. Dogs DON’T speak any language other than the non-verbal.
Secondly there is a form of a hierarchy in all social groups, no exceptions humans included, however it is not as simple and clear as the social sexual hierarchy, more commonly known with Alpha & Beta rankings, there are far more complexities to be simplified down to a pyramid structure, but rather more of a web.
With that in mind dogs are “below” humans in this hierarchy, in other words humans are at the crux of the social dynamic with dogs. Dogs that do not naturally reside below are classified as a different animal, those are wolves. It is my opinion that to effectively train a dog the human must be the leader in the groups dynamic.
Methods
I have always described my methods as very natural or primal in the sense that I try to mimic the behavior of how a pack would operate in the wild and take inspiration from all social groups in the natural world. One of my greatest influences is Dr. Robert Sapolsky, a Neuroendocrinologist and professor at Harvard University, whose claim to fame was his studies of baboons. His study was originally to observe the cortisol levels at differing ranks of the hierarchy in a congress of baboons and by proxy the stress levels associated with ranks, which took a turn when certain baboons ate some tuberculosis infected meat and how the zeitgeist of the congress shifted when the dominate baboons all died suddenly. The study soon became more about social dynamics than neuroendocrinology. This all relates to my dog training methods in that I use the natural social structures that dogs use to interact with one another to provide that same structure in my pack. A great example of this is when I give affection to my dogs is for the most part around the morning and night time, when dogs would normally cuddle for warmth, this is a natural time window in which that behavior is normal for wild dogs cause during the day they are busy with other tasks. Another group that seems to mimic these tendencies is the Monks of New Skete, which helped with the book “The Art of Raising a Puppy”.
First Step to dog training.
You NEED to learn non-verbal to train a dog, its how they communicate. With that in mind spend 2 weeks without saying a word to your dog, this should be a struggle, thats the point! When you get frustrated with not being able to communicate effectively without your words, then you will understand the perspective of your dog. Only through Dialog can we not only communicate to your dog what you want of them, but also understand their wants and needs. For example a pacing dog may need to go to the bathroom, may be anxious about noises outside, may be that they just want to go outside and RUN, its on you the owner to also learn to understand what your dog is telling you.
Meet my dogs
