Doggie Tales: Cowboy

Doggie Tales are true stories to share the impactful ways humans and dogs co-exist and share love, beginning with the ones that have impacted my life as a dog trainer the most.

Our second doggie tale stars our very own Doggie Dreamz VIP, Cowboy. Cowboy and his mom came to me in the Fall of 2020. His mom had adopted him and another dog named Dakota a month before Covid lockdowns began. She was extremely proactive by walking them around the backyard and leaving the house every day (even for 15 mins) so both dogs didn't develop separation anxiety. She also started introducing basic commands and potty training them. Cowboy and Dakota had been street dogs in Mexico, so they had to learn how to cohabitate inside a warm, loving home. For many dogs that have had to fend for themselves either on the streets or from a neglectful owner, being in a home is a big adjustment. It's important to give dogs time to adjust and understand their new home. One thing I always suggest is having a schedule for these dogs. A schedule helps your dog understand what is expected of them in their new home, together with adding structure to their previously unpredictable life.

Once the Covid lockdown restrictions were eased to social distancing, Cowboy's mom started to venture out into their neighborhood. She began to notice high anxiety and reactivity behaviors in Cowboy, like whining and lunging whenever he saw another dog. He was also a heavy leash puller. So Cowboy's mom reached out to me for some extra support.

Upon meeting Cowboy, Dakota, and their mom, I was excited to work with all of them! Cowboy and Dakota needed some socialization, and basic obedience, in conjunction with desensitization training. I informed their mom that dog training isn't a quick fix; it requires a lot of patience and consistent everyday work to help our dogs overcome these behaviors. And their mom was up for the challenge.

We began work right away, and when training two dogs, it's important to recognize that both dogs have strengths and areas to improve. Dakota picked up on basic obedience very quickly, whereas Cowboy needed extra time and practice to understand these new body movements. For example, teaching Cowboy to lie down was a struggle. His body was just unfamiliar with this position. Cowboy was also very distracted on walks, constantly looking around and scanning for possible threats. I sensed this was where Cowboy's reactivity was steaming from, being constantly on alert. This behavior isn't uncommon for dogs that have lived without a secure home; it's a survival trait. But now the focus was to get Cowboy to become more engaged with his mom on walks. We did this by teaching Cowboy to "Focus" as well as slowing down his pace to help slow down his mind. Teaching Cowboy to "Focus," or look humans in the eye, was also a difficult task. Dogs that have not been socialized with humans tend to struggle with this. If a dog has not been rewarded for a behavior, that behavior won't be natural for them to perform.

Over the next several months, I worked with Cowboy and Dakota on leash work, engagement, desensitization, and socialization. We worked on "Heel" and introduced leash pressure, introductions to the car, and recall work. When beginning the training journey, I always like to ask my clients what their goal is for their dogs. This helps to align them with their dog during the ups and downs of training. Cowboy's mom wanted to be able to take her dogs with her on her daily walks at the Arroyo. Her goal was to be able to stretch afterward with them both being calm when other dogs or people passed by.

Over that time, their mom and I noticed both of them started to Sit at doorways, waiting for their food, and were walking in the Heel position on walks. However, after only about a year and a half of having these wonderful dogs in her life, tragedy struck. Dakota started to become very sick. When she was examined by their vet, it was explained that Dakota's time here was coming to an end. Losing a dog is one of the hardest pains to experience as pet parents. And sometimes, when we have to say goodbye, it comes way too soon. Humans also aren't the only ones that grieve the loss. Cowboy had to go through the grief of losing his sister, friend, and constant companion. I even needed to give myself time to grieve as well.

Once Cowboy and his mom felt they were ready, they asked to restart training. Cowboy had regressed a little with his training, which is very normal and understandable. Training your dog isn't a linear process. There are many ebbs and flows. The best thing we can do as humans is to go at the dog's pace, not our own. My goal was to go slow and not overwhelm Cowboy. Both his mom and I noticed that the structure of the training seemed to be helping Cowboy adjust to life without Dakota. We saw a reduction in his reactivity, his leash pulling, and his engagement with his mom improved. Over the next few months, I introduced some of my more neutral dogs to Cowboy for socialization, and he came with me on some pack walks. These helped Cowboy become more comfortable around other dogs.

Now I am happy to report that Cowboy and his mom can go on her walks to the Arroyo and walk the path; Cowboy will lie down calmly whenever he sees another dog. If the other dog on the path is friendly, they will even greet each other briefly. We were able to reach her goal for Cowboy!! And Cowboy doesn't whine or lunge at dogs anymore. His mom can stretch after their walk without fear of Cowboy reacting. Now Cowboy is a fixture in my socialization group classes and is often used as a demo dog to demonstrate being calm with other dogs around.

I'd love to hear about any of the triumphs or struggles you have experienced when training your dog. Leave your dog's stories down below. Or maybe you are struggling right now in your dog training journey. Let me know down below, and hopefully, we can work together to help you and your dog achieve your training goals, as I did with Cowboy and his mom.

Cowboy: Terrior/Poodle mix

Birthday: Unknown celebrated on “Dogust 1st”

Favorite Accessory: His Teal Blue Heathers Hero’s Leash

Funny habits: Putting his paw on your leg when you are sitting next to each other on the couch. 

Pack drive and why it’s important

In the dog training space, trainers often talk about a dog's pack drive. Many dog trainers believe that dogs with a low pack drive are more likely to have behavioral issues later in their life. However, this concept is not often understood by many dog parents. This is why I wanted to dive deeper into this subject to help better bridge the gap between behavioral theory and how it affects and benefits your everyday life. 

Dogs are social animals that thrive on positive social interactions with both humans and dogs. Pack drive refers to a dog's desire to be with and function as a unit with other dogs and people. Like humans, dogs learn so much about the world through their social interactions. If your dog has limited social interactions this can affect their behavior towards new people and dogs. Behavioralists and dog trainers alike highly encourage activities and settings that help foster a natural pack drive in your dog. 

Every dog has many different drives including pack drive. Dogs also have prey drive, fight drive, and flight drive. These different drives are embedded in your dogs' DNA and have helped them survive for thousands of years. A dog's pack drive is a strong social bond with its family, a desire to listen to and protect their family, the accusation of resources, and attention to their humans. 

A dog with a healthy pack drive would behave like preferring to be with its human, are attentive to its humans and notice when they exit a room, and also prefer to sleep in the same room as its human. It is important to note, that noticing when their human leaves the room, is not the same as following their human from room to room. When a dog follows their human from room to room this is often an indicator of an insecure dog that may develop separation anxiety. Your dog should be able to notice when you enter or exit an area as well as be able to control the need to be next to you every minute of the day. Many dog behaviorists correlate a healthy pack drive with a dog that is confident, balanced, and focused. Dogs with low pack drive tend to not be concerned with being near their humans and are described as independent or even cat-like. 

To foster your dogs' pack drive while at home you must first add structure into your daily routine. This can look like utilizing your dog's crate or limiting access to areas of your home, having a feeding and exercise schedule, and making sure that you enforce what you ask of your dog. By doing these things inside your home you are adding predictability as well as making yourself an essential part of their daily lives. 

Outside of the home, there are 3 things you can do to help build a good pack drive in your dog. 

1. Make sure they do not pull on the leash. If your dog is walking in front of you and dragging you with them, you are no longer relevant to your dog. They are more interested in the outside world than in you. Teaching your dog to walk next to you on a loose leash helps to make you more important on the walk and helps them develop a healthy pack drive.

2. Invest in some obedience training with your dog. Dogs with a healthy pack drive want to listen to their humans and enjoy earning their food, toys, etc. Taking the time to teach your dog the desired way you want them to behave. For example, if you want your dog to be calm and wait for their food, then you must train them to “Sit” and “Stay”. Another example would be if you want your dog to walk next to you on a leash and not pull you, then you will need to train them how to “Heel”.

3. Make plans with friends to do a neighborhood pack walk. If your dog has some friends in your neighborhood, use that as an opportunity to walk them together. If your dog is reactive towards other dogs, I would recommend speaking with a dog trainer or behavioralist. Your dog will need to learn how to be able to walk past or even look at other dogs without barking and lunging. Teaching your dog this skill will make both your dog's life and yours so much happier. 

Engagement and why it’s important

The term engagement gets used often in the dog training space, but so often when I am explaining the benefits to my clients; I am often met with the response “I wish I knew about this sooner.” Building engagement with your dog is teaching your dog that listening to you is rewarding. We are building value over you and what you say to your dog. This is such a simple concept and sometimes people think dogs automatically come wired this way. However, that is not true. Dogs need to learn that listening is not only important but it is rewarding for them as well. Dogs that don’t learn this at an early age can develop nuisance behaviors such as leash pulling, incessant barking, and leash reactivity.

Dogs are one of the few animals, besides humans, that make eye contact with other species. This quality has been bred in dogs to establish a stronger connection with their human. However, this trait needs to be encouraged and doesn’t happen automatically. Trainers will encourage this through a variety of different games like “Look At Me”. The “Look At Me” game is when you reward your dog for making eye contact with you, through a reward-based system. One way is to put a treat in front of your dog's nose and bring the treat right between your eyes and as soon as your dog makes eye contact you reward them with that treat. Eventually, adding the cue “Look At Me”. Another way to pay this game is to show your dog that you have a treat or a toy in each hand, hold out your arms in a T, and then cue your dog with the “Look At Me” and when your dog makes eye contact with you instead of looking at your hands for the treat or fun toys, you reward them.

If you have a puppy, another way to build engagement with them is to hand feed them. Hand-feeding has other benefits as well, especially with a puppy. It helps build the bond between you and your puppy as well as help work on your puppy's bite inhibition. Hand-feeding is when instead of putting your dog’s food in a bowl for them to hover over and eat; instead put their food in your hands and feed your puppy one kibble or bite at a time.

Hide and Seek isn’t just for kids. Playing Hide and Seek with your dog while you are walking them or playing with them in the backyard helps condition your dog that you are the reward. You can play this by hiding behind a tree or bush and then calling your dog’s name. When your dog finds you, make exaggerated movements and give them lots of high praise. Playing Hide and Seek is also helpful if you have a dog that likes to run away from you as a game. If you become the object of play; you can condition them to stop the urge to run away from you.

One of the best ways to build engagement between you and your dog is by doing trick training. This is especially helpful if you have a dog that is part of the working breed families. Dogs that are working breeds have a high drive to learn and have a job. By training them to do specific tricks, like “Take a Bow” or “Twirl”; helps fulfill your dog's desire to have a job as well as have fun with you which strengthens your bond.

These are just a few examples of ways to build engagement with your dog. As a dog trainer, when I see dogs with leash pulling behaviors or are highly reactive, more often than not, these dogs have a low level of engagement with their owners. If you’re noticing that your dog isn’t very engaged with you, I recommend contacting a dog trainer or dog behaviorists to help you build that engagement with your dog. You will notice a big difference in your relationship with your dog as they learn to trust and focus more on you.

3 Keys to Successfully Training your Dog

It can be daunting when you first start to look into dog training. There are countless blog posts, articles, TV shows, and YouTube videos to help assist you. All of which seem to have different philosophies and techniques. How do you know where to begin?

I always tell my clients, if there is one thing you take away from our time together it is to remember the 3 keys of dog training. Consistency, Clarity, and Patience.

Consistency: Being consistent is when you repeat an action or process the same way over time.  This consistency builds a pattern for your dog, and dogs are excellent at picking up on patterns. If your dog can count on you every day before their meals to ask them to demonstrate the cues and behaviors they have been taught; those cues and behaviors get easier and more second nature for your dog.  Just like any athlete that wants to compete in a sport, the more they practice the mechanics of that sport the easier and more advanced they will become.

Clarity: We can often take for granted that our dogs understand us so well when they don’t have to ability to speak. It's important to remember that your dog is an animal, living in a human world. Animals can’t communicate the way humans do. Animals rely heavily on body language, tone of voice, and training to understand what humans are trying to communicate. It's important to look at what you are asking of your dog and examine if you are communicating with them clearly. Not just your words but your body language and tone of voice as well. If you are asking your dog to walk calmly beside you in a straight line moving forward, but your head and shoulders are turned to one side (usually looking at your dog or trying to maneuver the leash) that can be a confusing situation for your dog. Your body is telling them to focus in one direction while your words are saying another. This is just an example of how we need to be more aware of the clarity not only in our words but also in our tone of voice and body language. This will help us be clearer in communicating with our dog.

Patience: Training your dog is not a straight linear line towards progress. There will be ebbs and flows during your journey in training your dog. Just like humans, dogs have bad days too. It's important to not get discouraged during these days when you feel your dog is not listening. Remember to have realistic goals and expectations for your dog as well as for yourself during the training process.

By doing these 3 things when training your dog, you will be setting them up for success!