Having Realistic Expectations of Dog Training

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We ask the majority of all of our clients this question when they come to our facility to drop their dog off for training. It sounds silly to most clients, they look at you funny, and say of course I’m going to follow through once the dog is home! But we have found that some dog owners have a false since of hope that there dog will come home a push button robot; whether it be a pet dog here for behavior modification, a protection dog, a police dog, or even an autism assistance dog many owner’s must realize the finished results don’t transfer over automatically it’s a gradual thing with consistency and patience. So let’s go over what we mean by expectations of training!

No matter what type of pet dog training you chose, whether it’s in-kennel training, private lessons, in-home training, or even group classes, you have your home work cut out for you! In-kennel clients should understand that just because the dog does all the commands for our dog trainer’s doesn’t mean that will automatically apply to you. Let’s say, for example your dog has had the run of the house the last 2 years, he comes and goes as he pleases, chews up things in your home, lunges at people on a walk, and maybe a little rough when playing with new dogs. You as the pet owner, have allowed that to go on the last 2 years, and that is no big deal, we see it all the time, but when your dog returns home you have to get with the program and apply the rules instantly. This can take several days or even weeks for your dog to realize that “Mom is not putting up with my bad behavior anymore!” And my group class, private lessons, and in-home training clients you are not off the hook either! You will be assigned things to work on between sessions, it’s your job as the pet owner to follow through, and it’s so worth it!

Protection dog clients maybe the worst as far as expectations! They often times purchase a dog that is picked from a vendor in Europe, we ship the dog to our facility, and the owner may or may not even come visit before training begins. We work with the dog for several months in obedience and bite work and deliver the dog to the client’s home. This dog doesn’t know you from Adam; it takes several weeks and sometimes months depending on the dog, for a bond or relationship to take effect. Clients want good social dogs that can do well with kids that perform bite work, then call the first week and say it’s not mean enough! Once the dog understands his home he will guard it to the fullest! This goes back to patience and consistency in training once the dog is in your home! We have a protection dog in the Charlotte area, the owner called after week two and said that his wife has spoiled her so much he didn’t think she would bite a flea! Jason went down to the home did a little decoy work with her and she still had it! Jason explained that she was still settling in to be patient and stick with working obedience daily (this helps with the liability issue that come with a protection dog to work on nice solid obedience). A few weeks later, the owner called and said he had to leave work early and go home, because the cleaning lady had stepped out of the house and their dog would not let her back in! Since then this family has had other positive experiences when the dog performed their job, you just have to give it a chance!

Our Autism Assistance Dog clients probably have the most work do to once the dog arrives. For this simple reason is why we generally stay five days upon delivery of the dog to make sure the transition goes well with the children! Our families already have a tight schedule with school, therapies, and doctor appointments and so on, now they have to learn how to utilize a dog in this chaos! We prepare our clients for the responsibilities that are added with a dog and how they still have to work daily with the child and dog on obedience and structure. Like our protection dog clients we often purchase a dog to fit the family’s needs and they may visit the dog a few times upon delivery, so again it takes a little bit for the dog to settle and bond with your family so be patient it will pay off in the end!

So when asked “What are your expectations of the dogs training?” Your answer should be I understand that your job is to lay the foundation work for my dog, but it’s up to me and my family to properly nurture and mold the finished product with training my dog! Keep expectations realistic, understand that these dogs will not be push button in the beginning, it takes time, with consistency and structure you will get there, and we guarantee it! We are only a phone call away and any of our dog trainer’s will be happy to assist with advice and/or a visit if needed!

Benefits of Dog Training in Your Home

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Highland Canine offers both private lessons and in-home dog training for the convenience of keeping your dog at home. Clients that sign up for private lessons meet with our trainers once a week for about an hour. During this hour we put together a game plan for developing more structure in your house and each week our dog trainers teach you a new command and work on certain behaviors that may be disrupting your household. You as a client will be responsible for homework between your lessons! Our in-home dog training programs allow our busy clients the satisfaction of knowing their dog is learning in the pleasure of their own home. Even if the dog owner’s are at work or on vacation! This program works much like a pet-sitter, we schedule times and days to come by and work with your dog one on one. You have the flexibility to observe/participate at each lesson or wait towards the end of the training program to see your results and learn how to maintain your training. Our dog trainers make sure that you have all of the tools and knowledge you need to maintain the training of your dog. As with all of our dog training programs we offer free follow up training for the life of the dog, and we give advice by phone or email anytime!

In-kennel dog training is great, but sometimes we just don’t see the behaviors and behavior problems that you may see at home. This offers you and your family a custom training program to work on these behavioral issues. Examples of problem behaviors include: barking and/or lunging at visitors at the front door, nipping at children when they run around the house, fence fighting with the neighbor’s dogs; chewing up furniture/windows, aggression between multiple pets, leash aggression when walking in public or around your neighborhood, potty training/marking issues, moderate to severe shyness with visitors, digging or destroying the yard. These are just a few of the dog problems we see and work with to help you get your household back on track!

Our professional dog trainer’s here at Highland Canine Training have had extensive training and experience in the areas of problem solving and are prepared to handle any breed. We feel that the majority of problems that arise from dogs in their home environment come from an error or lack of communication from the pet owners. It is our job to assist you and get you and your family in the habit of learning to speak dog!

Another benefit of private lessons is that we are actually teaching you how to train your own dog. These dog training techniques can be applied to your next dog or pet, so the investment can last a lifetime! Highland Canine Training currently has trainers located in cities of North Carolina including; Lake Norman, Lake Wiley, Statesville, Troutman, Huntersville, Mooresville, Matthews, Newton, Conover, Lenoir, Granite Falls, and Lake Hickory. We also have contractors that cover areas in and around Atlanta, Georgia including Marietta and in and around Tampa, Florida. Call us today to set up your free evaluation!

Can I certify my dog at the end of my Canine Instructor School?

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Highland Canine Training offers a school and certification program that will teach you progressive and innovative methods of beginning your new dog training career. Whether you are interested in learning basic or advanced obedience training, behavior modification, police K-9 training, detection, search and rescue, competition obedience or sport dog training or even want to advance your skills for a dog related business that you already own, our courses are the best place to begin.

With this being said, many of our students in the past, whether the course is to learn how to test out and train protection dogs or our dection courses usually bring their on dog with the hopes that they can get their personal dogs trained and certified. The chances of getting a green dog completely certified by the end of say a 6 week course in not realistic. First off, it’s hard to say that your personal dog will have the proper drives that it takes to become a full service working dog. Please don’t take it personal if we tell you this, this course is not designed to just train your personal dog, it isdesigned to give you the tools to teach you how to choose the right working dog for the job, and to work with various canine/breeds in various stages of their training.

It seems in the past that some students only want to work their personal dogs and become irritated or offended if they are working other dogs/breeds. You must have an open mind when training dogs and many dogs have many different levels of drive and behavior just like people. If you only limit yourself to training one dog or one specific breed then your are missing so much education and are simply shorting yourself on building your skills as an instructor. For example if you are here to learn detection dogs, you can still learn so much about odor and behaviors of dogs in odor from search and rescue canines by running a track or observing the dogs work the rubble pile. So don’t limit your exposure it will make you a well rounder dog trainer!

There are many different ways to train both pet dogs and working dogs, even if you are not going to use some of the varios methods, that is fine, but it only benefits you to learn all the methods so you can understand how some dogs you may come across for brush up are trained. And who knows you may be able to take a little bit from each method and come up with a new method of training!

So, yes we have certified some personal dogs that come through with variuos students enrolled in our canine instructor’s course, but it is not a gaurentee. This course is designed to benefit those who may start up a SAR team, supervise police canine unit, or simply want to train working dogs for a living. Please feel free to give us a call or check us out on the web for various courses offered for canine working dogs!

Do I Need an Autism Assistance Dog?

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Many parents question whether an Austim Assistance Dog would benefit their child and family. Our answer to that, is that it depends on the situation! It’s the old saying of “If you meet a child with autism, then you have met one child with autism” and that is basically why we take each application on a case by case basis.

Many parents that have a child that have just been diagnosed with autism should not just run out and purchase a service dog for their child. Talk with your physician, because there are many changes that are getting ready to happen in your life and the life of your child, so this would not be the best time to introduce a new responsibilty in your life. Your physicians and/or therapists will let you know when you are ready to take this step for your child and your family.

If your child has not been around animals or possibly has a fear to animals or new things. Then I would suggest horse therapy, zoo visits, and to go on short visits where they can meet both large and small dogs. Your child is always welcome to visit our facility and meet all the dogs, cats, sheep, goats, and horses! Please keep in mind the responsiblity of purchasing an autism dog, however these responsibility can help your child grow and cross those bridges into communication and social behaviors. For example we had a child that we trained a dog for that, when going out on errrands, shopping, or visits; you could only stop at two places, three if he was having a great day. One of those places had to be the pet store or the toy store or the result would be severe meltdowns. We personally delivered the dog to the family and worked with them and the child for about five days. On day three we attempted the shopping spree. The child was able to heel the dog around town on his own, and before we knew whe had visited 4 stores, a farmers market around the block and then sat down to eat dinner, without a peep from the child. He was so content with having the responisibilty of the dog he forgot about his normal must have routines, and an added bonus wsa that he wasn’t clinging to mom all day!

Once you and your doctors/therapist decide that an autism assistance dog is the next step for your family then you are ready to fill out an application, we ask you to be as detailed as possible including a doctors presciption so that we can pick the best dog for your family. Once your application is excepted, then we scout for the perfect dog for you and your child. Once we locate a dog or two that could be a good fit we ask you to come out for a visit and meet the dogs.

We have had a few parents ask what if they can not balance dog and child once the dog is placed in the home, do they get a refund? We give our families many opportunities to finalize their decision for a service dog, so once the process is towards the end of training and/or placement then the answer is no, but you are more than welcome to donate the dog to the right family that may not be able to afford one.

We have seen remarkable results from autism assistance dogs and the children, after the bonding time is complete. They talk their world head on hand in hand. Highland Canine Training will do everything we can to make sure these happy endings continue you on for years to come!

If you are interested in learning more about our Autism Assistance Dog Programs or training feel free to call us toll free at 866.200.2207 or visit www.autismassistancedog.com

How to Get a Happy and Well Balanced Puppy

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When your family is looking to get a new addition to your family the first thing to think about is what kind of puppy best suits your families activity level, if you have kids, whether you have another dog, if so what is his or her personality and if you live in a house or an apartment. Those are just a few things to think about. However, these are important factors in making sure that you set the puppy up for success. If you are having a problem with what kind of dog to choose for your household and life style, make a list of a few dogs that interest you. Do some research on them.

When everyone comes to a decision on what breed, size and energy level you think would be best the next step is finding a breeder that interests you. A few things that might help you decide which breeder to pick can be if the parents are on site, how long he/she has been in business for and ask them questions on the info that you found on the breed that you have decided to go with. Ask them if you can come to their house or kennel to see the parents and the condition they keep them in. If for some reason they say no, that is a clue you don’t want to do business with them and that they are trying to hide something.

Once you bring your puppy home it is very important to make sure that you have all of the things they need before you bring them home. Puppies can start training depending on the breed anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks old. At a young age the more socialization the better. Introducing them to something new should be a gradual thing. Your goal is to set everything up so your puppy gets something good out of that experience. Some of the things that is important to introduce them to is men, women, children, different sounds and walking on a leash. It is important that the training is a positive and fun experience so they look forward to learning new things. Never hit your puppy when they are having a bad day or when they do something that you are not happy with. Put them in their crate and try it again the next day.

Moving on to training. Whether you go to group classes or get a trainer to work with you and your family it is important for the dogs stability to have boundaries that everyone follows. For example, one person can’t tell the puppy that they can come on the bed and then the next person yells at the puppy when it gets on the bed. Everything has to come across clear so he/she doesn’t start to get confused and then they don’t know what is being asked of them which will set you back in the training. Taking your puppy out to practice training should always be when you are in a good mood. When you are having a bad day the puppy will pick up on this. In turn that session will be a waste of time and will get you nowhere.

Search and Rescue Dogs 101

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So you are interested in becoming a Search and Rescue (SAR) K9 handler or part of a SAR K9 team, great! I’ve noticed that there isn’t much information or direction on the internet, so I wanted to write a brief article to help you take a step in the right direction. Because every SAR chapter has different standards and requirements, I am not going to attempt to guide you through the actual process. My goal here is to guide you in the right direction so that you can decide what type of SAR dog you want to train, are looking at having trained , and/or want to handle. In a nutshell, there are 4 different types of SAR dogs. These four types are the tracking/trailing dog, USAR or disaster dog, wilderness or air Scent dog and the HRD or cadaver dog.

Tracking or Trailing Dog – It is common for people to use tracking and trailing synonymously. This is a common misconception among people learning about tracking or trailing work. In actuality, they are two completely different methods and have two completely different uses. The reason we use both words to describe them here is in the event someone is looking for a SAR trailing dog, but accidently wrote SAR tracking dog. Tracking is a method used in many sports like Schutzhund or AKC competitions. This is a very slow and ineffective way for SAR groups to work. Here, the dog actually follows each footstep of the track layer. They are taught to keep their nose on the ground so they do not miss a footstep and can indicate on a scent article.

As for the Search and Rescue trailing dog this is the fastest and most effective way to trail a person when you know their last known location or have a scent article. Here, the dog is taught to follow the scent, not the track of the human it is following. It is taught scent discrimination so it does not pick up a new scent somewhere along the track and follow it instead. It is also taught to work through contamination along the trail like vehicles, other people, animals and other distractions. You will often see a dog with his nose held up, walking fast or running during a trail. It is the handlers job to ensure that the dog is working at all times and is on the right trail. This type of trailing is typically done on a 30 or 50 foot long line or leash so the handler can keep up with the dog. This dog is by far the most common and most often used Search and Rescue dog out there.

USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) or Disaster Dog – This dog is similar to a life insurance policy…you pay into it each month but hope that you don’t have to use it in the near future. What I mean by this is that the Urban Search and Rescue or Disaster Dog is used very rarely. We typically refer to them as disaster dogs because they are used after hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, flash floods, acts of terrorism, etc. These dogs are taught to find living humans in difficult terrain, i.e. a pile of rubble, a collapsed building, rooftops, etc. This dog not only understands the fundamentals of finding the human, but also has the agility training to move himself to the location to show a final indication. These are the dogs that were used during the 911 tragedy, the Oklahoma City bombing and most recently in Haiti and Chile. These dogs are extremely valuable when it comes to disasters but a typical USAR dog may only work once in its life.

Wilderness or Air Scent Dog – These dogs have not only mastered on and off leash obedience, but have the ability to be set free in the woods to locate a human in large or rough terrain. These dogs are often times used to search larger areas where no last know location has been given. Once they pick up the scent they tend to zigzag back and forth creating a cone shape until they eventually find the source of the odor, the missing person. They are most commonly used to find a missing person in the wilderness or someone lost on terrain which would be hard for an individual to navigate through. These dogs are also highly skillful at agility so they can move quickly, smoothly and fluently while locating someone.

HRD or Cadaver Dog – Human Remains Detection or Cadaver dogs are usually brought in last during a Search and Rescue operation. These dogs are trained to find and indicate on a number of decomposing human odors. Whether it is decomposition fluid, hair, teeth, blood, tissue or nails the dog is always looking for someone who has died. HRD dogs are taught on and off leash obedience, plus directionals which help the handler control their search pattern from a distance and in rough terrain. The most popular HRD dog is a land cadaver dog. This dog is trained to indicate when it has found a body (or part) regardless if it is visible or not on the land. A water dog will indicate on odors of a body under water while riding in a boat or similar vessel.
Although it has been done, we do not suggest training a dog to find live humans and cadavers. It has been seen throughout history that when presented with a situation where it is presented with both live people and cadavers it has been extremely easy for them to get confused and indicate on the wrong thing. For instance, during 911 dual trained cadaver/USAR were used to find living humans. They wanted to spend as much time trying to save the individuals still alive as possible. So when the dog indicated, they assumed the person was alive and spent a large amount of energy trying to save them, only to find out they had been dead for hours or days. So that is why we don’t suggest it.

It is easy to write an essay on each one of these categories of Search and Rescue dogs, but it is important to understand the fundamental differences between them. Knowing what each is will only help you decide which route you and your pup want to go when joining a SAR Chapter. Here at Highland Canine we pride ourselves in producing some of the finest SAR dogs in the industry. Call today to schedule an evaluation to see if your dog is capable of becoming a Search and Rescue dog or if you were looking to purchase a dog already trained.

Stop Hitting Your Dogs

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I recently had the opportunity to observe some police canine training locally where about 20 handlers were working on some complex detection exercises. There were quite a few handlers waiting their turn to work the detection exercises. Apparently, some of the dogs and handlers were getting anxious about what was ahead, but everyone seemed to be waiting patiently. SWOOSH, and a loud, resounding CRACK was the sound that rang out across the parking lot. One of the handlers had swung their leash all the way around and cracked their Malinois right across the nose with the handle of the leash for not holding the sit and stay position. My first thought was, “What an Idiot!”. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time that I had seen this and I am afraid it won’t be the last.

We commonly work with owners and handlers that consistently hit their dogs on the head or other places in order to correct unwanted behavior. They hit them with everything from their hands, feet, leashes, newspapers, or anything else that they can get their hands on. We recently spoke with the owner of a 6 month old Labradoodle who admitted to hitting it in the head whenever it did anything that they didn’t like. Some of the things it would get hit for would include, jumping, pulling, barking or getting on the furniture.

So, what do these dogs learn from being hit in the head? For one, they learn to stay at least an arms (or leash) reach from their owners at all times. They also learn to be afraid of leashes, hands, newspapers and anything else that they feel may strike them. Equally as important, they often never know why or when they will get hit next. There is often no clear direction from the handler as to what is and is not expected from them. Therefore, the dog experiences “learned helplessness” and feels as though they are trapped as an unwilling participant in a game of “WHACKAMOLE”.

About a year and a half ago, we had the opportunity to work with a dog that had been consistently hit in the head by his owners. After several short months of this, the dog began to bite. The dog would bite the hands of anyone who tried to pet it, feed it or touch it in general. This made it difficult for the owners to have company over, to take the dog to the vet and to work with the dog in general. It took months to rehabilitate this particular dog and teach him to trust people and their hands again.

Let’s just take a quick look at when and how we use our hands with our dogs. We give them treats with our hands. We feed them with our hands and we also pet them with our hands. Therefore, it is important to use our hands properly with the dog so that we don’t create a negative association with our hands in general. When we think about it, we also use a leash for walking, training and other exercises and it is equally as important that we do not create the same association with the leash by whacking the dog in the head or nose with it.

Plain and simple, there is no benefit from hitting a dog with anything, including your hands or a leash. There are much better and more effective ways to train a dog and to correct unwanted behavior in dogs without hitting them. Physically hitting dogs is not a positive punishment techniques that dogs can understand and not beneficial in training or living with a dog.

If you have any questions about our training methods or programs, please feel free to call us at 866.200.2207 or email us at training@highlandcanine.com.

Old Dogs, New Tricks

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For Jason Purgason, few dogs are bad dogs. They just haven’t been well trained.

Purgason, a certified K-9 and SWAT instructor who was the first law enforcement dog handler in Rockingham County, says most every dog can be a friend and companion, while special breeds can perform specialized jobs for law enforcement.

So why are some dogs considered anti-social, suffering what he calls “a socialization deficit?”

Most often, he thinks the problem is more with the human in the dog’s life.

“The hardest part of this whole job is training people,” Purgason said Thursday during a training session with Lucy, a Great Dane, and her Statesville human, Sandy Murdock.

Murdock found Lucy as a stray over three months ago, and wanted to save her.

“She was a stray, she was not spayed. I think she was afraid of everything,” Murdock said.

The result? A dog that first tries to scare humans away as a result of her own fear.

“Fear-aggressive dogs don’t want to bite,” Purgason said.

“They want you to back off” so they growl and bark and it usually works.

“That conditions them, so they keep doing that,” he said.

“People in America look at dogs as humans in fur coats,” he said. “But they’re not. They have their own behaviors, and we try to make them fit ours. So maybe they have issues of dominance,” he said, and the dog’s way to address it is to tell the human “back off.”

The problem isn’t just with large dogs, he said. “We deal with behavioral issues in everything from Chihuahuas to Great Danes,” he said, displaying fear aggression.

With Lucy, Purgason initiated a course of direction that makes the dog pay attention to Murdock rather than reacting to everything else, which could be distractions like other humans or other dogs.

“This is wonderful,” Murdock said as she put Lucy through her paces, which involved reinforced training on sitting, staying and coming.

Serious work

But pampering pet owners is not Purgason’s main goal. As a certified police canine trainer through the U.S. Police Canine Association, the International Police Working Dog Association and Eastern States Working Dog Association, he strives to provide law enforcement with working dogs with well-rounded police skills.

“I’ve trained dogs for (law enforcement) in Wilkes County, Salisbury, Alexander County, the Federal Reserve Bank in Jacksonville, Fla., and the Miami Police Department,” he said.

He chooses certain breeds for police work, and can provide turn-key canine officers for police patrol duty, search and rescue, human remain detection and personal protection. Those that do patrol duties are trained in handler protection, narcotic and explosive detection, building searches, human tracking, evidence searching, and, well, “to catch the bad guys,” Purgason said.

And he and his team of trainers say it’s a joy to work with the dogs. “It’s not a job because we have so much fun,” he said with a laugh.

Their last chance

Perhaps Purgason’s most critical mission is his pro bono work with aggressive dogs in local shelters. Most angry dogs that come to the shelter never have a chance for adoption because of their attitude.

“We understand that a majority of animals that are in shelters and rescues are often likely not to be adopted,” he said.

His solution is the Second Chance Program. What that means is he takes an aggressive dog from an animal shelter and puts it through an intensive program of training and behavior modification at no charge to make it more adoptable.

He will train the dog for three to six weeks, and then help find a family to care for the dog. “Once a family is selected, we take the time to work with them and their new dog to make sure that they understand their training, how to handle them effectively, how to reward them and correct any mistakes properly,” he said. “We also assist them in integrating the dog into their new home and offer free follow-up lessons to ensure that their new dog maintains their training.”

And he wants to take on the hard cases. “We are up for the challenge to take on the most difficult dogs,” he said.

“There are dogs we can’t fix,” he admitted. “But not many; none that I have seen.”

Which to Purgason means one fewer dog euthanized, and one more loving family companion.

This story can be found at: http://www.statesville.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=SRL/MGArticle/SRL_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192529152

You Want Me to Do What?

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Great dog teams fail because the dog is expected to do something that he has not previously been conditioned to do in training. With that said, you should never expect your dog to perform a task well if he has never been trained to do so.

This is often seen in detection work. For example, a handler is called by another officer to search a tractor trailer that has been stopped on the interstate. Without proper conditioning and training, this encounter can soon be a disaster for the dog team. A lot of handlers rarely train theirs dogs around tractor trailers and other types of large commercial vehicles. I believe that there are several reasons for this. Some handlers do not have access to vehicles of this type. Others are a bit intimidated by these vehicles because they have never been exposed to them or been taught how to properly conduct searches of them. Needless to say, if trained to search commercial vehicles effectively, the rewards can be phenomenal.

This failure is also seen regularly with police dogs and SWAT or Special Response Teams. Very few departments allow ample time and resources for their canine handlers to train with SWAT or tactical teams. However, when there is a need for a canine in a SWAT situation, the dog and handler are expected to perform with perfection. I often observe this when teaching Basic Police Canine and SWAT seminars. Dog teams are being integrated with SWAT teams and have never been exposed to munitions, rapid gunfire, or even their handler or other team members in full gear. Police canines can be successfully integrated into SWAT or tactical teams with some work, training and team support.

I also see a number of patrol dogs that are simply trained to react aggressively to the sound of gunfire. A typical training session goes like this; a “suspect” in protective equipment is placed out in a field and shoots in the direction of the dog or handler. The dog is then sent to bite them and the process is repeated. This leaves us with several questions to ask: How realistic is this training? What happens when the handler returns gunfire with a dog that has been conditioned to bite anyone who shoots? What if the suspect is hiding under a car and shooting at the team?

So, how do we properly condition and train our dog for those situations that we are likely to encounter in the field? Through Realistic Training! With a little effort and aforethought we can establish realistic training for detection, patrol, tracking and all other aspects of canine utilization. By conducting training that is productive and realistic we are able to appreciate the dogs strengths and scrutinize areas of deficiency in the dogs training. We are then able to correct any deficiencies that we observe, making for a more productive and effective canine team.

If you would like to discuss training problems or are interested in our seminars please call 866.200.2207 or email training@highlandcanine.com

When One Door Opens…

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I recently had a client in Charlotte, North Carolina who called about a dilemma with her terrier. She stated that the dog was great around the house, for the most part, but was having issues when company arrived and when she took the dog outside. She explained that whenever someone knocked or rang the doorbell the dog would tear at the door and attempt to attack them, acting in a very aggressive manner. Once the person came in, the dog would bark non-stop for hours, or until they left, whichever came first. When she attempted to take the dog for a stroll, around her fairly busy neighborhood, she would exhibit a very similar behavior. She would bark at neighbors, lunge at other dogs and loud cars and try to attack people taking out their trash. The owner had previously completed basic obedience training with the dog, hoping this would help. She stated that she had already employed the service of two other trainers and had even consulted with a dog behaviorist, to no avail. She was extremely concerned that her dog would bite someone.

I met with the owner and her disturbed dog to evaluate the situation. Even before I entered the house the dog was barking furiously and charging at the door. It was obvious that the dog was very uncomfortable with this situation. I soon learned that the dog had grown up with a breeder and the current owner had purchased her at about a year old. This behavior had been going on for some time and seemed to be getting even worse.

So, I was faced with the task of disentangling this unusual behavior and discovering its source. We started obedience training with the dog and began to work on her unacceptable behavior. Her previous obedience lessons had only covered the initial phase of training, the teaching phase. This caused her obedience to be rather inconsistent when calm and non-existent, to say the least, when she was on a tirade.

The owners of this problem pooch lived in a beautiful home with a two car garage. They almost always entered the home from the door located in the garage. This left the main door available for visitors. Therefore, the terrier became used to the fact that her owners always came in the garage door and “strangers” always entered the main door. So I had the owners begin using the main door as their new means of entering the house……what a surprise for our temperamental terrier! We also incorporated methods of making the dog understand that people using the main door were just as friendly as her owners. In no time, our terrier went from barking and tearing at the door to sitting tranquilly awaiting visitors to pet her.

Now, our owner is able to take her cordial canine friend for uneventful strolls around the neighborhood and the days of those action-packed walks are long gone. She is also able to answer her door without the concern that her dog may bite someone. The difference in this terrier is remarkable and was accomplished in only six-weeks.

If you would like to discuss training or how we can assist you in eliminating behavioral problems please call 866.200.2207 or email training@highlandcanine.com