I love my vet, while we may not always agree, nutrition-wise, he respects my choices and never gives me a hard time about it. He is at the head of his field in terms of some ground breaking work being done with stem cells to improve spinal cord injuries, hip dysplasia, and arthritis. He is a well versed and devoted small mammal veterinarian specializing in rats. Honestly, I really do think he’s a fantastic veterinarian. I love his manners with his clients and their pets and I love that he is the type of vet who is always learning more and staying up to date with the latest information in his field.

That being said, I’ve heard him give some pretty questionable training advice to the general public. He does t.v. and radio spots regularly (when he’s not globe trotting performing the aforementioned stem cell therapies or talking about it at conferences) and on one such program he was asked, and chose to answer, a training question. Now, I do not recall the exact question or wording but it had to do with a dog in a fearful situation. His first piece of advice was not to coddle the dog, which eh, isn’t the worst advice but that particular phrase does bug me because reassurance can’t reinforce fear. He went on to say you should praise when they offer to be brave (which is fine) but that you should correct any fearful growls or nips (this is, as I mentioned the other day, not the best plan). He may not have meant physical corrections for growling, but as a viewer, that’s how I took it and that is concerning advice.

Every so often I come across either online advice, anecdotal stories from students, or online videos that are incredibly concerning about vets giving behavioral suggestions or information. I recently saw a video on youtube of a vet handling a 10 week old aussie puppy while telling his owner (in a very matter of fact way–very confident in the information he was sharing) all about “Alpha Holds.” He showed and explained that when a dog/puppy was being submissive he was loose while being held on his back but if the puppy got stiff or picked his head up, the puppy was being an alpha and it would be bad to let the puppy down in an alpha state of mind. In another video, the same vet is talking about alpha holds with adult dogs and at one point he was trying to show the dog in a submissive position on his side, but the dog’s legs were still stiff and the vet says, “Oh his paws are still alpha.” Really? Just the paws, umm… okay.

The point is that you can have the best vet in the world, from a medical standpoint, but that the vet is not necessarily qualified to give training/behavior advice. It would be like asking your physician about a cavity… it’s a related field but an expert in one does not make an expert in the other.

Veterinarians are in school for quite a long time and are responsible for knowing a huge amount of information–they are pediatricians, surgeons, dentists, oncologists, general physicians, and dermatologists… for more than one species! They have a lot to master and behavior/training just isn’t one of them. There are certainly things they may have learned either with their own pets or though just being around dogs, but again, that does not make them an expert or an authority in behavior/training (I’ve learned how to crudely adjust bike brakes out of experience…but that does not make me a bicycle mechanic or expert). If you have a pressing behavior/training question, you would probably be given a more up to date and accurate information if you ask a trainer and not a vet.

There are, however, some veterinarians educated in behavior and who might even be board certified veterinary behaviorists, who have been schooled in both disciplines (certified veterinary behaviorist is a specific title that is earned through degrees in both fields). If you happen to have one of these locally, they can be much better sources for behavioral information (especially when it’s also connected to veterinary issues like hyper/hypothyroidism). Here in Pittsburgh we are about 4 hours away from the nearest certified veterinary behaviorists (Ohio St. and a handful in eastern PA).

All of this isn’t to say all vets are completely clueless to training/behavior issue, only that sometimes you need to take it with a grain of salt and remember that while they are highly educated and experts in an animal field, they are not necessarily educated or trained to be behaviorists or trainers. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to tell your vet any behavior/training problems you are having with your dog since they may have a good trainer to refer you to but it is out of their field and their advice may not necessarily be the most sound. Sometimes even the best vets can give really bad training advice.

Tena Parker M.S., has been working with dogs for over 10 years. She is the owner of Success Just Clicks Dog Training in Pittsburgh, PA, has a thriving daily dog blog online, is a member of the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers), is a Certified APDT C.L.A.S.S Evaluator (and instructor), is a Certified AKC Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluator, and is a Certified Mentor Trainer for Animal Behavior College. She also teaches popular dog training classes through Western Pennsylvania Humane Society’s Get Smart! Training School several days a week.

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BY TENA PARKER

I regularly get asked questions from dog guardians who are worried about their dog being dominant. (This happens more often than I would like to mention.) They are often genuinely concerned because they’ve either heard a TV personality or a friend say that if their dog does some behavior that the dog is being dominant and trying to take over the role as “alpha.” Some of these may sound ridiculous, but these are actual concerns that have been brought to my attention.

Help! My dog is being dominant by leaning into me and claiming my space. How can I correct that?

If your dog is leaning into you, take it as a compliment. He’s seeking out affection and attention. He is not trying to dominate you – though he is being a little forward in how he is seeking your attention. It’s also probably a matter of the dog repeating a behavior that has been rewarded historically – he’s learned the leaning into you will get ear scratches, butt scratches and general snuggles. If you have a huge dog and a small body and you don’t like the lean, just don’t reward it and cue him to do something else (like a sit) so you can lavish him with cuddles for something other than leaning.

*When leaning, or variations of leaning, could become problematic is if the dog is pushing you away from things more than just leaning in. If you notice that every time you try to sit on the couch your dog blocks your way and pushes you out of the way, it may be more along the lines of resource guarding and not an attention-seeking behavior.

My dog likes to sit on the back of the couch; is he trying to dominate me?

Probably not. The back of the couch is a hot commodity in my house (and a place the Rio has always liked to sit – weird dog). Often, dogs like to sit on the back of the couch to look out of windows, to be able to avoid other animals playing on the ground or as a way to get close to their human if another animal is occupying the cushion next to the person. They aren’t trying to be dominant; they are more likely trying to get a view out of a window or be close to their person.

*This behavior could be problematic if the dog is resource guarding the person they are sitting behind or the couch itself.

My dog likes to sit on my feet or put his head or paws n my lap if I’m sitting down or nudge my hands to get pet. I can’t have him trying to be the alpha; what can I do?

All of these behaviors are attention-seeking behaviors. Your dog likes you and wants to try and be in the same space as you (which can be annoying at times). They are seeking out your affection and physically touching you – they aren’t trying to dominate you. If you like a little bit of space and would prefer your dog not intentionally sitting on your feet or putting their feet in your lap, teach them a “move over” cue or heavily reinforce them for laying down close to you but not on you.

*This behavior could be concerning if it was paired with resource guarding you from other animals or people or if it is a manifestation of separation anxiety.

Someone told me that when my puppy jumps up that he’s trying to be dominant. He jumps on everyone; is he really trying to be dominant?

Dogs jump up for a bunch of reasons. Often, they want to get close to our faces to say hello (what wild canids do when parents return to the area with food, they jump up an lick faces) and the only way to do that is to jump up. They are excited to see us and want to get close to us (again common behavior among young wild canids). And probably most commonly, jumping up is simply a behavior that has been reinforced over time and is a way the dog knows to get attention. While the jumping can be annoying and painful at times, it’s not about dominance.

*Jumping up may be a serious problem if your dog is doing what’s called a “muzzle punch.” A muzzle punch is when a dog forcefully bops into a person with a closed mouth – this typically, though not exclusively, happens when jumping up. A muzzle punch is a distance increasing behavior – ”get away from me!” and a potential precursor to a bite, so it is a concerning behavior (still not dominance).

My brother told me that I had to make my dog walk behind me at all times and go out of all the doors first or else my dog would become dominant and aggressive. Is that true?

No.

Dogs pull on the leash for a few reasons, but the most common is because humans are naturally slow movers. Our normal gait is a walk; theirs is a more efficient trot. This is their cruising speed. Have you ever had to hold the hand of a toddler and walk with them? It’s painfully slow. That’s what your dog feels like as we go out for walks and they would like to go out for a trot. So they are pulling because they are naturally faster than us and they are excited to get out of the house they’ve been stuck in all day. The same concept goes for walking through doors first – they have been stuck in the house all day and are excited to get their 30-60 minute constitutional (so to speak). They aren’t being dominant; they are excited. Both of these non-dominance issues are simply training issues.

*This may be concerning behavior if – well, neither of these have any big concerning things from the dog’s perspective (in terms of a bigger behavior concern). It can be concerning if the safety of the human is being put at risk of being pulled or knocked over or if the safety of the dog is at risk in that the handler can’t hold onto the leash or the dog bolts out doors.

My dog’s tail is always really high and over his back. Someone at the dog park got really upset and told me that it means he’s dominant and shouldn’t be at the park. Is that true?

Many dogs have naturally high tail sets and their tails being raised is nothing alarming at all. Breeds like huskies, malamutes, shih tzus, shar peis and shiba inus all have tails that are tall and curled over their backs naturally and breeds like beagles, fox hounds, many pointers and terriers like the airedale can all have tails that are often quite vertical. Rio has a very low natural tail set but his tail is often high and curled over his back when he is excited, really happy, hanging with doggie friends at the farm and hunting. A tall tail alone is not alarming and certainly isn’t automatically a sign of dominance.

*A high tail can be problematic when there are other concerning body language features as well. Very high tail, stiff body, and a staccato (fast/flagging) tail wag can be problematic, but it’s not instantly a sign of dominance. Shayne used to be nervous and insecure around other dogs and one of her body language pieces is a tall, stiff and flagging tail. It’s not a good sign, but it’s not dominance either.

So there you have it. Those are the most frequent dominance questions I get asked. Don’t get hung up on some label that doesn’t even really apply to the species in the way that people are trying to use it. Describe the behavior, learn to interpret the behavior, and then figure out the function of that behavior (what is the dog getting out of it). From that point you can figure out what your dog means by it.

Tena Parker M.S., has been working with dogs for over 10 years. She is the owner of Success Just Clicks Dog Training in Pittsburgh, PA, has a thriving daily dog blog online, is a member of the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers), is a Certified APDT C.L.A.S.S Evaluator (and instructor), is a Certified AKC Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluator, and is a Certified Mentor Trainer for Animal Behavior College. She also teaches popular dog training classes through Western Pennsylvania Humane Society’s Get Smart! Training School several days a week.

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BY TENA PARKER, CPDT-KA

Does your dog drive you crazy with annoying behaviors like barking, stealing things, chewing inappropriate items, jumping up, getting into garbage or cabinets or digging? Does he engage in peculiar behaviors like occasional spinning and tail chasing, licking (himself, others or inanimate things), chasing shadows and lights or pacing?

While some dogs with these behaviors may require extensive behavior modification to help alleviate the symptoms of a bigger problem, many dogs I encounter with these behaviors are simply under stimulated. The dogs are engaging in these behaviors because they aren’t getting the mental exercise they need, so they are creating their own mental work.

The key is to tire out the brain. If given the choice between a mindless five-mile bike ride for my dogs and 40 minutes of mental exercise, I will take the mental exercise every chance I get. If the brain gets tired out, the body will follow, but tiring out the body and not the brain often leads to problematic behaviors. Now, physical exercise is absolutely important for dogs, but mental exercise tends to be more overlooked. Adding physical exercise is pretty straightforward, but adding mental exercise can require some creativity and isn’t always as obvious.

For dogs who are under stimulated, the solutions are generally simple and, with some consistency, changes happen quickly. Here are two simple ways to reduce problematic behavior due to boredom or under stimulation:

1. Ditch the food bowl

There are many options available that require a dog to mentally and physically work for their meals. Why let Fido simply eat for free from a bowl when you can give them some brain games to earn their meal? There are a huge range in toys that you can use to dispense dry dog food to your dog through play and problem solving—after working for 20 minutes on a challenging toy to get breakfast, many dogs simply take a nap (instead of getting into trouble). There are also a wide range of games that you can play while your dog earns their meals.

Hide and Seek is one of my favorite ways to feed my dogs. Hide dry dog food in a room. Let them use their brains to hunt out the food. Eventually, you can expand to your dog having to search the whole house for their meal or even the yard. It’s pretty easy to set up and dogs love the game.

There are countless food dispensing toys available on the market that are fantastic options for dogs earning their daily meals. When introducing toys, it’s best to start with easy ones first so your dog builds skills they need to solve harder toys and build stamina for toys that won’t pay out as fast. Here is a very small sampling of the toys available.

Ultra Easy Toys
Kyjen Slo-Bowl (pictured), Kong Classic, empty Gatorade bottle with 3+ quarter-sized holes cut in the side.

Easy Toys
Kong Wobbler, Kong Genius toys, Hol-ee Treat Ball, Rockin Treat Ball, Tricky Treat Ball, Planet Dog balls/Orbee

Moderate Toys
Treatstik, Atomic Treat Ball, Kong Satelite, IQ treat ball (on the easy setting), Buster Cube (on the easy setting), Gatorade bottle with one nickel-size hole with lid on.

Challenging toys
Buster Cube, IQ Treat Ball, Gatorade bottle with one kibble-size hole on the bottom.

2. Train That Doggie

Training does two very important jobs, it helps your dog learn better life skills (or crazy tricks) and it tires them out mentally. You don’t even have to spend hours training your dog at all! How about 15 minutes? If you trained your dog during every commercial break during an hourlong TV show, you’d end up training for just about 15 minutes without changing your schedule at all. You can even multitask by using part of your dog’s daily food as training treats so you can feed your dog while working your dog.

What you train isn’t all that important (manners, obedience, tricks, sports), though there are lots of skills that will work the body as much as the brain. Some of my favorite tricks that work the body as much as the brain are: sit pretty, bow (like a play bow), spinning both directions, rollover, come when called and a hand target (touching their nose to my hand). Put this all together and mix them up for a fast-paced series of position changes and dogs end up panting and mentally tired.

Basically, the more you have your dog working with positive things, the less they will be working with not so positive things. Whether that is an enrichment toy, a puzzle game, a training game or a training class, get your dog thinking and working!

Tena Parker, M.S., has been working with dogs for over 10 years. She is the owner of Success Just Clicks Dog Training in Pittsburgh, PA, has a thriving daily dog blog online, is a member of the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers), is a Certified APDT C.L.A.S.S Evaluator (and instructor), is a Certified AKC Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluator, and is a Certified Mentor Trainer for Animal Behavior College. She also teaches popular dog training classes through Western Pennsylvania Humane Society’s Get Smart! Training School several days a week.

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BY TENA PARKER

Believe it or not, I find that leashes very frequently become weights holding back the potential for training. The more one relies on the leash during the beginning stages of training, the more it hinders training at higher levels.

Yes, of course, leashes are often necessary for safety’s sake and for the law, but they often get in the way of teaching reliable behaviors without the leash. The number of dogs I see who behave beautifully on leash and who are less than stellar off leash is pretty large.

There are three big issues I generally see as a result of leashes holding back training. Dogs learn that there is no chance for punishment without the leash attached (this is with people who use leash corrections), dogs learn that a tight leash is required to respond to cues, and humans rely on using the leash to gain their dog’s attention.

For handlers who utilize punishment, like leash pops, early in the training (not just for proofing), it is very easy to create dogs who are super leash savvy. When the leash is on they are perfect angels, but as soon as the leash comes off, they become crazy monsters.

They quickly learn that if the leash is on they have to respond or they will get a leash pop, but once the leash is off, that they have no reason to respond.

This is an incredibly dangerous side effect of using physical punishment during training. If there is a malfunction and Fido somehow ends up off leash and loose, they take advantage of being off leash and do not reply to cues. The only reason the dog responds to cues is due to the threat of punishment. When that threat is gone, they no longer respond.

Many handlers new to my class have to work through keeping their hands quiet and not pulling up on the leash as part of the cue. If they cue their dog to sit, many will automatically tighten the leash. It’s not a leash pop, but just a tightening of the leash. They often do this lovely contortion dance where they lift the leash hand up and out from their body, as if holding up a disgusting dirty sock away from their body. Because the tight leash happens each time, they give a cue. The dog starts to learn that the tightening of the leash is part of the cue. What results is that the dog struggles to perform the behaviors reliably without having a tight leash, which is the opposite of what most of them want. Most of them want a dog who doesn’t pull on the leash.

I’m glad to say that this last one is something I have not seen quite as much of in the last few months, though I’m sure it may come back again. Up until recently, I frequently had to mention not using the leash as an attention getting tool.

Handlers would leash pop or jangle the leash to make the tags make noises as a way to regain their dogs focus. This really undermines the training the handlers need to work on for focus. I mean, what time is it imperative that you are able to gain your dog’s focus? In my mind, it’s most important when they are off leash and at quite the distance. If handlers rely on using a leash to gain focus, how are they supposed to gain the focus when their dog is off leash? Again, it’s setting the dog up to fail, when the dog is required to perform off leash.

Leashes may be required by law, but here are a few ways you can minimize its effect on your training so it does not become a crutch or a hindrance.

• Use a hands-free leash. Keeping your hands off the leash prevents you from inadvertently tightening, pulling or popping the leash. It also requires you to be more connected with your dog in terms of better communication and focusing on using other methods to control your dog.

• Use a long line. This is a great next step for working towards off-leash reliability. Since you are working with a long line, tightening the leash or giving a leash pop is more difficult. It requires a bit more work than the hands-free leash because the dog has more space to roam, but it’s a great tool to make a handler really work with their dog.

• Focus on keeping a J Leash or a leash with lots of slack in it. Sometimes, you may get wrapped up in the training and forget your technique, having a trainer there to help point out mistakes can be incredibly helpful. You can always use a video recorder to film your session and to play back. It’s not as good as instant feedback, but it can give you really helpful information in terms of how you use your leash.

I really encourage you to take a moment to rig up a hands-free leash and go for a walk. How much do you rely on your leash to keep your pup with you and / or gain compliance. How much harder did you have to work to keep Fido with you?

Tena Parker M.S., has been working with dogs for over 10 years. She is the owner of Success Just Clicks Dog Training in Pittsburgh, PA, has a thriving daily dog blog online, is a member of the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers), is a Certified APDT C.L.A.S.S Evaluator (and instructor), is a Certified AKC Canine Good Citizen and S.T.A.R. Puppy Evaluator, and is a Certified Mentor Trainer for Animal Behavior College. She also teaches popular dog training classes through Western Pennsylvania Humane Society’s Get Smart! Training School several days a week.

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