[Michael D'Abruzzo]

Hi Joanna,

The problem you are seeing is from skipping steps like you have suggested. Definitely do not skip the flexi come with the remote. If the dog seems confused you can quickly use the flexi to show him what to do. If he does well there, your best bet is to do the exercise with him dragging a very long light line (for the same reason but he will feel more like he is free due to less tension).

You are discovering that the biggest difference between the remote collar and other training collars is that it does not show the dog what to do when he is corrected – so you must always be prepared to show him if he shows the slightest bit of confusion until he really gets it. Refer to the instructional video “phase 3 flexi come”. When he does well there , then have him drag a light line (be careful not to get your ankles tangled), then you can test off leash if he is doing well there. Remember to keep using the same predictable command sequence and PRAISE if he even looks at you and all the way to you. Still always reward when he gets to you.

keep in touch with me on this one as this is a very advanced exercise. Guidance helps.

Good luck,
Mike

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

How is the family doing with the affection/petting rules and picking up the food items? The affection rule is probably the most important of all them.

Definitely get started with a climb command. You can use a regular dog bed or folded up comforter to practice this. Its right in the phase 1 videos. You are going to want to give her immediate direction when someone enters the house. Keep a leash on her at this stage when practicing and when someone enters. You want to nip this behavior in the bud since this can become much worse as she gets older.

Teach her the command with the full set of rules and do dry runs with family members knocking on the door, etc..
Then see how she does with a real guest. Do not allow her to approach them at all until she is completely settled in a “climb” (or place).
Remember to reward with a good food reward if she does well. If you release her from her position and acts up again – put her right back to the designated spot.

It will help her to know that acting up when you or any family member capable of guiding her is present will result with her going to a stay postion off to the side of the action.

It might not necessarily be possible for the dog to see the children as leaders until the children are old enough to understand how to follow leadership exercises (especially the affection rules) on their own and have the minimum capability to safely guide the dog through simple obedience in the face of distractions.

In the meantime the dog will probably always look toward the adults in the household for direction – and the dog may act one way in the adults presence, but act another way if guests were in the house and only the children are present (in the case of having a babysitter).

Having the babysitter establish a healthy and positive relationship with the dog will be the best option here for that situation.

The more you sucessfully deal with guests the better.

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

This sounds like a territorial warning type bark – as if she would like to scare the intruders away. How is she once you have visitors in the home or someone comes closer to you?

You should be able to communicate to her that she doesn’t have to worry as much with the right plan. How are you doing with your pack structure exercises? We want to make sure that first and foremost that we are communicating to her that we want the position of making the call after she alerts you.

If you are tight on step 5 we can make a plan with step 9 than desenstize at step 10 and only improve from there.

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

I agree with you 100% on this. I am not a big fan of dog parks for that very reason. I much prefer play dates with dogs that you know your dog gets along with. Adult dogs by nature really do not have any desire to be social butterflies anyway.

The best way within reason is to deal with the unexpected rude dog with obedience (calling your dog away with a “come” or “leave it”) If it is impossible because of the other dog’s continued engagement I have no problem intervening with a spray shield blast if the other dog’s owner doesnt call him/her off. If it is done to protect your dog or the other dog from being bit (even in defense) it is called for and it is harmless.

Best bet is to manage the situation by avoiding it in my opinion.

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

Thanks for posting our email conversation – that was a good idea. Your case is a good one to learn from because of the difficulty level.

I’m going to write some troubleshooting and I’m sorry if anything comes off as blunt – it is just hard to not come off that way when in troubleshooting mode. As I always say this style is Extremely technical – it has to be that way for troubleshooting purposes. I’ll start by answering your questions:

Why after 3 years has there been a shift?

There are a few things to consider here, but the thing that most likely would cause a shift in an aggressive target is either an increase in subtle stubborness to comply to warnings from Milo to Stitch or an increase in social insecurity from Stitch about Milo. This is probably exactly what was going on with Sadie and Stitch.

Now, it is important to keep perspective of a few facts about Stitch. His level of aggression for subtle challenges is very extreme for the situations – this is most definitely genetic. Considering that he most likely has fighting line pitbull ancestry there are certain things that must be accepted. Some (not all) of pitbulls that come from a fighting line background do these kinds of things that Stitch does. It stems from the fact that fighting pitbulls do not live to breed if they growl, warn, and do the minimum amount when it comes to fighting. Striking first and hard is what would keep them alive. This is something that I do not sugar coat. I love pitbulls and think they are great breeds – but they do have to be respected for what they can do during a dog on dog fight and must be managed accordingly.

The things that Stitch has fought over have been what would be considered mild triggers and highly abnormal even for pitbull standards. Sadie was an opposite sex member of the pack that basically did no more than be in his way in the yard.

One of the overkill fights with Milo you describe was over a piece of tomato, not a leg of lamb, but a tomato…

I’m not doing anything different now than what I’ve been doing for the last 8 months.

The last eight months have not been following any set system. You say mostly or 99%. The training is not meant to be like that. I have about 10 aggression cases at the kennel right now. I let many of them play and interact with each other in a structured matter. But, it is 100%. I do not 1 out every 100 days leave all their food bowls out together in the yard or leave two dogs, one with a history of quick trigger fighting, unsupervised 1 % of the time.

There are many reasons why the training shouldn’t be hybridized. I like to refer to the greatest movie of all time “the karate kid” for reference often in this training style. In the movie, mr. Miagi says, ” Walk on the left side of the road…OK, walk on the right side of the road…OK, walk in the middle of the road…sooner or later SQUASH just like grape!” what that means to us is that there are a lot of ways to manage dogs that may work, but it is good to pick one and make a decision to go with it 100%.

Lets consider the way we manage food, we do it that way so we can prevent fights between dogs, communicate our intentions to be in control, and also to be better able to motivate the dog with food rewards, and more. It is basically the same story with the toys. It gives us tools to work with in advanced training while giving solutions to lower level problems.

Now, here is another way other trainers do things. They may leave many heaping bowls of food out at all times and lots of toys for the dogs on the floor at all times. They do this to make them not limited resources so the dogs are less likely to fight over them. Does it work…it can. The draw backs are it may be harder to deal with upper level training since we are not able to communicate ourselves as in control as easy – and it becomes much harder to motivate a dog in training with things they always have access to, and harder to give the dog something to enjoy when left alone to help enxiety problems when they already have everything when you are present, etc I can go on and on.

Here is the “squash just like grape” part…

Depending on your needs and desires either way may suit your purpose, but what happens when we do mostly one way and a little of the other?

Once you start with foundation style- the things you control naturally become more motivational to the dog. Things are going great – you are preventing fights, the dogs are working for their needs during training, but when we decide to go back and feed the dogs together without any control in place like they may have done in the past – there greater motivation and appreciation for the food may more easily trigger a fight.

I have also seen this training drug or bomb detection dogs. Where they could have cared less for a ball until I controlled it and made them work for it – after a few months of training you would not want to throw that ball in the presence of two detection trained dogs, because it became worth fighting for.

Thats why it must always be followed technically to make advances. The sky is the limit when we stay technical and you will be amazed at what haveing true off-leash control around distractions will do for the total picture.

I guess that’s where I get stuck. Mike, you said in your email “it will help if you become an expert on how to manage them by really understanding the WHY behind it.” The two incidents surrounding the bone and food are clear but the one in the garage isn’t. What am I missing?

Yes, the bone and food should be clear. The garage I couldnt tell you what you are missing – no one can no matter what training you do. Based on Stitch’s history it could have been a very mild thing such as walking over him while he was resting, being in his way when he was moving toward the door, trying to make him play when he’s not in the mood, a crumb of food…
But, he had the potential for this 3 years ago and now. Therefore there is a place to deal with this and it has nothing to do with the level 5 stuff, it a level 11 “management” issue. If you look at the chart on that page in the self help section you will see that many things may trickle into that level during early training and as you make advances less things have to enter the management section. For instance, you may have to use a muzzle when introducing him to a new guest, but after much socialization it may become something that is phased off – but leaving him unsupervised with another dog may be a forever thing within the management layer – since you can not guide him against his natural instincts when you are not present. Sometimes medical intervention (via the health layer) can help in this last layer such as thyroid testing, anti-anxiety drugs, etc..

I thought we were managing them – they weren’t fighting. So what changed? Were we just lucky that something didn’t happen sooner?

I think this is explained through the whole “squash like grape thing”.

We want Milo to feel less anxious and we want Stitch and Kaila to be less dominant.

Remember dominant can mean different things depending on who is saying it. If what you mean is their personality type that can not be changed – you can not make a dog have a “less dominant personality”

But, what you can do is play the dominant role in the relationship. Dominance generally will mean who has control of limited resources and important decisions. That should be you. I usually refer to “dominant personalities” as assertive or type A personalities now to keep people from getting confused.

As long as you play the dominant role you will be in a position to guide any dog of any personality type or problem to improvement.

We know that will happen if we continue to stay in the roll of Pack Leader and continue to manage them CONSISTENTLY. I just hope God will continue to give us the insight we need.

If God doesn’t give you the insight look toward your Dogs. Dog is God spelled backwards you know:).

I think you are doing a great job for a difficult situation. Most people in the world can’t handle one tricky dog – you have multiple and one that would give even the best a run for their money.

I honor you for your devotion.

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

Hi Arturios,

Welcome to the site! “Onion chop” corrections only work well with pinch collars and “good dog” collars, because of the physics of their design it can be done gently with the wrist (more so with the pinch than the “good dog” collar). Doing onion chops on an ordinary collar doesnt work well and you will end up using a lot of force which just becomes rough and sloppy which you do not want to do to your dog.

The best alternatives if you do not like the look of the pinch collar or the negative stigma associated with them will probably be the halti or a premier no pull harness. For a pulling problem they may actually be more effective anyway. You don’t use onion chops with these but rather you gently guide the dog back into place and then loosen the leash.

Every dog and training situation is different so different tools work better for different purposes -it is good to be familiar with how to us all of them humanely. Each one has its pros and cons. I’m actually working on an article about the very subject which will highlight the pros and cons of many different training devices out there. Look for it soon.

Good luck!

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

I would suggest staying as calm as possible and asking her to sit and dont put your hands on her until she does. If her front feet leave the ground during the greeting take your hands off her and calmly tell her to sit again. She can break the sit while you are petting, but repeat when the feet leave the ground.

Definitely go over the triangle step 5 stuff – since this will make everythig easier if she learns to wait for your call after the greetings.

You don’t even want o think of any corrections for this behavior at this point until you take some time to teach her and make it easier for her.

How is she with fetch? u can still play this with her in a wheel chair if she brings it back. There is also tug… she can pull you round this way.

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

I strongly disagree with the article about puppy socialization classes,

but do agree (mostly) with the dog park article.

I have seen complete turn arounds with pups in these socialization classes and if done the right way not only help the pup become less fearful and better able to handle themselves around different dogs as they mature, but the classes also help the puppies become more comfortable with non-aggressive strangers if “pass the puppy” is played.

In all the years I have run puppy classes i have never seen a dog do worse off by attending, but deal with COUNTLESS dogs that do have serious fear based problems that have not attended these types of classes. The dog’s individual genetics of course plays a part. I wonder if the author is speaking from his own experience running classes or if he just never ran them. The bad manners that the author talks about in the dog park article are usually corrected by learning to interact in the puppy classes. A human can’t teach a dog how to act with another dog through human/dog interaction. A person can teach a dog to obey commands in presence of another dog such as “easy” and “leave it” but learning smart interaction with other dogs only comes from experience – which is safest and sticks best when done as a puppy with other puppies with baby teeth (BEFORE 16 weeks). The classes certainly should not be a free for all and rules should still be followed. Especially by pairing the pups up correctly so you dont cause a problem by having certain pups have bad experiences. Most dog owners do not own any other dogs and do not have the ability to teach their dogs how to feel comfortable and interact with dogs that look differently than that pups short stay with its littermates. Not to mention the head start with obedience exercises and such… the naturally social pups love and benifit from these classes. I would be surprised if less than 99% of trainers would agree that the pros outweigh the cons.

I agree mostly with the dog park article. Dog parks are very unnatural to adult dogs and pups brought into them are at serious risk of a bad experience. If you have a bunch of juvenile acting dogs they are usually fine, but once you get some mature dogs in there with serious concerns of who is in charge it can become more a source of stress to a dog than fun. It is almost impossible for dogs to interact normally if they dont know who is in charge – so problems break out all the time when someone decides to start playing fetch with their dog in there and more than one dog thinks the ball should be theirs or when dogs have different ideas of who is calling the shots in the pen. I wouldnt bring my personal dogs in one if i was payed to do so. I much prefer “play dates” with dogs that i know my dog knows and pairs well with. Some owners bring dogs into dog parks that have no business being in there. The only thing I disagree with in the article is that the author claims that the problem is usually the new dog in the park’s fault. I would say it is no dog’s fault – it is the whole situation that is bad.

If i had a German Shepherd pup (especially) I would say a definite YES to puppy socialization classes and forget about dog parks. Make play dates with the dogs your pup gets along with in the puppy class. That’s my honest advice based on experience.

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

It isn’t a big deal to have him loose – if he doesn’t run off and if the environment is safe. But if you feel this is not the case it is better to avoid off-leash in an open area. At this stage in the training you should be sure to use a lot of positive motivation when he does come and allow him to go back to what he was doing if it is safe. Be sure to not got angry at him for not coming – because technically you probably have not taught him that there is anything wrong with not coming. Light lines can be useful in open areas, but there are serious safety risks if they get wrapped around an ankle – adult or child when the dog runs. A reliable “come” when called if you can make it through all three phases of training would make a great difference. It takes patience but is worth it.

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

Great Stuff Jacek! Very impressive! Bono was very lucky to find you!

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

Hi Joanna,

Thank you for the compliments on the site! This is what I would suggest to get started with your high energy boy!

First thing to remember is that this is going to take Patience – Patience absolutely will pay off (from step 3).

Next thing is try to tire him out first thing before you bring him in the house (or tire him out in the house). A correct game of tug will get a lot out of his system – and help sooth his restless spirit some (step 6). don’t skip this.

Read the page at this link here: Establishing the Relationship

I updated this page recently and it is VERY important for a new adult dog coming into the home.

Follow these exercises on-leash for at least a month. If you start doing some simple obedience exercises such as “climb” you can encourage him to lay on a dog bed while you watch TV, sit at a computer, etc. He will appreciate chews if they are controlled correctly and will be more likely to relax after exercise. This should be able to expand the amount of time he is indoors and also allow you to work on his peepee schedule.

The “leave its” and “offs” may be a little annoying right now, but the patience will pay off after a month if you have been praising him for obeying and correctly redirecting him.

Also, encourage on greetings and when you call him over to you to “sit” for affection. Stay calm for a full month when he jumps and just be careful to teach him that you only touch him when going by your rules.

After a full month of being consistent it is fair to use correction if you be sure to do it respectfully at the minimal amount necessary to discourage the behavior. This shouldnt be anything that makes him cry or tuck his tail in fear.

Adult labs usually aren’t easily startled and have a high pain tolerance – therefore the most humane and gentle correction, despite what some ignorant and unqualified “experts” may say, is usually a dogtra collar – using only the pulse button on the lowest level and then slowly increased until you see that it “annoys” the dog NOT hurts the dog. You can see a little on how to fit them in the phase 3 video. Never use the continuous button!

You can use it as a dog god after a month of having him leave household objects, counter tops, etc on leash. But, do not “dog god” him jumping on humans because you don’t want him to get confused into thinking touching humans is bad. Say “off-no-off” with little to no delay between words and pulsate on the lowest level that annoys him when you say the second “off”. Praise him at any point he complies. He can avoid the correction by obeying the first “off” or the warning “no”. You will praise him when he complies even if he is corrected. Stay consistent with that since it is the only way to teach him that he can 100% avoid any corrections.
It is very fair if done correctly and more gentle than all of the physical corrections you may hear about involving the leash, knees, etc.

You can also try a remote citronella collar to do this, but their is a bigger risk that it may not motivate the dog after you spent the money.

Many of the corrections that involve loud noises that you hear about generally don’t work well on labs that are bred to stand behind shotguns while hunting, but if you do have one that responds to it – you may cause a kind of PTSD after repeated exposure to something he is scared of.

Therefore it is much more humane to do something that is consistently annoying rather than scary. Some of these things may sound a little different than some of the common opinions out there, but i promise that i speak from experience for what i feel is the most humane to the dog and not what is popular opinion.

If you do decide to go with the dogtra route be sure to write back with any questions before you try. They must be used carefully for only one issue at a time.

Hope this helps,

Mike

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

Thanks! I’m glad you like the site! I’m chipping away at it constantly and feedback is always appreciated!

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

Definitely without a doubt a knowledge and management issue mostly. We are talking about a Malinois and Children that were not taught or not able to comply yet with the fact that dogs, particularly ones that were bred to stand up to humans do not like hugs, but will sometimes tolerate them if they have the correct relationship.

This is a potential disaster and it wont be the dog’s fault.

Not to discourage Thomas, since we are all here to keep an open mind and learn, but one of the many reasons why cesar milan style neck jabs (level 3 – attitude) are not used in the standard of this style is that it may trigger a bite from the dog – especially if a 5 year old that the dog doesnt respect trys to mimic mom and dad.

Even if the dog is taught to fear a correction from mom or dad if she growls at the kids – it wont do much good if mom or dad is out of site.

This dog’s owners have to look at pack structure and boundries first, then educate the children, and then have strict management criteria in place such as not leaving children unsupervised with the dog.

It is not a bad dog if she is giving plenty of warning, but may be a bad situation for her. Malinois are great dogs, but there is a reason that almost all of them are working dogs and owned by experienced working dog/ sport people.

I like Thomas’s suggestion of having the children be involved with some of the dog’s daily routines. This has helped a lot for me with some of my client’s dogs, but usually the children were a few years older.

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

I have never been a big fan of the wireless fences for safety reasons, especially because it doesn’t keep anything from coming into the yard. But, I do see how they have their uses if dogs are not left unsupervised out on them.

That being said I definitely would not use one on a pup unless they were over 6 months of age at the youngest and have had at least a month of boundry training by walking the dog around the property border on a leash and leading back to the center when they hear the tone from the collar (with the prongs taped up with electric tape or rubber tips).

You want to use a lot of caution using invisible fence collars on a pup because they are new to the world and are sometimes still fearful and discovering what is considered normal out in the yard. There is a potential risk of causing various types of environmental fears if they get corrections that they do not quite understand – especially since invisible fence collars generally use higher levels (avoidance levels) than you would use with other types of training (threshold levels) with remote devices.

I would recommend breaking the training into 3 phases similar to how we would do with obedience.

Phase 1 – safe walks around boundry and reward for staying in. Gentle guiding back when you here a tone from taped collar.

Phase 2 – similar but use a leash correction just motivational enough where the pup seems to have a desire to avoid it when he hears the tone.

Phase 3 – Expose the dog to the untaped prongs, but be ready to guide into the yard with a long leash if the dog gets confused/panicked

Maintenance – Do proofing, etc.

I would stay at phase 1 until 6 months of age and at least a month practice to play it safe.

Also, use the flags for your own reference only as to where the boundry line is – teach the dog the boundry , and not to avoid flags. The old holding the flag and saying “no, no, no” technique has proven to confuse a lot of dogs for many years now but some trainers of the system still do it for some reason.

Good luck with your Corso!

[Michael D'Abruzzo]

Hi,

I’m very sorry for your loss.

Is the aggression directed toward you or others? How old id she?

My first hunch would be that it may be related to mixed signals as to who is leading and who is following.

Especially if Paris is basically ignoring you unless there is obviously something you have that she wants.

If you are not in immediate danger of being injured , I definitely would not give up on her – if she has shown that she can be non-aggressive.

Read the pack structure info (step 5) in the self help section and let me know if those have been followed.