Don’t wear your crocs in the puppy yard
The first few days of raising Hero, we thought we had a different kind of puppy. A lap sitting, mellow, cuddly puppy. Well, it turns out that was just adjustment time so it wasn’t too long before we had our first rule; don’t wear your crocs in the puppy yard if you like your ankles. Now, four pair of Wellingtons sit like sentinels right outside the door.
Why do I wear a down jacket in 70 degree weather when I take Hero out? It’s because I think eye brows would be raised if I had a bruise every where she bit me.
Some may ask, why are we allowing our puppy to use us as chew toys? Here is the answer in the best way I can say it. Puppy mouthing and biting is a stage of development that all puppies will grow out of if not confronted over it. That last part is so crucial. If an adult dog is mouthy, or even aggressive, I’d bet my bottom dollar he was confronted over some normal puppy behavior. Anyone who has had children knows that they go through certain developmental stages; we accept them because we ourselves grew out of them. Puppies are no different. Everything in their universe is tested through their mouth with little needle teeth. They grow out of it. They don’t need to be taught how. When I quietly sit in the puppy yard, and allow Hero to chomp on me, from her point of view this is what she is “learning”; I am safe to express my drive and energy around human beings. It’s that simple.
I don’t fear that this little land shark will grow up to be a biter; I know she won’t. Instead of teaching her not to bite, slowly over time I will teach her what to bite, and that will be a crucial element in her training.
To raise a dog without confrontation is the most radical and pure way to raise a dog. Hands down, I believe confrontation over normal puppy behavior like biting is the number one reason 9 million dogs go to their deaths every year.
So we pad ourselves well, wear clothes we don’t care about, and always wear Wellington boots. We love our piranha and trust implicitly that she will grow up to be a dog.
Ok.. I’m going to be totally honest and say I’m confused. Maybe its because I’ve just started Kevin’s book, and just started compiling articles from Neil Sattin and Lee Charles Kelley, so really I’m as novice as can be with Natural Dog Training.
I’ve trained dogs, traditionally in obedience positively, my entire life. I do see the flaw in obedience training – uniform doggies not really doing what they were born to do, but doing what you want them to do. I do see how it creates some major issues within the dog like hyperactivity and frustration. However, given that I extensively exercise my dogs and allow them to just BE, however they define it, when we are in the woods exploring… I see what drives them, I see what moves them and I want to harness it.
So, it seems what you are doing really is Untraining
At least untraining what I believe to be called training, traditionally.
Now, more than ever I am increasingly interested in Natural Dog Training as I may have the opportunity to raise a puppy.
I’ll be closely following your blog as I hope to use all your experiences with Hero as another learning tool in Natural Dog Training.
Good luck!
Hey, Jen,
I hope you don’t mind me making a comment on your comment…
When I first read Natural Dog Training I was not only confused, I was shocked, angry, you name it. I nearly threw the book out the window a couple of times. I initially disagreed with just about everything in it. But I was also looking for a new training paradigm at the time; I sensed that there had to be a better way than what I’d been taught (the dominance model), so just to be as scientific as possible, I decided the next day to test one of Kevin’s techniques with an “impossibly” leash-aggressive pit bull/Lab mix named Mickey. His aggression was so bad he would lunge madly, snarling, barking and wanting to kill any dog he saw coming toward him on the street. He weighed about 100 lbs. and was almost impossible to control using either dominance or treats.
Within the space of a 1/2 hr. session, I not only got him to stop lunging etc., but the sight of of a dog coming his way made him actually pull back into the heel position and lock his eyes onto mine. It was electrifying. All the energy he’d invested into his aggression was now directed at me, but in a totally calm and harmonious way. I had never felt anything like it. I had somehow — partially through dumb luck and partially through following Kevin’s technique — found a way to re-direct Mickey’s energy in a way that “magnetized” him to me.
I’m not saying any of this to convince you of the efficacy of NDT methods, just to let you know two things: 1) I was probably as much in the dark as you are until I started putting Kevin’s ideas to the test, and 2) though I can’t speak for Trish, I think what she’s is doing with Hero is starting her pup off, from the very beginning, in a way that engenders the magnetism Mickey showed me that first day, a kind of attraction to their owners or handlers that all dogs can have if trained properly, but in Hero’s case most of it will theoretically come naturally, without the need for much if any training.
If you’re already doing the pushing exercise with Kitsu and Tsuki (yeah, I visited your blog), you may be starting to see some similar effects with them. And when you’re romping with them in the woods, and paying attention to what kinds of things capture their attention, how their energy is focused on this or that, you can also sort of wonder to yourself what kinds of things could I do that would get them to invest that much focus and energy on me?
It seems to me that Trish is starting from the beginning in a way that almost guarantees that Hero will always automatically feel the kind of natural social attraction that we want our dogs to feel toward us. And I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with Hero, and learning from it as much as it seems that you are. (I’ll be getting a new puppy soon, too…)
LCK
http://www.LeeCharlesKelley.com
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Wow, I’m honored you ventured to my blog! Thank you! I’m an avid follower of yours these days… I’m retraining myself to learn about my dogs in a totally new and energizing way.
I have begun the pushing exercise with my male, my female is still pretty disinterested, she’s not food motivated and couldn’t care less what I’m trying to do… but I think we’ll get there.
I’m still plugging through Kevin’s book, it IS frustrating, enlightening, confusing and awesome all at the same time!! But, this is my goal, that before we get to expect our puppy next spring, that I’m ready to raise it as Trish is with Hero. I have much to learn…
Thanks for this blog, Trish! It really helps, I hope to learn a great deal from your experience with Hero (she’s beautiful!)
Obedience Training For Dogs…
I think you should focus on adult dogs. Everyone loves puppies because they’ re cute and sweet, but sometimes their“ cuteness” can lead to them getting spoiled and getting away with bad behavior. So when they grow up…. you have the“ naughty adult” dog …