Trainer verus Behaviourist
I started my career as a dog trainer back in the early 1980's. I now consider myself a dog behaviourist due to the number of years I have been working with dogs, and studying their behaviour first hand. Many people do not understand that there is a difference between a dog trainer and a dog behaviourist. My example below is a good example of the difference.
Many dog owners are now turning away from the "dog obedience training/classes" and now focusing on dog behaviourists to come to their home.
Obedience training does not address about 90% of the reasons why dogs misbehave for their owners. Obedience training is primarily about focusing on your dog and making him do commands, what I term as surface conditioning. Believe it or not, this does not necessarily make you a good leader for your dog. Behaviourists look for the underlying cause of the unwanted behavour, and work on changing the dogs behaviour by working on these underlying causes, that may or may not be apparent to the owners.
I as a dog behaviourist focus on what the owner is doing, and how that owner relates to thier dog. I then read in the dog, by watching its body language how he see's his relationship with the owner. I then focus on modifying the owners behaviour, so the dogs unwanted behaviour can also be modified at the root cause.
Difference between a trainer and a behaviourist
I had an appoinment today with a dog owner (Arthur) that had a lovely but highly strung Pomeranian x. Arthur phoned me over a week ago after having an appoinment with a professional (who I consider a dog trainer not a behaviourist) that came to his home. He told me on the phone he was not happy with the methods that were used on his dog by this professional, and also the advice given was not working for his dog. I told this person on the phone my fees and explained to him what I believed his issues with his dog were, and how they had been created. He told me he had already spent a lot of money on his dog trying to fix his behaviour, and that he would think about it for a bit and get back to me. About a week later he called me back and made an appointment.
Today I went to Arthurs house, and yes as soon as I walked in this dog (Charlie) claimed me, jumped, and jumped and jumped, and jumped. I just ignored Charlie to see how long it would go on for. After about 10 mins I could see the behaviour was not going to cease. Finally I sat down in the loungeroom and and kept pushing Charlie away..but he kept coming back, and jumping, and jumping and jumping. Whilst talking to the owner, I carried out one of my calming techniques on Charlie. Whist calming Charlie I talked with the owner. I asked what advice this other professional gave him to modify Charlies behaviour? He told me that he was told to jab Charlie in the chest with 2 fingers as he jumped up, and to also keep Charlie on the lead and literally hold Charlie off the ground by the lead until he settled. I said you are kidding? I asked him if this trainer explained why Charlie was so highly strung, he said no. I asked did he explain to you what rules and boundaries he should set. He said no. I asked did he expalin to you the different states of Charlies body language and how these relate to Charlies state of mind? He said no. I asked did he explain to you about not reinforcing assertive behaviour, and how to differentiate when a dog is being assertive or not? He said no. I looked at him and said, well no wonder there is no change in Charlies behaviour! The methods you just describe to me are methods I probably would have used years ago as a trainer. This person you had over, was a trainer, and not a behaviourist. He wasn't dealing with the underlying causes of the problem, but was only focused on trying to correct the surface behaviour. If you do this, you will eventually confuse Charlie, as you will not change your relationship with Charlie nor will you relate to him in a way he understands.
A behaviourist
Arthur only had Charlie for about 2 months, and had got him from the Animal Welfare League. Arthur informed me that his dog was highly strung from the day he brought him home. Arthur informed me he had a bad leg due to a knee replacement and couldn't have Charlie continuing to jump up like he was.
I stayed at Arthurs house for approximately 2 hours explaining and demonstrating how his (Arthurs) behaviour was affecting his dog, and how to use calming techniques the dog understood, without the use of a lead or any punishment such as hanging the dog. Within less than half an hour we had lttle Charlie calmed right down and in a more balanced state of mind. His entire body language relaxed and his manner had changed completely, and Arthur was dumbfounded , as he had never seen his dog so calm. I was sitting on the floor with Charlie demonstrating to Arthur how to keep Charlie calm whilst interacting with him. As Arthur watched the almost instant change in his dog, I could see he became a little emotional and took a deep breath to hold back his emotions. "Oh my God, I have never seen Charlie like that, so calm and relaxed and so responsive", Athur said to me. "Charlie was never so relaxed around me, and rarely would he just lay there like he is for you, and let me pet him.
This is a classic example of a trainer trying to fix a behavioural problem. He resorted to old methods that were used in a training field or group class and not focus on the underlying causes for the behaviour. A method that does not create any trust or respect in your dog nor a method the dog understands and only creates more stress. Leadership is not always about using forceful methods. It's about assessing the dog and the owner, and understanding why the current situation and behaviour exists, and then by using methods the dog understands, by using its basic pack instinct, we can help the dog become more balanced.
I informed Arthur as I was about to leave, to book a free follow-up with me if he found that my methods were not working for him. Arthur was still in shock about how calm Charlie was, and how responsive Charlie now was to him, in less than 2 hours. As I walked to the front door Arthur picked Charlie up and walked with me. As I opened the door, Arthur said to me.. "I can't believe this! Charlie is always scrambling to get out of my arms, but here he is now just laying here relaxed in my arms!" I smiled.. and said I hope I have helped you Arthur? He reponded "you certainly have"
The entire consultation was for around 2 hours, and I went through many things with Arthur, about a dogs state of mind, and how to read it by looking at Charlies body language, and how to ensure we only reinforce calm submissive behaviour. What rules and boundaries should be set ,and how to go about this. And most importantly how to calm charlie when he becomes highly strung and how to maintain the calm behaviour. I told Arthur this is an ongoing process where he needs to be 100% consistent in all the methods I just showed him. And that Charlie will most probably go through an adjustment period, and test his authority for a few days.
The results with Charlie we very quick on the day. Yet with the trainer that went to his house previously, Arthur had no results at all, and the trainer left with Charlie still in a highly strung state.
Not all owners I help modify their dogs behaviour get such dramatic results so fast. However I would say, that most owners see changes in their dog almost immediately from my natural canine methods. Modifying a dogs behaviour and then maintaining that new behaviour is a life of the dog process.
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