From the First Chapter of the Book-
"Hidden Secrets Behind Dog Training"

20 Reasons Why Your Dog Doesn't Listen to You

by Master Dog Trainer/Behavioral Specialist - Kevin "The Dog Prodigy"

1. You are NOT in charge and your dog knows it
   
2. You've had the wrong voice assumption – ( It's your tone--NOT VOLUME )
   
3. Your dog is spoiled rotten
   
4. You have a poor technique or following the wrong method
   
5. You've been brainwashed on the food-bribery concept
   
6. You are in charge for the most part, but your dog is STILL testing you
   
7. Your dog is naturally very stubborn, dominant, or alpha type
   
8. You've been misled on how young or how old can you really start training your dog
   
9. You are confusing your poor dog
   
10. You are using the wrong training tools or don't use ANY tools at all
    
11. You don't know how to distraction-proof your dog
    
12. Your dog is not completely off-leash trained yet
    
13. Your dog snaps or growls when he doesn't want to obey and even gets away with it
    
14. Your dog is sensitive, shy, or has been abused
    
15. You have a wrong posture and don't know how dogs read our body language
    
16. You haven't practiced with your dog for weeks or even months
    
17. Your dog doesn't trust anybody, not me, not you, and not…
    
18. Your dog got bored
    
19. Your poor dog doesn't feel well
    
20. You have the wrong attitude and your dog picks up on it

Without a doubt, you can relate to at least ten to fifteen of them. Am I right?

Now let me elaborate on each one:

1- You are NOT in charge and your dog knows it

You have been the provider, the lover, the spoiler, the mommy, the daddy, the buddy, or just the observer, but definitely NOT the one in charge. You always came up with an excuse not to train the dog. So basically if your dog could talk, he'd be saying: “Oh come on. Who gave you the idea that I should mind you now? Sit down, shut up, and give me that belly rub, along with that pig's ear to chew on, or else I will pee on your pillow tonight.”

2- You've had the wrong voice assumption
( Remember it's actually your tone and--NOT VOLUME )

Did you know that over ninety percent of dog trainers in the U.S. are females? So don't worry, you don't need to have your husband/boyfriend's tone of voice in order to get your dog to mind you. However if you give a command to your dog and it sounds something like: "Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiit", "Nooooooooooo" or "Dowwwwwwn", you are asking your dog and NOT telling it. Your command shouldn't have any melody to it. So if it sounds like a request, a nag, or even like a drill Sergeant, you are doing it wrong. You have to meet somewhere in between.

I notice dog owners mimic Mickey Mouse when they are supposed to sound firm, and growl like a monster when they are supposed to sound non-threatening and friendly. You shouldn't yell at your dog, since dogs can hear three to four times better than us.

3- Your dog is spoiled rotten

Spoiled dogs, just like spoiled kids, don't listen to you or anyone else for that matter.  They have you wrapped around their left paw and they know it. All it takes is tamper tantrum of barking, whining, scratching, jumping, or even growling, and you get hypnotized and do things against your will.

Your dog KNOWS exactly what works on you and what doesn’t. These dogs even when you get really upset and expect them to stop an acceptable behavior, STILL end up ignoring you making you look like a retard. From past experience, they know either you won't follow through on what you just said, can't do much, or you better believe someone else who IS spoiling your dog rotten, will come to the rescue.

I guarantee you that someone else is going to be either your spouse, or one of the kids. You should emphasize more on a balance where your dog knows it is loved, yet remains obedient to you. That’s when you’ll end up with a  perfect dog.

4- You have a poor technique or following the wrong method

That's just it. You're totally clueless when it comes to getting real results. Or you might do some of the training correctly, but do MOST of it all wrong.

You see just like anything else it is not practice that makes perfect. It is GOOD practice that makes perfect. Top trainers rarely care on how much they train their dogs. It is HOW much you train your dog that makes that difference. .

Remember even experts in all fields make mistakes. When doctors slip here and there with medical malpractices and end up prescribing the wrong type of medicine, forgetting a surgical instrument after stitching up the poor patient, and in some sad cases, cut off the wrong foot.

What makes you think the so-called (Dog Experts) are giving you the right kind of advise? This may surprise you that most dog trainers are amateurs and train dogs on the side and as a hobby. You rarely run into a true pro when it comes to dog training.

It’s one thing to train dogs for fun every Wednesday nights at 7pm, and it’s a totally different story to be successful and passionate enough to be able to make a living out of it. This is why the majority of dog training programs NEVER come with a guarantee. The experts who guarantee their work, usually have a few more tricks up their sleeves and are definitely NOT your average trainer and might very well be a true professional, and not an amateur.

All of our training programs come with a lifetime guarantee. But I also need a guarantee from—YOU—the owner of the dog. Basically YOU will be the trainer and I'll be the instructor. So when a dog trainer, dog school, or a doggie shrink never talks about any guarantees, this strongly indicates that they have a doubt in their training method or worse –doubt themselves.

5- You've been brainwashed on the food-bribery concept

As long as you keep those treats coming, I'll do whatever you ask.

Will be crossing your dog's mind as you keep on shoving treats down its throat, calling it a well-trained dog. You don't even bother to ask your dog to do anything, unless you are holding a cookie or if there are some types of goodies close by. I call these dogs "half trained" dogs. Your dog at any given time should listen to you, with or without any treats.

Cookie trainers just ruin dogs with this theory, promising you that your dog will still respond to you just as good, even WITHOUT the use of food in the long run. They’ll look you in the eye, promising a trained dog for life.

REALITY CHECK: Would you still work for someone once they stop paying you? Then why should your dog? Why your dog should sit? Because you said so! It's as simple as that. It’s the same mentality and principal as how WE were raised by our parents.

Don’t you miss those days? When kids didn’t have any ADD’s and listened to their parents out of respect and not through bribery? Heck even adults these days been diagnosed with ADD. They call it: (Adult Attention Deficit Disorder). Hmm..that explains some of my clients who never seem to get it and blame me or the poor dog for their failure.

So depending on treats will not teach your dog any respect. It builds trust, love and affection, but never respect. Besides, doesn’t your dog already trust and love you? It’s the respect that’s missing. Why does your dog listen to you only half of the time? Because it loves you, but might not fully respect you.

Food-reward based training is so common, that nobody dares to question or challenge it. Dog owners automatically assume, just like we need air to breathe, feet to walk on, dogs need yummy treats to be bribed with, or else they will not get trained at all. How else are we going to train them? By beating them senseless? Actually neither and I'll prove it to you.

Don't get me wrong. You could use food once in a while as a reward, but very carefully and smartly and not as a bribe.

6- You ARE in charge for the most part, but your dog is STILL testing you

Even if you are in charge 80-90% of the time, you are still not in charge 100%. And trust me. That 10% still makes a huge difference on how much your dog minds you in general.

7- Your dog is naturally very stubborn, dominant, or alpha type

I’m sure you’d agree with me that your dog is very smart, but also very stubborn and sneaky. This could also be a timid dog and not necessarily an alpha type. It can be a shy dog that is very fearful around people or dogs. It may not be a big, dominant or even an aggressive type. But still, you know that this dog is the king or queen of your house. When most people hear the word “dominant”, they always picture a Rottweiler that has a thick neck as big as my thigh. NO, I am actually referring to that Chihuahua, that fluffy Pomeranian, or even that Weiner dog for god's sake.

Any breed, any age and certainly any size dog can run your life for you. I see it all the time. This will be even more obvious, once you STOP using treats with your dog and see whether your dog truly listen to you for you, and not because of crispy bacon strip.

8- You have been misguided on how young or how old can you really start or stop training your dog

You think your dog is just too old or too young to change for the better. Perhaps you believe your dog has already trained you and is set his/her own ways.

If your dog is five years old that is in need of training, remember that this dog could easily live another four to five years. Ask yourself this. Do you really want to wait that long to start training your dog? Don't you think your dog will most likely get even worse by then? Do you honestly want to put up with those annoying bad habits for few more months or even years? Probably not!

As with puppies, I accept pups in our school as young as 8 weeks old. To your surprise and other trainers’ skepticism, I can teach puppies that young to stop their constant:

Play-biting, Jumping Up, Whining, Barking, Excitement/fearful urination, Separation Anxiety as well as leash acceptance so your pup doesn’t throw a tantrum when being leashed, or tries to back out of it. And of course, get it completely housetrained.

A puppy that young believe it or not can also be taught to Sit, Lie Down, Come and even to Stay for a good 15-20 minutes. Walking and heeling might be the very last thing on your mind. Basically puppy owners need help with puppy problem-solving.

9- Your poor dog is somewhat or completely confused

You are not consistent with your commands or with your training approach. Every word you use keeps on changing day by day. One day you say: “Shush", "NO", "Knock it off”, and the next day you say: “Hey", "Quiet", "Shut Up”, or "It's OK". So if your dog could speak, he’d say: "You don't even know what you want. How should I?" Consistency is the key and most importantly, you need to be consistent by doing it--correctly.

I’ve seen dog owners and even TRAINERS practicing with their dogs on a daily basis, and they still look clueless and the dog’s performance looks very weak and sloppy. It’s because they are consistent, by doing the same WRONG thing over and over again, hoping they’ll get somewhere. Does this remind you of someone? 

Think of it as dancing. Any moron can hit the dance floor and shake his/her booty, and call it dancing. You see the same boring and not even impressive moves over and over again. It’s moving, NOT dancing. There is no skill, no technique, no style, no flow, no originality, and yet that person strongly believe they are one of the best dancers in town.

Your technique, your timing, your posture, your attitude, and be able to take constructive criticism, as well as your consistency and determination, all play a big role.

It’s the same concept when it comes to real dog training. And please don't call me for dancing lessons. I don't dance, run, or jog. In fact, if you ever see me running, it means a careless client's aggressive dog got loose, and I'm running for my life.    

10- You are using the wrong training tools or don't use ANY tools at all

The two most useless and annoying dog training tools ever created are: the retractable leash and the harness. I am certain that if your dog is unruly, it is because you are walking it with a retractable leash, or worse, the retractable leash is also hooked up to your dog's harness. Both of these tools offer no control to stop your dog's pulling or lunging toward other dogs, cats, kids, or joggers. In fact, your dog can pull you much better and more comfortably with these tools on.

I should also bring up the use or MISUSE of training tools that are more famous among trainers. These include: The choke collar, pinch collar, Gentle leader, Halti, electronic collar, or even that nonsense clicker. Certain tools do work, and certain ones do not. Some work for a while then stop working. There are certain owners that shouldn’t even be walking or training their dogs with some of these tools.

The dogs that I get for training, most likely chew up your clicker and poop up the gentle leader and your Halti for you. Head halters, just like harnesses, restrain dogs. Do you want to TRAIN your dog or restrain it?

The other downside behind head-halters is they make your dog look vicious and you can never get them off-leash trained with it. The reason is, dogs always know when it's on them. In fact, you can never leave it on them to the point where they would forget about it. The second you unhook your leash, they end up scratching it off their face acting like a moron again.

So choke/pinch collars make--YOU--look like a mean dog owner. The Gentle Leader and Halti, makes YOUR DOG look mean. It looks as if you have a muzzle on your dog. So it's your choice. To be honest, I rather look mean when I walk my dog. I don't want people to cross the street all the time when facing me and my dogs, thinking they are all Cujo dogs.

This automatically sends in a total negative vibe to other dog owners and people you and your dog will encounter on walks, while jogging, or just by going to the pet clinic. More on this later.

11- You don't know how to distraction-proof your dog

Whether your dog gets excited or agitated around your visitor, another dog, a cat, squirrels, joggers, or kids on skateboards, admit it you have little or absolutely no control of your dog when it comes to these tempting distractions. Life is full of distractions. Your dog should respond to you ANY PLACE, ANYTIME, and under any circumstances. Otherwise, your dog is the one really in charge, and certainly not you. Basically your dog chooses to respond to you, based on his/her terms.

I always notice the dogs that were trained in a group-class fashion act like stars in the class,
but act like complete idiots at home. Most group class trainers do not prepare you or your dog for real world.  You and your pooch need to become street-smart. If a trainer does not teach you how to adapt to a real life scenario, what is the point of training?

All dog owners really learn from an eight weeks group class is how their dog takes treats gently from their hands, walk around in circles, and do a few figure eight heelings. Which screams competition, or show confirmation training, and not real life trainig. Always look for a trainer that teaches PRACTICAL dog training, without any yelling, hitting or constant bribery. And good luck on that. Since it is very hard to find such trainers, but this book will walk you step-by-step on how you go about finding the perfect trainer for your dog’s needs.

12- Your dog is NOT completely off-leash trained yet

You don't know how to get your dog to obey you when it’s loose, off-leash and from a distance. It’s even worse if you are one of those careless, or should I say cocky owners who walk their untrained and unpredictable dogs without a leash. What if your dog's running loose chasing a cat, squirrel, a kid, a jogger, or gets into a dog fight? You yell out: “NO! Come.” Or “HEY get over here… NOW!”

But you can almost hear your dog laughing: "What? Are you kidding me? You expect me to respond to you even from a distance and off-leash OUTSIDE? Yeah right. I don't even listen to you across the living room."

Your dog should respond to you from a distance, across the room, the yard, and or in your local
park. Most dog owners are always ignored and embarrassed when their dog is out of reach and running loose in the neighborhood.
 
Off leash basically means: total verbal control of your dog under any circumstances. I am not just referring to commands. This also applies to when you say: “NO”, “Leave it”, “Off”, “Drop it”, “Be Nice” or any other command or correction you give your dog from a distance. Why? Because 99.9% of the time you don't have your dog hooked up to his leash and it's unlikely for it to within reach.


That my dog-loving friend, is any dog owners' dream come true. Who wouldn’t love a dog that responds with or without a leash, at any given time? Even though there is a leash law, almost
nobody's dog is off-leash trained these days. If there is a leash law, doesn’t it make more sense to have a perfectly off-leash trained dog? You never looked at it that way, did you?

13- Your dog snaps or growls when he doesn't want to obey and even gets away with it

You touch your dog the wrong way, try to clip her nails, brush her, and try to move her off
your lap, or the couch, your dog growls, shows you some nice set of teeth, and really goes after you with a vengeance. Your dog notices you backing away yelling: "HOLLY COW! Fine then. I guess I'll leave you alone."

Let’s think doggie logic. Your dog is thinking, “Didn't I tell you that I'll move whenever **** I **** darn feel like it? GRRRRRRR" So everytime your dog growls and snaps at you and gets away with it, you lose, and she wins. This is very bad and not only it stays the same, but in most cases, it always gets even worse.

14- Your dog is sensitive, shy, or has been abused

This is when you should know how much to push, when to back down, when your dog is just acting, and what is real. Some dogs act as if you are killing them. I usually call the male ones, Oscar. For an Oscar performance and the females, Emmy, for an Emmy Award Nominee.

So if you have a dog with Oscar and Emmy award potential, you have to change things quick and gain control of your dog controlling you with that innocent look, cute eyes, heart melting whimper, or your problems are just about to get worse. Some dogs truly get shy, scared and are quiet sensitive. And some are just great actors. I’ve seen dogs even limp when they want someone to feel sorry for them.

An experienced trainer or a behaviorist can always tell the difference. But when dogs get scared or nervous, just like us, they don't respond that well.  And I don't blame them.

15- You have a wrong posture and don't know how much dogs can really read our body language like an open book

If you continue to reprimand or train your dog by constantly bending over, kneeling down, slapping the floor, or getting on your knees, you are doing it wrong. The only time you should break your back is while petting and praising and when you deal with a fearful dog.

Think about it. You wouldn’t walk up standing tall to a dog that is shaking like a leaf from fear, hiding behind the couch and stand erect with your hands on your waist, do you? NO. You would naturally bend or squat down extending your arm, hoping the doggie would sniff your hand and not see you as a threat.

Dogs are masters in reading not only dogs' body language, but also humans’. You must know exactly when and where you need to stand straight and when to break your back.

16- You haven't practiced with your dog for weeks or even months

Make sure you use it. Don't lose it. Perhaps you are one of those owners who knows exactly what to do, how to do it, and which training tool works best on your dog. Maybe you even know why you should do it and you’ve already seen some, if not great results on your own.

Practicing here and there is better than nothing, but rarely good enough. Your dog's performance will not only get sloppy, but you'll soon notice your dog testing you all over again.

Dogs are exactly like music instruments. Tune them, and make sure they stay in tuned. They will not tune themselves on their own.

I agree that it is very easy to procrastinate. And if your dog could talk, he'd be saying: "Not that nonsense again. How many times do I have to Sit, Down, Heel or Stay for you? You know that I know all these. Come on. It's been weeks or even months that you haven't asked me to do anything. So why now? Look I give a paw. Isn't that enough?"

17- Your dog doesn't trust anybody, not me, not you, and not..

This is not necessarily the as same thing as being shy, scared, nervous or even sensitive.  It just may be that the dog is still not sure about you. He's not sure whether to submit, fight, flee, or make friend with you. He is trying to read you. Are you loud, consistent, friendly, strong, pushy, assertive, easygoing, fun, skilled, or a psycho? The dog is trying to get a feel about you. I always notice this with the dogs that are dropped off or send to me to for training.

As I am learning to understand these dogs and carefully evaluate them, they are also reading me. Trust is a big issue for people and it's no different with dogs. You have to trust someone in order to accept him/her as your leader, or a friend. How do you build trust? Well, with fearful, shy and abused dogs you use yummy treats, the right method, right posture, right tone, right attitude, and with other dogs… oh come on.

You don't expect me to reveal all of my secrets in here do you? I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. There is so much to learn and not enough space to fit them all in #17.

This is just the preview of a great movie or the appetizer. My book actually gets to the meat. If you are a vegeterian, I ’ll get you the lettuce and the carrot along with an organic ranch dip. You can pass me that juicy steak. I want mine well done.

18- Your dog got bored

That's right. Dogs get bored too. If you make the training really long, boring and predictable, your dog will get bored and stop responding to you. Don't believe me? Try this. Just tell your dog to sit 15 times in a row. You'll see the more you make her do it, the slower, and the less responsive she'll become and soon she'll try to walk away, bark at you, give you that dirty look, or maybe even snap at you.

If your dog could speak, she'd say: "Oh come on! I did it that many times didn’t I??? I  know I did them. What else do you want from me? I know Sit, you know I know it, I know I know it. I don't want to Sit anymore. That's it. I am done. Finito!" Yes they speak Spanish
when they are really pissed.

19- Your poor dog doesn't feel well

This could be as minor as the weather being hot, cold, or when your dog is sick, had a surgery, got some stitches, or you found out your dog has some kind of a virus.

Let's be fair. Do YOU respond or even function well when you don't feel well? You might try
to put yourself together, but it's not going to be the same. So make sure your dog is in no kind of physical or emotional pain, discomfort, and is in perfect health before you throw all these fancy commands at him.

20- You have the wrong attitude and your dog picks up on it

It doesn't really matter if your dog weighs just as much as you, or even outweighs you. You have to be more stubborn than your dog. It's not how tall, how short, or how tough you are. It's your attitude.

I saw this comedian once who happened to be a very short man. He said: "People don't always respect short people. He then continued, heck even short people don't respect short people. They just don't. We say don't judge a book by its cover, but we still can't help it." (That’s why I made sure my book’s cover appeals to everyone.)

When you are only this strong, this tall, and this consistent, your dog will definitely sense, see, and
feel it. Your dog is not dumb and will try to challenge you, and that's where the power of attitude
comes in.

You might be surprised to know that Tom Cruise is actually a short person. Ask anyone who met him in person, or pay very close attention when you see him on the screen next to others. In actuality, he may be a short man, but the way he talks, walks, acts, and even fights, you'd swear that he could kick anybody's butt in seconds.

People always guess me taller, lighter than my actual weight or maybe they are just being kind (thank god for that), and fortunately or unfortunately, always guess me OLDER than my real age. What's funny is I do think of myself taller than my actual height and think of myself older and hopefully wiser than my real age. It really is because of your attitude, your energy, your posture and of course how you present yourself to the outside world.

Here's another story on power of attitude:

I've been to thousands of families’ homes and noticed something very interesting. I've noticed that out of twenty families, in only two to three of them the men were in charge. The rest always been the women making that final decision.

Talk about the alpha here.  These women are not tougher, taller, or even physically stronger than
their husbands, but yet all it takes is one dirty look, and the rest is history.

Sorry guys, but you know I'm right. At least that's what I've noticed in the U.S. And for those of you who haven’t traveled outside America, you just don’t know how great of a country we’re living in. America is truly the best country in the world. It may not have the best trained dogs, but we’ll work on that.

I jokingly asked a client of mine, “So who wears the pants in your house? You or your husband
John?” She answered: “Oh Kev, John definitely wears the pants in this house... I just tell him which pants to wear.”

Now can you think of any other reason which I've might have missed in here? I don't think so. Sure you can tell me that your dog is stupid, mentally retarded, or he's been inbred. All these reasons are the usual excuses of food-reward trainers. I am serious. I've noticed that in cookie training schools, if their food-bribery fails, they’ll come up with some absurd excuses.

If your dog is truly slow, or not that bright, so what? Don't we have slow people among us? Does that mean we have to give up on them and totally scratch them off society?

Bottom line, whether your dog is bright or not, cute or ugly, bald or fluffy, big or small, or friendly or scary, I'm sure you'd agreee that nobody can stand a dog that:

·       Constantly Barks
·       Jumps Up on You, the Visitors, or the Kids
·       Pees and Poops everywhere
·       Flips out when it Sees Other dogs
·       Drags you on Leash
·       Begs and Steals Food any Chance it Gets
·       Tries to Eat Cats and Squirrels for Lunch
·       Ignores Your Commands, making you scream from top of your lungs
·       Gets into things or steals things off Counters
·       Knocks Down the Kids
·       Keeps on Getting in Fights with Your Other Dog
·       Chases Cars, Bicycles, Kids on Skateboards or make
the poor Joggers run even Faster

And worse of them all, even growls and snaps at you or your loved ones.


If your dog acts like a moron, is because you let it get that much out of control and don't want to make a change. And if your dog sets a good example, it is because of your actions. Just like how we were raised and how we should raise our kids. So if you don’t have any kids, your dogs are considered as your kids. You always say:"Oh he's my baby". Then make sure your baby listens to you and you have it under total control. Don't you hate parents that have no control over their kids? Providing a good home, food, and lots of belly rubs is only half of the story.

Bottom line, the first chapter of my book taught you this much for free. Free these days means headache. There is always a catch. In this case, the catch might be you ending up with a well-trained dog.

I've read over 200 hundred books on dog training, dog behavior and understanding dog psychology. One thing I've noticed about books, they are just like movies. There are lots of stupid movies out there, even movies with great actors in them. And there are lots of stupid books out there. Not only in dog training, but in general. Some are so pathetic that makes you wonder why would someone write such a book, who would waste their time reading it, who would publish it, and who would sadly buy it?

Whether you order the rest of my book or not, it doesn’t make much difference to me. All I wanted for you to get know me better, see what my message is all about, to be able to pinpoint where you’re at with your dog, and most importantly where you want to GO or STAY at from here on.

I don’t make my living selling books. I already get enough business from all over the world. I know plenty of dog training books in e book format and are downloadable.

Most of these folks never trained dogs in their lives and have fake names. How you can prove this, is simply try to look them up. See if you can find their actual school. Try to look for a contact number. see if you can see his/her work in person, and real clients to talk to. Good luck on that. There are crooks in every field, and it’s no different when it comes to dog training.

I show my skills on a video clip and you can reach me on the phone, meet me in person, an available to work with you in person. There are no ghosts involved. I didn’t even hire a ghostwriter. You are actually dealing with the real deal, who loves working with you AND your dog.  With dog trainers, this is rare. Since some like dogs, but treat the poor owners like dogs.  

Don’t forget your dog is a reflection of YOU. Friends, neighbors, relatives and even complete strangers will always judge you based on how your dog acts, looks and responds to you.

Kevin "The Dog Prodigy" Salem

Copyright 2006. All Rights Reserved.- Dog Secrets .com

All Rights Reserved. Absolutely NO part of this web site be sold, reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, via Internet, electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, recording, retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from Kevin Salem and All About Dog Training and Behavior Corp.

Kevin's Book,
"Hidden Secrets Behind Dog Training"

Is in its Editorial Stage and about to be
Published Around Feb 2007.

To Get Your Autographed Copy,
Please Send us an e-mail.
This book is Only Under $20.