Top 10 Biggest Mistakes
that Even "Trainers" Make
Myth #1: Train Your Dog with Treats
and He Will Eventually Listen to You Even Without Goodies Forever
and Ever After FACT: There Are
Only Three Reasons that Justify Using Treats with a Dog:
This myth is a classic example of trying to make sense out of nonsense. When you think about it, your dog should sit, stay or lie down because you said so, not because he’s going to get a crispy bacon strip. I'm sure most of us were raised this way and we turned out just fine. It shouldn’t be any different when it comes to our dogs. Here's a Thought-Provoking Question: Would you still work for a company if they decided to stop paying you? Since your dog has no use for money, you read somewhere or were told by a trainer to “pay” your dog with treats. But once you totally stop giving those yummy treats, it is not much different than if your boss stops paying you. All of a sudden you might find your dog going on strike with a sign around its neck that reads, “NO Treats = NO Obey, NO Treats = NO Obey!” Cookie training, without a doubt, is the biggest scam in dog
training history. In fact, it shouldn’t even be called “training.”
It is bribery. Plain and simple. Do you honestly think this method
will work if someone takes away your bag of Slim Jim? What happened
to your skill? Did your technique disappear along with those treats?
Your common sense should tell you that this approach has a serious
flaw. Let’s not kid ourselves, it doesn’t take much talent or skill to constantly bribe a dog with treats and then call it dog training. In case you are still confused, let me remind you again: That is NOT training, but rather pure bribery! We all know bribery rarely lasts. Because like most bribes, it lacks bond, love, trust, loyalty and respect. When those great qualities are missing in any relationship, that's when people shift gear toward bribing instead. Look, there is nothing wrong with giving your dog treats once in a while, but it is best to do so at the very end of your training session, NOT before each command. That is the natural, smart and practical way. I realize that some of you are first time dog owners, and most of you have never ever owned a truly trained dog, but some of you have. In fact, I'd find it hard to believe if you haven’t heard of or known of someone who was able to train their dog without the use of treats. Think back a bit. A family member, neighbor, relative, co-worker, or maybe that someone was “you.” Now, whether you did it with the help of a trainer or all on your own, you were able to train one of your previous dogs without the constant use of tidbits. That's right. Just by using your praise and technique, you got noticeable and long-term results. I am also willing to bet that dog was one of the best behaved and well-trained dogs that you’ve ever owned. You never had to starve it prior to any of your training sessions, yet he obeyed you just fine. I'm also betting that same dog never turned on you or your loved ones. Most importantly, he loved AND respected you. Best of all, you didn’t even have to break his spirit or starve him to death in order for him to mind you. Ultimately, you want the training to stick! But right now, the only sticky things are your fingers from all those cheese and hot dogs that you bribe your dog with. Or you are in some fantasy world hoping that your dog will eventually obey your commands anywhere, anytime, without any cookies just because you snapped your fingers or because you said please. Those are my favorite. "Sit please." Yeah. Like "please" even works on people every time. Folks, be that polite with those who truly deserve and have earned your love and respect. Never ever say "please" to your dog. Your overall demeanor, or as Cesar would say, your energy, right away turns into a wussy energy or a whiner’s energy. Trust me. Your dog doesn't care about or understand the word "please." Plus, once your friends and relatives catch you being that polite to your dog, they'll shake their head and know that you are hopeless. And I'm here to prove them wrong! So no more saying "please" to your dog! Okay? Please! (Don’t worry. I’ve dedicated an entire chapter on pros and cons of using treats in training, since I know there are thousands of books and trainers who have misled millions of poor dog owners worldwide.)
So don't worry, it is violence that breaks a dog’s spirit--not
enforcing your rules and boundaries. When you catch your dog making
a mistake, you need to correct it, NOT punish it. There is a big
difference! Humans have successfully been able to teach dogs different commands
with their voice for hundreds of years now. So unless you are
mute, there is no need for a nonsense clicking device. Click,
click. BOOOM. Now take that, clicker trainers! Myth #3: You Can't Change a Dog for the Better if He is Too Young or Too Old!
By being diverse with your training technique, you’ll
have great success even if you are dealing with an 8-week-old
puppy or an 18-year-old grouch. I assure you, virtually any dog
can learn to follow your rules and obey your commands regardless
of age, size, or personality. Yes, even your dog! This is definitely worth repeating: There are no excuses or age
limit for ANY of your dog’s bad habits! Based on my personal
experience in dealing with dogs of all ages and temperaments,
I promise you that there is no bad behavior that cannot be controlled
or completely eliminated. Myth #4: Dogs Were Born to Please Their Owners FACT: It is actually poor “you” who is pleasing and spoiling your dog. If this myth were really true, you wouldn't be reading this. Sorry. But you rarely run into pleasing dogs. Here’s how I can prove it to you: Say your dog starts barking excessively, mouthing you, or jumping
on your kids. Does she stop with a simple “NO,”
or do you mostly keep telling her to stop over and over again?
Hmm... she’s not pleasing you there, is she? Or how about
when your dog keeps on lunging at a cat, another dog, or maybe
at one of your guests? You yell out commands or even try to
“physically” control or restrain him. Does he obey
you then? I’m guessing the answer is still NO. I want you to think about this for a moment, if all dogs are
truly pleasers, why in the world are there so many dog training
books, dog trainers, dog behaviorists and even doggie shrinks
out there? If this myth were really true, don’t you think
that everybody would have a perfect dog with no bad manners?
No matter what the circumstances and no matter how tempting
the distraction, all dogs would listen to their owners and everybody
would own a super-trained pooch.
Myth #5:
FACT: This is where your dog
either will learn to bully or get bullied by other dogs. And if
that wasn’t bad enough, your dog will also pickup many bad
habits from the other dogs that are hard to break even for the
most experienced trainers. And if your dog is friendly with all dogs, there will be that one that will pick on yours or even maul it for no reason--just because he feels like it. I’m sure you can think of someone who didn’t like you, or even picked on you for no reason. It is not much different when it comes to walking your dog or taking it to a dog park. Sadly, this results in your pooch losing total trust in you and becoming fearful or even aggressive toward certain breeds, or worse, toward every dog he meets for the rest of its life. Some of the dogs will keep on pushing your dog’s buttons and picking on him over and over again, until he can’t or won’t take it anymore and might snap. And that’s when you’d see his Cujo side, a side of him that you’ve never seen or didn’t think he had in him. Now, can you really blame your dog in this situation? (This question depends on who you ask. But Yes and NO is the correct answer.) If you think your puppy or adult dog isn’t comfortable around other dogs or just might be terrified of them, dragging it to a dog park is a big mistake. Take dogs sniffing one another. In the dog world, when a dog sniffs another dog’s rear or genitals, that’s very similar to our handshake. But the truth is, some of these dogs aren’t ready for a hand shake yet or maybe they just don’t want to. Haven’t you met a few lovely people who didn’t want to shake your hand and left you hanging? So here's a typical scenario with scared dogs: Dogs that act
shy will hide behind their owners, under benches, or run away
from other dogs. If you could read their minds, you might hear
something like, “Please save me! All these dogs are trying
to take a chunk out of me!” And the dogs that are doing
the chasing are thinking, “What is wrong with this dog?
What does he have to hide anyway? Why won’t he let us sniff
him down there? Just stand still so we all can sniff your booty
for crying out loud, and it will be all over soon.” As you can see, taking your best friend to dog parks is a gamble
where the odds play strongly against you. My clients always tell
me, “But Kevin, he loves the dog park. He has a blast every
time I take him there.” Well, that’s like saying,
“My kids love pizza. They have a blast every time the door
bell rings. We order pizza for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even
snacks.” But you wouldn't let your kids go crazy with pizza
all day and all night, would you? I hope not. If so, then invite
me too. Kids also have a blast playing video games, talking on
the phone, texting and surfing the Internet 24/7, but that doesn't
mean it is right or healthy for them. Maybe you are fed up with your dog stealing food off counters, bolting out the door or pulling you on the leash. Maybe you want to build up her confidence around people and other dogs. Let’s not forget issues like terrorizing your cat, fighting with your other dog or behaving impolitely around your visitors. Every one of these issues is best solved in a private session. How in the world can any trainer no matter how qualified she may be, help you with these issues in a class full of untrained dogs? Here is another problem with group classes: they are not part
of your typical daily routine! Ask yourself, when was the last
time you ran into ten owners who were all desperately trying to
make their dogs behave at the same time? Hardly ever! You most
likely run into one person walking a dog, jogging a dog, waiting
at the vet's office or when passing through the aisle in a pet
store. Now these are what you call real-life scenarios! Don’t
forget about the dogs that try to antagonize yours by barking
excessively as you walk near their fence or even lunge viciously
toward you and your dog. Picture this. You have your dog’s graduation diploma hanging on the wall. You went out of your way to find this cute frame that has little bones and paws around the frame. And right next to it, your poor guest is getting humped by your dog and you can’t get him to stop for the life of you. That’s Rover for you. He aced that PetSmart or Petco class and passed all of their commands with flying colors. And you got your diploma, yet you can’t stop his jumping and humping on your kids and visitors. How pathetic. Trainers who prefer to teach only group classes, no matter how brilliant they may be and no matter how hard they try to be helpful, cannot do much with a bunch of dogs with their own separate agendas. You need that one-on-one attention. And if you really think about it, even teaching your dog the obedience factor such as Sit, Stay, Down, Heel, or Come to You When Called are best taught in your home or in private. Again, this is because there are no minor or major distractions to stall your training progress. News Flash: The majority of these trainers keep
this information hidden from you. Now, if you are educated enough
to figure this out on your own, great. If not, then they’ll
ask you to drag your dog to their class for six or eight weeks
in a row and tell you to keep giving it treats just for being
alive. You see, all topnotch trainers in the business follow four stages of training: The learning stage, the correction stage, the distraction-proofing stage and finally, the maintenance stage. The “maintenance” aspect of the training is just as important as the first three. Let me give you an example that most of us can relate to: We all know that losing a few pounds can be hard--but keeping them off is even more challenging. Staying consistent in the fourth stage of the training is like keeping those extra pounds off. The maintenance stage is when many dog owners get lazy and fall off the wagon. It is unfortunate, since this is the stage that will give you the pleasure of having an obedient and balanced dog for years to come. Now, if you decide to ignore the importance of these four elements and still enroll your dog in such classes, this is what I predict when I look at my crystal ball: You will be trying to teach your dog new commands, correcting him left and right for not listening, and if that isn't enough, you’ll get frustrated when he can’t ignore a new location, new dogs, new people, new smells, noises or other unexpected distractions. Is this fair or productive to either of you? As far as getting your dog socialized or making him obey you
around different dogs, this too needs to happen in front of one
or two dogs before joining a big group of unruly dogs and novice
owners. I found that obedience classes are the best place for
“polishing” up on your technique. I’m sure you’ll
agree that polishing and learning are two different things. Myth #7:
FACT: Dogs are perfectly capable of responding to our voice without making eye contact or seeing our fancy hand signals. Besides, would you rather have your dog look at you or actually “listen” to you? Then do yourself and your dog a favor and don’t drag your training lessons by saying, watch me… watch me… watch me before each command. That’s just nagging! Watch what? When you really think about what you are doing, you are not even asking the poor dog to look at you. You actually want him to focus on the treat you are holding, so it gives the "illusion" of your dog looking directly at you. The majority of dog schools don't tell you this, but you only
need your dog’s eyes glued to you if you want to prepare
him for obedience trials. Speaking from helping thousands of dog
owners, I know most of you only care for a well-mannered and obedient
pet and not a super-trained dog that wins you a bunch of titles,
ribbons and trophies. Myth #8: Since Saying
"NO" Doesn't Work on Your Dog Anymore, FACT: Your dog must stop dead in his tracks the second he hears the word, “NO!” It shouldn’t even matter whether it came from you or someone else. NO means NO!
Even worse, in emergency situations you won’t even remember
the funny noises. But saying or even yelling out "NO,"
comes naturally to everyone! Folks, let's not sugarcoat things.
"NO" simply means – "NO" and your dog
should stop whatever he's doing the second he hears it from anyone,
any place and at any time.
Myth #9: All Dogs Can Be Trained with the Same Tool FACT: There isn't
that one “magic tool" that works on every dog, every-single-time.
This is because some dogs are just too smart, too strong, too
big, too fast, too stubborn, too dominant, too sensitive, too
sneaky or even too unpredictable for their poor owners. So which training tools do top trainers swear by? The answer
to this question may surprise you, but they too rely on whatever
tool that works best for them and their dogs. So why should it
be any different with you? Be smart about this. If the tool you
are using at the moment doesn’t seem to get your dog’s
attention around other dogs or strangers, try a different one.
Your main focus should be only one thing and that is: getting
results! So why use something that doesn’t work or stops
working when you need it to work the most? Bottom line, use what works. Most importantly, use the tool correctly and humanely. And despite how people judge you, just smile and tell them, "You don't know much about my dog, lady. When he is distracted or focused on someone or something, this is the only tool that seems to get him under control." Be smart! Be Diverse! So which training tools do top trainers swear by? The answer to this question may surprise you, but they too rely on whatever tool that works best for them and their dogs. So why should it be any different with you? Be smart about this. If the tool you are using at the moment doesn’t seem to get your dog’s attention around other dogs or strangers, try a different one. Your main focus should be: getting results. So why use something that doesn’t work or stops working when you need it to work the most? You should take a step back and really observe whether the tool
of your choice is just as effective around hard-to-ignore distractions.
Again, I am challenging you with a typical daily routine that
are hard to avoid. These include: other dogs, your visitors, your
cat, the mail carrier or kids running around. If your training
tool doesn't even seem to faze there, please don't make a fool
out of yourself by using it over and over again just because some
trainer told you to or someone or even a trainer gave you a long
lecture about it. Even if a certain tool worked with one of your
previous dog(s), it doesn't necessarily mean it will get you the
same results with your “current” dog. This again proves
that all dogs are different.
Even that nonsense clicker, I had to try it a few times to see if it really delivered what it promised. As I suspected, it was pointless and never did much out in real-life scenarios. Now, if you care to teach your dog some cute tricks with no distractions around, then click away. But to take your dog out in real-life situations with your pouch of cut-up chicken and expect it to mind you by hearing click-click, you are mistaken. What most likely will end up happening is: you using profanity, chasing down after your dog, and tossing that clicker at him to stop him from killing the neighbor's cat. And you better have a good aim, since that cat is their baby. Back to the benefit of doggy boot camps. Frustrated owners who try our drop off training can’t deny
the huge improvement they see upon picking up their dogs. You'll
see the eyebrow-raising difference right in front of you! What's
best about it is half of the battle and frustration is out of
the way. And unlike the dogs, I've never had to ask any of the
owners to spend two weeks with me so I can train them. At least
not yet. People are usually much smarter and more compliant than
their doggies. Well, for the most part. NOTE: These ten dog training myths have been
presented to you in the most condensed way possible. As you read
the rest of the book, you'll notice how I confirm what I’m
trying to convey with even more compelling facts. But don’t
take my word for it. I really prefer that you research and study
all ten of these myths and mistakes for yourself. Observe some
dog training classes, visit different dog parks, talk to lots
of dog owners who have actually tried different training methods
and different trainers. Also, compare this book to other dog training
and dog psychology books on the market.
Taken from Kevin's Book,
"Hidden Secrets Behind Dog Training" About the Author: Kevin Salem is considered to be one of the brightest minds in the world of dog training and one of the pioneers in his field. It’s hard to paint Kevin’s image with the same brush as other dog experts, as his unique way of training, thinking, and writing, truly makes him distinct and one of a kind in the world of dog training. Ever since he was young, Kevin has been able to relate and communicate with dogs in a very special way. You know when you meet a natural. We’ve all seen one. These individuals are rarely taught, but rather born. In over two decades of working with different breeds, he has successfully trained well over 10,000 dogs worldwide, earning him the nickname,“The Dog Prodigy.” He is one of those rare experts in his field who has the knowledge and the expertise to accept challenging cases that the majority of dog schools simply don’t want to deal with. We are referring to “red zone dogs,” and those already given up on by many trainers, veterinarians and even animal behaviorists. He is proud of saving hundreds of these dogs from abandonment, shelters, or worse, euthanasia. Kevin gained his experience from studying and practicing different methods of training. To expand his knowledge even further, he also compared the strengths and weaknesses of different theories from more than a hundred books on dog training, dog behavior, and canine psychology. Mr. Salem currently operates his school, Dog Secrets, where
he offers house calls not only throughout the US, but around the
world. You may also send your dog to his most popular program,
the Doggie Boot Camp.
!!! More Thought-Provoking Articles that Challenge Everything You Know !!! What Most Dog Trainers Ignore or Even Hide From You! Strong
Signs Which Prove that "Your Doggie" is Running the
Show
Why Does Your Dog Completely Ignore You Around "Other"
Dogs? Pros
and Cons of Your "Current" Technique that You Didn't
Know!! 20 Reasons
Why Your Dog Doesn't Listen When it Matters the Most!
Why Using Treats May Get You Quick, with Very Short-Lived Results
Aggrrrresion:
Detect Your Dog's Warning Signs Like a True Pro! Turning
Tragedy into Triumph! - Kevin's Childhood Touching Story!!
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