Why We Do What We Do The Way We Do It
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. -Maya Angelou
We often get asked why we do what we do, how we got started. And why we do it the way we do, using reinforcement based, science backed methods. Here is our story. After following my sailor husband Scott around for 16 years we hit our last duty station in the desert. We started preparing for his retirement and our real life that would happen in a few short years. Us, our teenage son, 2 cats, 2 fish and one bird. Priority ONE: Adding dogs to our lives. We had waited on adding dogs due to our military moves. Although it is quite possible to move with dogs, we had always planned on Great Danes and knew that it would be better for them and us to wait until we would be staying in one place.
We did our research and adopted one, then a second. We had normal dogs that went thru puppy classes, were well socialized and fit into our lives quite well. Then, after Scott retired and we entered the civilian phase of our lives, we had puppy fever. Our danes were 6 and 7 and great dogs but we missed having a busy puppy around. This time, however, I didn't do the research I had done before. I quickly found a breeder not far from us who was expecting a litter. At first glance it appeared to be a good fit so we paid for our puppy and waited for her to arrive. We even visited as soon as we could.
We often get asked why we do what we do, how we got started. And why we do it the way we do, using reinforcement based, science backed methods. Here is our story. After following my sailor husband Scott around for 16 years we hit our last duty station in the desert. We started preparing for his retirement and our real life that would happen in a few short years. Us, our teenage son, 2 cats, 2 fish and one bird. Priority ONE: Adding dogs to our lives. We had waited on adding dogs due to our military moves. Although it is quite possible to move with dogs, we had always planned on Great Danes and knew that it would be better for them and us to wait until we would be staying in one place.
We did our research and adopted one, then a second. We had normal dogs that went thru puppy classes, were well socialized and fit into our lives quite well. Then, after Scott retired and we entered the civilian phase of our lives, we had puppy fever. Our danes were 6 and 7 and great dogs but we missed having a busy puppy around. This time, however, I didn't do the research I had done before. I quickly found a breeder not far from us who was expecting a litter. At first glance it appeared to be a good fit so we paid for our puppy and waited for her to arrive. We even visited as soon as we could.
That's when the red flags started happening, but we ignored them. She had told me she had another litter but when we arrived we didn't see that litter. Come to find out, that litter had been put down due to parvo exposure. When we went to make arrangements to pick up our Jinkies the breeder had moved and this 8 week old puppy was the only dog left. The breeder explained that she'd had to get rid of the mom, sire and other puppies during her move 4 weeks earlier. Jinkies had been left in a garage all by herself, being fed the cheapest canned food available which did not meet a fast growing puppy's needs.
All of that turned our sweet puppy into one medical drama after another with 3 resulting bone diseases. This left her vulnerable to a catastrophic injury that required major surgery. Her first year was spent either isolated in a 10 x 10 room to avoid injury or at the vet. Her bones were so weak that she she suffered several 'folding fractures', a broken growth plate and multiple broken toes. What we didn't realize was that while the isolation was helping her heal physically she was missing critical socialization and experiences that create a well balanced dog.
At almost a year old the vet finally gave the ok for our dog to be a normal dog. Unfortunately, Jinkies was a mess by this point, terrified of everything! This caused a ton of behavior challenges, from reactivity to fear and anxiety. Neophobic is the official diagnosis, but we didn't learn that until later. She also had severe resource guarding, which terrified us. At the time I was mentoring under another trainer and all the information we were given was to correct the behaviors to fix the dog. We started with yelling, leash pops, even a prong collar. All of these things seemed to make sense, punishing the behavior to make it stop. And it would, for a short time. What was happening, tho, was that the behavior was suppressed temporarily and when it would return it would be more intense than before. We were told to up the punishment to again stop the behavior. It was a vicious cycle.
Unable to find a professional that had experience in this increasingly challenging situation, I had to go with my gut and figure it out myself. I got rid of the prong collar, replacing it with a gentle leader. I started researching other training methods, finally making my way to CATCH Canine Trainers Academy. Why CATCH? Because CATCH's curriculum is science based. I learned the difference between training based on theory and training based on science. I learned the buzzwords Balanced Training, Dominance Based Training, Alpha Training all mean the same thing and that is correction/punishment based training. The tools they use may be different: e-collars, prong collars, choke chains, high pitched noises, air horns, throwing chains, citronella collars: these are all aversives, a form of punishment. The problem with punishment is that science, in studies dating back to the 1970s, have proven that the use of these corrections cause fear and are more likely to lead to behavior fallout that may result in a dog who is more likely to bite and possibly be euthanized due to dangerous behaviors. I also learned that most so-called "aggression" cases are actually dogs reacting out of fear.
All of that turned our sweet puppy into one medical drama after another with 3 resulting bone diseases. This left her vulnerable to a catastrophic injury that required major surgery. Her first year was spent either isolated in a 10 x 10 room to avoid injury or at the vet. Her bones were so weak that she she suffered several 'folding fractures', a broken growth plate and multiple broken toes. What we didn't realize was that while the isolation was helping her heal physically she was missing critical socialization and experiences that create a well balanced dog.
At almost a year old the vet finally gave the ok for our dog to be a normal dog. Unfortunately, Jinkies was a mess by this point, terrified of everything! This caused a ton of behavior challenges, from reactivity to fear and anxiety. Neophobic is the official diagnosis, but we didn't learn that until later. She also had severe resource guarding, which terrified us. At the time I was mentoring under another trainer and all the information we were given was to correct the behaviors to fix the dog. We started with yelling, leash pops, even a prong collar. All of these things seemed to make sense, punishing the behavior to make it stop. And it would, for a short time. What was happening, tho, was that the behavior was suppressed temporarily and when it would return it would be more intense than before. We were told to up the punishment to again stop the behavior. It was a vicious cycle.
Unable to find a professional that had experience in this increasingly challenging situation, I had to go with my gut and figure it out myself. I got rid of the prong collar, replacing it with a gentle leader. I started researching other training methods, finally making my way to CATCH Canine Trainers Academy. Why CATCH? Because CATCH's curriculum is science based. I learned the difference between training based on theory and training based on science. I learned the buzzwords Balanced Training, Dominance Based Training, Alpha Training all mean the same thing and that is correction/punishment based training. The tools they use may be different: e-collars, prong collars, choke chains, high pitched noises, air horns, throwing chains, citronella collars: these are all aversives, a form of punishment. The problem with punishment is that science, in studies dating back to the 1970s, have proven that the use of these corrections cause fear and are more likely to lead to behavior fallout that may result in a dog who is more likely to bite and possibly be euthanized due to dangerous behaviors. I also learned that most so-called "aggression" cases are actually dogs reacting out of fear.
,Wanting to make a real difference for other dogs like Jinkies I applied to and completed the University of Washington's Applied Animal Behavior program. I needed to understand the science that would allow me to address the challenging behaviors in the best and safest way possible. Jinkies passed shortly after her twelfth birthday. While she never became the "perfect dog", the difference in her life after throwing out the corrections and teaching her that scary things don't have to be scary, made a huge impact on her quality of life.
While I wish we could have 100% fixed Jinkies, we were able to give her a wonderful life, Resource guarding was eliminated, she learned the skills she needed to adapt to a world that was no longer as scary. She enjoyed outings, going to work with me and snuggling. She also is our inspiration to help other dogs facing the behavior and aggression challenges. She brought me to this vocation, which lets me do what I love with the best and safest methods that science shows us will work. In addition to working with the behavior cases, Scott has joined me to teach our basic and advanced dog classes, helping to build the solid foundation your dog needs to be the best they can be. We both continue to educate ourselves to make sure that we do the best we can for you and your dog. And we mentor new trainers to help them get started on their best paths.
While I wish we could have 100% fixed Jinkies, we were able to give her a wonderful life, Resource guarding was eliminated, she learned the skills she needed to adapt to a world that was no longer as scary. She enjoyed outings, going to work with me and snuggling. She also is our inspiration to help other dogs facing the behavior and aggression challenges. She brought me to this vocation, which lets me do what I love with the best and safest methods that science shows us will work. In addition to working with the behavior cases, Scott has joined me to teach our basic and advanced dog classes, helping to build the solid foundation your dog needs to be the best they can be. We both continue to educate ourselves to make sure that we do the best we can for you and your dog. And we mentor new trainers to help them get started on their best paths.