August 5th, 2010
By Eric Letendre
I was sitting at home yesterday when I got a phone call from the local new station. They were calling to ask if I would be willing to go on the afternoon show and talk about dog training.
Never one to turn down an opprotuinty to go on TV, I agreed to be there on Friday. I’ll let you know how it goes.
They asked me to share with the audience some tips on dog training and behavior. She also asked me to send some key points on what I was going to talk about, so I decided to share with you first what I am going to talk about.
You see, I have been teaching for years that the focus should not be on the dog. The real focus has to be on the owner.
Years ago while attending a seminar, the great dog trainer John Rogerson stated: “If you want a good dog, learn how to become a good dog owner.” That one simple statement changed the way I looked at dog training.
I had been taught that the dog was always at fault if the training did not go well. Your dog won’t sit, down or stay?
The dog is being stubborn.
Your dog is pulling on leash or won’t come back when called?
The dog is being dominant.
Your dog won’t pay attention?
The dog is neurotic.
Everytime the dog did not perform, the dog was blamed.
Here’s a question for you.
Is it the dog or the trainer?
I was orginally taught a dog training method that was very popular in the 1950′s. Put a choke chain on the dog and give a correction. If dog does not respond, increase the intensity of the correction. If correction does not work, increase the intensity of the correction, If the hardest correction you give does not work, label the dog as dominant, stubborn, neruotic, genetically defective, or make up a label.
As you can imagine, this led to a lot of problems; dogs that developed aggressive behavior, dogs that became scared, dogs that developed destructive behavior and dogs that simply shut down.
The amazing thing is that there are still trainers out there training the same way.
Anyway, I am going to share the four steps to becoming a good dog owner on the show.
The four steps are:
1. Good management skills
2. Exercise
3. Leadership
4. Train using positive reinforcment
I will expand a little further in my next email. I’ll also let you know how the TV show goes, so stay tuned…
All the best,
Eric
P.S. If you really want to learn how to become a great dog owner, check out: The Dog Training Inner Circle
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States and has been training dogs for over 20 years, teaching regular, average, every-day owners all over the world how to get the training results they want as fast as possible. Eric is also the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Improve Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
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Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training "hacks" that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
Hi,
Our dog is in danger of hurting their larynx since shes so strong. We heard a Dog Choke might be a better option? Do you have any experience with anything like this?
Thanks!