It's easy to spot a well-trained dog. Maybe the pup is well-behaved in a large group of people or other dogs. Perhaps the pooch can sit, shake and roll over on command. But what's involved in training your pet that molds a calm, confident and well-behaved dog? We're talking about dog training and dog psychology with two Vermont dog trainers.
Jeff Scarpino, co-owner and trainer at and canine facility in Newark, helps us understand dog psychology and behavior, and important training techniques for trainers and dogs alike.
And Jo Meilleur, owner and trainer at in South Burlington, talks about matching goals for your dog with your family and your lifestyle, and creating a link between owner and animal to promote confidence and avoid panic during stressful situations.
Listen to the podcast audio above; find few excerpts from the program below:
Dog Psych 101
Meilleur: 鈥淚 think a lot of things that people don鈥檛 think about when it comes to their dogs are what really motivates them and what really is enticing to them 鈥� to, like, light them up and be excited about what they鈥檙e doing. A lot of dogs aren鈥檛 super excited about strict obedience; sometimes they鈥檙e really excited about playing and/or chasing a toy or really using some sort of food motivator. We use a lot of different toys and/or food to actually motivate a dog, to get them out of any type of weird panic or fear kind of reaction, in order to get them to start playing and really open up to being in the different environments.鈥�
Scarpino: 鈥淵ou need that motivation and you need to figure out how to use that motivation to curb towards the behaviors that you want to see. So a lot of times what I bump into is people are giving out, you know, their affection, their time so much that it almost dilutes one of your most powerful tools. And so when you start to use it towards what you want to curb your dog into doing, you become more effective and your communication becomes better. So a lot of times what you end up having to do is making sure that you have spent enough time developing that communication so it鈥檚 very effective with you and your dog.鈥�
Scarpino also recommends : 鈥淥ne of the things that she talks about in there is the two main systems that drive behavior: you鈥檙e going to have what鈥檚 called a 鈥榮eeking system鈥� and what鈥檚 called a 鈥榩anic system.鈥� 鈥�
鈥淒ogs that are stuck in the panic system 鈥� basically run on adrenaline and cortisol all day long 鈥� that鈥檚 what fuels their behavior. So as you start to combat anxiety and stuff like this, you have to be increasing and changing the way that the dog鈥檚 brain works. And a lot of times I do this through games.鈥�
Communication With Dogs
Scarpino: 鈥淚 have a mentor that she always said a phrase [which] is: 鈥榶ou get what you pet.鈥� And so this is something that I really like to pass along to my clients, and really what it means is whatever you鈥檙e giving attention to, you鈥檙e reinforcing in that moment. So if in an example you鈥檙e giving more attention to the behavior that you don鈥檛 want to see, you can be reinforcing it.鈥�
Meilleur: 鈥淭hey totally do talk, you know, with their bodies. So if they stiffen up, that鈥檚 something to really be on alert for with other dogs. Also where their tail is actually workable. A lot of people think that their tail, if it鈥檚 high and wagging, that it鈥檚 OK 鈥� sometimes it鈥檚 really not. Sometimes it鈥檚 a mid-set tail that鈥檚 wagging and slowly, like that鈥檚 the kind of dog you really want to be approaching or having to be approached 鈥� If you鈥檙e petting something that鈥檚 super excitable and that tail鈥檚 super high and really, really wagging tightly, then you鈥檙e rewarding that but you are also can be rewarding a dog that might be insecure.鈥�
According to Scarpino, there are likely "a lot of low-level signals" coming from the dog that humans just don't realize.
Scarpino: "One of the toughest things about dogs is that they are constantly communicating, and humans aren鈥檛 always paying attention."
When using words to communicate with your dog, is raising your voice worthwhile? Meilleur says no.
Meilleur: 鈥淚f you start screaming and yelling and putting that kind of energy, sometimes dogs actually think you鈥檙e playing with them and they get really excited about it and they think it鈥檚 a huge game. So it鈥檚 way more important to, you know, keep yourself calm and ... replace that negative behavior with, you know, sending them to a placemat or sending them to their bed or their crate and giving them a different thing to practice.鈥�
OK, So You Want To Get A Dog...
Some advice from Scarpino about getting a new dog:
- 鈥淢atch your energy level more than anything. 鈥� Look at what your lifestyle is like and then try to find the breeds that are going to match that.鈥�
- 鈥淲hether you鈥檙e going to a litter of puppies or whether you鈥檙e going to rescue a dog, spend more time there than you think you might need.鈥�
That additional time, Scarpino said, will help give you more behavioral insight about the dog and its personality.
Meilleur: 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e going to a rescue, I think what鈥檚 really important is how much downtime that dog has had. ... They really need that downtime so they can decompress for their temperments but also decompress for their health. Sometimes, unfortunately, they鈥檙e coming in with really sick illnesses.鈥�
Taking The Time To Train
Meilleur: 鈥淲hen you want a super solid, positive behavior, consistency and reliability and the amount of times, the amount of reps that you get that are successful with the dog, is going to be really really what鈥檚 going to propel your training. So if you鈥檙e hoping that your dog鈥檚 going to walk on a loose leash and you only do it once a week, then it鈥檚 probably not going to stick with them. They鈥檙e probably going to lose that skill.鈥�
Scarpino: 鈥淚 personally like to do smaller training sessions. I usually leave my sessions to about 20 minutes. If it鈥檚 a very intensive session, I typically find that the dog can get a little exhausted from it. 鈥� I typically train for about 20 or 30 minutes in each of my sessions, and then I give adequate downtime afterwards for self-calming.鈥�
P.S. Dogs need ZZzzs
A listener question about a constantly barking puppy got us talking about the amount of sleep dogs need, and how inadequate rest can manifest in less than ideal ways.
Meilleur: 鈥淎 lot of times puppies are super overtired. A lot of people don鈥檛 think about that 鈥� they think they want to really tire their dogs out, and what they鈥檙e doing is feeding a lot of that energy. And just like a small human being, puppies really need a lot of down time. So you want to really look at how much down time that that puppy is actually getting. And if it鈥檚 overtired, that鈥檚 when you鈥檙e going to start seeing the negative behaviors: you鈥檙e going to see a lot of mouthing, you鈥檙e going to see a lot of barking, a lot of zoomies.鈥�
A couple suggestions from Meilleur in this instance include 鈥済iving them some good crate time鈥� in addition to providing 鈥渁n interactive toy.鈥�
Scarpino: 鈥淢ost dogs, I mean they really want to hit about 12 hours of rest during the day 鈥� so this does not even include the nighttime. They want to have more sleep than you鈥檙e probably aware of. When dogs don鈥檛 sleep enough, they basically become fueled by adrenaline, so they kind of get stuck in fight-or-flight all day long. The more that they rest, the more the brain is learning self-calming which is a nice combattant for a lot of these behaviors.鈥�
Broadcast live on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
