The Learning Curve Between Dog and Human.

I am called a "dog trainer" by most because it is a familiar term that people can identify with.
I consider myself more of an observer of animal and dog behavior who has developed a strong vocabulary in translating both the behavioral language and the overall needs of our canine companions to the humans that care for them. I know that sounds a bit wordy and my dogs snuff the idea of overcomplicating anything, so let's just say I'm -an observer, translator for dogs-. Fair enough?
Having worked with dogs for so many years I have become adept (almost at an innate level) at spotting behaviors and the root causes in a short period of time, on average. Most dogs problematic behaviors stem from the same sources, time and time again, though, I often find myself challenged in thought and skill by the emotional complexity of the root causes.
To boil it down to the absolute basics; dogs just want to feel safe. If they don't they will seek out a leader that makes them feel safe ~or~ they will exhibit innate behaviors (aggression and/or evasion seem popular)that make them feel safe.
It IS that simple. What I teach is how to seem like the best leader that your dog can find. Most people tend to think that they have to "act" a certain way, imitating the the intimidating T.V. trainers or using the coddling bribery of some of the branched off "positive-reinforcement" schools of thought with singing praise and gobelty-goop. I believe that you only have to "do" certain things to make a dog feel safe. When I watch dogs for long enough I tend to imitate them. My body posture, the sounds and grunts, facial expressions, hand signals (either conditioned or not) and movement in and around the pack or individual dog make big changes in the immediate sense. This is what I focus on most: "what do the lead dogs do to gain respect and pack order that I can implement, imitate or do?". That is the root of my research and it has proven to me a very effective perspective. Rarely is the difficult part learning what works to gain the behaviors I want from a dog. It is more often expressing the philosophy behind the things that dogs do, to humans.
One of the biggest difficulties comes when someone asks me to "fix" their dog for them when I have already spotted erratic or unstable behaviors that the human is doing. The subtleties that we humans display at a subconcious level through physical means are actually witnessed by our dogs LOUD and CLEAR. Dogs do not feel comfortable with an overly comfortable leader and they certainly do not respect a leader who panics. We can try to hide our emotions from them all we want but in my experience, for instance, I cannot just pretend that I am not afraid of a human aggressive dog. Becoming fixed in our training is not good leadership. We must flex and bend. We must be able to adapt to growth and the unknown always staying one step ahead of our pack. I glance over the daily routines that humans implement (this includes myself)for their dogs and the better I understand dogs the more I spot things we do that would make any dog feel a little unsure about their humans leadership skills. Then when I hear things like " I have tried X number of trainers and nothing works, your my last hope" I know that I have my work cut out for me. In most cases the dogs are a cool breeze!
I am pretty confident about my abilities to work a dog into a healthy, confident state. I am positive that I can gain a mutual respect and bond with almost any dog over time. I have formed dozens upon dozens of packs with dogs of all shapes and sizes where respect and general good behavior became consistent by implementing the techniques I use regularly. I learned most of the methods that I used from dogs themselves and when I look back at my years of training with all the contemporary gadgets and tasty treats for positive reinforcement; it seems so obvious to me that I am sure I sometimes take the knowledge for granted and forget to pass it on. So, if it were just the dogs themselves that I had to fix, no problem. Sometimes I have to be more patient and tolerant than at other times. Adding the human element to the mix, however, sometimes makes me feel that I need to be MORE patient and tolerant than is humanly possible.

I make training as easy, straightforward and fun as possible. I integrate what you need to 'do' to gain consistent good behavior with basic care, but you we have to actually do them. What good is it to learn something useful and then not implement it's practice? The techniques I use as a base have taken some of the toughest cases and turned them into mildly problematic dogs. Detailed and subtle attentions must be paid up front, but just like a dance once you 'get it' there is a liberation that makes the beginning (you know: the blood sweat and tears) seem like second nature. The point of all this is that I am on a learning curve as a 'trainer' but I am on a completely different learning curve when it comes to 'translator'. The dogs are constantly challenging what I 'think' I know, proving their cleverness and my human-ness. Give me your dog with all it's problems and I can find a way to gain balance and respect. When I give you back your dog ('fixed' as it were) you could easily undo every level of trust and obliterate the feelings of safety I have instilled in a matter of minutes. As a trainer, I am confident. As a social worker/behavioral educator, I am on a serious curve that at times seems steep. I am a fairly good communicator but if someone doesn't want to listen I have to find a way that does not trigger the defensive mechanisms of human ego. I myself learned this the hard way and have the scars to prove it. I have to be more clever than the complicated internal drama of my human students. Avoiding a confrontation by inviting their interests in a form that suits the individual human's needs.

Lure and reward, capture and repeat.

Skylar R. Rathbun