Note:  The author has had no veterinary or medical training. She has merely documented her experience with her dog's health problems. Be sure to check with your veterinarian before acting on any information you see here.

THE PACK MENTALITY
CONSISTENCY
LANGUAGE
TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION
TRAINING METHODS
PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

My mother, at age 78, should never have taken on the project of a new puppy. She couldn't bend down easily and was never quick enough to train Amie well. While Amie was paper-trained, she also used several spots in the house as evacuation points. When she was almost a year old we went to a new dog training class together and at least we were able to train her to walk on the leash. When my husband, Jeff, and I took over, we realized that this was a basically untrained one year old dog who was deeply in grief and resented any of our attempts to gain mastery.

That first month after my mom died I read about 20 books and viewed a few videos on dog training. There are several things I learned of value.
 

One: The Pack Mentality. It wasn't until we learned about the pack mentality that we became successful in training. Also, my family has acquired work dogs as pets. These are dogs that have been trained as seeing-eye dogs or companion pets that have for various reasons washed out of the training program. My sister Joyce gave me a copy of the training manual that came with her labrador. Ingenious.

Two: Consistency. The most important aspect in training is consistency. Consistency in behavior toward the dog. Consistency in the words and syntax used to communicate with the dog. (See Amie's vocabulary.)

Three: Language. Once we figured out consistency, it became very easy to communicate to Amie. We could let her understand that barking is okay in certain circumstances and not others. "Good drink" is water in her cup. "No drink" is any other liquid. She truely understands complex sentences such as "Kakker (her name for me) no like Amie sit here." "No chew Amie piggies (feet)."

Mostly training Amie was a trial and error process. We knew we would rather have an unruly dog than train it using pain. We read everything we could about training, asked questions of veterinarians and others who had dogs. Most of what we learned we learned by accident. I kept looking for a tape or book that teach a person how to train a dog through play, but never found it.
 

THE PACK MENTALITY

Although I had been Amie's favorite toy for her first year, it took her at least nine months after Mom died to not be wary of Jeff and me. The vet said that sometimes dogs never transfer their affection. I then asked how long toy poodles live. With her barking and housebreaking and grief, she was more than a handful. She would sit about six feet away from us on the floor. At TV watching time we would invite her to join us. "Amie jump up here, snuggle Kakker. It's good, makes Amie feel so good. Kakker give Amie good rub." It was nine months before she joined our pack.

Since dogs are pack animals Amie sees our family as members of her pack. Dogs want to live in a group and are adept at cooperating in a group. We needed to learn how to think like a dog - and how to communicate so she would understand us. As pack leader, I need to assert my leadership whenever necessary. I was dismayed to learn that subordinate pack members will continually test for dominance, but I learned that it doesn't take much to retain leadership. Merely rolling her over on her back (it's really easy to do with a 7 pounder) and rubbing her stomach is as much playful as dominance establishing.

Especially during the pack acclimation stage, I would treat my husband Jeff in some of the ways I would treat Amie. "Jeff is such a good girl", (rubbing Jeff). "Amie is such a good girl", (rubbing Amie). This let Amie know that the three of us are in the same pack. Jeff and Kakker always eat before Amie does. This teaches her to know that Jeff is somewhat of a co-pack leader and Amie is subordinate.

The subordinate looks to the leader for approval. I began praising Amie for doing what she was already doing - "Good eat", "Good sniff", "Good make a nest". Matthew Margolis, founder of the National Institute of Dog Training in Los Angeles says that love, praise and affection are the basis of effective training. We give her liberal amounts of positive strokes.

We never have hit her but there was one time of extreme annoyance when I grabbed the back of her neck (as a dog pack leader would do to keep a pup in line) and she nearly bit off a finger. To this day she does not like anyone to come up behind her. She still may sound a warning growl if she thinks I'm annoyed with her and approaching.

When she learned what "Sit" is, part of reinforcing dominance was to make her sit before putting on or taking off the leash or going outside. She has to wait until I say it is okay for her to go outside. "Amie, let's go outside". This prevents her from dashing out the door as soon as anyone opens it and she looks to me to give my okay.
 

One of my favorite cartoons is "What Dogs Hear". A dog owner is scolding a dog and the balloon coming out of the owner's mouth says, "Blah de blah blah blah, Fido". It's all blah blah until they begin to pick up patterns.

If you or other family members allow something one time and not another, the inconsistency will confuse the dog. Consistency is safety and security. The dog can identity your expectations more readily and be more able to please. It can be exhausting to train a pet, but consistency and immediacy makes it a lot easier. I learned to not let a training opportunity go by. Always praise or correct. Always use the same language structure. Always react the same way. Always show love. It doesn't take long for a dog to recognize words and tones of voice.

LANGUAGE

Signals must be clear. It took some training of myself to get to the point when I would look her in the eye and speak to her firmly, but not loudly or angrily. Negative emotion appears as attention and reinforces bad behavior. Using the same tone of voice and the same words for a command made Amie pay attention to what was being communicated to her, rather than being diverted by the affect in the voice or being confused by the words. This was demonstrated really well in a dog training show I saw on TV. The owner would say "Sit?", like it was a question and the dog ignored her. The trainer got the dog's attention and said "Sit" in a commanding, but not harsh way and the dog immediately sat. Getting the tone right and being consistent was a break-through in training Amie.

It was very important to get a document from my sister about canine companion work dogs (Canine Companions for Independence: Social Dog Manual c 1986). My sister adopted a dog that had been trained as a work dog. The manual empowered me to not be afraid of Amie but to recognize her native intelligence. The manual said that when you crouch or squat and speak to the dog, the dog sees this as a submissive position. Amie listens to me very closely, though, when my eyes are at her level and she's not looking up.

It was a relief to learn that dogs want to please. Dogs want to please so it is my job to let her know what I want from her. Knowing that, I would tell Amie "Kakker like..." or "Kakker no like..." Amie seemed to listen more to information that included Kakker's likes and no likes. Emphasis is on Kakker LIKE, Kakker NO like. It works.

One dog trainer said you can teach hand signals to dogs so that you don't even have to speak. I haven't found a book or tape about dog hand signals, but when I could think one up, I've used it consistency. I rub the side of my face by my mouth with my knuckles and say "Good girl'. That's where she gets rubbed when I'm holding her and say "Good girl". I rub the flat of my hand in circles over my upper chest and say "Kakker likes Amie", the same way as when I rub her. Hand out with palm facing her means "Stay". Hand with palm down and slowly lowered from the elbow means "Sit". The "Come" signal hasn't taken yet. I would like to know of other hand signals to use.

"Ummm" sounds always brings her closer to me. I pet her and say "Ummmm" and she can barely stand the ecstasy of love.

She picks up new words very fast. She has "dry eye" and needs frequent eye cleaning and drops. When I ask Jeff if Amie has had her eye make-up, she will hide. I think she picked that up after the first dose. (See Amie's Vocabulary).
 

I don't know why it was so hard for me to figure out that Amie tries to talk to us, too. She does what she can to tell me what she needs. My mom would get so mad at Amie nipping at her toes. What was she trying to say? We now know that this is an invitation to chase. Mom would say, "She's staring at me again". Amie stands perfectly still and stares. "What do you want Amie?" She still stares. I then begin asking her questions. "Amie want some good drink?" "Amie want some good eat?" "Amie want a snuggle?" Sometimes I never figure it out, but I'm sure she's telling me something.

She humps a leg when she doesn't want us to go. She lightly chews Jeff's slipper when she doesn't want him to go to work. When she chews the napkin under her dish, she wants food. When she has just eaten and she stares at me, she wants more. When she sniffs around, she wants to urinate. When she sniffs herself, he wants to defecate. She puts her paws on my knee and digs a little when she wants up on my lap. She runs around in a circle near the bed when she wants to be put on it to lie in the sunbeams. She head-butts our chest after eating to show her appreciation. If I ask, "Amie no feel good?" and she makes a low growl, I know she does not want to be bothered because she has a fever or is otherwise not up to par. When she's out for a walk on the leash and sits down, she needs to urinate. What else does she try to say that haven't yet figured out?
 

 

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