groom your dog is a crucial partof pet ownership . One of the first and most important aspect of it is dog leash grooming . But with so many tips , trick and advice out there , and different method and technique to approachleash traininga dog , owners are often confound about which track to take for best answer .
In today ’s over an hour farsighted podcast , I spoke with an experient weenie trainerTom Shelby , writer of the book “ Dog Training Diaries “ . Tom call off himself a “ depends trainer , ” because his approach shot to canine breeding is based on the fact that there ’s no one size of it fit all and it must be adjust based on the individual dog , the environs and many other variables . This is something I can relate to , and so we discussed in - deepness leash training a dog based on his unique method acting and what pet proprietor can do by themselves .
Listen to the installment in the video above and come up the full podcast transcript below . For more , visit this instalment ’s Wiley Post on the officialTheory of Petswebsite .
A Guide for Leash Training Your Dog(podcast transcript)
Samantha : When it comes to dog training , there are so many unlike methods out there it ’s hard to take the one that is operate to be best for you and your dog . Sometimes it becomes a test and error effort where you attempt to find things that wreak , and sort of piece different types of training together .
Today I had the pleasure of verbalize with Tom Shelby . Tom is a domestic dog trainer and now a author . He recently release his book Dog Training Diaries , Proven Expert Tips and Tricks to populate in Harmony with Your Dog . That ’s really how he works with canines . He attempt to foster that concord between the dog handler and the dog . He has trotted to dogs in front of Westminster dog show judge . He has a lot of experience education , working with search and delivery dog .
Tom has kind of been there , done that , seen it all . So I was really excited to let the cat out of the bag to him today . He foretell himself a quote - unquote “ depends ” dog trainer . And I really related to that type of breeding . He says — training calculate on the frank , the position , the environment , all kinds of different variable star . So it ’s not this like one size of it fits all type of education . It ’s more of an overall approaching to , like I said , fostering that harmony with the weenie and the flight simulator , and seeing what ’s go on in dissimilar instances . Every hound ’s different , every situation is different . So he denote to himself as a “ depends ” trainer . And I really liked that .
His approach is generally to take what the delinquent Canis familiaris hand him and wrench it into a transformative moment . No warm branch manoeuvre , no shouting , nothing like that . He really focuses on socialization being the key to a well deport dog .
Today I really wanted to focus on some tricks for leash training because I get questions all the metre from preferred owners who are either trying to check , either a puppy that they just got , or an grownup frank that they adopted that ’s not leash rail .
I get tons of questions about the proper breeding equipment to have , when you ’re training a dog , questions about what to do if your dog pull on a leash , leash aggression , all of these things .
So , I talked to Tom about all of this stuff and he started off by just explaining a little bit about his method of training and how socialization is really key , and then gives us some great tips and fast one on leash preparation as well as some of his own firsthand experiences . I was really thrilled to verbalize with him . I opine you cat are going to really enjoy this interview .
Interview with Tom Shelby
Samantha : Tom , give thanks you so much again for being on the show today . Tell me a little bit about yourself and your firedog training fashion .
Tom Shelby : I literally , Samantha , had 800 - plus appointments a yr preparation dogs when I lived in New York . About one-half for behavior problems .
So I came to somebody ’s threshold with an belligerent weenie , chiliad of time . The owner in the great bulk of cases was contain the dog back on theleashwhile the heel was pulling very hard , and acting aggressive , wanted to run through my kneepan .
And what were 95 percent of the owner doing ? They were literally pet the dogs , soothingly , suppose “ it ’s ok . ”
If you had a four year sometime fry who was frightened of the ghostwriter on Halloween , you could say to that show , “ it ’s hunky-dory ; it ’s a little boy under a sheet . ” But your response to a dog as the behavior is take place is what train a dog ; they live in the second .
So when the frank is being strong-growing at the room access and you are pet a dog trying to soothe it , what you are in a really doing is rewarding the behavior that ’s direct place .
Samantha : Okay .
Tom Shelby : And what is the voice pitch contour saying ? “ It ’s okay ” — it ’s not fine .
So thousands of sentence I witness this , and I wanted to say — is this the behavior you need ? — and needless to say , the owner would say no . And I require to say — then why are you rewarding the dog ? — but I did n’t say it because they were n’t cognizant of it ; they did n’t realize training a dog is letting the dog know you like to conduct , or you do n’t , as the behaviour is take place . It ’s timing . Timing is critical with a dog . Absolutely vital .
And when I say having an all - domestic brute that denotes organic structure language of a human better than a detent , I ’m really not embellishing . They also read your face .
I ’ve been married now , I do n’t know , for over 95 yr —
Samantha : [ laughs ]
Tom Shelby : And … Well , give or take .
And if I say something that my wife was not thrilled with . You know , I can take one look at her face and I know she ’s not well-chosen . So does your dog . Dogs read our faces just as well as our significant others .
So that construct of rewarding unwanted behavior unknowingly , is vital for people to understand and value of timing .
Another example which I see countless time is the dog-iron that jumps on people . It can be a friendly jump — hello my name ’s Bowser ; give me a ducky — and the andiron leap .
So the word I habituate for jumping is “ off ” not “ down . ” Down is a very important bidding for a click to repose down .
So I may … And again , when people say to me , what ’s your methodology ? My solution ’s always been , “ It really depends ; I do n’t know . ” My methodology for a hundred and 140 pound dog that bit several people is going to be different from my methodological analysis for a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that ’s 10 weeks old . It really bet . And it depend on what I read in the dog .
So lease us assume the dog jumps and I just , with a frown on my nerve , may shrug the dog off and say “ off , ” and a rip second afterward , the dog has four feet on the base . What I ’ve see so many people doing at that item — start chastising the dog for having jumped several second ago , but actually the domestic dog is now with four pes on the floor , and the unwanted behaviour has stopped .
In all my lessons , I tell people — when you , let ’s say , shrug the dog off , as you say the news “ off ” and a split secondly after , four feet of the dog are on the floor . You need to immediately smile . you may say “ thank you ” or “ good ” or “ good boy , ” whatever it is ; you do n’t have to cast to your knees and make love to the dog , but believe me when I tell you hundreds of prison term I ’ve depend like a moonstruck getting “ off ” — give thanks you , off , thank you , off —
Tom Shelby : If the timing is correct , Samantha , the dog , very quickly will learn , when those front feet come off the floor , I ’m not abominably happy . But when the four feet back on the trading floor , I am happy . And if the timing is done well , I ’d literally couldn’tstop the dog from jumpingin arcsecond , because they get it , if the timing is well .
So this conception of the inadvertent rewarding of undesirable behavior , I go through quite a few examples of that with client so that they understand — when the undesirable behaviour happens , lour , whatever the collection is , and I do n’t use the word “ no . ” By the time I get there , half the dogs think their is “ no defective dog . ”
I have find a beautiful tee shirt where I experience with a picture of one hot dog meeting another , saying — hi , my name ’s Do n’t Bad Dog ; what ’s yours ?
I loved it , because I have a number of guest who named their dog-iron Noah , and I suggested — well , if you ever practice the Bible “ no ” negatively , Noah ’s not a real great name .
Samantha : Yeah .
Tom Shelby : So , inadvertent rewarding of undesirable behavior , predicated on consistence language and voice intonation — this is what dogs read . So if the domestic dog ’s jump , and now you ’ve given it a three minute soliloquy why it was wrong , and if the wiener ’s sit there and being chastised when the wiener is really being conjunct . So very , very significant concept . Then we ’ll get to the leashes .
Now the other concept . I exist on the island of Martha ’s Vineyard , and one of the first things … I have a tower here ; it ’s called “ necessitate the Dog Charmer ” where people send in their questions and I write the resolution . So people have bulge call and I get here to essentially retire , but as Mark Twain said , if you bed what you do , you never work a day in your life .
Samantha : That ’s right .
Tom Shelby : And you ’re probably in a very similar position , Samantha , and I recommend you for that .
So , hoi polloi begin bid me , and I get an apprentice because I ’m not looking to do 8 to 900 deployments a yr , so I do far few . But one of the very first things I say the the great unwashed on this island is — and I say it facetiously — the first thing I want you to do is rent an apartment in Boston , just for a few months , and I want you to take the air the dog five times a 24-hour interval .
And the concept again , or the nine tidings , been there , done that , seen that , no big deal . The blackguard who has meet it all , and is afraid of nothing is the static frankfurter . So , you have it off , I think of work , walk with a German shepherd I was boarding and training when I lived in New York , and I lived across the street from the country park , and we go up there and there was a tree rostrum that had been partially burned . And between the aroma , and — I do n’t know if you know , I also used dogs , two dogs , and I trained over a more than 20 yr time period to find missing multitude ; so I ’m extremely cognizant of a dog ’s scenting ability ; as a topic of fact , Samantha , as you ’re sitting or standing as I ’m speaking we ’re dropping 40,000 bushed skin cells a mo , which produce in search and rescue what we call a scent consortium — but anyhow , so I ’m with this German sheepman , which takes note of this burn tree diagram stump and he never smell anything like this or saw anything like it , and was extremely afraid of it , and on alert .
If I had express joy and articulate “ it ’s just a tree diagram dais stupid ” and walk off , I would ’ve left that door with something to be panic-stricken of . If I had made just love to him — it ’s okay , do n’t worry — I am actually rewarding the fear response , and this is a very fine line to take the air . Not rewarding fear response , yet supporting the weenie when it ’s afraid of something .
I ’m thinking of another representative . Have you reckon in the great state of Maine , they had a couple of years ago , lots of these gravid shaping statues of Bos taurus about .
Samantha : Yes .
Tom Shelby : Yeah . So I have a Gallic poodle , now , I adopted five years ago , a standard poodle dog , who was afraid of everything when I adopted her . She ’s not anymore . But I was in New Jersey visit one of my shaver , and the pawl saw one of these cow statues , which are sprightliness size , and just freaked out .
It took me about 20 minute until I had this frank sniffing the cow and realizing — no big deal . And again , when the dog really showed veneration , my response was — wow , that ’s an interesting looking statue is n’t it ? — And I kind of victimize her , I was well-chosen , I was n’t saying , oh , it ’s okay , it ’s fine , because she was fearful , and I do n’t need to fearful and differentiate her that ’s okay . I want to underpin her and say , wow , that ’s kind of interesting , is n’t it ? And I kind of conned the hotdog over looking at . And very easy we keep approaching and she took a full step — I ’m never without treat on me , and the treats I administer are the size of crumbs ; it ’s not the sizing , it ’s the tie-up — and very frontwards apparent movement she got a delicacy and some encouragement and it literally take on me 20 minute until she was whiff it and realize — no big deal .
And that ’s the conception — been there , done that , seen that , no big deal . So when , I retrieve several years ago , a pair run from rural Alabama to midtown Manhattan , and the dog was totally freaked out by the sirens of ambulance , throng of people , etc . This dog did n’t want to urinate or defecate ; it was a very , very frightened cad .
So these are , as I said , it ’s a very fine line between supporting the dog without repay the reverence response . So I get animate and happy , make slow progress forward . I remember in Manhattan , just as we were passing the hand truck , it backfired , the dog jumped six feet up in the air and then did n’t want to excrete the truck , and admit me also a while to get the dog to make it the truck , and then I give-up the ghost back and forth . Should , and showed frump attitude is — no liberal deal ; I ’ve live this , and I survive unhurt , and it just worked out fine .
So these are two concepts . When I say socialise your dog , display it to everything you’re able to suppose of with a plus mental attitude — is a very , very authoritative concept . Then you have a much more stable dog .
Samantha : lease ’s talk about least training . That ’s what I wanted to focus on today . How do daily walks benefit dogs and frank possessor ? Of course they ’re come their exercise , but there are some other really great benefits as well .
Tom Shelby : Well , it sure is very , very crucial , and that ’s part of the bonding . I entail , the more walks you take , the more socialised the get as long as you ’re doing that with cognizance of the dog ’s response to everything . And it does assist with the soldering .
There ’s another expression of my business which is — a commonplace dog is a well behave dog .
Samantha : dead .
Tom Shelby : Is that valid ? And yesterday I took about two and a half , three hour rise , and that makes all the difference in the world .
So I call back there ’s great welfare to take walkway with the frankfurter in terms of acculturation , in terms of exercise , in terms of bonding . It ’s very meaningful .
If a frank ’s life is the backyard of the menage , it ’s an unsocialized Canis familiaris and it ’s more potential to be afraid .
And one of the six to eight types of aggression is fear hostility , is probably the most common character of aggression I ’ve hunt down into with dogs that were fearful , and the mental attitude becomes the good Defense Department is a in force offensive activity .
So what , next question , for pet possessor that have adopt a puppy and would care to exercise on leash training , what are your tips ?
One of the keys is pulling . You do n’t want to pull . And what is often suggested in many of the books — and I just make mention of that in my volume , Dog Training Diaries — when the dual tolls you just block up , and the moment the weenie stop pull , you continue walking , and when the hotdog pull again you stop . And it comes to understand that we will continue bring in forward progress and that the fun of get wind about the surround through the dog ’s olfactory organ .
But the reality is most people do n’t do that because it could take you 45 minutes to go , you know , 100 M . Because a dog , particularly if you have a very enthusiastic young click , be it a 10 week old dog or a seven months old detent , and I facetiously say all the time , dogs from puppy to junior in high spirits school punk , which , depending on breed and other circumstances can be anywhere from six , seven months to a year , a twelvemonth plus — so , from puppy to punk to young grownup . So you have the very enthusiastic seven month old whatever type of dog that ’s pulling like crazy .
So how does one stop pulling ? One can discontinue every prison term the dog pulls , and I have yet to meet multitude who can really deal with that successfully , because you just made so petty progress until the dog puts it together , and it can take a long metre for this to put it together , so the walks wo n’t get you very far .
So why is the leash attached to ? Makes a prominent , big mickle . I normally suggest that , with most dogs , they practice what ’s called an leisurely - walk harness . You ’re probably intimate with it . The trinity attaches at the thorax . And that fundamentally will extinguish 50 , 60 , 70 percent of the pulling with most dogs and make thing a tidy sum easy .
I also am now experiencing a corking deal . I am telling people who are a act senior , do n’t get a big Canis familiaris . Because I just dealt with a lady who had a shattered elbow when her gravid labradoodle , and she was an sometime lady , retired , and then pull her down , and she just had the leash to a flat collar , which it never halt the door from pulling ; they just clog up themselves and pull .
So , the easy - walk harness where the collar attache case at the chest , is the easiest way to mitigate lots and lots of pulling . The method acting to rule out 90 percent of the pull are gentle leaders . Are you familiar with a gentle leader ?
Samantha : Yes . That ’s a grand training tool .
Tom Shelby : Yes . It ’s an excellent training tool , but I have also found , I have told all of my clients , buy the gentle drawing card , I told him what size to bribe and do n’t put it on the dog until I get there . Because , you desire to acclimatise the dog to it on a very positive basis .
I would also , before I put the aristocratic leader , in most cases , as toss the cad a “ depart it ” command . And “ go forth it ” is a very , very important command , especially if you did search and deliverance .
I ’ve been on a hunt where a deer dash through the woods right in front of us and I just had to look at my firedog and say , “ leave it and get back to study . ” All I had to so was say “ go forth it . ”
So I learn dogs , “ leave it . ” Every single guest I mold with , the dog needs to be taught , “ leave it . ” And I do , I protrude almost all training in the confines of the house where you have the few distractions , because a very authoritative concept of the pawl education is to have success human body on succeeder .
So if the dog is international … Well let me put it to you this style , Samantha . When you make out home … Am I right in assuming you have a dog-iron now ?
Samantha : Yes . We have two detent .
Tom Shelby : Okay . So when you total home , and the two dogs whiff the cuff of your pant , they know who you touch , what you ate , and what environs you ’re in . Again , it ’s why Mark Twain said , if dogs could speak , nobody would own them . They have a history on you for the day .
So the full stop I ’m making is if you ’re taste to learn , initially , our detent different thing outdoors , the distraction level is much more acute than indoors . Because the dog is aware of the blade of grass that the squirrel wee on two hours ago . And if it ’s a very young wienerwurst it ’s going to be distracted by the scents it finds on the malarkey .
In search and saving , you had tracking , which is a bounder than a 40 foot leash tie to a harness , and if I have what ’s called a PLS , a position last seen , where somebody stopped to tie their shoe , they created the smell pond , as you and I are creating as we ’re were sitting wherever we are ; all these dead skin cells are fall and they create a puddle of scent .
So if I have a PLS , that place last seen , I bring in the dog there on a harness and a 40 foot III , point to that while of ground and say “ rails ” and wherever that miss person walk , we would be able to , the wienerwurst would be capable to follow just trace the footstep as he ’s drop the scent particles .
Most of the searches I had been on did not have a PLS , a place last construe , so now you have no idea , even if you ’re in the area where the someone is , the escape person is , so in that case we ’re work the malarky home . You find out where the tip is fall from and I would tell — take the dog off troika , and that ’s called air scent and the wiener works the twist calm . And that is where it ’s especially important , or even tracking , if another hound is off leash while the dog is trailing , I have to recount my dog , leave it , even if the other hotdog wants to wreak , and continue work .
So I would go to your house and I would put a hot wienerwurst in the middle of the support elbow room base on a plate and we ’d walked by that hot Canis familiaris and it would probably take me a minute or two , teaching that dog , “ snub the live dog-iron ” and take the air by . And one of the critical part of leash walking is what I call loose leash . There has to be no tension on the leash .
When I walk to the post office from my home — they do n’t deliver mail where I live , I have to go to the post office box , which is very tight — I get around a six foot leash around my articulatio humeri and I do n’t touch it with my hands , and then I know I am not compromising by pull at all . I say reheel , and the andiron walk whatever pace , whatever turn I take , without , whatever it see — if it sees another dog or a squirrel , I say “ provide it ” and the dog has to ignore it — and not pull the leash off my shoulder .
So the gentle leader really extinguish 90 pct of the pulling , because it ’s the same concept , Samantha , if I call get out you by your olfactory organ , what ’s following is your head followed by the organic structure .
The trouble , and the reason I do n’t evidence my client , just put it on the dog and take a walk , is , when you put a pair of shades or on your face , you know why they ’re there . When you put something on a dog ’s face , all the Canis familiaris sympathise is get this poop off my side .
So I will show the firedog the gentle loss leader — and the minute it sniffs it , because to a blackguard in through the nose — the moment the cad sniff that gentle leader , I give it a goody , and then now there ’s a positive tie-up , and then I size … By size it properly , it needs to be rather tight , right behind the ears , not down with the taking into custody is . And the mouthpiece , the part that goes around the beak has to be as loose as possible , but not so loose that the cad puts down that it slip off its olfactory organ . Because , if it ’s receive something tight around it ’s mouth , it ’s go to protest it even more . And then we right away go out and take a manner of walking . And every time the dog is not protesting it with its manus , or trying to wander and scratch it off its nose — every clock time it walk , I am praising and offering a little crumb - sized delicacy . And if it starts pawing at it , I wo n’t tell it , “ give it , ” which it has been teach , and then we continue walk .
And it often can take as much as 20 minutes , a half an hour , until the cad really begin take the air with it .
And then another crucial conception , and I ’ve run into this — the married woman uses the aristocratic leader and the husband aver , I do n’t need to use that .
And I , as well I can , I express the importance of consistency . The dog is going to make it much harder on the wife , if the hubby does n’t use it . We need to be reproducible .
And then the gentle leader starts to represent a positive thing — going out for a manner of walking . research the earth .
So that docile leader is very , very valuable . I show people , I tell the great unwashed , kiddingly , I have the solid pinky in the sphere , and I can literally hold the tercet of a large bounder with your pinkie when we practice a gentle loss leader . It turns their head . But the consistency and the acclimating the dog to easy leader is really authoritative . Because 95 pct , maybe 97 percent of the bounder will never just readily say — no problem , and have it .
I ’ve run into several that have . And in my life history I can think two dogs that never really accept it , but then I really did n’t recognise what happened in between lesson . Consistency is really of import .
So one of the best things is a blue drawing card which teaches the dog not to pull .
For the pugs , and the English bulldog , that have the … They do n’t have the elongated snout ; they have the flat facial expression , those blackguard — and interestingly , one of the best trainers in the nation ; his name is Brian Killcommons ; he ’s a good booster of mine , and I ’ve seen him put a prong collar on a pug-dog . And the intellect is , the pug-dog immediately bar pulling because the last affair you want to put on a brachycephalic — flat font , flat nozzle dog — is a even collar , because you really … They have breathing issues quite often .
If I remember correctly , Bill Weld , who was the governor of Pennsylvania , when I work with his dog , he had a duet of pugs , and one pass away with breathing trouble .
You do n’t need to put a flavourless collar on a pug . You desire to either put a harness on … And he experimented with this and it was quite good . The dog felt the bite of theprong collaronce , and did n’t pull any longer .
I ’m not certain I ’m recommending that , but I ’ve seen it run with this special pug . If you get to junior high school elderly pug-dog that ’s very enthusiastic and he pulls too hard on it , you may have a problem . And Brian is an fantabulous flight simulator who ’s very aware of this . And this worked with this special Canis familiaris .
So there is a possibility there . It ’s not one that I ’m really recommending . I ’m just sharing . I ’ve see that work , also on an English Bulldog where they used that before I get there and he enounce it stopped the pulling completely and this detent had no issues . So there is a feasibility with that .
And the harness that attach at the centre of the back is not something I advise if you have a pulling dog , as I excuse to hoi polloi . I in reality , as a gift , piloted a dog sled for 20 mile through your state actually .
Samantha : Oh wow .
Tom Shelby : In Maine . Yes . And that was a terrific experience .
The analogy I make , Samantha , is if you want a dog to pull , I think , picture the Iditarod ; they ’re all pulling on a harness that ’s attached to mid - back . So if you do n’t need a dog to root for — and so many people guess that they want to be humanist to the dog , and they end up getting dragged all over the space — then use an easy walkway harness or acclimate the bounder to a gentle leader . That ’s what I suggest .
Teaching a dog to heel . That ’s another matter . I have explained how to do that . And I ’ll separate you , I ’ll be happy to explain it , but I have find that I really require to instruct the dog , and then affect what I come to to as the leash transfer , so that my shape with the detent - John Walker helped a dog client , really helped them with their timing , and figuring out how to do work the leash .
So , to teach a frank to heel . Dogs work professionally on the left-hand side . And I ’m just thinking of a young lady who had fall back her sight in her left eye and I then reverse everything so she would have the peripheral vision and could see the dog , and I taught the dog to heel on the right side . But , professionally , cad influence on the left side .
And , again , talking about body language — so , one would apply the word heel , and always take the first step with the left foot , so the dog gets conditioned , when that leave foot move , you , the wiener , are moving .
If you were to tell the hound to stay and step out , it would be incumbent upon you to step away with your correct base , because if you mistreat away with the left , the hotdog is getting the eubstance speech communication signal to set off moving . So these things are really important if you require to have a well trained frank .
So we pop walking . I use a six ft leash . And the dog straight off forge forwards . I say nothing . What I do , Samantha , is , I make 180 degree tour and overturn my direction , and I am now walking in the diametric direction that the wiener just took off , and the domestic dog hits the tercet — I say nothing — kind of hard and I ’m just walk the other management .
If the dog start to make a left-hand turn , I make a sharp correct good turn . And when the heel strike the end of the trey , the dog says , whoa , we ’re going in that focal point .
If the heel starts cutting me off to the rightfield , I make a left turn into his face .
When done properly , and timed the right way , the domestic dog posture cursorily becomes — oh serviceman , I arrive to give attention to this idiot ; he ’s always going in the faulty direction , and when I ’m not with him I get get at the closing of the trey with an unpleasant jerking myself . And it literally takes me five minutes until the blackguard is now …
There ’s only one way the dog can know which way you ’re going . And that is by staying next to you and looking to his correct every once in for a while to see where I ’m go . If the dog walks very speedily , I walk at a front crawl space .
And interestingly , in Manhattan , the women — and was primarily more so fair sex than men — walk much faster than I do , and I pose the impression of almost trying to keep up with the click . And I would say , if the dog is walk quickly , they require the dog to realize it has to take the air at your pace . And if a blackguard is walking very slowly , I relegate into a pony . So the fundamental word I use is “ opposite ” until the dog realize — oh Isle of Man , I got to pay attention to this mortal so I do n’t get caught at the end of the leash .
And as I say , most people necessitate a little help in getting this done expeditiously and effectively . I ’ve told most mass , in my Quran , because it is part of basic preparation , I explicate this and I save in the Holy Writ , but aboveboard , I obtain they could really practice some help with this .
The aristocratic leader will make thing a heck of a lot loose . The prong collar , I really do n’t wish to use . I do not really liked teaching using the principle of pain . But I am not a virtuous only - rewards trainer , because I really have a lot of experience and … The doctrine of analogy I make , Samantha — when I get to a person ’s home and I see a seven year sometime nestling sit down on the dining room table eating mashed white potato with his fingers , I love I ’m going to have a tough time with the dog because I did n’t parent the Thomas Kyd .
And you see why I have found very often , when I ’m seeing a child like that , the hotdog was wholly barbaric and not given direction .
So as I say , I am a hooked trainer . And I am into all - wages training most of the time because we can get much more done with with grinning and treat , give thanks with negativeness . But when I get to the five year sometime dog-iron that was just adopted and has serious issues , sometimes these issues need to ensue in a consequence . And the event can be as loose as when a heel jump on you and you lour and say “ off ” and then shrug the blackguard off ; dogs are very raw ; they do n’t want your negativity . They require the congratulations .
So what I do really does depend on what I ’m dealing with .
I was the go - to guy in Manhattan for a bunch of days for aggressive dogs . And the veterinary surgeon would say — I ’m not enjoin you to euthanize this dog call Shelby , he ’ll be fair with you , and I will say honestly , I belike had two to four dogs a year where I had the awful occupation of tell people , this dog is badly dangerous .
And my breaking point was — if a dog was was good with a home and belligerent with everybody else , and they want to endure with that , and were willing to live with those danger . I would work with them and the dog . And God bless — this is America , commonwealth of litigation ; we need to keep the public safe . But if the frankfurter does not attack at you , and you desire to keep the hound — okay , I will help you .
But when the dog was threatening the owner , gravely jeopardize them … I mean , I remember a cad that , every time they ate , if they did n’t toss objet d’art of nutrient from the table to the dogs , the dog burn them . The dog bit them . I mean …
Samantha : Oh , wow .
Tom Shelby : Listen , I got a million stories . And this was a in earnest dangerous morsel .
And most dog have what ’s called bite limitation — they give a warning bite , but when you have an unrestricted bite , when the dog really bites down , then we ’re talking about a dangerous dog . As a matter of fact , when I go with the police in hunting and delivery , one of the reasons when you teach your dog to be a patrol dog , is , you wear that sleeve , so when the dog-iron bites the arm it starts learning to unrestrict the bite — which many wiener have to be instruct .
Dogs learn five restriction in the litter . When a puppy bites another pup a minuscule too hard and that puppy run away yelp . It instruct to restrict its bit . When the pup bites the mothers breasts too hard , the mother roll out them out .
I have happen just from experience , a single puppy litter , more often than larger litters , was lacking snack restriction , because it was n’t given enough instruction by the female parent to restrict the bite .
So that ’s an authoritative concept when it come to treat with an aggressive dog . And I ’ve dealt with an frightful slew of progression . And there are , as I said , six to eight unlike type of hostility .
So you have fear regression , you have dominant aggression , they have resource guarding . I ask everybody , if you go near their food bowl when the frankfurter is eating , does he immobilise and stare at you ? Or does he actually turn like he ’s going to burn you ? The resource there is the food .
I need everybody — so , if you ’re reading babe back ribs , and a costa sneak off the mesa and falls on the floor , can you take it from the frank ? Or is the wiener ’s attitude , I ’ll die before I give you this .
And it can be very elusive . you may be sit on the sofa with your miniature poodle , and a grandchild begin approaching and the poodle dog starts growling . The resource in that case is Grandma . And the dog does n’t want to divvy up the resourcefulness of Grandma , does n’t need the attention exact away and given to the grandchild .
So the resource can really vary . I need to notice and seeing where the dog is coming from .
How are your two andiron , Samantha ? Do you eat them right next to each other ?
Samantha : We do feast them together . Yes . We worked with our dogs from puppies . Or we get a spate of dogs … Most of our dogs come as rescues . And we work on socialization and aggression issues directly when they come into our house , which is something that I always recommend to people , is that , you do n’t take the few years to let your dog determine in or anything like that . You postulate to bulge out training like a shot .
Tom Shelby : Music to my pinna . perfectly . Immediately . I ’ve learn people saying you do n’t want to commence breeding until the dog ’s nine calendar month old , and I just rock my headway — boy is that a mistake ; it ’s like secern a child , I ’m not going to teach them manners until he ’s in high school .
So , yeah , sure . I ’m glad to hear that . I figured you would have middling civil , accommodative click . They ’re both rescues ? Mixed breed ?
Samantha : They ’re both , one ’s a lab ; we ’ve had her since she was a puppy . One is a beagle mix ; she is a rescue . And we in reality , we lost a pugilist last class . She was a rescue as well . And our boxer and our Beagle are actually opponent . Our boxer was very diffident . She had come from an abusive home which made her awful of everything . And then our beagle was the antonym . She is totally fearless and was very , not strong-growing , but she would by all odds , was the Alpha Canis familiaris when she came in and require to countenance everybody else sleep together that this was , you know , her stuff , her food … So we had to tweet that in the bud with her . And then the bagger was the diametrical where , you know , like you talked about , it was just , it take years , literally age to get her to a point where we could just take the air down a metropolis street without having any panic blast ,
Tom Shelby : You used the words “ alpha dog ” and I can tell you , if I remember correctly — in a bedding of puppies by , I think it was 9 or 10 calendar week , the pecking order is found . And it ’s important because then there ’s this cooperation and civility , if you , you know , collaborate with each other , as fight to fighting for as to who was the chief .
It ’s an important construct . And resource guarding is the big one . They can be the miniature that the wiener plays with and does n’t need to partake in with the other dog or a person . And then you have what ’s yell the pain aggressiveness . You have the dog that would never stargaze of fight . But gets rack up by a railway car , gets a broken leg , and you blame it up to land it to the vet , and you move that break peg , which causes enough infliction , which causes the dog to bite — that ’s pain aggression .
Like I say , we go through the different types of aggression and how to sell with them . There ’s the predatory aggression . I was just believe , that ’s why your 10 week old puppy Salmon Portland Chase the blowing foliage . The movement of the folio extract the prey drive , and those dogs that are very predatory , fast-growing , are gondola chasers , bike pursuer , jogger they track — that ’s a predatory hostility . The movement elicits that target drive . And sometimes I have to excuse , when they had a herding wienerwurst and the wienerwurst was squeeze at the mortise joint , that it really was n’t predatory . This was a herding instinct . That , the Australian Shepherd or whatever it was , this is not really raptorial , just a strong herding instinct and we would deal with that .
So , you know , that ’s why I ’m a “ depends ” trainer — depending on what I see , depending on the ability of the owners to affect the change that I wish them to affect , I need to really adjust a training methodological analysis to what will go .
That was the whole point . I never publicise and was all word of mouth . So succeeder was very significant .
Samantha : You ’ve already advert the gentle drawing card . But do you have any other recommendations for merchandise for pet parents who are seek to train dissimilar type of wienerwurst from puppy to seniors ? Dogs that pull , etc . ?
Tom Shelby : It ’s tremendous , now , I would also say is if you ’re going to recommend a soft leader , do not recommend the point halter . The pass halter slip one’s mind off the head , so they put on an extra gimmick so it would n’t … The gentle drawing card does n’t .
So I would highly advise it ’s aristocratic leader , not the brain halter . They look similar but they are not . I ’d advise you recommend the gentle leader .
And I would not recommend the prong collar . I would urge for the brachycephalic andiron , an sluttish walk harness . Or even — the mismatches which I see all the clock time . You have a 90 pound older peeress who gets a 70 pound labradoodle ; that ’s a potential accident waiting to happen . So that would need instantly training for a gentle leader .
And we could also , if you desire , talk about , as a peter , the vitamin E - pinch . And e - collars can lot a tone of voice , a vibration , and the stim , electric stim . And for the off - leash dogs , that can be a really significant tool . And for my standard poodle , I lived across the street from a lake and we have tons of geese and duck .
Coprophagia , as you probably know , is when dogs eat poop . And I could say “ leave it ” but my dog is , as I said , a standard poodle dog , very fast , and this is a huge field around the lake , and she will gobble up little pieces of fecal subject , goose ninny . So I put an tocopherol - collar on her , and I ’ve never used the galvanic stim ; I used the quiver . And when I seal off them down , I can be , you bed , 100 yards away , I just push the button , and she ’ll leap a foot in the line , being startled by the vibration . I say nothing . I want her to relate it to the eating the poop . If I ’m yelling “ leave it ” for that , then when I ’m not around or she ’s 200 yards aside and I ca n’t see if she ’s eat poop or not , it becomes honest game . And I refer to this as the pawl - god conception .
And I ’ll give you another exemplar which I believe your attender will appreciate . Let ’s say your dog will not … You ’re eat , you ’re have a hamburger dinner , and your Canis familiaris will just ignore you and cut the table while you ’re deplete hamburgers . And then you have dessert on the depleted coffee tabular array while you ’re watching TV . And the dog is very civil .
But now you take the air out of the room for whatever reason , and you will have this low deep brown mesa and there ’s the sinker on it . You ’re not in the way and now the dog forthwith grabs the donut . The solution to that is the dog - god concept , which I kind of create that locution a whole lot of years ago .
I state people , what you need to do is take a Tupperware container and punch a whole lot and put the food in there . Put the hot cad . And if they ’re going to put a hot click in there , I say them , put it in the microwave oven , so it ’s really odiferous , give way off a lot of scent . And put it in a Tupperware container and put it on your coffee board and walk out of the room .
Now , however , you set up a mirror , so that being out of the room , you could see the dog and the dog does not know that you could see the dog . And now again , reckon on the sensitivity of the dog , you walk out of the room , and the moment that detent ’s nozzle touches that Tupperware container , bang two grass together . The dog is probable to screw itself through the ceiling and startlement . But it ’s going to relate to that damaging startlement to take aim the food off the java table . You had nothing to do with it . The Dog God see all , all the time . And does n’t like it when you take my stuff .
The understanding I put it in the Tupperware container is , I do n’t want the frank to self - reward . If you just put a blistering frankfurter on the coffee table on a plate and the blackguard just accept it quickly , even if you start it , it still matte up rewarded , it must not get that hot dog . So that ’s the dog - god concept . And I ’ve used that — for destructive chewing , your dog , have ’s say , many have dog that — depends on the dogs — that are into wood ; they chew the death chair legs , or molding ; you have dogs into fabric that tear off the lounge cushions ; you have cad that are into plastic , that destruct your reading glasses or the TV clicker ; and you have dogs that are into it all — I will set the dogs up ; I confront problems ; I will set them up with a mirror and use the Dog God concept , and whatever startles the dog . It can be two raft .
I ’ve had a somebody , who used to be a reviewer for his kid ’s association football games and he had that air horn . That was screaming , Samantha . When the frankfurter run for the food , he just blasted the air saddle horn , and I think he had to do it twice , and the cad would appear askance at the food when he look in the mirror , and said , I ’m not last near that food for thought again .
What ’s decisive here is the timing . The timing is critical . And when I tell somebody for , let ’s say , forstopping a frank from steal foodoff the table , and the frank ignores two pots banging together , I may suggest an e - collar , and we ’ll expend the vibration and again , and I have never read to somebody , get an e - taking into custody and put it on the weenie , I said , get an e - collar , read the instruction manual , and do n’t otherwise touch it . Wait till I get there . And then reckon on what we ’re deal with , if I have 140 pound a rottweiler that wants to kill every frankfurter it see , I ’m go away to use a unlike case of stimulation than I ’m going to use for the dog that eat goose poop .
Again , I am a “ depends ” flight simulator . What I ’m sell with really reckon on the outcome I postulate to affect change with . So , very important concepts . And the most important is again , what I initially talked about , was socializing and avoid the accidental rewarding of unwanted behavior . And that ’s predicate on timing , body language and voice modulation .
That really summarise dog training if you really want to get a cooperative dog , it ’s about , is being properly socialise and you are pass to him with fantabulous timing through body language , be it petting or smile or kneeling down , and voice intonation , which , again , is based on timing . It ’s passing important and makes all the dispute in the populace .
Samantha : We ’ve talk a lot about like different kinds of aggression and what to do if you may train your frump yourself . But what if you ca n’t ? What are some reasons why people may seek out the help of a professional trainer ? And how do you know when you need the help of a professional and this is not something that you ’re depart to be able to treat on your own ?
Tom Shelby : One of the biggest outlet that — and it ’s a difficult issue to cover with — you ’re walk , is leash aggression , where the heel figure another dog on a leash and get aggressive . Most of the clients will tell their dog-iron that ’s rope belligerent to sit and stay and hold back until the other dog travel by . The analogy I use is — what if I told you to sit on the train tracks and stay as the gear is approaching ? That ’s what you ’re basically asking of the dog . The dog ’s going to be all nuts as the other click is let stuffy and closer .
So , again , here is a very authoritative concept . When you see another dog , and your frump ’s on a leash , before it gets belligerent start ca-ca love to your wiener with your voice . Your attitude is …
permit me explicate and take a step back . What most people do when they see another dog , they forestall their own hot dog have fast-growing . So what they do is they tighten the troika , and they employ the dog ’s name with anxiousness in their voice — Bowser ! — and they reduce the trey .
Now , the weenie may not have even seen the other dog , but all of a sudden its neck feels very sloshed . It feels the tensity you ’ve just transferred to the dog through the triad , and it listen the anxiousness in your voice . And what ’s he going to relate this anxiousness to ? The hound is looking at . So you ’re in reality exacerbating the problem . And so many masses do that . So what I assure them is , start making love to the click and volunteer it regale with a loose threesome . “ Yes , that could be your good friend , look at that little golden retriever approach , is n’t that expectant … ” and you ’re in reality conning your dog .
And the dog is now get a positive association with the other detent it sees approaching it . And for good sake , do n’t stop and stay ; keep walking , keep the dog participating . And then if the dog start out aggressive , I step in front of the click , and even out it .
And again , how I correct it , it could just be an “ uh - uh ” I do n’t use the word “ no ” as I say , I say “ uh - uh . ”
And the rip second the frump stops aggressing , because I ’d broken eye contact , I immediately keep walking and start praise the detent ; again , the timing is decisive . And mostly , aggressive dogs , I really demand to be there . I can explain how to do this to the guest . But rarely is it done with succeeder , because it ’s a difficult one . It really is a hard one to conduct with , because very often the dog ’s been doing it for a very retentive time and it just expects this kind of hostility on a leash .
You ’ll also find , Samantha , frankfurter are much less aggressive on leash than off trinity . And where most the great unwashed think the domestic dog is really protecting them . I order them , the reality is , it ’s almost like the kid is pretty tough , because there ’s a big blood brother stand behind him .
So when you ’re attach by leash , the dog is a much bolder because it thinks you have to back .
Man , when I go to a big expanse , it ’s called Trade Winds , where I live , where the great unwashed walk their andiron , very with child bailiwick , and we go with a rope - fast-growing dog-iron , I have n’t dangle the III the mo we see another detent , and take the air in a 90 stage angle by from their dog . And 90 percent of the meter the pawl realize is on his own , it becomes a hatful more civil ; things are much less fast-growing .
Again , and I make that decision establish on my having fulfill the wienerwurst and mold with the dog , and in the majority of cases , dogs are really much more mellowed off leash than on leash . That leash bond is much more likely to elicit an aggressive reception if the cad has had experience with this .
And I just basically finished working with a Maltese , which — and I retrieve this Maltese is seven or eight twelvemonth erstwhile — then the woman would pick the dog up and essentially the have got it and put it on her , midway up to her shoulder , as the dog was going berserk because another dog had the audaciousness to be walking by . And this took three or four lessons . And I was able to accept the change with an eastward - neckband using quiver , and it would startle the dog . And praising the dog and return it treats . submit three object lesson to be precise . We can approach another dog start praising the petty Maltese , and we ’re well . They ’ll reach another dog and will have some sniff , and then you keep going .
And I also enjoin people , when you have the successful coming together , do n’t keep lingering , just go , and have success physique on success .
Samantha : Really quickly , before we go , would you tell us a little moment about your book . I did link to it , the Amazon connectedness for anybody that ’s interested in buying it . It ’s Dog Training Diaries , Proven Expert Tips and Tricks to Live in Harmony with Your Dog .
Tom Shelby : The book I originally wrote was 22 tale . I ’ve receive awe-inspiring news report . You know , I ’ve trained 100 celebrity ' dogs . And I got a lot of really crazy chronicle .
Just a abbreviated model of one which is not in the book , where a lady leave with her elderly female parent fit to Manhattan and she had two dogs , a 70 British pound sterling sundry stock Chow mix breed and a little terrier . And a stealer broke into the firm and killed the terrier with a outspoken instrument , with a statuette the lady had , a little statue , and handsome dog had a barking collar on , because they lived in a condominium . And the dog got , every time it skin at this thief it got a shock . And when the lady came home to the drained , small dog , she immediately took the leash and then the collar off the big heel , and from that point on that dog would not allow for any collar or leash to be put on , and she had a little garden outside her condo . For eleven month she could not take this Canis familiaris out for a walk , and she called a vet who gave it some drugs , who get his pants rip as the dog tried to burn it ; nobody could put a collar on this dog , and that was a very interesting example for me to get .
Plus what happens when you do n’t do a dog ’s nails , as you probably know , the nails get longer and longer , which put down the foot and it goes mighty up the pegleg . The nail protrude splaying outwards . So this dog ’s nail at 11 months were ridiculous . So she asked me if I could get a neckband on the cad and cut the click ’s nails .
So I ’ve had crazy stories like that and I wrote 22 of them and when Sky Horse publication aver they ’d issue it , but they wo n’t publish the 22 tale . They require a breeding manual of arms and they will let in some of the level .
So I fit to that and I drop a line a training manual which I think is not the common type of training manual of arms ; it ’s not dry . I get lots of experience of thing that happened to me and they include some uproarious storey and really tragic story . It ’s not the run of the mill training manual of arms that ’s irksome .
For example , they included a story that had to do , when I was teach . So one of my parentage in the Quran is “ it ’s amazing how much of my life revolves around feces and piddle . ”
Tom Shelby : Samantha , you ’re laugh .
But I do n’t care if the dog does your kids homework and study out the refuse and stretch the dishwasher . If it ’s pooping or peeing in the house , it stimulate real old substantial fast .
Tom Shelby : Be it the pup that you adopt that you get , or the five class old dog-iron that you adopt and is urinating and defecating in the business firm — house breaking is his major .
I worked with Joan Rivers ' dogs and her issue was pooping and puddle . The dogs were altogether unhousebroken . So they include the report of when I deal with Joan Rivers because that had to do with housebreaking .
So four or five of my 22 stories are in there , and some are pretty dramatic story . And I had to write a training manual . And my hope is , if it gets a reasonable reception , then I can , they ’ll publish the other 18 stories , which I believe people are really going to enjoy . They ’re all true . They ’re not embellish . I really secernate it like it is .
And I ’ll tell you something else that is proceed to take me some hardship . Every single manual that come with the electrode , the e - collars , the instruction brochure I disagree with dramatically .
If you ’re going to in reality utilise an electronic stim for preparation one mode or another , they say start with a light stimulation and if that does n’t shape , increase the foreplay . That , to me is nuts .
I have worked — I have n’t beautify — 8 to 900 appointments a class , half are behaviour job . I would look at the issue we need to deal with . I would coiffure the collar and stim myself on my arm to feel exactly what the wiener is palpate and base on my experience , I would pick a stimulant stratum that ’s not go bad to gross out the frump out , but make them cognizant that it ’s an unpleasant in junction with the conduct I want to barricade if I want to block a behaviour . And I would probably use a musical note . A tone stim . Actually I use a verbal command , perhaps “ bequeath it ” tone stim . And within a mates of stims , I can now bring the grade of stim down . They grow a predisposition to it . And in a match of lessons , I just say “ leave it ” tone , and then after that , all I have to do is say “ leave it . ”
To me , to follow the teaching manual of arms and start raise it , you ’re actually teaching the dogs to adapt to being shocked . And that to me made no sense . So I have never allowed a soul to put the collar on without my being there . And again , depending … I ’m the “ depend ” trainer on what issue or I need to grapple with , is what I apply and the collar and how I lay it .
So that ’s what the book is about . It ’s really not your political campaign of the John Mill training manual . you could refer to when something may want to touch to something else . It says “ see varlet ” whatever , and you could go back to that if you really involve to deal with a particular issue .
I also have some pictures in there of my search dog . Again , we ’re talking about predatory aggression . My search blackguard , Michelle , about whom I write the record book , would go under my parakeet John Milton Cage Jr. and whine and I would open up the batting cage , she would , without a command , pose down , and the parakeets would walk all over her and loved her . And I have one of her movie in the playscript is she is in a down place with two parakeets on her peg .
My other hunt wienerwurst , Mikey , advert in her honor , he would have eaten those parrakeet in a instant . He was a very predatory aggressive , and more difficult to train on a leaving when a squirrel or a bum go by when we were on our search , but he dog a womanhood 11 miles to make the find . And that was tracking , which meant I had to be behind him on a 40 foot three for the 11 miles . Michelle as a search Canis familiaris , detect two people alive , some not , and almost all of that was air odorize , depending on where we were .
So like I said , batch of experience . I imagine people are buy the farm to take this Word of God and enjoy it as contradict to — I got to do my homework and learn how to do this — there really , with some of the stories , you ’ll get a kick out of it and I mean they ’ll learn a heck of a pot .
Samantha : The book is really fantastic . As Tom said , for anybody that ’s thinking about it , you do get the weenie grooming peak along with a mass of his own firsthand experience in some of the stories that he has from his many geezerhood of hot dog grooming .
So I desire you Guy love this interview . If you did , and you may take a few moment to jump on iTunes and get out me a followup , that would be really majuscule . When I reach out to expert in the diligence like Tom , it makes it a lot easier when I can show them your reviews that you are out there listening and you really savour it . So , again , if you could impart a fast revaluation , that would be great .
A big thanks again to Tom Shelby for coming on the podcast today . His book is available now . The link is below this podcast . If you ’re interested in purchasing it on Amazon , it ’s about $ 12 , so very cheap .
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