The KC Dog Guy

Today Jade and I took another trip to Smithville Lake. It's my favorite off leash training location tons of distractions from varmets, people, boats, jet skis and the always present dead stuff. Other than that for a 2-hour walk she stayed within her 30-40 zone and recalled, stopped, sat and stayed when I asked. We did run into something that scared her today. It was a beautiful day so the lake had numerous jet skis and fishing boats around. Jade and I came upon a pontoon boat and family along the shore. We were in 3-4 foot tall weeds and neither her or I were thrilled with this. Jade popped out on shore and was interested in this thing called a pontoon boat. In the water were several people, including a bobbing child in a life jacket. He floated over and stood up out of the water and Jade gave a gruff, and took off about 30 feet into the weeds. I called her back and she was visibly nervous. The little boy gave her some treats and we repeated the exercise 3-4 more times. Jade the...

As a dog trainer who has handled and worked with over 10,000 dogs over the past 10 years I have read on, researched and experimented with just about all methods of dog training. I teach shelter staff and others how to train dogs, along with training dogs myself. During an average week I will work with 15-30 dogs. Thirty years ago William Kohler was the big name in dog training (The Koehler Method of Dog Training). There are few trainers in KC who still swear by his methods, which are now considered inhumane. His famous method to stop a digging dog. Fill a hole with water and submerge the dog's head in the hole. To teach a dog not to eat strange food - put the food on the end of an extension cord with bare wires. I think you get the idea. I actually read his book to be able to at least defend my conflicts with his training method. Then again, that was 30 years ago and trainers did not start to train dogs until 6 months of age. This was based on the thought that dogs could not lea...

Dogs need to play! Never, ever forget that. When I meet with new dog owners they are focused on the problems with their dogs. They have absolutely no relationship with the dog and the dog actually has to initiate play with them. When the dog starts play, the average owner is annoyed since it's usually not when they want to. The solution? You, the owner initiate and control play. No matter how many dogs you have, play is crucial to your relationship. During play you can work on basic commands and even advanced handling. Always start and stop play frequently in your interactions with your dog. Play for about a minute, then stop, leash your dog, sit and wait for your dog to relax. One relaxed, count to 30 and start play with "Let's Play!". Repeat this 8-10 times and in the span of just 15 minutes your dog will be both mentally and physically exhausted. I run this same game at Wayside Waif ( www.waysidewaifs.org ) with 5-8 dogs at a time. By the time I'm done I ca...

Just about 4 months ago I adopted about a 9 month old Akita from Wayside Waifs ( http://www.waysidewaifs.org/ ). I got lucky, Wayside transferred her from another shelter right as Midwest Akita Rescue was looking at her ( http://www.akita.org/ ). So I consider her both a rescue and a shelter dog. I also have 2 old shibas, 12 & 13, so getting everyone to adjust was a little work. Jade was a little possessive of her toys and food around them, but has gotten much better. Since she's just a year, I need to keep working on her dog social skills. I don't really by in too many Akita myths, but they do have some dog aggression and stranger aggression in the breed. Other studies , Steven Lindsey, show that dog aggression can increase and become evident up to two years or age. Luckily, I have Wayside and I've been taking Jade there every Saturday when I work with the shelter dogs. It's been an interesting ride. Jade had pretty good dog skills to begin with, but I have seen he...