One aspect about dogs that I enjoy is that they don’t care if you make minimum wage or your name is Oprah. They could not care less if you drive a 10-year-old sedan or a brand new BMW. They never would text their canine pals to diss about your lack of fashion sense — even if they did possess opposable thumbs.
When it comes right down to it, dogs love us purely and completely.
So, why are we turning far too many of them into frog farmers?
That term, coined by Alison Armstrong, an expert on understanding men, has been adapted in the pet world by Tamar Geller, best described as “dog coach to the stars.”
Her positive, encouraging, playful training style has worked on dogs sharing homes with the Who’s Who of Hollywood, ranging from Ben Affleck and Courteney Cox to Owen Wilson and Oprah Winfrey.
She also is the owner and operator of The Loved Dog, a cage-free doggy boarding and day care center in Southern California and founder of Operation Heroes & Hounds, a nonprofit program that champions homeless dogs and wounded military personnel.
Recently, this New York Times bestselling author appeared on my Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio. Geller came to talk about her game plan to create a well-mannered dog in a month.
She is so confident people can convert doggy Dennis the Menaces into polite, playful pooches that she authored a new book aptly titled, 30 Days to a Well-Mannered Dog: The Loved Dog Method.
“Many women want to ‘kiss the frog’ to get a handsome prince, but too many take a prince and fill his life with negativity that we turn them into frogs,” she begins. “The same principle holds true with good puppies and dogs rescued from shelters or adopted from responsible breeders. We scold them, tell them ‘no’ and command them to do this or not do that to the point that we risk turning them into dogs who distrust people or who want to run away. In short, we end up ‘frogging’ the dog.”
When one takes a negative, punitive approach to dog training, it’s easy to see why some dogs start thinking that their full names are: No Leave It Stop It Now. Fortunately, Geller is on a mission to change all that.
“Dogs don’t want to feel that they are wrong all the time,” says Geller. “We need to bring kindness back into dog training. With my clients, I show them how much they already know. I help them learn how to align their dogs’ desires with their own to create rich and enduring relationships that work wonderfully for everyone.”
In her book, she outlines specific ways to incorporate love, play and mutual respect to get your new dog off on the right paw — or help you make a fresh start with your current dog — in 30 days.
For starters, take on the role of coach and not doggy commander. “Be a compassionate coach and not a doggy dictator and your dog will want to do more to please you,” she says.
Sprinkle in some doggy humor and be flexible.
“If you want your dog to learn to sit and he backs up each time, then say, ‘back off’ and reward that behavior and then go back to teaching sit. If your dog is eating grass, have a little fun and mark that action by saying, ‘be a goat.’ ”
And, if you really want your dog to feel that you “get” him, than engage in a game of tug-of-war with defined rules.
Explains Geller, “This is a game that comes natural to dogs.
In the beginning, let him win more.
At the end, you win more. The key is to that when you tell your dog to drop the toy, he does so immediately and sits politely. Your dog knows that the only way he will get his toy back is to listen and drop. You are showing real leadership. At the end of the game, say, ‘no more’ and take the toy with you. Do that and you will have an unbelievable dog who is eager to please you.”
As the holidays approach, pet adoptions increase. My wish is that you consider adopting from a shelter an adult dog from a shelter who matches your personality and enroll in an obedience class that focuses on positive reinforcement techniques.
You can learn more about bringing out the best in your dog by visiting www.tamargeller.com and by tuning into the Oh Behave show that features Tamar Geller by clicking on: www.markiac.addr.com/PET_LIFE_RADIO/behaveep125.html.
Happy howl-days!
Arden Moore, Founder of Four Legged Life.com, is an animal behavior consultant, editor, author and professional speaker. She happily shares her home with two dogs, two cats and one overworked vacuum cleaner. Tune in to her Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio.com and learn more by visiting www.fourleggedlife.com.
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