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Russian Special Forces and Dog Training
from:I wondered if this guy had ever killed someone?
I mean I was only about four feet away from him and couldn't
help but think that as I sat there. After all, he did call
himself "The Evil Russian."
Pavel Tsatsouline was an instructor for the Russian Special
Forces Spetsnaz, that fought in Afghanistan and I was in the
front row listening to him discuss strength and flexibility
training.
I heard that he was going to be speaking in Providence, RI. I
had been told that he was a great speaker and did not want to
miss the chance to see him. As a guy that makes a big part of
his living by standing in front of people and speaking, I always
jump at any chance to see a pro.
Anyway, he turned out to be everything that I had heard. Mr.
Tsatsouline is an excellent speaker and has a great sense of
humor. If you ever get the chance to attend one of his seminars,
I highly recommend going to see him.
Anyway, he sprinkled his seminar with a lot of great stories and
Russian sayings. Two of his sayings really hit home with me and
I have never forgotten them. His first statement was:
"If your only tool is a hammer treat everything like a nail."
I loved that statement because I am a complete moron when it
comes to using tools. My girlfriend knows that asking me to fix
something is not a good idea. In fact when we need something
fixed around the house she usually gets the job done.
But...
If you need something demolished I am great with a hammer. It is
the one tool that that I can use.
I also loved that comment because when it comes to dog training,
a really good dog trainer has a whole bunch of tools in his or
her tool box.
I don't talk about this too much but there are trainers out
there that only have a hammer in their toolbox. They treat every
problem, every training situation, like it is a nail.
Hack trainers think that every behavior problem needs to be
dealt with a correction. Dog trainers that have limited tools
put a choke chain on the dog and yank the leash and collar for
every problem that they are confronted with.
Dog growls around his bone - apply correction with choke chain.
Dog jumps - apply correction with choke chain. Dog won't sit -
apply correction with choke chain. Dog won't lie down - apply
correction with choke chain. Dog moves during stay - apply
correction with choke chain.
A good trainer understands that there is more to training than
yanking on the leash. In my book "The Amazing Dog Training Man,"
I discuss the M.U.T.T. Method for dealing with behavior problems.
You see, when your dog is displaying a behavior problem, there
is an underlying reason for it. That is what the U stands for in
the M.U.T.T. Method. Here is the complete acronym:
M - Manage U - Underlying T - Train T - Time
When you are dealing with a behavior problem, you need to Manage
the behavior, figure out what the Underlying reason for the
behavior is, Train or teach your dog appropriate behaviors, and
lastly give your dog some Time to learn the new behavior.
Training a dog by using just force will create problems.
Sometimes you can temporarily suppress the behavior, but it will
resurface.
A few years ago I was attacked by a dog because of another
trainer. I was called in to take a look at this dog in
Dartmouth, MA. When I showed up I saw an extremely nervous
German Shepherd mix and believe it or not, this dog's name was
Scar.
As I was talking to the owner I could see that my presence made
this dog very excitable. The owner did not tell me that there
was a trainer working with his dog the day before.
I did a quick evaluation and noted that the dog did not give me
any warning signals. He did not growl, his hackles were not
raised, he did not show me any teeth.
I decided that I would take the leash and go for a little walk,
try to bond with him a little.
As soon as I had the leash I noticed a change in Scar. He
panicked and before I could hand the leash back to the owner he
attacked me. The dog bit me on the arm three times before I
could get him into his kennel.
As I was bandaging my arm, the owner of the dog told me that the
trainer that was there the day before had been very rough with
Scar.
Trainer? Day before? I asked.
"Yeah, we had this other guy come in yesterday to help with some
training but we didn't like him. He hung Scar with the choke
collar. Every time Scar would growl, he would lift up on the
leash and hold Scar there until he almost passed out."
"Every time he growled" I asked.
"Yep."
It all made sense to me now. The reason I was attacked was
because Scar had been "corrected" every time he gave a warning
signal. I knew the other trainer well. He only knew of one way
to train dogs.
You guessed it. He treated every dog like a nail and hammered
every one of them. I knew this because a big part of my business
at the time was following this guy around. I would get calls
from dog owners that had hired him and now had bigger problems
than before they had him "train" their dogs.
You see, when a dog growls, you at least know the dog is giving
you a warning. Now you can try to figure out why the dog is
growling and take steps to fix the aggression problem.
A hack trainer that only has a hammer in his toolbox will try to
deal with the aggression by overpowering the behavior. The
problem is this: When you use aggression to deal with
aggression, you escalate aggression.
In the case with the dog Scar, he had been choked every time he
gave a warning signal. He growled and was choked and probably
thought the trainer was going to kill him.
When I took the leash the poor dog was only thinking about
survival. He did not growl at me because the behavior had been
suppressed by the other trainer - but...the behavior was still
there.
Even though I got pretty chewed up by Scar, I really felt sorry
for him. Most aggression is fear based and Scar probably had had
a tough life and became aggressive because of how he was treated.
Then, when a so called "expert" was called in, the training
methods used pushed him over the edge.
Training is more than leash corrections and physical force.
Training is all about understanding dogs and the reasons why
they are displaying the behaviors that that they are.
Compassion, patience and an understanding of behavior is what
makes a great dog trainer.
My advice to you is to be very weary of any trainer that only
has a hammer in his toolbox. If you observe ANY dog trainer that
deals with behavior problems by only using a choke chain and
inflicting pain on the dog, you can be rest assured that you are
observing someone that really does not know what they are doing
and it would be wise of you to find another trainer to work
with.
About the author: Eric Letendre
Eric Letendre, author of The Amazing Dog Training Man, invites
you to visit http://www.amazingdogtrainingman.com for free dog
training video clips, tips, articles, and advice. Free
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