March 2010

Bringing The Wild World To Your Living Room...

Posted by jennifer on March 27, 2010.

Most of my clients know that during our sessions, I will bring in things I have learned from other species. They laugh when I accidentally refer to their dog as a wolf or horse but in reality, my knowledge and research has brought me to places all over the globe in search of creative and inventive ways to live a wonderful life with their furry friends.
This summer, I will embark on a new journey for eleven days to Mozambique, Africa. I will snorkel with whale sharks, humpback whales and manta rays, go on safari by land and foot in Gorongosa National Park while living in a tent camp amidst lions, elephants, hippos, alligators and perhaps if I am lucky- to spot the two African Wild Dog packs that migrate through the park.
Gorongosa is a remarkable conservation effort similar to Yellowstone in the states but in the beginning fazes of a long-term process. Reintroduction has occurred with many species there as most were eradicated due to war in the area years ago. Now, a huge effort is underway to save this beautiful landscape and it's creatures from being hunted and on the verge of extinction.
This re-introduction process is similar to the epic tale of the return of the wolf in Yellowstone.
Like other journeys I have taken, I hope to bring even more knowledge to my private clients in the United States about what we can learn from wildlife to re-connect our relationships with domestic animals and ourselves back to mother nature.

If you would like more information on Gorongosa National Park, you can visit their website here: http://www.gorongosa.net/

I'm sure I will be bringing back unbelievable photos which you can view right here on my blog :-) Stay tuned as things get closer to summer to hear more about it!
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10 Reasons Why I don't Fit Into The Positive Reinforcement or Negative Reinforcement Categories:

Posted by jennifer on March 24, 2010.

1) I believe all animals are individuals. What works for one may not work for another.

2) I embrace all techniques so long as they don't injure the animal but this can even be mis-leading as I believe in hazing wildlife to deter them from becoming habituated to humans. More so that they don't end up getting killed- a bruise is better than death.

3) I have invented new techniques which would not be listed under these two categories because they come from co-operative, non-bribery and equal standpoints. Truly working with the animal not by force nor treats but simple communication and understanding. What category does harmony and equal participation fall under? More so than not, this is what most animals embrace on a daily basis with one another.

4) I will sometimes communicate to the animal in their language.

5) I view human beings as individuals and use a technique that they feel comfortable with, can understand and use effectively. There are no short cuts- the owner must do the hard work and their experience and situation must be viewed and respected as much as the dogs.

6) Fitting me into one category or the other is misleading. I can go through certain things that Cesar Milan does that I agree with and other things that I don't just as I could do that with the other dog trainer on animal planet. I believe the detriment to animals is humans thinking they actually have an approach. Truthfully, it's more about co-existence to me. Living in harmony peacefully in the most effective way possible.

7) I am always learning and coming up with new ideas. The things I thought ten years ago aren't the same as the things I know now and I hope it continues that way. I try to understand & help other creatures in the best possible way but I learn new things all the time and therefor have different approaches and ideas I come up with constantly.

8) If you put me in a room with ten dogs and ten different people and behavior problems (human & canine), I am going to do certain things with one or two and totally different things with the others. I may use three things at the same time. I think people respect my work and come back to me because of my knowledge, experience, flexibility and willingness to listen, understand and help them achieve lasting results.

9) This is no magic show- in order to help people and other creatures, patience and time is involved.

10) I believe humans feel more comfortable putting things into boxes- black or white thinking, one way or another way. Life to me just isn't that simple. For every new theory, there is another one that could disprove it. Nature is the only thing that holds all the answers. I know at the end of the day, if I am walking her path, it is the right one.

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Chemicals: How They Effect Our Relationships With Animals

Posted by jennifer on March 22, 2010.

All animals first and foremost relationship is with their Mother. If you ask a human behavior expert, it may be a case for why so many humans have lasting feelings and attachments with the child bearer going all the way back to before a year old. This relationship, so connected and primal starts in the Mother's womb. From conception to birth, an experience like no other takes place- that of the creation of new life.
With this process comes changes in hormones and pheremones for a female human being. Even the Father's testosterone levels decrease as they become more of a reproductive family unit. So how is it that human chemicals can effect animals? Well, I believe they do in a variety of ways based on my own observations over the years. Not to be graphic but let's take the example of an intact male dog with a single, female owner during her monthly cycle. At this time, the dog may become more protective and aggressive episodes can rise at this time. He may place himself in between his owner and her new date for a kiss and barking could increase.
Now let's take the case of ten random individuals brought into a captive wolf enclosure. Here we have a situation where the wolves may not go up to the men but prefer going up to the females first. Wolves are generally shy and timid. Women are nurturing and estrogen is flowing. If a high testosterone man walks in, the wolves can sense that and back away. Sometimes the male wolves will even become territorial over the female humans and act aggressively towards the men. Have you ever heard the saying " A girl is a person who screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf"? Well, now you know why. LOL In fact, I have found more and more females working with dangerous animals and actually, they do quite well because they are coming from a feeling sense and not a domineering sense. This is working with the animal and not against them.
High testosterone works well for highly driven dogs. If you need a protection dog that can bite, jump through a window or go get the bad guy, the more testosterone that can flow down into the leash to your dog, the better. Shy animals I have found do best with female components such as estrogen.
I have recently sought the help of finding a scientist who can study this. I also want to make note of artificial chemicals in the human body as well as flower essences, etc. It is an interesting thing about mixing together highly potent scents with animals. Last time I checked, animals never do this. They actually prefer things that are natural- for instance, a wolf might like you better without perfume and body lotion and like you even more if you haven't showered in a week and didn't wear deodorant.
Other chemicals such as smoking, drugs and drinking effect your relationship with wildlife as well as your pets. I love water- so do my dogs. I like to keep things consistent- if animals don't do it, I won't either with the exception of a cup of coffee in the morning. If you cloud your thoughts, you cloud and put a barrier up for the animal. Non-humans trust what is pure.
As we are changing, so are our domestic and wild animals. It is high time we give respect to them as much as they give respect to us and learn how our humanistic ways effect them.

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Chained In: Enriching the Life of the Captive Wolf

Posted by jennifer on March 20, 2010.

One wolf out of all wolves has taught me the most. His name is Max and he know resides at a peaceful wolf sanctuary in Southern Colorado. Max is special to me because I spent a lot of time living with him in the mountains above Boulder, hiking miles upon miles into national forest and searching for mice under wood logs while observing his behavior around a high-percentage wolf-dog named Henry and their other companion- a lab named Clyde. Even Elvis and Lola took part while keeping Max in line and teaching him lessons that no other human could possibly understand the importance of.
On a day I had just arrived into Los Angeles, I received a call from Max's owners that the responsibility and Max's aggression just became too much. Like so many other wolves and wolf-dogs in this same circumstance, I immediately began to think how I could save his life as so many other's were suggesting euthanasia. Luckily, he was placed into a wolf refuge called Mission: Wolf.
With Max's life spared, it was a sense of relief that he was now given life over death and if there was one refuge to get him into, I knew this was the place amidst pristine Aspen trees, large enclosures and the possibility he could potentially have a mate and some wolf friends of his own.
But the day I had to leave Max was terrible. I knew this was an animal used to hiking, being on leash, sleeping in a doughnut bed on the floor and eating food out of my hand. He even knew sit, down, shake a paw and come. My heart ached knowing that he would no longer be able to get out for hikes and do what most wolves do- walk and travel far distances to explore, hunt, mark, etc. I began to think of the time I taught Max to track for food and being blown away by his keen sense of smell versus my German Shepherds who are trained tracking dogs.
What I saw was amazing. I laid a track, placed a piece of meat about 200 feet from the beginning. With Max inside while I did this, I let him out and there it was- no setting him up or giving him a command- he went straight to the meat and ate it. How could Max run outside and immediately catch the scent? Because research shows a domestic dog's sense of smell is about 100 times that of a human's. A wolf's sense of smell could be that of 100 million times better than a human's. Depending on wind direction, a wolf could smell prey over a mile or more away.
I read an article from The New York Times dating back to 1933. In this article, a police dog trainer in Vienna had trained a wolf to compete at protection trials and blew all of the police dogs out of the water.
I do not think a wolf would make a good candidate for protection work however, in order to enhance the lives of certain eligible wolves and wolf-dogs left to two choices: euthanasia or captivity I thought of an idea.
When I hiked with Max and Henry, they would constantly lead me to kill sites of other animal's left overs. It was predictable that when hiking and me following, they lead me to every kill site in the area. If a dog knows at the end of a track they will get food and this is working off their natural drives, well, what better way for a wolf to get out of a cage and explore on a proper line, with a competent handler.
Biologists love to find kill sites- so do wolves. If a wolf knows a meal will be waiting at the end of finding a missing person in a forest, why not incorporate this into enriching an animal's life due to captivity.
Max showed me that a wolf can track and is capable to learn what to look for. Wolves and wolf-dogs are smart and if it's about a big piece of meat, they'll find what they are looking for!
Once again this is a reminder not to purchase a wolf or wolf-dog as a pet. There are not nearly enough sanctuaries for the ones out there and sadly, most end up dead before their second birthday. These animals do not in any way make good pets but if it is for an ethical reason such as enrichment, this may be food for thought...

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A Case For Positive Reinforcement

Posted by jennifer on March 17, 2010.

Over the years, I have seen many methods, learned from many different trainers and behaviorists and have had the great joy in inventing my own approaches with domestic dogs. There always seems to be people on one side of the fence or another, a lot of black and white thinking but I base my method for each case individually on what I feel.
I have used combinations of techniques, no techniques, my own techniques and something I saw yesterday on an article about fish that we just might try to see if it works. I want to make a case tonight however for positive reinforcement and what that means to me as a dog trainer. I believe that there are several variations of reward to a dog. This could be anything from a treat, attention, praise, exercise, a ball, going for a ride in the car, fetching a stick or for a swim in the ocean.
There seems to be a lot of science based arguments as to why dogs need positive reinforcement. I don't believe however it comes always in a dog treat. My dogs will get more excited when they see the leash then a meat bone laying on the floor any day.
All dogs need to know what they are doing right vs. what they are doing wrong. If you are constantly saying you are wrong, the dog doesn't understand what it is they need to do that is right.
A positive reinforced dog does not mean they have no rules and guidelines. Actually, because we humans have bigger brains, our best resource is to use them which is simply out thinking or outsmarting your domesticated, non-human companion.
I really don't like it when people try to put behavior into one box or another. There is actually a lot about behavior that we don't know. There is however, moral and ethical values in the way we treat our best friends.
It falls upon the responsibility of dog trainers & behaviorists every where to obtain the necessary back ground information on cases as well as be able to give their clients options in techniques, correct diagnoses of problems and a reason why this may be occurring.
If I said there was one way to work with mental disorders, that would very much limit my capabilities as a good psychologist. I do know that if I was going around and beating up my patients however, I may have a disastrous reputation.
It's so important to be fair to our animals and understand that some of the behaviors that we see in dogs can sometimes just be normal dog behaviors. If you think about how much we expect from our furry friends- it's actually for the most part, a lot.
Don't get me wrong- they have it pretty easy. For most pets, free rent & food is not a bad trade for being well mannered.
I would love to see more canine professionals be able to adjust and be flexible enough to cover a large number of bases. I think that comes with experience, using our intellect, heart and intuition.
Positive means many great and fun things to a dog and there is a lot that can be accomplished through clicker training, food reward (but not too much or your dog may become over weight) and lots of praise. Don't forget to be open to new experiences, be willing to experiment and always no matter what the case- first and foremost, give respect to your dog as an individual.

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