Housetraining
Behavioral Therapy
Client Study Essay
Client Study Evaluation
Introducing a New Baby
Secrets to Choose a Trainer
Do-It-Yourself Physical
Test Your Pups Behavior

Client Case Evaluation
This is an actual example of an evaluation used to evaluate the dog described in the client study- excerpt essay article, available on this
site.

Our step by step Obedience Theraphy Routines used in private practice, are exactly the same as the ones featured in our complete Canine Training Video. This video will be very helpful in vizualization of the following information.

The obedience routines we teach are for Theraphy and Adjustment of both dog and owner.

From the dog’s point of view, working routines on a daily basis act as they would for a human, they make you feel better, less anxiety, etc.

From a human aspect, working daily routines with your dog is strenghtening your bond, increasing learning capabilities and most importantly establishing/ingraining your “Master Image™.”

FORMAL TESTING

Now that we have explained the reasons why we perform the individual tests and observations, (see Behavioral theraphy and beyond article) it’s time to look at our individual case study and take the process from theory to reality.

We use a1-10 system for scoring the degree of severity of a problem or behavior. 1 being normal and 10 being the extreme and most serious.

Basic Physical: Score (3) Good/Needs Attention.

Prior to training Bubu had a “severe itching” problem. Her hair had begun falling out in clumps, leaving bald spots in several places on her body.

Her coat was dull and lifeless. Her skin irritation caused her obvious distress. Allergy testing would be the next step, once she had completed her 4 week training program.

Bubu has been diagnosed by her Veterinarian to have an “Bacterial Infection” and had finished a course of antibiotics which seemed to give her some relief , but did not correct the problem. She was checked for internal parasites and all fecal’s were negative. She also had the standard “blood panels” done, which were all normal.

What did we do ?

A short time into training, we noticed that Bubu had what seemed to be “worms”, in her stool. Upon further examination, it was confirmed by our Veterinarian that she had a severe “Tape Worm” infection.

We treated her for the parasite and within a few days, the scratching stopped, her coat vastly improved and she was back to being a healthy Puppy.

It is entirely possible that the discomfort she was experiencing was actually causing some of her negative behaviors, or at the very least a “catalyst” for them.

In saying that, our friend Bubu truly had an abundance of negative behaviors, over and above what her discomfort may have produced, as we have previously described.

A COMPLETE PHYSICAL is imperative for any dog entering a behavior modification program. In fairness to Bubu’s Veterinarian, it is not always possible to identify internal parasites and they can be missed, or sometimes not even show up on a microscopic fecal exam.

As a Dog owner you should always observe the content, condition and color of your dog’s stool. It can tell you a lot about their overall health.

Animals Detailed History: Score (6) Fair.

Bubu is a 15 week old, Bernese Mountain dog. She came to her current owners at 8 weeks old. Her behavior has consistently worsened in the past 7 weeks. She has become very aggressive while playing, and wants to dominate every situation, whether it is at feeding time, or play or just “quiet” time in late evening. It seems she is happiest when she is the center of attention. She also is much more “hyper” than what is expected of a Bernese.

She is a severe “Play Biter” and has broken the skin on family members and some friends, multiple times. This behavior is getting increasingly worse and owners are not sure if it is play or deliberate biting behavior.

Another annoying habit is her “Leg Humping” (Mounting). Bubu only does this to the Male member of the household. Usually, it is when he returns from work in the evening and it is part of her “Hyper” routine.

Bubu also has a really bad habit of deliberate “Barking Back” at her owners, when scolded or disciplined in any way. Recently this has gotten totally out of hand and even does it when you say “No”.

Bubu will not listen to any commands, no matter how basic. She has a “wild mustang” look in her eyes and can not sit still for more than 5 seconds, or less. The owner has difficulty putting on her leash and collar. While on her leash she will fight to break free and if not allowed free, will constantly bite at the leash and growl in deep guttural tones.

Bubu is generally unruly, non-responsive to owners requests and extremely anxious in her home environment. Her anxiousness is displayed by her inability to settle down, even if everyone in the room is being quiet looking at TV , reading, etc. She constantly paces and grabs items of value, for attention.

Bubu does ride pretty well in the car, but needs some work on this also.

Bubu’s public outings are pretty disastrous, and is completely out of control, despite great efforts on the owners part.

She also has some destructive traits and has chewed some household effects and garden objects, including flowers. She also has dug a large hole under the garden shed, beside the faucet/hose outlet.

Bubu is not completely housebroken and can have accidents in the house at different times of the day, if she is not confined.

Comments:

Bubu is not typical of her breed, exhibiting higher levels of intensity in almost ever area of her personality. She is also an attention junky, and does anything she can, to get as much attention as she can, for any reason whatsoever. Though not related initially, her Digging, Chewing, House soiling and Hyperactivity have now become a more serious problem directly related to this issue.

Further testing will need to be done with her to Aggression/Dominance levels, to determine the basis for her dominance. We also need an extensive behavior modification program implemented both prior to her entry into training, and post.

Owner Evaluation: Score (5) Fair/Caution Needed.

In the interest of confidentiality we will not use our clients real names, instead, we will call them Mom and Dad.

Upon careful observation we notice a “one way” communication between Bubu and her owners. In other words, Bubu is being lavished with attention and caring, but is not really aware of it. She is not showing any respect and is basically running the household.

The owners have had Dog’s before and have attended training classes. They have tried to apply what they had learned previously , but it is not working. It is helpful to note that the owners are strong willed individuals and try not to show any signs of being a “push over” become evident to Bubu.

One topic of extreme interest, is the fact that someone had advised them to “bark” at Bubu when she did something wrong.

Another game the owners played (especially Dad) was wrestling and tug of war games... a very definite “NO, NO”, this could be our “trigger” and we will discuss this later in this report.

The owners have a very busy professional lifestyle and Mom is the primary care giver. However, there is a period every day, when Bubu is confined to her crate/pen area while Mom is at work. Mom usually gets home early afternoon. Dad gets home later early evening.

When Mom or Dad put on a leash she fights them, and their response is a “lot of verbalization” in conjunction with frivolous actions, which amounts to confusion and overall responses that have no concrete result.

In addition any time Bubu is disciplined, she resists. He resistance can vary from surging forward and barking back defiantly to actually biting. Her play biting has become more severe and has definite intent. If a quick snap of her teeth will prevent her from responding to a command, she will do it. Mom and Dad are trying to correct the behavior, but it is becoming a game for Bubu.

We also observe, that although very unintentional, Mom and Dad are promoting her “restlessness” even further. They are giving her more attention when she is restless/hyper than when she is calm.

Bubu is not taken in Public because Mom and Dad get embarrassed and she is out of control.

Mom and Dad are treat Bubu like a “human being” at times. This is especially evident when Mom tries to put Bubu on her back and rub her tummy . Mom also has the habit of holding her in her arms (on her back), and petting her tummy. When Bubu gets excited and play bites, Mom barks/growls at her and as soon as the “game” is over... rewards her with a treat or chew toy.

Bubu is also exhibiting mounting (humping) behavior. At times this is very extreme, and most embarrassing for her owners. This could be attributed to “Natural Androgenization”, which could have happened inutero, by her being adjacent to male fetuses. Being female, the level of her aggression is very similar to that of a male of her age. She does exhibit male traits, no question.

Despite being very frustrated, and fed up, Mom and Dad are willing to do whatever is necessary to bring Bubu back in line.

Comments:

Overall we feel that Mom and Dad have created a monster!
Bubu is truly a product of her environment and daily interaction. Extensive owner counseling will be necessary to correct Bubu’s negative behaviors. Literally, they will have to “begin again”, once she returns home from “Poochschool”.

Mom and Dad require “attitude adjustment” , with careful attention being paid to the “behavior modification” techniques learned in counseling. They also need to spend quality time reinforcing extensive “obedience therapy” (customized obedience routines) that will be learned prior to Bubu’s departure.

Because Bubo is such a handful in public, she is not getting the “outside” socialization she needs at this age, this needs to be addressed immediately. As does her dominant behaviors, both at home and in public.

Dog to People interaction: Score (2) Good.

Bubu is tested for her degree of socialization with people both at home and in public. We found that although she has not been exposed to many people outside the home, she showed little reservation with strangers. She was very outgoing and even jumped incessantly on them, as she did to Mom and Dad. Again, she exhibited dominant type behaviors with people she did not know, including mounting behavior and play biting.

Play Drive/Response. Score (8) Extreme/Serious.

Bubu’s play drive is very strong. Her intensity at play on a scale of 1-10 (10 being extreme) is a 8. Most dogs with over developed play drive are 5-6.

Bubu has learned to play very physically. This the biggest mistake her owners could have made from day one. She loves to play “tug of war” and wrestle.

When evaluated/observed both with the owner at home and at our facility, we found that her surroundings did not play a part in the reduction of her intensity.

Her play biting increases dramatically when she gets excited. This is normal for most puppies, but Bubu goes beyond normal, into a “frenzied” state.

We may have found the root cause of 70% of her Dominant behavior, this will be detailed in the “Trigger Routine” section of the report.

Dog to Dog Interaction: Score (4) Fair.

Bubu exhibits mild aggression behavior toward other dog‘s. She is very playful and wants to dominate at play. She is possessive of her play toy’s and of course instigates tug of war games whenever possible. Interestingly, she does become submissive to older dogs.

Overall, we are pleased that Bubu has not shown severe aggression towards other dogs, so this will not be an issue in training, other than additional socialization.

Prey Drive : Score (2) Excellent.

Although slightly elevated from what we would determine to be a normal prey drive, we see no indications that Bubu will have any behavioral problems with regard to her “prey drive”. She does follow a ball (slightly above average in this regard) and is not overly intense on running after birds or other small animals.

Basic Intelligence Testing: Score (2) Good.

Bubu passed her basic testing with flying colors. She is very intelligent and once the unwanted behaviors are modified , she should excel in her training program.

Trigger Routines: Score (8) Extreme.

This is the area that we discover what specific stimuli cause the unwanted behaviors.

We tested Bubu at home and in our facility. The “triggers” for her “Hyperactivity” were:

(A) Anyone coming into her home.
(B) Anyone saying the word “Bubu” or “Good Girl” an “No”
(C) Her Leash being shown to her.
(E) Any Door Opening/Closing.
(D) High Pitched sounds.
(F) Turning on the TV.
(G) Saying “Let’s go out to go Potty”.
(H) Any of the owners behavior that showed her “no” attention.

Triggers for more aggressive behavior, including play biting, barking back, etc., were:

(A) Petting her.
(B) Extended play sessions past 30 seconds.
(C) Forcing her to do anything.
(D) Corrections of any manner, verbal or physical.
(E) The most severe trigger was wrestling, or tug of war.

Bubu had been conditioned to respond aggressively and encouraged to be verbal and very physical in play by Dad, from an early age. As the weeks went by her intensity increased and by 16 weeks was “playing” very intently.

We suggest that people do not play tug of war or wrestle with their pets, for this reason. Tug of war is a very “natural game” for dogs. As puppies, it helps them establish rank between themselves. When you play “tug” and let the puppy win, this builds their confidence...NOT JUST IN TUG GAMES... but overall. If you do play tug...let the puppy win, but only occasionally. My recommendation is ... not do it at all. Instead , direct the attention to a ball or toy and play with that. Games like fetch, hide it, etc. Direct the puppies attention to the object in question... not your physical person.

When police dog’s are trained to bite, the early training begins with intense tug of war games. The dog is thought to be “BETTER” than any human at this game, and other confidence building exercises.

So why would we want to train our ‘pet” to be as highly driven as a police dog...WE DO NOT NEED TO DO THIS ... EVER.

Bubu’s Dad has successfully created a “learned” behavior that is affecting many other areas of their lives. He has an aggressive puppy, that likes to dominate and can fight and bite almost as good as a professional wrestler.... all by 16 weeks.

Now when you just “pet” Bubu, she goes crazy and thinks that wrestling is the way she is “supposed to” interact. She just can not be mellow and she has been “unintentionally conditioned” otherwise.

As I mentioned before 70-% of Bubu’s negative behavior can be attributed to this root cause,

and it will need some de-programming over several months.

Gradient Training™ Test Score (4) Good.

To ascertain Bubu’s “Comfort Zone™” and the physical distance that outside stimuli have an effect on her learning. We found that her immediate comfort zone was about 5 feet. Anything (object, person or animal) inside this distance did offer total distraction and was a major issue in regard to concentration and attention span.

In the regard to the gradients of her Comfort Zone ™ she very was comfortable with occurrences that happened 40-50 feet way and this included loud trucks, motorcycles, other dogs, people, etc.

Result:

Bubu can begin working in public almost immediately after her “learning sessions”. Although we always bring the dog into public gradually, Bubu will be able to get this portion of training relatively quickly, and be doing all her commands, including 20 minute down stays, in medium-high traffic areas within two weeks of her four week bootcamp program.

Fear Threshold: Score (1) Excellent

Bubu has no fear issues and is very stable in this regard.

Domestic Adjusment™/Acceptance Threshold™ Test. Score (8)

To determine how well “adjusted” (please re read the “Concept” portion of this report to fully understand this section) Bubu is, we will test her resistance to being totally submissive.

When we say adjusted... we are not talking about overall “environmental” adjustment. We are talking about “level” of acceptance of “Master Image™”.
Explained another way, the ability of the dog to recognize his/her
“higher ranking” pack members and demonstrate it’s acceptance of that individual by Voluntary Submisson™.

If less than 12 weeks old, this can be an easier procedure and can be achieved by performing an “Alpha roll”. Basically, putting the puppy on it’s back and observing is reactions. Dominant puppies usually (not always) will fight this tooth and nail (no pun intended).

Bubu’s evaluation was as follows.

Stage 1.

(A) Does not Come when called
(B) Does not Stay, especially if restrained by hand on collar or leash is
used.
(C) Will door dash at any opportunity.
(D) Fights all kind of restraint.
(C) Does not respond to Verbal correction, in fact “barks in defiance”.
Light corrections were needed to get Bubu’s attention, followed
by praise. This event usually triggered more excitability.
(D) Bubu did not respond male or female owner any differently.

Result:

Bubu was basically non responsive to Stage 1., and failed miserably.

Stage 2. The defining test.

Bubu will not go “Down” on command. In addition, she will not “Down” with gentle pressure or coaxing. We have to firmly ease her down by hand (not collar and leash) and once in position, begins struggling and play biting.

Within a minute or so, Bubu stops resisting. While in the down position she let us know she was not happy about it, by barking incessantly.

The degree of resistance that the dog exhibits from mild whining to severe biting, indicates us what level of dominance the dog has and how well it’s “Domestic Adjustment™” has been to date.

As we have said before... giving a dog a juicy treat to go “Down” is a REALLY GREAT TRICK.

Having the dog go down for you because it “wants to” show it’s respect of your rank in it’s pack... REALLY GREAT ACHIEVEMENT.

Result:

From Bubu’s strong resistance we know that she has not accepted her owners as “dominant” members of her pack, so she has considerable adjustment to accomplish before she returns home.

Overall Conclusion:

From our testing we know we are dealing with a puppy with several behavioral problems. Some relatively minor, others severe.
Each one will be addressed step by step, in her training program.
We will begin by formal leash training, which allows us “some control”, but more importantly a starting point to introduce Bubu to the concept of “quit time”. We will also introduce “attention withdrawal” techniques that reward (praise) for positive behaviors. Bubu’s “attention getting” behavior is a serious problem that can be solved using these techniques.

We will also be working extensively on her aggression level and bringing it down considerably. Obviously discontinuing wrestling and tug of war games, will be number 1 on the list. But gradual acceptance of our dominant position in her pack (as trainers) over the next four weeks will help the aggression levels come into the “normal range”. We are confident that her aggression is a “learned” behavior, developed by the owners and not any type of “genetic” problem.

Once we have build a sound foundation for training (first week) the rest of Bubu’s training should run very smoothly.

Trainers instructions (Week one):

First 5 days accomplishments will be:

* Reinforcing “wanted” behavior... discouraging unwanted behavior.

Multiple 15-30 min. sessions.

Increasing attention span, teaching “focus”.

Leash Training incorporating basic commands. ( Heel, Sit, Stay, Wait, Come... beginning “down” routine.)

Affection Withdrawal techniques/quiet time training sessions.

Low gradient interactions. No animals yet/No Street work.

Verbal commands/Praise techniques.

Teaching word “Good”, associating lavish praise (creating new trigger)

Teaching word “No”... and associated correction in regard to acceptance level.

De-sensitizing old triggers... trigger words and trigger events.

Introducing “bitter” products for play biting/chewing.

Teach Calm play. “offensive” play routines/ Introducing new toys.

Correcting mounting behavior.

Correcting leash biting, Barking back behavior.

Begining “Here” command.

Begin “potty training” techniques