Training Dogs is Really Training Owners

I recently received my issue of the magazine Montgomery Living. The cover story is about a boxer named Buster, who apparently received his "last chance" for survival at a heavily advertised Canine Center run by a local dog trainer. Obviously the dog survives because he seems very much alive and well on the cover staring intently into his new owner's eyes.

I am always a bit suspicious of success stories that are featured in a magazine heavily populated by ads (both inside covers, front and back) for the dog trainer in question. That's number one. But number two is the fact that the story really does not explain how exactly this trainer "saved" Buster's life--just that he was aggressive, had bitten five people and was deposited on his doorstep as a last chance before the owners euthanized him.

The problem, explains dog trainer Dave Cugno, was not the dog but the owners. The dog was insecure and he was reacting to signals from owners who were not sure how to handle him. All of this resulted in an aggressive dog and the dog trainer's job was to "rewrite the script." Sounds good, but there is probably more going on here than just mixed signals.

I agree with the premise that most dog training issues result from poor communication between owner and pet, but I suspect that these people did a little bit more than just confuse the dog by mixed signals. It takes great patience to rewrite the script and I credit Cugno for doing that but I think it would have been better to explain exactly how he did it rather than promise that he will use the knowledge gained in the process to train your pet.

The idea is not rocket science. A happy human animal pack is at the center of all good pet relationships but I'd like to know just how Cugno proposes he achieve this harmony.

We all know that most aggressive dogs result from aggressive owners and with patience and proper reinforcement can be retrained--witness Michael Vick's pit bulls saved by the good folks at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. But none of this is a trade secret, nor dependent on just one person to enact the magic.