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“A big business starts small.” -Richard Branson EDIT: I originally posted this in the summer of 2019. Since then, we have all been enduring a crisis unlike any other most of us have ever experienced. We've come together as a society in ways I never thought I'd see again. And just as we've seen some businesses really come through to help us through this catastrophe, we've seen some absolutely disgusting business practices. Times are tough; it's imperative we become more cognizant of who we are supporting through our consumerism. Darwin Dogs. What is it? Who am I? Where did I come from? More importantly, what do I represent with my business? Out of those four questions, I would estimate 99% of the time, only the first is ever asked by my potential clients. But let’s remember, businesses are builders of our society.  Like or it or not, businesses and business owners have a great impact on not only services and commodities that are available, but can change laws or lobby against new ones (cough cough*PICK OF THE LITTER* cough). For instance, Darwin Dogs (me, Kerry Stack), well, I’m against animal abuse in general, and puppy mills as an instance (not shocking).  I have plenty of info on how I am using my influence and followers to try to shut down puppy mills, so it’s pretty easy to discover that.  It’s obviously nothing that I’m hiding. But what about other things that I may represent, or lobby for or against?  No two people will ever align 100% with their thoughts and ideas, nor will two political agendas or moral codes.  Hell, my husband and I can’t agree on what restaurant to eat at most of the time, and I love him to pieces! As responsible consumers, it is our job to know where we are spending our money, and what we are spending it on.  No, I’m not referring to which bottle of shampoo from Target, nor am I referring to what specific burger from McDonalds.  What I’m referring to is the fact that you are giving businesses money: who does Target support? Who does McDonalds lobby against? It’s a lot easier to just walk into a store, or hire a plumber, without knowing or caring what’s being supported.  For instance, would you feel the same way if the mom and pop bakery that you buy doughnuts from every week sends a check every other week to the NRA? And one to Planned Parenthood every alternate week? For some people, that doesn’t matter,and they’ll buy the doughnuts anyway.  For others, one of those checks is going to rub them the wrong way enough to find another doughnut shop. Business owners are in a position unlike any other career:  we have the ability to take your money and apply it to what aligns with our goals and aspirations.  For me, that includes saving for my children’s futures (estimable goal, in my opinion).  Obviously a lot of my income through my business goes towards basic living expenses.  But what else?  Have you ever wondered what you are supporting?  Have you ever asked other businesses who/what they support?  Maybe it’s time. It’s your money, don’t let it be spent against your wishes. So in the interest of transparency, let me set the record straight about Darwin Dogs as a business, and myself as an individual.  Some of these things you may applaud.  Some of these things may cause you to unfollow Darwin Dogs.  Some may make you furious.  But it’s time for us all to be self-aware enough to know where our money is going after we swipe our credit cards or fork over cash.  Here we go: 1) I believe that every animal deserves a chance at having a good home, and having the best life they possibly can. Therefore,  I support Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter, City Dogs,  and numerous shelters and local rescues, as well as the Animal Welfare Institute. 2) I think that people are the greatest resource to enriching and bettering the lives of all animals (including other humans).  Healthier, happier humans make more healthy, happy humans. Therefore I heavily support the efforts of Heifer International. 3) I believe that Stevie Ray Vaughn’s version of Little Wing is better than the Jimmi Hendrix version.  (I know I lost a few of you there.) 4) I believe that we are all created equal, and we should all have the same certain, unalienable rights regardless of age, race, gender or country of origin.  Therefore I am a proud supporter of the ACLU, and The Innocence Project. 5) I believe in caring for our sick, and sustaining our health so I support Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and the Trevor Project. 6) I believe that the 10th Doctor will always be the best. 7) I believe humans are capable of great things when we stop finding our differences to be scary, but something to cherish and learn from, a melting pot. 8) I think Trump plays to the basest among us, and it makes me ashamed, because I know we are better than that. Therefore I attend rallies against caging children, ICE, limiting women’s rights, and (especially) hate groups. 9) I think PETA is bullying and extremism disguised as animal welfare. 10) I think we’re all so much more amazing than we give ourselves credit for. 11)  Picard.  Always Picard.  No contest. So yeah, perhaps I’m a little Liberal.  Perhaps we don’t mesh 100%.  But I want you to know who I am, what supporting small businesses actually does for our economy.  I mostly wanted to write this because a past client sent me a PM a few weeks ago stating that he never would have hired me if he knew I was against Trump.  Never mind the fact that in two hours I worked miracles with his dog.  Never mind that he had referred me to six other clients.  He took it all back based on my moral abhorrence of Trump’s policies. And he was right. Listen, I’m not here to change his mind about Trump.  I’m free to attend my protests, and he’s free to attend his.  Just as I haven’t eaten at Chick Fil A in years because of my beliefs, he’s allowed to boycott Darwin Dogs because of what I support through my company.  And I know at least a few of you have lost some respect for me based exclusively on my dis of Hendrix (props on Watchtower, though.  Best. Guitar. Ever). But hopefully I’ve made you think a little. Beard Rank:  Joel >Riker Most of you are on this page because of animal rights, or you’re animal lovers, or just don’t know WTF is going on with your crazy diva-dog. (Hint:  Try Piloting.) But all of us are capable of learning more and doing better. Because as Maya Angelou said, “When you know better, you do better.”  Let’s all do just a little bit better at making our society a reflection of our morals rather than of just our wallets. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training, Differently

“I will always choose a lazy person to do a difficult job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” - Frank B. Gilbreth Sr. A few links are affiliate links. I only recommend products that I actually own and have used because I'm shiny like that. If you buy something through the link, you are enabling my dogs' tennis ball addiction. So thank you for that. And Ellis loves tennis balls. So, here I am with a foster dog, Ellis, whom I've had for almost a week. He's a pittie, he's intelligent, and he's hyper. I've got less than a week to finish his training before he's on the market to find his forever home. To top it all off, the State of Ohio is pretty much on lock down, thus I can't exhaust him in the ways I usually would with a high energy dog: no playdates with other dogs, no doggie daycare, no dog parks. Well, I've got a secret weapon. Yes, Ellis is still getting his walks every day (learn how I trained him to leash walk here), but the walk is only there for me to get money out of his Piloting Piggy Bank. Besides, I'd drop dead before I finally wore him out with a walk. Check out my video below to learn about my secret weapon to exercise a hyper dog with little to no extra effort on my part. Some examples of backpacks I like and have personally used. Outward Hound: (my go-to, cheap backpack): OneTigris: My Arwen is currently sporting this one in black. It's my favorite so far because the velcro straps make it one of the easiest to put on and take off. No threading your dog's limbs/head through straps. Kurgo: A more rugged style that Ellis wears for day hikes. Build well, and comfy even for my practically hairless pit bull. Kurgo: Luxury running edition. Don't need it, overkill, but I *really* want to get it. Love the water bottle positioning. Follow us on Facebook for real time updates on our journey: https://www.facebook.com/Darwin.Dogs/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more dog training videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC39pwDQyp8xqaFLZXbzLe5g Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training, Differently

As I'm writing this post, Ellis has been a part of my life for exactly five days, and I'll admit, he's changed the way I think about a lot of things. When I met him at the Middleburg Heights Animals Shelter, I was there to work with a volunteer on an issue with a different dog. I heard another dog barking, and asked if could see him. Buster was his name (now named Ellis), and I knew I needed to get him out of the shelter and into a home. But he was a total jackass. Almost knocked me down at the shelter, leash pulling, barking and generally just an idiot. But not bad. He was doing things his way, and considering that he's a roughly one-year old, high energy dog, it's amazing he wasn't doing things aggressively after being cooped up in a shelter for so long. He's also not dumb. I saw that at the shelter, but I was still blown away by his intelligence once I got him home. He's part of the family now. And while he's always going to be my boy, and I will always love him, he has a different home where he belongs. We just need to find it. Until then, he will be loved and cared for just the same as all my other children/furkids/featherkids. His energy level is through the roof, but I already knew that. One of the difficulties that presented itself at the shelter was how to get rid of his energy. Volunteer staffing is hard to find, even in the best of times. On top of that, he was so energetic, it seemed to needed to be walked before his walk to get out his energy, just so he could be safely walked without dragging someone! As I said, Ellis is intelligent, and kindhearted. I'm not going to say that he's willing to learn, because that's dismissive of his own intelligence. He's one step ahead of that: he's willing to communicate. And one of the first things we needed to communicate about was how to get rid of his energy. In the video below, you'll see exactly how I work with any dog on a leash, be it fear reactivity, a pulling dog, or a scared dog. Ellis had the benefit of having some of his energy removed by a thorough game of fetch before we even attempted to walk him, so he was in a good place to try to focus on communicating, rather than be ratcheted up from energy. So we started in a good place. Take a look and see how he did. So again, this video was taken the day after we got him. Since that time, his leash skills have really polished up well! Every morning, I have been taking him and my Papillion, Orion, for a mile long run in the Metroparks, and he is truly enjoyable to walk. He still has a few questions, such as, "Can we play with that person over there?", but he accepts my gentle negative very easily after only 5 days with him. Working with Ellis has little to do with training, but more to do with Piloting. Learning to Pilot your dog, and communicate rather than dominate or placate, is the key to the healthy relationship you are both looking for. Tell me your thoughts about how Ellis did in the comments! And stay tuned for more videos. Check out our other videos to see how Ellis did learning with my boundaries (not to eat my ducks!), as well as how he did learning how to properly greet guests without jumping. UPDATE: Yeah, we foster failed Ellis about 3 weeks after this was posted. I knew he needed a forever-home; I just didn't realize as quickly as he did that he was already where he belonged: with me forever. Welcome home, Ellis. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training, Differently

Today was the third full day we had Ellis. He's truly an amazing little boy, and is very easy to Pilot. I decided that today would be a great time to start working on door manners. When I met Ellis, he was a jumpy, barking, hyper mess of a dog. After 3 days of Piloting, he's calmed down considerably, and has been a joy to be around. Watch as I attempt to answer the door the first time while Piloting him. Those of you who have had a training session with us will recognize exactly what I'm doing to keep him from jumping on our guest. For more information on Piloting your dog, check out our blog. Follow us on YouTube and Facebook to watch Ellis progress in his training. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training, Differently

My husband has a quote about me. He claims that I'm like a shark, and if I ever stop swimming, I'd drown. That may be true. I'm constantly in motion, always doing something. And then came the social distancing and self quarantine. That's a big problem for me. Since my dog training is done in-home, it would be irresponsible for me to jump directly from one training session to the next, possibly spreading the Covid-19 virus everywhere. So I was essentially forced to stop swimming for a bit. This past Thursday I was able to keep an appointment I had a local shelter to evaluate a dog. There were only two dogs at the shelter at the time, so after the evaluation, I asked to see the second dog. His name was Buster, and he was a hilarious, hyper, jumping mass of energy. Sweet dog, but total asshat. Not dangerous (except the jumping that could knock you over), but what I'd refer to as a "No No Bad Dog". As I was heading back from the shelter, a thought occurred to me. Buster was a great dog, just completely without manners. So I hatched a plan. I would foster Buster for two weeks, train him, and document his training to help others learn how to train their new, possibly unruly, dog. So I grabbed Buster (who I renamed Ellis), and started working with him. Join us on our journey as I take on the challenge of Piloting a foster dog for two weeks in the hope that the training will bring him closer to his forever home. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training, Differently

You can cry; ain't no shame in it. - Will Smith I recently had  training session with Jake, the gorgeous, huge Malamute/Husky/Hybrid mix. Jake was very much a dog’s dog.  A beautiful boy who happened to have some slightly scary behaviors.  I was initially contacted by his new owners because of some dog-reactivity on walks, and general problems in the house.   He had a lot of money in his Piloting Piggy Bank.  There is indeed a contest to find out who is Pilot, but the cool thing is that we all want whomever is best to win.  How do you find out who is best?  By answering questions for your dog.  Each question you answer gets Piloting money from their piggy bank into yours.  Whoever has the most money wins. Can I jump on you? No, Jake, you may not. ($0.25 added to your Piloting Piggy Bank or PPB). Can I drag you on the leash? No, Jake, you may not.  ($5.00 added my PPB). Is this what you mean by “sit”? Yes, Jake!  Nice job! ( $.40 added to my PPB). The more questions I answer for a dog (without resorting to pain and violence, nor bribery), the more money I get in my bank.  Once I have more money in my PPB than the dog, I’m officially the Pilot!  The greater the buffer I have, the easier it is to answer a dog’s questions, so I never stop hoarding money in my bank.  Compared to my dog’s “bank accounts”, I’m rich.  So nowadays, answering their questions is easy. Just like people, dogs have a certain amount of money in their PPBs.  Some have more than others.  For people, it’s easy to Pilot their dogs.  They accept the answer they’re given at face value…”because I said so” is good enough for them.  That’s fine and dandy.  Others dogs require a reason why.  Almost a conversation.  There is no good reason why they should accept an answer just because you gave it.  You chip away gradually at the balance in their PPB until you finally have more money than they do. For example, my Sparta had about $1.25 in her PPB.  From the start she asked me questions, and very quickly I was able to get that money out of her bank account, making it pretty easy for me to be Pilot.  Any time I see she has any money in her account, I take it right out by answering her questions.  So think of money in the account as questions that haven’t been answered yet. She doesn’t have too many questions, and that’s fine. My Orion, however, had a rather large bank account when I first had him…we’ll call it about $350.  I answered any and all questions he asked, and I quickly got the money out of his account and into mine. Which dog is the “bad dog”?  Both.  Neither.  Dogs are incapable of being bad. They are asking questions.  They are trying to relate to the human world we have thrust them into.  It just happens to be easier for some dogs than for others, hence they have more money in their account.  It’s not a personal affront to you, and they aren’t trying to get back at you for anything.  It’s how they were built. Unfortunately, Jake was having a terribly difficult time adjusting to living in a human world.  He had a lot of money in his Piloting Piggy Bank – perhaps $50,000.  Does that make him bad?  Of course not.  It just means that he is not going quietly into the night when he has a question.  He firmly believed he had better answers than just about anyone.  But the cool thing about dogs is that they’re usually willing to “discuss” these answers.  In other words, he’s willing to see if you have a better answer, but you damn well better have the better answer, or he’s sticking to his guns. (He was described to me as “stubborn”, but I believe that stubbornness is just determination in an opposite direction.)  So be it.  It’s my responsibility to keep answering Jake’s questions until I have all the money out of his Piloting Piggy Bank. Now Jake lived with another dog, a beautiful female husky who had no money in her bank.  A sweet girl who Jake was madly in love with, and was quite willing to defend from any perceived threat; and he usually defended her with his teeth.  Snarling, growling & snapping, he was like a a mama bear defending her cub. To top it all off, Jake, when presented with the concept of passing by another dog (or human!) on a walk, would typically determine that said entity was most definitely a threat. Needless to say, there was a lot to unpack there.  Also, did I mention Jake lived with two small children, roughly 8 and 10.  Thus the tragedy begins. I worked with Jake’s owners on answering his questions.  How to spot any questions he may have on a walk, and how to answer them.  Jake saw most things as a potential threat, and decided it was better to shoot first and ask questions later.  It was up to me to help Jake have enough faith in me first, and then his owners, to trust our answers more than his own inferences.  A daunting task, but we did it.  By the end of our session, we had a lovey walk, worked on letting strangers into the house (thanks to a family friend to stopped by and was willing to be “bait” for a bit). Things looked great! Until the text came a few weeks later.  Jake took it upon himself to answer a question that the 8-year old daughter had, “Can I pet you while you’re eating, Jake?” Unfortunately, Jake gave her a negative, and used his teeth to give it to her.  Fortunately, nothing tragic happened, but he did indeed bite her.  Does that make Jake a bad dog?  Absolutely not.  See, Jake was treating the little girl with the same amount of respect he’d give to another dog.  Especially a dog who didn’t have a lot of money in their Piloting Piggy Bank.  Remember, Jake had a high bank account.  So when he was asked a question (“Can I pet  you now?”), he gave the answer as a dog sometimes will:  with teeth. Now let’s talk about whose fault this was. Was it Jake’s fault?  No.  Absolutely not.  Jake was being a dog. Some dogs just make better humans than others.  That dopey but sweet Lab across the street who wanders over to your yard sometimes for ear scratches and a biscuit?  He’s a great human.  Lassie?  She was a pretty good human.  Even Sandy from “Annie” was a actually pretty good human, too. Almost like they are all half dog/half human. Jake, however, totally sucked at being human.  Which is understandable, as he’s a dog. So definitely not Jake’s fault. What about the little girl?  After all, her parents admitted that they had told her not to pet him while he was eating.  Was it her fault? Again, no.  Children are called children because even they haven’t quite figured out how to adult.  Simply showing affection to a dog doesn’t make her wrong nor bad.  She had never abused him nor treated him with disrespect.  She wasn’t far out of line wanting to give love to her dog; she just made a poor choice in judgement (hence the term, “kid”). That’s pretty much the definition of childhood.  Poor choices made with an honest and true heart.  So not her fault. What about the parents?  Nope.  The dog had never shown any indication of food reactivity.  They had made sure their children treated the dog with respect. So here we are, almost through all the actors in this play, and we still haven’t found out to whom we should place the fault for this bite. Because it’s nobody’s fault.  Sometimes something bad happens, and it’s just flat-out nobody’s fault.  And that’s okay.  Something bad happened, that’s all. Blame and fault are ridiculous concepts anyway, and something that a dog has no concept of (just another reason why we don’t deserve dogs).  Here, let’s let Will Smith explain it to you, as he does an amazing job of it here. But there’s still a problem.  It’s nobody’s fault that the bite happened, but now what?  Fault and responsibility are two completely different things.  The parents now had to take responsibility for what had happened.  Given the choice, they chose to keep their children safe, as the learning curve on working with food reactivity can be pretty steep.  That meant they had to let go of Jake. Now, I know that there will be the Teeming Millions out there who will vilify the parents for giving up Jake.  But as I’ve pointed out, it’s nobody’s fault this happened.  And the parents have a responsibility to their children to keep them safe from harm.  Children are unpredictable.  And Jake is not a great human, willing to overlook this unpredictability.  Not his fault.  Shake it as much as you want, but oil and vinegar will never properly mix.  Jake and children will never properly mix.  And it’s nobody’s fault. Jake’s owners tried to contact rescues to take him, but to no avail.  They were mocked and berated for wanting to rehome him.  Let’s put this into perspective though.  Yes, there are plenty of cruel, callous owners out there who have the Dog of the Year, almost like some twisted Chinese Zodiac of dogs: -2013 was the year of the black Lab,until we got sick of him and sent him to the pound; -2014 was the year of the Goldendoodle, until he peed on the carpet; -2015 was the year of the Cavachon, but he had separation anxiety. And so on.  But this wasn’t the case.  This is about a family whose children aren’t in a safe situation, through nobody’s fault.  It’s so easy to place the blame squarely on someone else’s shoulders, but there’s no blame to be had here.  The mindset of something not being your fault, and therefore not your responsibility, needs to end.  Rather than feeling empathy for the terrible situation this family was placed in, they were ridiculed and harassed.  It is so easy to sit back and judge a person rehoming a dog, but it’s imperative that we ask ourselves why they would choose to do so.  This wasn’t an easy fix for this family; this was choosing the lesser of two evils, and their first duty is to their children. Further, it stymies the mission of shelters to judge such cases.  Sometimes it just doesn’t work out, and if a family is harassed and harangued for wanting to return a dog because it didn’t work out (after a very valiant effort) or if the situation is dangerous, why on earth would a family with children want to take the chance of adopting a dog through a shelter? I will never state that dogs are disposable.  They are not.  However, sometimes it doesn’t work.  It’s nobody’s fault.  Nobody needs to be blamed.  But we all need to take responsibility rather than placing it upon the most convenient shoulders.  We need to take responsibility that not every dog can be saved.  That not every situation is good.  In the righteous journey towards Saving Every Dog, we’ve forgotten that we’ve destroyed quite a few wonderful human beings. Children in the house who aren’t safe around the new dog?  Well, that’s a sacrifice we’re all willing to make because it’s not our sacrifice being made.  We still get the Happily Ever After ending of placing yet another rescue into a home, regardless of the suitability of that home.  Never mind that through nobody’s fault, the dog is actually a danger, once a dog is adopted, there it shall remain, and damn the human casualties. It’s time to understand the difference between fault and responsibility. So next time you’re ready to blame someone for their actions, ask yourself: are you willing to take responsibility? What are your thoughts on Jake’s situation?  Let me know in the comments. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training, Differently

Okay, I get it. Times are ...weird. Perhaps giving your dog the Activity that they require may be bit difficult right now.  You may be working from home, and having a difficult time adjusting to the New Normal. Unfortunately, just because you’re busy and stressed doesn’t mean that your dog’s need for activity is suddenly gone. Now, I want to go outside as much as the next person #quarantine, but there are more ways to give your dog exercise than just with a walk.  I currently have a pack of two, Sparta (100 lb. rottie/shep mix), Orion (7 lb. papillon). I don’t necessarily have the time nor the inclination to take each of them for a long hike every day.  That’s why I cheat.  There are plenty of ways to exercise a dog that don’t involve freezing outside. Treadmill Yeah, I know.  I treadmill is definitely an investment in both space and money.  But you can pick up a treadmill from Goodwill, Craigslist or Salvation Army for under $100.  Do the math: how much damage has your dog done to say, your couch, because they had too much energy?  That $100 you spend on a treadmill is actually an insurance policy to prevent your dog from destroying perhaps thousands of dollars worth of items in your home, including your sanity.  Here’s a video on how to get your dog started on the treadmill. Don't judge the haircut, I made this video almost 12 years ago. Play Dates - IF SAFE When Sparta was 6 months old, my husband and I practically lived at the dog park.  Sparta is a huge dog who had a huge appetite for Activity when she was younger.  In the winter, that can be problem.  So every night my husband and I would take turns with who would take her to the dog park.  She would run and gambol among a pack of huskies who showed up every night, come home tired, and not destroy things.  If you don’t have a dog park near you, what about just setting up a play date for your dog?  Pick another dog of a similar age and similar playing style. Sparta, and my mother's dog, Louie, love to wrestle together.  Orion is a runner, and plays with my mom's other dog, Kiwi, another runner. Agility No, agility doesn’t have to involve classes or joining a group.  In my house, agility is two soup cans with a yardstick balanced across them.  All the dogs in my house learn quickly how to jump over and go under on command. “Over, under, under, over, under, over, over.  Good girl, Sparta!  Again! Over, under, over, over, under…” Five minutes of this, and Sparta has had her energy levels at least topped off.  When she and Orion were both younger, it could sometimes be difficult to manage their energy while trying to get rid of their energy.  In other words, they needed to get exercise prior to going for a walk so the walk wasn’t unbearable.  We would do agility for roughly 5 minutes before our walk, and that did the trick.  It brought their energy levels down to bearable amounts so I could take them for a walk with more ease.Another benefit to agility is that it gives  you an opportunity for positive reinforcement, which helps you bond with your dog.  You’re both working towards the same goal, and each time your dog hit that goal, you create the pack mentality of “we did it together”.  Sometimes you really need that positive.The video below shows how to train a dog to jump through a hoop.  The concept is no different when training a dog to jump over a yardstick balanced on two soup cans. Check out this video from 8 years ago that teaches you how to train your dog to do a simple trick: jump through a hoop. Backpacks I’ve been touting the benefits of backpacks for dogs for years.  It’s a cheap, easy way to top off their energy levels.  Sparta below is kindly modeling her backpack.  She wears it on walks, but she also wears it inside the house. When she was younger (the pic is from 2009), Sparta would wear the backpack all day while I was home (never leave a backpack on a dog unsupervised).  I would put about 1/4-1/2 pound of weight on each side, and the very act of carrying around that extra bulk all day would take the edge off her.  When we would go for a hike, I would add another pound of weight to each side.A good rule of thumb for a dog is to start out with 1/2% of their body weight total in the backpack.  Work up from there, but never more than 4% at the absolute maximum (as in a young adult dog in the peak physical condition - in other words, probably not your dog).  Sparta currently has one package of coffee on each side of her backpack, for a total of 1 lbs.  She’s getting older, and I don’t want so much stress on her back and her joints.  At 100 lbs., that’s only 1% of her total body weight.  I use things like dried beans, rice, coffee…things that disseminate evenly across the backpack (nothing too interesting, like, say…dog food or sushi).  No water bottles; they bang against the dog’s ribs as they walk, and are typically too heavy and bulky. Outward Hound typically sells some more affordable backpacks. Kurgo is a slightly better brand, but a bit more expensive. Check Amazon. Fetch Yes, your dog may love fetch, and it may take a while for them to get worn out playing fetch indoors, so why not make it more difficult?  Sparta is not a fetch dog.  I wish she were, but you can’t make fetch happen.  However, if you have a dog who loves fetch, go for it, but tweak it a little for inside the house. I put utilize the soup cans and yard stick again from agility.  Place it in a threshold through which you throw the toy.  The dog has to jump over it to retrieve the ball, thus burning more energy.  I’ll also throw the ball up and down the steps.  What about putting the backpack on your dog (with a small amount of weight) while playing fetch.  Think outside the, er…ball, and see how you can make fetch more of a workout for your dog.I sometime wonder about the dogs in shelters, the owner surrenders.  How many of them surrendered their dogs because the dog was unmanageable in the house, when what really happened was the house became unmanageable for the dog. All work and no play…we all know how this ends: DESTRUCTION Piloting, Activity and Work.  That’s the PAW Method.  It’s a tripod – remove one of those three things and everything topples over.  It’s not a smorgasbord or a buffet where you pick which items you want.  Yes, getting your dog’s energy levels under control can feel like an insurmountable obstacle, especially if your dog is young.  But utilize some of (all of!) these tricks, and buried deep, deep down (...no, muuuuuuch further down) inside your beloved canine, you’ll find that good dog. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training, Differently

Nurse. Just another word to describe someone strong enough to tolerate anything and soft enough to understand anyone. – Unknown I’ve been meaning to write this post for a very, very long time, and last night’s session reminded me why I needed to do it.  I want to talk to you about nurses and teachers.  Oh, yeah… and dogs.  Believe it or not, these three things have a lot in common. Last night I hit the lottery with my clients.  Woman’s name was Elsa.  Man’s name was Jack.  And then there was this cute little guy, Rally: Rally is your typical No No Bad Dog. Definitely not dangerous; just really really annoying.  No No Bad Dogs tend to be between 5-12 months of age.  They jump a lot, pull on a leash, and may even do a bit of counter surfing.  Technically, they aren’t “bad” dogs, they’re perfect….dogs.  They just really suck at being human.  That’s why we’re here, to help them with that by answering their questions.  Not bullying them. Not dominating them.  You are not their alpha, any more than they are yours.  You are their Pilot. So back to Elsa and Jack.  Both are young professionals with a brand new No No Bad Dog.  Both are eager to work with Rally and help him be the best dog human he can be.  Neither were prone to losing their temper, nor getting frustrated with Rally no matter how obnoxious he got.   Both humans showed extreme amounts of patience.  Suspiciously so.  On top of that, neither of them ever gave up.  They just kept answering Rally’s questions until he accepted their answers, learning how he communicates, so as to be the best humans dogs they can be for him. I had to ask what they did for a living.  Elsa told me that she was a teacher (2nd grade, I found out later).  I wasn’t too surprised.  Think for a moment about what she does all day for a living.  She’s a chaos director. There really isn’t too much difference between Piloting a dog and Piloting a child of that age.  Each ask really stupid questions…or do they? When my son Eric was 3, we had a very edifying conversation.  We were in the car, on our way back from a trip to the dentist, and Eric wanted to know why we brush our teeth. “Well,” I explained, taking the imperious, condescending tone that parents sometimes accidentally take, “Right now you have practice teeth.  If you take good care of your practice teeth, and brush them and don’t eat too many sweets, they will eventually fall out, so you can get your grown-up teeth.” Eric was quiet for a few moments. Then a tiny voice came from the backseat, “Do we get to keep our eyeballs?” It seems like a stupid question, “Do I get to keep my eyeballs?”, until you realize where he’s coming from.  He literally has no point of reference upon which to draw. Just as he thinks he’s go this whole “being human” thing down, what do I tell him? Yeah, kid…body parts start falling out of your mouth. Second graders may have a little bit of an easier time, as they’ve been around the block a time or two compared to a toddler, but it’s still so difficult for them.  Will I be able to make friends?  What if I forget what’s 2 + 2 on the test?  I don’t care what anyone says, being a child is terribly difficult. So what does Elsa do all day?  Manage these little humans.  She is charged with not only educating them, but she has to Pilot them through various crisis situations.  Like when little Tommy loses a tooth during spelling.  There is a terrified child with blood dripping out of their mouth and a tooth in their hand.  What do you do?  Answer his questions and calmly be there for him. Fortunately for Elsa, these children know and trust her.  She’s been their Pilot for a little while now.  They now welcome her answers and even though sometimes she can be The Meanest Teacher in the World (seriously?  Reading homework on a weekend?) they trust her to care for them and to protect them from things like, stray teeth and bumblebees. On to Jack.  He’s a nurse.  Not only that, he’s an ER nurse.  My favorite.  Think about what an ER nurse does all day:  answers the questions you have on the most terrifying day of your life.  They Pilot you.  Only, unlike Elsa, they don’t even know you.  They have to earn your faith and trust in a very, very short amount of time, while taking care of you, remaining safe themselves, and working as part of a larger team.  Talk about organized chaos! And sometimes, they have to stand up for you when things get scary. They speak for you when you can’t. When my son went into the hospital at 3 years old for strep, I had a nurse named Laura skillfully Pilot a situation for us.  Eric was stretched out on a hospital bed, frail and weak from dehydration.  I was terrified, as just 10 hours prior he was fine.  Then Nurse Laura informs me that they need to get an IV in him immediately.  So I inform Eric that they are going to use a needle to poke his skin to put medicine in him.  I told him that no matter what, he mustn’t move. Obviously it hurt. Truly heroic, Eric never moves, but starts sobbing, “Mom, she’s hurting me!”. Actual footage of my heart breaking. I was about to start sobbing myself, watching my son crying on a gurney, desperately trying to be brave, accepting that someone was hurting him, and I had to let them.  ”Mom, she’s hurting me!” Until Nurse Laura walked over by us, leaned down by Eric, and "whispered" loudly, “Her name is Wendy”. I started laughing, and Eric got through his little ordeal.  Nurse Wendy didn’t want to hurt Eric, but she knew what needed to be done, and shut out her own emotions to do it.  In other words, trying to comfort him by telling him it didn’t hurt (it did!), or that it would only be a moment (it wasn’t) wasn’t going to make anyone feel better except for herself. She quickly did her job.  Nurse Laura didn’t give us a pep talk.  She didn’t try to convince us that it didn’t hurt.  She gave us what we needed: a bit of levity.  There’s a difference between comforting someone and Piloting them.  Wendy and Laura Piloted all of us, and thus comforted us. Where do dogs come into all of this?  Well, whenever I’m dealing with a dog who is scared, acting aggressively, or just simply a No No Bad Dog, I always think back to Nurse Wendy and Nurse Laura. I try to act how they need to act for 12 hours straight every day.  Not lying.  Not sugar-coating anything.  Calmly answering questions.  Calmly being there, and setting the tone by their example. So when your dog is scared going to the vet, or is anxiously barking at another dog during a walk, remember, dogs suck at being human.  It’s not a situation they were meant to be in.  You have to Pilot your dog through the situation.  Not with saccharine words nor with phony falsetto words rapidly thrown at them.  Don’t mix your wanting to placate them with what they actually need. They need calm. They need a rational person.  They need you to act completely normal.  They need a Pilot. They need Wendy. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training, Differently In these troubling and uncertain times, we all need a Wendy in our lives. It's easy to need a Wendy, but have you considered that you can be a Wendy as well? Piloting isn't just for dogs, nor for dog training. Piloting is a way of life. Some professions, such as teachers, EMTs and nurses, live their professional lives Piloting every day. Their Piloting uniform goes on when they put on their scrubs, and they pass their calmness on to us during scary times. We can mimic them, and bring a sense of calmness to our lives. Being calm breeds more calmness. Spread that shit around....6 feet away from each other. #socialdistancing #coronageddon

Me: River, are you nervous about your first day of school? River (age 9):  I’ll wait until something happens to be nervous.  No sense wasting it on nothing. A photo came up in my Facebook memories a few days ago.  It’s of River almost three years ago, starting her first day of school just after we had just moved, so she didn’t know anyone.  I’ve long stated that my daughter is the most emotionally healthy person I’ve ever met in my life.  This statement is just another profoundly logical quip from my girl.  Interestingly enough, that statement played out for me today in a completely different capacity. I’ve long stated that there is no difference between how I raise my kids and how I Pilot my dogs.  Each is in a world that they aren’t quite equipped to handle on their own, and each ask a lot of questions.  If you don’t answer the questions, well… The good thing is that the more you Pilot your dogs/kids, the easier it is to Pilot them.  In other words, you followed through with your answer this time, it’s more likely you’re will follow through the next time.  It doesn’t matter what the question is: River: “Mom, can I stay up all night and play video games?” Me: "No, and if you do, you will lose your computer for a week.” Guess who lost their computer for a week, and guess who now knows I will follow through with that answer. Another example is my Sparta. Sparta: “Mom, is that other dog going to kill us?” Me: Me“No, I will protect you and make sure you are safe.” Spoiler: we didn't die on the walk, so guess who believes me next time we see another dog on a walk. Each little question we answer for your dogs/children is worth a certain amount of money in our Piloting Piggy Bank.  It starts to add up.  So the next time my son asks a question worth a dime, it’s easier to answer because I’ve already got the quarter to spend from the last question he asked (and I followed through on). Now that total is $.35!  Cha-ching!i And saving money is So Very Important, because eventually, you know that rainy day is going to come, and you’re going to need it. That day came for me today. “Hi Ms. Stack, this is Jody from River’s school.  River is having a seizure.  We’ve called 911.  Please come up to the school immediately.” Yeah, not the call I was expecting this morning.  So I went into my usual crisis mode.  In other words, the PAW Method I constantly preach.  It’s not for working with your dog: it’s for working with your life. 1) Control Yourself.  I’ve had a lot of practice with this one over the years.  Panicking is a luxury, and is very selfish in the end.  You are either robbing energy that can be used towards resolving a situation, or you are forcing others to use theirs to calm you down.  Take a deep breath, and FFS, Put on your big girl pants and deal!  As I like to tell my clients, this isn’t about you, this is about the situation, and the situation ain’t luxurious, it’s crisis.  Wallow in luxury later when you have time to unpack the day’s events.  It’s okay to get upset… just not now.  Put on your Piloting uniform. You have a job to do. 2) Control the Situation.  When I got the call, I was on the road with friend about to go on a road trip.  Controlling the situation in that moment meant not adding stimulation to the situation.  Can I drive on a 4 lane road, about to hit a traffic circle while taking a phone call about my daughter’s condition?  Nope.  I pulled off onto a side-street to take the call.  Don’t let panic dictate your timeline.  Control the present situation as much as you can.  Sometimes it means crossing the road when you see another dog coming, or sometimes something as little as making sure you have backed Fido up a few extra feet before answering your front door.  Situations are on my terms, or at least as close to my terms as I can get them.  Once you've controlled the current situation as much as you can, let it go. Could I do anything else from the car while I was driving to my kid’s school?  No.  So didn’t attempt to.  As River said previously about being nervous, “I’ll wait until something happens to be nervous.  No sense wasting it on nothing.”  Sometimes it’s easier said than done, but the more you accept that, at least for the moment, you’ve done everything you can to control the situation, stop.  You’re done. For the moment. Once you have control of the present situation, now you are ready to take stock. Can I add more stimuli? Is there more information/change in circumstance that I need to control/manage? In this case, it was getting to the school just as they loaded my daughter into the ambulance that provided me with more stimuli.  She was still unconscious, but I could still Pilot myself.  How did I do that?  By allowing others to Pilot me.  You know how I always say Piloting is a big piggy bank, and whomever has the most money wins?  Guess what?  At that moment, surrounded by the school nurse, principal, and 3 EMT’s, I had the least amount of money.  So I had to look to them to answer my questions: - What’s her current condition? - Can I see her? - What hospital is closest? - Is her current state typical for a seizure? The more questions that were answered logically by someone who had already controlled themselves and the situation, the more I trusted in their answers.  In less than 15 seconds I had faith that these strangers could indeed save my child.  All based on how their Piloting skills. A lot of people are amazed by how quickly I can get a frightened dog under control, and feeling calmer and safer. It’s the same principle: Seeing scary things, being in a scary situation, it’s all the same.  You are looking for a Pilot. The EMT’s were helping to Pilot me and answer my questions, so that I could in turn answer River’s questions. Act the same way nurses do. After all, this wasn’t my first hospital run with my kids. During our ride to the hospital, I had to Pilot River (who became semi-conscious during the ride) while they put an IV in her (“It will hurt, you might cry, and then we will go out for McDonalds.”) I had enough money in my bank to tell her she had to hold still.  To tell her to look at me in the eye, not the EMT’s as they did it.  And guess what:  she survived the ordeal of the IV. River finally came around at the hospital.  More questions, but again, I had the money in the bank.  CAT scan (“It will take about 5 minutes, it doesn’t hurt.”).  IV coming out (an honest “I don’t know if it will hurt.”). And finally, after many hours, we were home. So now she’s resting, and we have a slew of tests ahead of us.  She’s got a diagnosis of epilepsy.  More questions, starting with, “Mom, what’s a seizure?”.  Honest answers, including “I don’t know” when I truly don’t know.  But Piloting isn’t about coddling, nor is it about being a domineering authoritarian:  it’s about recognizing that unanswered questions lead to anxiety and fear. It’s about respecting an individual (dog or human) enough to answer their questions with honesty and confidence, and not trying to circumvent difficult answers with easy lies (“This won’t hurt at all”), or high-pitched baby talk (“It’s okay honey you’re fine”). **Hint:  If someone says “you’re fine, it’s okay” you know that it’s not.  Don’t lie, no matter how much you don’t like giving the answer.  Most of us are made of sterner stuff, and can handle the truth.** River: Why am I here? Where am I? Me: You had a seizure.  You’re in the hospital.  Do you know what epilepsy is? River: The shot my cousin has to get if she eats peanut butter? Me: No, that’s an epi-pen. Let’s talk about seizures and epilepsy.  And then you can ask the doctor or me any questions you have. River: Can I still get McDonald’s? That’s my girl. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training, Differently This article was originally posted in September of 2019. Given the current situation right now with Covid-19, I thought it prudent to re-post this article. Remember, there are steps you can take to help rid yourself of your initial panic responses.

Stubbornness is just determination in an opposite direction. - Me to my daughter, River, aged 8, after an adult called her "stubborn". Here we go.  A combination post, if you will.  A few years ago, I had a friend tease me about my blog.  They tried to tell me that all my blog posts are is a bunch of Star Wars memes.  I was indignant.  They are most definitely not 100% Star Wars memes.  However, challenge accepted. Which brings me to my post for today.  I recently had a comment left on one of my posts. I love reading your posts! Can you please write more about your approach to parenting? As a dog mom and toddler mom I need to learn your wisdom, because they all can be a$$holes sometimes and I know it’s bc they suck at being (adult) humans. – Hanna “Learn my wisdom”?  Wisdom…well, that comes from experience.  Experience comes from mistakes. Lots of them.  I’m always more than willing to share my mistakes, experience and wisdom, but it’s definitely a trifecta.  So where we go: insights on what I do with my dogs and my kids.  Only, to keep things interesting (and geeky), let’s see what Indian Jones has to say about this. With regard to my blog, I constantly stress the PAW Method for working with your dog i.e., “Dog Training”, although I hate that phrase.  We don’t train kids; why would we train our dogs? “Hang on lady, we going for ride.” – Short Round So let’s jump in to how the PAW Method works, and how I apply it to both dogs and my own children. Piloting: Answering your dog’s/kid’s questions Activity:  Exercise Exorcise the demons Work:  Bored dogs/kids are a scary thing. Keep them mentally sated. This is a tri-pod, folks. You can’t remove a let and expect it to work.  You must make sure you engage in all three aspects every day.  Now, let’s go over what that means…starting with Activity. ACTIVITY There are plenty of ways to give your dog the activity they need.  Flirt poles are a wonderful addition to your repertoire. No, I guarantee it’s not what you think.  Give this post a read, and make your own dog toy guaranteed to exhaust them.    Treadmill training, agility (homemade course with just 2 simple jumps), dog parks, play dates, doggie backpacks….those are all great ways to get rid of your dog’s energy.  And the less energy they have, the less they can direct your way. The same goes for children, especially toddlers and preschoolers.  They are naturally geared towards movement.  When my kids, Eric and River were toddlers/preschoolers, first thing we did every weekend morning was plan out the Exhaustion Factor.  How were we going to get these two maniacs into a state of calm?  Exercise.  First thing we’d do in the wintertime was a 45 minutes at the indoor mall playground.  Sometimes just hiking around the mall would work.  Garden centers were a beautiful bit of greenery in the winter. Membership to the Cleveland Zoo’s Rain Forest was a great way to tire them out without having to freeze their tiny tushes.   We even sprung for a tiny trampoline for the kids when they were little. The object was to make sure it was never the same thing every day.  The trampoline wasn’t out all the time.  It was a privilege, not a right.  Therefore, whenever I brought it out (roughly once a week), the kids were excited about it enough to play with it till they dropped.  We didn’t go to the mall every day, because then it’s just a routine.  We needed to keep it fresh. Summertime and nice days, it was hikes.  Sometimes just around the neighborhood, up for ice cream.  Or a walk to the local playground.  But it was key that,while yes, we brought a wagon with us just in case the kids got tired, they always started by walking.  The wagon was for a rest break, not for transportation.  It was always expected they would be walking as soon as they had their break.  The object of the activity was to make sure they were pleasantly tired, but not physically stressed out.  So yes, they walked everywhere if the weather was conducive. So dogs and kids have always had their activity early in the day, setting the tone for the rest of the day. I’ve set them up for success. WORK Everyone needs a job.  Mental work, if you will. I have always made sure my dogs and my kids had plenty of the right kinds of mental stress.  For the dogs: agility, silly tricks, enrichment feeders, or scent work (it’s easier than you think!) are all greats ways to get rid of their need for mental work.  At the very least, every day, my dogs eat their meals out of an enrichment toy.  Most days we go above and beyond that. They always had toys out to play with, especially when they were young, but only 1/3 of the total amount I own were left out at any given time.  In other words, swap out your dog’s toys frequently.  Most likely your dog doesn’t need new toys: he needs to be separated from most of his toys for a spell.  And then, like magic, what’s old is new again.  With dogs under a year, I typically switch out available toys at least 2x a day.  This helps to keep them engaged with appropriate items, rather than chewing the chair leg. The same principle has always been applied towards my children. Chores are a big one in my house.  My kids have been doing dishes since they were about 3 years old.  Not well.  I knew I was re-washing all those dishes afterwards, but the expectation of doing a job to the best of their ability has always been ingrained into my children.  I simply will not accept less than the best they can do.  Weekends my kids were expected to really pitch in:  by 4 years old, assigned jobs tended to be vacuuming, cleaning the baseboards, laundry, etc.  In other words, these are all age-appropriate jobs for preschoolers, and they did the job, albeit not as well as I would.  But this isn’t a sprint: it’s a marathon.  So yes, doing dishes with my 3-year old could be tedious sometimes, but by 5 they could be relied on to do a good job. Nowadays, my kids are 12 and 14.  I can have dog training sessions all day on a Saturday, and come home to vacuumed and mopped floors, and all the laundry done in the house.  These things have been expected for so many years now, it’s about as normal a part of the day as having dinner together. Of course, I don’t rely on just chores for mental work. Books were a huge factor.  Playing games with them, but also making sure they understood that I was not their sole source of entertainment.  Occupy yourself, or if you can’t, here’s another chore you can help me with so I have more time to play with you.  Most of the time, they chose to learn to occupy themselves to avoid extra chores. And while we didn’t have a tv in our house until the kids were about 9 and 11, they did watch shows.  Specific shows, not just idly switching channels.  We had a specific time we’d look up Wonder Pets episodes on YouTube, or play the favorite Little Einstein dvd.  Sometimes it was a treat for an extra-great job doing dishes.  Sometimes it was so I didn’t lose my mind.  Because Mommy needs a break! Come up with a recipe box of mentally engaging activities for both your dogs and your kids.  Bonus points for things they can do together (like agility – great for kids and dogs).  Pretty soon when your kids state they’re bored, you can direct them to the box of activities.  Read a Dr. Suess book from back to front, write your alphabet using different colored crayon for each letter, etc. were all a part of my “enrichment” recipe box for my kids when they were bored.  They’d be directed towards the box to find something to do.  If they couldn’t find something there to satisfy them, there was always the chores recipe box.  Usually my kids would self-entertain from the enrichment recipe box. PILOTING Okay, I’ve saved the best for last.  Piloting is merely answering your dog’s/kid’s questions.  Dogs and kids ask a lot of questions, but not all of them are vocalized. Your dog stealing food from the counter: “Can I eat this? ”Fido pulling on the leash: “Can I lead on this walk?” Your spawn kids tearing around inside the house: “Is this acceptable in the house?” Little Jimmy hits his sister: “Is this how I get the toy I wanted?” Obviously these are questions that need to be answered. I guarantee this is the part where you are all struggling with both your dogs and your kids.  I see it all the time: I come into a training session to work with an unruly dog, but the parents can’t even work with their own kids.  Kids yelling, shouting, interrupting, and being openly hostile to their parents. Mom: Sarah, but your toys away. Sarah:  I don’t want to! Mom: Sarah, we have a guest here to work with Fido, so please put away your toys. Sarah: *continues playing with toys* Mom:  Sarah, please put your toys away, otherwise the nice dog trainer can’t work with Fido. Sarah: *continues playing with toys* Mom:  I guess we can train Fido in the other room. Ouch. So many unanswered, unaddressed questions in this one.  And at no time did Mom Pilot little Sarah.  Mostly because Mom doesn’t want to be “mean”.  So let’s break down Piloting. Essentially, nobody’s flying the plane. Piloting is a contest, but we all truly want whomever is best to win.  I call that money in your “Piloting Piggy Bank”.  How much money do you have to spend answering your child/dog’s specific question.  From dogs barking to your kid asking for a later bedtime, each question you asked is worth a certain dollar amount. Some questions cost more to answer than others, but essentially whomever has the most money in their Piloting Piggy Bank for that question wins the right to answer that question. Hint: You won’t always have the most money for that question. For example: Me to Sparta during a hike: Hey, Sparta, did I get us lost? Sparta:  Yes, you did. Me: Can you get us home? Sparta: Yes, I can.  Follow me. . ^ ^ ^ True Story: we did get lost. I definitely didn’t have enough Piloting money to get us home, but Sparta did.  So I let her Pilot me. But for the most part, you as an adult human, navigating an adult human world, will have the best answers.  So give them.  You aren’t being mean, you’re being a parent to your fur-kid and your crotch fruit child.  And let’s face it:  just like our dogs, some of our human kids have more money in their Piloting Piggy bank than others.  Prime example is my daughter, River. With her, a “because I told you so” isn’t acceptable.  She was constantly trying to figure out if I had enough money in my Piloting Piggy bank to enforce the answers I was giving. And I love and respect her for it. The most recent bout we had was with her grades.  River is extremely intelligent, witty and very capable.  I consider her above-average.  Therefore, I expect above-average grades from her.  In other words, nothing below a B- is acceptable. River also happens to be lazy.  If she personally can’t rationalize why something is important enough to put effort into it, then she doesn’t see the logic of why she should.  But here’s the thing:  she’s 12.  By definition, a 12-year old is still a child, not an adult.  There’s no reason why she should be able to see everything as a logical adult.  So while River is currently writing a book on WWII, and has most of Patton’s speeches memorized (she’s definitely one-of-a-kind), unless it has to do with history or cats, she sees no reason to spend time on it. That includes math. Fortunately, her school grants access to kids’ grades parents in real-time.  Meaning, I can see my kids’ current GPAs, test results, and whether they turned in their homework in real time.  So I enforced a rule that if you ever fell below and 80% grade in a class, you lost all electronic devises until that grade was above c-level again. Meanest. Mom.  Ever. So, River slipped to a 78% in math.  I enacted my rule, and she was without her laptop, phone, video games, etc. I’ll be honest, it broke my heart.  Every day she’d come home from school asking to me to check her grades to see if it had gone up.  But if nothing was graded, then there wasn’t anything I could do.  It took over a week for a grade to be entered that brought River’s average for the class above 80%.  But I’ll be damned, she handled the entire ordeal very gracefully, because it wasn’t the first time she’d be subjected to the consequences of her own actions.  She didn’t balk, nor did she cry foul.  I didn’t make up punishments on the fly.  She knew in advance what the consequences of her (in)actions in math class would be, so there were no surprises. And of course I wanted to give in.  But again, this is a marathon, not a sprint.  I’m not selfish enough to coddle her or give in simply because I don’t like to be the “bad guy”.  I’m not going to claim it’s always been this easy allowing her to experience consequences, but I realize that the consequences she experiences now will never be this easy for her again. In other words, holding her accountable now sets her up to have integrity in the future. Plus, I could let her know just how damn proud I was of how she handled herself while she experienced those consequences, as well as how thrilled I was once she brought her grades back up.  Her report card was magnificent, and she was rewarded heavily. It’s not much different with your dog.  Your dog is sentient, not some dumb beast.  Set your boundaries, and then adhere to them.  You’re not bad, and you’re not mean.  You’re simply the Pilot.  Discourage behaviors you don’t like with a negative, and encourage behaviors/actions you like with positives. The more you answer your dog's questions, such as, "Are we going to die if the mailman comes to the door?", the more your dog will start to not only trust your answers, but actively anticipate them. Now, the difference between dogs and kids is actually a little bittersweet to me.  My dogs will always require a human Pilot, as they live in a human world.  I’ll always be there to answer their questions.  Our children, on the other hand?  If we raise them well, and do our best, hopefully one day they will soar on their own, able to Pilot themselves.  Our job as parents is to make sure help them learn to soar under their own strength by letting them borrow ours until they can fly on their own. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training in Cleveland, Ohio

I’m a true believer in karma. You get what you give, whether it’s bad or good. - Sandra Bullock A few years ago, during a pack walk, nonetheless, I found two tiny kittens in the woods.  I couldn’t just leave them there, so I brought them home, segregating them in my son’s bedroom until I could figure out what to do with them.  We found a home for the gray one, and decided to keep the black one. Now comes the tricky part.   How to integrate a small kitten into a pack that contains a dog with high prey drive and a definite desire to “secure the perimeter”:  namely Sparta. Sparta is not a difficult dog.  She’s sweet, kind, loyal, obedient…all wrapped up in a big ball of protectiveness and questions.  My husband says she reads too much Guns ‘n Ammo, and laughs at how you can almost hear her answer my every command with “Sir, yes Sir!”.  She wasn’t trained to be so…military, it’s just her nature. There’s a joke about German Shepherds: Q: How many German Shepherds does it take to change a light bulb? A: FIRST YOU SECURE THE PERIMETER, SIR! That would be my Sparta for certain.So how to add a kitten to this pack?  Slowly, and with a lot of Piloting. Sparta will be asking many questions along the way, from “What the hell is this thing?” to “Should we kill it?”.  I will be answering all of her questions, one at a time, and not immersing her in a whirlpool of over-stimulation.  In other words, taking it very slowly.The first thing I did was to rub my hands all over the kitten and then immediately go to where Sparta was and let her smell my hands. If she started to get a little hyper over the new scent, I simply gave her a gentle negative, letting her know that this scent is not to be linked with energy: Hmmm….interesting scent, Mom.  That’s a new odor.  What do you call it? I call it mine, Sparta. Sir, yes Sir! Good girl, Sparta. *eye roll* This step took me about a day.  Meanwhile, the kitten’s scent naturally started to permeate the house, becoming a normal background scent, the same way people living near train tracks eventually don’t notice trains going by any more.  It’s normal now.  This is very important to acclimating your dog to a new pack member (such as say, a kitten, new pet, or a baby). Since dogs answer most of their questions through scent, (similar to how we use our eyes), integrating strange scents as normal is very important.  The first time Sparta meets the kitten (who has now been named Princess Catwalker, Kitty Purry, Pixel), I wanted Sparta to process the scent as something that’s already familiar. Now that Sparta is used to Pixel’s scent, we can move to the next step:  controlled visual acceptance.  We are gradually adding to her senses of Pixel, without allowing sense of taste.  Sight comes next.  We don’t want to put Sparta into sensory overload, so we take it a bit at a time.I put Sparta in her mudroom and put up a baby gate.  I would walk into the kitchen frequently holding the kitten, giving her a brief visual, but also giving her the cue through my body language that this was mine.  If she asked any questions, I would answer them. Mom, you’ve got some fur on your clothes…..wait a minute, that’s not fur…  WHAT IS THAT?!!!! It’s mine, Sparta.  That’s what it is. Sir, yes Sir! You do you, Sparta The more causal I was about a kitten being in the kitchen, the more Sparta took my attitude as her cue on how to react to the situation.  She was still very interested, but trying to act calm.  Her calmness was rewarded with a green bean (no, not as punishment – she loves them. No, really). After about 20 minutes of this, Sparta got bored and decided to take a nap, at which point I walked up to the baby gate, and did a controlled first-meet.  I let her sniff the kitten’s rear end first.  Sparta did some heavy sniffs to get as much info as possible.  As soon as her body language became too stiff or agitated, I would simply give her a negative using my body language, reminding her that this was my kitten, not hers.  She accepted the negative.  I continued with this behavior for roughly two days, finally allowing occasional front-end sniffs (after realizing the kitten was beyond bored and calm), to allowing a meeting through the baby gate. Sparta was again rewarded with green beans for calm behavior.  After a bit, she started to look for green beans when the kitten was around.  Sometimes she’d get them, but most of the time it was calm praise and a gentle pat, simply punctuated with a treat occasionally.Finally, after 4 days, the moment we’ve all been waiting for.  Face to face. I kept Sparta’s leash on her, but didn’t hold it, merely letting her drag it around. To accomplish the meet safely, I started after Sparta had quite a bit of exercise, setting her up for success.  We went for a 3 mile walk, which is a lot for Sparta (she’s more of a wrestler than a runner).  She was calm and happily exhausted when we got home – a good way to start what could be a high energy situation.  I sent Sparta to her room, gave her a stay command, but didn’t put up the baby gate this time.  I walked in holding Pixel.  Sparta wasn’t restrained this time, but she didn’t try to leave her room, although she was very interested.  I gave her treats for remaining calm. I then allowed Sparta to come up to me, who was still standing holding the kitten.  She gave a hard sniff and then looked for a green bean, which I gave her.  I walked around with the kitten until Sparta was bored and looked for something else to do.  I then put the kitten on the counter (not behavior I want to encourage, but for the moment, the perfect place for them to meet).  I wanted the kitten to have an easy escape route, and to not feel overwhelmed by the (100lb+) dog. Sparta sniffed, whined (I gave her a gentle negative to her increased energy), and then she continued with some more heavy sniffing of the kitten. After five minutes, Sparta was bored.It was still another day before I allowed the kitten to meet Sparta on the ground, but by this point, Sparta was bored, and had already accepted the kitten as Pack, or at least Not A Threat. As you have read, there was a lot of Piloting through this.  I can not decided who belongs in the Pack unless I am Pilot.  I did not start with a dog who does not obey my basic commands, and who I couldn’t Pilot into calmness easily.  I applied the basic steps of Piloting: 1) Control yourself (I was calm, and using confident body language); 2) Control the situation (I very slowly added the stimulation a bit at a time, controlling each situation); I then proceeded to answer any questions that Sparta had. (Can I eat that?  No, Sparta, that’s my kitten.  Sir, yes Sir!) Since integrating the kitten into the Pack, I’ve discovered that kittens are very annoying. Pixel is constantly pestering Orion (who simply snaps and backs the kitten off, teaching Pixel appropriate behaviors under my watchful eye).  Sometimes they play, sometimes they don’t.  My other cat, Echo, tries to be indulgent with the kitten, but yeah, same thing.  It usually ends with Echo smacking Pixel, and Pixel realizing he needs to tone down his behavior. Everyone in the house is Piloting Pixel. Except Sparta. One time she put her nose a little to rudely into the kitten’s derriere, and Pixel didn’t like it.  He turned around and smacked Sparta on the nose.  Sparta is now cowed by Pixel, and gives him plenty of room.  My 100 lb. rottie/shep has been Piloted by a 3 lb kitten. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs LLC Dog Training in Cleveland, Ohio

Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting. - Joyce Meyer So many phone calls I receive start out with, “HEEEEEEELP!!!!!”.  Then a series of dog training problems repeated quickly, like the small print of a lease option on a car being read by a radio announcer.  Somewhere in the explosion of problems, I hear “my puppy isn't housebroken!”. Most people assume that if their dog is going to the bathroom in the house, their dog isn’t housebroken.  But going to the bathroom in the house is a symptom of the problem, not the problem. Look at it like this:  imagine you have a headache, so you go to the doctor.  The headache is the symptom of the problem, not the problem.  You could have a sinus infection, head injury, or cancer.  Or did you drink too much last night?  Do you have allergies?  So many reasons for the same problem – a headache.  Sometimes it could be more than one of these issues.  Maybe you have a cold and drank too much last night.  Same thing with housebreaking.  So what causes a dog to do “it” in the house?  Let’s take a look at common problems: The dog isn’t housebroken.  This is rather obvious, but sometimes overlooked, especially in shelter dogs.  Most dogs will naturally refuse to eliminate in their cage, crate, den, etc.  Most shelters dogs are either in their cage or taken outside for breaks.  That doesn’t mean they are necessarily housebroken simply because they never go in their cage – it means that they were never given an opportunity to do otherwise. The dog is stressed/anxious.  Scent is a very important thing for humans.  We bond through scent.  We cradle babies by our armpits so they can smell us and be relaxed.  We hug for the same reason – sharing scent.  How often has a crying baby been brought in to snuggle with mom, and then, without nursing or anything, instantly falls asleep?  They smell mom and feel soothed. For a dog, nothing smells safer than pack.  Pack is like a security blanket, and the bigger that blanket is, the better it smells.  A dog’s own scent is mingled into the pack scent.  In times of stress (read: separation from pack) they may try to self-soothe.  That’s why you frequently see dogs urinating in their crate.  It’s the equivalent of an infant sucking their thumb – they need to be soothed, and their doing it the best way they know how. They are claiming something.  I once had a training session with two gorgeous whippet mixes, Wyatt and Willow.  About five minutes after I walked into the house, Wyatt (the dominant being in the house) lifted his leg and peed on a chair nearby.  His owners were horrified!  He had never done anything like that before.  What happened? Well, Wyatt was in charge of his pack, humans included.  I walked in with strong, confident body language which he (correctly) read as my taking over the pack.  This was his last ditch effort to claim something from me.  It was, in essence a pissing contest (no, I did not participate).  It was the same reaction a guy will give if he sees another guy across the bar eyeing his girlfriend – what does he do?  Calmly places his arm around his girlfriend, stating to the world:  she’s mine. Both the human and the dog behavior are gross. They know that going outside is good, but they don’t realize that going inside is completely undesired.  It’s a simple mistake.  They think that outside is merely preferred to inside. They’re scared to go outside. So many of my clients tell me that their dogs will go No. 1 outside, but No. 2 is done in the basement or some unused corner of the house, almost exclusively.   Why?  Well, let me ask you this:  why do you close the door when you go to the bathroom?  “Privacy” is the answer I usually get.  But what is privacy? Privacy is when you are doing something that leaves you slightly vulnerable.  That’s why (ahem) certain activities typically take place at night with the lights off.  That’s why we close the door when we shower or, even more likely, go to the bathroom.  We’re vulnerable.  A dog is so much more vulnerable when they are going No. 2 rather than No. 1.  Think about what they do the whole time they are going No. 2:  scouting for threats.  Looking all around to make sure there’s nothing about to pounce them while they are indisposed.  Typically dogs who are not very self confident, or small dogs who are so much more vulnerable than their larger counterparts, have this problem.  Orion 7 lbs. of nightmare to housebreak for this very reason.  Sparta (all 100 lbs of her) was a dream to housebreak). These are just a few of the many reasons why dogs will eliminate in the house.  Your dog may have more than one reason for going in the house.  Just remember, your dog is a dog – perfect!  They are trying to live, as a dog, in a human world. Knowing why your dog is acting the way they are can be important in deciphering  how to address the situation.  Again, sometimes there can be a combination of reasons why a dog does their business inside instead of outside perhaps they were never housebroken and they are trying to dominate.  Let’s take a look at how to address each of these issues.  Just remember the three steps to working with a dog in any situation: Control Yourself.  Anger gets you nowhere.  When you are dealing with housebreaking, it actually tends to put you backwards.  Get a grip, grab some paper towels and cleaner and realize you are dealing with an animal who is trying their hardest.  My kids weren’t potty trained until they were 2-3 years old.  Now remind me, you’re expecting what from a 10 week old animal? Control the Situation.  You can’t add stimulation to a situation to gain control of the situation.  As it applies here:  if your dog isn’t trustworthy yet to go to the bathroom outside, why are you giving them free reign of the house?  Control what you can, and remove the rest until you are at a point where you can manage a bit more. Answer the Question.   Dogs are always asking questions, such as, “Can I go here?” or “Am I going to die if I try to poop outside?”.  Answer their questions.  Read how here. So, now that you’ve got the groundwork laid, let’s start unravelling this problem. Your Dog/Puppy Isn’t Housebroken. As I stated previously, this one is pretty obvious, but frequently overlooked.  Just because you adopted an adult dog doesn’t mean they have been properly housebroken.  Housebreaking a dog should be done with almost 100% positive reinforcement. You are trying to catch and encourage a positive behavior, and, ahem, eliminate the negative behavior which you don’t want.  So we need to help them create as many positive behaviors as we can get. Again, remember the steps:  Control yourself; control the situation; answer the question.  We need to catch the behavior of “going” outside as many times as we can, so we are going to make sure that’s the only time they can relieve themselves.  To achieve this follow these simple tips: No more reign of the house. They should be either in their crate (or in a small enclosed area), outside going to the bathroom, or attached to you with a leash.  I loop the leash around my waist and allow the dog to follow me, freeing my hands.  Yes, the first 20 minutes of this is pure hell as you constantly trip each other, but like all other things, pretty soon you get good at it. Now, I know what you’re going to say.  I can’t go my entire day with my dog attached to me!  But here’s the thing:  nobody said you had to .  If you can’t take it any more, put them in their crate.  Don’t be a martyr over this.  It’s okay to give yourself a break, even for a couple hours.  The key things we’re trying to do it catch when they’re eliminating.  If you can’t see it, you can’t control it.  A lot of dogs will sneak away to do their business, and you never know about it until you stumble upon it hours later.  Give your dog plenty of opportunity to relieve themselves, but keep in mind certain key times:  first thing in the morning and 20 minutes after they eat. Okay, so now you’ve prevented them from going in the house.  How do you get them to understand that outside is preferable? Every time you take them outside, while they are eliminating, repeat the same word over and over, like a drumbeat, “potty, potty, potty”, or whatever word you choose.  The moment they are finished, start praising them and offer a high value food reward along with a big dose of love.  Congratulations:  you are now on your way to training your dog to go on command. Gradually you can start to widen your dog’s area inside the house.  Leave them off the leash for 20 minutes while you are keeping a close eye on them.  If you catch them starting to lift a leg or to squat, immediately scoop them up, take them outside.  There is no punishment for miscommunication. Wash, rinse, repeat. Your dog is stressed. This is overlooked for by a lot people.  Orion is one of these dogs.  He’s completely housebroken, but if he gets extremely stressed, his first reaction is to eliminate.  How to work with this issue?  Pilot them.  Calmly.  Excess energy is what’s causing the problem.  You can’t add more energy to the situation to control it.   Think about the stressful situations you may be putting your dog in:  separation anxiety is stress driven.  With Orion, even positive energy can do it, such as excitement over going for a walk.  This is where maintaining calm is crucial.  Positive things happen when your dog is calm.  I will never put the leash on Orion when he’s anything other than calmly sitting and waiting.  I won’t wrestle the leash on a hyper mess of dog. Think about what might be stressful for your dog, and remove the energy from those situations.  Also, look at your body language.  Sternly standing over a very submissive dog can trigger these kinds of reactions. In these situations, approach your dog calmly.  No yelling.  No high-pitched whiny praise.  Just good old calm, boring body language and calm, gentle praise.  And never discipline them for their accident.  The issue in these situation isn’t their improper elimination – it’s the lack of Piloting. They are claiming something. This one is a bit tricky.  It’s usually done because your dog has more money in their Piloting Piggy Bank than you do.  If they are Pilot, they rightfully own everything, or are allowed right of first refusal.  They are doing what is normal and natural for a pack leader to do: put their scent everywhere.  Favorite places include children’s rooms, couches, your laundry that’s on the floor or even your bed.  This is the one situation you will use very mild negative. But let’s look at the impetus for this problem:  you aren’t Pilot.  Start Piloting your dog, and usually the problem with naturally abate.  If your dog is no longer Pilot, and you’ve taken all their money out of their Piloting Piggy Bank, a lot of times you won’t even need to address this problem directly! However, that doesn’t mean that when your dog lifts their leg on your new couch you just sit idly by.  Typically they aren’t doing it because they have to go…they are using their urine to mark their territory.  To claim something.  Well guess what – as Pilot, you don’t have to sit idly by.  Claim it right back!  Use calm, but firm, body language to back the dog off the item they are claiming.   And work on your Piloting in other areas!  If you Pilot your dog on a walk, when company comes over, etc., that transfers over to this issue as well.  Round-about approach and all.  It works. They know that going outside is good, but they don’t realize that going inside is completely undesired. Follow the steps to housebreaking a puppy. Again, gentle negatives can be used on dogs like this, gently backing them off from where they just went and removing them to where it’s preferred they eliminate.  You are answering a legitimate question, “Is it ok to go here?”.  The answer is “no”, not the verbal and physical equivalent of an interrogation. They’re scared to go outside. Again, this is a Piloting issue closely linked with a dog who’s problem is over-excitement.  A dog can indeed be afraid to go to the bathroom outside, as they are extremely vulnerable at that moment.  So Pilot them through the situation! Initially you may have to go outside with your dog with them on a leash.  Follow the same steps for housebreaking a dog, but remember, this is also at heart a Piloting issue.  If you can’t even answer your own door without your dog going berserk and interfering, then you can’t possibly expect them to trust you that hey, it’s okay to go to the bathroom outside where everyone can see you, including those big scary dogs next door.  Pilot them in other areas, and this will fall in line. I especially see this with puppy mill rescues. A lot of these rescues have never been outside prior to being rescued. Give this article a read to understand dog training with a rescue can vary slightly. As you can see, Piloting is integral to almost all areas of a dog’s life, including housebreaking.  Work with your dog.  Earn their respect and trust, not your fear and your wrath.  Also remember, you are trying to communicate a very tricky concept to an animal.  Lay the positives down thick every time you get your desired result: elimination outside. Kerry Stack Darwin Dogs Dog Training in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio #dogtraining #dogtrainer #housebreaking #puppy #newdog #rescue