Taming The Wild In Your Dog

Time waits for no man and no dog. If your dog lives long enough, old age will creep up on it just like it will to you. When it does, it will bring a host of ailments that can include an increase in anxiety, confusion and dementia, changes in digestive function, arthritis, and degradation of sensory input, to name a few. These ailments, singularly or in combination, can lead to a sharp decline in quality of life for you and your dog or a shortened lifespan. The good news is that simple changes in diet, physical exercise, and living conditions, along with the addition of some dietary supplements and specialized medications that have proven to enhance cognitive function, can reduce the debilitating effects of old age. Learn from Bryan what you need to do to slow the hands of time, so you and your dog can have more of it together. Bryan will also answer training questions sent in by our listeners. If you wish for Bryan to answer your questions, send them to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

Before embarking upon training your new dog, three factors must always be taken into account. First, how will I gain my dog’s attention? Second, what will motivate my dog to learn? Lastly, is it even possible for my dog to learn what it is I wish to teach it? Of the three factors, the latter is the most commonly overlooked when training puppies. Yet, it is the most critical of the three. As it is with a child, a young puppy’s learning abilities are defined by its age, not its owner’s desire. Placing unrealistic expectations on your puppy’s response to your teachings will not only lead to poor performance, but it can also have life-long consequences. Tune in this week and listen to Bryan as he explains why staying in the lane of natural developmental periods is so important when training your new puppy. Bryan will also be answering listener questions and emails. If you have a question you would like Bryan to answer on the show, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

Housebreaking can be an incredibly frustrating and long process if you’re unsure how to approach the task, which is frequently the case. The advice you receive from friends, family, and the internet is often incorrect or misleading, especially in regard to the amount of time and effort that will be required to train your dog to reliably go potty outdoors and not indoors. However, successful housebreaking doesn’t have to be so scary or painful. It just requires patience, consistency, and a small bit of knowledge about your dog’s natural behavior. Listen this week as Bryan takes the pain out of housebreaking! Bryan will also be answering listener training questions. If you have a question you would like Bryan to answer on the show, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

In the words of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy, “true life is lived when tiny changes occur.” Be that as it may, I’m not sure the new puppy you just brought into your household considers being plucked from the midst of everything and everyone it knew and then supplanted in a strange environment inhabited by unknown people as a tiny change. And, as soon as your new puppy starts chewing on your furniture, peeing on your carpet, and keeps you awake all night, neither will you. Fortunately, the harmful stress and anxiety that often accompanies the arrival of a new puppy into any household are easily mitigated if you know what to expect, and you are prepared to make the necessary adjustments that will be required to smooth over the transition for everyone involved. Tune in this week and listen to Bryan as he explains what you need to know and do before welcoming a new puppy into your home. Bryan will also be answering listener questions and emails.

Puppy eyes resemble the black holes that exist in outer space in that they have so much gravitational pull that once you cast your gaze upon them, your emotions and your sense of logic are sucked in, and there’s no escape. As a consequence, you end up with a dog that is incompatible with your lifestyle, your family, or your existing pets. Making matters worse, your new dog is a genetic mess that will require a direct deposit made out to your veterinarian for the next decade! Tune in this week to learn how not to be a sucker for every cute puppy. Instead, Bryan will be giving tips on how to find perhaps not the cutest puppy, but the perfect one for you and your family. Bryan will also be answering listener questions and emails. If you have a question you would like Bryan to answer on the show, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com Episode Key words (Comma Separated) puppy, dog breeders, dog breeding, puppy mills, selecting a good puppy, finding a good breeder

Do you know which brush is best for your dog’s hair? Did you know that your dog’s hypoallergenic fur isn’t really hypoallergenic? Did you realize that shaving your dog could change its appearance forever? Does your dog run whenever it hears the groomer’s name? If your answer is yes to any of these questions, you will want to tune in to this week’s episode and learn all you need to know about grooming your dog. Bryan will also be answering listener questions and emails. If you have a question you would like Bryan to answer on the show, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

I am walking my dog, on-leash. Your three dogs escape from your yard and attack my dog. My dog kills one of your dogs while defending itself. You blame me. I blame you. But, who’s really to blame? Tune in this week and listen as Bryan discusses a recent event in which this scenario occurred and the hysterical, incriminating mayhem that followed. Also, Bryan will be answering listener questions and emails. If you have a question you would like Bryan to answer on the show, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

For thousands of years, we have exerted genetic and behavioral control over dogs to enhance their value and functionality to us. The result has been an incredibly variable mammal in both structure and form that is entirely dependent upon us for survival, or is it? What would happen to our pampered dogs if we humans disappeared from the planet earth? Would they thrive and survive, or would they roll over and die? Tune in this week and listen to Bryan as he explains the most likely scenarios and why we should be paying more attention to what we are doing to the domestic dog. Also, Bryan will be answering listener questions and emails. If you have a question you would like Bryan to answer on the show, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

The pet industry is a 70 billion dollar a year economic powerhouse that employs slick marketing to convince you that its main objective is the welfare of your pet. However, welfare is defined as something that aids or promotes well-being. But, it is also defined as a contented state of being happy and prosperous. When you turn to a pet professional for help regarding your relationship with your dog, which definition of welfare does that individual adhere to; the one that aids or promotes the well-being of your dog, or the one that is more concerned with the professional’s state of happiness and financial success, or worse yet, their hidden agenda? Tune in this week and listen to Bryan as he challenges pet professionals to lay aside their differences in training methodologies and forgo their personal agendas for the sake of your our dogs' welfare. Also, Bryan will be answering listener questions and emails. If you have a question for Bryan, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

You’re trying to sleep, but your new puppy is yelling its head off from inside the kennel that’s parked in the spare bedroom. One trainer recommends you go to your puppy and comfort it. A second trainer tells you to ignore your puppy. The information you read online says you should have never left your puppy alone in the first place! It’s 3 am, you’re sleep-deprived and confused as hell. What should you do? Is your puppy really in need of your help, or is it crying wolf? Tune in this week and get the real answer from Bryan. Also, Bryan will be answering listener questions and emails. If you have a question for Bryan, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

In some period of their lives, more than 90% of dogs jump on their household members entering the house. Children, seniors, or disabled adults are knocked over by jumping dogs. Children and adults that are fearful of dogs are traumatized by jumping dogs. Dog nails rip clothing and skin. It’s a real problem and one that dog owners seek help stopping as much as they do in preventing dog aggression. Does being a household member differ from being a stranger when it comes to why your dog jumps on people? Does exercise affect the frequency of jumping? Is your dog more apt to jump on people inside your home or outside your home? Regardless of the answers, how do you terminate this problematic behavior? Tune in this week and learn about the factors affecting dog jumping on people and how best to train this undesirable behavior out of your dog. Also, Bryan will be answering listener questions and emails. If you have a question for Bryan, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

Imagine a dog who hates nail trims, tries to bite the veterinarian when getting vaccinated, and goes berserk when a stranger enters the house, focusing all of its attention on food at the bottom of a box instead of any of the other three conditions. Sounds impressive, but will it work for your dog, or is this new training technique nothing more than a slick version of cognitive shifting? Tune in this week and found out what Bryan thinks of this new approach to helping your dog overcome fearful situations. Also, Bryan will be answering listener questions and emails. If you have a question for Bryan, send it to Bryan@TamingtheWild.com

There's a movement sweeping across the country where many rescue organizations are now requiring prospective adopters to consent to the use of an all positive methodology when training the dogs they rescue. Should adopters not uphold this agreement, the rescue organization will seize the dog. Coincidentally, there is a concurrent movement being pushed by some professional dog trainers that require dog owners to seek their dog's consent before embarking upon training, regardless of the training methodology, or doing anything to their dog it may not like. Should rescue organizations be allowed to tell you how to train the dog you just saved? Do you need your dog’s consent to train or care for it? Tune in this week and found out what Bryan thinks of either of these movements. Bryan will also be answering several listener questions with topics ranging from displaced aggression to teaching your dog to drop it! when commanded.

BIG dog = BIG brain = smart dog. Small dog = small brain = not so smart - makes sense. After all, a large brain means extra neurons, and extra neurons enhance cognition. Brain size has long been associated with intelligence in humans, primates, and now, dogs, but is this assumption correct? Find out this week when Bryan reveals his answers. Bryan will also answer listener questions. Some of the items include: * I free feed my dogs with no problems. However, a trainer advised me not to do so. Are there benefits to controlled feeding, or is free feeding better if your dog does not over eat? * If work and school were not a factor, is there an ideal routine for a dog? One that imitates and meets all of its instinctual needs. Or is Routine Routine? * My 3yo child locked himself in his room and was yelling for help. My dog looked worried, began whining. When I opened the door, my dog immediately calmed down. Was she trying to protect my son, or was there something else at play?

When Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, and well-known conservationist advised When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all, you have to wonder if his words of wisdom were borne from his observations of wolves in the wild. Wolves and dogs appear to quickly shift from play to work and from work back to play. However, new revelations in wolf and dog play behavior suggest there may be no shift at all between play and work. Is this true? If so, why all work and no play? And, what about when we play with our dogs? Tune in as Bryan explains the real motivation behind canine play. Bryan will also answer the following listener questions: I am currently working with a trainer who told me that allowing my dog to sleep in my bed will degrade my training bc my dog will think of me as an equal. Is that true? I am fostering a new puppy. My personal dog keeps growling at the new puppy. Should I be worried? Does this mean I can’t foster any more?

Do our dogs really miss us whenever we leave them with someone else? Do they ever forget us? Is the bond between owner and dog jeopardized by separation and time? Find out this week when Bryan reveals his answers. Bryan will also answer listener questions. Some of them include: I have a very confident one year old GSD / lab mix. She has been bratty since she was a very young puppy. Now that she’s bigger, her bratty side is kinda scary. She growls and lunges at me when I ask her to do something (sit, down, go outside). Have I ruined her? Can I train this out of her? My dogs recently started acting aggressively towards each other during play. How can I tell if they are just playing or if I need to get ready to break up a big fight? I have four dogs - all males. In previous episodes, I have heard you use the term “principle of resemblance”. What does that term mean and does it have any effect on my dogs’ behavior toward each other?

Can dogs tell if someone is a bad person? According to scientists, they can. Moreover, to make matters worse, they will judge that person accordingly and shun them. However, are these findings a bit of a stretch? Listen in and find out what Bryan has to say about your dog’s ability to tell if you’re naughty or nice. Along with answering the following listener questions, Bryan will also talk about canine depression. Is it real, and if it is, what can we do about it? *My six-month-old puppy growled when I reached down to pick up a towel that had fallen next to his food bowl. Why did he do that and what can I do to make sure he doesn't do that again? * I have a 4 year old blue heeler mix that I want to take off-leash. We have been working with an e-collar, but it seems to be making him anxious. Have you ever seen that before? Am I doing something wrong? *My dog growls and lunges at me when I ask her to do something. Can I train this out of her?

Our government has two ways of restricting your rights, it can either punish you for your bad behavior, or it can punish society by restricting everyones rights. If that is the case, then dog owners as a whole must be a bunch of misfits because the year 2019 has ushered in a wave of legislative actions being taken by state and local governments against dog owners. What is the reason for these actions? Who gets to decide what is best for you and your dog? Do you have a say in the matter? Tune in to this incredibly important show and learn from Bryan why your rights as a dog owner are eroding and what you can do about it. Bryan will also answer the following listener questions: 1. I just adopted a shelter dog that is very timid and sleeps for most of the day. Could this be depression? 2. Our 8 week old puppy chews on everything How do we make her stop? 3. My dog keeps breaking through our invisible fence and running off. How do I keep her in the yard?

When your dog chooses to lie on your feet, does he do so because he wants to protect you? The answer is yes, according to a recent article published in Country Living Magazine. But, is it true? Tune in and found out what Bryan has to say about letting protecting dogs lie. Bryan will also be answering the following listener questions: Whenever there is a fight at the dog park, all of the dogs, including mine run toward the fight. Is there anything I can do to make them stop? * My dog has a terrible habit of chasing cars. What can I do to break her from doing that? Every time my dog meets someone knew, she either slinks up to them or lies belly up. She also sleeps for hours. Is she suffering from depression? My trainer told me that I need to train an emergency recall on my dog. I am a bit confused. What is the difference between an emergency recall and a normal recall? How would my dog know if it is an emergency? Seems kind of silly to me.

The “alpha roll” where dog owners are supposed to establish their “role” as an authority over their dogs by pinning them on their backs until they say “uncle!” is making a come back. Is this good news or bad news? Moreover, are dog owners supposed to be full time alphas? Tune in this week and found out what Bryan thinks about the roll and your role as a dog owner. Bryan will also answer listener questions. Some of the questions include: *My dog has been making great progress on heeling while using food. I am trying to wean her off the food but she quickly loses focus. Any tips? *Our foster dog has no spatial awareness, which causes him to run into our handicapped lab, and everything else. We are worried he will hurt our lab and himself. How do we solve this problem? *My dog excessively humps my leg. What causes this behavior and how do I eliminate it? *Our dog is terrified of being outside. Tried everything to boost her confidence but nothing has worked. Help!