We work with a variety of clients in our business. The majority of them participate in some form of training, either private lessons or group classes. How do you know what type of training will benefit you and your pet the most? Both private and group lessons have advantages, but there are also some disadvantages that a person should consider when deciding what type of training to pursue.  Many of our clients sign up for private lessons AND group classes, to maximize the training experience.  

Dog Behavior Problems (Undesirable Habits)

Living with a dog can be one of the most awesome experience when things are going smoothly and one of the most challenging and difficult experiences when they are inconvenient. When things go bad, many dogs find themselves relinquished to shelters or handed off to another family where the cycle often repeats itself. Fortunately, there are other options.

Methods and techniques

Our approach to training lies in the theories and principles of reinforcement. This means that we believe that dogs do what they do because of what happens to them when they do it. We also believe that it is critical to understand dogs for what they are, not for what we might want them to be. Dogs are not people and are not motivated nor repulsed (i.e. kitty Roca) by the same things that motivate and repulse humans. Therefore, an understanding of a dog’s natural animal behavior is critical. In addition, differences due to such things as breed, age, physical condition/ability, early experiences, and current living conditions all must be considered in any plan designed to modify a dog's current behavior.

Techniques for training dogs have changed throughout the years. With the volume of knowledge and research findings available today, it is no longer necessary to rely on the use of painful or damaging experiences to modify a dog's behavior. Instead, undesirable behavior can be replaced by a new learned behavior, specifically managing how the dog gets what she wants. While the application of aversive events may be necessary in some cases, the use of them is neither the first nor the preferred method of effecting behavior associations. When aversive's are used it is important to understand that their use can create many negative consequences including what is erroneously labeled “aggression” and avoidance. Perhaps most troubling, the application of aversive's often becomes the only tool an owner ever tries. These owners miss out on the power of reinforcement!

It's much more enjoyable watching a thinking dog to see when she is right, than to watch and wait for her to be wrong!

What are the benefits of private lessons? 

 Private lessons or semi-private lessons are extremely beneficial for the adolescent or adult dog and it's human. These dogs often times need a quieter environment and fewer distractions, in order to begin to learn a behavior. The dog's owner wants to spend time teaching and learning, not trying to hang on as their dog searches out reinforcement from other dogs or people. Sometimes two dogs can be matched together and learning can still take place. The class can then be tailored or customized to what the people are specifically looking for or according to what the dog already knows. The instructor can spend the needed amount of time to ask questions, discuss situations and explain why learning a new behavior is more difficult to learn for a dog that has already practiced inappropriate behavior or exhibits an undesirable habit. The instructor's attention can be directed to the very specific and individual needs of both the dogs and their owners. 

In a private series you can progress at the individual dog and handler’s pace. There are run-through's (practice matches) available to work on distractions.

If a dog was placed in group classes, was unable to handle the stimulation and was not able to learn in that environment, the dog would make little or no progress in terms of learning how to pay attention to its owner or calm behavior in the face of distractions. Private lessons would be indicated.

Foundation skills are not worked on enough. Some teams are held back because other teams are not progressing quickly enough to move everyone along.

For young puppies we do believe there is benefit to small group lessons and accompanying puppy play activities. For older dogs, adolescent dogs or young puppies with behavioral issues outside the norm, I believe private lessons are more beneficial when starting to teach these dogs basic obedience concepts. 

Gina Micciulla specializes in working with a dogs' natural behavior and using it for problem solving in order to enhance the dog-human relationship. There is much more to this relationship then many humans realize. Gina will help you truly understand your dog and, more importantly, provide you with several tools and options for solving problems from the "Dog's Point of View".

• Genetics and Behavior
• Social Structure
• Our Program

The genetic nature of a dog is shaped by the environment in which it is reared. Nature cannot be separated from nurture. As an example, the most common phone call we get is from people who have acquired a purebred working breed (heeler, corgi, Aussi, border collie, German shepherd or terrier, just to name a few) as a pet dog. Their complaints are the dogs' barking or herding and nipping heels, thus driving their owner crazy. Just because a dog is ideal for its breed does not mean we should make it a pet. The purebred working dog is bred selectively to have a variety of behaviors that are often obnoxious in a household.

As we've seen an increase in the popularity of large and working breeds of dogs, we've seen an increase in the number of behavior problems. Large and working dogs need more exercise than many owners realize. And if they don't get enough exercise, they may chew the furniture or become what is erroneously mislabeled "aggressive." Small dogs present a different kind of trouble, which is often referred too as "small dog syndrome." Many owners (especially those who think of themselves as parents) treat their Yorkies and Chihuahuas like human babies, and this leads to spoiling. The lack of discipline can lead to habitual snapping, biting, barking and chewing. Pet owners tend to respond to bad behavior in two ways, by getting rid of the dog or by taking extreme measures to improve the behavior immediately.

Dog's brains are equal to a toddler's brain growth. However, the difference is the dog is a toddler for life. He will never one day answer you in your language.

Change in biological and physical structure equals change in behavior. It is reflected in the common vernacular used when describing people. At birth, a human being is called a "newborn". Within the span of weeks the designation becomes an infant. As growth continues he is called a toddler, and then a pre-schooler. These youngsters become adolescents and with a bit of luck adults and then geriatrics. The point is that the need for so many descriptive terms comes from our intuitive knowledge that each stage between birth and death has a set of structural and behavior consistencies that are different and recognizable. Toddlers look and act very differently than adults. In the fields of mental health and problems, practitioners know that treating children is a different science than treating adults.

Dogs go through the same maturation process only in about 12 to 15 years rather than 70 to 75 years. Even though the process is in shortened form, there are still words that distinctly describe each stage. We begin by calling newborns "whelps" and then puppies. From there, the developmental steps are labeled pre-adolescents, adolescents, young adults, adults and geriatrics. Just as with people, close observations proves that whelps don't look or act like adolescents which in turn are different than mature dogs and vice versa.

A dog enters adolescence at about the age of 5 months, and doesn't leave it until 2 to 3 years, depending on the individual dog. The most challenging age is usually between 7 and 18 months (which is when most dogs are surrendered to shelters). Some dogs pass through this phase with little trouble, but most drive their owners crazy! During this phase, it can be hard for owners to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Many small behavior problems can become large ones, and large ones can get much worse. Dogs learn to repeat behaviors that are successful — including bullying, fearful snapping, escaping, and mouthing, to name a few — until they become perfect!

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Dogs' social systems are very similar to those of humans. They live in extended family groups; they have extensive and extended parent care; they work as a group or family to help care for the offspring; they nurse their young before feeding them semi-solid, then solid, food; they use play as one form of developing social skills; they communicate extensively vocally and non-vocally; and, most important, they have a social system that is based on deference to others. Fights for status or control are notoriously rare among wild candids such as wolves. Except in abnormal social conditions, most human social relations are structured by negotiation and deference to others rather than by violence. Deference-structured hierarchies mean that the individual to whom others defer may differ depending on social circumstances. Status and circumstances are not absolute. In the human situation, a child may defer to his parents' requests but then be the leader on the playground to whom others defer. Dogs are similar.

Much has been written about dogs viewing their human families as their packs. Although the pack comparison is not exact, dogs are social and generally look to their people for guidance. Dogs often become problems when they cease to do this or if they never do this. This program is the first step in both preventing and in treating all forms of behavioral problems. All social animals create some form of rule structure. This structure allows them to communicate with each other. Because dogs are similar to humans in many ways and so frequently appear to be attentive to every word, it is assumed that they are complying with human rule structure. Puppies actually need guidance in how to do this, and problem dogs need to have a consistent, benign, kind rule structure explicitly spelled out for them. This is a kind of benign doggie boot camp: if the dog knows a consistent rule or behavior that will get the attention of its people, the dog will then be receptive to guidance. This is a form of discipline; I call it gently setting boundaries. People often confuse discipline with violence or abuse. Our programs are executed without violence or physical abuse. In fact, for most dogs, withdrawal of attention is a far more profound correction than is physical abuse. Abused dogs or those consistently mismanaged with physical punishment either learn to override the punishment or learn to seek it because it may be their most common contact.

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The intent of this program is to set a baseline of consistent and positive behavioral interaction between owner and pet, and to teach the dog that it must consistently defer to people to receive attention. This is done in a safe, kind, passive manner and is more difficult than owners frequently acknowledge. Owners need to learn to be patient, to maintain realistic expectations and to aim to control their dogs without shouting or violence.

We believe that exercise for your dog — especially an adolescent — is vitally important. Most inappropriate dog behavior stems from a lack of enough exercise. Remember, your dog has the need to expend energy and solve problems on a daily basis. You want to be involved and help your dog find ways to do both.

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