I’ve spent so many years helping people figure out the hows and why’s of dog training. Rescue dogs can often be a confusing issue, so in this LIVE I want to address the issues that can confuse owners and trainers of rescue / shelter dogs.
I have a complete online course that is designed for dog trainers. This course was filmed completely at an animal shelter using ONLY shelter dogs. Check it out here:
http://shelterdogtraining.com
Chcek my complete online dog training resources here:
Thank you for your service to dogs. Don't get me started on Mr. George and life in Toronto with the first-time dog owners who think their dog is trained after watching his videos, and believe that their dog should be off-leash. I no longer strongly support the rescue movement due to the combination of first-time dog owners, reluctance to train or contain, and fighting breeds.
i adopted a shelter dog 4 yrs ago found as stray and now i adopted another shelter dog this time an owner surrender because of pulling and no manners. i love them both and i agree that balance training is the way to go.
Hi Robert my name is Paulie very strong dominant female who owns German Shepherd named Brody on altered very sweet not a very dominant dog very easy-going but very reactive on the leash he was abused when he was a puppy and he was also attacked by two Shih Tzus so now everytime you take him out for a walk and he seems a little dog or any dog even though he's not vicious and he's never bitten another dog or person he just freaked I watch your show and what you and the gentleman were talking about on the show on hold one second 7 months ago talking with another trailer and never caught his name you guys were talking about this dangerous breeds I now own or rescued a Caucasian Shepherd puppy while he's a year old today he's very sweet loves everybody he made love all dogs so I wear my question is are these guys like that because I am a strong pack leader or are they like that because they were abused when they were younger and have never known kindness
Looking for advice on training a stock dog and stock dog selection! Not much aid out there I’m finding.
I am a bit of an ‘old school’ trainer that believes strongly in balanced training. Just like the work I have done with special needs children- it can’t be a “one size, fits all” education. I just got back into it and have been studying hard for a year. I have recently been absolutely disillusioned by online training community groups that massacre you with their keyboards for suggestion of a correction of an unacceptable behaviour where it’s considered that the only way is with redirection and positive reinforcement (not that they don’t have a place in the toolkit) regardless of breed or environmental background etc. I was just about to give up on myself for being a dinosaur when I came across Robert Cabral and now this boomer feels a bit more hope that I can still contribute to society by helping people to understand and communicate better with their dogs.
Hi Robert, do you have videos on this channel showing aversive training working long term on a long term shelter dog that failed with positive only training?
The staff behavior team where I volunteer does use some minimal aversives in playgroups. They use spray bottles, startling sounds and timeout when the dogs get too rude or wound up. However, the volunteer leaders are extremely against dog walkers or foster parents using any aversive techniques. They say it has long term negative consequences for the dogs mental health. I'd like to have some ammunition to recommend new tools for shelter dogs that are struggling with positive only training.
break down in the dogs' psyche is due to the isolation, by which I mean dogs evolved alongside humans and for people one of the cruellest and mentally detrimental things you can do with a human is isolate them. In humans, it's been scientifically proven. if this is the case then it's something that ideally needs overhauling to help as many as possible, at least to help them mentally.
I like spunky dogs, it's needy dogs I don't like, I like them to have a bit of independence in my dogs when in the house 🙂
banning tools only puts them underground and then does lead to abuse through a lack of education and training available. every living being gets told off, especially those that live in social groups – so it's complete nonsense to think positively only works in every scenario or for every being.
I thought you were going to talk about search and rescue training😆 Listening anyway …very important subject too🙂
Hollering from Indiana
Love it! " If you are not an expert, shut up" thanks for saving dogs and teaching others.
I always ask, "What's a fur baby?? And another of my pet peeves is, when people label the dogs owner as a Dog Mom, and even the owner itself…I'm so glad I'm not those people.
Most people just look at dogs like stuffed animals. Including 80% of dog owners
Surrenderer: This dog is broken
Reality: This dog was never assembled
I rescued one of those shelter dogs in the “challenge” category. He came from a kill shelter in Texas and he is what brought me to you. I struggled with him from day 1 – even with 50 prior years of training experience – because my previous dogs were so easy and biddable, and he didn’t fit into my old style (mostly positive).
After 2 years of work, I can say with confidence that BALANCED training is the only method that works. Balanced trainers can adapt their approach to the specific dog, and they are the artisans who watch, analyze, and problem solve even (or especially) the tough dogs.
It is WORK. It means stepping up and adapting yourself around your dog’s needs. Overall it would have been easier had I rescued a dog who matched my lifestyle and personality but I made the commitment so here I am. Yes, when I give a fair correction I get side eye from all the harness/flexi walking ding dongs with their out of control dogs, no I will NEVER take my dog to a dog park because many owners don’t understand basic dog body language or how dogs teach each other manners. Yes, I will take myself off Lassie-induced auto-pilot and provide fair and consistent praise AND consequences through effective communication, which can include cookies but also a range of other methods I’ve learned from balanced trainers.
The positive only trainers are dilettantes, not specialists, and have NO INTEREST in the welfare of dogs. They do need to shut up. I begin to feel they are the worst evil perpetrated against dogs.
''We have too many laws .'' that is the problem of our times in a nutshell . In socialist EU is illegal to carry ANYTHING for self defence . A girl in Denemark was fined and prosecuted for defending herself with a pepper spray against a rapist . The result of those laws is violent crime rate is on an all time high in Europe – wich the eco marxist nanny state will use to take away more of our freedoms – including the freedom to own strong dogs , because guess what ? They can be classified as self defence items .
Totally agree.
I pulled a death row dog from an LA shelter last week with 30 minutes to live and a bite history because of rotten owners. 1 week of guidance, boundaries and corrections, and he was adopted yesterday. The adopters will be hiring a trainer to ensure he continues in the right direction. Best decision I ever made. And I would love to be able to help more dogs get out of there.
Also, they are so overcrowded right now, they have crates full of dogs in the lobbies and hallways. It’s a shocking crisis.
I'm thinking that breeders should be illegal I feel we have far too many pups with no homes as it is what are your thoughts
You are the 🐐
Great video. I'm so glad you call out the positive only people, specifically everyone's favorite one who attacks us balanced trainers but won't show how he can effect change like we can (in other words, he's a liar and a fake… he needs to stick to teaching frisbee and back stalls). I echo what you said about what happens to the dogs that postiive only doesn't fix. They die. And it's a horrible death that people like Mr. I'm the god of positive only training and his peers needs to witness. I want these people to actually see a dog being dragged down a hall by a catch pole, taken into a room where the smell of death is palpable, and see the dog restrained so they can be given a needle directly to their heart to painfully kill them. I wan these people to see the fear in these dogs eyes and their panic. Zak and his postive only peers don't have the guts to see what results because they refuse to accept that they can't fix these dogs… dogs that don't always have to die. Many are fixable. And if anyone reading is wondering, I'm a long time dog trainer with years of shelter and rescue experience. I've see the good, the bad and the ugly. I've been vilified for giving a leash pop. UGH! This is why balanced trainers like me stop working with shelters and rescues… sometimes you just cannot get through to people. The dogs are fixable… the people, not so much.
I've been following you for a while alongside others combatting the nonsense out there. However, advising a long line in public on a reactive dog is mostly part of the nonsense. How is that practical advice? How is that manageable or even safe for others and yourself? Putting strong or heavy dogs in harnesses on long lines pulling themselves with their moms in front of cyclists, knocking over children etc. …
Training until the reactivity is nearly gone before going into public, is not the most realistic.
I understand the loose leash part but even that will sometimes come to a struggle to regain control. Hitting the end of the leash and snapping out of it, is not always the scenario, sometimes they hang in their collars and some dragging their butts to the ground or away, is what occurs.