Never before has there been more information and resources available to help pet parents live harmoniously with their canine companions. If you surf the net you will discover thousands of training Web sites; the dog training section in bookstores and libraries is inundated with new titles every month; and dog training is a regular weekly feature on some television channels. However, you know what they say about a little knowledge. It’s dangerous, and incomplete and inaccurate information is even worse.

Where has all this abundance of conflicting and misleading information taken us? On one hand it has prompted many people to make more out of things that are really just normal dog behavior in certain circumstances. I receive many calls from concerned puppy parents about their aggressive 12-week-old puppy, only to determine the puppy is just exhibiting normal puppy behavior on its way to learning bite inhibition. And then there are the pet parents who feel their dog is showing dominance by jumping up on them to greet them, and they want to show him they’re the pack leaders like Cesar says. Uggggh. If I had a nickel for every time that term is over or incorrectly used I’d be rich! Well, okay, at least these pet parents are trying to be proactive and prevent issues before they become serious problems, and that’s certainly a good thing.

Unfortunately I also get calls from people whose dogs are struggling with very serious behavior issues like severe aggression but have unrealistic expectations of fixing those problems. Why? Well, they saw a dog with the exact same issue on TV and that dog was fixed in one episode! Make no mistake about it, behavior modification takes time, patience and consistency. There is no quick fix or magic to it, only the magic of television. Having been on the boob tube myself, let me state unequivocally right here and now that you can’t always believe what you see on television, and reality television is anything but real, it’s meant to be entertainment. Even if the genre is supposed to be public education, make no mistake about it, the show still needs to be entertaining. After all, if no one is watching, the show won’t get any sponsors to pay for it! Additionally, everything you see may not have happened in exactly the way it’s been presented, or in the same sequence, or even on the same day!

And what about follow up? Did the owners continue with the behavior modification? Has the dog continued to improve or has he reverted back to old habits? Rarely, if ever, are any of those questions answered on any of the television training shows. We’re presented with quick glimpses that end with the trainer closing up his or her computer or getting in his or her car and driving away. Happy ending? Maybe. Hopefully. But those profound and quick changes we’re presented can be extinguished just as quickly if there is no consistency in the training and behavior modification to follow.

And then there’s the subject of dog training methods. Even if the show instructs the viewers “not to try this at home,” overzealous owners will do so anyway, which can have disastrous and downright dangerous results. I know more than a few people who’ve been bitten when attempting to physically overpower or dominate their dog, like they saw the trainer do on TV. I am always hopeful that most will listen to the part of the disclaimer that tells the viewer to “contact a professional” first.

That’s where I come in.

While I may not agree with or use the same methods a television dog trainer uses, if his or her show helps make people aware of their dog’s behavior and gets them interested in training, that’s a good thing. If it prompts someone to pick up the phone and call me, all the better! Once I get them in the door, I’ll get my chance to show them how real dog training and behavior modification works.

What do you think about TV dog training shows?

What kind of TV dog training show would you like to see?

• Those Greatest American Dogs – 1 Year Later – Where Are They Now?
• Oh Mickey, You’re So Fine
• A Day at a NYC Dog Run
• Celebripups Hit the Big Apple for Charity
• Handling the Hair of Many Dogs

As a dog daycare owner and operator, the first thing I look for in a potential employee at my facility, Pup ‘N Iron Canine Fitness & Learning Center, is a complete and unabashed love for dogs. I know it would come as no surprise to fellow dogsters that this attribute is pretty easy to find. I mean, come on, seriously, who doesn’t love dogs? However, then comes my second criteria – a love and diligence for caring for dogs, and that includes cleaning up after them. Not as easy a find, especially when it involves cleaning up after 30+ dogs a day! And that’s our daily challenge. Our goal is to create and maintain not only a fun and exciting environment, but a safe and healthy one as well. An essential part of a safe and healthy environment is cleanliness, and keeping an 11,000 square foot facility clean and healthy is not an easy feat. It’s challenging, not only to staff, but for our cleaning equipment as well.

Pup ‘N Iron will celebrate our 4th anniversary last month. Some of our staff has come and gone, but one thing has remained constant: our use of Dyson vacuums. Within the first few months of operation, we realized we needed a higher level vacuum to handle the volume of dog hair that accumulated daily from not only the daycare dogs, but the 100’s of dogs passing through weekly in our evening classes and weekend workshops. We researched the best animal hair vacuum products and the Dyson name kept coming up. We purchased our first model, the DC Animal 14 at that time, and have been using it the past 4 years. So, when the opportunity to get the newest animal model, the DC 28 arose, needless to say we jumped at the chance! Granted, as a current Dyson user, we were an easy sell, but still, we were definitely interested to see if the company had, in fact, improved on their older design in both efficiency and convenience. Okay, I must admit, before testing the model at Pup ‘N Iron, I tested it at my house first. With 7 dogs, come on, do you blame me? The biggest difference I noticed between this newer model and our older one was the much more powerful suction. In fact, it caught me off guard at first. You can really tell this vacuum is digging deep into the carpet, and that it does! And like always, it’s not very pretty what comes out. The best way I can describe using a Dyson is, be careful what you ask for. In other words, don’t use one unless you really want to get at the hair and dirt, because a Dyson will show you exactly how unclean an environment you’ve been living in. What ends up in the canister is never a pretty sight, but what isn’t on your floor anymore certainly is! Next up was the real test, how would it hold up to cleaning the hair from 35 daycare dogs? In reference to hair pickup and efficiency, it didn’t disappoint. Like our previous model, I have to give it a 4+ paws up. However on the downside, just like I noticed, my employees definitely commented that it was definitely a heavier vacuum and because of the suction, took more elbow grease to use. It doesn’t glide across the floor, but from my perspective, any machine that glides is probably not going to handle the amount of pet hair and dirt we deal with on a daily basis.

• TV Dog Training – Helping or Hurting?