Reddit reviews Culture Clash: A New Way Of Understanding The Relationship Between Humans And Domestic Dogs

Look into crate training - it will help save your stuff when you are not around. Not EVERY dog can handle being alone and absolutely free - especially if they suffer from separation anxiety.

Exercise is always a big consideration with this type of behavior. You say she is getting enough but the timing/frequency may be something to consider. If you are going to leave the house, get in a LONG run AND training before you head out. Many dogs not only need tired bodies, but tired minds in order to be content.

You should take an obedience class with her. It will help you with training her (sounds like she needs it) and help build a bond between you two. Working together builds trust, makes you more sensitive to training and physical needs and gets the ball rolling to change.

It is normal to be frustrated and want to give up - don't. Sign up for a class as your 'baby step' into training and start crate training. Try not to be frustrated. If you FEEL like you are, take a break. Put her in a puppy safe space (her crate if she is OK with it or a room with nothing for her to destroy) and take a breather - trying to train or interact with the dog while frustrated will send everyone reeling. Even if you dont think you are SHOWING frustration, your dog is very cued into your emotions and body language and is likely picking it up (which can make THEM frustrated/anxious).

Remove all things she can destroy from her reach. Put paper away, put away shoes and clothing - even stash the throw pillows and tie up the curtains if you need to. Set her up for success! REWARD her for playing with her toys and redirect her to them when she seeks out non-toy items. Get her some puzzle toys and plenty of natural chews to work through (figure out her favorites and always keep some on hand). There are TONS of things you can do in this type of situation!

If you go through one or two obedience classes and you are still struggling with separation anxiety, call on a behaviorist to help out! Obedience is great for sit/down/wait/going into your crate and being OK with it, but behaviorists (as their name implies) specialize in dog behavior and can help you with things like anxiety with specialized training or medication.

I would also recommend picking up these two books and taking them to heart:

• The Culture Clash
  
  
• Don't Shoot the Dog
  
  If you don't know who to turn to/where to go for training classes - talk to the rescue you adopted her from! Many will have resources for you - some may even have access to free classes or specialized resources! Look for a club/trainer focusing in Positive Reinforcement (not Dominance theory - you should not be doing leash pops, alpha rolls, or trying to 'assert your dominance'. If you hear any of that, run away! Especially for anxious dogs, these methods can just make things much worse).

• Culture Clash
  
• The Other End of the leash
  
• Execl-Erated Learning
  
• Don't Shoot the Dog
  
• The Thinking Dog: Crossover clicker training
  
  All of the above in that order. The first two are on dogs in general and how to work with them with out being a dick. The other three are serious books on dog training theory. The last one especially is amazing and well worth a read once you get the other concepts down.
  
  One other book I would highly recommend to read
  
  
• Be the pack leader
  
  The reason I recommend it once you get in to dog training you are going to her a lot pro and against Caesar Milan. And it is far better to be informed so you can speak competently about it. Honestly I don't think he is the great satan he is made out to be. People need to exercise their dogs more and take an active role in training them. More people need to preach this message. Its mostly the flooding and dominance theory that I personally to find to be bunk.
  
  Read it and read it after you have read the above books so you can be prepared to talk with those that have him as their one and only dog training resource. Don't be a douche with them and put up your nose and shout them down but help try to steer them to other resources instead.
  
  So now you have read books and watched DVDs what now?
  
  Practice! How do you practice? Damn good question. If you have your own dog start there and then find yourself a local rescue or shelter in need and in most metro areas there are.
  
  Volunteer to work with shelter dogs this has many advantages.
  
  
• There is no shortage of dogs that need help
  
• You will be working with dogs at their worst and most stressed
  
• You will get a lot of experience with several kinds of dogs (small, big, hyper, calm, kennel stressed, flat out crazy, shy, confident)
  
• These dogs need the most help and you will be quietly literally for some of them saving their lives by making them more adoptable and staving off kennel stress
  
  NOTE: My own personal bias. Clicker training is godlike. I am getting faster and better results than I ever did with yank and crank or even with lure and reward! I also do all my dog work pro bono with local shelters and rescues.
  
  Example: Teaching a dog to walk at heel in under 45 minutes, with it being solid after only 4 training sessions, completely off lead by 6. Even with my best lure and reward this took months.
  
  TLDR: Read up, get some skills, practice on crazy dogs in shelters, come back to us and ask again after you get a few thousand hours under your belt.
  

How Dogs Learn and Culture Clash

Both great books for new and veteran dog owners.

I've read Culture Clash and Don't Shoot the Dog and both are quite excellent. The Amazon reviews are better than anything I could say:

Culture Clash

Don't Shoot the Dog

Also, my wife is reading the latest Karen Pryor book and liked it quite a lot, too (we're into clicker training):

Reaching the Animal Mind

As another shiba owner, constant work is required, but they're so worth it. I highly recommend reading Shiba Inu's (A Complete Pet Owners Manual) and The Culture Clash to anyone that is seriously considering a Shiba.

"Is it true that sometimes good dogs bite, or is there something we should do about him? Any advice?"

Dog trainer here.

There is a damn good book called "The Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson. She is an expert on dog behavior and makes it very clear that there is no such thing as a bad dog. Biting and aggression are behaviors that would aid survival in the wild, and expecting an animal to live it's whole life without ever showing one sign of argument, unhappiness, grumpiness, etc. is pretty unrealistic. That being said, you should aquatint yourself with dog body language and dog behavior so you can figure out why this is happening. Dogs do not bite unprovoked. There is always a cause, though you might not see it. You need to identify your dog's triggers and counter condition him. Here are some tips:

1. Learn what Calming Signals are and know how to use them. Your Dane might have given Calming Signals before each bite and you might not even know it. Kikopup, on Youtube has a good starter video on it, though you should be able to find some articles on your own.
   
   
2. The third bite scenario is a classic bite threshold example. Your dog was clearly put over the edge of what he could handle. Please read The Culture Clash! It explains bite thresholds very clearly, much more so than I could over the internet.
   
   
3. "Please, keep the "hire a trainer" to a minimum. This is obvious and nonhelpful advice. While we may end up doing this as well, I'm more curious as to what precautions I can take in my own home, and positive habits I can form with my dog" No. No, no, no. Don't tell me you might hire a trainer. Promise me you will. Furthermore, when you do look for a trainer, make sure that he or she uses no pain or fear based training methods. It's good to choose an APDT certified trainer to eliminate this risk. Aggressive dogs are usually under a lot of stress. Do the best you can to avoid aggravating that stress.
   
   
4. You mentioned your dog was shy as a puppy. Did you know that this is a red flag for future aggression? It means your dog wasn't being socialized enough or in the correct ways. Puppies under 16 weeks have no reason to be shy! Shyness is never something you should "let a pup grow out of", it's actually a sign that you need to act ASAP!
   
   
5. Many people aren't familiar with socialization as a scientific term, so I figure I should explain it. You see, in the wild, Coyote puppies become naturally fearful and aggressive towards any stimuli that they weren't given a lot of very positive exposure to within the first 4 weeks of life. This helps them survive. With wolves, this period is longer, and with domesticated dogs, it is greatly extended. The first 16 weeks of your puppy's life make up his socialization period. Trainers like Dr. Ian Dunbar, who specialize in puppy development, recognize that this critical period essentially determines who your dog is. They recommend that by 12 weeks, your puppy has had purely positive experiences with at least 100 different people-especially men and children. You can accomplish this by having your puppy fed by various passerby's on the street(as long as you are holding the puppy, due to the lack of immunity at 12 weeks) and by having friends over, etc. with a shy puppy, this is even more important. You would have to do quite a bit to fix it, but it could have been done. The socialization period for other dogs ends around 16 weeks. Yes, you can make him friendly towards people now, but you're gonna have to put a lot of effort into it.
   
   
6. Start having every guest that walks into your home drop 3 treats on the floor near your dog. Instruct the guests not to look at the dog or pay any attention to him for the first 10 minutes that they are there. This will help your dog associate visitors with good things, and the visitor's boring behavior afterwards will show him that they are non threatening.
   
   Here are some links:
   Calming signals articles: http://www.canis.no/rugaas/articles.php
   Kikopup on Calming Signals:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgnLgHFRJu4
   Jean Donaldson's book:http://www.amazon.com/The-Culture-Clash-Revolutionary-Understanding/dp/1888047054/ref=la_B000APJJ4S_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344820090&sr=1-1
   Karen Pyror's Book:http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Shoot-Dog-Teaching-Training/dp/0553380397
   ADPT:http://www.apdt.com/petowners/choose/default.aspx
   
   
   I wish you luck. With effort & a bit of education you can really succeed.

I would add The Culture Clash to that list.

In addition to other great recommendations:

The Genius of Dogs
https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Dogs-Smarter-Than-Think/dp/0142180467

This one is not modern but provides a clear explanation of learning theory:
Excel-erated Learning
https://www.amazon.com/Excel-Erated-Learning-Explaining-Plain-English/dp/1888047070

And The Culture Clash
https://www.amazon.com/Culture-Clash-Understanding-Relationship-Domestic/dp/1888047054

• The Culture Clash
  
• Don't Shoot the Dog!
  
• On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals

Well, I almost cringe to recommend it because it's very dry and the author consistently uses 20 pages to say what could be said in a paragraph but I'll tell you 'The Culture Clash' by Jean Donaldson is pretty comprehensive & understandable. Then again, my perception might just be because I'm fairly A.D.D. and have no patience for long-windedness.

Ok, I had some things to do, I wanted to reply to this earlier...I love this stuff :D

I dunno if you're looking for a specific training (general obedience, agility, protection, etc.), so I'll include a bit of everything that's helped me or that is well-regarded.

For general understanding of dog behavior, I really, really intensely love Jean Donaldson's "Culture Clash." It's not a workbook for obedience, it's more of a compilation of different techniques and why the author chose to move toward the training style she did. It's a little scathing at times. It's also relatively short (I think I finished it in a day or two), so as a general introduction, it works great.

If you have a puppy and are looking for puppy-specific knowledge, Ian Dunbar is the go-to name. There's lots and lots of Dunbar stuff out there, just plug his name in and go to town! Paul Owens' "The Puppy Whisperer" is also pretty good.

For general/pet obedience work, you really can't beat Pat Miller's "The Power of Positive Dog Training". Karen Pryor, a pioneer in clicker training (bridging the gap between marine/whale operant conditioning and dogs), also put out a great one, "Don't Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Training". Really, anything by Karen Pryor is worth picking up if you're interested in the subject.

There are certain facets of dog body language and behavior that are pretty essential to know, and which are often neglected or incorrectly labelled in dominance-heavy learning (for instance, appeasement behaviors and fear aggression). A great start here is "On Talking Terms with Dogs" by Turid Rugaas, a Norwegian dog trainer and behaviorist.

Let's say you have a specific problem. Here are some good starts to overcoming common doggie fear issues: Patricia McConnell's "Cautious Canine and Ali Brown's "Scaredy Dog! Understanding and Rehabilitating Your Reactive Dog.. Patricia McConnell's "I'll be Home Soon" is great for separation anxiety, Terry Ryan's "The Bark Stops Here" for barking. One of my faves is Emma Parsons' "Healing the Aggressive Dog".

Finally, a book that I cannot stress enough in its awesomeness is Jane Killion's "When Pigs Fly! Training Success with Impossible Dogs". If you're stuck with a breed that was bred to work independently or you often feel that your dog is just plain ignoring you, this is a great thing to pull out.

If you're not so big on books and want videos, hop on youtube and look up kikopup! She's utterly brilliant and has a ton of videos to choose from. If you want to get more into that angle, look up the terms "shaping," "capturing," and "luring" - three different but related methods for encouraging dogs to do specific behaviors.

Finally, if you want to get down to the science of it and think more about wolves, L. David Mech is the name you want to watch for. And I have more sources on specific dogsports (gundog work, agility, etc.), but this post is already hideously long, so I'll leave it as is.

Hope that helps!

I think that u/jaspersnake has great suggestions on how to address your immediate issues. And here is a prior post on growling that includes good advice.

To develop a better relationship with the dog over the long term, I think that reading at a general level would help. Patricia McConnell’s For the Love of a Dog addresses how to interpret and respond to dog “emotions,” including fear in particular (I'd say BF's dog is fearful). That might be a good place to start. Jean Donaldson’s Culture Clash is another book that’s often recommended. It’s very good, but not as smooth a read. In my opinion there aren’t a whole lot of great websites on dog behavior and dog training. Patricia McConnell’s site has training resources and a blog, both of which include wonderful material but are a bit clunky to navigate. Dog Star Daily is also very sound, but again a bit clunky.

I actually haven't read that one! When I was "expecting" my first pup, my trainer leant me a copy of this book. Our local library has it as well.

This is another fantastic book that I always recommend to people.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Culture-Clash-Revolutionary-Understanding/dp/1888047054

Some dogs are easier to train than others but it is never a one size fits all type deal. I would recommend any type of positive reinforcement training. Any Animal Behaviorist will tell you that Pavlovian and Classical conditioning. More specifically clicker training is a great way to train your dog for anything. For more resources check out The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson and any book by Dr. Ian Dunbar. Also the folks over at /r/Dogtraining know their stuff pretty well.

Honestly my favorite memories are those of successful adoptions. It's really something special to see a both a dog and new owner so happy.

The worst memory would be that of losing a dog from a shelter I was working at when he was hit by a car. While one never becomes comfortable with euthanasia, a person learns to cope with it (barely), however a startling violent end is indeed much harder to deal with.

We do EVERYTHING to wear the dogs out. Often I end up more exhausted than them. Everything from fetch, tug of war, and even just running around with them in circles.

YES totally get a furminator. If your dog is shedding it will help so much. Be careful not to over-brush your dog as this can result in brush burn which is basically when the skin gets red and irritated from too much brushing. Another option would be to go to a grooming shop and ask for a de-shedding. Basically they will use a special shampoo, made by furminator no less, and it will remove most of the the undercoat.

Hope this helps.

Sadly, the Monks of New Skete had various misconceptions about how dogs interact, not least their advice concerning the so-called "Alpha Roll."

http://blissfullydomestic.com/family-bliss/parenting-family-bliss/canine-myths-5-the-alpha-roll/37955/

Again, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I encourage you to read books by more modern trainers who base their techniques on science, not assumptions and pop psychology. You cannot go wrong by starting with Jean Donaldson's "The Culture Clash."

Alright. Here's my 2 cents. Except it's probably gonna turn out to be 50 cents because I like to type, so bear with me.

1. Throw your preconceptions about crate training OUT the window. Especially with a velcro breed like a German shepherd, crate training will be your best friend and key tool. If you need the dog to not be up your ass for a little while (which it will, I guarantee you, that's shepherds for ya), you'll need a place to put it. Since it takes time to train a long down-stay, a crate is your best bet. Proper crate training teaches the dog that the crate is a safe, cozy place for the dog to relax and chew a bone or take a nap or just chill. So find some books or online articles and read up on how to do it because it's great. Seriously. I promise you, when done right, it is absolutely not cruel whatsoever. This article is a good place to start.
   
   
2. Again, read up on it. I haven't had many experiences introducing cats and dogs, so I can't give you my own anecdotal advice, but like with anything else take it slow and keep it positive. Reward the dog for calm behavior around the cats and if s/he tries to chase them, give a time-out or separate them for a while. The cats are the real wild cards here, because if they have not been socialized to dogs then they are of course liable to get angry at the dog. If the dog hasn't been socialized to cats then the dog will perceive the anger as excitement and may try to play or fight, depending on the dog. So try to keep the cats calm and give them plenty of spaces to escape to; if they like to climb, get them a tower or a shelf that's all theirs, for example.
   
   
3. Nah, not necessarily. Every dog has different toy preferences so if you get a bunch now you may find that your dog isn't even interested in half of them. I would say wait until you get the dog and then go to a pet store together and figure out what it likes then. However, one thing that is useful for almost every dog is a Kong or two (or three...). If you want to start stocking something now, I would strongly suggest putting a little money away per week/month/pay period in a savings account so you have some financial cushion if the dog suddenly needs expensive vet care. Or just for general expenses for the dog. Because they are expensive.
   
   
4. Bones are fine. Make sure they are raw, because cooked bones can splinter and cause damage. My person lrule is that if they are small enough to swallow or soft enough to break down into swallowable pieces, they don't get them while unsupervised. Also be careful with super hard things like antlers at first. I've never experienced this, but apparently some dogs have softer teeth than others and can break their teeth on antler chews. Antlers are great for puppies who are chewing maniacs but again, just supervise them at first. Rawhides are also hit or miss; many people give them to their dogs without issue but ingested rawhide can sometimes swell up from moisture and cause intestinal blockages. Apparently. Most people agree that it's unsafe to give rawhide to puppies.
   
   
5. Positive reinforcement trainer. Don't settle for anything else. Look for a trainer who is a certified behaviorist (will have a master's or PhD), has an animal behavior degree, has credentials through the Association of Pet Dog Trainers or the Karen Pryor Academy (there are a few others but those are the most common), and/or a combination of two or more of those things. You can search for one here or here. And here is a worst-case scenario story of what can happen when a dog that just has a few bad manners gets "trained" abusively and irresponsibly.
   
   
6. Hmm. I have no idea what a fourteener is, but I'll give this one a shot. Hiking, in my experience, is not too strenuous exercise for a dog. If you were running the dog really hard in a game of fetch or taking him/her on a jog without giving it breaks, that would be one thing. But leisurely hikes, where the dog can slow down or speed up or stop and sniff at its own pace, should be just fine. What I like to do with our dog is put her on a 20'+ leash and just let her drag that so we don't have to hold a leash and she can run ahead and then wait for us, which she likes to do. She sticks pretty close (she's a shepherd too), but a recent rescue may not do the same. I would recommend, if you do the long leash method, clipping it to your belt/loop with a carabiner. That way, dog gets to run ahead or lag behind, but can't run off. ...Aaand I got sidetracked. Watch for signs of tiredness: excessive panting, lagging behind, stopping and sitting/lying down, low head and slow movement, etc. Just make sure to at first give doggie lots of breaks (and offer water every break!) and work up to longer hikes.
   
   
7. Depends on what your dog is interested in. Some dogs just want to run and chase a ball, and only that will tire them. Other dogs will be entertained by a few training sessions or a game of Find the Treat/Toy. Others are more relaxed/lazy and will be content lying around the house with you. That's probably not the case for many German shepherds, but if the dog is older it may be. I like to feed our dog with a food ball or puzzle toy, because it takes her longer to eat and is more interactive and entertaining than her just guzzling her food out of a bowl. I will also give her a stuffed and frozen Kong (usually it has food and/or treats and some peanut butter) if she is especially bored and I don't have time to play with her or walk her. I suggest teaching your dog lots of fun tricks because s/he will pick them up quickly and then you can have them do the tricks if they're bored. :)
   
   Other tips, even though this is getting ridiculously long - Read! Educate yourself! Explore as many possible resources as you can to find what is right for you and your dog! Here are some good ones:
   
   

• Whole Dog Journal (website/periodical)
  
  
• The Other End of the Leash (book)
  
  
• The Culture Clash (book)
  
  
• Clickertraining.com
  
  
• Dogmantics.com, and her YouTube channel
  
  Damn. Sorry that is so long. If you somehow have any other questions after all that, I'd be glad to answer them. I have had many, many family dogs, currently share a beloved whiny baby German shepherd with my boyfriend, am pursuing a BS in animal behavior, and work at a positive reinforcement dog training facility. So I am a fountain of fun facts just waiting to be asked questions!

Are you talking about this book?

I have a similar problem as OP, except I'm not the one with the dog, it is my MIL. She got a two year old chihuahua/doxie in November who isn't housebroken and is very dog reactive on walks.

DH and I are temporarily living with MIL while we prepare to move out of state in a few months, and I'm concerned with what I see. Commute and work time have her away from home for 11-12 hours on weekdays. When she gets home around 7 in the evening, the dog begs to spend time with her and all she wants to do is sit on her ass and veg. On Saturdays, she takes the dog to the dog park for 2-3 hours, but she's not playing with the dog, she's chatting with the other owners, and when she comes home, the rest of the weekend is spent sitting on her ass. She gets upset with me when I tell her she needs to play with her dog. When she gets home from work and grabs food to eat and the dog is begging for her attention (she does not beg for food, she doesn't seem to like people food) MIL says, "she can learn to be ignored for a bit." This pissed me off because...she is ignored all day due to everyone working. DH and I get home earlier than she does, but the dog prefers her, and it is her dog, so she needs to pay attention to her.

As far as housebreaking, she'll go outside when on a walk (20-30 min walk) and then come back inside and pee on a potty pad. She usually goes in one of three spots, but sometimes, she'll just go wherever. MIL bought some special carpet cleaner that's supposed to remove the pheromones so they won't want to go in that spot anymore, and a fake grass thing, but neither have worked. What's more is that IN FEB the vet said she might have a UTI. Vet gave antibiotics but still said to collect a sample and bring it in. MIL never did that, and I'm sure the dog does have a UTI.

At this point, it's clear to me that MIL has neither the time nor desire to properly care for the dog and she shouldn't have gotten her. If the dog were a human, the conditions would be considered neglect. But I've said all this to her and it hasn't seemed to have any effect. She tends to put more worth into things she's read, so I'm hoping giving her a book will help her understand some things. Is Culture Clash a good book for her? I'm hoping she'll come to an understanding at some point because I feel so bad for the dog, and if life circumstances were different, I'd try to take the dog and care for her, but we just can't.

First of all, I sympathize with you on the housebreaking issue. My cairn terrier is 14 years old and lived in a puppy mill all his life until he was about 7. As a result, I never had much success potty training him as he would just go in his crate (a result of living in a cage all his life). What did give me the best success was to tether him to me while I was in the house. If he went to lift his leg (he's a terrible marker), I'd make the no-no noise, then rush him outside to have him do his business. In this way, I was catching him in the act and reinforcing the correct place to relieve himself. I have successfully potty trained my lab and a few foster dogs this way as well. Secondly, you may want to look into belly bands. It won't stop the dog from peeing, but it will stop him from peeing ON things (i.e., your carpet). For my 16 lb cairn, I cut size 3 diapers in half, fold the wings back, and place in his belly band to absorb the pee.

It sounds like the poor guy has a good deal of separation anxiety along with general anxiety. For the separation, you may want to look into systematic desensitization. Jean Donaldson has a great book with a section on this. The whole book would be beneficial for any dog owner, actually! If you can hook up with a good trainer, I think you'll be able to provide more structure for your dog and in turn, help him feel more comfortable and less anxious.

Best of luck!!

> But in most cases, it seems the dogs learn to trust him and regain their confidence.

... It's TV.

> Like the ATF yellow lab who had a fear of noises who Cesar successfully rehabilitated (after months of intense rehab).

If you read the commentary "Bella" I posted, you'll notice that there are a lot of things Cesar does on TV that clearly just upset the dog - but in passing this "months" of rehab is mentioned. He may have done his worst on TV because it's entertaining.

In any case "it worked for this one dog" proves nothing. Even bad methods work sometimes, and for some dogs bad methods are better than none (for other dogs bad methods are much worse). The bigger problem is that his methods have been shown repeatedly and conclusively to be risky. They may cause behavior and fear to intensify.

Also, this is TV, there is no peer review and you can't exactly tell what happened.

> I think that's where the biggest advantage lies in his methods - people learning to understand the dogs better.

That would be the best thing anyone could do. Get people to understand their dogs better.

Sadly, Cesar does not understand dogs. In one episode he tried to treat a dog who had OCD and explained that he "was trying to dominate the light", he believes that rolling fearful dogs on their sides, or shocking them until they are quiet "calms" them.

I recommend The Culture Clash for a better understanding of dog psychology.