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KANSAS CITY, MO -
Many pet owners don't think of Fido or Fluffy as "just a pet," but rather a member of your family. But what do you do when that family member behaves badly? A dog's behavior problems can range from something annoying like urinating on the rug, to something dangerous like biting or attacking people. Instead of sending your pet away, you could call in the experts.
Joni Johnson-Godsy has been training dogs for years, but now she's also helping people with their dogs when they have behavior problems. Her own dog Kipp is a good example of how she's turning bad dogs good. She says Kipp was wild and wanted to tear everyone up when they adopted him. He had been a stray and ended up at a shelter, at death's door, when a rescue group saved him. He was missing an ear and Joni called him their "scratch and dent dog." Joni says he put a hole in the wall of their house because he was so wild, but now with a lot of exercise and structure, he's a trained and loving dog.
Join FOX4KC.com on Friday at 10 a.m. to chat with pet behavior experts about your pet's problems.
Joni took us along on a home visit to one of her client's, Barb Brown. Her dog Tippy is generally good, and is actually a therapy dog at area nursing homes, but Tippy doesn't listen.
"A good example of nonaggressive dominance," Joni describes, "the dog wasn't listening at all, didn't do what the woman wanted, ran out didn't come when she was called and got hit by a car."
Barb says Tippy was badly bruised, but okay. She doesn't want that to happen again, so she called Joni. When we arrive, Tippy shows us how she ignores commands, and plays hide and seek instead of catch. Joni says Barb has taught the dog to ignore her, because she doesn't demand Tippy follow the command the first time, "they know they have a second chance and a third chance and say it over and over again," Joni says.
Barb works with Tippy on what Joni calls "accountability training." Joni tells Barb to bring her energy level way up when playing catch with the dog, because it engages the dog more. This type of playful training builds a bond and it teaches the dog that Barb is the boss, not Tippy.
"She's been the boss for a long time and it's time I take over," Barb says.
Joni says leadership is important to pack animals; she learned that from her work studying and painting wolves. That's a similar philosophy to the one on the popular National Geographic show "The Dog Whisperer." But the show's star Caesar Millan is also controversial.
Wayne Hunthausen, a local veterinarian and nationally known animal behavior expert, says Millan does a good job encouraging people to give their dogs more exercise and more mental stimulation, but he says Millan's methods are borderline abusive and can make pet behavior worse or even dangerous.
"For example, I had a young dog that was growling at family members, and someone saw on the show you should roll it over and show it who is boss. They were rolling over the dog five or six times a day," Hunthausen says "and so the dog was distressed by this response from the family and when they came to me they were on the verge of putting the dog to sleep."
Hunthausen says the show tells people not to try these techniques at home, but people will do it anyway, sometimes with disastrous results. "I actually talked to a lady today, she was bitten so hard when she rolled (her dog) over than she had broken bones in the hand," he says.
Hunthausen's Westwood Animal Hospital offers training classes that use reward based training. Instead of choke chains and pinch collars, pets get treats and praise for good behavior.
"If you've ever been to Sea World with killer whales and dolphins, large mammals swimming through hoops and with people on their nose, you've never seen a choke chain or shock collar on any of those animals," Hunthausen says, "it's all done with positive reinforcement."
When you need to punish or correct a dog's behavior, he says make sure it's appropriate for your dog.
"For example, with a big old lab you can get really loud and yell no!" Hunthausen explains, "whereas you might have a small little poodle and you look at it and that dog might completely lose it."
Joni Johnson-Godsy also believes different dogs need different types of training, and says sometimes a choke collar can be a good tool when used correctly. Carolyn and John Hall's dog Dakota is one case where she did recommend the choke collar. Dakota was adopted after he spent a long time in a rescue shelter, but Dakota has started greeting visitors very aggressively.
"He knocked my son down and then a little girl was over and he hit her on the forehead," Carolyn says, "I told my husband I was losing confidence about whether we could trust the dog and didn't know if we could keep him."
During the training session we attended, Dakota was on edge and barking a lot as they worked to train him to stay on his bed instead of charging the door. At one point Carolyn tried to correct Dakota with the choke collar, and Dakota snapped at her.
Joni Johnson-Godsy has been training dogs for years, but now she's also helping people with their dogs when they have behavior problems. Her own dog Kipp is a good example of how she's turning bad dogs good. She says Kipp was wild and wanted to tear everyone up when they adopted him. He had been a stray and ended up at a shelter, at death's door, when a rescue group saved him. He was missing an ear and Joni called him their "scratch and dent dog." Joni says he put a hole in the wall of their house because he was so wild, but now with a lot of exercise and structure, he's a trained and loving dog.
Join FOX4KC.com on Friday at 10 a.m. to chat with pet behavior experts about your pet's problems.
Joni took us along on a home visit to one of her client's, Barb Brown. Her dog Tippy is generally good, and is actually a therapy dog at area nursing homes, but Tippy doesn't listen.
"A good example of nonaggressive dominance," Joni describes, "the dog wasn't listening at all, didn't do what the woman wanted, ran out didn't come when she was called and got hit by a car."
Barb says Tippy was badly bruised, but okay. She doesn't want that to happen again, so she called Joni. When we arrive, Tippy shows us how she ignores commands, and plays hide and seek instead of catch. Joni says Barb has taught the dog to ignore her, because she doesn't demand Tippy follow the command the first time, "they know they have a second chance and a third chance and say it over and over again," Joni says.
Barb works with Tippy on what Joni calls "accountability training." Joni tells Barb to bring her energy level way up when playing catch with the dog, because it engages the dog more. This type of playful training builds a bond and it teaches the dog that Barb is the boss, not Tippy.
"She's been the boss for a long time and it's time I take over," Barb says.
Joni says leadership is important to pack animals; she learned that from her work studying and painting wolves. That's a similar philosophy to the one on the popular National Geographic show "The Dog Whisperer." But the show's star Caesar Millan is also controversial.
Wayne Hunthausen, a local veterinarian and nationally known animal behavior expert, says Millan does a good job encouraging people to give their dogs more exercise and more mental stimulation, but he says Millan's methods are borderline abusive and can make pet behavior worse or even dangerous.
"For example, I had a young dog that was growling at family members, and someone saw on the show you should roll it over and show it who is boss. They were rolling over the dog five or six times a day," Hunthausen says "and so the dog was distressed by this response from the family and when they came to me they were on the verge of putting the dog to sleep."
Hunthausen says the show tells people not to try these techniques at home, but people will do it anyway, sometimes with disastrous results. "I actually talked to a lady today, she was bitten so hard when she rolled (her dog) over than she had broken bones in the hand," he says.
Hunthausen's Westwood Animal Hospital offers training classes that use reward based training. Instead of choke chains and pinch collars, pets get treats and praise for good behavior.
"If you've ever been to Sea World with killer whales and dolphins, large mammals swimming through hoops and with people on their nose, you've never seen a choke chain or shock collar on any of those animals," Hunthausen says, "it's all done with positive reinforcement."
When you need to punish or correct a dog's behavior, he says make sure it's appropriate for your dog.
"For example, with a big old lab you can get really loud and yell no!" Hunthausen explains, "whereas you might have a small little poodle and you look at it and that dog might completely lose it."
Joni Johnson-Godsy also believes different dogs need different types of training, and says sometimes a choke collar can be a good tool when used correctly. Carolyn and John Hall's dog Dakota is one case where she did recommend the choke collar. Dakota was adopted after he spent a long time in a rescue shelter, but Dakota has started greeting visitors very aggressively.
"He knocked my son down and then a little girl was over and he hit her on the forehead," Carolyn says, "I told my husband I was losing confidence about whether we could trust the dog and didn't know if we could keep him."
During the training session we attended, Dakota was on edge and barking a lot as they worked to train him to stay on his bed instead of charging the door. At one point Carolyn tried to correct Dakota with the choke collar, and Dakota snapped at her.
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