At the same time, Americans spent more on their pets than ever before, at least $50 billion in 2012, according to the same source.
But all is not rosy in the land of animal ownership. As people own more pets and bring them closer to their family circle, there are inevitably problems. This fact accounts for the immense popularity of shows such as Cesar Millan’s “Dog Whisperer,” in which the dog guru is able to correct seemingly any negative behavior that dogs demonstrate, restoring them to harmony with their families.
Mr. Millan’s mantra is that he does not treat problem dogs,but problem people. That is a theme echoed by Eddie Simon of Danbury, the East Coast version of Mr. Millan. Known locally as “Eddie the Dog Guy,” he has an ever-increasing reputation locally for being able to resolve canine problems.
“We euthanize way too many dogs in this country,” he asserted this week in a phone interview. “We need to try to cut that number down at the same time we need to lower the number of dog bites. Four-to-six million dogs are euthanized each year. The return rate for dogs in shelters is pathetic. I’ve been doing this professionally for a decade, and I know it’s at least one-third.”
Mr. Simon said he believes that the basis for the problem lies in unrealistic expectations on the part of humans. “Most people truly believe that dogs act the way they do in Disney movies, but when it comes to severe behavior problems they behave very differently,” he said. “It’s not that there is a lack of caring people who are trying to help—there are 8,000 registered rescues in Connecticut alone—but there is a lack of information. You can’t be a mechanic if you don’t know how a car works.”
This lack of information can be lethal for a dog. Most dogs are surrendered to shelters because of behavioral issues and, once in the system, are often returned time and again until they are put down. “It drives me up the wall because it all starts with a good dog,” Mr. Simon said. “People just don’t carry the right information. I catch a lot of flack from groups saying, ‘Why waste your time on vicious dogs?’ That California dog [that bit the toddler] didn’t come out of its mother vicious. Every one of my 18 dogs is proof of this. I’ve placed 60 dogs in the past decade, which doesn’t sound like much except that they all were rescued from death row—the toughest of the toughest. Most aggressive dogs can be turned around.”
The first step toward creating a healthy relationship with a dog is recognizing the difference between humans and canines. “I tell my clients that dogs need love, trust and respect,” Mr. Simon said. “Too many people have the wrong response when I tell them they need to be dominant. I try to explain that to be dominant, the alpha, you are the decision maker.”
This, he said, makes a dog feel secure.
“I like to watch wolf videos,” Mr. Simon continued. “When the alpha pair returns to a pack, they present themselves, they stand tall and the others are whimpering around them. But what do we do when we come home from work? We are talking and leaning over making [high-pitched] sounds they can’t understand but that sound subservient. We encourage the dog to take the dominant role by default. This is where anxiety or stress comes in.”
Humans typically try to establish dominance by resorting to obedience training, but this is not the answer, according to Mr. Simon. “Obedience training will not give you dominance,” he said. “You can teach them ‘sit, stay and heel’ and they will be like angels until there is a mailman, a cat or a squirrel. You can put 10 dogs through obedience class and I will bet 10 of them will have that one situation where the owners will have no control. Obedience training is not the natural way they communicate. Teach sit, come, stay, heel—when you have taught them that, it’s not like you are done for life.”
“When you take in a new dog, you want to shape its behavior,” he explained. “You want to teach it, ‘This is how we behave when the doorbell goes off. This is how we act when we go in the car.’ Most people cannot block unwanted behaviors. There are so many techniques out there and most work if you have the right relationship.”
The right relationship is essential because most corrective measures do not make sense to the dog otherwise. “I get a kick out of people who use a squirt bottle or rocks in a can,” he said. “The dog is listening to you because you are threatening him or distracting him. Neither will work for long. Time out for a child makes them think about what they have done, but putting a dog in time out in a crate does nothing for it. If a dog goes bonkers at a door when the doorbell rings, most get dragged by the collar to another room. My solution would be to stay right there and calm the dog before it moving to another room. Instead of just blocking unwanted behavior, we also need to show them what we want them to do. ”
Close observation of the animal is also needed. “People will say to me, ‘He loves to sit on the couch and watch the sidewalk.’ To me that means you have a territorial dog.”
He goes back to the theme of love, trust and respect. “I respect them for what they are—dogs. They are so natural and instinctual. They react to what is in front of them without agendas. When people have a problem relationship with a dog, people don’t call me and say, ‘I have a problem with my dog, how do I make it feel better?’ I tell them they won’t have a healthy relationship with the animal if only you get what you want. I tell clients, ‘OK, I know you want the dog to do this, this and that, but what would happen if you said that to your husband?’ I respect what the dog needs, too.”
He advocates teaching two commands, variations of which could be “right” and “wrong” or “do this” and “don’t do that.” “I have been studying animals my whole life,” he said. “What I am trying to do is to simplify. So many first-time dog owners need that information. I want to start a revolution based on behavior shaping.”
When called in to help, he starts with a home consultation. “Training generally works best on their own territory. I would say, on average, out of 10 cases, nine can be handled at home,” he said.
If the dog’s behavior cannot be modified at home, then correction escalates to “boot camp,” which can last up to 30 days. “It’s like picking up an Etch-a-Sketch and shaking it to start over,” he said. He said that if he has three clients who are afraid of thunderstorms, he can take all at once, but if a dog is aggressive he only introduces it one at a time to his own pack. “Aggressive dogs learn so much more from living with balanced dogs,” he said. “There is no question it can get better; it’s a question of what it takes.”
Mr. Simon does not believe that most people are too lenient with their animals, despite the close relationship many people have with their pets. “My dogs sleep on the couch and we have our hugs and kisses,” he said. “But people need to learn timing, when to allow certain things—and this is where people don’t have enough information. For instance, most people confuse excitement and happiness. If you come home and they are dancing on their toes and vibrating, and you say hi, you are feeding their excitement. They are relieved and happy you are home and can see you.” He suggests a more dignified reserve, similar to that of an alpha wolf.
“I do believe dogs can be happy, sad, can grieve—but they are different,” he said. “Dogs are smarter in my definition than people. They live more in the moment’s reality. Emotions don’t run a pack. An alpha wolf doesn’t walk over and tell them he loves them every day. Love, I believe, is expressed through direction.”
He said that in modern American homes, dogs end up being emotional sponges for humans. “That is one cause for aggression and anxiety,” he said. “People expect dogs to be Superman, to be the perfect partner. But we also have to respect their needs. A dog’s behavior is not how he is; it’s a reflection of what environment he is in. By not telling a dog what to do, we are causing stress. It ends up believing it has to carry the weight of a pack leader, which is feed, defend and take care of the pack. This behavior can take over at any point in life.”
Mr. Simon has spent the last decade as a canine consultant and is now in the process of affiliating with an animal rescue operation in Danbury called Tails of Courage. “That will be my new base,” he said. He is also forming a new LLC known as Eddie the Dog Guy. He can be reached via his Facebook page.
Asked what people should carry away about relationships with dogs, he said, “Keep your mind open when you are told that nothing can be done to help your dog.”
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