Pets and Patience
Positive re-enforcement a plus for pooch and family Training dogs can be a lot like teaching children with autism. At least, that's what Lisa Mallach realized when she came across a brochure for a local dog training company not too long ago. The company, Urban Dawgs, used "positive messages and reinforcement, rather than negative," says the Rumson resident, the same kind of training she's used with her son Andrew, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 1/2 years old. She has spent the last three years researching ways to help him best live with autism. And one of those ways was to bring a dog into his life. "Every time we went to a fair or a park and saw animals, that's where he wanted to be," she recalls. Until then he had tended to stay by himself, instead of interacting with other children. The only hitch was that Mallach had never had her own dog. "I grew up with dogs, but this was my first real dog. It was the first time it was all on me. And I wanted to do more than read a book," says the mother of two. So when she read what Urban Dawgs was all about, it clicked. "The Mallachs hoped that their dog Bosley" — a cream-colored goldendoodle — "would help their son become more social and outgoing," says Vyolet Sciarappa Michaels, who, along with her husband, Drayton, own and operate the Red Bank-based Urban Dawgs dog-training company. "With all puppies, our primary emphasis is on teaching bite inhibition, appropriate early socialization and handling," she says, behaviors that are best taught before a puppy is 18 weeks old. With the Mallachs, she also instructed Andrew how to interact with Bosley in ways that would enhance bonding. By teaching the puppy to gently press his nose against the palm of Andrew's outstretched hand when he says "touch," it helped Andrew's self-esteem and enriched the bond between them, she says. And that's one of the things that makes Urban Dawgs unique: It custom-tailors its training plans around the needs of the individual families it's working with. Michaels meets with each new family in their home, so that they can become part of the training process, and provides them with an initial two-hour session, a written training plan and 30 days of e-mail support. After that, the family can decide how much or little support they want, depending on their needs. For Jennifer and Jason Hicks of Ocean Township, those needs were a lot of basic training as quickly as possible. A busy couple who both work full time, neither of them had much free time or experience with dogs. "We brought Fergie home on a Saturday," recalls Jennifer of their Scottish terrier, "and we realized we didn't know what to do with her — do we paper-train her? Do we crate her?" On Tuesday, Michaels was in their home. "We worked on the basics and house-trained Fergie fast, but focused our efforts mostly on developmental and preventative exercises," says Michaels, who has been working with dogs professionally in various capacities for more than a decade and is only one of two graduates from the San Francisco SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers practicing here in New Jersey. "You can teach an older dog to walk nicely on a leash, but temperament and aggression issues are much more difficult to change," she says, mentioning bite inhibition as the single most important lesson a puppy can learn. "Even Lassie would bite under the right circumstances," she says. And everything is accomplished with a modern reward-based training method, she says. Which means no choke collars, or any other aversive types of training first employed after World War II and continued until as recently as 10 years ago. "My family used to shake a can of quarters at our dog, or spray water at him when he did something wrong," recalls Mallach. Now, when Bosley accidentally does his business on the rug, instead of yelling at him, she "interrupts" him by scooping him up, says "Outside" firmly and takes him to the appropriate "potty spot." "Positive reinforcement is fun, effective and you avoid the negative side effects that can come with using corrections and other aversive techniques," says Michaels. But it's not something you do just once, she stresses. "It's a constant process." Michaels also encourages the Mallachs to socialize their puppy by taking him on frequent walks in downtown Red Bank, and to get him comfortable around veterinarians and groomers by handling him in the manner they would. She also advocates the use of rewards, which can be everything from treats to walks, and a "clicker" to modify a dog's behavior. It's been five months since the Hicks started training Fergie, and they are very happy with the progress their pet — and they — have made. Bosley, too, has shown great progress, says Mallach. "I see how the early training has helped to shape him," she says. And her expectations have grown as well. Now, she wants him to be the best trained dog there is. "All dogs need to be taught how to modify their normal and natural dog behaviors to adjust to human culture," says Michaels. "Humans and dogs both need education." And Mallach's son has now settled into a calmer state after the initial excitement of getting a new pet. But it hasn't been that long, she says. "This is a long-term thing — we'll have this dog at least 12 to 15 years, and for right now, he definitely likes him." And that's a good start. |