Check out the Michigan Humane Society blog on Wednesdays to see common pet behavior questions answered by our Senior Director of Operations and pet behavior expert, CJ Bentley. If you have an immediate behavior concern with your pet, please call a qualified trainer or behaviorist! If you have a non-urgent question you would like answered on the blog, you can comment here or email us at mail(at)michiganhumane.org.
Senior Director of Operations CJ Bentley and her adopted dog, Rogue
“I need dog training classes, but money is tight. Any suggestions on lower cost training. I don’t want ill mannered dogs.”
I get that. Ill-mannered dogs are no fun. While group classes can be very beneficial because they teach your dog to behave around other dogs, do it yourself training can work too – as long as you are working on basic training and NOT dealing with aggression or fear-based issues. For those, I believe you must enlist the help of a qualified behaviorist. For the basics, you may want to consider starting with a book and/or DVD. The Michigan Humane Society recommends using dog-friendly training methods that avoid the use of punishment. Some excellent books and DVDs along those lines can be found on www.dogwise.com.
Two of my friends – Pat Miller and Teoti Anderson – sell their books through Dogwise and I enthusiastically recommend them. I am also very happy to let you in on a little “preview of coming attractions” so to speak. As the Michigan Humane Society works to give timely behavior assistance to our communities, we are transitioning our phone-based, free Behavior Help Line to a video-based system that will be available on our web site. It’s not ready yet…but soon! We’ll have videos for you to watch that feature the basics – sit, down, walk nicely on a leash, housetraining, crate training, no jumping and more fun stuff!
