Mango Dogs

Striking the Right Balance: The Crucial Role of Structure and Understanding in Dog Ownership

Embarking on the journey of dog ownership is a remarkable adventure, but it comes with responsibilities that extend beyond cuddles and playtime. Unfortunately, many humans inadvertently set the wrong tone from the beginning by neglecting the importance of structure and rules in shaping their dog's behavior.

One common oversight is the tendency to disregard valuable online resources about specific dog breeds and their behaviors as they mature. Different breeds come with distinct characteristics and tendencies, and understanding these traits is essential for effective training and a harmonious relationship. Guarding breeds naturally exhibit protective behaviors, hunting breeds have a penchant for chasing and pulling breeds might have a tendency to pull. By acknowledging and anticipating these inclinations, dog owners can better navigate potential challenges.

Another common pitfall is the unintentional reinforcement of undesirable behaviors through consoling. When a dog exhibits fear or reacts adversely, offering comfort with phrases like "It's okay" may seem instinctive, but it can exacerbate the problem. What you reinforce is what you get. Instead, providing tangible cues or redirecting their attention can be more effective in addressing stress or reactivity.

While love is undoubtedly a crucial component of the human-dog bond, it's not a standalone solution to preventing aggression or behavioral issues. Some dogs, despite receiving ample affection, may still develop problems that stem from a lack of structure, clear boundaries, and consistent training.

The issue of unearned freedoms also poses a challenge in dog ownership. Some humans believe that their dogs should have endless freedom or need to be off-leash for adequate exercise. However, freedom should be earned through positive behavior, not assumed. Putting others' safety at risk due to an insistence on off-leash activities can lead to unfortunate consequences.

In conclusion, successful dog ownership hinges on finding the right balance between structure and love. Starting with a foundation of clear rules and expectations and gradually incorporating love when the dog behaves appropriately creates a well-rounded and well-behaved companion. Understanding breed-specific traits, providing tangible cues during stress, recognizing that love alone isn't a cure-all, and ensuring that freedoms are earned contribute to a positive and fulfilling relationship between humans and their canine friends. It's time to rethink our approach to dog ownership and set the stage for a lifelong bond built on understanding, structure, and love.

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(The K9 self-reinforcing arrogance cycle)
It’s 9:30 am, and your new rescue dog has just settled in for a mid-morning nap after seeing you off to work when he notices a big brown truck enter the driveway. He looks around the house, and it’s just him. A man wearing a brown shirt, brown hat and brown shorts gets out of the truck and walks towards the front door.

Knock Knock Knock. Rover can’t contain himself any longer anymore so he lets out a growl and watches the man ring the doorbell only to drop a brown box on the front step before driving off in his truck.

Rover has convinced himself that his growl made the driver leave the property. In the real world, the UPS driver was just doing his/her job, independent of Rover's behavior. This ordeal happens millions of times every day and it’s one of the many reasons why so many dogs are terrible at the door. That growl is not to be overlooked.

On day one, Rover let out a growl and watches the driver drive away. On day two, the growl was a little longer and deeper. On day three the growl was followed by a bark. By day five it was a series of barks. This dog has entered a daily process that I call (the self-reinforcing arrogance cycle). After 30 days Rover is convinced he’s a badass.

Months pass and things intensify to the point of Rover losing his mind even when the owners are home. The doorbell rings and calamity ensues. A group of kids walking to the park walk by Rover's house and it’s like world war three.

The self-reinforcing arrogance circle has more applications.
He goes for a walk, another dog barks at him, he barks back, the dog walks away with the owner, and you keep walking. In your mind, your dog barked at another dog who barked at him first, an altercation that happens literally over 300 million times a day in North America. In Rover's mind, he scared the dog away because the other dog went away. Each walk, things get worse.

He's taking his fights to the street. It’s all in how your dog sees a conflict. He's undefeated in his mind. The dog 100% believes that they are invincible and untouchable.

The self-reinforcing arrogance cycle can be summed up like this. The dog convinces themselves that they are able to intimidate others, without consequence, and to that point, they believe that they will always win.

It’s for these reasons that I don’t allow my clients to ignore stupidity on the leash. It gets worse quick. It’s for these reasons I don’t allow my client's dogs to act like idiots at the door.
If you found this article to be interesting, share it with others.
If you need help ending the self-reinforcing arrogance cycle, Mango Dogs can help you with that.

Ted Efthymiadis.
Dog trainer with

www.mangdogs.com

THE GENERALIZATION OF FEAR: OVERCOMPENSATING AGGRESSION.

What you are about to read is absolutely not going to be received well in the dog community. It goes against everything most dog trainers and dog professionals have thought and taught for years. Allow me an ear while I unpack a concept that may change the way you think about the vast majority of aggression seen in dogs.
Many dog professionals believe that the vast majority of aggression seen in dogs is fear aggression. Five years ago I also believed that. Some have even gone to such an extreme to say that all aggression is fear-based. I have absolutely no idea how anyone could come to that conclusion, given predatory aggression and dogs that kill other dogs, but that is beside the point.

Outward aggression must have confidence.
I work with dogs who have been deemed fear aggression cases by other trainers every day. Please explain to me how such a dog can go out of its comfort zone, run across a soccer field, attack and pin down a dog, leave holes in its neck, and still be deemed fear aggressive?
Maybe I’m missing something?

I get it, a lot of dogs go to dog parks, the owners may or may not be paying attention and then a dog decides to defend himself. Very little time in dog parks is spent advocating the sensitive dog. That my friends is a shame because true fear aggression can always be avoided.

How are personal protection dogs trained? First, frustration is built to a premium. Prey drive is activated in the dog by the use of a rag, tug, toy and such to get the dog excited. They progress in time to a bite sleeve. Then comes the hard part. Channeling drive from prey to defensive drive. Once prey drive is at a high, the (decoy or bad guy if you will) then start adding some pressure toward the dog. A hard stare, more confrontational body language, etc. Just enough to produce some stress, as the dog growls, the decoy runs away. The act of running at the earliest amount of defensiveness is then reinforced by the decoy running away which lowers the stress in the dog. Over time the little growl turns into serious deep barking. The point of protection training is the always produce more confidence in the dog and to convince the dog that he/she will always win. Fear can absolutely produce a massive amount of confidence. It’s done every day.

Take for example the dog who barks at the mail man/women.
The first time he is startled by him/her when he hears the mailbox slam shut. He gives out a little woof. The person walks away and he thinks his woof just got the person to retreat because he can see them walking away from the window. Day after day the owners are at work, and the dog is training himself to become more confident with the aid of the mail career.
TWO TYPES FEAR:
RATIONAL AND IRRATIONAL.
It's rational for a fearful dog to pin another dog who is being pushy and not reading or acting on submissive and or cut-off-cues. That dog likely will growl, snap and avoid for a while before having to use such physical force. This is essentially the avoidance of aggression.

It is, however, irrational for a dog to seriously injury another dog who is not even looking at it, or paying attention to it. That would be like me saying a women gets robbed at an ATM machine, so she decides to point a gun at every person she sees at an ATM machine the next 500 times she goes to get some cash and that's somehow ok.

This is what I have deemed over-compensation aggression. Or shifting aggression.

I believe that it is not the avoidance of aggression most dogs seek, it’s the ability to produce control when a lack of control presents itself.

In closing, all forms of aggression are able to be rehabilitated apart from neurological cases. (.0634% of cases I have evaluated or rehabbed.)

If a dog were truly fearful, true fear is the avoidance of aggression.

I would like the terminology to change. That’s all.
Why is the terminology so important? Because without a proper understanding of reading aggression, the process of rehabilitation will greatly be changed. Outward Aggression must have confidence.

Fear can be in the driver's seat, but there is almost always a passenger.
Ted Efthymiadis
www.mangodogs.com

Mango Dogs Seattle has recently launched and serves the Seattle WA Area. If you need a trainer in Seattle or are a dog trainer looking to refer to our growing team, give DeShaun Haakenson some love! www.mangodogs.com
Now in Halifax, Charlotte, Seattle, Austin, and San Diego!

Prey drive and predatory aggression in dogs:
Prey drive is one of the most misunderstood components in the dog training world so let's define a few terms.
1: Prey/play drive
2: Prey/stimulation drive
3: Acquisition drive
4: Predatory aggression

1: Prey/play drive
Prey drive is often the drive dog trainers refer to when evaluating the interest level a dog has to chase or retrieve a ball or toy. This attribute can be very beneficial when noted in a dog who will be trained in high-level obedience, dog sports, and even police K9 dogs. This drive is shown when a toy or object of value is moved quickly to create a desire in the dog as a form of motivation or reward. You’ll note that any vocalizations in this setting are typically very high-pitched in tone. This drive is of great benefit for dog trainers and owners during the training process to incentivize the dog who is being worked with in an effort to perform specific behaviors in anticipation of this stimulating reward and often a game of tug.
Some of these dogs like aspects of this game more than others. Some are driven by the act of being teased while hoping they will get access to the toy. Others love the conflict of tugging with the toy/item more than the teasing aspect, and others love when the trainer/owner allows them to have the toy while they go and lay down with the toy with a feeling of ownership. This last element is not of great benefit to training, but many dogs like just having the toy/item and others love to destroy the toy/item.

2: Prey/stimulation drive
This aspect of the drive is also driven by movement however it’s not triggered by a toy, it’s triggered by another dog or animal, and sometimes a person. Again you’ll find the vocalization to be very high-pitched in nature. Many of these dogs are misdiagnosed as a dog or human aggressive because of the insane noises that they make when in this drive. To the untrained ear, they sound like they are going to kill something if they get off the leash and this is not typically the case with these dogs. These dogs struggle on a chemical level with massive levels of dopamine addiction.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (chemical) that activates the pleasure-seeking part of the brain making these behaviors feel really good. It’s also incredibly addictive which is why the dogs that struggle with this type of reactivity continue to seek this state. You’ll also notice the pain thresholds of these dogs will increase exponentially when in this drive. Many of these dogs are very sensitive to corrections and physical touch when they are not in this drive, then transition to a different mental state. Combine high pain thresholds with dopamine addiction and you often get dogs you redirect to their owners out of frustration. (I see this in boxers every freaking day…) These dogs make terrible decisions when in this state of overarousal.
They are most stimulated by movement, and they tend to be far past any threshold within moments of seeing the other dog. These dogs are visually stimulated which is why they all hunt for other dogs the moment they leave the owner's front door. Visual scanning from side to side, ears forward, skin rolls tight like a ruffles chip on the dog's forehead. Tail high or in a tight curl. As they get closer to the other dog, the hair with stands up on the back over the shoulders, and at the base of the tail. Many misdiagnose the standing of hair as fear when really it’s a reflection of extreme stimulation. Around this point, the breathing pattern starts to change dramatically. Short in duration, the deep breaths are now easy to hear because they are loud. This is called loaded breathing and it’s a physiological manifestation of the dog's preparation to explode at the other dog. He needs all the oxygen he can muster.
Again, it starts with the scanning, the ears, the tail, the hair, the breathing, and ends with the high-pitched cascade of musical wonder that results in dog owners never being invited to dinner parties.

For the most part, these dogs don’t desire to hurt or harm. The problem is that their behavior is so toxic to other dogs that if they get off the leash and run over to another dog, that dog is not going to be able to process that level of an overstimulated hot mess. When they do rush over, they are arrogant, using the other dog like like it’s a treadmill. They don’t care about what the other dogs want or don’t want. These dogs are always met with resistance in the form of barking and what looks to the untrained eye like a fight. What transpires tends to be two dogs on their back legs, teeth gnashing, with plenty of vocal shenanigans. These are not fights, they are arguments and rarely result in stitches or blood, only four-letter words and several bottles of wine.

3: Acquisition drive
Have you ever seen a dog pin another dog on the ground? Many of my client's dogs have done this in the past and the clients are always convinced that their dog was trying to kill the other dog. Ok, so he targeted the neck, but heck, he’s smart enough to know that if he targeted the tail, he’d never pin the dog on the ground. If he was trying to seriously injure the other dog, he had more than enough time to bite down once causing a serious injury but he didn’t. The desire of these dogs is to subdue the other dog without harming them. Most of these dogs are grumpy male dogs who “ain’t no buddy got time for that.” They see toxic energy in another dog and try to de-escalate that energy without spilling blood.
4: Predatory aggression
This is scary stuff. These dogs kill people, dogs, and animals. What’s even more terrifying is the lack of ability of most dog trainers, vets, dog rescue folks, and dog owners to notice it. These dogs are not vocal. They don’t freak out with high-pitch serenades. They are quiet, and they stock like a leopard about to jump from a tree limb onto an unexpecting animal. Most people can’t notice these dogs. I hate to be a breed-bashing lunatic but I’ve only seen this predation in livestock guardian dogs and bully breed dogs. With the livestock guardians, it tends to be towards people, and with the bullies is most often towards only dogs. With American bulldogs, it can be towards both people and dogs. Often these dogs will let out a quick, guttural growl right before they attack and then put serious intensity into the lunge. These dogs are incredibly dangerous and they don’t alert the world to their motives. If one of these dogs attacks you, you my friend are done. Many of these predatory dogs can live with other dogs and people often without issue which is why it’s so hard to notice this drive in some dogs. The loud dogs are rarely the ones that you have to worry about.

The majority of dogs who get into fights, go into the interaction without that intent. These dogs have high pain thresholds, are pushy, and don’t care about what the person or other dogs whats or do want and this is what creates the conflict. Their complete inability to care about what others want gets them into trouble.
This article could discuss more complex ideas like territorial aggression and social justice warriors, but I’ll leave some of those topics for another post because they are not specifically related to predation.

If you need help with your sassy dog, check out my online course that will teach you how to teach your dog to stop acting like a poophead.
https://mangodogs.thinkific.com/
Ted Efthymiadis

What's a good name for our latest demonstration dog. He sure is cute!!! The best name wins.... Nothing!

What a huge improvement from the Mango Dogs Charlotte NC location!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rISFwwgi0p0

Dog can't put on weight? Try 32/32. One of my dogs was consistently losing weight despite being given plenty of food. Massive weight gain in just under 2 weeks! He's a big Lab, and only needed 3 cups a day to get up to weight, now I'm giving a little less to maintain his weight. The only thing that works apart from 32/32 was raw, but it was costing $315/month just to feed him, yet alone my other dogs. I just thought I would mention it as we have plenty of clients with skinny dogs who can't put on any weight. -Ted

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CUXy5r_F9y8/?fbclid=IwAR0C0uq06KdGKNlCXauF10JcswSiwB6AJDiOHRE_UF6EuVb3u7UgAXLUAvY
hahahaha

Watch this reel by itsthemcfarlands on Instagram itsthemcfarlands • Original Audio

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Austin Texas! We are thrilled to announce that Mango Dogs has expanded into Austin Texas with my good friend Justin Crawford! He's got many years of training experience and has been working in the boarding/vet world for many more years. If you need help with your dog or want to refer clients to Justin check out. www.mangodogs.com
Welcome to the Crew Justin!

Helping Doggies in San Diego!
Lauren lee, a mind-blowing exotic animal trainer in San Diego has joined the Mango Dogs team and is now changing dog owners' lives in San Diego. Lauren is incredible with animals, so look her up if you need a trainer in San Diego! https://mangodogssandiego.com/

If your dog has stomach issues, try the adored beast leaky gut protocol.

What excuses do you make for your dog? Just wondering.

Dogs Are Entrepreneurs

In real estate, they say you don’t make money when you sell a house, they say you make money when you buy the house. The same is true with dogs.

You save money when you buy or adopt a quality dog even if it ends up costing you more up front. You will save money, time, and heartache in the long run by investing in a dog of sound temperament and health, from a quality breeding.

Take your time.

Do the research.

Don’t let your emotions take over.

Your level of patience might mean the difference between a life-long companion or a life-long liability, in medical and training costs.

Don't settle for less.

Do drug houses produce good puppies?
About once a month I meet a loving dog owner who comes in asking for help with their dog that they bought from a drug house. I'm hoping that this blog post will reach many dog owners, and keep someone from making a potentially bad decision that might haunt them for years to come.
---Incentivising un-ethical people---
You felt bad, I get it... you showed up at the house the puppies were living in a filthy environment and you hated the thought of leaving them there. I understand. But the thing that often we forget is that not only are we saving a dog from a potentially unsafe environment but at the same time we are also reinforcing a system that should not be reinforced. The moment you give them money you are increasing the likelihood that they will continue to produce more puppies to sell to emotional buyers.
---Did you meet the parents?---
It's extremely common for people to tell me that when they showed up at the house they were not allowed to meet the parents of the puppies. This is a huge red flag and should not be overlooked. Some will get lucky and will get to meet the mother but very rarely does the male dog present itself. If I was purchasing a dog from a potentially questionable source there is absolutely no way that I would even consider taking home a puppy unless I had met both the male and the female dogs. These dogs should be social with people, animals, and other dogs and don't take the "breeders" word for it. Unfortunately, it's all too common for people to acquire dogs in situations like this to never meet their parents. To that point, If they tell you that you can't go anywhere near the mother of the litter because she's very protective of her puppies this is not something that's common for a balanced dog. Run like hell, and contact the appropriate authorities if the puppies are not being properly cared for.
---Too young---
It's common for people who are breeding in such circumstances to try and sell the puppies at an age that is inappropriate. Everyone has a different timeline that they believe in but most good breeders will hold back until at least seven or eight weeks. I would say right now about 50% of my clients own dogs that were taken from the litter at 4 to 6 weeks which is in my opinion absolutely ridiculous and unneeded. It speaks volumes about the people who are breeding these dogs and what they are really after which clearly is one thing. Cash. An extra week or two or three makes all the difference.
---Two puppies---
Most quality breeders will not allow an owner to take home two puppies at the same time from the same litter. Sure it's not always a problem but it's common for people to have a lot of issues when bringing home two littermates. Ask any dog trainer and they'll tell you about clients with littermates and how difficult it was on the owners. If you show up only asking for one puppy and the "breeder" tries to sell you two puppies run like hell.
Please share this post with friends and family it's my hope that weekend but these people are out of business and have no place breeding dogs.

Ted Efthymiadis, a dog trainer with Mango Dogs in Halifax NS.

I start teaching my kids at 6 months, how they should behave around our dogs and other people's dogs. It all starts at home. I've never once had one of my kids pull a dog's ears, or jump on our dogs. They start at just over a year and help with feeding the dogs as well as helping with their training. Share this photo so that other parents will wake up and take control of their households. All too often I get calls from parents who don't take proper precautions with dogs and things can quickly escalate.
Eli (16month) is pictured here with BB 15 years old.

As a dog trainer who trains and specializes in rehabilitating aggressive dogs, I feel the need to sound the alarm on livestock guardian breed dogs. The most common (LGD) we tend to see here in Nova Scotia would be Great Pyrenees, but we also see Anatolian Shepherds and Maremmas.

They are beautiful dogs but their size and behavioral traits are often overlooked by well-meaning dog owners. I hate to be the jerk who overgeneralizes and says none of these dogs can fit into a normal city home because that’s just not true. However, I have two reasons for writing this blog.

1. Most people who get these dogs literally think that if they get a puppy and give him loads of love, he will not develop these guarding instincts.

2. Few seem to be talking about these issues and I think they need to be talked about.Let’s look at a few reasons why I’m not a fan of these dogs living in cities with uninformed and inexperienced owners.

–Most of the (LGD)s that I have rehabilitated do not communicate in the traditional way that people expect. Only a small percentage of them growl before biting. They are hard to read even for dog trainers so you can imagine how hard it might be for less-educated dog owners.

–Most of the (LGD)s that I have rehabilitated were more human aggressive than dog aggressive and the majority of them were aggressive with their owners. Try living with a 100lb+ dog in your home who doesn’t growl before he attacks, not fun or safe.–Most of the (LGD)s that I have rehabilitated were stalkers. I know dog trainers who have been attacked and almost killed by (LGD) dogs who they miss-evaluated. These dogs were walking around them, looking kind of calm and bored and then WAM!

The trainers didn’t notice that they were being stalked. Very few dogs will stock humans like a Cheetah, but these dogs are capable of it. People literally believe that if they love these dogs, they will never start to guard things or people. It doesn’t work that way. Well-meaning dog owners read about the warnings on the internet and tell themselves that love will fix it. I wish that were the case but it’s not. These dogs were bred to have a job, a guarding job. If you don’t give them a guarding job, they will often resort to guarding their food, people, spaces, etc.

Guarding genetics without an outlet can prove to be very dangerous. I’m 100% honest with my clients when they come in with these dogs. I tell it to them straight. In our modern society, there is no practical use for guarding genetics, and thus we have to shut it down with correction. We literally have to override the genetic propensity to guard, and yes that is possible, I’ve been doing it for about a decade. If you have one of these dogs and you struggle with these issues, it’s possible to have a dog that you can trust, but it’s a lot of work and you need to find a trainer who knows what they are doing. Plenty of these dogs attack their owners who raised them as puppies.

Just FYI. If you want to take that risk, at least start training with a good balanced trainer the moment you get your (LGD).In closing, I know full well that not all of these dogs turn out like described above. I meet some frumpalump’s at the park who are calm and chill and don’t have a nasty bone in their bodies, but this is not the entire story.

Ted Efthymiadis
www.mangodogs.com

Dog training, Off Leash Training, Leash reactivity, in Halifax NS Canada. Need help with your dog in Halifax NS Canada, (HRM) we can help! Any age, any problem any breed. We can help with with your dogs aggression problems...