Real Dogs, Real Problems, Real Solutions: A Straightforward Approach to Solving Dog Problems from the Dog's Point of View

Copyright © 2013 by Carlos Puentes

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-5975-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-5977-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-5976-5 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 1/2/2013

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

A Cautionary Note on Aggressive Dogs

Chapter One:   What Were You Expecting?

Chapter Two:   That’s Not My Problem!

•   It’s Never Too Late to Change

Chapter Three:   Can I Really Do This?

Chapter Four:   What Has Become of Your Big Buts?

Chapter Five:   Tell Me Whom You Hang around with,

and I’ll Tell You Who You Are

Chapter Six:   Housebreaking

•   When to Take Your Puppy Outside

•   How to Take Your Puppy Outside

•   In or Out?

•   The Schedule

•   The Number-One Reason Your Puppy Will Continue to Eliminate Inside

•   What to Do to Keep Your Puppy from Eliminating in the House

•   The Shaker Bottle

•   The Diet

•   The Odor Neutralizer

•   The Crate

Chapter Seven:   Buy Now and Pay Later

Chapter Eight:   Conversations with Dad

Chapter Nine:   Guilty until Proven Innocent

•   The Truth about Dogs

•   The Three Most Important Factors in Dog Training

•   The French Tourist and the French Poodle

•   Instant Result, Wrong Lesson Taught

Chapter Ten:   Freedom of Choice for all Humanity

Chapter Eleven:   Choke Collar or Corrective Training Collar?

•   Tools Are Not for Fools

•   Placing the Corrective Training Collar

•   Introducing the Corrective Training Collar

Chapter Twelve:   Leash Control

Chapter Thirteen:   Leash Correction or Corrective Jerk?

•   It Didn’t Work—What Do I Do Now?

Chapter Fourteen:   Walk with a Loose Leash

Chapter Fifteen:   Heel

Chapter Sixteen:   I’m Begging You, Please!

•   I Only Wanted Your Advice

Chapter Seventeen:   Got Poop?

Chapter Eighteen:   The Adventures of Jerry the Fence Jumper

Chapter Nineteen:   Diana Jones and the

Raiders of the Lost Garbage

Chapter Twenty:   Taking You for a Ride

Chapter Twenty-One:   Out with the Old, In with the New

•   Pay the Price of Solving the Problem

Chapter Twenty-Two:   Predictability, Probability,

and the Police Officer

Chapter Twenty-Three:   A Lesson and a Prayer

Chapter Twenty-Four:   Controlling the Problem

Chapter Twenty-Five:   Who’s to Blame?

Chapter Twenty-Six:   Bury the Problem

Chapter Twenty-Seven:   No Pain, No Gain

•   Ready, Unwilling, but Able

Chapter Twenty-Eight:   Casper the Not-So-Friendly Dog

Chapter Twenty-Nine:   Chasing Chevy

Chapter Thirty:   So Much

Chapter Thirty-One:   Jump!

•   Get Real

Chapter Thirty-Two:   Zero Patience Equals 500 Barks

•   Don’ts and Dos

•   It Can’t Get Any Better Than This

Chapter Thirty-Three   Nipping Buddy at the Bud

•   Passion Problems

Chapter Thirty-Four:   Pretty Good Owner

•   For Better or for Worse

Chapter Thirty-Five:   Separation Anxiety

Chapter Thirty-Six:   One Mouth, Two Ears

Chapter Thirty-Seven:   Take a Bite Out of Pain and

Treat the Problem—Not the Dog

Chapter Thirty-Eight:   Complainers Anonymous Association

•   The Action-Packed List

Chapter Thirty-Nine:   The Anatomy of Anna and Tommy

Chapter Forty:   The AKC’s Top Ten Most

Popular Dog Breeds

Chapter Forty-One:    Find the Right M-Word:

Mighty, Might, Maybe, Must

Author’s Note

For Carlitos

I remember when you were two years old and just starting to talk. You were on my lap. I was on my computer. You pointed to my company logo and asked, Who’s that?

I said, That’s K-9 Solutions.

You said, Cacalutions?

I laughed so hard and said, No, it’s not cacalutions. It’s K-9 Solutions. I made you smile.

You paused, looked at me, and quickly said, Cacalutions.

By that time, we both started laughing out loud uncontrollably.

I remember the look of joy and happiness on your face at that moment. I have seen it many times after that day, and I thought I must be the happiest father in the world. It is great to humor the idea that you were already trying to be a little problem solver at two—without even knowing it.

I hope you will be able to make a difference and solve many of the world’s bigger problems in the future and continue to share that same happiness and joy with others.

As for me, the most important of all my dreams and hopes have already come true: you, your two sisters, Christina and Melanie, who were here before you, and Mommy, who was here before any of you. You four have made all the difference in my world; you are my world, and I love you all with all my heart!

Foreword

People are generally logical. We can think things through and let reason guide our daily lives. We have memories so we can know what we did before and how to make changes in the future. As a psychiatrist, I know this well. It is my job to help people understand and reason through their problems in order to make changes.

When I first got a dog for the family, I naturally assumed that she would be rational—almost like a person. She would automatically understand in a crude way what we were trying to communicate. Good dog! would make her do something again, and Bad dog! would naturally accomplish the opposite. I also assumed that our dog was somewhat robotic in her behaviors and would have a built-in sense not to pee on the carpet or whine when everyone was trying to sleep at night. Buy dog, put out food, and the rest would unfold easily. Before too long, however, these misguided assumptions resulted in significant problems with our dog, and we didn’t know where to turn. In stepped Carlos Puentes!

What Carlos helped us to understand was how our misconceptions were actually worsening our dog’s behavior. Although dogs do have memories like us, obviously they do not think like humans. Yelling at a dog twenty minutes after she has an accident will not communicate what we intend. Correction has to be done in real time and in ways that a dog can understand. Getting angry at the dog breeds fear and avoidance, not obedience. And working on one specific behavior, such as housetraining, cannot be done outside of the wider context of understanding and working with the dog with all behaviors.

Carlos showed us how to reorient our behavioral approaches and daily schedule; soon we were beginning to see a new dog. We were able to enjoy having the dog rather than struggling with her. What Carlos showed us was not complicated or time-consuming.

When I expressed my gratitude to Carlos for his help, I told him how much I wished every dog owner could benefit from his straightforward guidance. And now you can! Real Dogs, Real Problems, Real Solutions is Carlos-in-a-book! It is an extremely practical guide to understanding any dog and learning how to resolve common problems. It allows you to break down seemingly complex and overwhelming problems into basic components and then employ corrective strategies. And you have the expertise of Carlos Puentes, the premier dog trainer in Florida. If you are experiencing difficulties with your dog like we did, buy this book! It will allow you to once again enjoy the rewards of having man’s best friend in your house!

—Marc E. Agronin, MD

Preface

Who is Carlos Puentes, and why should I listen to him? Why should you listen to your grandparents, mother, father, or elementary school teacher? Because you can learn from them. They have more years of experience than you do about life in general. I may not be older than you or even wiser than you in general, but chances are good that I have a lot more experience and wisdom than you do when it comes to solving dog problems. In fact, the chances are very high.

I’ve been surrounded by dogs all my life. I am the owner and founder of K-9 Solutions, a dog-training company I have run successfully for sixteen years. My track record speaks for itself; visit my website at www.k-9solutionsinc.com, click on testimonials, and see for yourself. There are more than a thousand verifiable testimonials and photos to choose from.

I’m not going to claim to have trained twenty thousand dogs because I would be lying. I do not train dogs in group settings because of quality versus quantity. If that were the case, I could say that I trained thousands of dogs during my career. Instead, I offer private, in-home dog training. I’m the author of Who’s Training Whom? 6 Easy Lessons to Put Any Dog Owner Back in the Driver’s Seat and in Control of Their Dog.

I refuse to write books that are 75 percent filler and 25 percent relevant to the reader. I don’t like to write books filled with fairy tale stories; those are entertaining, but they fall short where they are needed most—helping you solve your problems. I have conducted seminars and have spoken in front of large groups of people as an expert in the field. I am currently the dog training expert for La Nueva 88.3 FM, a radio station based out of South Florida that reaches out to the Hispanic community. I’m a weekly regular and help out by answering questions from callers and listeners. I’ve been sought after for live TV interviews on the subject of dog training by Telemundo and Univision, as well as every other local Hispanic TV station in South Florida. I’ve been a guest on the national morning TV show Despierta America on Univision. Recently, I appeared on a documentary for National Geographic Mundo. I have learned from dog trainers from before my time—and maybe even before your time.

I’ve also learned from present-day dog trainers. I always keep an open mind, and I’m certain that I will learn something from others in the future. I have personally met and learned from world-renowned successful dog trainers—yes, even the ones you see on TV. I’ve also studied courses from trainers at the top of their games and graduated at the top of my class. I’ve read more books on the subject than most people own in a lifetime. Some I have agreed with—and some I have not completely agreed with—but I’ve learned something from all of them. One thing is for sure: we’re not going to agree with everyone or everything they have to say, and we also can’t please everyone.

Not everyone agrees with me. A select few have disagreed with my point of view, which most of the time is a dog’s point of view. They also have disagreed with my philosophy or my expert advice. I have yet to have anyone tell me so in person during or at the end of any of my lessons. I don’t allow them to hide from the truth; since it’s very hard for them to face it, they would rather call up and speak to the person who answers the phone. They make up excuses that they don’t agree with my philosophy or point of view and do not want to continue. In reality, their point of view has caused their dog problems—not prevented them or solved them. They would rather blame it on the prior owner—or the dog—and avoid the expert who has been successful in the past solving cases exactly as their own.

I’m not a know-it-all. It may come as a surprise to some that I’m not an expert on everything related to dogs; although I have some knowledge on dog health, I am not an expert in that field. When questions about your dog’s health arise, they should be answered by your veterinarian. Although I have some knowledge about trick training, I am not skilled enough to be considered an expert in that aspect of training. I am not an expert on Frisbee dogs, agility competitions, or protection work.

In fact, many of my cases have involved aggression problems stemming from owners attempting to protection-train their own dogs or dishonest, inexperienced amateurs trying to take over a position they don’t know how to handle. The outcome is not a protection-trained dog; these dogs can be aggressive toward innocent people—sometimes even the owners and their families.

I am an expert at helping others who are in dire straits with their aggressive, stubborn, or shy dogs. The best you will get out of me in this book are the lessons that I have learned from the mistakes I made early in my career as a dog trainer. I didn’t become a successful dog trainer by only dealing with the easy dog owners and their responsive dogs. Stubborn owners and their stubborn dogs are put in difficult situations. Those types of owners really have a problem making lasting changes; they are the ones who really need my help. If I can help them, I can say I’ve really been successful.

My daily work involves basic obedience and advanced off-leash training, solving common behavior problems and not-so-common behavior problems, including all types of aggression. These cost innocent people bodily injury and result in lawsuits and large medical bills at the owner’s expense—not to mention the grief that everyone involved goes through.

Housebreaking and destructive behavior are usually at the top of the list, and they can cost thousands of dollars—and put the dog’s safety at risk. Pulling, scratching, and jumping are annoying and dangerous behaviors for many—especially the elderly and toddlers. The problems include dogs that run out into the street and risk getting run over and killed. It boggles my mind how some owners don’t care to basic obedience-train their dogs; they are more concerned about housebreaking as a priority, for example. When they are confronted about their dogs bolting out their door and open gates into the street, they openly admit it’s not really a problem for them. They’re just concerned with housebreaking their dogs.

I tell the story of a dog owner who housebroke his dog and it was run over by a car the next day because of an open door. It could have been prevented, but the owner thought it was never going to happen. Many owners insist that they only need help with housebreaking.

You will be surprised by how many calls I receive for a free evaluation of a dog’s destructive housebreaking problem. When I arrive, I discover that the dog has a major aggression problem—sometimes with the owners or their children. Hello! If you know people like this, please purchase a copy of my book and ask that they read it. Do them a favor and highlight this paragraph. Go to the Housebreaking chapter and under the title write the words, Skip this chapter and go to page xvi, read the highlighted paragraph if you haven’t already, and then you can come back and continue reading this ‘Housebreaking’ chapter.

The sad truth is that all these incidents can be prevented. Canine solutions are my expertise. I am also an expert at preventing canine problems (if given the opportunity).

Many books have been written about obedience training alone, including my previous book, Who’s Training Whom? Although this book is not about obedience training,