Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Living their best lives
Trainer says dogs just want to have fun.
Editor’s Note: Inspired by the creation of a YouTube cooking show by two area actors, this summer series of stories looks at hobbies people have undertaken — or continued to work at — while quarantined at home by covid-19. If you were inspired by last week’s story to adopt a dog, here’s some advice from a professional dog trainer to make living with that dog more rewarding.
The grin on Apache’s furry face belies the truth that he was once a shelter dog no one wanted.
“I immediately and always had a connection to Apache,” says Rachel Brix, who is now his “mom.” “While he was reactive toward most people, he never was toward me, even in the beginning. As cheesy at it sounds, we just clicked. The more I worked with him and spent time with him, the more I realized how alike we were. Without getting into too much detail, let’s just say he was struggling with getting along in life in many of the same ways I was. Ultimately, we became each other’s partners in overcoming obstacles.”
Of course, Brix had an advantage. She is a professional dog trainer whose passion for puppies goes back to her childhood in Michigan.
“I was always around dogs growing up,” says Brix, who lives just across the Missouri line in Eagle Rock. “My grandma had an Irish setter named Red and Springer spaniels who would pull me around the living room in a laundry basket. My aunts and uncles always had dogs. They always lived in the house; were always part of the family. I never understood ‘outside dogs.’ But it wasn’t until I fell in love with Percy, my first dog as an adult, that my deep love of dogs was evident to me.
“Percy taught me to live in the moment — to try to never take time for granted. To look at things from different perspectives. To enjoy life — to play,” Brix says. “Over the years, though, as a professional I’ve grown to appreciate and respect dogs — as much as I love them I am fascinated, amazed by them. Every day it feels like I learn something new. Just the other day I watched several videos of dogs performing CPR on humans — both the compressions and the mouth-to-mouth! So cool!”
Brix ended up moving to Eureka Springs based on the recommendation of her husband’s grandmother: “She loved Eureka and told us we would too.” And Percy put in her two barks’ worth.
“Percy loved dog parks, and we loved Percy,” Brix explains. “And Eureka is such a dog-friendly place, we knew a dog park would be a great asset. Percy had died only 10 months prior to us moving to Eureka Springs, and I thought it would be a great way to celebrate her to help people celebrate their dogs every day. I pitched the Parks Commission, and then spearheaded and chaired a very small group of wonderful and committed people. Parks donated the land to the purpose; all of the money and the labor came from volunteers. In
22 months we had raised the funds and built the park. We were very excited and proud to make the contribution to the community and surrounding areas. The Eureka Springs Bark Park is still Carroll County’s only dog park.”
That was not Brix’s first experience advocating for animals who couldn’t speak for themselves.
“The first major campaign I was involved was in 2010 was as a volunteer for Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation and its ballot measure for Prop B — ‘The Puppy Mill Bill,’” she remembers. “In short, this bill required more of commercial breeders in way of care of their dogs. It passed, narrowly, yet was then overturned by the Missouri legislature. The compromise became the Canine Cruelty Prevention Act which MAAL estimates so far has shut down over 1,000 puppy mills in the state. Over the years I’ve come to see all animals as just as deserving of our love and compassion as dogs and have been involved in legislation and advocacy for many different types of animals.
“I went on to manage/ consult for two no-kill shelters and became a groomer, where I segued into my passion: dog training. And now we have Percy’s Playground Canine Enrichment Center, which offers a unique approach to boarding and also positive reinforcement training.”
Apache called on Brix to use all her skills and connections.
“I’d not worked with too many reactive dogs, but I knew I had the network of professionals to help, the knowledge and the skills, and definitely the love and commitment to try to give him a good life,” she says. “I couldn’t let him continue to live the life he was living. I coordinated with a certified behaviorist colleague who determined his emotions needed to be addressed first — and most reactivity is rooted in fear. Apache had a lot of emotional instability that had to be addressed before we could really start any serious training. A dog who is fearful can’t learn if fear is always the primary emotion.
“Through no fault of his own, he ended up being at the shelter over 2½ years. He was considered ‘unadoptable,’ and he really was a very difficult adoption,” Brix goes on. “But no dog should be at a shelter for that long, especially dogs who have issues and need help. And I knew that I could help Apache, and I got to a point in my life we were able to make the necessary changes we would need to make to have him in our life. We’ve also made a lot of sacrifices.”
Apache has now been at home with Brix and her husband almost as long as he was at the shelter.
“I’ve never been inspired by a dog as much as I was by Percy, but I’ve never learned more from a dog than I have from Apache, either about dogs or about myself,” she says. “And he continues to learn and improve every day. I continue to learn and improve every day. Dogs really are quite fascinating. I’m actually writing a book about our entire story and hope to have it finished next year.”
Brix says her best advice to clients who want to train dogs is this: “Forget being human for a little bit and try to think at least a little more like a dog.
“As humans we tend to focus on doing rather than simply being,” she explains. “Dogs just are; they live in the moment, and they hopefully spend a lot of time just being dogs.
“Observing what dogs tell us is a good first step, so becoming aware of dog body language is supremely important in dog training,” she goes on. “Seeing things from a dog’s perspective helps alleviate impatience and frustration often associated with training. Training should be fun, and when we can get in the frame of mind of working together with our dog instead of trying to make him do this or that, it goes much more smoothly.
“Another staple to starting training is how we phrase what we want the dog to do,” she says. “Too often we are trying to stop a dog from doing something. A lot of my clients have said they want to teach their dogs the meaning of the word ‘no’. We let go of all of that and look at how we can actually work with something to train. For example, how do I stop my dog from jumping on people? Instead, we should ask, how can I help my dog to greet guests more appropriately? It gives us something to train and thinks of the dog’s needs as well.
“Constantly stopping dogs from doing things doesn’t train them and really diminishes their quality of life. The world for dogs too often is a big world of no, when, in reality, it should be a big world of yes, if you think about it. It’s not to say we’re completely permissive and let dogs chew on furniture or counter surf, but we have to show them how to live in our world. They don’t come preprogrammed just knowing furniture isn’t a chew toy, and the stuff on the counter is off limits. When we get a dog, we absolutely must be prepared for that commitment; otherwise we’re doing our dogs a great disservice that affects their quality of life.”
Brix says that a lot of misinformation still permeates the world of dog training.
“I think for positive reinforcement trainers one of the most frustrating things we are tired of hearing is that we need to be the pack leader or we need to be the alpha or we need to show our dog who’s boss. Unfortunately, a TV show popularized this incorrect information that is now culturally accepted as fact.
“Dogs don’t want to dominate us or be the ‘leader’; they have no need for this. Especially domesticated dogs,” Brix says. “They simply want what they want, which is usually food or play or some other basic need. Thinking that dogs are trying to take over and be the alpha of an imaginary pack has led to aversive-based training that punishes dogs for ‘bad behavior.’ It’s much more fun to reward a dog for behaviors that you want and like than to continuously punish a dog for ones you don’t.”
It’s simple, she says. “Don’t like your dog counter surfing? Don’t put things on the counter he can reach and reward himself. Don’t like your dog jumping on people? Help him to learn that sitting politely is preferable to jumping because that’s what gets the attention. Don’t like your dog pulling on the leash? Understand walking on a leash is not only boring for a dog, it’s completely unnatural. Let him sniff some! I always tell my clients the walk isn’t for you, it’s for your dog. If you want to take a walk, take a walk without your dog!
“We should always remember we are our dogs’ biggest advocates: it’s ultimately our responsibility to keep them safe and make decisions in their best interests.”