Meet Kirito

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He had an extensive bite history that made him a candidate for behavioral euthanasia, unfortunately. He had bitten pretty much everyone in his home and they called because they were worried what his end would be if they didn't get some professional help. I agreed to work with him and it did NOT go how I expected... He was supposed to stay with me for 6 weeks while we worked on obedience, reactivity, handler aggression, food aggression, and a lot more.

And I'll confess...

I anticipated him being relatively simple because when you've worked with hundreds and hundreds of aggressive/reactive dogs, the prognosis seems like it's going to a piece of cake... But this dog surprised me. I'm not ashamed to tell you I was dead wrong.

And so...

I began using all the tricks I would normally use to disarm a dog and they worked....at first...And then one day, he bit me. We went all the way back to square one. I used every bit of training knowledge I've ever gained over my 12 year career and still was hitting walls with this dog. He was like no other dog I had ever met in my life.

• He had high food drive because he was even food possessive, but he was too independent and unmotivated to WORK for food.

  
  

• He had high prey drive, but that was half of his problem. He was violent and could be triggered into state of high arousal where he couldn't be communicated with.

  
  

• He had hardly any pack drive because again, he was very very independent..
  

  
  
  
  

  So how do you train a dog that won't take food, gets too charged up to be trusted with high drive play, and doesn't care you exist? Oh and he bites.

The unlikely solution

This 6 Week training turned into OVER 12 weeks of training (of course I didn't charge the client any additional money for the added time.) And as I began to fuse different training systems that I've learned, the solution to his issues slowly began to come into focus.

what is a training system?

Think about the difference between an entire language and just a phrase in that language. If you know how to say "El Bano" you may know how to ask "bathroom?" But you certainly don't know Spanish by any stretch. Many of us have tons of "tips and tricks" but apart from a systematic training approach, we would just be left with an amalgamation of tips, which might work for really simple things but if you want a dog that's truly impressive you need more than tips. You need an entire system that will make senes to the dog. More on that another time.

So..

I began drawing on knowledge from sport dog trainers who make their LIVING working with the highest drive dogs on the planet and that's where everything clicked for me.

The way out, was THROUGH. He had to learn to control himself IN high drive. So we had to use those high states of arousal, through competitive play, as both the punishment AND the reward. Quickly we abandoned training with food altogether, since it meant nothing to him, and made high drive play the condition of obedience. That is, if he would do his commands, he got to do the high drive play exercises. Almost immediately, something shifted.

He began listening like his life depended on it. Suddenly the highest value was us working together.

Now I wish I could claim to have invented the system I now use for training, but I can't. I can tell you it has been taken from some of the brightest minds in dog training both past and present. Men who have won literal world championships in their sports and earn distinguished titles for their counterparts. Kirito began controlling himself in really explosive situations like when he saw another dog or when someone tried to touch his food/toys. His release commands for relinquishing items he's not allowed to have became lightning fast and refined. (Which as the highest bite-provoking activity before.)

The end result

He has now become an off leash reliable dog. They take him places, they walk him off leash, and he has become the light of their lives. This sweet little man that was such a pain in my but has truly become such a profound source of joy for his owners, and for me too in the end.

Honestly, this dog made me consider retiring when you spend over a decade feeling like you're on top of the world and then a dog humbles you like this one does, it really messes with you. But with the help of some amazing trainers that work in a totally different kind of training, Kirito and I grew together. We had some tough moments together. I poured blood sweat and tears into making this dog "right." And trust me I have worked with dogs that were "more psycho" than him before without problem. But he was totally unique, and it required me to really rack my brain for the answer. But I never gave up on him, and as it turns out he never gave up on me. And I make you the same commitment I made to him. I'll confess that he is an extreme example

and that if I got a dog like him all over again today, it would be significantly simpler for me. But I bring up Kirito's story to say this: dog training is more than highlight reels. It's more than 5 star reviews. His story is deeper than his parents saying "Chris worked wonders." It's more than the victories. I cried, prayed, studied, and trained with this dog for months. And sometimes that's what is required for success. And other times I have a dog working great in a matter of minutes. That's why this story is my favorite. It was my greatest failure that turned into my greatest success.

And the owners weren't shy about how they felt when we were finished...

So if you too are losing hope or are just frustrated and ready to see a change, I want to give you a gift. It's not a video, it's not a course, or anything like that. Those would cost me nothing. I want to give you something more precious. Something I don't have a lot of...My time. I want to meet you, hear your story, and craft a roadmap. Just say Kirito's story is why you reached out and I'll understand.

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