Educating Fido : Dog Trainers, the Lords of Discipline, Use Praise to Win Canine Obedience

Is your best friend an obsessive people-pleaser? Does she have trouble controlling her chewing, jumping and barking?

No 12-step recovery program has been developed for dogs, and they can’t join Barkers Anonymous, but sending them to a trainer can eliminate most types of dysfunctional behavior.

Choosing a trainer for your dog may be akin to choosing that first day-care center for your child. Will anyone give as much love as you? Most trainers claim that they will, but they are not required to be licensed, so check their references and sit in on a class.

The trainers mentioned below use a variety of methods, but all agree that praise is at the foundation of their work.

Short of analyzing your dog’s Freudian dreams, Animal Behavior & Training Associates in Northridge will apply the behavioral techniques of B.F. Skinner to stop your best friend from digging, chewing, growling and channeling his separation anxieties into aggressive tendencies.

In other words, “when the dog does something appropriate, he gets praise,” said Training Associates co-owner Michael Steinberg, adding that stern language is used when some dogs do not perform.

Steinberg, who holds a master’s degree in psychology, said he also uses “systematic desensitization” on phobic dogs. The technique, developed by behavioral psychologist Joseph Wolpe, gradually exposes a dog to such fears as loud noises. The dog is praised when it does not show anxiety.

The company says it trains about 70 dogs in owners’ homes each month and charges from $150 to $700 for up to 12 weeks of lessons. Food is used as a reward in the beginning, but is gradually phased out.

“Sometimes you get a dog who is a glutton,” said Steve Appelbaum, 28, who joined Steinberg, 38, to form the business four years ago. “Let’s face it, a ‘num num’ is more desirable than a pat on the head.”

But Jim Canino, owner of Jim Canino School of Dog Training in Sylmar, said a “counterfeit dog” is produced when food is used.

“I don’t like the type of dog it produces,” said Canino, 51, who has trained dogs for 25 years. “What would happen if you gave me some cocaine every day I went to work? I’d become an addict.”

Dogs are kenneled in three buildings behind Canino’s home. He offers 10-week on- and off-leash obedience training courses that include kenneling and the basics of “sit,” “heel,” “stay,” “stand,” “down” and “come,” among others.

Canino would not reveal prices of private classes but said he charges $75 for eight-week group classes in Chatsworth and Sherman Oaks.

The somewhat controversial “Koehler method,” which sometimes punishes a dog for bad behavior, is used at his school, Canino said. “You don’t beat them to death or draw blood,” he said. “But if they bite you, you don’t give them a cookie either.”

Bill Koehler, head trainer at Disney Studios for 21 years, turned out well-behaved canines for such pictures as “The Shaggy Dog,” “Toby Tyler,” “Big Red” and “Savage Sam.”

Koehler, 74, who lives in Ontario, said the only people who criticize his training method are those who haven’t read his book. “They’ll go right to the correction part,” he said, explaining that the second half of the book advises owners to whack problem dogs across the nose with a rubber hose or dunk their heads in a water-filled hole to discourage digging.

Koehler said off-leash control of a dog is “the bottom line in training.” A dog should perform basic obedience tasks off its leash within 10 weeks of being trained on the leash, he said. Most trainers suggest that dogs be introduced to training at 12 weeks of age.

Group lessons, Koehler said, are an ideal way to socialize dogs with other animals and people. “You’re deliberately giving them distractions,” he said. “We furnish a goat, a French lop rabbit, cats; we have chickens and a duck and, now and then, we use guinea pigs. Those are standard.” Koehler said the animals are kept in cages during the training.

Michael Kamer, owner of Kamer Canine College in North Hollywood, also uses a rabbit to socialize dogs and agreed that praise is what dogs crave most.

“You’re feeding his esteem. You’re feeding him love and affection,” said Kamer, 45, who began his career as a sentry dog trainer for the United States Air Force in 1963. Kamer charges $850 for a month-long basic obedience course, which includes kenneling.

Julie Strauss, who began her career by coaching a rat to rob banks, said socializing dogs with other animals is an important aspect of her work.

Costs $65 an Hour

“They have to learn manners, like we all have to learn manners,” said Strauss, 42, who charges $65 an hour to train dogs or cats in owners’ homes through her business, Teacher’s Pet, in North Hollywood.

Strauss said she trained a rat, Gatsby, to rob a bank during her final examination at Moorpark College, where she earned an associate of arts degree in exotic animal training and management. “I built a little Western set,” Strauss said, explaining that Gatsby was trained to crawl along ramps and jump from roof to roof of the set, looking for a money bag that Strauss had hidden.

“I would say, ‘OK, Gatsby, get the money out of the bank and I’ll meet you on the other side of town,’ ” Strauss said, adding that Gatsby was also taught to jump into a stagecoach, pick up the reins and drive it away.

“They’re very loving; they’re very smart,” Strauss said of rats. “I think I’ll always have rats as one of my pets. One of Gatsby’s best friends was my dog, Strawberry. She saved Gatsby’s life one time when Gatsby fell in the toilet and was drowning. They were very good friends.”

‘Start Young’

The best time to introduce dogs to other species is when they are young, Strauss said. “That’s why I believe in puppy training. Your dog will be more adjusted as an adult.”

Should your dog prefer to socialize with dog celebrities, the Hollywood Dog Training School in North Hollywood has housed the likes of Lassie and Rin Tin Tin. Twenty trainers work with 30 to 50 dogs a day, school officials said, using on- and off-leash basic obedience courses priced from $800 to $1,500, including kenneling.

Carl Spitz Sr., who trained Toto for “The Wizard of Oz,” began the school on Ventura Boulevard in 1927 and moved it to its Vanowen Street location in the early 1950s.

Present owner Richard Karl, a former guide-dog instructor, said he incorporates some of Koehler’s method in his work and never uses food, unless he is teaching a dog tricks.

Karl, as with many dog trainers in the area, has trained a number of celebrities’ dogs, including Starbuck, the late Lorne Greene’s Australian shepherd; Lolly, Chevy Chase’s golden retriever, and Bruno, Tina Turner’s white German shepherd.

Sandy Tooke, who brings Winston, her springer spaniel, to Canino for training, said her dog can “absolutely hold his own” against the celebrity dogs that Canino has trained, which include Jabba, Doris Day’s bull mastiff; Mr. Jones, Don Johnson’s golden retriever; Bobo, Charles Bronson’s mutt, and Nufie, Burt Bacharach’s Newfoundland.

“But it would be wonderful if Winston could become friends with their doggies,” Tooke said. “Then I could meet Don Johnson.”