Interview With Trainer Joel Silverman

Joel Silverman was recently in Indianapolis to promote his book, “What Color is Your Dog?” Joel has been training animals for many years, and he started out his career training dolphins, sea lions, and killer whales at Sea World. His show, Good Dog U, can be seen on Animal Planet, and he has trained animals for Universal Studios. In addition to “What Color is Your Dog?” Joel has another book coming out in October called “Take 2” that focuses on training solutions for rescued dogs, and a new brand of training tools called “Companions for Life.” He has also been responsible for coordinating and training the cats and dogs in most of the IAMS national commercials and print ads. While in Indy he took some time out of his busy schedule to discuss dog adoption and training with me for my Examiner.com Dog Rescue Column!

Q: What made you shift your focus from training wild animals like dolphins and killer whales to training more domestic animals like dogs? Are there any similarities in the way that these different types of animals are trained?

A: I began as a marine animal trainer, and then moved to training animals at Universal Studios for film. The most important part of training any animal is creating a bond with that animal by developing a trusting relationship between you and the animal. Once you build a relationship with your dog, the dog becomes easier to train because it trusts you.
 

Q: What should a person look for when they want to adopt a dog?

A: Dogs with high prey drive can make great pets and working dogs.
 

Q: What’s high prey drive?

A: Dogs with high prey drive have a strong desire to hunt and kill prey. Their senses of sight, smell, and hearing are greater because they are always looking for prey. This makes them easier to engage and train.
 

Q: How do you recognize a dog with high prey drive?

A: High prey drive dogs will want to play. They are adept at stalking prey, and so they will also chase toys or other moving objects. Certain types of dogs, like Border Collies, Jack Russell Terriers, Australian Shepherds, and Malamars, are known for having high prey drive. It’s not all about the breed, though. Depending on the line that the dog comes from, some can be bred to be used more as pets.

Q: What should you do once you’ve decided to adopt a dog and bring it home?

A: I talk a lot about this in my upcoming book, “Take 2.” For the first 4-7 days you should get to know your dog. The biggest mistake people make is that they have good intentions, and they try to train the dog before knowing its personality and building a trusting relationship with the animal. When you first bring a dog into your house you want to keep it on a leash and introduce it to certain areas. Take the dog out frequently so that it learns to go to the bathroom outside. Keeping it on the leash will keep the dog from wandering your house and getting into stuff that you don’t want it to get into. Very few adopted dogs are going to be perfect right when they walk in the door.
 

The second stage is to build a relationship with your dog by incorporating things that the dog likes into its life and phasing things out the dog doesn’t like. You can tell that you are building a relationship with your dog because it begins to get excited to see you. Once you’ve built a trusting relationship with the dog you can start training, but you shouldn’t try and train your dog before then.
 

Q: What if you already have a dog, and you want to introduce a new dog into the family?

Don’t take your current dog to meet other dogs. You don’t want it to catch kennel cough or something else from a kennel. Male and female dogs work best together. Also, know your dog. If your dog hates other dogs it is unlikely that it will take to a new dog being introduced into the household.
 

Q: Do you have any training tips?

A: For puppies, it’s great to use treats to guide them through behaviors. My favorite treats to use are Bil-Jac treats because the company really stands behind their product. (http://www.bil-jac.com/) Depending on your dog, some will need to be motivated, and some will need control when training. That’s why it’s important to get to know your dog’s personality. My book, “What Color is Your Dog?” talks a lot about this.

Q: What do you recommend for potty training?

A: For potty training, you can go two ways. You can either crate train the dog, or you can use puppy pads for smaller dogs with smaller bladders. When you crate train a dog, he learns to go out when he is taken out of the crate. This helps a dog to learn control, and it will also keep him exhibiting from other destructive behaviors. If he goes to the bathroom in the crate check to make sure the crate is not too big. Sometimes a dog will go to the bathroom on one side of the crate, and then use the other side of the crate to lie down. When you use puppy pads you simply train the dog to use the spot where the pad is placed. It is important with both types of training to take the dog outside, and praise him when he goes in his designated area.
 

Q: What dog safety tips would you recommend to people?

A: Make sure that your dog understands, “no.” This will train your dog to stop what he is doing when you say this. It’s also a good idea to keep your dog in a crate when you are not home so that he can’t engage in activities that would harm him or your house.
 

Q: What do you say to people who think crating dogs is cruel?

A: Anybody who thinks putting a dog in a crate is cruel doesn’t know dogs. Dogs are den animals, and they like living in dens. A crate makes a dog feel safe, and they can be comfortable in their crate for quite a while. Once your dog gets used to his crate, you will notice he goes in there on his own to relax. Sometimes people anthropomorphize, and they need to remember that, yes, putting a human in a crate all day would be cruel, but dogs are not the same as humans.
 

Q: What does anthropomorphize mean?

A: That’s when a person gives animals human reasons for doing animal things.
 

Q: Is there anything else that you would share with people about dog training?

All dogs have different personalities. It’s important to know your dog’s personality, and work with that personality to train him. Not every training technique works with every dog.
 

To get more information on Joel Silverman, his products, and his books (What Color is Your Dog? and Take Two), go to http://www.companionsforlife.net/. Thanks for all the great information, Joel!