Part I: Interview with Joel Silverman, Hollywood trainer and author of 'What Color Is Your Dog'

May 31, 5:14 PMShowbiz Pets ExaminerLorraine Goodman

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Joel and his "mellow-yellow" companion, Foster

Joel Silverman, best know as Dreyfuss’s (real name: Bear) trainer on the hit TV series “EMPTY NEST,” was recently in New York City to promote his new book, “What Color Is Your Dog.”  I was fortunate enough to speak with him about his philosophy on training, the meaning of the “ colors” in the title of his book, his background working with marine mammals such as Pacific and Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins, California sea lions, and killer whales for Sea World and his training treat of choice, Bil-Jac.

L: Let me start with a question regarding training and the controversy over coercive versus positive methods.

JS: I don’t know anyone who uses coercive methods. The definition of ‘coercion’ is ‘using force or intimidation to obtain compliance.’ I don’t use that type of training, I don’t know anyone who uses that type of training. Now, if you’re talking about gentle manipulation -- absolutely – but in my world,  there is no such thing as coercion.

As far as using “All positive training” –  when people talk of  “all positive,” I don’t know what that means. There needs to be some sort of correction involved in animal training,  but people need to understand what a ‘correction’ is. I’m very, very specific in my book about that -- about what a correction is. Animals need to understand right from wrong.  But just because an animal did something incorrectly does not mean you should do something that is going to harm the animal. Oftentimes, just having the animal repeat the behavior is, in fact, a correction. The best ‘correction’ is one that is least likely to jeopardize the relationship between the animal and the trainer.

Unfortunately, some people believe that animals never do anything wrong. They don’t understand that animals, like children, need to be taught the difference between  right and wrong. And so there will be some little, 80 pound girl who lives in Nebraska in the middle of nowhere and needs direction and has a 120 pound Rottweiler out of control because someone told her that she should only do positive training and never do a correction.  What’s going to happen to that dog? He never gets any training and so gets returned to the shelter and is destroyed. We want to give these people a chance. That’s why we wrote this book: “What color is your dog.”

Joel explained his training philosophy further.  

JS: The first step is to develop that  great relationship and trust with that animal, develop that bond, prior to training. Spend 2 – 3 weeks, getting to know your dog: what the animal likes, what he doesn’t like.  As that happens, your going to find your dog has a personality. That personality is given a color. The middle color, or the middle of the spectrum, is the “yellow dog”– ‘mellow yellow’—the perfect dog .

One end of the spectrum is the “red dog.” This dog is incredibly off the wall, crazy, out of control.
“Orange” is between red and yellow. The “orange dog” is very high strung.

At the other end of the spectrum is “blue.” The “blue dog” is  afraid of the world, afraid of everything.
Between blue and yellow, you have “green.” The “green dog” is apprehensive. Not a blue, but it can go that direction.

So we have: blue / green / yellow / orange / red.

So, now that I told you:  ‘Red dog – out of control’  and ‘blue dog -- afraid of the world’  -- would you ever train a red and blue dog the same way? Absolutely not. The way you walk,  the way you talk, the way you move, the way you reward, the way you correct; even the tools you use are night and day. So, the greens & blues and sometimes even yellow dogs, they need motivation: clickers, treats, food – you need to motivate and build these animals up.

On the other hand, with warmer color dogs, oranges and reds – do you really want to incorporate treats, as treats and clickers build these animals up? Instead, you’re going to want to calm these animals, cause’ they’re already out of control. So what I recommend are tactile rewards:  initially petting these  warmer colored dogs. This calms the animal down and at the same time, gives reinforcement. As the animal starts moving towards the center of the spectrum, from a red to orange or orange to yellow, you can start incorporating treats and things like that. And the point is: a dog will change colors: blues become greens, greens become yellows, reds become oranges, oranges become yellows: and using this technique, they will  move towards the center of the spectrum. That’s why I created this book, because I got tired of one trainer forcing their technique on all dogs, because all dogs are different.

Let me add – with the cooler colored dogs, Bil-jac is a big part of what I do. They believe in what I do.  I’ve used treats for many years – and the food as well. They’re a huge part of what I do.

L: Where does the name “Bil-Jac” come from?

JS: Bill Kelly and Jack Kelly, and now Bob Kelley  is the president of the company. I work very closely with them. It’s a family-owned business out of Ohio. Now they have “little jacs” – made for smaller dogs. These little ones are perfect for training. Dogs love them. You know, I grew up as a Hollywood animal  trainer - they’re no big secret in the movie industry, because every  Hollywood trainer I know uses them. They're the Hollywood treat of choice.

Joel on the set, of  "A GOOD YEAR" (2005) - waiting for his cue