Article from March 2009 edition of St. Louie Tails:

Tamar Geller

By Janice Brown and Melissa Wiley

The loved life coach for dogs and their people

Known as Oprah's favorite dog trainer and the dog guru to the stars, Tamar Geller has far more to offer than star power to her many followers. She provides genuine insight and passion for the well-intentioned guardian at wit's end trying to understand a lovable dog’s unlovable behavior.

Her signature method, the Loved Dog, aims to transform the dog and person both by building rapport between them. Seeing her mission as far more than training dogs to be obedient, Geller prefers being called a life coach for people and dogs. Her focus is on enhancing the relationship between guardian and dog. "If you don’t have rapport, the dog will not listen to you if you give him half an opportunity to ignore you. How do you build rapport? With games. So what games are we going to play? Let’s play games that teach them how to sit, how to come, how to stay—these are all games," enthuses Geller.

The Loved Dog method raises a person’s awareness of his or her own tone of voice and opportunities to praise the dog. Practitioners of the method frequently tell Geller that these techniques often work wonders with their spouses and children as well! Geller says that coaching your dog with positive reinforcement, acknowledging the little things, can serve as training wheels for people in the rest of your life.

Geller herself is perhaps the best example of putting good doggie training into people practice, particularly with the launch of two nonprofits. Another Chance for Love allows shelter dogs and juvenile delinquents to make a new start together. Through Operation Heroes & Hounds, injured members of the U.S. military coach and train shelter dogs using the Loved Dog method. Both programs are mutually rehabilitative—for the juvenile delinquents, soldiers, and shelter dogs alike. As a pilot program, Operation Heroes & Hounds is currently focused exclusively on the Marine Corps, but Geller hopes to expand it throughout the entire U.S. armed forces. The program is clearly a point of merited pride for Geller: "I'm so proud of it because I'm giving a voice to the dogs who are on death row. These dogs are on death row, sitting there, begging for someone to hear their heart and to say, 'You know I'm a good dog. I’m sorry it didn't work out with my previous [guardian], but it doesn't make me bad.' How many of us didn't work out with a relationship? And nobody put us down. Nobody put us to sleep, thank God."

Operation Heroes & Hounds is particularly close to Geller's heart, as she herself is a former intelligence officer with the Special Forces of the Israeli Army. She observed the training of Israeli military dogs with dismay. But when her service ended, she began a wholly different life studying bird behavior in the Israeli desert. This experience also provided Geller the opportunity to observe wolves at night in their natural habitat, where she had a revelation, the effects of which we're still seeing to this day. It was while watching the wolves that she noticed they teach their young through games, not harsh discipline. "It opened my eyes," says Geller, who was born and raised in Israel. "I realized that being the leader of the pack is not about making another one submissive. Being a leader of the pack is not about alpha rollover, challenging each other. It's not with harshness."

After moving to the U.S., Geller opened Southern California's first cage-free doggie daycare and boarding facility in 1996. The proposition was fraught with legal challenges, costing Geller 14 months' worth of time and legal fees to receive permission to open the facility within Los Angeles. Running a cage-free facility means that Geller and her staff have to screen incoming dogs carefully to ensure the well-being of all the dogs. This doesn't mean that Geller shies away from aggression entirely, however. "We can work with aggression a lot, because often most people see aggression as coming from dominance, but actually most aggression comes from fear. So if we can empower the dog, build the dog's confidence, which is completely opposite to getting the dog to be submissive … then we can work."

Much of Geller's philosophy pivots on her theory that dogs display aspects of both wolves and human toddlers. "Coaching a dog is to coach him to that other part that is toddlerlike," says Geller. Puppies, then, display the wolflike behavior that makes them narcissistic, connected only to the physical part of them, according to Geller. "If puppies were not so cute, no one would put up with them. … You can take a puppy, but if puppies are so great, then why are 60 percent of the dogs who end up in shelters younger than a year of age? If it's so easy, then how come they are the majority?" Geller also says that 99 percent of the time the reason for puppy misbehavior is understimulation, mentally and physically, which is particularly true for Labradors, one of the perennially most popular breeds of dog. "We all know that they stay puppies until almost age 3. Up until age 3, you have a tornado, and everybody says, 'Well, but I thought Labradors are great with kids.' Well [they’re not great with] kids when they’re the height of the dog's tail. It'll smack your kid in the face."

Because of the high rate of surrender of puppies, Geller is a professed proponent of adopting older dogs. Adoption of any animal, however, is a passion of Geller's and what she calls, in light of Earth Day, the ultimate recycling. Geller personally volunteers with local L.A. shelters, such as Last Chance for Animals. She has also been a vegetarian for 25 years.

When asked how a guardian can change a dog's behavior in 5 or 10 minutes, Geller recommends practicing saying your dog’s name only when talking to him, preferably for fun reasons. Second, begin naming basic objects and actions, just as you might do for a toddler. "When your dog is drinking, say, ‘Drink, drink, drink,'" she urges. "When your dog is stretching in the morning, say, 'Bow, bow.'" Finally, Geller encourages you to simply celebrate your life with your dog. "Celebrate everything that he’s doing that is even remotely good. Celebrate."

St. Louis Critter Sitters

Recipe Corner

Beggar Biscuits

Dog Food Recipe Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   
   
2. Lightly oil a cookie sheet.
   
   
3. Combine flour, dry milk, salt, garlic powder and sugar.
   
   
4. Cut in meat drippings until mixture resembles corn meal.
   
   
5. Mix in egg.
   
   
6. Add enough water so that mixture forms a ball.
   
   
7. Using your fingers, pat out dough onto cookie sheet to half inch thick.
   
   
8. Cut with cookie cutter or knife and remove scraps.
   
   
9. Scraps can be formed again and baked. Bake 25 to 30 minutes.
   
   
10. Remove from tray and cool on rack.

Source:  www.i-love-dogs.com

—Mark And Michelle Lasky, Reseda, CA

A.
Quality of life is the balance between pleasant and unpleasant feelings experienced over a period of time. You can improve your dog’s quality of life by providing company and mental stimulation; minimizing changes in his environment that can lead to unpleasant surprises; and providing a comfortable environment, hygiene, regular veterinary care, and good nutrition.

While no longer able to experience some pleasurable activities the way he did before, with your help and through psychological adaptation, he will enjoy life almost or as much as has until now.


—Dr. Amir Shanan is owner of Compassionate Veterinary Care in Chicago.