Richard Chan
Be an allocator
Is leadership about being dominance? You can actually be a leader rather easily. Read on...
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Transforming Challenging Dogs into Perfect Companions since 1996
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Richard Chan
- Aug 22, 2018
- 1 min
You are a mirror
You are like a mirror to your dog.
If you cannot stand being away from your dog for a second, your dog will likely also feel the same way and suffers separation anxiety.
If you are very emotional, your dog will likely be reactive, too.
Training can only help so much. You need to change.
Instead of being the mirror, you can be the role model.
If your dog is very obsessive, you can act independent.
If your dog is very reactive, you can be aloof and calm.
You can l
Richard Chan
- Jul 25, 2018
- 4 min
The power of “no” and the power to protect
Harley just went back to Whistler BC after finishing his boarding here.
We just finished a lesson with his lovely owners, who came here after an epic flight back from Europe.
We went over something in the lesson that l like to talk a little bit about here.
In order for Harley to feel safe and stop reacting, he needs to believe that his human can absolutely take care of the situations for him. This is about trust.
There is a part of trust that is not often talked about
Richard Chan
- Jul 13, 2018
- 3 min
A turning point in my career
Many owners were told they should use desensitization and counter conditioning when they have a reactive dog.
They were told they should never use correction, they were told they should never punish the dog for reacting, they were told they should never make the dog uncomfortable.
I was one of those people years ago.
We were told we had to keep the bar opened so to speak whenever a dog appeared. We were told to pour high value treats onto a dog when another dog appeared
Richard Chan
- Jun 14, 2018
- 1 min
Quality time
Q: l spend awesome quality time with my dog when we snuggle on the sofa watching tv together. Other than that, what else do you recommend l do with my dog?
A: Spending quality time with your dog is not the same as coddling or snuggling with your dog.
When l think of quality time, l think of spending time to train my dog, walk my dog, and play with my dog.
These activities can challenge my dog, educate my dog, and encourage my dog.
They are “quality” because they can e
Richard Chan
- Jan 5, 2017
- 2 min
Freedom
Our human view of freedom is often about letting our dog do whatever he wants. For an anxious/fearful/timid dog, this could however be interpreted as not having a leader to follow with no clear set of rules to observe, which can make such a dog more confused and insecure. To a dog, freedom is about not having to doubt and worry. It is about having someone who can guide and protect them. When we allow our dogs lots of freedom, we are also asking them to make lots of decisions
Richard Chan
- Sep 9, 2016
- 2 min
Dont just stand there!
Many owners tell me their dogs will not pay attention to them once they see another dog in public. Their dogs just totally ignore them. The owners would become totally irrelevant. Their dogs never come when called and are simply put, impossible to control. You have to be someone that your dog really wants to be with in order for your dog to love spending time with you. You cannot be that person if you hardly spend any quality time with your dog. Spending quality time is about
Richard Chan
- Sep 3, 2016
- 4 min
Don't be like the teacher who lies.
I like to take this opportunity to talk about the protocol of meeting a person or dog. I teach all my dogs to stay calmly by my side when a person/dog walks towards us. I also teach my dogs to engage in me. I teach them to wait for permission before they go say hi, if l choose to do so. Even if an off leash dog runs towards my dog in an off leash area and they want to play, my dog will stay by me until l give her the okay to engage. If l do not want them to say hi for whateve
Richard Chan
- Sep 2, 2016
- 3 min
Keep a close watch on the bubble.
Your dog has a personal bubble. It varies in sizes depending on where he is, how he feels, and what he is facing. As your dog's leader, you need to be very in tune with how big your dog needs that bubble to be at all time. If your dog sees a trigger and needs a bigger bubble (i.e. more personal space), you can creat that by staying further away from the trigger. Distance is the key. You can just walk around, turn 90 degree, or make a u turn, to increase distance. Lots of dogs
Richard Chan
- Aug 31, 2016
- 2 min
Dogs are not cats.
A dog is not a cat. If you want a well behaved dog, please walk your dog daily. I do at least 60% of my training and socialization when l am walking my dogs. I spend lots of time walking my dogs - I walk them in a pack, and l walk them one on one; l walk them on leash and off leash; l walk them structurally as well as unstructurally... During the walk, a dog gets to know me and build a relationship with me in an instinctual manner. He will read my body language and observe ho
Richard Chan
- Jul 28, 2016
- 2 min
Energy
--The owner comes home and sees his dog at the door. The dog is very excited, tail wagging, drooling, jumping, spinning...and the owner becomes really excited too. He hugs and kisses and makes a big fuss with the dog. --On his walk, when the dog sees another dog he feels very anxious and lunges at the dog, the owner becomes anxious and frustrated, too. Now, he feels so nervous whenever he sees a dog coming. --The owner wants to talk on the phone but the dog sits in front of h
Richard Chan
- Jul 14, 2016
- 1 min
I have spent a fortune on her!
Many dogs are so imbalanced and anxious but if they look "excited" once in a while people think they are fine. Many dogs are sadly an accessory to feed the human's emotional need, nothing more. They are being treated like stuffed animals always standing by to provide hugs and kisses. Nowadays, it is hard to offer advice to people on respecting dogs like dogs--not as human babies--because many people will ask "then why should l have a dog?" A dog becomes something people selfi
Richard Chan
- Apr 29, 2016
- 1 min
Dont be a spectator
Exercise is not just important because it can tire out your dog; structured play and exercise with your dog can build engagement and deepen your relationship as well. Engagement is about teaching your dog to look to you for what he wants and that includes when your dog wants to play. Teaching engagement can be lots of fun for everyone. In my case, whenever l go to the beach l always play some fun games with Anja so she gets into the habit of anticipating a fun game with me in
Richard Chan
- Apr 23, 2016
- 2 min
Fish & Chips
I want to use a very simply example to talk about something that is often missed in dog-human relationship, which is respect. Respect and engagement go hand in hand--you cannot look up to someone you do not respect, and you cannot respect someone you never pay much attention to. In this videos, 8-year-old Canissa was eating her favorite Fish n Chips in public with 1-year-old Spot in a down/stay by her side. Although Canissa was a tiny child sitting all by herself in front of
Richard Chan
- Apr 15, 2016
- 3 min
When your best friend becomes your boss
Imagine a best friend whom you went to the same schools and university with who now works with you in the same company. You had shared everything and talked about everything since you were 8. You were working together in the same company in the same position then one day she got promoted and became your manager. She started telling you what to do, she stopped talking to you about some management stuff that she was not allowed to share with you. She became very busy and spent
Richard Chan
- Apr 11, 2016
- 1 min
He must be yanking on that prong collar!
When I take my pack out for a walk, the last thing I want to do is to yank and drag them to where I want to go. I like to have a relaxing and peaceful walk whereas the dogs will follow and listen to me without any conflict. Trying to overpower them I can never win because they are more powerful than I am and weight more than me. These dogs all came to me with a list of problems. None of them could walk nicely on leash when they first came--they were all massive pullers. Now t
Richard Chan
- Apr 11, 2016
- 2 min
Dogs don't give up but sometimes we do.
My idea of making this video comes from being told by many people when I first got Spot that I should never let her off leash because she was so anxious she could never be trusted... Many did not even believe that it was possible for her to ever have a normal life on leash, never mind off leash freedom. I believe often what we expect from our dogs is bounded by our own limited vision. We hold our dogs back because we fail to comprehend how far a dog can go with proper trainin
Richard Chan
- Mar 29, 2016
- 1 min
Opened doors mean nothing at all.
Teaching a dog to wait at threshold (doors, entrance, stair...) is very important. Not only can it save a dog's life in extreme cases, it can also benefit all dogs by teaching them how to stay tuned in to their owners, control their impulse, and stay calm even when they are in an excitable situation. In this short clip, I just arrived at a beach and the dogs were obviously excited and looking forward to play. As you can see, after I have opened all the doors they stayed insid
Richard Chan
- Mar 26, 2016
- 6 min
I must make my dog "friendly"!
A lot of dog owners like to encourage their dogs to say hi to other dogs and people. They believe that if they do not do this, their dogs will not be friendly and could become aggressive. Because of this mindset many owners spend many hours and lots of money to "socialize" their dogs to make sure they have a "friendly" dog. Many day cares or boarding facilities call it social experience when they put a bunch of dogs together and let them play until they are tired. Often, to t
Richard Chan
- Mar 24, 2016
- 3 min
Don't take your dog out for his walk.
I was in a restaurant and there was a couple sitting next to our table. The wife was really dressed up, her hair was beautifully done, her makeup was impeccably applied, and the gown she was wearing matched perfectly with her purse and her necklace. The husband, on the other hand, was very casually dressed in a polo shirt and a pair of jeans. He appeared to be quite troubled by something at work and spent his whole evening on his phone, while the wife quietly ate across from
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