I find myself constantly saying to owners of aggressive and fearful dogs, “You’ve got to get the bite out;” but I guess my exhortation is a little too cryptic because a few years ago while I was giving a seminar Trisha, our lovely assistant, finally asked me: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN: ‘Get the bite out?’” […]

What should I do if my dog growls at me? “I told my neighbor what happened and he said his dog growled at him, ONCE. Should I do what my neighbor did?” First, step away from the dog. Step back from the edge. Don’t do anything. Take a deep, deep breath and enjoy a long […]

“Hey kid, want to go to the Dentist? Here’s 50 bucks, get on the chair so I can lock you in.” Sooner or later, virtually every puppy, no matter how juicy the tidbit thrown into the back of its crate, is going to balk at going in once it’s now mature enough to form an […]

Kevin Pushing and Pulling with Hessian

Some of my definitions are scattered across this site and mostly in terms of why-dogs-do-what-they-do, but what follows is a more concise summary. ENERGY: An action potential, a differential of force between two poles. Energy in animals builds up by virtue of a bipolar, two-brain makeup each with its own divergent agenda just as if […]

Kevin talks about how he uses the term “Natural” in regards to training. The objective is to elicit certain emotional states within a dog so as to work with energy.

“What is the nature of the dog?” Is the dog and our understanding of nature all figured out? Natural Dog Training believes that something profound is missing from the current training models and explains its mission in the video below.

You can read more about the dog in this clip at the owner’s blog http://baddoglaszlo.blogspot.com/ . Laszlo, the doberman in the video, was a rescue dog that “upon adoption [he] instantly manifested all the most disturbing rescue-dog behavior problems you could conceive: unhinged aggression towards dogs, unpredictable edginess with people, jumping up, pulling like a […]

You can read more about the dog in this clip at the owner’s blog http://baddoglaszlo.blogspot.com/ . Laszlo, the doberman in the video, was a rescue dog that “upon adoption [he] instantly manifested all the most disturbing rescue-dog behavior problems you could conceive: unhinged aggression towards dogs, unpredictable edginess with people, jumping up, pulling like a […]

Kevin working with Trisha Selbach’s puppy Hero. Kevin explaining his box training method

There are a few simple concepts that help put the theory (emotion as animal energy and as a force of attraction) of Natural Dog Training into practical application in regards to the raising and training of a dog. These will be articulated through the following three articles: (1) “Be the Ground” (2) “Objectify the Problem” […]

Short clip showing Kevin Behan working with a Pit Bull and conducting the Pushing Exercise.

Kevin Behan and Trisha Selbach bring Atikus to the Vets and explain how to vet any dog using the Natural Dog Training method. They discuss how the common conceptions of ‘taming’ your dog, i.e. giving it a lot of ‘love’ and attention, can actually put more stress on your pet. Watch the video for step-by-step […]

Kevin and Trisha continue to discuss a vet visit from the perception of your pet, plus Kevin gives tips on what you should look for when you’re searching for a veterinarian.

Kevin describes in more detail his experience with Atikus, a dog afraid of the vets who was featured in the previous clip. He and Trisha also discuss exactly why dogs can be so afraid of such a visit, and even how we as humans can relate to this type of experience. Also learn what Kevin […]

Watch the video and hear Kevin Behan explain the theory of Natural Dog Training.

Currently dog owners are presented with two competing definitions for the nature of dogs. Proponents of the dominance theory believe that the canine mind is organized around a social hierarchy of rank and therefore being a pack leader is the natural way for an owner to raise and train a dog. Meanwhile, proponents of learning […]

This article, “The Debate over Neutering” is likely to be the most controversial aspect of Natural Dog Training, but it is the inescapable conclusion of the belief that dogs are social by nature. Because if this is true, that dogs are the most cooperative animal on earth, then by definition, even their sexual makeup is […]

In the early eighties I found myself describing certain behaviors as “electric,” as for example when a dog is defensive, fearful or hyper, bristling, tense, taut and touchy, while other behaviors I intuitively would call “magnetic,” as for example when a dog is rolling on the ground, body contacting with others, supple to the touch, […]

The purpose of this section: why dogs do what they do is to demonstrate that dog behavior is a function of a “networked-intelligence”. The system logic of this intelligence is emotion. Dogs “know” what to do by virtue of how they feel. To date explorations of why-dogs-do-what-they-do; from the days of Descartes versus Voltaire to […]

For most of my thirty years as a dog trainer, I thought dog training, and in particular working with problem dogs, meant first and foremost changing the dog’s behavior; a “fix-the- dog-to-make-things-better” approach. But the more I became aware of the inner emotional dynamic that was running a dog’s behavior, and how this was also […]

Evolution is the story of overcoming resistance. Things must be broken down in order to exploit their energy. Concentrating and storing energy in order to overcome resistance is the organizing principle of every species’ anatomy, physiology and behavior. Inside your dog is a battery, an emotional reservoir filled with “unresolved emotion”. Unresolved emotion is created […]