Welcome to the Speaker series at WildLifeRx.
David Utter is busy. He runs a camp for aggressive dogs, trains dogs for the Southern CA Orange Country Police department and works with dogs who have entered the United States via Bunnies Buddies a rescue organization that rescues dogs from the meat market industry in Korea. He is more that eager to share his knowledge so when we had the opportunity to interview him, we did. David is a Master Aggressive Dog Behaviorist who tackles the behavior of aggressive dogs. He will help pet parents with their dogs at every stage of the pet ownership journey but he is a master at specifically working with those that show aggressive tendencies.
Question (Q): What is the name of your business and how can people locate you.
David (D): Dog Evolution is located in Tustin CA but I train all over the United States. Send me an email which can be found on the Dog Evolution website.
Q: Why is so difficult to train dogs?
D: Most pet owners give up or give in well before the dog has understood what is expected of them. In addition, pet owners aren’t consistent as they should be. If the owner is confident and consistent, the dog will eventually want to please them. It takes repetition but this can be achieved with nearly every dog regardless of their age or current behavior.
Q: Tell me about the camps you have?
D: Most of the camps I have are day camps that do not first involve the owner. After I assess the dog to determine their level of understanding, I work on establishing respect, teach rules and challenge those rules until the dogs understand what is expected of them 100% of the time. This is done at my facility and the dogs live there. Once this is established, the owners come and work with me for 3-4 days.
Q: Do you work with dogs deemed aggressive by the county.
D: Yes. After a rescue organizations has pulled the dog from the shelter, the organization will contact me.
Q: Besides consistency, what else should owners do to make sure that the dog continues with what they've learned.
D: In addition to at home training, many owners will schedule follow up at home visits with me 1-2 times a year. I will work with the dog and the owner in their own environment and in environments where there might be issues such as dog parks or around unfamiliar people. I have found that by doing this, aggressive dogs rarely revert to previous behaviors.
Q: Any last minute tips?
D: First, the training of expectations should begin the first day of bringing a new dog into the house. That way the dog is not confused and knows what they can and can not do. Also spaying and neutering the dog will substantially decrease the maternal and territorial drive which often causes aggressive behavior. It is considerably less expensive to do this then to spend the money paying someone like me to fix the dogs already aggressive behavior. Training learned behavior on a non-aggressive dog is substantially less expensive than training the brain of a dog that is already aggressive.
