Daniel and Shari Forst :: Qualification / Philosophy

Just to give you a little background on whom we are at Canine Case Squad and where we evolved. We began our training education in 1990 studying and getting certified by the Animal Behavior Center of New York. We are both Board Certified Behaviorists and certified trainers and over the last 18 years we have worked with all breeds of dogs. Currently Daniel and Shari are members of the Association of Companion Animal Behavior Counselors, Shari is the executive director of the organization, and Daniel has been a board member for several years. They also have had the honor of lecturing to trainers and behaviorists at the ABCNY School as well as at a number of seminars.

When we first started in the field we had focused on traditional training teaching on and off leash obedience, tracking, agility and attack work. As we continued our work in the field we came to realize that traditional training didn’t focus enough on canine behaviorism or solutions to behavior related problems. Once we came to this conclusion we started studying behaviorism and our education started in earnest. While to this day we do believe in training; and offer it to our clients, the study of behaviorism opened a whole new world to us as canine professionals. By studying wolf packs and their behavior, as well as being lucky enough to have had great teachers of this within our own dogs and the professionals that taught us, we formed our own approach to dogs and their owners.

We are often asked what the difference is between Training and Behaviorism. Training opens communication between owner and dog, allows the dog to understand what an owner wants him or her to do. This is usually in the form of sit, stay, come, down, heel and more advanced commands as the dog progresses. Behaviorism looks at why a dog does things and figures out how to resolve the issues. This is usually seen in destructive behavior, aggression, ‘the bad dog syndrome’ and real behavioral disorders. The behaviorist looks into the canine mind to figure out how the dog thinks and lets owners understand why the behavior is occurring and then comes up with a plan to correct it. At times it requires simple counter conditioning or retraining of owner interactions and rangers all the way to mental disorders requiring medication and advanced behavioral techniques to resolve.

Many people that we deal with do not understand that regardless of the size of their canine companion the dogs mind is still that of its hereditary ancestor the wolf. There is no getting around the fact that they look at the world from this pack mentality. While in today’s age it is more accepted by owners that dogs base their lives on this pack mentality, most owners still don’t know what that means. Over and over we hear people say, he doesn’t know he is a dog or he is more my child then my pet. While we ourselves treat our dogs as members of our family it is only fair that we try understanding what they are thinking and how our actions affect them. Quite often a well meaning, loving dog owner will find themselves in the situation that their dog is ‘acting up’ or they will tell us he is good 90% of the time but during this.. Or when this happens he just has problems. When we come into someone’s home and start observing what is going on and how the family is interacting with the dog the problem jumps out at us that the owner’s misinterpretation of what the dog is thinking or experiencing from his view point is the cause of this behavior. While we patiently explain what is transpiring from the dog’s point of view you can see clarity coming into the owner’s eyes for the first time.

Quite often an owner will shout out with amazement, "Oh my, I never thought of that, so that’s why he does that". In today’s advanced age many owners know words like pack leadership and alpha dog but they don’t truly understand what being in charge of your pack means nor how to achieve it.

Our goal is to educate both owners and their dogs in order for both to live a happy life together. Many dogs live their lives nervous and ‘stressed out’ due to lack of understanding on their owners part, this also causes the owners to live with problems ranging from mild and annoying to severe and dangerous situations; all out of a simple lack of understanding. By evaluating the situation we give the owners the knowledge to change the dynamic around causing a happy environment for the dogs and the household.

During more severe cases we will often consult with your veterinarian regarding pharmaceutical intervention on either a short term or long term basis. Over the last several years there is a whole host of medications recommended for behavioral issues and from research, education and experience we will gladly give your doctor our recommendation on what medication is appropriate for a particular disorder and why we feel it is the best choice. Studies have shown that most of the time medication is used for behavioral issues it is most effective when coupled with behavioral modification techniques. We always recommend that any dog placed on medicine for these issues receive follow up care with both a behaviorist and veterinarian to ensure the best mental and physical outcome for the animal.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions regarding our background, training and behavior methods; as well as any assistance we can provide you for your clients experiencing behavioral disorders or routine problems.