HE IS CALLED the “Russian Dog Wizard.” With years of observing dog behavior and working with them combined with an excellent facility in language, Vladae Roytapel has become the premier trainer – often just known as The Russian Dog Trainer. He has developed a special language for communicating with dogs, he calls “doglish.”
“Dogs have their own culture, including language, sounds, smells, body movements and posturing,” says Roytapel. “Their behaviors are unique to them and completely different from ours.” This special language has helped countless dog owners communicate with their pets effectively and efficiently, enabling them to eliminate numerous persistent behavioral problems. This exciting new development in human-dog communication involves mimicking the postures and sounds of dogs in order to simulate a dog-to-dog relationship between dog and owner.
Vladae believes, “If you treat your dog like a human, in return they will treat you as a dog.”
“I honestly believe that changing the dog’s behavior is the easiest part of my business,” says Roytaapel. While changing human behavior may be difficult, the dog’s behavior will never be changed, unless the owner is willing to be changed.
Instead of adapting ourselves to the dog’s way of thinking, it is necessary for us to change the dog’s way of thinking. He believes that any behavior problem in the canine world, besides genetics, reflects three simple things: The first is the lack of structure or discipline in the dog’s life. Second, is not meeting the dog’s physical, social and mental needs. Dogs should have physical exercise every day. A good dog is a tired dog. Mental exercise comes with implementing obedience training. The third is frustration often caused by conflicting messages from the dog owner.
“Dog training from the dog’s point of view is the secret of my success,” says, Roytapel. He specializes in home-based training, where most of the problems occur. We are able to give individualized attention and meet special needs. His method is not your typical “treat training” program. It is based on communication with the dog in language and movement.
Six weeks ago, Lynne Erlich and her husband rescued two adorable puppies. Now while there were indeed cute, they also had some real problems; they wouldn’t listen and the male was fearful, hated men and would not allow her husband near him. If the door opened they would dash out the door regardless of how they were called back. And they would walk Lynne instead of her walking them. Today they are like different dogs: obedient and happy.
“I have been working with animals since I was a boy growing up in the communist state of Azerbaijani in the former Soviet Union. As a Jew in a Muslim state, I had to learn how to survive. There is a Russian saying, ‘Live among wolves one must learn to howl like a wolf’.”
For Roytapel, it meant becoming the best at anything he tried and becoming the best certified dog trainer. He and his family immigrated to the United States about 20 years ago to enjoy greater freedoms. He has 30 years of professional experience in three continents, and speaks five languages. Of course, one of them is canine.
For more information visit his website at www.socaldogtraining.com.
101 Russian Dog Wizard Advice
Loose Leash
Always walk your dog on a loose leash. Tension on a leash can cause frustration which may be taken out on other dogs or moving objects.
Supervise
Supervise your dog at all times. You must witness a problem in order to correct it and prevent it from reoccurring
A Tired Dog is a Good Dog
Fulfill your dog’s needs both mentally and physically. A 15 – 20-minute run, twice a day will serve your dogs’ physical needs. 30 minutes of obedience training will have a therapeutically profound effect on your dog and will serve your dogs’ mental needs.
Attention
You can’t teach a dog if you do not have his attention. Get his attention first before you give a command.
Jobs
If you don’t give your dog a job to perform at, he will eventually find one himself and you won’t like what he chooses!
Calm and Assertive
Do not yell and scream at your dog when he is behaving badly.
Attachment
Don’t let your dog follow you around like a laser guided missile. This behavior can lead to separation anxiety.
Love and Discipline
Always balance love with discipline and structure. If love was all that was needed, my business would not be thriving!
Tonality
Tone of voice is extremely important. A high pitch tone is a sign of approval and a low tone is a sign of disapproval. Your dog will clearly understand this.
Praise
Praise your dog for doing something right. Praise does not always mean you have to shower your dog with affection. It simply means you need to say, “Good boy / girl” in a high pitch tone of voice.
Ignoring Problems
Ignoring problem behavior will not make it go away. Ignoring is condoning and condoning is approval in your dogs’ mind.
Behaving Badly
Dogs behave badly because they know they can and they don’t understand it is wrong.
Rabbi Florence L. Dann, Beit Sefer Director of Temple Beth Israel of Pomona, has been a contributing writer to Jlife since 2004.
