Dear Jo.com:

In reference to your column about dogs and loud noises, you must not have ever heard of the Thundershirt. This jacket has helped thousands of dogs with anxiety problems and is recommended by vets and trainers around the world. This jacket, when worn by your dog, applies a gentle, constant pressure that has a dramatic calming effect for most dogs.

Dear readers.com:

I am sure that this jacket is a very good product when used properly. Such as, when you are in situations beyond your control and your dog is with you and needs extra reassurance that you are in control and everything is going to be alright. Otherwise, the jacket will only become a “security blanket” to your dog and the jacket will be the only thing your dog will learn to trust to protect them from their fears. The jacket must never be used as a fix for any kind of behavior problem.

I do not have a “for instance” story about the Thundershirt (yet), but I do have a great one about the use of “shock collars” for training: The outcomes can be bazaar when quick fixes are used for training animals — even by professionals.

About a year ago a gentleman wrote me for advice for his young Black Lab that he had purchased from a well known trainer from another state. This trainer bred and trained these dogs for bird hunting. The gentleman paid a little more than $2,000 for this dog and the dog was very well trained and could out perform any other dog in their camp.

The problems with this dog would only arise when the gentleman would take the “shock collar” off his dog once back at camp. This young Lab would instantly become a typical young Lab: running and jumping every where, totally out of control. The young dog would not load or even come when called, much less sit or stay.

So the gentleman took the young Lab back to the trainer thinking he, the owner, needed to be trained to gain the needed control of this dog. Once again the trainer trained this dog obedience but, with the shock collar on the dog. The gentleman was so put out with this dog that he was ready to just give him away. He wrote me asking, “how do I get control of this out of control dog?”

My answer was very simple: You Sir must become the leader of your dog’s world, not the shock collar. You will need to take 30 minutes a day and start training your dog obedience to you, not the shock collar.

You will start with a one word command such as “sit” and stay with that word until your dog sits every time you give the command. Then you move on to “sit-stay” by making him sit a short while before you give him his reward of a treat or happy words of “good boy” anything that will make your dog look to you for his rewards for following your commands. Each week try new commands and as your dog matures, he will learn that you are indeed his leader and he will feel safe in his world because he has learned to trust you as his leader.

Dogs are no different than our children. You would not give your child a security blanket and depend on that blanket to take care of all of your child’s fears and anxiety in life.

Nor would you place a shock collar on them thinking that shock collar control would be the answer to making well behaved children. Always remember: you must become the leader of your dog’s world by teaching obedience commands to have a well behaved dog, and their training never ends. Just as you can not teach a young child something and expect them to never have to be told again.

At times we all become perplexed with our pet’s behaviors. If you are one of those owners, emails me at josdoggytalk@hotmail.com so others can learn from our discussions. Join us each week right here on the pet page for more on pet behaviors and how to become the leader your pets deserve.