Cindy Bruckart

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Cindy Bruckart is a dog trainer in the Portland, OR metro area.  

She runs Regarding Rover, LLC offering private training and board & train programs.  

She is also the Play Group Coordinator and Trainer at Multnomah County Animal Shelter, which is an open-admission, Open Paw, county shelter.  

She specializes in puppy and adolescent dog training with a focus on training during off-leash play.

Cindy is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer, an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator, a Certified C.L.A.S.S. Evaluator, blogger, podcast host and public speaker.  She is also a proud, professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.

Cindy is currently traveling the country to speak about shelter play groups in her seminar Beyond Socialization - Using Shelter Play Groups for Training & Assessment.

Blog posts by Cindy Bruckart

Breeds that Need a Firm Hand

Cindy Bruckart  |  Tue, 05/13/2008 - 05:54

I often meet with slightly nervous new puppy owners who explain to me that they’ve been told their breed needs a firm hand from an early age. While this is actually a good idea for any dog, it’s a rather vague statement, isn’t it? I mean, what is firm, exactly?

“A firm hand” is one of those things that can be interpreted differently by many different people. It can be an intimidating challenge for those who are afraid they’re not up to the task, or it can swing way over to the other side and become an excuse for those who are bent on punishment. So, let’s get clear on what the word itself means…

Firm:

1 a : securely or solidly fixed in place b : not weak or uncertain : VIGOROUS c : having a solid or compact structure that resists stress or pressure

2 a (1) : not subject to change or revision (2) : not subject to price weakness : STEADY b : not easily moved or disturbed : STEADFAST c : WELL -founded

3 : indicating firmness or resolution

 

Lost Dog

Cindy Bruckart  |  Sat, 04/26/2008 - 06:56

It’s the ultimate nightmare. Your dog has run off and you have no idea where she is. The sheer panic of this situation is heart wrenching.

In the past few months I have seen two dogs find their way back to their homes after being lost. One of these dogs was gone for 17 days! In both cases, the owners did the following things in an effort to find their lost family members.

First, they made flyers with a current picture of their dog, a description and information as to where the dog was last seen. The flyers were emailed to everyone they knew with a request to pass the flyers on to everyone those people knew.

Posts were made to their local Craigslist and any other appropriate online resources available.

Next, they printed flyers and posted them on every pole and window in a ten mile radius from their home or the last place the dog was seen, or both.

 

Impressive Training Results at Project POOCH

Cindy Bruckart  |  Thu, 03/27/2008 - 07:41

During my first visit to MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, OR to give CGC tests to Project POOCH participants, I had one team that needed to do more training before passing the test. It was hard for me to break the news to them, but there was just no way around it.

It seemed that the dog being tested had never met the handler before. She would look at anything but him. The handler was giving it his all, but it just wasn’t working. I could tell he was a little embarrassed, and a little frustrated, but I had to be honest.

So, I gave him some training advice, explained what exactly needed work and what was okay so far. I should mention that this particular handler wasn’t new to the program and had successfully trained other dogs. He knew what he was doing when it came to training. I think he’d just been a bit lax in his work with this dog.

 

Big Dogs in Puppy Suits

Cindy Bruckart  |  Fri, 03/21/2008 - 08:51

I often use child-rearing analogies in my training. I don’t do this because I think dogs are kids in fur-suits. Not even close. I do it because learning theory applies to all organisms and humans tend to “get it” quicker if I can first relate it to their own, familiar species.

I’ve noticed that I also use what I’m going to call the anti-analogy. The one I use the most speaks to what I see as a really important difference between human behavioral development and that of our household canine. I think it’s a natural mistake that many humans make instinctively.

When we get a new pup, everyone is very excited, full of joy and full of love. We are naturally inclined, I believe, to protect this pup from danger, handle him carefully, monitor him closely and shower him with tenderness and attention. Much as we would a newborn baby.

 

800 Dogs in a Mobile Home

Cindy Bruckart  |  Mon, 03/17/2008 - 09:33

I'm sure many of you have read the stories about the 800 small dogs seized from a mobile home in Arizona. If you've seen the pictures, you might have had the same reaction to them that I did, "Wow, they look really good!"

However, I'm confused by the way this story has been told in the media. There seems to be a lot of sympathy for the elderly couple who were breeding these dogs. The stories have mentioned a hoarding problem and that the couple "meant well but became overwhelmed".

While I do have great sympathy for those who suffer from the condition of hoarding, I don't believe that it applies to this case. Hoarders usually have an underlying belief that no one else can care for the animals they have and that they have no choice but to hold on to them. Hoarding is all about holding on, sometimes even after the animal has died.

 

Giving and Getting...Project POOCH

Cindy Bruckart  |  Fri, 03/14/2008 - 18:28

So, I finally found a volunteer opportunity that fits my busy life and I am so excited about it! I’m giving a little bit of time each month to Project POOCH at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Center in Woodburn, OR.

Project POOCH pairs homeless pets with incarcerated youth who care for and train the dogs before sending them off to a forever home. Before the dogs are released to their new homes, the dog and handler must pass all ten items on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test. This is where I come in. As a certified CGC Evaluator, I will be going out to the facility to administer the test at least once per month.

I found it strange that so many people asked me last week if I was nervous about my first visit to MacLaren. My answer was, “No, I’ve given the test many times and I’ve been around plenty of shelter dogs.” Apparently they thought I was supposed to be nervous about the handlers. I wasn’t.

 

Just For Fun...A Different Dog Blog

Cindy Bruckart  |  Mon, 03/10/2008 - 19:44

I was cruising around the internet while my boarding dogs took a well-deserved nap and found myself totally lost and mesmerized by a somewhat odd website. On the surface it seems almost silly, a guy named Jon who goes around San Francisco taking pictures of dogs who are tied up on the street. Boring, right?

For some reason, it's not. I couldn't stop looking! I'll admit, I do tend to really enjoy looking at pictures of dogs, but it's not just the pictures. Jon has added comments to each picture and I found myself addictively amused with his take on each dog's thoughts, situation or representation of something in the human world.

I'll be the first to tell you that my initial gut reaction was about the dangers to both dogs and humans when a dog is left unattended like most of the dogs have been, but that faded quickly. I couldn't help but lighten up. I couldn't stop myself from smiling. I couldn't stop looking at the next set of pictures.

 

Living With Kids and Dogs

Cindy Bruckart  |  Sat, 02/23/2008 - 09:00

One of the biggest challenges for some of my clients is working out the safety, logistics and training of both kids and canines. This is especially true of those parents with small children and those who already have a dog and are expecting a child.

I’ve found that many parents have a deep seated misconception about how children and dogs should play and get along with one another. Maybe it’s due to movies. Perhaps it has something to do with skewed memories of childhood family dogs. I’m not sure. But so many of us imagine an ultra-tolerant dog who is able to sleep with the kids, be dressed up in doll clothes, chase the kids in the backyard and even share their food without so much as a blink of the eye.

 

Dog Scouts of America

Cindy Bruckart  |  Tue, 02/05/2008 - 07:53

I was an awesome Girl Scout as a kid. I loved Scouting. I couldn’t imagine anything better. Of course, when I was a kid, there was no such thing as Dog Scouts!

Can you believe it? A Scouting opportunity that includes dogs! Dog Scouts of America provides education, resources and leadership training for adults along with the traditions of troop membership and merit badges for kids and their dogs. What could be more exciting?

Imagine the potential for the future of our children and the dog-owning community if kids were taught in a fun and exciting way about responsible dog ownership, positive training, and community service. Of course kids are going to just think it’s a lot of fun, but I think the benefits are much more far reaching.

 

I Don’t Foresee a Problem

Cindy Bruckart  |  Sun, 01/20/2008 - 08:33

This is something my husband says to me all the time about our daughters and our dogs. I come up with many things to worry about, many possible outcomes that we should concern ourselves with and all he says is, “I don’t foresee a problem.”

Well, I suppose he doesn’t. He’s not a psychic, after all. Heck, he’s not even a professional dog trainer. He’s an optimistic step-father and an average pet dog owner. He believes the best of his daughters and his dogs, expecting that everything will work out fine because these are the beings he loves.

 

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