Biography & Beliefs
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IPDTA ::
Achievements :: Memberships :: Mentors :: Influences
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Acknowledgments
Biography, Goals and Beliefs
About Norma Jeanne
Norma Jeanne began her studies
in 1987 while she toured North
America as a professional rock
musician. She began private
training in 1989 and opened
Puppy Power, the first positive
training school in the KW,
Cambridge/Guelph area in 1992.
Norma Jeanne has consulted with
clients as far away as China,
and students have come from as
far as Italy to take her Canine
Communication Studies
professional career course. Many
graduates are now running
successful businesses
internationally as a result,
with thirteen of these in the
KW, Cambridge and Guelph areas.
She is founder and Chair of
the International Positive Dog
Training Association (IPDTA),
long-time member and former Editor in Chief for the Canadian
Association of Professional Pet
Dog Trainers (CAPPDT), mentor
trainer for the Animal Behaviour
College of California (ABC), columnist for
CAPPDT Forum and Pets & Animals
magazine. She
has lectured at the CAPPDT
Annual Conference, Camp Dog Wood
in Barrie and Ottawa, Chienposium in Montreal, numerous other venues
and hosted Puppy Power’s Annual Dog
Show for ten years as a
fund-raising event, with
proceeds donated to the KW
Humane Society and IPDTA Dogs In
Need Fund.
Canine Communication Studies
Norma Jeanne with Dr. Stanley Coren and
Dr. Ian Dunbar
Utilizing years of study and
experience; having taught over
seven hundred classes and
attending over eighty canine
behaviour, training
and animal
science courses, lectures,
seminars, workshops,
conferences, symposiums, and
with the use of other
references, Norma
Jeanne created
the Canine Communication Studies
professional program
Because every dog is different,
every trainer needs a toolbox
containing numerous options.
Over the past fourteen years,
Norma Jeanne has presented a
wide variety of humane tools and
techniques for solving training, behaviour and aggression
problems. Her mission is to
share her knowledge to create as
many humane and effective dog
trainers as possible, with the
hope of putting a stop to abuse
in the name of dog training.
Norma Jeanne’s Training Methods
Norma Jeanne developed a
touch-free training program
using motivation to teach dogs
to think for themselves. Her
philosophy is that dogs can
learn to problem-solve and
choose the desired behaviour in
order to affect a pleasant
outcome. When a dog learns to
offer desired behaviour, it is
more reliable when the
owner/trainer is not around.
Because ‘positive’ does not mean
‘permissive’, self-control is
taught, and respect is mutual.
Although training treats are
used as a temporary training
tool to lure, motivate, and
reinforce, they are faded with
the use of a reinforcement
schedule, and gradually replaced
with other valued resources such
as; walks, car rides, games,
toys and attention. This enables
us to maintain a reliable
response to cues, without the
long-term need for food. By
making training fun and
instilling trust, we can create
a
well trained dog with a
resilient temperament.
Norma Jeanne’s Training History
Norma Jeanne is a ‘cross-over’
trainer. With no other options
available at the time, she was
taught common training practices
including the use of choke
chains, pinch collars, alpha
rollovers etc. While
implementing these techniques
during the beginning of her
career, she began to realize
that something was wrong with
this picture. Although the tools
and techniques seemed to be
effective with many dogs, she
saw others cringing with fear or
discomfort, and some were
downright traumatized. She
noticed another trend as well;
although she was taught that
most canine aggression was based
on ‘dominance’ she found this to
be untrue. She learned through
experience that most aggressive
dogs were reacting to fear and
were forced to defend
themselves, many resulting from
unpleasant training methods.
Many were mis-diagnosed as
‘dominant dogs’ and paid with
their lives.
Norma Jeanne strongly believes
that trainers should not be
contributing to the problem, and
has made it her life-long goal
to present as many humane and
effective options possible for
training, behaviour and
aggression modification, so that
the use of fear and pain in
training will no longer be
necessary.
Her awakening came during a
class when she did the alpha
rollover with a Jack Russell
Terrier that was so frightened
by her man-handling, that it
spun and urinated with fear.
During the same class she
alpha-rolled an adult Rottweiler.
In hind-sight, Norma Jeanne
feels this was more than stupid,
but that is what she was taught
– that every dog had to be
physically dominated in order to
gain control and respect. Well,
this was a big dog – she stood
at its side, reached over,
grasped his legs and pulled them
out from under him. The rotti
fell to the ground, raised his
head, looked at her and growled.
She held firm as she was taught,
and growled louder than he did.
The dog submitted and she let
him up.
When she looked around the room
she didn’t like what she saw,
contrary to what you may be
thinking, most of her clients
seemed quite impressed, a few of
the women appeared a bit
apprehensive, and the children
were wide-eyed. That’s right –
children! It was at that moment
that she asked herself what she
was doing. In her opinion, the
Rottweiler had every right to
growl at her, in fact, he had
the right to defend himself, but
had he, it could have cost him
his life. Not only that, if she
had chosen the wrong dog, she
could have been seriously
injured or worse, and it would
have happened in front of the
children. She explained her
concerns to the class and
promised them things were going
to change.
She re-wrote her manual removing
all the physical tools and
techniques, and began her search
for a better way. Since all the
schools in her area were using
the same techniques, she didn’t
know where to turn. Thankfully,
Dr. Andrew Leuscher from the
University of Guelph, told her
about CAPPDT. A conference was
held that month and she
attended, after the conference,
she joined the association.
Although CAPPDT does not take a
stand for humane training (their
mandate is simply to educate)
many of their
lecturers used positive
reinforcement as their main
method of training, and a whole
new world opened up for her. She
has been a member for over ten
years now and continues to learn
from them, in fact, she is
Editor in Chief for their
newsletter ‘Forum’.
The ‘Dominance’ Diagnosis
Norma Jeanne saw trainers
labeling dogs as ‘dominant’
because they sat on your feet,
jumped on you, rushed through
doorways, stole food, pulled on
leash etc. This didn’t make
sense to her because these were
all normal canine behaviours
that could easily be controlled
through training.
What she found even more
appalling was that most of the
dogs diagnosed as ‘dominant’
were in fact fearful. Through
diagnostic interviews, Norma
Jeanne found many causes for
this fear; some appeared to be
inherited and/or learned from
fearful parents, some were due
to a poor or non-existent
socialization or traumatic
experience, but a staggering
number of fear aggressive dogs
were caused and/or aggravated by
what the dog perceived as
attacks by humans. Call it
punishment or ‘correction’, the
dogs simply learned that humans
are frightening and
unpredictable. Let’s face it,
dogs don’t know right from wrong
because they cannot reason like
we can, but they certainly learn
cause and effect and what is
safe and not safe, and for some
dogs, people are the enemy.
Dogs that learned people could
not be trusted were sooner or
later forced to defend
themselves. Dogs that did not
learn how to interact and
communicate with, or had bad
experiences with other dogs
ended up biting and fighting.
She found timid dogs that
attended training schools using
aversive techniques tended to
become fearful and often fear
aggressive, and the ones that
entered the school already
fearful, didn’t stand a chance.
Misdiagnosis
Over the years, Norma Jeanne has
had numerous clients call after
a trainer recommended euthanasia
for their ‘dominance’ aggressive
dog. “The trainer put a head
halter on my dog, stomped on the
leash and slammed my dog’s head
into the ground.” “The trainer
ran at my dog screaming and
waving a stick in the air.” “My
dog was afraid of the trainer,
the trainer grabbed my dog and
pinned her to the ground. She
urinated, released her glands
and tried to bite the trainer.”
The trainer would then proceed
to tell the owner that he/she
had a ‘dominant’ dog, and that
it had to be euthanized. One
trainer went as far as to say
she was coming by the following
day to take the dog away and
have him put down because she
was too busy to work with it.
These clients loved their dogs
and were devastated. Dog
trainers were putting dogs
through frightening and painful
evaluations, and after forcing
them to defend themselves, they
were diagnosing them as
‘dominant’ and sentencing them
to death. This simply IS NOT
acceptable.
According to Norma Jeanne, if
someone were to attack her in
the manner described, she would
defend herself as well. These
were not ‘dominant’ dogs and
should not pay with
their lives. These problems were
caused by people, they could
have been prevented
and/or solved. Looking back over
fourteen years of aggression
consultations and rehabilitation
programs, Norma Jeanne came to a
startling realization. The
charts showed the majority of
the aggressive dogs she treated
were fearful, with only a small
percentage that were assertive
(not dominant),
they were simply good at
obtaining and holding resources.
Although these dog would be
great providers and survivors in
the wild, these survival
instincts cost many their lives.
International Positive Dog
Training Association
Norma Jeanne founded IPDTA in
1992 because she felt it was
time to take a stand and stop
abuse in the name of dog
training. She believes that
physical punishment in training,
(although it may achieve quicker
results), often compromise the
dog's trust and temperament.
With all the humane and
effective options available, she
strongly believes there is no
need or excuse for the
intentional use of fear or pain
in dog training. After many very
successful years running
training classes using only
humane methods, she has taken a
stand.
The purpose of IPDTA is to
research and dissect each tool
and technique used in dog
training and behaviour
modification, in order to reach
an agreement on proper
application, and to establish
the accepted standard for what
is humane, and what is abusive.
Although this is a controversial
and difficult process, IPDTA
members feel it is time to set
these standards for the sake of
dogs everywhere. Their votes are
based on the risk for mis-use,
abuse and/or malfunction of the
tool or technique – in the hands
of the average dog owner,
resulting in fear or pain for
the dog.
It is Norma Jeanne’s intention
to publish these research
findings world-wide so that
hopefully one day, all tools and
techniques used in dog training
and behaviour modification will
meet IPDTA standards, and only
the accepted application of
IPDTA-accepted tools and
techniques will be used by
trainers and behaviour
consultants who support humane
methods. Her other goal is to
create better trainers through
education by teaching, learning
and sharing humane techniques,
and through a continuous search
for, and exploration of new
methods. IPDTA now has members
in six countries and continues
to grow.
Norma Jeanne is currently
planning the fifth Annual CCS/IPDTA
Dog Trainers Awards Banquet to
be held in October of 2008, and
the fourth Annual IPDTA
Conference and Trade Show,
scheduled for May of 2009.
Norma Jeanne’s unique methods of
training have been featured; in
newspapers, magazines,
newsletters, on television and
radio. Norma Jeanne lives in
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada with
her beloved companions,
thirteen-year old German
Shorthaired Pointer “Kimo
M’Daewin”, seven-year rescued
Husky cross “Wile E. Coyote”
and, three-year old Weimaraner,
“Blue Rain”.
Achievements
• Author and Lecturer
• Former Editor in Chief for
CAPPDT Forum
• Columnist for
Pets & Animals magazine
• Columnist for CAPPDT Forum
• Columnist for IPDTA PawPrint
• Recipient of CKCO's Local Hero Award & KOOL FM's Human Touch Award
• Teacher of Professionals across North America
• The Tri-Cities most experienced Dog Trainer/Behavior Therapist
• Studying dog training,
behaviour and aggression therapy
since 1989
• Founded Norma Jeanne's Puppy
Power Training & Behaviour
Therapy Centre in 1992
• Founded Canine Communication
Studies orrespondence, on-site and on-line professional, certification career courses
in 1994
• Mentor-trainer for ABC (Animal Behavior College Inc. in California USA)
• Full day
presenter at the CAPPDT Conference in 2004
• Full day
presenter at the Guide Dogs
Conference in 2003
• Full weekend presenter at Camp Dog Wood North in
2004
• Lectured about Canine Aggression at the IPDTA Conference in
2005
• Founder and Chair of IPDTA (International Positive Dog Training Association)
• Hosting IPDTA (International Positive Dog Training Association)
annual conference and awards
banquet since 2004
Memberships
IPDTA - Founder and Chair of the International Positive Dog Training Association
CAPPDT - The Canadian Association of Professional Pet Dog Trainers
NAMBR - North American Mixed Breed Registry
HABAC - Human-Animal Bond Association of Canada
WSPA - World Society for the Protection of Animals
CKC - Canadian Kennel Club
Mentors
Dr.
Stanley Coren, Karen Pryor, Dr.
Ian Dunbar, Dr. Pamela J Reid,
Jean Donaldson, Joan Orr, Teresa
Lewin, Gary Wilkes
Influences
Be advised, listing an influence
on this site does not mean Norma
Jeanne supports or endorses
everything the influence teaches
or endorses, including but
not limited to; products, services, techniques, ideas or opinions.
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Dr. Alan Beck
Dr. Stanley Coren
Dr. Ian Dunbar
Dr. Amy Marder
Dr. Andrew Luescher
Dr. Cheryl Yuill
Dr. Daniel Estep
Dr. Daniel Mills
Dr. Debra Horwitz
Dr. Diane Frank
Dr. Donald McKeown
Dr. Roger Mugford
Dr. Gary Landsberg
Dr. Ilana Reisner
Dr. James Serpell
Dr. J.P. Scott
Dr. Jack Halip
Dr. Jennifer Messer |
Dr. John C Wright
Dr. Karen Overall
Dr. Mark Plonsky
Dr. Myrna Milani
Dr. Nicholas Dodman
Dr. Pamela J Reid
Dr. Peter Neville
Dr. R. K. Anderson
Dr. Richard Meen
Dr. Randall Lockwood
Dr. Susan Simmons
Dr. Wayne Hunthausen
Andrew Perkins
Barb Janelle
Ben and Lynett Hart
Brian Kilcommons
Carolyn Clark, M.A.
Catherine O'Driscoll
Cheryl Smith |
Suzanne
Clothier
Donna Duford
Doug Jack
Ellie Ross B.Sc. Agr
Gary Priest
Gary Wilkes
Gary Wilson
Gillian Ridgeway
Gwen Beiley, BSc (Ons)
Jean Donaldson
Joan Orr
John Menzies
Karen Fischer
Karen Pryor
Keiley Abbat
Kim Cooper
Marg Schneider
Mark Schrank
Mike Mantel |
Nathan J Penny
Pat McConnell
Pat Miller
Pat Renshaw
Pecci Meisterfeld
Philly Hennessey
Roger Abrantes
Roger Hild
Sarah Wilson
Stephen Budiansky
Steven Lindsay
Sue Becker
Sue Sternberg
Susan Garrett
Suzanne Clothier
Teresa Lewin
Theresa Karn, M.S.W., R.S.W
Tim Sullivan
William Campbell |
