1 of 2
Photograph by Pete Souza
2 of 2
Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz
When the young Portuguese water dog arrived at the White House, the press corps fired questions with a ferocity that’s noticeably missing when the subject is war or the economy. Would Bo be allowed in the Oval Office? “Of course,” the president replied.
The woman who made his assurance possible was trainer Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz. And she’s in town this weekend, speaking about her new book, The Love That Dog Training Program, on Saturday, October 9, at the Big Read Festival. The treats come the night before, though, at Yappy Hour: dog beer and dog wine (and presumably the human variants as well) in downtown Clayton. Bring your pup to the corner of N. Central and Maryland, 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. And save the hair of the dog for the next morning.
So are you getting a little tired of questions about the presidential pup?
Y’know, it’s…yeah. He’s a great dog.
It seems like he really was a gift for Malia and Sasha, and not a publicity stunt; we don’t hear much about him anymore.
Oh, no, it was not a publicity stunt. Everybody heard the president’s speech, and he did it in front of his kids and the whole world. You do something like that, you don’t go back on your word.
What breed or mix would you have chosen fora presidential dog?
Well, I’ve owned everything. I used to have a Portie, back when they were first introduced in the United States because they were no longer being used for their original purpose [water retrieving]. I packed up the family, went to a lot of dog shows, researched, and that’s what I got was a Portie. I’d already had Pomeranians, Lhasa Apsos, Boston terriers, a flatcoated retriever. Later, I got a few border collies...
You’re avoiding my question, and I can understand why. But a Portie sure seems like an awfully active, working-dog breed to have in the White House.
Well, the Portuguese water dog—every breed has a description. That gives you an indicator of the dog’s temperament, energy level and grooming requirements. I have seen Portuguese water dogs that on a scale of 1 to 10 had an activity level of 15. But mine was a 4, and I even registered her as a therapy dog.
How do you help people outside the White House decide what kind of dog is right for them?
I ask a lot of questions. How much time do you have? Are you active? Why do you want a dog? If they tell me, “It’s for the children, I think they’re old enough to learn responsibility,” I discourage them. The real question is, “Do you as a complete family unit want a dog?” Because the novelty is going to wear off. All the dogs I’ve had, they were my dogs. The children emulated my behavior, and I got them involved in the process. They learned through me that playing with your dog is training your dog. I have a photograph of one daughter holding wine, the other a cracker—we’re Catholic, so they’re giving communion to my border collie, whose head is lowered. And you can see my daughter’s hand giving the “stay” signal.
Your scenario doesn’t bode well for the Obamas; everybody knew that dog was for the girls.
Yes, but it was a family decision, I do know that.
How did you get involved?
Vicki Kennedy [Sen. Ted Kennedy’s widow], whose dogs I’d trained, contacted me and said, “Hey there’s a Portuguese water dog out of Martha and Art Stern”—they are amazing breeders—“and the dog’s not doing so well in this home. I’m going to help Martha rehome him, but I’d like for you to evaluate him and see what would be a good fit. Would he work with children? Is he too active? What kind of temperament does he have?” His name was Charlie. I had no idea where he was going.
What did your evaluation tell you?
My evaluation showed me that I wanted another Portie! I knew Martha and Art were excellent breeders, and Charlie was a delightful dog. A few weeks later, Vicki checked back, and I said, “He’s great! He gets along with the other dogs, he likes my parrot, my African gray, and she likes him a lot. She throws her birdie kibble out to bring him to her cage.” So I kept him a little longer and worked with him, training and socializing him the way I would any puppy. You want to prepare them while they’re really young, expose them to as many things as you can possibly think of that he may come into contact with.
We all know to “socialize” our dogs, but where do you go after the dog park?
Walk by playgrounds. Walk by tennis courts. That’s a real hard one for a border collie. Go near an airport, for the noise. Stand outside a grocery store—carts were as close as I could get to simulating wheelchairs.
Nobody bothers with all this, do they?
Two things happen. One, if they already have a couple of dogs at home, they think their dog’s already socialized. That’s like having three children and saying they don’t need any other friends. Two, people get two puppies so they can keep each other company, and the first dog is not quite fully matured and doesn’t know all the household rules. This is Second Dog Syndrome: The people end up not spending as much time with the second dog, and the second dog is spending a lot of time playing with the first dog, so they bond to each other, and that makes training difficult. Then, if you try and separate them, they go through separation anxiety, because typically, the first dog is more confident. The owners never really saw that, because the two were together so much. I never recommend getting two puppies. Get one dog, invest your time in that dog, think about the kind of adult dog you want to grow old with, and start training for it now.
How long did you have Bo?
A couple of months. He was about four months old when I got him. And I wasn’t calling him Bo, I was calling him Charlie, because I didn’t know where he was going. Vicki was keeping track, she was in constant contact, and I remember saying to her, “If for some reason this doesn’t work out, I would certainly be interested in keeping him.” He’s easy to train, laidback, smart, fun, a nice easygoing temperament. Up when you need him to be up, but happy just lying by your feet.
What was your first clue to Bo’s destination?
Finally, after I said I’d be glad to keep him, Vicki said, “This is just between you and me, but Teddy and I are thinking of giving him as a gift to the President.” I said, “Oh! That’s really cool.” But I kept calling him Charlie, I kept taking him to my puppy classes. I took him to banks, I took him to Target.
They let you in?
I’ll go in and train a dog anywhere, if I get three minutes in there before they kick me out. I don’t need long. You see, dogs don’t generalize behaviors very well. You’ll hear people say, “Well, he does this at home!” But dogs need help learning to generalize familiar behaviors to unfamiliar situations. My Portie worked great in the house, great in the back yard, but when I went one block down, it was as if she didn’t know a thing. If I think for one minute that my dogs may not follow through on a request because we’re in a new environment, I look around and remember that training is progression, but within that progression, there is always some regression. So I’m going to have my food or toy out and reteach that exercise in a new environment. What I don’t like is when people tell their dog to do something, and the dog doesn’t do it, and they say, “I know you know how to do this!” and then get out the food.
Do you always train with food?
No. Eventually, food is phased out, and verbal commands are put in, but I like to keep the dogs working on both for a while. And hand signals, because hand signals keep the dogs looking at you. Dogs are watching body language all the time. Nine out of 10 times, when people tell me they don’t use hand signals with their dog, I say, “OK, just do whatever you do,” and their hand will move a certain way, or their eyes will. They do have a signal, they just don’t realize it.
By the way, how did Bo do at Target?
Mulled around like it was no big deal. And at the bank, I had a lot to do, so I put him in a "settle down" stay. He stayed there for an hour and a half.
What ended your training period?
Vicki asked me if he was ready—of course, the media was buzzing—and I knew he was ready. I got a little teary-eyed when he left. You get attached. I drove him to the White House and just stayed in the background, because it was their moment.
They’d already met Bo though, right?
When he was still Charlie, there was a meeting arranged. I brought him to the White House, and the way Charlie responded, I knew my time with him was limited. He was polite. He was shaking paws. He rolled on his back and liked being petted. His mannerisms were calm and gentle. I knew he was the dog for them.
Cesar Millan scolded the President about letting Bo get out in front of him when they walked—take the lead, so to speak. Millan sees that as a sure sign of dominance.
My gosh! New place, great big yard, lots of people and cameras, what do you expect from a young dog? I think the words “dominant,” “alpha” and “aggression” get thrown around too often. I try to avoid labels. People think being alpha means you’ve got to be tough and very military. True sense of an alpha dog is that, within a household, one dog emerges as the leader—and typically, that dog is very kind and loving.
Do Millan and trainers like him focus too much on power and dominance?
I believe so. It doesn’t have to be a power struggle. And punishment doesn’t have to be mean and nasty. Why should it be? I’m not a proponent of alpha rollovers. I’ve seen them backfire, I’ve seen dogs become afraid of their owners when their hands go near them. And that’s dangerous. But for some reason, people tend to gravitate to the negative.
Perhaps it’s how they were raised?
Yes, and they pass that on. It really takes a lot of brain power to change how you view things. But with positive reinforcement, the dog not just working for you, to avoid a jerk or correction, he’s working for himself, and he’s giving you 150 percent. Eagerly and happily. It’s child friendly, it’s dog friendly and it’s basic common sense. I mean, why would you want to put a choke collar on your best friend? You’re paying attention to the behaviors that you don’t like, and if you get frustrated with the dog, you’ll get angry, and you could hurt the dog.
Our punishments are called negative punishments: We simply take away what the dog wants. Close the door. Walk away. Try again. If he doesn’t sit before eating, I put his food bowl away. Wait a few minutes, go back, tell him to sit. Right there, our relationship is getting on the right track. A famous trainer once said, if you control the environment, control the game, have lots of rules, you’ve got the dog.
