Have no fear, Oakland's 'Dog Czar' is here

Have no fear, Oakland’s ‘Dog Czar’ is here
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By ASHLEY WOODS Special to The Oakland Press



Lois Esuchanko’s license plate reads ‘DOGMTHR.’ A half-dozen stuffed puppy dolls are visible in the rear window. Her kitchen is filled with puppy crates, chew toys and dog snacks. But she was at a loss for ideas when it came to saving Chuck.
“If the wind blew, he would run back into the house,” Esuchanko said. “He was afraid of everything.”
Esuchanko and her husband, Joe, adopted Chuck, a stray German shepherd their son had found last May. They didn’t know how old he was or where he came from. But it was clear he had a past.
“He was so scared, and so aggressive. We couldn’t let anyone in the house. I couldn’t even let the dogs walk past him while he was in the crate,” she said. When their other two pet dogs were loose, Chuck would bark and slam his body violently against the walls of the crate.
“We weren’t getting anywhere with the aggression,” Joe Esuchanko said. What’s more, their house in Troy backs up to an elementary school.
“What are we going to do?” he said he remembered asking. “We don’t want that kind of liability.”
Lois Esuchanko said two animal control agencies advised her to euthanize Chuck. Desperate, she visited the Web site for the International Association of Canine Professionals, and found a listing in Troy for a company called Alternative Canine Training. The owner, Vladae Roytapel, advertised on his Web site that he specialized in helping troubled dogs.
The Dog Czar
Roytapel was an award-winning dog trainer in the former Soviet Union. He trained dogs for the Red Army and the KGB before coming to America. In 2006, he appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” and led Letterman around the stage on a leash. His home training uniform consists of high-waisted khaki pants, sneakers and a maroon Western-style shirt with “Dog Czar” emblazoned on the chest.
“People call us as the last resort,” he said. “For the dogs that, so you say, are already on the way out.”
Roytapel wouldn’t guarantee the Esuchanko family that he could help Chuck until he had seen him. When he did, the trainer wasn’t exactly enthusiastic.
“I entered the house,” he said. “And I thought, ‘This is the last chance.’ ”
Protecting yourself
Experts agree people should take precautions to protect themselves from some aggressive pets. On Sept. 12, a 4-month-old infant in Warren was killed by a Rottweiler. On Sept. 13, Edward Gierlach, 91, and Cheryl Harper, 56, were mauled to death by a pack of American bulldogs in Livingston County.
Larry Obrecht, division manager for the Oakland County Pet Adoption Center, said the proximity of the two events was a coincidence and did not indicate a trend.
“These are just unbelievable tragedies,” he said. “They were paired together because of the close relationship in time. We have not experienced any significant upticks in dog bites or violent attacks. I think that’s coincidental.”
A 2001 survey by the Centers for Disease Control revealed that nearly 368,000 people visit emergency rooms yearly to be treated for canine bites. Obrecht said Oakland County residents who observe a dog running loose should contact the animal shelter’s complaint line at (248) 391-4103.
“State law maintains that you maintain your dog on your property, and it has to be on a leash,” he said.
C.J. Bentley, a behavioral specialist for the Michigan Humane Society Rochester Hills Center for Animal Care, said people who spot an aggressive dog should try to remain calm.
“Avoid eye contact,” she said, “and keep the dog in your line of sight.”
She said she sometimes walks with a folded-up umbrella to protect herself.
“If you point it in the direction of an aggressive dog, and it expands, the noise that it makes can scare them away or break the dog’s concentration. Plus, it creates a visual barrier between you and the animal.”
Bentley also said running away from the dog is a bad idea.
“For a lot of dogs, that’s quite the stimulant,” she said. “They see you run, and they immediately think, ‘Oh boy, this is going to be fun.’ ”
Bentley said pet owners worried by the behavior of their canine can call the Michigan Humane Society Rochester Hills Center for Animal Care help line at (248) 650-0127.
She said sometimes aggressive behavior can be attributed to other causes — such as an abscessed tooth or a thyroid imbalance.
Aggressive behavior
“The household was like downtown Beirut,” Roytapel said of his first visit to the Esuchanko home. “Dogs were barking like AK-47s.”
The trainer said he believes aggressive behavior develops in many canines allowed to bark or pull on their leashes.
“If the dog is barking inside or outside, he is telling the world: ‘Stay away, I am the police officer on duty,’ ” Roytapel said. “Your typical pet owner, they try to talk the dog out of it. The dog, he thinks they’re barking together.”
“Dogs aren’t much different than people,” Obrecht said. “We’re all kind of born needing a lot of help growing up, and a lot of things through the course of our lives change our personality and our disposition.”
“The first 16 weeks of a dog’s life — that’s the critical development period,” Bentley said, adding all dog owners should invest in training classes for puppies.
In the obedience classes Bentley supervises at the Michigan Humane Society chapter in Rochester Hills, pet owners are instructed to gently yank their puppies’ collars, tug on tails, hold paws and reward good behavior with snacks.
“We specialize in positive reinforcement for behavior modification,” she explained. “One of the worst things you can do is scare them or hurt them when you train them.”
Teaching old dogs new tricks
The obedience class at the Esuchankos’ house included three dogs, instead of one.
“In order to train (Chuck),” Roytapel said, “I need to restructure all pets.”
During the first lessons, he taught the animals to remain silent when a guest entered the house. They learned to follow Joe or Lois Esuchanko out the front door — unleashed — to go for a walk. In the past, the dogs would race out of the house, ahead of their masters.
Teaching Chuck to sit and lie down also required new tactics. “I use a high voice to praise the dogs, imitating how a dog’s mom would,” Roytapel said. “And I growl, in a low voice, when I command.”
When Chuck failed to listen, Roytapel curved his hand into the shape of a jaw and felt a pressure point, the way a dog’s mom would nip at a misbehaving puppy. And he taught the couple how to assert their authority over the pack. The trainer had a few more tricks up his sleeve. He brought his two dogs, Elki and Mika, to the Esuchanko house to teach Chuck to socialize. “The first time, Chuck tried to attack the German shepherds,” Lois said. By the eighth visit, all three dogs laid down together on the lawn. Lois Esuchanko shook her head. “That would have been impossible a few weeks ago,” she said.
A good dog
Thanks to the efforts of the Esuchanko family, there seems to be one more wellbehaved canine in Oakland County.
“They are very, very special,” Roytapel said. “They belong to the elite. They are responsible pet owners.”
“He took to me, too,” said Lois Esuchanko. “I was never afraid of him.”
On the front lawn of their home, the Dog Czar stared down at Chuck, who sat patiently at his side.
“See how good he is?” Roytapel asked. He changed his voice to imitate the high pitch of a dog’s mom. “Chuck! That’s a good dog!” Then, his smile faded. He leaned over the dog’s shoulder and growled softly.
Chuck laid down immediately, tucking his nose into the grass.
If you go
Oakland County residents who observe a dog running loose should contact the Oakland County Pet Adoption Center’s complaint line at (248) 391-4103. Pet owners worried about the behavior of their dog may call the Michigan Humane Society Rochester Hills Center for Animal Care’s help line at (248) 650-0127.