Last January he launched his own business — The 10 Minute Dog, LLC, — for which Mr. Caplin and his two associates-in-training travel to clients’ homes to offer free consultations and in-home training and behavior modification.

“Dogs don’t speak our language,” said Mr. Caplin, who is a licensed professional trainer and canine behaviorist. To that end, he teaches owners to read their dogs physically, in an effort to “help communicate to the dog the behaviors that we want and the behaviors that we don’t want.”

“Working with the family is crucial because the family is that dog’s pack, and they all they have to work to become pack leaders so the dog respects them,” said Mr. Caplin, who’s also the training director at Danbury Animal Welfare Society [DAWS] and an expert witness and consultant in dog bite cases. “Dogs are social pack animals, so humans have to be the pack leaders for this to work.”

Communication

Dogs communicate in four ways — through body language, vocal intonation and inflection, touch and scent. Mr. Caplin makes owners more sensitive to their dogs’ methods of communication, but also teaches them how to let their dog know who’s boss.

“I get a lot of dogs that are exhibiting aggression or other behaviors built out of fear, so I teach a lot of owners how to build confidence in their dogs” by teaching a dog basic obedience commands, he said. “When they finally get it, they’re more confident.” And positive reinforcement from the owner perpetuates that desired behavior.

“Dogs have an inherent quality to want to please the pack leader,” he said. “There’s no other animal that’s domesticated that works with us as a team ... there’s a reason why there aren’t any search-and-rescue cows or seeing-eye cats out there.” In fact, Mr. Caplin and his wife, Lynn, have three dogs of their own — two Labradors and one half-bassett, half-Lab rescue dog.

Nevertheless, one lesson isn’t going to do the trick — training sessions should take place daily, but each session should be limited to 10 minutes.

“After 10 minutes a dog’s attention span is usually gone,” he said, which accounts for his tendency to keep training sessions involving the dog “sweet and short.” Therefore, they’re no more than 15 minutes long.  

“Clients have to work with their dogs every day,” he reiterated. But the training is not, he reassured, an overwhelming commitment. “If you love your dog that much, you can afford 10 minutes a day.”

“All sessions end on a high note,” he added. “That way, the dog starts to love to learn and it’s no longer a chore.”

Maintaining behavior

“The time is right,” he said, “with large-scale layoffs and many people turning towards self employment and home-based businesses.”

In fact, he started the process of franchising his home-based business in January, including not only training techniques but his Web-based business model, too.

“You have to love dogs, but you really have to love people — I don’t teach dogs as much as I teach people,” said Mr. Caplin, who’s been training dogs for 18 years and regularly teaches seminars on understanding canine body language to both dog owners and local veterinarians.  

Jill Leo from Weston and her husband Joe have been working with Mr. Caplin for 10 months on a variety of levels — puppy training, behavior modification, and hunting retriever training — with their one-year-old black Labrador Molly.

“Whatever he teaches us, we teach our kids — the whole family is involved,” said Mrs. Leo, who works with Mr. Caplin and Molly at least twice a week. “They’re all using the right commands ... if the dog’s misbehaving, they tell their friends how to manage the dog in the correct way.” Molly is now one ribbon away from a junior hunting title.

“If the owners don’t know how to communicate, reinforce behavior or principles that we’re teaching ... if they don’t know how to maintain and know how to deal with problems or disobedience when it arises, then you’ll start seeing these behaviors fall apart,” said Mr. Caplin. Owners, when employing Mr. Caplin’s services, receive a complimentary guide that apart from discussing canine behavior, communication and psychology, outlines steps to instill basic desirable behaviors in their dogs. Since every dog is different, said Mr. Caplin, the guide lets the reader know what steps to take if the dog “doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do.”

To register for a seminar or to receive more information regarding 10 Minute Dog, call 470-8087 or visit www.10minutedog.com.

Mr. Caplin offers his services in Fairfield and surrounding counties — Litchfield, New Haven, and regions of Hartford, and in New York, Westchester, Putnam and Duchess counties.