I came to New York City from Utah in 1983 and made a living as an actor for about five years or so, doing TV and radio commercials, voiceovers, Off-Broadway plays, and bit parts on soap operas and movies. I was also making a living as a writer: I sold options on two screenplays and sold another one outright. (None of them have been produced. Yet.)

Then in 1988 I got a dog and fell in love with all things canine.

I was fascinated with their behavior, and researched everything I could find about training. One thing I noticed about the dogs I knew-and this wasn't something that was mentioned in any of the popular training books available at the time (and still gets short...

I came to New York City from Utah in 1983 and made a living as an actor for about five years or so, doing TV and radio commercials, voiceovers, Off-Broadway plays, and bit parts on soap operas and movies. I was also making a living as a writer: I sold options on two screenplays and sold another one outright. (None of them have been produced. Yet.)

Then in 1988 I got a dog and fell in love with all things canine.

I was fascinated with their behavior, and researched everything I could find about training. One thing I noticed about the dogs I knew-and this wasn't something that was mentioned in any of the popular training books available at the time (and still gets short shrift, in my opinion)-was that the happiest, most obedient, and best-behaved dogs weren't the ones who'd been to a dog trainer or behaviorist; they were always the dogs whose owners had Frisbees and tennis balls on hand. In other words, play seemed to be central to canine behavior and happiness.

During this time I studied both dominance training and the Koehler method, but soon found that they tended to create negative side-effects in some dogs. Then I went through a Karen Pryor phase, but found that behavioral science techniques were over-reliant on food rewards, which are fine when teaching a dog to sit but don't always work so well when you're trying to get him to stop chasing squirrels or motorcycles.

As a result I gravitated to a method called Natural Dog Training, which is based at least in part on the way police dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, and detection dogs are trained-primarily through games like fetch and tug that stimulate and satisfy a dog's prey drive, inherited from the wolf.

It's true that there's been a shift away from the "wolf model" recently, and to some extent, there's a good reason for that. But I think it's because too many trainers have been using the wrong model, the one that says you have to be the "alpha" or the pack leader in order to control your dog's behavior. This simply isn't true. In wild wolves there is no hierarchy, no "alpha" wolf, and no pack leader (at least not in the traditional sense). The pack really instinct only exists to enable wolves to hunt large prey by working in harmony. (It's interesting to note that there are only three species of mammals that hunt animals larger and more dangerous than themselves: canines, dolphins (particularly orcas), and human beings.

I've found that using the prey drive as the main focal point in training pet dogs is enormously beneficial to all breeds in all training situations. It's particularly valuable in solving behavioral problems. Even something as seemingly unrelated as a housebreaking issue or greeting behavior are often the direct result of a dog's predatory energy not having an acceptable outlet.  That's because all behavior is an expression of some kind of energy-kinetic, emotional, etc. So when a dog's energy isn't utilized in a way that feels completely satisfying, that's when behavioral problems develop. Giving the dog an acceptable outlet for his natural energy will almost always bring his behavior back into proper alignment.

I hate to say it, but I'm probably one of only a very few trainers who's knowledgeable and conversant in dominance techniques, the Koehler method, behavioral science, and Natural Dog Training techniques.) I may be the only one.) But I tend to stick pretty closely to the NDT philosophy.

I'm also a bestselling author (sort of). In 2002 my first mystery novel, A Nose for Murder, was published by Harper Collins/Avon. I've written five more since then, one of which (Twas the Bite Before Christmas) was an IMBA bestseller in 2005. My books feature an ex-NYPD detective who takes early retirement, buys a boarding kennel in Maine, and sets up shop as a dog trainer. So they're all full of training tips and insights into canine behavior. In fact DogWorld magazine wrote (in a review of my Christmas novel), "Lee Charles Kelley knows his stuff."

I hope so. It's my goal to teach as many dog owners as possible the three simple keys to good behavior and canine happiness: 1) play, 2) structured play with a little obedience thrown in, and 3) more play.