 |
   ... . ...
...
. NELSON's and EDDY's
STORY ... . I was in the Australian Airforce
moving home regularly around Australia and Internationaly.
Long stays in Motels between homes and Australian
quarantine regulations made pet ownership very difficult.
We never owned a dog until I decided to settle down and
leave the Airforce. Charmaine was that first dog and in
reality belonged to my wife Anne. Anne decided to take
Charmaine (aged 6 months) to Werribee Dog Obedience Club
in Melbourne and I tagged along like a good husband to
watch. Charmaine moved through the classes faster than
most as Anne daily practiced at home. 6 months later, I
was discharged from the Airforce. We then moved to a
small city in the country called Sale. Anne with
Charmaine then joined East Gippsland Dog Obedience Club
and I continued to tag along and watch the training
sessions. Charmaine then started preparing to trial in
Novice Class. There are not many Trials near Sale, so
whilst visiting relatives at Katoomba, Charmaine was
entered in several trials along the way. At Penrith
Obedience Clubs Trial, Charmaine got her first Novice
pass, First Place in the ring, at 18 months of age. She
continued to trial until she achieved her 1st Open pass.
Then she was retired temporarily to have pups. Anne
didn't like me handling Charmaine, all this time from
Puppies Class, as she thought I might cause confusion
problems in her Obedience work. I had waited so long for
a pup of my own, a pup was chosen from Charmaine's litter
and he became my boy,,,,,,, . When Nelson was 3 months old, he was allowed to go to the local dog club. On that very day, the club was holding class assessments (similar to a trial). People scoffed and snickered when I entered Nelson for assessment in Puppy, Beginners and Grade 1. Mouths dropped in disbelief when this 3-month-old passed all 3 grades, 1st place in Puppies, 2nd place in Beginners, 4th place in Grade 1. At presentations one judge commented "HE JUST DID IT", people then nick named him "Just Does It Nelson". He passed Grade 2 at 4 months old and was ready to trial in Novice at a real trial. Unfortunately A.N.K.C. rules state a minimum age of 6 months old. We then started Open training keeping all jumps to a little hop and avoided repetition due to Nelson's growth plates at that age. When he turned 6 months he flew through Novice and Open. The only delays were in trial entry and closing dates but he finally had his C.D.X. at just over 8 months old. He had his first U.D. pass before Christmas at 10 months old. There were no trials catalogued anywhere during that Christmas period and we were forced to wait a LONG time. We entered the first trials for the year in N.S.W. at Bega and Pambula, there we finally had that U.D. title at 13 months old. Tracking Titles soon followed and the rare Obedience Champion Title. Then the Endurance Title. Meanwhile Nelson accumulated over 100 Trialing Certificates, heaps of First Placings and a number of "Highest Scores In Trial" and "Best In Trial". The pinnacles of achievements was "The 1997 V.C.A. Victorian Obedience Dog Of The Year Awards", where he was awarded 5th Place. Also "The 1998 V.C.A. Victorian Obedience Dog Of The Year Awards", where he was awarded 6th place. .
For those 2 years I had tagged along and watched I had learnt a lot and also realised I needed to learn a lot more, and still do. All handlers are unique individuals. All dogs are unique individuals. There are many training methods and techniques. Due to each teams uniqueness, each requires a unique method of training. The best one suited to each dog and handler depends on many factors. The key ingredient is does the handler really understand the dog and does the dog really understand the handler. A good bonding and loving relationship is the prerequisite to starting to understand each other. The dog will then automatically want to be with the handler and try to please. The handler must learn to understand the dog by watching the dog's body language, behavior, facial expressions and mostly their expressive eyes. Try training something completely new and instantly you can see if you are doing it right or wrong by the dog's body language, behavior, facial expressions and expressive eyes. Therefore on that first session of training you should instantly know if to continue with what you are doing, modify it, or try another method. Optimal factors, which assist the
handler and the dog in understanding each other and for
the training of any exercise, in any activity, are listed
below. 3) How Often - If you train correctly using the right methods, your dog will enjoy training and want to do it all the time. When starting something new, your dog will indicate to you how long a training session should be, listen to your dog. Sometimes we only did 15-second sessions and sometimes I deliberately kept them short. Wait an hour or so and then do another short session. Repeat these short sessions as many times as you can in a day. As your dog's competency and enjoyment increases you may increase the time per session and decrease the quantity of sessions per day. Your dog will indicate their preference, so listen and reap the rewards. 4) How - Train only one exercise at a time and break it into as many small steps as you possibly can. Start with step 1 and in the first attempts of step 1 you realize your dog does not understand, is not doing it and you can't simplify the step then try another method. Do not attempt step 2 until the dog thoroughly understands step1. When you progress to step 2 and find your dog is not understanding or doing it then go back to step 1 and try step 2 again later. Repeat this method throughout the steps till the exercise is accomplished. Treat all exercise as multiple steps and all exercises as steps to a complete trialing class routine. 5) Rewards - Your dog must feel happy when doing and completing any task. If your dog is doing or has done well then show your approval by rewarding them with something they really enjoy. Every dog has a different favored reward, look and find it. Really look at your dog as you give a reward and you will know if you are using the right reward. A soft whispered "good boy" to some will result in the dog getting very excited and wanting to jumping up and wash your face. Some get excited with a favored food or a favored toy. One dogs favored reward was to go for a walk and mark on every bush and tree. Another was eating lettuce. Whatever makes them excited and happy, find it and use it. When starting to learn a new exercise use heaps of frequent rewards. Never stop giving rewards, just SLOWLY raise your expectations as the dog progresses towards what you want your dog to achieve. When my dog really knew and understands the exercise, I trained for a "delayed reward" and it was also part of my "turn a distration into a reward" method of training. 6) Training Aids - There are numerous training aids. Some find using one easy to use and very rewarding where others find the same one difficult and frustrating. Use whatever training aid that suites you and your dog, at the time that it is needed. If the right training aid is used, it can instantly overcome problems and reduce training time. For example, one team, after years of trying to get a dog to open its mouth and hold a plastic dumbbell, it was suggested to them to make a dumbbell out of BONE, instantly the dog opened it's mouth and took the BONE DUMBBELL as the dog loved bones. The dog held and chewed that dumbbell, but the dog reached for it when told to fetch and the dog was instantly rewarded as he got to chew the bone. After a while the bone dumbbell was easily substituted with the previous plastic dumbbell and the chewing slowly stopped as a bone was given to chew as a reward after the exercise was finished. As my Nelson loved his lambs wool, I could very easily cover the shaft of a dumbell with that lambs wool, bet he would instantly take that dumbell. When he knew the exercise the lambswool could be gradually reduced in size till only the dumbell remained, meanwhile another lambs wool could be used as a reward. 7) Corrections - Put that correction collar and leash away they are only for corrections or to stop your dog running away. If you train properly using the above you will not need to correct or stop your dog running away. If I can teach my dog to heel properly without a leash and collar, so can you if you do it properly. I spoil my dog all the time, he's my little boy and we love each other very much. I also treat him with respect, intelligence and dignity. In reality he is a dog, not a substitute human baby or some cute cuddly toy. It doesn't matter how domesticated the dog has become; it is genetically in the nature of a dog to once in a while challenge for dominance, more so in dogs than bitches, some more than others are. Now and then a subtle challenge is made and if not reciprocated there will be more challengers, slowly building in intensity till the dog finally gets everything their way. If you learn to recognize those earlier subtle challenges, a mere verbal correction is all that is needed and then you and your dog can go on being happy till the next one comes. If you don't all sorts of weird behaviors develop as the dog tests you out in every area till they slowly but finally get everything their way and rule the pack. If the challenges have progressed to advanced stages you will then have greater difficulty and have to devote heaps more time to remedy the situation. Learn to recognize challenging behavior. If you have a dog that's subtly challenging you in your daily domestic life, it will transfer that challenge into the exercise you are trying to train. Eliminate the challenges before you start, as they will be learnt as normal behavior for that exercise. Then start training correctly, using the right methods and really looking at yourself and your dog, your dog will be willing and happy to do the exercises and it certainly won't be in their interest to challenge. There are heaps of different ways to train for every situation that you could spend a life time researching. Finally one day you will look deeply into yourself and deeply into your dog, then you will ask your dog "what is it that you are telling me", when you know the dogs answer, not your answer, you will then know what I know. Clubs, books,
instructors etc. did not teach me how to train
Nelson,,,,,,,,,,,, Nelson asks to go for walks by sitting at the front door and gives a certain look. Delight explodes in his eyes as I get up and move to the front door. He thoroughly enjoys the walk. On arriving at the park he exitedly runs around near me, snooping and marking. Every now and then he runs up to me and rebounds off my legs and excitedly barks at me coaxing me to play, we play together. As we arrive back home he knows that his dinner awaits him as he excitedly heads for home. Well, Nelson asks to perform Obedience in the same way as the walk, the Obedience experiences are similar as in the walk. I know deep in his heart he wanted to go out with me, do something with me, have dinner with me. It didn't matter if it was for a walk or Obedience as long as it was with me. I also know that at times he was not just doing it for himself, but he was doing it for us, and also doing it for me.
I now reap the
rewards as the real win is ...
|
.
