The Delicate Art of Dog Training

Weight pull, Protection, Agility, Flyball... you name it!

Postby Nelson » January 11th, 2009, 3:26 pm

Fast food or home grown?

In today’s normal everyday life it seems we’re bombarded by all sorts of media and daily interactions with getting and making a faster pace. People seem to have less and less time with each passing day. The normal response to everything we usually get from people is “there’s no time”, “with what time”, I don’t have time”. Sounds familiar?

Yet everyone on this earth has 24 complete hours a day to themselves. Why then do people always seem to “run out of time”? Many are wagering a constant war within themselves thinking of the future and the past. Thinking about what they don’t have and how they’re going to get it. Or tormenting themselves on days past.

This type of attitude has permeated the dog training world too. With the advancement and development of better e-collar now everyone who hold a leash and a control are considered dog trainers. The dog jumps on people … zap him, the dog doesn’t “Out” … zap him, the dog doesn’t sit … zap him. It will bring immediate results which in the fast food society that we live in will bring a smile to the owner’s face. But at what cost? Did the dog actually LEARN the why of his correction and the how to avoid future discomfort? Of course not.

I can still remember the 1st time I saw a professional dog training demonstration. A beautiful German working-bred GSD. He marveled everyone there with his precision as he went through the routines. Eventually the bitework came. The dog got very pumped-up and on he went to do the routines. Everything was going fine until the hander commanded the dog to “Out”. The GSD need various commands shouted at the top of the hander’s lungs for to eventually comply. This gave me sense of uneasiness. The thought that drowned my mind was “he doesn’t have control of this dog”. Right then and there I told myself that if was to ever have a trained dog the “Out” would be my most important command.

At the time where the only good dog training book was Koehler’s Method of Guard dog training, and everyone trained the “Out” by pulling and choking the dogs off … I said to myself “I have to develop something better”. That’s why I wrote the article about the “Out” and how to get quick, non-conflictive response from the dog. It takes more time than it would if you latched an ecollar and zapped the dog into an “Out”. But at the end you have a partner, a teammate, a family member who’s bond and trust in you go above and beyond a dog who has been pummeled into compliance.

With training that goes beyond the simple pull / jerk / zap and into the intricacies of understanding both parties (dog-trainer) the benefits are astonishingly different for the better. The training becomes the fun part of your interactions with dogs. That’s why I’ve always wrote in my articles that it’s the road to the title the fun part (because the title is a given). There’s no need to worry about it. And it’s also why I like to finish by saying “happy training”. Because that’s the way it should be. Take care ya’ll.

Happy training,

Nelson Rodriguez

"Ah grasshopper, how is it that you cannot?" Master Po
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/WorkingPitBulls/
User avatar
Nelson
Just Whelped
 
Posts: 50
Location: Central Florida

Postby TheRedQueen » January 11th, 2009, 3:49 pm

Well said...

So where can we find this "Out" article? :D
"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw
User avatar
TheRedQueen
I thought I lost my Wiener... but then I found him.
 
Posts: 7184
Location: Maryland

Postby pitbullmamaliz » January 11th, 2009, 4:11 pm

So true, Nelson!
"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

http://www.pitbullzen.com
http://inaradog.wordpress.com
User avatar
pitbullmamaliz
Working out in the buff causes chafing
 
Posts: 15438
Location: Cleveland, OH

Postby furever_pit » January 11th, 2009, 8:43 pm

TheRedQueen wrote:Well said...

So where can we find this "Out" article? :D


+1.
User avatar
furever_pit
Supremely Bully
 
Posts: 1138
Location: NC


Return to Sports

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users