www.mybestfrienddogtraining.com
Judy Archer-Dick
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My Best Friend Dog Training Judy Archer-Dick |
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As things turned out, however, I believe I was very fortunate to enter "the dog world" when I did and was able to take advantage of newer approaches to training that were coming to the fore. A few years earlier it would have been very difficult to find information on how behavioral theories had been adapted to work with dogs – techniques which form the basis of modern dog-training. Besides, I may not have taken the time to fully investigate and practice these techniques, adopting some and discarding others that seemed unworkable. I grew up with cats and have always enjoyed them thoroughly. Having been raised on farms, my parents felt that the place for a dog was the country where it could have the freedom of space and fewer constraints on barking – not in the city where we lived. At least that was the excuse they always gave me! However, I did keep scrapbooks of dog and horse pictures and knew that one day I would manage to "have" at least one of them. After graduating with degrees in history and elementary education, I began teaching in Edmonton, Alberta. As many students and teachers have found, these occupations can take up all your time and they certainly did for me. My husband Charles and I did not even think of having cats or dogs at this point, especially since the lease on our rented house forbade it. When my father-in-law began to think about retiring five years later, Charles decided that he would like to try his hand at managing the family printing business and we moved to his home territory of Grabill, Indiana. We finally bought a small house a few years later – which is when we had a few too many encounters with the rat that kept coming back, along with his numerous smaller mouse cousins! We therefore got a cat Francine (a real character, now thirteen years old) and later another one, Murrei (feral until she was two and very anxious about people but a great mouser). After renovating our house it was finally time to bring on the dogs.
Hank was willing and able to learn the basics through this method. He passed his Canine Good Citizen test and started working on the exercises for his first obedience title. Things started going downhill fast. He lagged somewhat on his heeling (a very common problem with traditional training) but it was when he went into the competition ring that he totally fell apart. I had taken over his training and was getting to the point of such utter frustration that we were going to quit training him altogether. I could not bring myself to punish him enough to get the point across, yet I didn’t know how else to teach him. It was then that Chris Bach truly rescued us from the quagmire. She presented a seminar in Maumee, Ohio on The Third Way, her humane and fair method of dog training based on operant conditioning. It was like a breath of fresh air to both Charles and I! She showed us that dog training can be positive, fun for everyone and a truly enjoyable learning experience for both dogs and people. We have never looked back. Since this time, positive training has taken over my life. I was inspired to read further, watch videotapes, attend seminars and am surprised at how much excellent information is lurking out there (although, there is also a lot of bad!) that I never knew existed. Hank no longer looks "beaten" when training time comes, and I enjoy it thoroughly. Problems are a challenge, not a drag. And yes, he did get his Companion Dog title!
Of course all this sparked an interest in an utterly new branch of dog behavior, commonly referred to as "aggression". After many books, articles, seminars, lectures, and videos on the subject, the bottom line is that the successful way to directly deal with such difficulties lies in positive reinforcement training and management. And yes, Goosie has improved immensely – and so have we as handlers. Five years later she still has many issues, but we are making slow progress. She is able to take walks with other dogs and enjoys playing with many of them, but we do not foresee agility competition in her future. She is very affectionate with most people although her first impulse is to bark at certain people.
As Chris Bach is fond of saying, "Get a dog, become a dog trainer". It is so true. We often forget that dogs are learning something every minute they are awake. If we actively engage their minds in a salient manner, they can learn what we want them to. Left to their own devices they will learn what they need to survive, whether this fits into our human-centered society or not. Dog training can be a frustrating chore or a fun learning experience that will strengthen the bond between people and their dogs. Margery and I (and so many others) have found that the clicker is a wonderful tool to communicate that a specific behavior is an appropriate response at that time. Although many variations of operant conditioning are excellent, clicker training is a very accessible way to help handlers understand how dogs learn and how to help their dogs succeed. Because our dogs are our companions and live with us, they need to learn appropriate behaviors to blend in with our lifestyles. This is why we are so interested in helping our clients learn how to teach their dogs self-control and basic household manners while strengthening the human-canine bond. I am a CPDT (Certified Pet Dog Trainer) since November 2004 and a Professional member of APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers - Membership #5760). I am also endorsed by NADOI (National Organization of Dog Obedience Instuctors - Membership #1036 E), and an AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator (#4966). In February 2005 I completed the requirements for Pet First Aid for Dogs and Cats conducted by the American Red Cross of Northeast Indiana. Partial listing of seminars/courses I have attended: Home | Classes and Private Training | Email Us | Meet Margery | Links and Resources | Poster Store
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I came to dog training relatively recently, a
fact that has both it’s positive and negative aspects. The most negative
thing, of course, is that I missed out on sharing my life with these wonderful
animals for so long.
We got Hank (an Australian Shepherd) from Aussie Rescue when he was about seven
months old. He had been neglected and malnourished, rather overwhelmed by
everything but sweet. As soon as classes resumed after the summer break at our
local dog training club Charles took him to an eight-week beginner’s class.
The class was a traditional punishment-based class, where Hank and his peers
were to be "corrected" with a "pop" on their choke chains
when they weren’t doing what they were supposed to do. Unfortunately for them,
these dogs didn’t understand English and through a process of elimination were
supposed to learn what behavior was not going to be punished. The behavior that
wasn’t punished was obviously the behavior the handlers wanted. This is a
difficult concept for a person reading this to understand – imagine how
incomprehensible it must be to a dog, whose whole communication system is at
odds with this sort of thing! It is amazing that so many dogs manage to learn in
spite of this treatment.
After we finally got on the right track, training-wise, Charles decided to get a
second Aussie, primarily to do agility, as Hank has never been very athletic and
driven to that sort of thing. He picked out a puppy with strong herding heritage
and named her Gooseberry Pie. Goosie, unlike Hank, seemed to be very bold, full
of energy, always ready to do things. Unlike the reserved Hank, she was
gregarious, loving people and dogs alike. Then suddenly, at about a year old,
she became very "aggressive", first towards dogs, then humans. She
would lunge and bark and become quite uncontrollable as soon as she was aware of
them, even blocks away. After trying to work through this with little success,
we were able to secure an appointment at the Behavior Clinic of the School of
Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University with Dr. Andrew Luescher. He explained
that it is a fear-based reaction and he had Julie Shaw (Animal Behavior
Technologist) demonstrate various exercises to work through with Goosie to help
her learn to cope with her anxiety in more appropriate ways. We were told that
she may never be "normal" but could definitely improve.
In the autumn of 2005 we were fortunate enough to have another Aussie, Trophy, entrusted to our care by Diana Woody when she left for Purdue University.
Trophy, a few months younger than Hank, has achieved titles in a number of areas such as flyball, obedience and agility. She is a sweet-tempered dog who joins me in
Therapy Dog work with disabled children. The combination of genetics and training have certainly come together in this dog, and we thank Diana Woody and Trophy’s breeder
Sheila Boneham for allowing her to join our family.