Lassie-faire in the dog school
Breeders call it "solid", Meike Dinklage calls it "stubborn": Collie Sam rarely wants like his owner.
It poured. The dog did not make room. I said "place". The dog did not pay attention to me. I grabbed his coat, turned him on the back, so you clarify who the boss is. I roared "place". The dog wriggled out of my grip, leaping up at me and knocking me over. I fell in the mud. I was in the dirt. The dog jumped away.
I love this dog. That's the problem. You can not raise a dog, if you consider it a godsend, unsurpassed in beauty and elegance. I wanted this dog. There is an early childhood Lassie fixation in the game. Sam is a collie. Outwardly. Internally he is a German shepherd. That's what his dog trainer says. I would say Sam is fun-oriented.
Food bag and toy Meike Dinklage always has a firm grip. Only Sam does not let her wrap her around her finger so easily
I was in the dirt. The other dogs from the dog school dog group - Westies, Goldies, Jackies - sat firmly in the "Place", gazing kindly at their owners, awaiting further orders to execute them immediately joyfully and accurately. Sam was enjoying himself with some Schnauzer mix at the far end of the canine meadow.
I was angry and humiliated. The dog trainer looked serious. She said, "The dog does not respect you." I nodded. She said, "Sam is really a great dog, but you are not consistent, you do not set clear boundaries for him, you need different training."
She said "her", she meant us, my husband and me. First dog owner with best intentions and soft heart. The nuts and bolts of dog training is consistency. Never kneel in front of a dog's look, make sure that "seat" also "seat" result and not "possibly short squat, but get up right away". In Sam's world, Ableinen means "well then, see you later," and the "come" command is a vague reminder of the service worker who chauffeured him onto this playground and is now shouting with ridiculously wide-open arms.
"I do not care": Sam shows well-groomed disinterest
And that's exactly how it should not be. The law is us. Or, as our trainer said, "You are the problem." Sam is great, no slime, more of a character dog. Being fixed. In the sense of: immovable in its essential characteristics. Maybe a tiny little innate goodness is added, a tendency for the self-conscious.
That's why you go to the dog school: Because you can only educate a dog, if you really understand it. Then, with the help of the trainer, you develop the appropriate tools to gain respect. In the dog school man learns.
But how much education is good for a dog? When do I bend him, where are the boundaries between functioning and training? Are you allowed to break a dog will? Is not a dog a being whose fundamental rights include the free development of personality? And who am I, that I intervene in the course of nature, create a creature to my will. Sam, creature? Or am I just wondering because I'm sorry to say that Sam does not always obey reliably?
It is always scratched, on both good and bad days.
No, with too much rigor we did not want to educate. We wanted a partnership to grow naturally without coercion. Lassie-faire. We had no idea. Sam's favorite spot is the strategic center of the apartment, between living room, kitchen, front door. After Feng Shui the most important place in the house. When he is there, and he is always there, he surveys everything. And with every cookie we get out of the kitchen, we have to go over it. Then he grunts satisfied. This is not tyranny. Dogs are like that.
Initially, education is easy. The dog comes home, ten weeks old, vulnerable, enchanting, depending on our attention and attention. The dog makes WOOF, and we'll see if we can do something for him. We made oatmeal with honey in the morning, cut the green rumen at noon, carried it out to the garden at night and then sat by his dog bed and waited until he fell asleep again, and Sammy licked his hand sleepily and tenderly. That's how it started. And one believes, as it will forever be, harmoniously, give and take, and dog school is nothing more than the finishing touches to a dog-human relationship based on trust and respect.
And when three dogs get to know each other ...
Sam loves the dog place, in the last bend in front of the parking lot he starts to trample in the car with joy. That he should be educated there, plays a subordinate role for him. He loves everything, the meadow, the exercises, the other dogs with whom he can romp or hang out. For us, however, the dog school sets standards.It shows that there is more to it than to get along somehow. You can see how it can be: dogs that listen to their people, without hierarchical stress. Without shuffling. You see people and dogs who are completely relaxed because they know how to relate to each other. That's what you want too. One becomes part of the dog school system. You become ambitious. You want to do it well.
... bipeds have nothing to report anyway!
We wanted to do it well. Especially because Sam is a collie. Collies stand on dog seats in an imagewise manner on a level with boobs. From the point of view of the many, the robust short hair breeds on the harness, collies are something for people who want to sink their nose in cuddly fur and the true challenge shy. Collie owners are considered as taffy as the fawns that Lassie saves in every second episode from any dangerous situation. On dog breeds pages on the web it says, "The collie obeys happily, it does not bother the beginner who cares a bit about dog training." And people, of course, believe it. After a few weeks and a few sit-ins, which even the trainer Sam was sometimes struggling with, she wondered if Sam was really as sensitive as the breed intended for him. She watched Sam for a long time, then she said, "Sam is an actor, he makes us all want." Sam plays collie.
We wondered if Sam actually knows he's a collie. Or if he somehow feels strange in his long, beautiful coat. Maybe Sam was born in the wrong body? It was the day in the mud. The decision to leave the conventional path. To be clear and radical. Make the dog feel that he has to obey if he wants to live happily with us. No repelling. We saw the departure from the dog class as an opportunity. For a few months, we have been training Sam for a new method called "dummy training". We feed him now out of a bag that we have to throw and which he has to retrieve, according to the rules we set up. The dog learns that there is nothing left for free, that he obeys, because the alternative is hunger.
The bag is the prey, we are the prey owners who give the dog something, if he does everything the way we want it: on "Apport" command the bag and bring us. To stand behind us, in the subordinate area. Deliver the bag to our hand as requested. Wait until we open it. To look away. Eat until we close the bag. We are the bosses.
Because the method every feeding in our own area, in the house or garden excludes, we are traveling three times a day with dog and bag. It gets very wet, it takes a long time until a 25-kilo dog has his daily ration in small appetizers fetched and has suppressed. It's freezing, and it's always dark, it starts at seven in the morning, in a parking lot behind a bus stop, where I shorten the time for those waiting with the "Apport" number. Sometimes Sammy brings the bag. Sometimes he prefers starving. Sometimes we feed him secretly at home. But he does not shove me anymore. It works. We are on a very good way.
Dog Training: Train your four-legged friend
Dogs are the most inquisitive students there is. These tricks and commands learn them quickly and with really fun.
For all exercises, it is best to repeat three to five times at short intervals. Practice again, practice, practice. And of course praise much and exuberantly, then it works sometime on command and also without any treats.
1st place!
1st place! Give your dog a treat in front of his nose and slowly pull it towards the floor. Hold on tight because your dog will - snout down, butt up - try to steal it from your hand. At some point his posture becomes too uncomfortable and he lies down. At this moment, "place!" say and release the treat.
2. Do the role!
2. Do the role! Have the dog "seated". Then pull a treat from the nose backwards towards the shoulder, until it makes a difference in trying to catch it. Doing a hand signal or a command like "Roll you!" use.
3. Stay!
3. Stay! Have a treat ready in your hand. Command "seat" and then say with the outstretched palm "Stay". Take a step backwards. Then go back to the dog, give treats and give praise. Repeat the exercise and slowly increase the distance.
4. Light off!
4. Light off! Works only with large dogs and toggle switches: hold a treat to the light switch and animate the dog to jump and get it. If he hits it with the muzzle the switch, exuberantly praise. First, always practice on the same switch using a command like "light".
5. Allez Hopp!
5. Allez Hopp! Dogs like jumping over obstacles, you can just use your own arm to practice, and you always have it with you. So, crouch down, stretch out your arm and have the dog animate you to skip over it, initially on a leash. Say a command like "Hopp". Of course it also works with tires or tree trunks.
6. Seek the dog biscuit!
6thSearch the dog cake! If there is still doggy weather outside and the walk is a bit short, you can train your dog's nose inside: "Sit and stay!" say and then hide in front of the dog some strong smelling treats in the room. Then let the dog search and support a bit. Praise, if he succeeds - this is how you train the dog's nose to follow a particular track.
addresses
The training tips are from the animal psychologist Imke Wirth. It operates in Hamburg an animal psychological practice, a dog school and a dog kennel: Tel. 040/44 19 59 44, www.tiertherapie.de.
Meike Dinklage trains with her dog Sam in the dog school of Gaby Abels in Hamburg: www.gaby-macht-schule.de; E-Mail: hundeschule.gabyabels@hamburg.de.
