I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the key to training a dog is repetition. Remember when you were learning your multiplication tables in school, you repeated it over and over again. 1 x 1 is 1; 1 x 2 is 2. It works the same way for dogs, thankfully they don’t have to learn multiplication though!
Finding the right dog trainer is imperative to the health and well-being of your pet; when you are searching for a dog trainer, many people forget about themselves. Finding a dog trainer that you are comfortable with and you can work with, is equally as important for you and your dog. Let me be very clear, I will not do anything with/to my dog that I think is wrong, or that I am not comfortable with. Even if you have never had a dog before, if you think it is wrong or will hurt your dog either physically or mentally, don’t do it.
When we first started obedience class with Sampson at 1st Command Dog Training, there were two trainers; Chris and Sara, by chance we got Sara and am I ever so grateful for that. Not that Chris is a bad trainer, but Chris is a very strong, determined woman and coincidentally so am I. Chris will say, “You need to do XYZ for that dog;” but that doesn’t work for me. Once she told me I might want to try Sampson on a low-calorie dog food; I looked her dead in the face and said, “I don’t want to.” The girls in the shop were giddy after that confrontation and it took a while for Chris to even look at me again.
Sara on the other hand will say, would you like to try a choke collar on Sampson (no, I would not, I do not like choke chains.) Sara will let it rest, Sara is also open to hearing what I have to say and actually considering it. She also doesn’t mind if I try different training methods that she is not teaching. Such as the positive treat reinforcement I am currently working with Delilah on.
Thursday night as we were driving home after obedience class, Chet said maybe on Sunday we can take the dogs down to Valley Falls and try them off leash. I have been sick about it ever since. I don’t really think he gets the concept of off leash, he wants the dogs to stay within about five feet of him the entire time; when they run farther ahead, he calls them back and if they don’t come he keeps calling, I can hear the anxiety in his voice and I’m sure the dogs can too. However, I really did want to get them out today, so I packed my pocket full of dried chicken and grabbed what was left of the roast beef and we walked up the street to the park.
As we exited the driveway, we noticed a small group of four kids heading up the street to the park; the pain in my stomach intensified. We got to the park, let the dogs off leash and began our trek in; two of the girls ran past us. My dogs did not chase them. That was incredible! The last time someone ran past us on the trail, Delilah ran after the poor kid; who kept looking behind her as she ran, all the while I’m shouting, “She won’t hurt you!”
The kids went straight up the path into the field, so we banged a right and headed up the other side and to the trails; just as we took a left to head into the really wooded area; a man and woman with two labs (a chocolate and a black) came down the hill. Naturally the dogs have to greet each other, thankfully for us their dogs were off leash as well and as it turned out, Sampson, Delilah and I had met the dad previously. It went fairly well until they departed down the hill and we headed into the woods; Delilah went with them. I called her and I kept walking, but she didn’t come, just as I turned around and headed back, here she comes!
We hiked through the woods and as we were approaching the field, we could see two of the kids on a rock in the woods; Chet heeled Sampson and I clipped Delilah on the leash just to be sure we wouldn’t have anymore mishaps. Once we got out into the field we could see that the kids had now all come together and were sitting in the middle of the field, since we usually walk the perimeter I let Delilah off leash again. The dogs did amazing; I said to Chet, “I’m almost afraid to say it for fear of jinxing us, but I’m pleased that the dogs are ignoring the kids.” Indeed they were, they simply ran along the edges of the field, sometimes venturing gently into the woods, but staying right where they needed to be.
As we exited the park, I asked Chet, “So how do you think she did?”
His response? “Awesome.”
So good to hear how well they are progressing Jodi, obviously you guys are doing excellent work with them!