“Write some blogs.” She (Kathleen) said.
Oh, how easily the word “Yes” fell from my mouth. “About what?”
“Doggy things, you must know all sorts of things.” says she.
Well now here I am trying my best to write a blog. About what, you may ask. Well, this is a doggy website so naturally about doggy things. I feel this first one will be me, introducing myself and how I got into dog training, then onto………….. anything is possible. Training ideas, health information, hints and tips I’ve picked up over the years, maybe those embarrassing moments that have happened. We’ll see.
I grew up with dogs and I have only had a few years, when I first left home, when there wasn’t a dog around me. Dogs have been part of my life for 50 plus years so I’ve known quite a few. We had three cocker spaniels when I was young. I remember them as more placid creatures than those of today but then memories can be faulty. At that time they were just pets to me, I loved them and I was allowed to walk one at a time, I yearned to be allowed to walk more than one at a time though, my big brother was allowed to walk two.
When I was ten we moved house, we only had one dog by now but, cutting a long story short we bought an English Springer Spaniel, Caspar, he was to be my brother’s dog in the main. We had always trained our dogs with basic commands, e.g they would sit for their food, they had to walk at heel, but as he would be my brother’s dog my brother enrolled in training classes. It was the classic, walk round in a circle and use a check chain collar. Interestingly Caspar never pulled on the lead in these circumstances, possibly because he assumed the dog in front was actually the last dog in the line, he was in the lead! But this was not what got me into training dogs. I was very much into horses at this time so poor Caspar, substitute horse and no I didn’t try to ride him, was “trained” by me to run round the garden jumping over jumps made out of brooms, tree branches, garden tools and whatever else I could find. If he got it right he got a biscuit. Oooooo are we talking reward based training? I was probably about 11 or 12 when, having watched the Obedience rounds at Crufts on the TV, that sort of training bug bit. I took poor old Caspar out into the garden and started to try and teach him Obedience style heel work. I walked round the garden with him on the lead, at my side, every time he looked at me I gave him a Shape biscuit. Hang on a minute …….. Yep definitely reward based training. I got hooked, I wanted to take part in Obedience competitions from then on, but that wouldn’t happen for a few years. My want to own and train dogs was enhanced by someone who was at the time revolutionary. Barbara Woodhouse. She was on TV in 1980 and did a programme called “Training the Woodhouse way.” Yes, she used check chains BUT she showed how using the large linked chains were better for the dog, they didn’t damage the hair and therefore the skin, than the small linked ones. We changed. She taught people how to train, using verbal commands and signals and to praise your dog when he/she got it right. She was straightforward and was very much “Say it and mean it.” OK some of the methods are perhaps a little more harsh than we would use today but the attitude of mind is still what I admire.
Watch the first 6 and a half minutes...............
Problem Dogs Part 1
Problem Dogs Part 2
I have watched these clips / programmes and some of it will probably peak your interest, some will make you laugh out loud and some will make you wince. Please realise that I am not advocating all the methods used by putting up these videos. I digress so I will expand more on a later blog.
Let me continue with how I ended up in dog training. A couple of years after I left home I and a long term school friend, Judith, shared a house and at the same time I agreed to foster a friend's young, very friendly and very boisterous labrador (Bishop -it's a long story) for a few years whilst she attended university. To say that he was untrained was an understatement! With my somewhat basic skills I managed to get a half decent recall and a sit that lasted up to 15 seconds. The crunch came one morning when Judith opened the front door, Bishop hurtles out to say hello to the milkman ……… on the other side of the road. The poor car driver didn’t stand a chance and just clipped Bishop who then runs off down the road. Picture the scene. I am now running down the road shouting over my shoulder,
“Is the driver OK?”
The driver of the car is far more worried about the dog and apologising with Judith saying “don’t worry about the dog are you OK?”. The milkman has nearly collapsed from shock having seen it all happen “in slow motion”. I take Bishop to work to keep an eye on him. I get home that afternoon and call the vets, not for medical advice but to find out if they have any info on local dog training classes. They have two numbers. No joy with the first but on ringing the second number I find out that they are actually meeting that evening. “I’m coming!”. So begins my relationship with Banbury and District Dog Training Society.
After a while there I was voted onto the committee and at one meeting Carla, “head”, and at that time only, instructor asked if anyone could think of a member who might be willing to help. Oh how my mouth gets me into trouble.
“I wouldn’t mind giving it a go” says I. There you have it. How I got into dog training. Seven little words spoken some 30 years ago.
I have taught basic obedience, KC Good Citizen, Rally and Obedience. I have qualified as a KC Bronze examiner and an Obedience judge, though both these need renewing. I am a KC Rally judge. I was selected for the KC Gold Good Citizen display team for Crufts twice and represented Wales for level 6 at the inaugural Crufts Rally Interregional Competition. I have run some workshops on Rally as some of you will know. This is me, 54 years of age, four border collies and, mustn’t forget, a husband.
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