Training a Bear

Sometimes you get a dog that is a perfect match for his or her name. And as you can see, Bear matches his name.

Bear was in last weekend for his first Manner in Minutes training, and he was a delight. His owner brought him in the week before for an evaluation. I could tell right away he would be fun to train.

I had to talk to Pat Muller, the wonderful trainer who came up with the Manners in Minutes training system a couple of days earlier. I mentioned Bear and told her he was a Golden Retriever/ Chow mix. I had not seen that combination before but told her I thought it would be a great one to work with. Pat, who has worked that mix before, confirmed that those two breeds make a delightful dog.

Now the Chow Chow is a “serious” breed. They are a nice dog if well socialized and under control, but dangerous if they are not. Golden’s on the other hand are all about fun and attention.

So Bear was very serious about fun and attention.

He left here with all the basics in place. He will be back next weekend for follow up. I am looking forward to the session

Doug

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I dont like shock collars

Last weekend we went to a home and garden show. The last time we went I was surprised to see one of our local dog trainers had a booth. As he has a lousy reputation and is known as a hustler, I wasnt surprised to see him there.

This show had a local trainer of one of the chains. I haven’t paid much attention to them other than to note that two of my customers had “thrown them out” of their homes when they came to do a presentation. They do advertise extensively and have a great logo.

I saw the trainer with a dog that I would describe as way too worried. But we had flooring to look for so we walked past. Later when they walked by I was amazed to see the dog wearing a shock collar.

A little bit of research found that this chain does train with shock collars. I just cannot find a way to rationalize that. I could see, in an extreme case, where you might use a shock collar. I have never had to use one, but I was a cop too long to say that I would never use it. But if I did, I guarantee that when the dog left my center, it would never wear it again. To send people out with a permanently attached shock collar is just beyond belief.

It is one thing to correct a dog. But it is another to punish it. To send someone home and rely on their experience, which is limited if they are using a dog trainer, to be firm, fair and consistent isn’t realistic. We have all seen those college psychology experiments where the student is allowed to shock the test subject.

And the bottom line: I barely understand electricity. I don’t think I ever meet a dog that did. Why would you subject a dog to discomfort at best, and outright cruelty in some situations?

I’m not sure what I would call this, but it definitely isn’t dog training.

Doug

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