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Show Family Weekly / March 23, 1969 Six Secrets to Training Your Dog ACKINNON IS a gay, friendly, year-old German shepherd dog who belongs to a neighbor of mine. Only a few weeks agohis mistress was on the point of giving him away. dog ownershould be able to work the same kind of transformation. Here is his advice on how todo it, based supervised play: the leader, the fol- on 25 years of experience, during lower, the bully, the coward, the dumbone,thesly one, and the friend- which he has trained about 3,000 dogs —for 22 years as trainer for the two ly one. In fact, dog personalities and abil- ities vary so widely that the characterizations you hear of dog breeds— that German shepherds are suspicious of people, poodles are smart, She had developed a real affection for Mac, but he was impossible to live with. His chief characteristic, an unquenchably ebullient friend- liness, was observe in a group of children in un- retrievers friendly, mutts smarter than pedigrees, ete—are virtually combined with such huge size that when he jumped up to lick “Sit.” your face (which she couldn't train main guide-dog schools, the Seeing Eye and Guiding Eyes for the blind. Inc., in Ossining, N.Y, Give him two been a private dog tutor. it. After giving the owner a few instructions, Fouser handed her a leash with Mae on the other end—and she was on her own. “Heel,” she told the dog as she began to walk forward. Mac moved forward sedately, walking at exactly her speed, his nose keeping even with 1, It’s all a matter of communication. The single most important est kind of dog to train because the training involves no correction of his personality traits. If he were a child, he'd be called ‘well-adjusted.’” The Pest. This is what Mac was trait that distinguishes the dog from before his training—a dog with too other animals is that every dog, even strong a sense of self-right. The those that are seemingly most disobedient and defiant, wants to please his master. In fact, the happiest dogs main trait of a dog like tl And for the past three years he has are those that have learned a skill they knowis useful to their masters —sheep dogs, guide dogs, even a household dog who knowshe’s acting the way his owner wants him to. that the fore. With guests, he’s always demanding attention by jumping on them, nuzzling them, giving them his ball to throw. “What this dog needs,” says Fouser, “is special firmness, even stern- Thus training is essentially not a ness, in his training. He’s basically a question of discipline but of communication—of letting the animal know what you want him to do. of the basic mistakes most dog own- bite are insecure and do so out of fear. Fear biters will never aggressively attack you, as will a vicious dog; they'll retreat, circle around behind, and snap at you. If the fear is hereditary and cannot be cured bytraining, says Fouser, then, as with the vicious dog, he at all. He was as gay and friendly ers make is to assume that all dogs as ever, but basically he was a transformed dog. He had learned what are essentially the same and should was expected of him, and henceforth it was just a matter of drumming it no two dogs are alike any more than any two people are alike. If you ob- in until it became second nature. serve the actions of individual dogs One need not be an expert dog trainer to get such results, says in a group as tney play and fight among themselves, you'll see all the varied personality traits that you’d Fouser, Given maybe a month, any 4 through he’s constantly pushing himself to 2. Get to know your dog. One sat. “Stay,” she said, dropping the is or his family. He’s neither shy nor aggressively friendly. Says Fouser, “He's the easi- leash and walking ahead. He stayed. Had Mac's spirit been broken? Not stopped, and whenshe said “Sit,” he method ownrights, his own dignity, his own intelligence. He’ll greet guests with good dog, but he has to be taken down a couple of pegs or he'll quickly be running the whole family.” The Fear Biter. While some dogs are inherently vicious, most dogs that her left hip. When she stopped, he main teaching a wag of the tail, but he has too him, she heard of Edward Fouser and his Specialized Dog Training, formation.I wouldn't have believed that involve no bodily contact, the owners regard this as synonymous with cruelty, largely because the much dignity to jump on them. He's hadn't been there to see the trans- 3. Getting the message across. While the whole aim in training is to teach the animal to react solely to voice commands or hand signals body contact. Unfortunately, many not a biter nor a fighter with other dogs, unless it’s to protect himself Mac's mistress drove to Fouser’s place to pick up her dog, and if I be painful to what trainers call a dogs, but with a strong senseof his that dog and mistress resembled a weeks, said Fouser, and he could civilize Mac. 1 went along two weeks later when at the touch of a grooming comb. Thus a mere jerk on the leash can “bodily soft” dog but not noticed by type can be found in every breed. Here are some familiar types: took off with such speed and strength boat with a water skier in tow. Just as Mac’s owner was regretfully about to wash her hands of hardest whack, while others are so physically sensitive that they squeal a “hard” one, going, friendly with people and other to get at his tennis ball. When she put him on a leash, he immediately from you, his master; then gradually expose him to the world around him “Hard” and “Soft Dogs. Some dogs don’t take notice of even the the individual dog. Every personality describe what they regard as the ideal animal. He’s self-assured, out- Nor could she stop his romping around the living room, knocking over small children, sweeping ash trays off the coffee table with his tail, and chewing up sofa cushions cured. By extra-gentle handling,first teach him that he has nothingto fear useless as a guide to the traits of The “Self-Right”Dog. This is a term used by guide-dog trainers to him not to do) his paws flopped over your shoulders. cruel handling, it probably can be be taught the same way. Actually, should be put out of the way. Ifit’s acquired fear, taught to the dog by chief tool for transmitting body-con- tact commands has an unpleasantsounding name: the chokecollar. Actually, the choke collar is sim- ply a chain collar looped through itself so that when you pull on the leash the collar squeezes the dog’s neck just enough to communicate a physical signal. Your first training step should be to find the animal's “sensitivity threshold” so that you'll know how hard to puli on the leash to get the message across painlessly. This is done simply by starting with Family Weekly, March 28,1969 a |