The K9 Trainer

Though it is possible to find an acceptable puppy at a pet shop, you are better advised to buy from a small volume breeder of your choice. A breeder that raises a limited amount of litters per year is more likely to have taken the time to socialize those puppies correctly than a pet shop owner that sells hundreds of puppies a year. Puppies that are handled frequently between 3-8 weeks are more likely to develop into well adjusted pups.

Breeders advertise in specialist dog magazines in the classified sections, grooming shops, veterinary offices, feed store bulletins and most importantly the internet. However, when using the internet be sure to ask for reliable references of clients who have used their services. 

Once you have decided on your choice of breed, your next decision should be, what function you expect that dog to fulfill. Will its responsibility be limited to lounging on the couch, occasionally chewing on its favorite toy or taking lazy strolls with you through the neighborhood? Or will it be the glitz, prestige and glory of the show ring. People who want a dog solely for companionship usually choose a ‘pet quality’ animal. The term pet-quality dog is for dogs that have some cosmetic liability that argues against their breeding or showing success. A pet-quality dog may have a nose that is a bit too long or a muzzle that is not broad enough. Basically the pet quality ‘fault’ does not amount to anything as far as its life expectancy or ability to provide a truly loving little companion.

Although breeders generally ask prospective buyers whether they want a show dog or pet, people who are looking for a show dog should make that clear when they go and pick out pups. Many first time buyers who were not interested in showing when they purchased their puppies suddenly become delighted with pride in their dogs and mistakenly assume they are likely show candidates simply because they are pedigreed. Disappointment can follow when naïve owners who have purchased a pet-quality dog at a pet-quality price enter a show and discover that their dog is well below the standard for its breed.

A huge dog. What does he do for us? Is it a hopeless plea for compensation of our own insecurities? The bigger the better is merely a sad cry out for help, the “he is so huge” has totally gotten out of hand! Many times we overlook the best qualities of one dog due to his smaller size and take home the larger dog. This dog may not have one trait that you need to satisfy the reason why you wanted a dog in the first place but you chose him due to his size. When searching for a working dog you must choose him by the qualities he possess not the way he looks, remember this is a working dog. 

What are you buying? Parents, papers, or pup of your choice. What does one really have to do with the other? Did Michael Jordan’s parents participate in any NBA finals besides spectating and what about Peyton & Eli Manning’s parents? Why is it a necessity for the parents of your new pup to have placed in competions for him to be any good? You should choose by evaluating which puppy has the strongest drive and can those drives overcome the pups stress level. Drive development, channeling drive to create intensity, applying drive and intensity to enhance performance with drive control. Now you have a promise with a plan! In the end does it really matter who has what titles?

Attention trainers, handlers, and pet enthusiasts. Have we cut so many corners that our animals are performing out of submission and fear of repercussions. Have we resorted to only chokers, prong collars & electronic collars for training methods? Remember when the dog performed out of wanting to please the owner. We must use the mental capabilities not just the physical to teach a positive response to corrections.  

Everyone wants to be a breeder, but what does that entail? What are your standards for breeding, what are you breeding for? A dog so driven that it works its way out of many living situations. A dog so large it is outside of the standard and will have inevitable health issues. Or maybe a dog so “beautiful” in terms of show but yet so empty inside. It all seems like no means to an end!

Every time a “breeder” breeds for one quality he/she will do so at the expense of another. We as breeders must not let personal taste or hot trends prevent us from preserving the breed.

So you want to do agility with your dog? Well, the first thing you want to do is start off with some obedience. To be able to compete and be successful, dogs must know advanced obedience; sit, down, stay, and come all of leash. This will give you control of your dog which is especially important around other dogs and a basis to direct him through obstacles. As a handler you will direct your dog with verbal commands and hand signals through a timed obstacle course. Most popular obstacles in courses are jumps, tire jumps, tunnels, chutes, weave poles, seesaws, tables, a-frames and dog walks. The idea is to run, jump, climb and weave and do it FAST! A dog can be faulted for knocking down jump bars, taking obstacles out of sequence, and stopping or hesitating before entering an obstacle. The winner is the contestant who finishes the course the fastest with fewer faults. Do you still want to do agility?

I feel great having the opportunity to express how important it is to choose the right breed before purchasing your dog. It is one of the greatest challenges that I have faced as a trainer. Most times people think they want a particular breed because they saw it on a television show or a friend had one that was “SMART or CUTE”. Well this is the quickest way to have an unpleasant experience with a puppy purchase. In order to really enjoy your pup you have to first get over the impulsive purchase based on looks, size, etc. You should research to know what breed works to fit the lifestyle for you and your family. Example: one may like the blue eyed wolf look of a Siberian husky but hadn’t thought about the fact that these are dogs love to run and run and run and run! Now you assume you will put some obedience on your new furry friend and this should give you the control you need to have him happily sit on the couch with you rather than do laps around the house, wrong, this is a working breed. On the other hand if you have pudgy face English bulldog and you are the jogger of the block and you expect this dog to run 2 miles a day with you then you have made an impulsive purchase on the look of a dog rather than your lifestyle. Be sure to take into account the breed you are interested in and the background, which will give insight to the breed and their characteristics. This should give you a basis to go on when choosing to purchase a new pup for your home, family and lifestyle.

Agility training can be an extremely fun and addicting sport for you and your four legged companion. Spending time with your dog and fellow agility friends week to week is a great outlet not only for our dog but also yourself. It is important to not involve your puppy in jump training until his growth plates have closed so to avoid causing long term health problems to your pet. No worries, not all agility training requires leaving the ground so there will plenty of exercises for you to get started on until then. Foundation work should be broken down into smaller parts, safe enough to teach even younger pups. Once the foundation is learned you should move onto mastering crosses, send outs, turns starting out on a flat collar. Basic rule of thumb is to have fun,fun,fun!

Basic Obedience

Our Basic Obedience class provides a solid foundation for all types of training. Whether your goal is a well-mannered pet or the ultimate protection dog, all dogs must learn basic obedience. This course is for adult dogs and puppies at least 4 months of age. Your dog will learn heel, sit, down return to sit, stay recall, auto-sit and finish. We also include basic house manners such as not jumping on guests or bolting out of doors. All commands are taught on leash.

Intermediate Obedience

Intermediate Obedience builds on the fundamentals learned in Basic Obedience. In addition to being taught hand signals, your dog will learn sit-in-motion, down-in-motion, recall sit, stand stay, and short down with handler absent. This course also preps your dog for off-leash commands.

Advanced Obedience

Further your training from intermediate to being able to work around real distractions. The goal of this course is complete off leash control. He will also learn change of positions and long down with handler absent.