This article is entitled...

Basic Training

by Tam Cordingley

The most important thing to know about dog behavior is that basically they are predators. They are meant by nature to find, follow, hunt, and kill their own food. This prey instinct is what is modified to produce herding, pointing, tracking, and hunting dogs. The intensity you thrill to when watching a working Border Collie is the same intense look you see in a pointer when it sees a bird and snaps to a point. Generations of fine dog men and women have taken this prey drive and fine tuned it into the modern day helpers and hunters we have today.

If we remember that it is the basic nature of dogs to run down prey, bite it, and eat, we will go farther in training and handling our dogs. This goes for the large working breeds down to the tiniest toy. Except that the toy is likely to be run down and eaten rather than being the eater. Dogs are also pack animals. As anyone who has studied dogs will tell you the pack structure requires a pack order. This means to foster contentment and harmony within a pack, or family, there is a leader, a deputy, and followers. It is the essential nature of animals to select this pack leader. If one does not exist the members of the pack fight for this most honored position.

The best basic attitude is one of quiet confidence. You are the pack leader. As such you have no need to bully the dog, be mean to the dog, throw your weight around, or generally act as if you are having to win that position. As undisputed leader you can be kind and fair. Always approach any dog with complete confidence. Dogs feel our attitudes, this comes from our faces, voices, touch on their bodies or on the leash. You have no need to fight with your dog, you have already won so there is no conflict. If the dog chooses to act in an unbecoming manner, biting, excessive barking, pulling on the leash, etc. he needs to be corrected, not fought with.

As I've covered in WhizKids and the Personal Dog articles the best mechanism for both control and training is the leash. Don't allow yourself to get into a position where your dog is in danger because you were too lazy or arragant to use a leash. Just hollering "Dog,Come", louder and louder as he/she approaches the road or other hazard doesn't get the job done. Many dogs have been killed by cars or other dogs because the owner confused training with affection. If your dog doesn't come when called it isn't because he doesn't like you, it is because he doesn't know that the command of "dog, Come" isn't a suggestion or request, it is a command.

At your first contact with your dog, or one for which you are caring, establish that you are in control. Put a 6'leash and secure collar on the dog and walk off. The dog will usually follow, if he/she is like most he will follow and dash past you. AS SOON as the dog passes you IMMEDIATELY turn and go in the opposite direction. Of course the dog will hit the end of the leash. Generally they will turn, see you going in the opposite direction, and dash past you again. Again, IMMEDIATELY turn and go in the opposite direction. Within about 4 repetitions of this drill the dog will begin making shorter and shorter runs past you and beginning to watch you. You have done nothing negative, you didn't even notice that he was being a fool, he has effectively leash trained himself in about 10 minutes. When he is watching you and staying with you give him quiet praise. If he again dashes off, pay no attention, just promptly turn and go in the other direction. By your quiet and unconcerned demeanor you have done two things. You have laid a firm foundation for your dog's future learning and you have demonstrated that education is no big deal, it is someting that just occurs. All is well when you are in charge.

We have always made it a practice to give permission before letting a dog go past us at a door or gate. They are actively told Back, Wait, and OK. Same when coming in. An open door or gate isn't a starting gate, it is an opportunity for communication with your dog. This is more than an exercise in authority, it may well save his life. If a door is a starting gate and you are staying at a motel and open a door to a guest or the housekeeping staff the dog will just dash out and possibly into harm's way. If the dog is accustomed to waiting for your command to go out he will wait for your direction. Good dogs take direction from the pack leader.

Another very important skill your dog should have is quietly staying in a crate or indoor kennel. This is a safe place of containment. People are by their basic nature monkeys. Dogs are wolves. Therefore we see small, preferably dark, warm, places of confinement differently. To us these small places are cages or jails, to dogs they are caves. Dogs, wolves, foxes, cats all sleep and have their young in dens or caves. These are good things. Again our attitude in introducing the crate is important. We put the dog to bed with a snack, a toy, a soft cushion, and a pleasant good night. We don't throw the d--- dog in a cage to get rid of him. I even go so far as to express it that way, my command to get in the crate is " nite-nite".

This is not intended to be a how-to article about training. This is a basic handling and attitude text. The how-tos will come later.