On The Line: Dog Training Methods by...
BY BARBARA “BJ” ANDREWS continued
“ALL DOGS INSTINCTIVELY KNOW THEIR PURPOSE IS HEALING HEARTS AND BRINGING LAUGHTER, JOY, AND COMFORT IN THE SERVICE OF MANKIND. COME TO THINK OF IT, ALL DOGS, PUREBRED OR MUTT, WERE SPECIFICALLY CREATED FOR THAT NOBLE PURPOSE.”
most enjoyed the inventive part because that is what real dog training is all about. My husband started it. He taught Hella to mold herself inside a truck tire so that he could roll her around in it. Bill then con- vinced her that climbing the split–trunk tree in the front yard was a fun thing to do. Admittedly, he had to earn her trust to get her down. The Doberman–Up–A–Tree caused traffic jams on our rural road as people craned their necks in disbelief. One of our favorite demonstrations for other obedience groups was this… Bill taught Hella to go over the high jump with an egg in her mouth, do a perfect return, sit and present the egg so that he could break the raw egg into a bowl as the audience went wild… Our first show breed was the Rott- weiler in the late 60s. Ch. Asgard Anna vom Kongslien, CD finished her obedi- ence title in four shows and her champi- onship (also owner owner-handled) in three shows. Was that a fluke? Stacked entries? Politics? Hardly! She was simply what a Rottie should be.
My inspiration was William (Bill) Koehler whose book the Khoehler Method of Dog Training was illustrated with Bull Terriers! I still have his 1971 Howell book house edition. We bought our first Bull Terrier from George Schriber and another from Winkie and proved that any breed can be trained <smile>. Some dogs are smarter than others, sometimes more than the han- dler or a trainer who doesn’t under- stand the breed. I say this as a former obedience instructor. Bill and I went well beyond utility with our Dobermans and Rott- weilers. Agility hadn’t even been thought of back then but Bill loved teaching “weird stuff” as much as the dogs loved “taking a break” to do it. We gave up on dog training when we moved on to the Akita, a breed not suit- ed for formal obedience. Hopefully you chose your dogs because of that breed’s characteristics and purpose. If he isn’t an obedience star that’s okay as long as he exemplifies correct breed character and temperament.
If you elect to do formal obedience training, you should realize that most obedience enthusiasts today don’t know or care about the breed standard. Likewise we should accept that many of today’s AKC breed judges don’t know diddly about obedience. If you chose a dog in the Non–Sport- ing or Toy Group he should do well in obedience as most have been bred as by–your–side companions. Breeds in the Herding, Hound, Sporting, Terrier and Working Groups were generally developed for specific purpose, often independent of direction or close prox- imity work but they can and should eas- ily earn a basic degree. All dogs instinctively know their purpose is healing hearts and bringing laughter, joy and comfort in the service of mankind. Come to think of it, all dogs, purebred or mutt, were specifi- cally created for that noble purpose. For a revealing profile on owner’s breed preferences, type “thedogpress. com dog owner study survey” in your browser bar or search engine.
116 • S how S ight M agazine , J une 2018
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