Hippy New Age Dog Training

By Robert Hamilton

With a snap of the wrist and a harsh word the leash grows taught and yanks your dog firmly backwards.  The startled gagging animal has just been “corrected” but the trainer says “yank harder!  Knock her off her feet!”.  Chances are if you took your dog to obedience training that’s the kind of advice you would have been given.  And no doubt this training does get results.  In just a few short weeks your dog will sit when you stop, walk when you walk and stay on command.

I feel all dogs need at least a basic manners training class.  There is nothing more annoying than an unruly animal which will not come when called and can’t walk on a leash.  They are simply no fun to own and can be annoying to others.  Keely and Winnie both underwent this training however I was a bit worried about some of the side effects.  For instance, Keely would come on command but would grovel at my feet in fear and urinate in front of me.  “Oh that’s just her way of showing submission” I was told.  More like her way of showing abject terror was my impression. 

This fearful behavior started during her obedience training and slowly faded once the class ended.  Now that I have my beautiful rare long tailed Soft Coated Wheaten, Tori, I wanted her to learn some manners but I certainly didn’t want to crush her spirit.  She is a wonderful friendly dog but very sensitive.  One harsh word and she acts like she has been beaten.  There is no way I could subject Tori to the controlled terror that passes for obedience training in Regina.  I thought there just HAS to be another way.

Enter Pawzitive Attitudes Canine Training Centre run by Hank and Elsie Wesdyk who run Weskeys Kennels (345-2475  http://www.imagewireless.ca/myweb/weskeys/).  The first day of classes we were told we would not be using tight leashes, harsh words or corrections of any kind.  That sounds a bit like a Hippy New Age Dog Training class minus the love beads but the owners are very salt of the earth types.  Like me, they became discouraged by the harsh techniques employed in traditional obedience training and sought out an alternative.  After some research they started Pawzitive Attitudes.

“What have I gotten myself into?” I wondered.  To say the least I was very skeptical.  How could an unruly Wheaten be taught anything without at least a bit of a yank on the leash or an occasional “NO!”.  And yet by the end of week two Tori could sit and down with voice or hand signals.   That is much faster than Keely or Winnie ever learned - all without so much as raising my voice and not a drop of submissive urine to be found.

The basic approach is very simple.  Dogs are highly motivated by food and praise – but mainly by food.  When a dog does something right you give them food.  Otherwise no food.  If that sounds simple, it is.  Of course there are a lot of tricks to speed along the process.  Hank and Elsie were there to guide us along step by step.  We started with a simple game to get your dog’s attention.  You can’t do much in the way of training if your dog ignores you.  The process is very simple – just wait for the dog to look at you then reward him with a small treat.  In a few moments Tori’s eyes were glued to me.  All of the Pawzitive techniques are presented in the form of games and enjoyable exercises which emphasize treats and praise.

One of the hardest things for a Wheaten is to walk on a leash without pulling.  To this day Tori has occasional trouble, especially if she sees another dog.  Being an old school obedience graduate I have a lot of trouble refraining from giving a sharp correction on the leash.  But this is not the way of the New Age Hippy Dog Trainer.  Grab your holistic crystals, bite down on your love beads and be Pawzitive. 

To properly train our dog using only the Pawzitive way we hold the leash close to our body and when the dog pulls we stop walking and slowly take a few steps back.  This is frustrating to a dog who wants to get somewhere.  She will probably pull harder.  We don’t say anything and we don’t snap the leash.  Eventually she will come to us to see why we are stupidly walking backwards and the moment she does, she is given a treat.  When she walks close to us, pays attention to us and acts in a calm and orderly manner she is given a treat – plus she gets to go somewhere. 

One of our tasks for graduation day on week 6 was to train our dog to do a trick using the Pawzitive approach on our own time.  In a few moments at home I had Tori dancing on her hind legs while I dangled a treat over her nose.  No trick there.  After a few more minutes I had her dance for my fingers then give her a treat with the other hand when the trick was finished.  Finally she would dance at the wiggle of my fingers or on the verbal command “Dance”.  Now we had a trick! 

Using similar techniques I taught her to slowly crawl on all 4’s.  Combining her class training to Down and Stay I taught her to sit and whine while looking at a piece of food and lunge for it on the command “Free”.  I felt we had enough for graduation.

At the end of week six, Tori will come when I call – even outside in the park and off leash (shush… don’t tell the authorities).  She has learned to fetch which is a very difficult task for a Wheaten.  She can sit and stay and down while I walk away and will instantly zoom to me when I give the order.  Some day her ability to stop in her tracks and come when called could save her life.  At the very least her ability to sit and down will make her a more enjoyable pet and a bit less of a nuisance.

 

 

This is not to say our training went perfectly.  While I am a convert to the Pawzitive approach, there was certainly room for improvement in our classes.  The physical space was much smaller than some of the other classes available in town – offset to a large degree by the smaller class sizes.  There were some long periods of talk with little action and Tori became bored at times.  The trainers were 20 minutes late for one class due to a train.  Another class was cancelled and rescheduled due to heating problems in the building.  The majority of our class did not attend the last two sessions – possibly because the classes were the week before and after Christmas.  Or perhaps this class is not for everyone.   We may have had just a few cases of bad luck – your sessions may go smooth as silk.

I should mention that there are alternatives to Pawzitive Attitudes.    I have spoken to owners who are quite enthusiastic about “Clicker” classes, also offered by Hank and Elsie.  I’m told a small noise maker somehow provides positive feedback.  There may well be other approaches available as well.  Perhaps some day I will have a chance to try these other methods and be able to report on them.  For now all I can say is you don’t have to settle for old school training methods if you have a sensitive animal.  There are alternatives and they actually do work.

 

Graduation Day:  To the left you can see that the training has paid off.  Tori pauses to read the instructions which clearly state “Sit” while her handler wanders off.  Such is the frustration for the well trained Wheaten but Tori knows not to give a well earned correction to her owner.

If you are looking for something a bit different from traditional obedience and are prepared to do a bit more work at home then this might just be the solution for you.  Personally I’m sold!