Canines North
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Here is the latest news from the Canines North Club ... Club Events for 2006: We are starting beginner agility classes every Saturday from Feb. 18 to March 18 with a classroom session on Feb. 14 to get organized and show videos and other training aids. Locally we will be at the Fall Fair with agility and Rally Obedience planned for Sunday and a Hoof'n'Woof on Saturday with the Northern Saddle Club. There are several agility and Rally O trials in Prince George and Quesnel through the year. The AAC Regional and National Championships will be in the Lower Mainland in 2006. We are hoping to have some fun days. Membership Membership in Canines North is open to anyone interested in training and working with their dog. Dogs of all breeds and mixes are welcome. If interested in doing agility dogs should be able to work off-leash with their handlers. Our members range in age from teenagers to fifty plus years, and dogs include Shelties, Labs, a Maltese and various mixes. Several of our dogs were adopted from Turtle Gardens or otherwise rescued, all that counts is ability. Membership costs $30 a year and includes use of the equipment, access to our library of agility books, magazines and videos and sponsorship of the Dog Fancy magazine at the Smithers library. It is also an opportunity to meet other people interested in spending time with their dogs. We had the AGM on March 8th. Not much has changed. Lorna remains President, Jean is still Vice President and Jenny Treasurer. Tara is the new secretary. Claire and Louis remain groundskeepers and Claire is now in charge of the library. We now have several books on training in the library as well as videos on training and tapes of agility and Rally O trials. Also the Clean Run agility magazines and DogSport magazines which cover a variety of dog sports and training for them. So there is a lot of info out there if you want it. Monthly Newsletter Over the last few weeks several different people have had conversations with me about training dogs which started with: "how do I teach them I'm boss?" One man insisted he had to use a choke chain for training because his dog "was very stubborn" and had to know "I can hurt him if he doesn't listen." Another woman told me her young dog "wasn't paying attention" as she repeated "sit" in a louder and louder voice and her dog stood beside her looking up but not sitting. Others feel if their dog is trained with treats it will only work if a treat is visible and the dog is hungry. My answer is: how long would you go to work if you didn't receive a paycheck? Yes, lots of people volunteer for various activities but they get something out of it, a sense of serving their community, helping others, doing something they enjoy. So if you don't work for free, why should your dog? There are two main reasons why I enjoy clicker and positive based training more than force based. The first is the bond I build with my dog. There are hundreds of ways of doing something wrong, only one way of doing it right. If I go into a training session planning to correct every mistake, that's a lot of corrections. If I go in planning to reward any efforts in the right direction and ignore mistakes, that's a lot of rewards. I don't want a relationship where I think the dog is trying to ignore me, get away from me or be deliberately disobedient. I want a partnership where we enjoy working and spending time together. And I do not want a relationship which is dependent on a collar and leash. The second reason I enjoy clicker training is the understanding. If my dog truly understands that sitting squarely beside me in heel position gets her treats, why would she come in but sit crookedly a foot away? Sure I can pull her into the correct position, but does she understand? or is she just letting me manipulate her body? With clicker training I assume she has not totally understood the behaviour and continue to explain to her what I want. She is using her mind, she is working to figure out what I want so she can get rewards, and when she truly understands she can give me that behaviour any time, any place, and under any circumstances. The real thrill for me is seeing the trust and understanding in her eyes, "that's what you want, that's how I get a reward!" For years Tassie pulled on leash like a sled dog. Yanking her back into heel had no effect on her and became very frustrating for me. I'm sure she thought the price of going for a walk was being pulled around and she would put up with being pulled around because she badly wanted to go out. Then I discovered the Halti. With a halter on her head she pulled less. Then I discovered clicker training. Now we could communicate clearly. When she was beside me I could click her and give a treat. I'll never forget the day when I clicked, she stopped and looked at me, and clearly said "why did you never tell me that was what you wanted?" She didn't immediately stop pulling on leash but it was a breakthrough. And at the age of 12 years she earned her first title in Rally Obedience, which includes a lot of heeling on leash. So people who want to show the dog who's boss: You control all aspects of their life, food, water, shelter, play, exercise and affection. Surely you can use that to gently but firmly say --- I'm in charge.