Jase, Cooper
and I have just completed a four week Dog Listener training course so I thought
I would share our experience with you all and hopefully inspire you to take on
this concept yourselves.
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| Jase, Coop, Hayley, Tony and myself at training |
Cooper has
become such a good boy when we are at home. He is calm and obedient and comes
when called. But when we go out, that is when things change. His biggest issue
is pulling on the lead and his overexcitement at times. I can walk him in a
quiet street with a slack lose lead if there are no dogs around, no problem.
But bring dogs or young kids in the mix or any other big distractions, and he
is strong, persistent and hard work to control. There is no doubt Cooper is a
boisterous dog. He is also still young (almost 16 months) so with age, he will
calm down, as long as we give him the correct information to do so.
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| Cooper and his girlfriend Abby. Abby has also done this course and they get to practise together a few times a week. Once they have calmed down, they get to play with each other and they love it! |
Jase and I both
read Jan Fennell’s book ‘The Dog Listener’ and we just loved the idea behind
her approach. We had tried chock chains, gentle leaders and the harness and
were not seeing great results. We then saw Tony Knight (Jan Fennell’s son) speak
a couple of months ago. And after taking on some of the ideas behind this
concept, we decided that we needed to see it in practice. Hayley Wright from
Taking the Lead (https://www.facebook.com/takingtheleadtraining)
and Tony Knight ran the course and they were fantastic.
The idea behind Dog Listening is that good
leadership needs no force, gadgets or dependence on exercise to change a dog's
mind. Good communication at critical times is what’s required. Every pack needs
a leader and if you do not show those leadership skills, your dog will take on
this responsibility and this can become quite stressful for your dog. Dog Listening
looks at it from a dogs point of view. Dogs descended from wolves and are pack animals;
so all the ideas behind this approach are focused on how a dog establishes its
leadership in a pack. Amichien Bonding is the approach we use to get there. “'Amichien Bonding’ gives you a full understanding of why a
dog does what it does and a simple way to shape desired behaviour and quietly
corrects undesirable behaviours without the use of force, fear, frustration,
drugs or gadgets.” (source: http://www.janfennellthedoglistener.com)
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| Cooper and his cousins - Roxy and Harley. We did a lot of Stop Start Change Direction with Cooper before letting him off the lead to play with them - and he was so much calmer because of it. |
Amichien Bonding uses the language that all dogs already
understand and all humans can learn.
There are four key elements that are the prime motivators in your dog’s
life:
(1) Status - Do you
fuss your dog when it comes to you for attention, without its first being asked
or invited?
(2) Food -Are you
deciding when and where your dog eats?
(3) The Hunt -Does your
dog pull on the lead when or walk calmly by your side?
(4) Perceived Danger -
Does your dog trust you to take care of anything it perceives as danger or does
it over react and try to take control of the situation?
I actually posted a couple of months ago, when
I first heard Tony speak, about how you can establish yourself as the leader of
the pack using these ideas so feel free to have a read of this too - http://mydogjourney.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/are-you-leader-of-your-pack.html.
After
completion of the course, we have learnt that we need to be patient and really
see this as a lifestyle change. Plan ahead, get to places earlier so you have
the time to calm your dog. When he pulls you, go the other way. If he wants to
say hi to another dog, he can, but as long as you get there first. Stop Start
Change Direction has changed the way we do things. Everywhere we go, if Cooper
pulls on the lead, we turn around and go the other way. It needs to be your
decision. You need to show your dog that you are in charge of all aspects in
life for your dog to understand that you are in charge. You need to decide when
to feed your dog, when to play with your dog, where you are going, if something
is dangerous, when the walk starts and finishes, etc.. This approach also
teaches you to appreciate your dog for who they are and why they do the things
they do – they are dogs after all and dogs bark, dig, roll in mud and pick up
dead animals.
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| Cooper interacting with another Golden during the course. The lead is slack and we have walked him over to the dog, not the other way around. |
Through the
course, we have really been able to see the behaviours that Cooper uses to try
and establish himself as the leader. He pulls on the lead, he always tries to
get that first bit of eye contact when we walk in the room, he brings us the
ball when he wants to play, when we call him to us – he sometimes stops a meter
in front so we have to go to him, when we call him over to put the lead on him
he ducks his head, the list goes on.
But Jase and I now feel that we are equipped with the right knowledge
and skills to stop these behaviours and make Cooper believe that we are the
leaders of the pack.
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| Cooper nudging me with a ball to play with him. I need to initiate play, not the other way around, so i just ignored him. |
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| Another one of Cooper trying to initiate play. It is hard to say no to that face - but you really need to be tough for them to get it. Wait till he has left you alone and then you can initiate the play. |
From our
experience with Cooper, I can tell you now that Amichien Bonding is not an easy
quick fix. It is more of a life style change. You need to be patient and
persistent and you really will see a change for the better. Just remember, your
dog is always testing you and asking you for answers to establish who is in
charge, so you really need to know how to read these signals and give your dog
the right answers all the time. Once your dog knows that you are the leader of
the pack and can protect and provide for your pack, they will be a much happier
and relaxed dog. And you will form an even more beautiful relationship with
mans best friend then you ever imagined.
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| Cooper calm and relaxed, taking a dip in his doggy pool after a walk in the hot Melbourne weather. |
