Drake

Drake during his third session of advanced obedience at the K9 Training Center, Jackson Missouri

Last November my training “burn out” came home to roost with a vengeance. Drake and I participated in the Christmas Parade with our dear friends from Mississippi Mutts. It was not Drake’s first parade but it was the first one since I had removed myself from all things dog training. In short, it was a disaster.

At that point, I was in tears and faced with two choices. I could sequester my dog or I could pull myself together and address the behavior I had allowed to manifest. I am not one to hide for long especially when the welfare of one of my animals is on the line. I chose to be proactive and do what it took to correct Drake’s behavior and my own.

Ambassadors for the American Pit Bull Terrier are at a premium. The breed fanciers have been relegated to the shadows by sensationalized media, lies and the ever-present irresponsible owners guilty of outright stupidity. That makes it even more important for the responsible owners, with the finest examples of the breed, to take their place front and center in the war on breed discrimination. We cannot allow the negative to win. It is our duty as lovers of the breed to step up, stand out and throw the misperceptions right back in the faces of those who malign the breed and make their living off the corpses.

Drake is a handsome boy. He is happy regardless of what is going on around him and he truly loves people. I want the public to see his spirit. It was up to me to address behavior which would cloud perceptions about him and the breed as a whole. I immediately enrolled him in classes at the K9 Training Center in Jackson.

I chose this facility and the program based on experience. I hear all the hype about 100% positive methods professing to have a one size fits all agenda. Hype is exactly what I consider these programs. I have long called it vanilla training and it may be fine for soft dogs with owners who have no real aspirations for solid trained dogs but it is misleading to think ANY training is one size fits all.

Training equipment is a tool. I have watched and listened to the condemnation of equipment by countless individuals who have no actual working knowledge of training equipment such as prong collars. A prong collar is not a torture device as you may have been led to believe. It is an effective tool which mimics the correction a mother dog will make to a puppy. I use a mini prong rated for maximum weight of 20 pounds, Drake weighs 65 pounds. This tells you automatically I am not using a torture device but I am working him in training with a tool effective in building the habits of behavior I wish him to display in public.

Does it work? Let me share my day yesterday and you decide.

Lawless Harley Davidson hosted a motorcycle event yesterday called The Puzzle Run. This event was presented as a fund raiser and educational vehicle for autism. Organizers Angela Peters and Jon Peterson have personal experience in the challenges faced by families whose lives have been touched by the various levels of autism. This event was well attended and supported by motorcyclists and non-riders alike. To say the energy was high and the noise level above average, is something of an understatement.

Drake and I, along with several other dog lovers, attended this event. When I go into public venues, Drake wears a flat collar and I use a multi-function military lead. The lead allows me to maintain control but also it leaves me hands free. Think about that for a moment. I train with a prong/martingale combination but I take my reactive dog into public venues, with other dogs, on a flat collar. Except for an “almost” incident with a Cane Carso owner who was simply unaware of the bubble I need to keep Drake focused (approximately a three-foot circumference) there was no incident which would have made anyone uncomfortable. Those who saw my meltdown last November would have been speechless. Even the incident with the Cane did not shake Drake’s confidence. His recovery was as quick as his reaction; no harm no foul. It also bears mentioning my dog who jumped out of his skin over an in the door ice machine could care less about the sound level of live music and Harley Davidson motorcycles. He is fickle that way.

Kids have long been a source of concern for Drake. I do not have kids so I am reliant on my friends to help me with that one. Drake’s tail has been dislocated. His first reaction to contact with a child when he was a puppy leads me to believe the damage was quite possibly inflicted by a kid. I have two exceptional training helpers addressing this issue.

In addition to his leeriness around kids, Drake is a momma’s boy. We are in our fifth session of advanced beginning dog obedience because he has been unable to successfully pass the portion of the Canine Good Citizen certification requiring a three-minute supervised separation. He basically screams for three solid minutes until he can see me again. Yesterday not only did I see Drake interact with kids, I watched him happily walk away with Bray and her friend to enjoy the event without me. Many might find it strange I am happy my dog does not look back when leaving me but part of having a high drive breed requires they be able to face their short comings and push ahead. This marked monumental progress for Drake.

I have been sharing weekly updates on Drake’s progress after dog class. My whole point has been to show what happens when you are willing to address undesirable behavior in both yourself and your dog. We owe it to the dogs to put the time and work into providing them the tools needed to live in harmony in our world. It is not about humanizing their behavior, it is about molding their natural instincts to insure they are welcomed into our society.

Just because someone professes to have the key to the unicorn and glitter answers to dog training, does not make it right or effective. Just because you have seen misuse of training equipment by fools, does not mean that equipment is wrong. When negatives arise, it will always go right back to the human factor. Dogs only do what we allow. Educate yourselves, commit the time to give your dog what it needs to become a true companion in your life!