Training a dog

Dog training has so many different meanings to different people depending on what you want to achieve with your dog and there are so many facets to dog training methodology and then the terminology can be just as confusing if you are just starting out. Each training method seems to have its own set of terminology, wading through it seems daunting and each new training method comes with a set of books and DVDs that is if I might add quite expensive. I try to collect where I can to read or watch but there is just too big a variety.

Training a dog for home obedience is totally different to training for competitive obedience just as competitive obedience is totally different to IPO (International Regulatory Examinations) or Mondioring which in turn is totally different to dog agility and so on, you get the picture. Some of the training methods do overlap and those trainers can share and develop basic dog training methods that each can build upon, clicker training is one of the more recent methods the older methods were more rough as you might say.

When I adopted Blaez I wanted to start his training in the best possible way to hopefully one day reach Champion level in competitive obedience with him, big aspirations I know. I was never a big fan of clicker training I can’t really say why and out of experience I also knew that training a dog to do it out of love does not work either, maybe for home training but not competitively. For me food training was the way to go but where to start. There were some members of our club that did IPO sport with their dogs so after a very insightful conversation I was introduced to the Michael Ellis dog training method, I was lent some DVD’s and started watching the very same night, wow I was enthralled, I liked his method of training and it made sense to me and something I was willing to try with Blaez. I studied the first DVD, which was called “The power of training dogs with food” and the one after that “The power of playing tug with your dog” although Blaez does not really play tug I still learned a lot from that DVD, armed with my new knowledge and enthusiasm I started training Blaez.

                                                  Michael Ellis DVD from www.leerburg.com

With this training method which  in my opinion is a step above the clicker training method there firstly is a lot of groundwork to do, laying a good foundation in dog training for sports is actually very essential and if you have a puppy it is great because through it’s growing stages you can lay the groundwork, then at about six or seven months you can start with the serious training. I had an older dog though not an adult yet but 5 months old already and the great thing is this method can be used at any age. How it basically works is the same as clicker training you have a marker that marks behaviour you want, as soon as the dog does what you want  you mark it, but with this method not a clicker but a word, like “yes” you can use any word but I found “yes” to be the easiest, you work the dog up to react to this word and then you can lure him into doing what you want him to do, unlike the clicker where you mostly start of by waiting for the dog to sit etc. With this marker you can also work distances away from your dog and train send a ways over long distances, which is great, because Blaez was already 5 months old when I got him our training started late but I didn't mind and starting out slow and doing things right was more important than just blundering into every show. You start out by training with food and then as the puppy and you progress you start with the tug, only after the puppy has teethed do you start with actual heelwork but teaching your dog to stay engaged is fundamentally important so that by the time you get to the heelwork part your dog is so geared up to work.  

                                               Blaez happy as ever in the heel position

 I taught Blaez the dumbbell Michael Ellis’s way and it worked wonders, I must say I love this method, I do change here and there obviously as all dogs are different and if I see something that is not working so great with Blaez I change it a bit but most importantly he loves to train and I think that is where the main difference comes in, this is a very positive way of training and the dogs love it thereby giving 100%.

                                                         Blaez holding the dumbell

It took us a couple of months to get up to standard and I started Blaez in novice class as he was doing quite well and I didn't see why we had to go one class lower and do non-competition, if I pay then I want to compete full on, our first show Blaez received 94%, that was so wonderful, I was so proud of him considering it was his first show and in new surroundings and everything, this is the trend that we followed in novice always in the 90%’s and this year we moved up to A-test, so excited. We had a slow start and then a huge setback time wise when Blaez’s stomach was not at all well, but we are back on track now finally and hopefully a mean team!        

For more information on Michael Ellis's DVD's visit http://leerburg.com/ they sell a lot of dog training equipment and training books and DVD's, it is also a really great website in general to get tips and help with training, they have a lot of articles and a forum that is very helpful.