Ask people for their opinions, knowledge, and expertise – but think for yourself whether it makes sense to you.

In the Schutzhund sport, I learned very quickly but many people are just followers. They do what their trainer tells them to do. They never question the standpoint of the trainer, they never question themselves whether it is in line with their own morales and integrity, they rarely read a book about dog psychology or dog behavior.  They just hand their dog over to a trainer and watch how some of them (not all) abuse and hurt their dogs. These dog trainers don’t necessarily train bad on purpose but their knowledge is limited and many of them think that they have to overpower a dog. We started out like that too but learned quickly that this didn’t work for us and our dogs. As a result, we looked for better ways to train dogs. Initially, we were introduced to clicker training. Kate Lawrence gave a workshop in Atlanta in January of 2004 and we were amazed how easy and fun it can be to train a dog. 8 months later we signed up for a clicker-obedience training program with Debbie Zappia, who came in 2. place at the 2004 WUSV World Championships in Eindhoven, Holland with her German shepherd dog Escobar v. Adelrik. In March of 8 months later we signed up for a clicker-obedience training program with Debbie Zappia, who came in 2. place at the 2004 WUSV World Championships in Eindhoven, Holland with her German shepherd dog Escobar v. Adelrik. In March of In March of 2005, we attended one of Gene England’s tracking seminars in Scottsville, KY. Gene taught us so much about observing dogs behavior, motivating our dog to work and the importance of mutual trust. Learning all these valuable lessons gave me the confidence to compete with Cito at the WDA-Universal Sieger Show in Wesley Chapel in Florida in December of 2005 where we competed in the Schutzhund 3 trial and in a conformation show. Even though this was my first trial ever, Cito and I finished in 2. place. We were excited!Learning all these valuable lessons gave me the confidence to compete with Cito at the WDA-Universal Sieger Show in Wesley Chapel in Florida in December of 2005 where we competed in the Schutzhund 3 trial and in a conformation show. Even though this was my first trial ever, Cito and I finished in 2. place. We were excited! Afterall, nobody expected us to do anything which is such a nice place to be. We just did what we came to do, we had fun, we competed with ourselves and we didn’t care what other people thought of us. Without any outside pressure, we performed and outperformed the rest. I was so proud of my Cito. Learning all these valuable lessons gave me the confidence to compete with Cito at the WDA-Universal Sieger Show in Wesley Chapel in Florida in December of 2005 where we competed in the Schutzhund 3 trial and in a conformation show. Even though this was my first trial ever, Cito and I finished in 2. place. We were excited! Afterall, nobody expected us to do anything which is such a nice place to be. We just did what we came to do, we had fun, we competed with ourselves and we didn’t care what other people thought of us. Without any outside pressure, we performed and outperformed the rest. I was so proud of my Cito.

Today we had gorgeous weather in Atlanta, blue sky and about 65 degrees. We decided to take Shelby and the boys to Piedmont Park. Talk about mental stimulation and control. Shelby saw roller bladers, she watched bicycles passing her by, she walked next to other dogs, she met joggers and small children. And with all that she did a great job. Unfortunately, we left our water at home. So when we asked for some water from a faucet, Shelby didn’t even want to drink the chlorine water. Instead ,she waited until we got home and then she finished her entire bowl. I guess she is getting spoiled. And now she is sleeping on her blue pillow – this was an exciting day for her.

This morning I went to the shelter to play with Shelby. Yesterday I went to the Pet Supermarket to buy the Natural Balance meat rolls. These are one of the best treats that I know so far when it comes to reward during clicker training or as bait on a scent track. I cut a few slices off and headed to the shelter.Recently, Shelby has always been in one of the first crates when you walk in the door. Since her crate was right behind the door I was worried that she or I might get hit by the door when someone opens it. So when a tech guy came by I asked him if I may work with Shelby and go to a different area where we are not disturbed.“Hold on, I will check on that”, was his answer. A minute later he returned with a grim message, “Dr. Good said leave that dog alone. This past weekend she bit a family member of a tech guy and we don’t know yet if she will stay in the program. Please leave her alone until we decide what we will do.” What?????? Oh no, I hated that I even asked. Sometimes I want to be kind to people and at the end, I always get screwed. If I had taken her without asking, I could have worked with the dog. Now I have to go home without making any progress. I was pissed when I had to leave but I am determined to return in the evening. Why cannot people take responsibility for their own action? I wonder what happened when Shelby supposedly bit that person. There are really just 3 reasons when a dog gets aggressive: the dogs primary need of exercise doesn’t get fulfilled and (s)he gets frustrated, the dog goes for prey or the dog bites out of fear. I assume the later happened to Shelby. When I watch some of the volunteers work / walk with the dogs I am surprised that not more people get bitten. They talk in that whiny voice when they open the crates, they reach inside the crate rather than wait until the dog approaches them. I assume that this family member reached inside the crate and Shelby reacted. And at the end the dog has to suffer and gets isolated due to people’s ignorance? Is there justice in this world? If more people took responsibilities for their own action, maybe we wouldn’t have this problem with all the homeless pets. This evening nobody bothered me when I took Shelby out of her crate. She walked outside with me but then she hit her little 3 breaks on me again. Even though this dog isn’t even 50 pounds heavy, she is a strong girl. However, I was determined to take her to the grassy area today, which means she had to walk with me about 20 yards. I walked up close to her, picked her up with the leash and gave her a slight tug to move her forward. As soon as she did a couple of steps I rewarded her with treats. Oh, she likes those treats. Then I gave her a tug again, she walked a few steps and she ate some treats again. In that way, we walked all the way to the grassy area! There I rewarded her with many treats. Small improvements – big celebration. I know I can help her!