Today, I have been thinking about the dogs that I have had and how they were trained. The first dog, Tinkerbell, was never trained. As a child, my parents brought home a beagle pup from my uncle’s home. My 4 sisters, brother, and I fought over who would hold and play with that pup. As she grew, so did her independence and she would run away from home and we would chase her and bring her back. She was strongly independent and to my recollection, she never responded to any commands but we loved her none the less.
Dog number 2, Kedar, was a lab pup. We got him when my older daughter was a teenager. She and I brought him to puppy and dog obedience classes to learn the standard heel and sit commands. Kedar only wanted to please us and always wanted to be with us. He could dislocate our shoulder though when we walked because he was strong and very excitable. Our training instructor told us we should put a choke collar and later a pinch collar on him. When he pulled while in class, the instructor took the leash out of my hand and pulled so hard Kedar choked, cried, and fell to the ground. I yelled, you hurt him! and I cried. Her reply was he’s alright. This is an example of a style of training that demands obedience. Not necessarily change but obedience none the less.
Dog number 3, Bailey, is lucky that Jessica of The Capable Canine is the one who is helping us train him. She describes in her Facebook Video that there are two kinds of leaders. Those that demand change and those that inspire change. No choke collars, no yelling, but instead an approach that inspires and encourages obedience. Jessica has shown us that “through our actions” we can teach Bailey to learn. He says Thank you!
