general stuff

Good Friday morning, its raining here again which is much needed. We could really use a full week of rain but best to get a bit at a time with all the steep hills that got burnt out. There have been some evacuations of people who live close to the now bare cliffs. And once again the dogs are not going to want to go out. Having two senior canines and one well into adulthood at 7 everyone loves to sleep in and no one is real interested in going out in the cold morning rain.

Lastnight we we watched a cool show on two rescued diliquent dogs who were turned around by giving them a job. Both dogs ended up in the hands of kind and loving trainiers which I was really happy to see. Some dogs leave bad situations only to find themselves in the hands of al harsh trainers hands which must truly be a nightmare. I missed the very start of the show so I didn't see the situations they came from but both trainers kept talking about the destructive past of these dogs.

One of the dogs was a bloodhound which was after being a destructive pet; going to be trained as a police dog here in the States. In just 12 weeks the man who took her in turned her into an amazing scent dog. The show demonstrated in a condensed version how she went from a troubled pet to a much desired police scent dog. At the end of the show the trainer who was very emotional turned the dog over to the Massachusetts police department. He had bonded with this female bloodhound over the weeks of training and she had wiggled her way into his heart. Much kudos to people who do this type of work.

The other was a Bearded Collie somewhere in England who had been quite a handful and finally been passed onto a sheep farmer/trainer. The woman was amazing; she turned this headstrong "bad dog" into an amazing working dog. In just 12 weeks he learned how to herd sheep and was very good at it. Although she took him to a herding trial where all her training fell apart; she knew it had been too early to try this with him. At the end of the show just before the credits; it stated that three months after the show he had herd a flock of 80 by himself. And this lucky dog was going to live out his years with this woman.

It was a great show and both trainers talked about how you must be patient and kind with your training. The woman with the Beardie stressed how a recall must be the most wonderful thing in the world and that you must create an amazing bond with your dogs for them to want to stay with you. She discussed how dogs that run away have not bonded with their owners, which I totally agree with. Mind you there are dogs that run off but have every intention of coming back; these are different than dogs that run away completely.

I was very uplifted to see this show that showcased these wonderful positive trainers. There has been much too much emphasize put on physical control in dog training on television these days. Leadership is extremely important in the dog world but physical leadership has been pumped up to a status where it does not belong. With all the work of positive trainers to use your brain rather than brawn it is nice to see shows that keep us moving forward instead of going backwards with the choke'm trainers.