Dog Show Handling 101: Lesson Four - Speaking "Dog"

Handling 101: Lesson four

Speaking "Dog"You might think that you need the perfect show dog to begin. You don't. In fact, you can do any of this with the shelter pet you rescued. Then when you see how much fun it is, you can start looking for the right show dog for you. Breeders will be more willing to get you or sell you a great puppy or dog if they know that you are serious. They may give a kid a retired show dog or one that is partially finished to get them started and so that they have a dog to compete with in Junior Handling (that's another topic) Even your shelter pet may find it fun and entertaining and a great bonding experience.Your dog already speaks Dog. It is up to you to learn to speak it. Every movement of your eyes, a wink, a blink, a shift in weight, a tug or a pop of your leash, the rattle of the choke chain and the gathering up or letting out of your leash are all commands and communication with your dog. The stride you begin with, the confidence in your gait will all translate to dogspeak. Eventually you should be able to shift your weight and move your dog forward or back, side to side, move that one foot back an inch or the other just a bit to the side. That's when you're going to look really cool and that is the hook. Your dog will be so impressed that you are actually speaking to him you'll see an immediate improvement in his actions.If you use a heavy hand, you will get resistance. If you are to tight or too short on your lead, you will make your dog nervous - because they think you don't trust them and are afraid and they may take charge and pull you right off your feet. You don't want to control your dog, you want them to come along with you willingly. I see this all the time when I go to community parks. There is the woman with the Irish Setter who has it on an ever tightening prong collar. She has seen me training with students and has asked my advice. I have taken the dog from her, flipped the collar so it has no prongs, slipped the loop of the leash over my thumb and with a completely loose lead gotten the dog to walk quietly with me and make every turn with me without any leash work. The dog is not trained, I just started speaking dog to it and he came with me willingly. She has gone through every trainer in the county and then I saw her again out walking her dog on a short leash and prong collar. She apparently didn't want to actually take class with me.The first thing you should learn is that if you lean over a dog, they will back up. (if they sit, give them a gentle push by moving a knee more forward forcing them to back up). Backing up is a submissive move and should be practiced often, especially with dogs that are a handful. If you lean back, the dog will come towards you - they may even jump up on you. If they go that far, hands together, open with palms down and tilt them in front of their head. Keep your body leaning slightly back. But now you have told them "no jumping". I liken it to skiing. If you face down the hill and lean in to it, your weight is over your skis and you have more control. If you are frightened of the slope and lean back on your tails, you have no control and you're going to acheive your fears and wipe out. But in dogs you can use the back lean to your advantage. Because you want the dog to come with you, you lean back and call the dog to you. Once they are coming towards you, turn and walk forward. Don't worry if they are not in 'heel' position at your knee, if you're showing in conformation, you want them to move out and that may be more in front of you. When you are training puppies, this is especially what you want to do. When they balk, turn towards them and lean back, offer bait and have them come to you. Then without actually giving them the bait, turn and walk forward with them at your side. If they balk again, repeat. After two or three times with them walking forward on a loose lead, give them some of the bait. SOME. It is a puppy. Even big dogs, when you're training if they fill up on bait - especially any that is salty - they will fill up pretty fast and become very thristy and start looking for water or to go to sleep. So keep it in tiny tastes. I'm a big proponent of bait. I've heard some people proudly say that they trained their dog without using bait. I have no idea where they read that this is better but I think it is a load of crap. I use bait all the time and then I don't use it. It all depends on the dog.If your puppy won't bait, start feeding it by hand. If it doesn't want to eat, don't feed it. It isn't going to starve to death. When it is ready to eat, you're going to be there with some cooked chicken breast or a hot dog or some string cheese. Or maybe some raw hamburger. They will eat out of your hand. Keep it up. Make it a game to get the food from you. Now you have established ANIMATION and communication. They have asked and you have given it to them. You're gonna need that if you ever hope to win.If you move your hand with the bait up over your dog's head, they will look up and may sit down. If you hold it out in front, they will reach for it and come up over their front...which is what you want. If you are fussing and your moving your bait all over the place like you're blessing the congretation, your dog won't know what to do or where to look.