HULA DOGS: TRAINING SCHOOL

Sam's Training Diary

By Paul Edmonds

WEEK ONE

I hadn’t met Sam before our first lesson but he is friendly and engaging, quickly winning me over despite my normal preference for large dogs. He seems intelligent, interested in games, but a typical terrier, with bags of energy and bags of determination – sometimes misdirected.

Like many HULA dogs, Sam has had some training in the past and already responds to ‘sit’. For this first session we focussed on ‘down’. Sam didn’t understand this and Angela was very creative in making me sit on the ground with my legs outstretched and getting me to tempt Sam under my legs with a toy or a treat. The objective was to induce Sam to lay flat on the floor and then praise him for his ‘down’. We practiced this for quite a while, but a somewhat qualified success in this game owed more to my lack of expertise than to Sam’s intelligence. I don’t think we have any pictures of Sam plating like this, but if you are at HULA you’ll recognise me – I’m the one with the muddy bottom.

Better results though with Sam’s ‘leave’ command. He too likes to play tug – so we practiced tempting him to leave a toy in exchange for a tasty treat. We also held his favourite toy in both hands, waiting patiently for him to leave it whilst making sure not to tug it away. When he did get over-excited and inadvertently nipped my hands, a quick yell of surprise was always enough to let him know he had gone too far – without me sounding too threatening (or too frightened!)

Angela encourages a creative approach to training – setting tasks according to both the dogs’ ability and temperament. Its great fun – for the dog and for the handler.

Paul Edmonds

WEEK TWO

Sam is a yorkshire terrier who is very intelligent. He gets very excited to be doing something challenging.

Initially we are given the job of trying to encourage Sam to pay more attention to his handler. Sam is easily distracted by other dogs and needs to be reminded that he is supposed to be working hard in class. Sam isn't fussy about what treats he is given, but likes ham and cheese the best.

One of the tasks which Sam will have to undertake to pass his bronze good citizen is to be able to sit and wait then come through a door or gate properly. This is harder than it sounds as he needs to make sure that he waits until allowed to come through and then waits until the gate has been fastened behind him. We are working on this with repetition and Sam is learning fast.

Another, more challenging, exercise for Sam is to be able to walk past other dogs without reacting to them. Sam needs to learn that he can be in the region of others without needing to challenge them. We are working on this by parallel walking with him and other dogs, at a distance to begin with, slowing moving closer as Sam learns to handle it.

It is important that all the volunteers at Hula try and continue the training exercises when they are walking the dogs, in the run or round the field. Especially good is teaching them that they should walk on a loose lead. This can be very difficult to learn for an excited dog, and we are encouraged not to try this when they initially come out of the kennels are they are just too het-up. But when they have calmed a little, the exercise involves walking with the dog and stopping the second the lead goes tight, only moving forward when the dog is giving you full attention and the lead is slack again. This can be a long process but Sam was quite quick to get it - although other dogs as a distraction made it more difficult for him.

Sam has a tendancy to jump up with excitement and we are working on this by ignoring him and turning away until he regains some control. Sam is continuing to improve with his training and is a very intelligent and happy little dog.