Monday, September 13, 2010
Obedient pooches: Trainers say education is as much for owners as dogs
Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times
Instructor Lee Anne McAdam trains Daniel and Christine Laffoon's German shepherd, Juneau, during a class at Field of Dreams Pet Dog Training and Agility in Vinton.
Hope Cogen with High Hopes Dog Training works with Hoagie, a 1-year-old rottweiler puppy.
Hope Cogen with High Hopes Dog Training works with Susan Norris' three dogs: Boomer (from left), Dexter and Woody.
Jill, a long-haired puppy, learns to climb onto a bench — enticed with the reward of a treat — during a class at Field of Dreams.
Kelly Palmer of Fincastle leads Pirate, her 4-month-old Boston terrier, across an obstacle course at Field of Dreams.
Nona Nelson, The Happy Wag
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He's patient, too. Hoagie, a 1-year-old rottweiler puppy, lies down on the cool concrete floor by a display of lightbulbs in a Home Depot and waits for his pet mom, Michelle Kaiser of Daleville, to call for him from the other end of the aisle.
Carts whiz by him, people stare and talk to him, but Hoagie doesn't budge until Kaiser calls.
It took six months of Kaiser working at least an hour a day with Hoagie and weekly sessions with dog trainer Hope Cogen, but Hoagie is indeed a well-mannered dog, and the training session -- out in public with lots of distractions -- went very smoothly.
Does Hoagie ever misbehave? Oh yes, Kaiser said.
Still, Hoagie is what most dog owners dream of: an obedient pooch that stays calm and makes strangers feel comfortable.
Getting a dog to that level of obedience requires work and usually professional guidance, and it's not nearly as easy as dog-training celebrities make it seem on TV.
Professional help
Cogen is self-taught, has been training dogs for 10 years and is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.
She moved her business, High Hopes Dog Training, which provides one-on-one, in-home lessons with clients, to Roanoke in 2009.
She has some challenging students -- adopted dogs with histories of abuse -- but she said most of her clients aren't seeking to solve extreme behavior problems.
Cogen said most owners simply want the dogs they love to be well-mannered companions.
"They just want to enjoy their dog, to walk along the greenways with them," she said.
Karen Hough, also self-taught and certified by the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, owns and operates Field of Dreams Dog Training, a business she started in Roanoke in 2005 and moved to Vinton in April.
Hough worked for more than four years as a trainer with Saint Francis Service Dogs.
She and her staff of four part-time trainers conduct obedience and agility training classes at the Vinton location in addition to home training lessons.
Hough also said most owners take obedience lessons to bond with their dogs and make home life more peaceful.
"We used to just have a dog out in the yard. But we are much closer to them now. Dogs are now part of the family," Hough said.
What Cogen and Hough said they are really teaching is communication between humans and dogs.
The education, both trainers said, is as much for the two-legged creature as it is for the four-legged one.
Schools of thought
There are almost as many theories on dog training as there are on child raising. Many dog owners are familiar with the pack leader model promoted by Cesar Millan, a California-based trainer, author and star of National Geographic Channel's "Dog Whisperer."
Both Cogen and Hough, however, use an operant learning model, with positive reinforcement as their preferred method. This is closer to what viewers see British dog trainer Victoria Stillwell use on her Animal Planet show "It's Me or the Dog."
Dogs are social animals, and they shouldn't feel dominated, Cogen said, because dominance can lead to fear and fear can lead to aggression.
Hough said she has used various techniques and found that positive reinforcement worked best for her own dogs.
"Every time I jerked my dog and gave him a physical correction, I just felt bad," she said. "I can't bear the idea of watching a dog cower.
"You don't have to use punishment to explain things to a dog," Hough said.
Making a dog earn affection and rewards with good behavior builds trust and respect, Cogen said.
"They still know we are in charge."
A new pack
Cogen works weekly with Susan Norris and her three dogs in Norris' Salem home.
In April, Norris adopted Dexter, a young yellow Lab, from a shelter in Appomattox to be a companion for her hound mix, Boomer.
Norris said the animal control officer told her when she adopted Dexter that he had been neglected and likely abused.
The small, honey-hued retriever is extremely timid, and Cogen is helping Norris and her family overcome his shyness.
Dexter, Cogen said, is a good example of a dog that would not respond well to a stern type of training.
Dexter got spooked on his way to the vet's office in May, Norris said, slipped out of his collar and was missing for two weeks.
After fruitless searching, Norris and her husband thought they would never see Dexter again. So they adopted Woody, a terrier mix with the face of a Muppet, from the Salem Animal Shelter.
Days later, the wayward Dexter was returned to them.
Cogen is helping Norris integrate her newly formed pack of pooches.
Food is a big motivator for Boomer, Woody and Dexter.
"You need to be like a Pez dispenser," Cogen said about the steady stream of treats doled out when the pack obeys commands.
Cogen leaves Norris with her homework assignment, which includes getting Dexter out for more walks and making Boomer, who's become a bit anxious at dinner time, wait for his supper.
Puppy class
At Field of Dreams, more than a dozen puppies attended a Thursday evening basic obedience and socialization class.
The class began with playtime. The pups were rewarded and praised for going over various obstacles and playing simple games.
Mental exercise, Hough said, is just as important to help a dog release energy as physical exercise.
Each pup was tested on how well they obey the request to sit.
Hough walked by Jill, a 3-pound, toffee-colored, long-haired Chihuahua who, up to that moment, was a study in perpetual motion.
Jill made eye contact with her owner, Julie Jamieson of Thaxton, and when asked to sit, the joyously anxious little pooch plopped her butt to the floor.
Jamieson handed Jill her treat.
Teaching a dog to behave as well as Hoagie, or to overcome fear like Dexter, or to channel natural energy like Jill, requires a commitment of time and money for dog owners.
It's good investment, Norris said.
"I realized I couldn't do it alone," she said.
Besides, Hough added, "dog training is less expensive than replacing three sofas."
Nona Nelson's column runs every other Monday in Extra. You can also find her "Happy Wag" blog at blogs.roanoke.com/thehappywag.
