What are we teaching our kids?

I would hope that we are teaching them to be caring, thoughtful, and compassionate towards animals and each other - amongst other things.

I went to a 4-H fundraiser this past weekend and participated in the Puppy Conformation Practice Ring with Tito the Corso, as much for the socialization of my dog as to support the group in their fundraising endeavor.

What is 4-H?  "...assisting young people to become productive citizens who are engaged in positive change in order to meet the needs of a diverse and changing society." (from a local club's vision statement)

Well, what did I observe?

• Dogs being yanked around and yelled at by their kids AND the kids' parents.
• Fearful dogs that didn't want to be examined on a "stand for exam" in obedience.
• Handlers not able to control their dogs, even with pinch collars on.

 Of course, there WERE positives...

• Dogs having fun with their kids and wanting to please.
• Dogs eager to participate in whatever their owner wanted them to do.
• A large array of different activities to participate in and ways to socialize your dog.

I thought a bit on whether to report on the negatives and decided it was my civic duty, in the very least, to talk about why those first few bullets are a problem.

I was appalled and astonished to see how cruel some kids were being to their dogs.  I saw a Chihuahua put in a down by slapping the leash down like a whip (while it trembled and peeled its ears back in fear), a pointer get its brains scrambled around by its kid pulling violently back and forth on the choke chain and then the mother repeating the same procedure (obviously the child was not cruel enough?), a Rottweiler getting pulled all over the map with a pinch collar as tight as it could be, another Rottweiler get close to biting the judge in the pre-novice obedience ring while it was "performing" the stand for exam (the judge was barely a pre-teen herself, thank goodness she had the commonsense to back up at the first warning signs), and the saga goes on and on.  All in all, humankind was not at its best that morning.

I really believe that the best way to teach is by example.  That means that I will teach my daughter how to be a good dog handler by exhibiting the virtues that I wish her to practice.  That means several things to me, to her, and to our current/future canine friends:

• We do not get mad or over-correct for a dog not knowing the command - period.
• We use equipment that fits the dogs experience and training level.
• We do not use crank and yank methods to "teach" anything.
• We use sound dogs in our training- both mentally and physically.
• We have patience and understanding, even if we sometimes get frustrated and want to give up - we put our dog away and work on it another time before resorting to physical violence.  This only leads your dog not to trust you and makes you both miserable
• I will make sure that my child really wants to be working with a dog and it not simply doing it because I do it and I pushed her into it....

My last couple comments on the above: over-correcting can have MANY negative repercussions in your training like making your dog fearful, aggressive, unsure, timid, etc., etc.; equipment needs to fit the training level of the dog - I have NO issues with pinch collars but I DO feel that sometimes they are overused by people that simply have not put the time and effort into properly training their dog (and those are pretty easy to spot) - on the flip side, sometimes people use them when they are not necessary and a simpler collar will do, I feel you should work up the stimulus level as you need it, don't start at 10 - work your way there; there is a very true saying in training, "one good correction is worth more than a thousand nagging ones", this fits here - if a correction is in order then give a good one and move on, don't keep on doing it over and over again, the dog has most likely forgotten WHAT the corrections started for; ONLY sound dogs, mentally and physically, need to work - the rest are a hazard to both the handler and the public at large and should be re-homed to experienced trainers or terminated as appropriate, not given to your child to work with; working a dog while you are angry or getting frustrated doesn't serve anybody well - pick it up another day, you will both be happier; and lastly, please make sure that your child actually wants to be working with animals...some of what I saw looked like a precursor to what they say psychotics and serial murderers do to animals.

To end on a good note, a criticism sandwich if you will - we really did have fun.  Tito showed really well!  To watch the video, click on the title of the post or go HERE.  This was a good opportunity for socialization and practice before entering in the main show venues.  Fun shows are also a good way to get an idea of where your dog needs help before it really counts - the trick is to act like it really does count.  You can't got to a fun show and be lazy about your handling, you have to pretend that you are in the big time and every mistake counts - stress travels down the leash - if you don't have the same vibes at a fun show that you will at a "real" show, then you start all over again when you get to a regular show ha ha.  Also, make it worth your while- I asked to go back into the ring several more times so he could get experience with different breeds - by the last time in the ring he was showing like a pro!

To all of the good dog/handler teams that I saw that day - my hat goes off to you - you are leading by example!  Keep up the good work and make sure that you share your secrets of success with the next generation, they are our future - they need you!