Category: Puppy Stuff, Advanced Stuff ¤ Author: Shirley Chong ¤ Title: On/Off Switch ¤ Beth (Lange, I think) wrote: > "Vinnie is a quiet dog until there is something for him to do. Then he is all > fire. He can turn it on and off at the drop of a hat - and I like that!" Beth Rasmussen wrote: > That describes all my BC's to a T. Thats why I love the breed so much. Are all > herding dogs like this or is it just a Belgian & BC thing? It's an *OWNER* thing! I was convinced that temperament was almost all genetic, then someone wrestled me to the mat verbally and made me admit that I've had six Belgians and they've all been pretty much the same: nice, friendly, fundamentally easy going dogs that are not insane. People all over the country have met four of the six: Bidge, Chamois, J'ai and Hunter and all four dogs have been described to me as "the only nice Belgians I've ever met" on many occasions. These four dogs aren't closely related (and in fact, according to the AKC are two different breeds!), they didn't all have the same type of background when I got them, I got them at all different ages (from 8 weeks and 3 days old to 3 1/2 years old), and yet after living with me for several months, they're acting the same? HMMMMMMMMM! Orion is a little heathen but he's a lot better than many of the Belgians I've met. It's not because I lucked out via careful selection or careful upbringing from birth. Sure, it doesn't hurt--that would be Hunter and he certainly was the easiest puppy I've ever raised. And Bidge was born on the figurative velvet pillow with a sterling rattle in his mouth but I didn't get him until 14 months. But I've also had two severely physically abused Belgians (Chamois and J'ai) and two severely physically neglected Belgians (Orion and Rhiannan). Then I started looking around and realized that people who had dogs that acted hyperactive and insane almost always (80% of the time) reinforced berserk behaviour and either revved the dog up whenever it stopped acting like that or just ignored quiet, calm behaviour. Well! That put an entirely different slant on things! And I started wondering how much of self control is taught by owner and how much is lack of self control encouraged by owner. From Day One, without even thinking about it, I start teaching my dogs how to relax on cue. I start installing that on/off switch right away because I like living with dogs that seem calm but have lots of drive when wanted. I think people who reinforce hyper behaviour and rev the dog out of calm behaviour are sometimes afraid that if their dog acts calm, it will lose intensity. Whereas I figure that my dogs have all the intensity they need, nothing is going to take it away. Whereas I need more sanity for myself and acting hyper would detract from my store of sanity! When I used to dabble with Schutzhund, before I was disabled, people would see Chamois and Bidge lying calmly at my feet while the bitework was going on sometimes less than ten feet away. And then they'd look totally skeptical when the helper would get out his big, heavy, trial sleeve to work Chamois because she looked so calm and she looked so little and demure (she was on the trial sleeve at seven months old). They didn't realize that the reason for the trial sleeve was because the helper really didn't enjoy being perforated through the softer sleeves--she may have had a small jaw but that just let her concentrate all the pressure on a smaller area, making her more efficient! I'd leave Bidge on a Place by my chair, go work Chamois and watch the audience's eyes get big and round and shocked looking. Then I'd take this little berserk biting monster, put her on a Place by my chair and work Bidge. Chamois watched calmly and smugly (she was better than Bidge and never doubted it). Then it was her turn again. We had to work Chamois twice because if Bidge went first OR last, Chamois gave him the Victim of the Day award and made the rest of his day miserable (she's a very sneaky bitch). Then people would ask me how I taught my dogs such good stays and I didn't know. I didn't do anything different from what they were doing to teach stays (this was at obedience camp). Now I look back and realize they were starting at the wrong spot in the process--what they really needed to know was further back, how to teach a good on/off switch. It's easy for a calm dog to hold a down-stay (not so easy for them to stay awake on the sit-stay )! Doesn't take any particular skill to teach a calm dog to stay because they're calm to start with. Which is easy--I just hold on to the dog from the first day and gently hug/restrain the dog until it relaxes a little, then let go. Over time, the dog relaxes more and more when I hold it. Finally, over time, the hold becomes more and more of a token gesture until it ends up being my palm flat against the dog's ribs. I hug/restrain the dog dozens of times a day in the beginning, probably as much as 9 or 10 dozen times. Yes, I'm talking over 80 reps a day but the vast majority of the trials are less that one or two seconds long. I like dogs that like to snuggle and this is also the first step down that road, too--being able to relax and enjoy restraint. It doesn't seem like training because it takes up so little time and it's over so fast. We practice everywhere we go. And then I have yet another Belgian that is the "only non-hyper Belgian I've ever met" and no conscious memory of how the dog got there. It wasn't until Anita got Bria and I suddenly realized that there were things I did that she wasn't doing that it became clear to me what was going on. Then Auntie Shirley promptly did those things with little Wiggies and Bria turned out the same way-- lots of drive, yet able to act calm when desired (and she still responds to Wiggies ). I am absolutely certain that I did not figure this out for myself but I honestly don't remember who taught it to me. I raised my first puppy, Fergie, this way and it turned out so well I just kept doing it. And really, until about four years ago, it wasn't conscious anyway. M. Shirley Chong The Well Mannered Dog http://www.shirleychong.com Grinnell Iowa Sat, 26 Jul 2003