Get the lowdown on obedience training for your dog<\/p>\n
By Maria Kegel<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Akuna was ecstatic to see her master's guests at
\nthe house, but the guests were certainly not excited to see her.<\/p>\n
Here was a chunky exuberant Labrador, which had spent most of
\nits first year of life on a leash, doing wild leaps of joy at the
\nprospect of human company.<\/p>\n
Starved for affection, the canine could not control itself,
\nand consequently, the guests did their best to stay out of her
\nreach. Owner \"John\" apologized, vowing that obedience training
\nwould be starting soon.<\/p>\n
Expert dog trainer U. Durijat Muhaji, said Akuna's behavior
\nwas not unusual and, consequently, when owners ask for his
\nservices their number one request is that their pets learn not to
\njump all over people.<\/p>\n
\"Puppies and other dogs are tied up a lot because servants
\nmight not like them or owners don't have enough time, but once
\nthe dog is let off a leash, they jump so much out of excitement,
\nthey scare people off.\"<\/p>\n
They can be calmed, and taught to \"stay\" put for up to an
\nhour, Durijat said, and he will physically move a disobedient
\ncanine back to his spot until it learns to heed his command. The
\ntrick is to be consistent, he said.<\/p>\n
With good training, dogs will not even be tempted to chase
\ncats, lizards or other dogs on the street during walks, and with
\nfurther training, dogs could be trusted without a leash, he
\npromised, adding that this depends on the dog's character.<\/p>\n
He groups Labradors and German Shepherds as good students
\ntaking only six months to achieve this, but he said Dobermans
\nwere more aggressive and might need longer.<\/p>\n
Durijat has worked with dogs since 1988, starting under the
\nsupervision of his brother, a K-9 military trainer of police
\ndogs, until he went out on his own in 1994. His brother recently
\nretired.<\/p>\n
\"People always ask that their pet is trained to safely walk on
\nthe street, and that is really important for here,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He has also encountered several cases where dogs would chew on
\nplants or chairs, and to servants' horror, jump into the pool,
\nthen roll in the soil before tracking the dirt into the house.<\/p>\n
Durijat, who goes to the pet's home and does the training
\nthere, said he could stop these habits through obedience
\ntraining, but first he has to catch them in the act, and second,
\nhe needs the owner to cooperate by not consenting to the dog's
\nbehavior.<\/p>\n
Some owners, if they are around, have allowed their pets to
\njump in the pool, he said, but there has to be consistency in the
\ntraining.<\/p>\n
No food from strangers<\/p>\n
Durijat, who comes highly recommended by several Jakarta
\nveterinarians, said he never gives treats as a reward as it
\nspoils them and, more importantly, people sometimes lace food
\nwith poison to kill dogs. \"It's important to learn this and
\nforeigners are scared about this.\"<\/p>\n
Based on this danger, he trains dogs to learn the difference
\nbetween what they can eat and what they cannot, namely to not
\ntake food from strangers.<\/p>\n
The first lesson starts with him giving the dog a sandwich he
\nbrought, and then telling it \"no, not good to eat\". He continues
\nin other lessons using all types of meat, as that and sandwiches
\nare common items to contain poison, until finally the dog has
\nlearned not to touch the food, even though it has an enticing
\nsmell.<\/p>\n
The goal is to get the animal to eat only from his food dish,
\nhe said, and he checks its level of discipline by having the dog
\nput in the garage with food thrown in, while Durijat observes
\nfrom outside.<\/p>\n
This lesson comes after the dog has learned other skills, as
\nthe task requires the previous learned disciplines and commands.<\/p>\n
Durijat requests the full cooperation of owners and that they
\nare not present until some discipline has been established, as
\nthey tend to distract or confuse the dog as well as get
\nemotionally involved.<\/p>\n
\"Training is a time when a dog needs discipline, so the owner
\ncan be there as long as they can limit themselves to not getting
\nemotionally involved, or else it ruins the lesson if they do,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Durijat said it was fine if owners attended lessons after
\nthree to six months, adding that it was important they did come
\nto listen to the intonation of the command and to mimic the
\ntrainer.<\/p>\n
Commands are short and usually consist of one word, and owners
\nneed to speak in a firm tone for the dog to obey.<\/p>\n
Veterinarians also appreciate trained dogs to aid them in
\nsafely handling the animals, especially when they make house
\ncalls.<\/p>\n
Veterinarian Dr. Ina Purborini, who has been bitten many times
\nby her patients, said they always try to approach the animal
\nnicely by talking to it, but in some cases the dog needs to be
\nrestrained on a leash and tied securely to a post to limit its
\ncapability of biting while it is being treated.<\/p>\n
\"Even though dogs trust women doctors more, they still sense
\nwhat we are going to do and many times I don't want an assistant
\nhelping as it scares the dog more,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Durijat said it depends on the owners again, and if they spoil
\ntheir dog, of course it will not listen to them.<\/p>\n
Owner involved<\/p>\n
For M. Susanti, the owner of Von Kelly dog training center,
\nowners play a necessary part in their dog's obedience training,
\nand she said their presence was absolutely required once every
\ntwo weeks to learn and practice with their pet and trainer.<\/p>\n
\"The owner must be involved otherwise they won't be able to
\ncontrol their dog,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"You'll have a clever pet but not a clever owner, and that is
\njust not practical, so if you can't get involved, don't bother
\ntraining your dog.\"<\/p>\n
She explained the rule was developed as at least 90 percent of
\nthe owners with recently trained dogs complained they could not
\nget them to obey, even though the canines would for the trainer.<\/p>\n
Dogs are boarded for three-month sessions at her center in
\nCimacan in Puncak, and all canines receive daily training, except
\non weekends and during the rain, with the on-site trainer, who
\nhas over five years experience, and his three assistants.<\/p>\n
Work is as important as play, Susanti said, and a dog's time
\nis spent equally on both learning and playing.<\/p>\n
Play is also a reward for a dog that has behaved well, she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Each dog is evaluated after three months and is either passed
\nor failed depending on its performance in the tasks it has
\nlearned. Some dogs are able to pass in two months, she added.<\/p>\n
\"We need only that much time as the dog will have calmed down,
\nand we can tell if it has been trained or not and then we can
\ncontinue.\"<\/p>\n
In those first three months, dogs that are at least six months
\nold learn to walk beside the master, not leaving his or her side,
\nand if the master stops walking, the dog must sit.<\/p>\n
Next, the canine learns to lie down, and to stay until he
\nhears his name called, Susanti said.<\/p>\n
The next three months has the dog learning more difficult
\ntasks such as jumping over a hurdle, which starts at 50
\ncentimeters and grows gradually to over a meter, as well as
\nfetching a wooden barbell. Owners are told to use a ball or
\nnewspaper to play fetch with their pet, rather than a stick.<\/p>\n
\"If the dog sees a stick, it might think it's an attack as
\nsticks are used to teach them this,\" she said, adding that larger
\ndogs are trained to attack on a verbal command from the owner.<\/p>\n
However, it takes more than a year of training for the dog to
\nlearn to stop the attack on a verbal command, she said.<\/p>\n
\"That's the difficulty of the task, to have the control to
\nstop the dog, but that can't be done in three months.\"<\/p>\n
Susanti began her training business after she became fed up
\nwith the complaints she received about trainers.<\/p>\n
Buyers of her puppies would ask her where to find a good
\ntrainer, and as a veteran dog breeder, she would recommend one.<\/p>\n
But three or four months later, the new owner would inevitably
\nreturn, complaining of their disappointment with the outcome.<\/p>\n
\"I figured I had to start up a training center then, so I
\ncould ensure that customers' pets got the proper training.\"<\/p>\n
Breeding has been a lifelong passion for her, and she
\ncontinues until now, she said, because that is what she knows
\nbest, and training dogs has become her and her husband's second
\njob.<\/p>\n
So what is her favorite breed of dog? Hands down it is
\nLabrador Retrievers as \"they are the best, for training and for
\nfamilies,\" she said, adding that German Shepherds were her second
\nchoice.<\/p>\n
She said pit bulls were slow learners and were dangerous,
\nmaking them unsuitable to be around small children.<\/p>\n
Some Dalmatians were also slow learners, she said.<\/p>\n
U. Durijat Muhaji can be reached at 9246880, and M. Susanti
\nfrom Von Kelly Dog Training Center can be reached at 4508204.<\/p>",
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