Get the lowdown on obedience training for your dog

Get the lowdown on obedience training for your dog

By Maria Kegel

JAKARTA (JP): Akuna was ecstatic to see her master's guests at
the house, but the guests were certainly not excited to see her.

Here was a chunky exuberant Labrador, which had spent most of
its first year of life on a leash, doing wild leaps of joy at the
prospect of human company.

Starved for affection, the canine could not control itself,
and consequently, the guests did their best to stay out of her
reach. Owner "John" apologized, vowing that obedience training
would be starting soon.

Expert dog trainer U. Durijat Muhaji, said Akuna's behavior
was not unusual and, consequently, when owners ask for his
services their number one request is that their pets learn not to
jump all over people.

"Puppies and other dogs are tied up a lot because servants
might not like them or owners don't have enough time, but once
the dog is let off a leash, they jump so much out of excitement,
they scare people off."

They can be calmed, and taught to "stay" put for up to an
hour, Durijat said, and he will physically move a disobedient
canine back to his spot until it learns to heed his command. The
trick is to be consistent, he said.

With good training, dogs will not even be tempted to chase
cats, lizards or other dogs on the street during walks, and with
further training, dogs could be trusted without a leash, he
promised, adding that this depends on the dog's character.

He groups Labradors and German Shepherds as good students
taking only six months to achieve this, but he said Dobermans
were more aggressive and might need longer.

Durijat has worked with dogs since 1988, starting under the
supervision of his brother, a K-9 military trainer of police
dogs, until he went out on his own in 1994. His brother recently
retired.

"People always ask that their pet is trained to safely walk on
the street, and that is really important for here," he said.

He has also encountered several cases where dogs would chew on
plants or chairs, and to servants' horror, jump into the pool,
then roll in the soil before tracking the dirt into the house.

Durijat, who goes to the pet's home and does the training
there, said he could stop these habits through obedience
training, but first he has to catch them in the act, and second,
he needs the owner to cooperate by not consenting to the dog's
behavior.

Some owners, if they are around, have allowed their pets to
jump in the pool, he said, but there has to be consistency in the
training.

No food from strangers

Durijat, who comes highly recommended by several Jakarta
veterinarians, said he never gives treats as a reward as it
spoils them and, more importantly, people sometimes lace food
with poison to kill dogs. "It's important to learn this and
foreigners are scared about this."

Based on this danger, he trains dogs to learn the difference
between what they can eat and what they cannot, namely to not
take food from strangers.

The first lesson starts with him giving the dog a sandwich he
brought, and then telling it "no, not good to eat". He continues
in other lessons using all types of meat, as that and sandwiches
are common items to contain poison, until finally the dog has
learned not to touch the food, even though it has an enticing
smell.

The goal is to get the animal to eat only from his food dish,
he said, and he checks its level of discipline by having the dog
put in the garage with food thrown in, while Durijat observes
from outside.

This lesson comes after the dog has learned other skills, as
the task requires the previous learned disciplines and commands.

Durijat requests the full cooperation of owners and that they
are not present until some discipline has been established, as
they tend to distract or confuse the dog as well as get
emotionally involved.

"Training is a time when a dog needs discipline, so the owner
can be there as long as they can limit themselves to not getting
emotionally involved, or else it ruins the lesson if they do," he
said.

Durijat said it was fine if owners attended lessons after
three to six months, adding that it was important they did come
to listen to the intonation of the command and to mimic the
trainer.

Commands are short and usually consist of one word, and owners
need to speak in a firm tone for the dog to obey.

Veterinarians also appreciate trained dogs to aid them in
safely handling the animals, especially when they make house
calls.

Veterinarian Dr. Ina Purborini, who has been bitten many times
by her patients, said they always try to approach the animal
nicely by talking to it, but in some cases the dog needs to be
restrained on a leash and tied securely to a post to limit its
capability of biting while it is being treated.

"Even though dogs trust women doctors more, they still sense
what we are going to do and many times I don't want an assistant
helping as it scares the dog more," she said.

Durijat said it depends on the owners again, and if they spoil
their dog, of course it will not listen to them.

Owner involved

For M. Susanti, the owner of Von Kelly dog training center,
owners play a necessary part in their dog's obedience training,
and she said their presence was absolutely required once every
two weeks to learn and practice with their pet and trainer.

"The owner must be involved otherwise they won't be able to
control their dog," she said.

"You'll have a clever pet but not a clever owner, and that is
just not practical, so if you can't get involved, don't bother
training your dog."

She explained the rule was developed as at least 90 percent of
the owners with recently trained dogs complained they could not
get them to obey, even though the canines would for the trainer.

Dogs are boarded for three-month sessions at her center in
Cimacan in Puncak, and all canines receive daily training, except
on weekends and during the rain, with the on-site trainer, who
has over five years experience, and his three assistants.

Work is as important as play, Susanti said, and a dog's time
is spent equally on both learning and playing.

Play is also a reward for a dog that has behaved well, she
said.

Each dog is evaluated after three months and is either passed
or failed depending on its performance in the tasks it has
learned. Some dogs are able to pass in two months, she added.

"We need only that much time as the dog will have calmed down,
and we can tell if it has been trained or not and then we can
continue."

In those first three months, dogs that are at least six months
old learn to walk beside the master, not leaving his or her side,
and if the master stops walking, the dog must sit.

Next, the canine learns to lie down, and to stay until he
hears his name called, Susanti said.

The next three months has the dog learning more difficult
tasks such as jumping over a hurdle, which starts at 50
centimeters and grows gradually to over a meter, as well as
fetching a wooden barbell. Owners are told to use a ball or
newspaper to play fetch with their pet, rather than a stick.

"If the dog sees a stick, it might think it's an attack as
sticks are used to teach them this," she said, adding that larger
dogs are trained to attack on a verbal command from the owner.

However, it takes more than a year of training for the dog to
learn to stop the attack on a verbal command, she said.

"That's the difficulty of the task, to have the control to
stop the dog, but that can't be done in three months."

Susanti began her training business after she became fed up
with the complaints she received about trainers.

Buyers of her puppies would ask her where to find a good
trainer, and as a veteran dog breeder, she would recommend one.

But three or four months later, the new owner would inevitably
return, complaining of their disappointment with the outcome.

"I figured I had to start up a training center then, so I
could ensure that customers' pets got the proper training."

Breeding has been a lifelong passion for her, and she
continues until now, she said, because that is what she knows
best, and training dogs has become her and her husband's second
job.

So what is her favorite breed of dog? Hands down it is
Labrador Retrievers as "they are the best, for training and for
families," she said, adding that German Shepherds were her second
choice.

She said pit bulls were slow learners and were dangerous,
making them unsuitable to be around small children.

Some Dalmatians were also slow learners, she said.

U. Durijat Muhaji can be reached at 9246880, and M. Susanti
from Von Kelly Dog Training Center can be reached at 4508204.