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.