Real dog training can’t be bought in four lessons at a pet chain or in one of Cesar Milan’s books. Training is eternal, a never-ending conversation between you and your dog.
We do not have perfect dogs, nor would we want one. The idea that anybody’s book or video can give you a perfect dog is a borderline fraud. Not, actually, it’s plain old fraud.
While visiting Moise’s farm this morning, I saw the girls leave a plate of freshly baked donuts right out on a stand by the back door to cool.
Tina was dozing right next to them. She didn’t move once. Any one of my three dogs would have gone for those donuts like a rocket dog. In fact, the animals I’ve seen on Amish farms are probably the best-trained dogs I’ve ever seen.
I think that’s because they never consciously train them at all; they just live with them day and night, and the animals figure out what to do and how to live.
That is actually what dog training used to be like, nobody ever heard of obedience class or professional training until recently.
If you read books about the frontier, the dogs never developed bad behavioral habits, perhaps because they are with their people all day like the Amish, and bad habits could be fatal.
I want to learn more about this. I think about training all the time.
Moise is getting dogs to protect his coming sheep and goat flocks and his crops. He says he will find them and train them himself. I want to see how he does that.
I’ve never seen Moise or anyone in his family correct or yell at a dog, or offer one a treat, yet the dogs and horses and other animals seem calm and obedient.
I’m seeing his two new goats show the same traits.
When our dogs are excitedly waiting by their bowls at every meal, either Maria or I give the command “wait.”
The dogs essentially freeze in place while their food is sitting in the bowl underneath their noses.
The longest I’ve gone is three minutes, which is the length of time that tells you if the dog is really getting it or faking it. Then we say “okay,” and the dogs eat.
This teaches obedience, calmness, and civility around their mates.
I love training; it exposes the worst in me and brings out the best in me. And it is never over for me.
My country uncle never formally trained his border coolies, who did vital work on a big farm with hundreds of Angus cows and 3 bulls. They were just with him whenever he worked, which was pretty much non-stop. When a dog got too old to deal with the cattle, he’d retire it to the house yard, get a BC puppy – the working dogs showed the puppy what to do. Their houses were 50 gallon plastic trash cans with one side cut out and straw inside; they didn’t have food bowls – ate kibble off the concrete outside the trash cans. They had routine vet care, heartworm meds – if they got fleas, my uncle would glob their eyes with Vaseline, drop them in the cattle dip – they’d jump in the spring-fed creek, shake off, and go back to work. The adored him like a God – never one moment of defiance, bad behavior.
Training also assists in the development of temperament, the ‘watch me’ skill(which can be critical to an animal’s safety) and the bond between trainer and trainee…it never ends as daily living provides many and different opportunities…each usually a skill related to the moment…
I can’t wait to read what you write about Moise training his dogs! I know you will have many questions and observations. I learn so much from your writing. Not just about dogs, but about life.
Love this photo, thank you.