Tricia & Katie

Why I enjoy Darcregan Dog Training

I got Katie in 1998 aged approximately 18 months. She is a working bearded collie x border collie. I saw her advertised in a paper and went to see her. The shepherd who bred and trained sheepdogs said he could not train her, as she would not concentrate on her work. He said if he continued training her it would ruin her due to her submissive nature. Katie had lived in an outside kennel, never been in the house and was not house-trained. I was quite concerned about taking her on and not sure then why I did, when I explained to the shepherd the type of positive reward training class I would take her to he said we were made for each other. With lots of concerns about what I was about to do and advice from others to get a puppy I took Katie home for a month's trial and she stayed for good!

Having a Golden Retriever and read some books on positive reward training, I house trained using rewards and praise and she gradually got used to living in a house. Outside, I used lots of food rewards to ensure she returned when recalled but now use these occasionally. When my Golden Retriever was a puppy I attended a training class where compulsion training and choke chains were used. I did not enjoy this method of training and felt that neither did my dog. The relationship beginning to develop with my dog and I was of me being the feared master of my dog which I hated. I was very unhappy and left the class in despair. In despair my Retriever and I went on a fun training weekend at in Derbyshire where I learned there were other ways to train my dog and that the relationship between my dog and I could be fun with non-compulsive ways of living with my dog that put me in control. Gradually the relationship with my Retriever changed and became more relaxed as I tried to retrain him using positive reward training and played with him more.

I wish I had known about Yvonne's class when he was a puppy. When I got Katie I was quite sure that I only wanted to train her using positive reward training with no compulsion so we went to Yvonne's class for 1½ years. The first few weeks Katie snapped at all the other dogs and hid under the bench. We did not use any harsh or aggressive methods to deal with this and over 1½ years Katie has become a happy relaxed dog who really enjoyed her new training methods. Her tailed wagged throughout the training sessions at the class. I am a lot happier and relaxed with positive reward training and Yvonne's way of teaching it. It has helped me form an enjoyable bond with Katie and she is now keen to try to please me. As an inexperience dog owner I did not enjoy the compulsion training class with my retriever. In comparison, I now really look forward with enthusiasm to Yvonne's class and so does Katie. All the class members appear happy training their dogs. Last year Katie passed her Good Citizen Test. In August 2000, she got a 1st place rosette at an exemption dog show for the dog with the waggiest tail. In October 2000, at another show Katie was first in the Intermediate Obedience Class, 2nd in the Advanced Obedience class and was given 'Best in Show' for her 'Sheer Enthusiasm' in whatever she did. I believe this has been because of the positive reward training methods Yvonne taught me at her class to train Katie. I am sure a compulsion type training class would have been disastrous for Katie.

I would like to thank Yvonne for all her enthusiasm and encouragement. Katie is now a happy and well-adjusted pet, who is a pleasure to live with and train using positive reward training and lots of praise. Katie, also Mav her Golden Retriever friend from Yvonne's class are now enjoying some field trial training, arranged by the Golden Retriever Club. Katie has been retrieving dummies both from my hand and in water, and is enjoying her new hobby. Having done various obedience and basic working trial exercises at Yvonne's class it is good to continue Katie's training in another field. Without Yvonne's training class this would not have been possible. Patricia Brown 16/08/2000

Sadly Tricia died not long after writing this article, Tricia is greatly missed by myself and others whom she befriended at Darcregan.