PDTE 2010 January Newsletter

PDTE AGM MEETING In Poland 26 – 27 September 2009
Later Tulita learned a lot of other things
including tracking and searching. She
taught me how easy it is to find lost animals.
When a sheep got lost I just showed
her some of its wool and she found it in a
matter of seconds.
People want recipes for training their dogs,
but dogs are much smarter than that. Trust
them, and you can do anything. Never be
afraid of trying out something new. People
who work with me know that I have done
this all my life. It’s not dangerous to try
new things out, but be sure it’s not harmful
to the dog.
With me, the troubles started later when I
got into more training. Unfortunately like
most people I also let myself be influenced
by all these new systems and ways of controlling
dogs and being in charge. I never
got into the leadership thing; I was never
that stupid, but I was influenced by a lot of
things. It took me a few years to understand
that the only thing one achieves with
these methods is to make the dog sad and
frustrated. Dogs are unbelievably clever
at finding out about things if you let them.
The strangest day of my life: winning the
national obedience competition.
They need to be able to use their brain
and make choices. For our part, we have
to be better at reading them.
THE POWER OF REINFORCEMENT
I also love other animals. My first love
before I even got a dog was a family of
hedgehogs. I took care of them in our garden
for years. We had rabbits, chickens,
pigs and cats, but the next thing I really
The art of loving, physical contact can’t be overdone.
wanted to be involved with was horses.
However, it took a long time before I could
do that. I lived beside a racing stable
but girls were not allowed in stables. My
chance came later when the Norwegian
military cavalry was shut down. Fortunately
for me, they spent the last two years
educating civilians in the art of riding,
instructing and handling horses. I lied and
cheated my way onto that course even
though I had never been on a horse. I discovered
that when you train a horse, he’s
too big and strong for you to use force so
you have to cooperate. That was fantastic.
I got back my childhood beliefs about
relationships and cooperation. I learned a
few other things too: the leash programme
I use for dogs nowadays I first used with
horses. If you have a horse that pulls on
the leash you have no choice but to get
pulled along! I learned another powerful
lesson during those years, that all animals
are very much alike and we can use the
same methods. Lions and rhinoceroses,
and elephants and horses cannot be
pushed and pulled; the only way to work
with them is by reinforcement — helping
the animal do what you want and reinforcing
with praise, treats, or whatever the
animals likes.
THE POWER OF LOVING PHYSICAL
CONTACT
When you use force and harsh methods,
at some point the system shuts down and
learning complicated things is impossible.
The relationship between stress and negative
emotions in the limbic system and the
ability to learn is inverted, so a stressed
animal — or human for that matter — cannot
learn. With some dogs you might get to
a certain level but no further. If you want to
get all the way, with a dog who is brilliant
in a certain area, you have to do it the
doggy way, which means cooperation, reinforcement,
understanding what is going
on, showing respect, and being creative.
I love smart dogs. I really enjoy it when my
dog outsmarts me. I can always deal with
dogs that do that. I am not afraid of being
the stupid one. I think that a lot of people
who use force and heavy-handed control
do so because they are afraid of losing
control. Don’t be afraid of losing control; if
you have a good relationship with your dog
he will be there with you and for you. You
won’t need control. My two last dogs have
never learnt commands like sitting or lying
down or anything like that, but I would be
very surprised if they didn’t come when I
wanted them to.
Be open-minded and willing to use your
emotions. It is not dangerous to use emotions
with animals. They have emotions
and they understand emotions. They love
contact, touching and stroking. Horses like
being hugged; dogs do not. But horses,
like many working dogs, are almost never
touched. The only thing people do is pat
them, which has nothing to do with gentle
touching, stroking and close physical
contact. And yet it is so important. The art
of loving and physical contact cannot be
overdone. Cooperation, creativity, respect,
reinforcement and loving physical contact
will get you a long way in your relationship
with animals.
PDTE NEWS Page 20