Life lessons at the beach

The dishes aren’t done and the laundry and assignments are piling up, but I’m about to learn 

my first lesson of the day. The door is open, so they run straight to the car and sit and wait. 

I wasn’t planning on taking them -  heck, my  list has everything on it BUT taking them - but I open the doors and they get in, as if they 

know exactly where they are going. Now, loading two huge creatures into a small car is always a challenge, and there’s always a debate as to who gets to lie down and who gets to sit. 

But that’s the first thing I learn – they want it so badly they make it work. We get 50 metres down the road and I learn my 

second lesson: stick your head out the window and enjoy the moment even if you look

 ridiculous, which no doubt all three of us do as we speed along the country road listening to outrageous pop songs with our hair blowing in the wind and tongues out. 

We pull up to the place  where my dogs’ troubles (and my own) disappear. I learn that time doesn’t matter as I adopt my dogs’ notion of time, it’s NOW. It’s always NOW, as both golden retrievers push their way out of the car at the same time. Even though they can smell all their friends and see the water, they sit and wait patiently, no matter how long I take, who calls what or me I 

can’t find in my car. They wait. Patience is the lesson, even though small whines can be heard. 

They wait. 

They run and run, at the age of 11 they run like they did when they were five weeks old, to them age doesn’t matter. They know they aren’t supposed to go into the water as today is not 

swimming day and there are chores to be done at home but they are going to do it anyway. 

They run head first into the waves, big waves, small waves, they aren’t fazed. They teach me 

that no matter how big the problem,  when a wave comes, go deep. There are three things you

 can do when a wave comes at you. You can run from it like the shih tzu, but eventually it will

 catch up with you. You can fall back and try to stand your ground, like the German shepherd. 

Or, like my dog does, you can use it as an opportunity to go deep. 

The next lesson is that sometimes in life you gotta do stuff there and then. That’s why I am 

grateful that I have brought poop bags as the dogs choose to go right in front of a lady in 

designer shoes. I apologize and she replies, “It’s okay, you gotta do what you gotta do, even if 

it’s unpleasant.”

The way my dogs so confidently walk past bigger dogs, German shepherds or English bull 

terriers, as other dogs freak out at the ends of their leashes. They approach with such 

confidence and acceptance. “Hey, I am Henry, pleased to meet you,. I’m going to sniff your bum now.” Sometimes my dog will just look up at me, like, “Wow, what’s his problem?” 

And walk away. My dog is honest about who he doesn’t like.

My dogs teach me not to get too big-headed. 

I tell people that I train dogs as my job with Dog Guru just as my dogs show perfect timing by 

deciding to take off in the other direction.  

We walk until we can’t walk no more, red cheeks, salty hands and feet. My dog teaches me to

 open up and talk to other people as they play with dogs half their size, different colours and 

different breeds. I learn that a lady had to put her dog down last week and a man celebrated his 80th birthday. I learn that a lady who has a really bad back relies on her dog for support and a 

boy who just turned five got his first puppy. My dog teaches me that life is about meeting new 

people and smelling their butts. 

We walk back to the car, where it always gets interesting. Covered in mud, sand and water, they shake. They shake right in your face, it’s as if they wait until you are mere centimetres away. 

They teach me to laugh even when I am annoyed. I laugh. Loading them in the car is always a 

challenge. When you are 77 in human years and have joint problems and your legs are shaky it can be overwhelming. This is when I learn it’s okay to ask for help. When it gets overwhelming, ask. “One, two , three,  JUMP!” and we do it together. 

In the dog zone, you notice all kinds of wonderful things. You learn about loyalty. Even when other owners on the beach are more energetic and some have fancy toys, your dogs always return to you. You are enough.  

Henry and Lucy are extremely old. They both have cancer. But in treating  every day like it’s their last, they are teaching me how to live. 

One eyed Lunatic

I was out at the park this morning and enjoying the peace and quiet as you do when you are enjoying your dogs company. However this peace and quiet was shattered by the ear piercing scream of "Milly, Milly Come!!!". It was of course a dog owner who had transformed from a lovely lady who would not say boo to a ghost to a mad raving lunatic calling their dog back. This is of course followed by the dog paying absolutely no attention whatsoever to the owner and trotting away from the owner at a merry pace, followed quickly by said owner trying to chase them and round the dog up. I made her life easier by getting my dogs to say hello to her dog then calling my dogs back and grabbing her dog as it scooted past at a million miles an hour.

Oh what fun dogs bring us! They can turn us from being shy people to discussing what our dogs have been up to with random strangers in the park. They can turn us from being nice and quiet to raving lunatics around the fields when we let them off. But you know what? What they really do is bring us undivided love and attention and even though they can drive us nuts at the drop of a hat, the reality is they make our lives all that much better.

Simon Goodall is CEO of Dog Guru NZ and Dog Guru Australia.

Chickens and Dogs

Well we have had 3 chickens for a week or so now. My children have named them Daisy, Maisy and Cassie. All very exciting and they certainly have their own personalities. My dogs have been well stock trained so pretty much ignore them but love eating their poo but that is another story entirely. In the first few days I quickly worked out that getting them back into their coop in the evening was going to be difficult as I chased them around the yard and the section and did not have much luck chasing them. Also came to the conclusion that the less stressed they were the better so chasing them was not going to work. So I thought how hard can it be to teach chickens? So I started down the road of teaching the 3 chickens to come when called. Just like dog training said come when they were looking at me and then threw some food by my feet then stood back. They proceeded to come cautiously and started to peck away at the food. I repeated a number of times so that every time I said "chook chook come" I gave them food always making sure I did not say the words until they were looking. Well after a few days I then started calling them even when I could not see them. They soon came running having associated the word with the food. The last 3 nights to put them away I simply call them and put some food in the coop and they come running from wherever they are and go in for their evening food. Saves me time and of course saves the chickens from stress as they chill out for the evening. So if you have chooks give it a whirl and see how you get on.

Letting go of the lead for the first time

Have you yet to have that "dreaded" moment where you are walking with your dog, have done lots of training with getting your dog to come but it has always been on a long line or in the back yard. You are now in the park and the time has come for you to unclip the long line and let them be free. But when we are getting our dog to come back how to we make that big jump? First off don't panic. Many dogs will come back to you, just relax and walk off in the opposite direction. Next make sure if you have been doing reward based training you have something better than what is out there. Yes on the long line you may have got the dog to come back with a liver treat but when they are off lead are they really going to back or do you need something absolutely top notch! Next let your dog enjoy itself. The first time people let the dog off lead they panic and want to constantly call the dog back. Do you need to or can they have a bit of fun first? If you are at the stage have fun and remember RELAX! www.dogguru.co.nz

How to stop that dog pulling on the lead

Have you wondered how to stop that constant pulling on the lead and what is going wrong? I like to use a technique called the table tennis hand. Basically what this is, is two small tugs using just your wrist. What this does is create something that is completely unique for the dog and they are not sure how to react. They often stop and look and then you carry on walking. It may not sound like much but today on your walk give it a quick go and see how it works.

Getting that puppy back!

Guest blog from our Christchurch trainer Billie

When I first got Elsie I was amazed that my tiny 9 week old puppy would happily wander off with not so much as a glance backwards to see where I was, most puppies I've met are pretty attached to their new owners! Following this, I knew I would need to put a lot of effort into building a solid recall. We played lots of recall games, building a lot of value for racing back to me, and it worked out really well, I could call Elsie off chasing birds and other dogs at the park. In the past week though, Elsie has been feeling pretty full of herself and has been testing us on all sorts of things like throwing a tantrum when I am putting her tracking harness on, trying to bite my hands when I am clipping her nails and now not coming back when she is called!

I am once again playing some of the recall games I played with Elsie as a puppy, just to remind her of what it is that I want. Our favourite game is a "go & come" game. To start off, I throw a low value treat (like a bit of kibble) and tell Elsie to go get it, as she does I run off in the other direction with a high value treat (sausage is a big favourite around here) or toy, say "come!" and reward when she catches me. Gradually I build up to calling her before she gets the treat (so she is being called off it), then progress to throwing higher value treats, toys, sticks (they are REALLY fun!) and calling her off, then test it when she is chasing things like birds at the park, and it has mostly been working! She will spin around and come racing back to me, now just have to work on more of this game around dogs, and will have to employ a long-line to prevent her from blowing me off to have fun with another dog.

I also play restrained recalls with Elsie, getting someone to hold her (or get her to go into her crate, or "wait") while I run off and generally be exciting, then release and call her when I know she is going to come racing over.

For me speed and enthusiasm is a very important part of recall, and I always want Elsie running to me, not trotting and having a sniff. To initially get the speed I was running away from her when I called her so she would chase me, it seems to have transferred over nicely to when I am standing still. I always reward generously for recalls, especially in distracting environments such as puppy class or at the agility club. Elsie's favourite reward for recall is tugging, but she also loves a bit of raw meat!

So the plan for fixing the recall problem... More training around distractions, using a long-line to prevent her from running off, playing more recall games, and I think I'll teach the Whiplash turn from Leslie McDevitt's new book (Control Unleashed: The Puppy Program).

Geckos

My older dog is coming into his twilight years at a ripe old age of 10. We have been fortunate with this one in that he has been pretty fit and healthy but is definitely starting to slow down a little bit. At our old house he pretty much slept most of the day. However since we moved he has found a new hobby - chasing geckos! This is quite amusing I have to admit as in a month he has not caught a single one. This is a dog that loves nothing more than just chilling out. A few weeks ago he was next door in the paddock wandering around with sheep, he could not be bothered doing anything about them; in fact am fairly sure he thought they were funny sounding dogs! But the geckos is bordering on OCD. He will be out the front from first thing in the morning until late in the afternoon. Now I have no problems with this apart from the fact he is killing my nicely trimmed hedge, it now has these great holes in it. Oh well!