Marker Training for the novice

I know alot of you are saying that is for pets aand not working dogs,but I'm here to tell you that it can be a very useful tool even with working dogs.
This form of training is very helpful when trying to correct a wrong,correct a command call when you previously used a different command.It is also helpful getting a dog over anxity or problems with something the animal was trained and previously did with no problem.
There are some great training tapes and books on the subjects availible everywhere,the internet,bookstores,pet stores and my favorite is leerburg.com/markers.
If your having problems training your dog to to a certain task,check out this training method,I'm sure you will be amazed at the results you can achieve.
Check out this Youtube channel dealing with the subject........................
......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc1tblwfPrA ,just copy and paste this link in your browsers address box and hit enter.

College for canine knowledge--These dogs have been trained to take at command the markers bearing their names. Miss Hartsiik is proud when they reach this stage in their training. The animals can do this even when markers are not in front of them. The training course is ten weeks and it must be attendedby the dog's owner, too. Undated photograph.Miss Harsiik is the trainer.These dogs can do this even when the markers are not in front of them.

Her's another great link: http://www.leerburg.com/markers.htm

Check out this website also for those interested in agility.... http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-shows/full-body-awareness-in-agility.aspx

Being a good pack leader

This is probably one of the most misunderstood things that amateur trainers,and regular people dont have a good concept of!
I cant stress how important this info is and it will effect everything that you do with your dog.Being a good pack leader does not mean that you are not willing to correct the animal,but also when,how and the method.Some dogs you will never get them to do anything by physical corrections,and some dogs you must use them.
First off let me tell you that there is a thing called the dogs civil drive.Civil drive is the ability and willingness to take a correction and be forgiving also and willing to keep working with the handler.Some dogs have a high amount of civil drive and some dont have any at all.The dog with no civil drive is not going to be very forgiving and willing to keep working if you constantly correct this type of dog too hard.In the same measure,the dog with a high civil drive is going to take corrections much better and be willing to forgive you even if the correction was a little too hard,or you make a mistake.
I dont recommend giving any puppy ANY PHYSICAL corrections at all(especially working dogs,service,SAR,or any other working type).What I do with my dogs is I first imprint the dog with crate training,and most times this puppy gets out of his crate is to do a few training exercises and to go potty outside.I want this puppy to learn right away that We are a TEAM, and WE are going to work when the dog is out of the crate.Now dont get me wrong here,I wil also play tug of war and fetch and such also,but as a reward when the dog has listened and tried,and performed and done what I commanded.

I must make one thing very clear,ONLY correct your puppy when the puppy knows the command!There are different phases to learning,first the command is learned,this may take up to 30 or 40 times before the dog knows it.Then there is the distraction and correction phase,and then the proofing phase.
There are some great books out there,and videos on this subject that can give you a very good picture of what this involves.I personally respect and admire Ed Leerburg,of Leerburg.com with some of the most detailed and correct training advice and information availible today.Thats not to say there are also some other great training info out there also.

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me and I will be glad to help you anytime.

Getting back to this posts topic I would like to stress something very important that I have mentioned in previous posts.Some people start crate training and think everytome the dog does something wrong to put the dog in the crate and this is a mistake.When the puppy thinks of his or her crate as a place where the master sends me when I'm bad,this can be very detrimental to what we are trying to accomplish.I want my dogs to feel safe and know that no one will bother them when they are in the crate.At the same time the crate can be used in conjunction with other methods to correct a behavior but I dont want the puppy to relate the crate early on with corrections!This is a fine line in beginning development of a working dog.
Some puppies are going to resent you putting them in the crate at first,but you can do a few things to make this transition go a little easier.First thing I would tell you is to put the crate in a room where the puppy can see you and always praise the puppy when put in the crate(thats a fine dog,Good boy crate).I want the puppy to know Im right there and everything is fine.You can read about this in previous posts.

When training a working dog,I dont do much correcting at all,just the imprinting of certain behaviors I want the dog to use all through his or her life.

Imprinting the first commands.

Now I've talked somewhat on the first commands in previous posts.Crate is one of the first commands that I teach my dog.I also want to teach the puppy the Sit command.I want the puppy to learn to sit when i put his food down,when coming to a door or gate,and also when I'm talking to someone in public.

I can give you some valuble info on how to make this easy.First what I do with my puppies is to teach them the "Place" command.What I mean by this is that I teach my dogs that when I give the Place command,the dog should go lay down in a place that I have gave him to lay down that is not the dogs crate!

What I do with my dogs is place a sheepskin dog bed in a spot where my dog can lay and still be in the room with me.This is great when people come over and I just want the dog to lay down,and not be under peoples feet.The dog feels like he or she is still part of the crowd but is still under my control.This is very important when going to the vets office and you have to wait in waiting room with alot of other people and animals.

My dogs learn that they are to sit and stay when in these situations.I dont know how many times I see people in vets office and they cant control their animals.Now there is exceptions to this rule(Some guard dogs and such will need you to call the vets office in advance and make arrangments so the vet knows what to expect),and with a little planning and courtesy you can make this go smoothly.
I have personally had many dogs that I had to call vet in advance and let them know I was bringing this dog in and would like to come when the vet is not that busy or could get me in and out.These kind of dogs should never be handled by anyone but very experienced handlers,and handlers that specialize in handling these very driven dogs.I have personally specialized in training and handling very aggressive and dominant dogs all my life,and I cant stress this advice enough,If you have a very dominant or aggressive dog there are plenty of experienced handlers and trainers that can help you without getting someone hurt!

I've seen so many people get bitten and all because they thought that getting aggressive with the dog would make the dog listen.Dont ever think you know everything about your dog either because every dog is different,and with out experience you have no way of telling what the dog could do or is capable of doing.We must remember dogs are pack animals,and we must take this in consideration when training them.I've personally taken,bought,or was given these type of dogs all my life.I can honestly tell you that most of these dogs previous owners said that the dogs would never amount to anything(but in the right hands anything is possible),and some of these dogs where the smartest dogs I ever owned.Just goes to show you what might work with one dog,might not work on another.

Now getting back to first simple commands:SIT , STAY , PLACE , CRATE , DOWN , HERE are all great commands to start with,but just remember only a couple times a day for a few minutes is all that is needed.We must remember that most puppies sleep more than anything at first.Another tip I can give is to get down on the floor with your puppy every couple of days for a few minutes and play with the puppy,this will help to increase the pack bond with your puppy and teach the dog that you really like having the puppy around and like to spend time with your dog.DOGS CAN REALLY TELL WHEN YOU WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its a bird,a plane,its Super K9

Accidents dont happen!

In this post I'm going to give you a very important tool in raising your new puppy.I've metioned this in a previous post,but I'm going to clarify and reclarify how important this knowledge and concept really is.

First of all let me get one thing straight,their are no accidents when it comes to handling animals,period.Animals especially dogs(this includes the less driven toys and pet dogs are not at fault when they are being handled by incompetant handlers.What I mean by this is I'm constantly hearing people say that their dog just accidently got out the door, and the owner often even states this,saying oh I'm sorry so and so just ran out of the yard or out of the house and I couldn't stop him or her.

Then I'm reminded of the many cases of dogs that are put down and put to sleep everyday in this world.The animal welfare agencies are full of these animals.It my professional opinion that most times(99.99%),its the owners that should be put to sleep, and not the animals.The reason I say this is that I'm reminded once again,people are so uneducated and illresponsible for the care and handling of their animals these days.how often we hear about the dog that gets out of his yard and chases someone and injures or even kills someone because of outright totat neglect on the part of the owner.This past week,I was reminded again of this problem when a 4 year old little innocent girl was killed by dogs that were not being supervised probably at all,and killed an innocent person.Then the media and the neighbors call to put the animal to sleep for the so called accident.Wake up people the animal didnt do anything wrong,and the owner alone should be held responsible,not the animal.

I will repeat this once again, Accidents dont happen when handling animals.People are the cause of these so called accidents.Most the time these so called accidents could have been avoided had their owners just practiced what is called supervision.Some people are so damn stupid,and then want to blame it on the poor animal.I see this just about every day,someone that says they cant get their dog to learn something,when the the owners should be held for sychiatric evaluation,and should never be able to own any kind of animal at all.

First I must give my opinion,which I think should be made LAW!!!!.People should not be able to own animals that are capable of inflicting harm to someone, when these people have no business even owning an animal of this kind.What I'm talking aboput is people that have no experience handling these kind of animals,should not even be able to own one,unless they are willing to take some handler course and learn the proper way to handle and control an animal(especially dogs that are working breeds).I am reminded daily of this when I see these damn dummies thinking they know what the hell they are doing,when in reality they can't even responsibly handle their damn own asses(excuse my french),and have no business even ownind such animals.

People get mad when their dogs misbehave,and all the while wont get off their dead asses and learn from people that have experience with this.I consistantly see the owner of dogs that sit or just stand calling their dog when it misbehaves,expecting the animal to know what the hell they are talking about or wanting.You can't expect a dog to know anything that it hasn't been trained to perform.People are so ignorant these days when it comes to this , and this is why these so called acccidents happen.


Someday I hope that they past a law to outlaw these kind of people from ever owning anykind of animal, or even having children(God forsake them if they ever have children).I've never seen the kind of morons that we have running around today.I'm sorry for being so blunt,but I've just come to wits end with these so called people.Maybe we are calling the wrong ones the animals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.There are such things as leases and harnesses, and collars,and many other tools that can be used if people were not so damn ignorant!These people are lucky I'm not in charge of the laws pertaining to this,because I would put an end to these kind of people from ever owning animals, or even thinking about it.Maybe we should start putting electric collars on these so called people and do a little correction training on these pieces of crap that claim they are people!


In all my years of owning and training german shepherds,Ive never had one of my dogs hurt anyone or even try to cause harm to anyone unless the person deserved a good scare for trespassing on my property or such.My dogs are only going to hold you there unless you try to harm or fight them.My dogs will let anyone I say into my house or yard if I say this.At the same time,if someone tries to bring a concealed weapon into my house,and is a stranger,will be stopped dead in his tracks.One of my dogs went thruogh a closed window to protect me from a stranger that was trying to trespass onto my property. I was out back in the dark and the dog alerted me but I didn't respond,and the dog jumped through a closed window(the dog was not injured),and stopped some lowlifes from getting away and held them there until I came out of the darkened back yard.

Now getting back to this important tool.Its acually just a little advice.I can't stress this enough,When you think you know everthing,someone comes along with another method or idea.Dont ever think that you know everthing about anything,because there is allways more to learn.Peace to all and I hope you are not spending your days wasting your time with people that have no brains,just empty spaces between their ears!.

Jasper my dog

Dog saves man's life

This story really shows how valuble German Shepherds can be and you can find a good shepherd at many of the german shepherd rescue centers around the country.

Owner,Joe Stalnaker said he adopted the dog from a shelter at 8 weeks old.Joe the owner says his dog Buddy (what a fitting name),was trained to pick-up the telephone and dial a preprogramed number by pushing the number on phone(amazing).Joe was having a seizure when Buddy did exactly what he was trained to do,saving his masters life.Buddy is 18 months old at time of insident(9/15/2008).Buddy has made 2 other calls to 911 before for his owner also.

Joe's seizures are a result of an accident that happened 10 years ago in a military training exercise.Joe spent 2 days in hospital to recover and then returned home to his beloved companion.Stories like this just instill the fact of how valuble these dogs can be when trained to do certain jobs.Remember that in order for a dog to be trained to do important jobs like these,the dog must be imprinted correctly.This is exactly why I repeat so often in my posts that when training a working dog or any other dogs it is very important to imprint puppies the right way.When done right the dog and handler creat a bond that is undiscribable,and can only be fully understood by experiencing it firsthand.Cudo's to Buddy,his owner, and the people responsible for his training.

My dog that I'm training now can pick-up and get both my phones for me at command.My dog was doing this at about 7 months old,and will bring the appropriate phone to me on command.This is very good especially if you live alone and ever have an accident and cant get to the phone.If my phone keeps ringing and I dont wake up when sleeping,my dog will automatically bring the phone and put it in my hand after waking me.This is not that hard to teach a dog if the dog has no issues with different articles.I will get into the theory of this traing at a later date.