Training Iggies

Below is an introduction to training.  If you want the meat of the matter, click on the links just under this paragraph:

Basic Training

Trick Training

Coming Soon!

Advanced Training

Coming Soon!

Why do it?

Whether you have Italian Greyhounds or any other dog, or even cats, training is very important.  Most of the the “problem” dogs are really dogs that have been let rule the house by being untrained.  I heard a story of  a woman that had a Jack Russel Terrier;  she loved the dog, but hated the night time, when the dog would race around the house, nails clicking, sniffing furiously, barking and yipping so she couldn’t sleep.  The dog smelled the rats that crawled through the walls, and his owner suffered more from him than the rats.  This same lady had a problem during Christmas time;  the dog was so destructive, she had to hang the Christmas tree from the roof!  That dog ruled her life.  Did you know, that dogs were made to be subject to humans?  At the dawn of time, we humans were told to rule the animals, not the animals rule us.  We are the ones with the superior brains, and we are much better at knowing what to do.

Now, there may be some of you that are thinking  “It’s cruel to force your will on an animal”, or  “But I don’t want to cramp my dog’s pleasure”, or  “I only want the best for my dog”.  You know what?  At this moment, I live next to a beautiful female German Short haired Pointer.  She is intelligent, loving, and a naturally biddable dog.  However, she hardly knows sic ‘em from come here, and is the next closest thing to the bane of our existence.  Being loaded with wasted energy, she stands and barks and barks and barks, comes into our yard as often she pleases and even comes up to our back door to bark at us.  Being a high-strung working dog, with the will to hunt pheasants and grouse still coursing through her blood, she aches for a job.  Whenever she hears the call of a grouse, she lights up and sniffs, ready to find it.  Not that long ago, she caught one, and she was so happy.  But her owners discouraged her,  probably not being fond of the dead bird strewn around their yard, or maybe just rotting.
This poor dog is miserable, but she doesn’t know it because she has always been left to her own devices. (Oh, and as a side note; I just was reading a little in the Wikipedia entry for German Short haired Pointers, and it specifies that you should train this breed. Apparently, they didn’t do any research on the breed either, besides leaving her to waste her intelligence on being a pest)

There was a study done on school children.  I’m afraid I can’t remember who did it or why, but the findings are, to me, fascinating:  What they did was go to a school’s playground and remove the fencing that was around it.  The children suddenly clung to the equipment and clustered ’round it during recess.  Later, they replaced the fence;  The children spread out and covered the area all the way up to the fence.
Though a dog is not a child, they do have similarities.   Children feel safer and happier when they know what is expected of them, and dogs are no different.  I know, because I see it wherever I go.  The sweetest, happiest children are disciplined, and the sweetest, happiest dogs are disciplined.
Discipline does not mean that you scream at the dog when he wets the floor.  It does not mean you give her the cold shoulder because she tore your Tony Lama‘s to shreds.   It does not mean that you take away her dinner because she swallowed your pay-check.

What Does it Mean?

Discipline is teaching the dog what is expected of it.  It means that the dog understands who runs the house and who is alpha, namely, you.  It means peace of mind when guests visit, when you take the dog out with you, when your back is turned, and all those other times a dog could get into trouble.

Is it Hard to Get?

Not hard.  All it takes is patience, consistency, kindness and sensitivity.  But, though all those are free, the key to them lies in dedication.  Pippin has had his good behavior severely damaged by people ignoring what I say.  Someone once thought that they had out-smarted him, and that they knew better than me and did something against my wishes, because I wasn’t smart enough to out-smart the Pip.   But Pippin had been the one out-smarting, and I knew it, and it’s taken years to get that problem under control.  But don’t be frightened, that person did it a lot, and even if you are tired and give in once,  it shouldn’t take years to fix.  But that’s just a warning;  consistency is extremely important.

Ready for More?

Just click on the sub-pages below!

Basic Training

Trick Training

Coming Soon!

Advanced Training

Coming Soon!