Dogs

I was raised the daughter of Airedale terrier breeders and have been around dogs my entire life. I was for a time even raised by dogs (as much as my mother would allow) when one of their nursing mothers decided I was one of her litter and would bring her puppies one by one from the brood box and place them on the blanket next to me when I was only months old, in order to have her entire litter together in one place- I am told she was quite annoyed when she was stopped from this. I have been paid on occasion to put basic obediance skills on others dogs, and I am recognized as a service dog trainer on Delta Society's trainer list. I do not claim to know everything, that's idiocy, but I do know a fair bit and always looking to learn more. I am a great believer in the wild instincts that dogs retain to this day and using them to aide my training efforts. I also believe in a style of training that is in the context of everyday life instead of "training sessions" only. You do not teach a child everything it needs to know in "training sessions" instead you teach a child as the subject comes up everyday- correct them here- praise them there....similarly I believe a dog should be raised the same way.

I do not believe in "outside" dogs. Dogs are pack animals and it is cruel to bannish them to the backyard, even with a friend. Without a friend to even relate to they are hopeless miserable creatures and to do such a thing to me is blatant abuse. If a dog is mentally stable, raised and trained well they are little problem in the house. Outside is for potty and for play in my opinion. I would no more lock my dogs outside for extended periods any more then I would my children.

If you take good care of your dog- it will reward you with undying devotion.

The most important thing to remember in training dogs is that when a behavior becomes unpleasant enough...the dog will stop that behavior, and when a behavior becomes pleasant and profitable enough..the dog will continue that behavior. Our job as trainers is to determine what it is that deters the dog without abusing them and to determine what motivates a dog and finally figure out the best way to make the dog understand what it is you want. Some dogs work primarily for food, others for a favorite toy, yet others for the pleasure of knowing they pleased you. Each dog is an individual as are all people..you have to figure out what works for YOUR dog. There are very few BAD dogs in my opinion....only BAD owners who didn't train their dogs, equipping them to live in our world of humans.

Breed Bans

Breed bans are about the stupidist thing I have seen yet. As I said before there a few truly bad dogs only bad owners..and the dogs and responsible owners pay. A better solution would be to somehow regulate the people who own these dogs and indiscriminately breed them. I don't know what the lawmakers think is going to happen......if they regulate a certian breed out of existance the "slime" will just pick another breed and ruin it...and so on and so on. So you ban all dogs over a certian size...they will move on to what is available or illegally keep the bigger dogs. It will not end unless you ban ALL dogs. Not so long ago in my local pound...2 very beautiful, very innocent bull mix puppies died because of breed specific laws. Puppies that were no more then 6 weeks old and were a clean slate...puppies I could have raised to be model dogs, possibly even service dogs to help the disabled. But no they were killed per city law. The incedent in san Fransisco was indeed a tragedy...both for the woman killed and the dogs themselves. They were not born like this...they were improperly raised and apparently not trained....this is not their fault, and the male at least, I know paid with his life because of human error and stupidity. It was very little about the dogs and all about the stupid people they were unfortunate to be involved with. I am all for "perks" for people who are responsible with their dogs...who train them and alter them if they are not good canidates for breeding. Those who see to the dogs shots and diligently see to fences and enclosures to avert escapes. Make life REALLY hard on those who do not act responsibly.....make it impossible for them to keep dogs.

Canine Legislation Page

Stefanhaus Rottweilers Multi Champion Kennel - My Breeder
Southern California

I also would like to put a word in for akennel who deals with service and therapy rotts- the breeders is a psychotherapist who uses her dogs in therapy- another good breeder to check out.

Vom Eschenhagen Rottweilers

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All text copyright© by Paula Shepard