JANUARY 2006 Newsletter

Portsmouth Chesapeake Obedience Training Club

NEW PUP EDITOR LETTER

My name is Veronica and I will be The PUP editor for the next year.  I encourage each and every PCOTC member to send me articles, recipes, even funnies you may think worth publishing, brags, dog articles for sale, upcoming events and such. I check emails daily and the PUP deadline is the last day of the month. My email is squinch@cox.net.  If you rather submit by snail mail, my address is 1225 Quailridge Ct, Virginia Beach, VA 23464. 

On another note, I have kept the membership list updated for about a year now. There have been times when contacting you for reminders and updates are necessary.  Having to call each of you is not an easy task and very time consuming.  Please add your email address on the membership form.  If you already filled up the form and did not add this information, please contact me for an update. The membership form can be found at our website:

http://pcotcdogs.org/training/memapp.pdf

I wish you all a happy 2006 filled with many accomplishments and titles!!!

Veronica Kloth

President’s Letter

As I write this letter, the last hours of 2005 are slipping away.  What a year it has been: trials, demonstrations, titles, new dogs, new members, a lot has happened. I hope the next year is as fun packed and as eventful as the past one.

As you know the club trials are January 21 & 22 and we are still in need of volunteers to assist.  If you can help in any of the areas bellow, please let the appropriate person know:

Trophies                        Denise Call

Stewart                         Janice Willis

Hospitality                     Kathy Broyles

Grounds                        Leslie Wemhoff

Thank you Martha for opening your home for the Christmas party.  We had a blast, there was a lot of really good food (to hell with the diet), no one left hungry.  The best of all was the camaraderie, being with friends to share a good time.

New board members were voted during the party.  I would like to take this opportunity to embrace Paula House, Martha Eisnaugle and Dorothy Siler. Old habits die hard and here I will use the old Navy term “Welcome Aboard”.

I also would like to take this opportunity to thank Vicky Hagemeister for doing a great job as The PUP editor for the past year.  Veronica is stepping up to the plate to take the responsibilities as The PUP editor.  Please send your brags, letters, articles and any other dog related notes to her via email.

Just a little reminder: the club membership dues are due by February 1st, 2006.  Membership is $20 and Training Fees are $20.

By the time you read this, the New Year will be in and I sincerely hope that all of you had a safe and happy holiday season.  Happy New Year!

Mark McCuean

Importance of Consistent Verbal Commands

By Anita Ramsey

I don’t think we often realize what we portray to our canine companions with our own verbal tones and pronunciations.  The use of our voice is very important in consistent training habits.  Let’s look at our dog’s perception of a training session where we teach holding the dumbbell. 

The trainer usually starts by having the dog in a sitting position.  He places the dumbbell behind the canine teeth and kindly tells the dog “hoooooold”.  Usually the dog will fight the article in its mouth and manage to spit it out.  With patience, the trainer again replaces the article in the dog’s mouth and says “hoooooold”.  Probably after a few minutes of the dog spitting the article out, the trainer becomes a little aggravated.  He replaces the article and gives a sharp “hold” command to the dog.  When this fails to work after several attempts, frustration starts to win.  He puts the article back in the dog’s mouth and barks or growls at the dog “HOLD IT”.  At this point, the poor dog has heard three different commands.  The trainer of course expects the dog to interpret the three different sounds to have the same meaning.  Several things could happen at this point.  The dog may be confused and try offering several behaviors searching for the one that will make the trainer happy.  The dog may panic and shut down completely.  Regardless of what the dog’s reaction is, the dog will not be receptive to training at this point.

The point here is to make sure that the trainer uses the same command in regards to the same action consistently.  A polite “hold” while placing the dumbbell in the dog’s mouth makes it a pleasant experience and not a punishment.  When the dog drops the dumbbell and makes a mistake, then the trainer could use a “no” at him.  But, when the trainer replaces the dumbbell, a pleasant “hold” is again used.

Another great example of a verbal impression is using the name of your dog.  Let’s look at a dog whose name is Rocky.  The youngest child in the family calls the dog Rock.  The mom in the family calls the dog Sprocket.  The oldest child in the family calls the dog Muttley when he pats the dog on the head.  The father calls the dog Rocket.  Whenever the dog is in a bit of trouble, everyone in the family calls him by his actual name.  “Rocky, who chewed the carpet???”  “Rocky, come here right now!!!”

Now, the father in our family decides to take the dog to obedience classes.  The instructor tells him to use the dog’s name and the command ‘heel’.  So, father says, “Rocky heel”.  Can you imagine what the dog is thinking now?  His proper name is only used when he is in trouble, so he becomes a nervous wreck while trying to learn how to heel.  The owner thinks he is being a defiant dog.  The truth is Rocky is confused by the unintentional negative conditioning to his own name by the family.

So, next time you are training, try to be conscious of the words you are using, when you are using them, the tone you are using and your own facial expressions.  You may be your own worst enemy when it comes to the confusion your dog seems to be experiencing.