Sherry Bedard is an animal behaviourist and trainer working in Montreal. She founded Animal instincts school in 2005 and she teaches people how to become dog trainers. She also consults on a 1-to-1 basis with dog owners that are having problems with their dog. Sherry also teaches canine and feline behavior to students in the adult education program at Vanier College and regularly volunteers her time and expertise at local animal shelters in Montreal.

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Sherry Bedard is an animal behaviourist and trainer working in Montreal. She founded Animal instincts school in 2005 and she teaches people how to become dog trainers. She also consults on a 1-to-1 basis with dog owners that are having problems with their dog. Sherry also teaches canine and feline behavior to students in the adult education program at Vanier College and regularly volunteers her time and expertise at local animal shelters in Montreal.

Whenever I see an animal in need of a home I sidle up to Doug and sweetly flutter my eyelashes at him and beg – ‘but he’s so cute’, or ‘no one else will take her, we have to.’I Give Doug a ton of credit; he has turned me down on a daily basis for almost 25 years.But from the size of our menagerie he has also said ‘yes’ more times than he would like to admit.

Last May when I was looking for a dog for a client at the local shelter I spied a young (2.5 yr) male Rottie.He wasn’t the right dog for the client, and he looked sick and was very skinny. But he had a special spark in his eye and we have missed having a Rottie in our lives for the last 7 years.I asked to take him out into the yard where he exhibited tons of energy (despite his pointy ribs) and didn’t seem too thrilled about the dogs that were walking past.He was full of himself to say the least – go figure, he hadn’t been trained, socialized or neutered – what would you expect?The staff at the shelter were intimidated by him and didn’t quite know how to handle him.I immediately started to engage him and took charge of his attitude, and right away he paid attention and stopped acting like such a twit.Within minutes he was walking beside me on a loose leash.Long story short, the shelter basically said “if you don’t take this dog we don’t know what‘s going to happen to him”.Well, that was it; I called Doug and had him come right down to meet him.He agreed and we brought him home.

Tsavo (his new name), came home to a pack of dogs, a pride of cats, a flock of birds and a small herd (okay 2) of horses.He was thrilled to be here and we were thrilled to have him.Things went beautifully – he was easy to crate train, it took some effort but we got the vomiting and diarrhea to stop, he started to put on weight, he was great with all of the animals and his new best friend was our littlest Pomeranian.They are too cute to watch play together – the Pom kicks his butt!

About 5 months went by and we thought all was well.But in a short matter of days he attacked 2 of our dogs four times.If we had not pulled him off I don’t know what would have happened.He left them with multiple deep punctures on the neck, and one dog had a huge hematoma on the shoulders that took weeks to go down.Doug felt terrible that we had brought trouble into our home and caused pain to our beloved dogs.He looked at me and asked “Do we really want to keep him?It’s not fair to our other dogs and he is too powerful to take a risk with.What do you want to do?”I felt terrible too but I knew that if WE couldn’t deal with him who could?We are the trainers, we are the ones people come to for help in these situations, and we are other people’s answer to euthanizing their own aggressive dogs.We had to be our own answer too.

We could not take his good attitude for granted anymore.Doug did a lot of work taking him for long walks to stimulate him mentally and physically, but he is always so busy training other people’s dogs that I knew I had to step up to the plate as I had never done before.Because I had begged Doug for this dog – essentially I had brought the trouble home – I committed to making him my project. Our life together was going to be very different; Tsavo was going to be attached to me a lot of the time – working his mind and controlling his emotions.It is always about balancing out a dog’s mental, emotional and physical well being in order to create a well balanced dog.We had to get him to think before he acted, to learn to calm down, to be patient, to learn to back away when he was feeling tense, to learn to check in with us before he made any moves, to remind him that it was not his place to discipline the other dogs, and to help the other dogs regain their trust in him.It had to work – there was too much at stake.

Now that we are on the other side of things I can say it has worked.Most importantly the other dogs are comfortable with him again. He can hold a down stay for hours if needed- even with chaos all around, he does nothing without looking to us for permission, he plays well, he can sit in a line of dogs all crammed against each other as I feed each one raw meat.He is happy again and we are too.Oh, and we use him for our trainings as a distraction, a companion or for introductions.

This was truly a lesson in doing the very work we require of our clients.When your life is all about animals and you are lecturing everyone else on doing a better job it was like holding a mirror up and taking a long look.Our household is chaotic merely for the fact that we have so many different species living together.But in fact (despite the loud parrots) it is actually our own harmonious slice of heaven.We exist in veritable bliss surround by the fur, feathers and four-leggeds we adore.Each new addition can send a ripple effect into the harmony as the family re-adjusts itself to the new member.So work must be done to ensure that the ripple effect is short and not too noticeable.Tsavo brought a tsunami into the house.We had to work fast and hard to cover from its effects.We had to walk the walk we always tell others to walk.

Elizabeth Simpson and her husband Doug have been running Tenderfoot Training in Boulder Colorado for over 30 years. They offer private training,  do telephone consults and have an excellent DVD on their training method and technique.

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It’s obvious from the video that Sherry’s dog Hailey knows lots of tricks that she wants to perform for the camera, but this technique works well on dogs with no training at all.

In terms of the occasional yapping in the background…sorry about that, this was shot at the SPCA and controlling the background noise is difficult. Gonna choose a different location next time.

Sherry Bedard is an animal behaviourist and trainer working  in Montreal. She founded Animal instincts school in 2005 and she teaches people how to become dog trainers. She also consults on a 1-to-1 basis with dog owners that are having problems with their dog.  Sherry also teaches canine and feline behavior to students in the adult education program at Vanier College and regularly volunteers her time and expertise at local animal shelters in Montreal.

Dog Shows – Purebred Dogs – Ethical Breeding Issues

Went to the dog show last weekend – Denver’s Rocky Mtn. Cluster shows – our own version of Westminster, so we attract many dogs who are top in their breed.  I always love to go and just wallow in the incredible assortment of breeds and try to get to know a breed that I normally wouldn’t get a chance to spend much time with.  This year I learned all about the Afghan Hound.  I couldn’t resist walking up to a gorgeous fluffy, brindle 6 mo. puppy.  She had woolly hair sprouting everywhere, but as I looked into the ring I saw dogs with very short hair on their backs and long silky hair down their sides.  I asked the handler about the proper coat for the breed and why the adult coats were so different.  I knew the puppy was in her puppy coat and that would change but the adults in the ring still varied a lot.  She explained that the coat naturally loses the hair along the back and on the face, sometimes even in patterns on the legs.  The rest of the coat should be very silky so the sand would easily fall through and not cause chafing on the skin of the dog during a hunt or afterward.  I asked “Then why was there a big male with a very woolly coat, looking so handsome I might add, even worth showing? His coat would not fit the standard.”  She went on to tell me that some judges like a flashy coat and will choose a dog with a woolly coat that would not allow the dog to do his original job, but still looks great on the dog.

Really? So it’s okay for a judge to determine that the standard isn’t good enough and they have the power to change what is permissible in their ring?  WOW!  I know I sound naive but I am consistently astonished by the lack of integrity in the human animal.  For our own glory we breed dogs who are genetically unsound and justify it in the name of what?  Ego? Money? Fashion? Trends?

What happened to breeding dogs for what they were originally created for, and I am heart stricken by the changes that have occurred over time due to an ‘ideal’ for what’s attractive, showy and sells.  Granted few Afghans are hunting in the desert any more, don’t know many Bulldogs who really mess with bulls these days, and when was the last time a Wolfhound really chased down a wolf?  But I still get rather uptight when I see deep wrinkly faces on pugs – wrinkles that must be wiped every day to prevent bacterial infections. We know that Bulldogs and other brachycephalic dogs can’t handle the heat or shouldn’t get too excited because they can’t cool down fast enough and could perish.  Most large headed dogs can’t even give birth on their own so they have to have a C-section.  There are Cavaliers who have a genetic weakness that results in luxating patellas and Rhodesians who have an inherent, sometimes deadly flaw in the very trait that makes them a Ridgeback. The list is really limitless and just about every breed has a problem, but some of them are so foolish and can be prevented with thoughtful breeding.

If you watch the wonderful PBS special on pure bred dogs we think you would agree.  The British Kennel Club has even threatened the German Shepherd Club to correct their breed’s structural flaws or they will be booted out of the National Club.  They seem ready to duel over the issue.  Yet if you look at a great number of German Shepherds in the world their slanted gait is so exaggerated that the dogs appear crippled.   We had one poor gentleman come to us for training and his dogs  (from a reputable breeder) had such horrible back ends that we didn’t want to ask anything of them for fear they might injure themselves.  It was tragic.

Did you know that of all the hundreds of Pugs in the UK , their genetic makeup basically makes them clones of 50 pugs?  They have been so closely bred that they are all little clones of each other.  The show explains that such a statistic would place them on the endangered species list if they could be listed as such.  Yet there are bucket loads of them.  How have we let this happen?

There was a group of ladies who are involved with showing/breeding Cavaliers and they knew that a grand champion had a serious genetic flaw that it was passing to all of his offspring, yet when they were confronted they became confrontational, or simply walked away refusing to face what they knew was immoral.  I was astounded at their lack of concern for the very breed they said they treasured.  It blows my mind that people in today’s society can still be so out of balance with what is morally correct.

If we really had an attitude of “what is best for the dog’s interest” we would return to breeding structurally sound dogs with sensible traits, great temperaments and genetically potent lines.  The second a fault showed up in a dog it would be spayed/neutered and live the rest of its happy life as a member of a family, not breeding to create more misery for both the animals and the people who fall in love with them… and suffer as they watch their animals suffer.

I still enjoy going to the shows so I can get my fix, but I always go with a bit of trepidation in my heart as people parade their dogs past and I know that they are probably perpetuating the very problem that makes me shudder when a client shows up with the latest ‘fad’ dog who will probably suffer from genetic flaws and cause heartbreak to its family.

Note – We have 5 purebred dogs in our pack of 8.  We have rescued most of them and bought a couple as puppies.  We do not think that purebred dogs should not exist – we believe they should be bred responsibly and with the utmost care for the breed standards and genetic strength.

Tenderfoot out.

Elizabeth Simpson and her husband Doug have been running Tenderfoot Training in Boulder Colorado for over 30 years. They offer private training,  do telephone consults and have an excellent DVD on their training method and technique.porno
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Brad Pattison has a prime focus on human behavior rather than animal demeanor. He is somewhat confrontational in his methods but gets the job done. Cesar Milan (a.k.a. the DOG WHISPERER) focuses on training owners to treat their pets as pets and NOT as humans… a mistake most pet owners make. His belief is focused on leadership, body language, and control, in order to get pets ‘back in line’.

So who reins the title of trainer champion? Well, that all depends on who you ask, and what type of personality the animal has. There is not one fit for every pet, nor every owner. Bottom line; Take what works for you and leave the rest.

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