Know My Voice
For many years I've handled dogs, generally multiple dogs at one time. I don't have to stop & think about which dog I'm hearing. I know their barks, what they mean, even when several of my dogs bark I can pick out the individuals. One of the things in training we often miss is that we make a lot of noise that most often has little meaning. I knew a dogman who said of this, 'now you're just building a vocabulary'. What he meant was your saying a lot that means little. The sad reality is that we need to teach our dogs things that have meaning but our dogs should be able to know our voice as I know theirs. If you read much from me you'll know I often state that we never fool our dogs. But we are far too often confusing to our dogs.
We breeze around through our world always in a hurry. We have a phone to our ear or in front of our face. The television is running, we're making dinner while we're planning a hundred different things at once. Our world is extremely noisy to the point of being deafening to an animal as sensitive as a dog. When a car backfires or we drop something in the floor & it crashes, some call the dog who runs for cover a coward or weak nerved. Frankly I do not want the dog who stands there unaffected by the world around him. The dog who blinks is becoming as numb to his surroundings as we humans have become. The dog is not weak for reacting to something he doesn't understand. As with all in the natural world they choose fight or flight constantly. It's how they survive.
When I was on the field of a dogman, we were training at night. The dogs were placed at a down/stay & we were told to go away. One by one we were told to recall our dog. Just a simple word, "come" or "here". That wasn't a shout or a barked command. It was a soft simple recall. The dog would then locate you by all means natural from that single spoken word. His name wasn't called & there was no promise of a treat. Just a simply spoken word. Since dogs don't require all the trappings that we do, this is easy work for them. The question is: does your dog know your voice?
When I am in trouble or there is an emergency and I need my dog to respond accordingly, that better be delivered through my voice. Emergencies tend to require split second decision making rather than reacting without thought. When it happens, you'd better have trained the dog in a manner that he knows your voice, knows when there is urgency, knows when that voice is requiring sharpness or caution. When the time comes, you might not get a second chance.
I took my male Doberman with me to check on the cows one day and discovered a cow had freshly given birth to a calf. The calf was still wet and not yet on it's feet for the first time. My dog wasn't fond of cattle but he had a soft spot for anything young or unable to protect itself. He was also a very vocal dog. On the lookout for danger I spotted what could have been a disaster, the herd bull. He was coming to check on his cow. In a moment such as this if the dog had barked out the bull might have charged to defend one of his cows & newly born calves, as he was a very good bull. This is a natural response that saves lives in the herd. So I put my hand over the dog's muzzle and looked him the eyes, barely whispering the word, "quiet." Everything in my manner, my countenance and my word belied the importance of that simple command. And because it was real & this dog knows my voice, he complied & we literally inched our way to safety to avoid irritating the herd.
A good many people will say, "but my dog's just a pet, we don't have need for that." Don't you? When the leash or collar breaks and your dog starts running for the street, it's critical that the dog respond instantly to a recall. You may only get one moment in time to make the difference between your four-footed companion being home that night or being at the vet hospital or dead.
Dogs understand us far better than we understand them but the difference between obedience & disaster is often found in the seriousness of the training they've endured. Is the training serious or is it fluff? Is the handler taking the training serious & giving the work purpose? I can tell you that if I was your dog & all we did was heel, sit, come, down, heel on the sidewalk, you'd bore me to death. The dog is more sensitive than I am. Work without meaning is just busy work. Likewise if you're using your vocals as a handler without meaning, without seriousness then all you're doing is busy work. This is the difference in the dog knowing your voice & understanding the nuances vs. it all having little meaning & the dog is on his own to figure it out, maybe with dire consequences.
I put a good deal of effort into working with a dog & being genuine while doing so. My voice conveys the importance, urgency or lack thereof. My tone, level, etc... tells the dog how to proceed. My Giant Schnauzer is a lot of dog. She is capable of great gentleness yet most of the time she's a big hairy faced disaster waiting to happen. Being a breed that matures quite slowly, it means I have to be quite particular in how I use my vocals. One day when the dog was a 3 year old, our Rooster (Mr. Clucky) escaped his coop with a hen. At first the dog was over excited by all the noise and energy but when I interrupted her from chasing or darting at the birds with a sharp tone & then showed her with my own movements & the tone of my voice. "Easy now. Good easy. Step up. Step up. That's it. Good step up. Whooops... aaaat... wait." A dog who has zero herding experience or training did exactly what I needed her to do. The hen went in first. Three tries later, Mr. Clucky joined his hens. I closed the gate & gave my big Schnauzer a bigger hug and a smooch on the nose telling her what a big help she was. I get help from my dogs quite often and I owe it all to learning the significance of them knowing my voice.
Dogs have a PhD in their humans. If we use their ability to learn about us to our advantage, you'd be amazed at what you can get from them. Humans are miserable at learning the ways of the dog. We think we get it but often times we fall short. But by taking the time to teach & train in a way that always has purpose, always has meaning. The dog can see a clear 'why' in all that you do, soon s/he becomes your partner, your help mate. Soon the dog has purpose, sees purpose in his work, he prizes his place in the household. All of us from largest to smallest take care of the things we value.
We breeze around through our world always in a hurry. We have a phone to our ear or in front of our face. The television is running, we're making dinner while we're planning a hundred different things at once. Our world is extremely noisy to the point of being deafening to an animal as sensitive as a dog. When a car backfires or we drop something in the floor & it crashes, some call the dog who runs for cover a coward or weak nerved. Frankly I do not want the dog who stands there unaffected by the world around him. The dog who blinks is becoming as numb to his surroundings as we humans have become. The dog is not weak for reacting to something he doesn't understand. As with all in the natural world they choose fight or flight constantly. It's how they survive.
When I was on the field of a dogman, we were training at night. The dogs were placed at a down/stay & we were told to go away. One by one we were told to recall our dog. Just a simple word, "come" or "here". That wasn't a shout or a barked command. It was a soft simple recall. The dog would then locate you by all means natural from that single spoken word. His name wasn't called & there was no promise of a treat. Just a simply spoken word. Since dogs don't require all the trappings that we do, this is easy work for them. The question is: does your dog know your voice?
When I am in trouble or there is an emergency and I need my dog to respond accordingly, that better be delivered through my voice. Emergencies tend to require split second decision making rather than reacting without thought. When it happens, you'd better have trained the dog in a manner that he knows your voice, knows when there is urgency, knows when that voice is requiring sharpness or caution. When the time comes, you might not get a second chance.
I took my male Doberman with me to check on the cows one day and discovered a cow had freshly given birth to a calf. The calf was still wet and not yet on it's feet for the first time. My dog wasn't fond of cattle but he had a soft spot for anything young or unable to protect itself. He was also a very vocal dog. On the lookout for danger I spotted what could have been a disaster, the herd bull. He was coming to check on his cow. In a moment such as this if the dog had barked out the bull might have charged to defend one of his cows & newly born calves, as he was a very good bull. This is a natural response that saves lives in the herd. So I put my hand over the dog's muzzle and looked him the eyes, barely whispering the word, "quiet." Everything in my manner, my countenance and my word belied the importance of that simple command. And because it was real & this dog knows my voice, he complied & we literally inched our way to safety to avoid irritating the herd.
A good many people will say, "but my dog's just a pet, we don't have need for that." Don't you? When the leash or collar breaks and your dog starts running for the street, it's critical that the dog respond instantly to a recall. You may only get one moment in time to make the difference between your four-footed companion being home that night or being at the vet hospital or dead.
Dogs understand us far better than we understand them but the difference between obedience & disaster is often found in the seriousness of the training they've endured. Is the training serious or is it fluff? Is the handler taking the training serious & giving the work purpose? I can tell you that if I was your dog & all we did was heel, sit, come, down, heel on the sidewalk, you'd bore me to death. The dog is more sensitive than I am. Work without meaning is just busy work. Likewise if you're using your vocals as a handler without meaning, without seriousness then all you're doing is busy work. This is the difference in the dog knowing your voice & understanding the nuances vs. it all having little meaning & the dog is on his own to figure it out, maybe with dire consequences.
I put a good deal of effort into working with a dog & being genuine while doing so. My voice conveys the importance, urgency or lack thereof. My tone, level, etc... tells the dog how to proceed. My Giant Schnauzer is a lot of dog. She is capable of great gentleness yet most of the time she's a big hairy faced disaster waiting to happen. Being a breed that matures quite slowly, it means I have to be quite particular in how I use my vocals. One day when the dog was a 3 year old, our Rooster (Mr. Clucky) escaped his coop with a hen. At first the dog was over excited by all the noise and energy but when I interrupted her from chasing or darting at the birds with a sharp tone & then showed her with my own movements & the tone of my voice. "Easy now. Good easy. Step up. Step up. That's it. Good step up. Whooops... aaaat... wait." A dog who has zero herding experience or training did exactly what I needed her to do. The hen went in first. Three tries later, Mr. Clucky joined his hens. I closed the gate & gave my big Schnauzer a bigger hug and a smooch on the nose telling her what a big help she was. I get help from my dogs quite often and I owe it all to learning the significance of them knowing my voice.
Dogs have a PhD in their humans. If we use their ability to learn about us to our advantage, you'd be amazed at what you can get from them. Humans are miserable at learning the ways of the dog. We think we get it but often times we fall short. But by taking the time to teach & train in a way that always has purpose, always has meaning. The dog can see a clear 'why' in all that you do, soon s/he becomes your partner, your help mate. Soon the dog has purpose, sees purpose in his work, he prizes his place in the household. All of us from largest to smallest take care of the things we value.