Source from: goerie.com
by Steven M. Sweeney
Caylee sat obediently, her wide eyes on her owner as she waited for her next command.
Mike Lesniewski didn’t make his pug puppy wait long.
“Caylee, come,” he said. And the little dog wiggled over.
“It’s a lot more enjoyable experience to have a pet that’s listening to you,” Lesniewski said. “The biggest thing is not so much training the dog, but training the owner how to train the dog. … I don’t know if it’s puppy training or owner training.”
Either way, Lesniewski decided to get help with teaching the 4-month-old pug to sit, stay and come, in a kindergarten puppy-training class at Proud Land the Pet Place in Fairview Township.
Training a puppy correctly is one of the first steps in responsible dog ownership, experts said.
But being a responsible dog owner doesn’t start with puppy training — or end there, they added. It means making a good match of dog and owner, having your pet spayed or neutered, and making sure it has regular veterinarian care.
“You need to choose the right dog, and you need to give them a lifetime of training,” said Isabelle Wolf, who teaches basic obedience classes at Camboro Veterinary Hospital in Edinboro. “It’s a big commitment.”
She and other authorities said responsible dog ownership would cut down on the number of dog bites and the number of animals euthanized at shelters each year.
Highlighting the importance of being a good dog owner was so important to the American Kennel Club that the organization named September as Responsible Dog Ownership month, which will be recognized Saturday in Erie at an event at Frontier Park.
“Great dogs come from great dog owners,” said Pat Van Zandt Christianson, the founder of Therapy Dogs United, which organized Saturday’s event. “Our goal is to try and change as many human behaviors as we possibly can through awareness and education.”
Creating a great dog takes routine discipline, she said. That’s why she believes formal training classes, regular socialization and quick recognition of bad behavior — such as growling or other aggression — is important.
Wolf said she often sees pet owners wait too long before attempting to correct an aggressive behavior.
“The problem with aggression is that it works really well, and a dog figures that out,” Wolf said. “Once they realize it makes people back off, it creates a cycle, one that can be dangerous.”
Joe Grisanti, executive director of the Northwest Pennsylvania Humane Society, said one of the most common times dogs become aggressive is during meals. He said that’s why he suggests that owners of a new puppy sit next to the dog while it’s eating, so it becomes accustomed to human contact during feeding time.
“It’s simple training that people overlook, things like being involved in a puppy’s feeding,” Grisanti said. “Doing something like that is very effective in avoiding problems later on.”
Finding the right match
But while training is important, Grisanti and the other experts said the most important thing a pet owner can do is choose the right dog.
Potential pet owners need to research a breed before taking a dog home, Grisanti said.
“You see all the time people who have fallen in love with the appearance and personality of an animal, but they don’t understand the genetics of a certain pedigree demand certain things or suggest certain things,” he said.
Weimaraners, for example, were very popular a few years ago. It was easy to see why the beautiful gray dogs had become a favorite.
But soon, the Humane Society began seeing more and more Weimaraners abandoned.
“They’re a dog that requires much more time and exercise than the average dog,” Grisanti said. “They’d be great pets for someone who had that time and energy for them, but like any animal, they can be destructive when their needs aren’t being met.”
Joan Wienczkowski, the owner of Proud Land, said an impulsive pet purchase based on a favorite four-legged character in a movie or TV show is the wrong way to go.
Dalmatians had their day, thanks to the Disney film “101 Dalmatians”; pugs were posh after “Men In Black”; and Jack Russell terriers became popular because of the loveable Eddie on “Frasier.”
Wolf said she’s seen several instances of people who bought a Jack Russell terrier without doing research about the breed.
“They see they’re small and cute, and so (mistakenly think) that must mean they’re easy,” she said. “But they’re bred to hunt rodents all day. They’re wound up, and they’re a lot to handle.”
Ron Mangine, of Fairview, brought his 3-month-old golden retriever, Isabella, to Proud Land for an obedience class.
He said he hopes to instill in her the discipline needed to become a search-and-rescue dog.
He knows it will take a lot of work. But he’s seen what can happen if he doesn’t consistently train Isabella.
He frequently notices problems between dogs and their owners during his daily walk.
“Is the dog walking the person, or is the person walking the dog? It’s easy to tell which dogs have the proper discipline,” he said. “Is the dog all over you? It’s an indication that the dog is really the master.”
DogTrainster aims to educate dog owners on how to be a better owner to their pet and so we have authored a mini-series entitled “Train Yourself To Train Your Dog Mini-Series”. If you would like to check out our mini-series click here.
