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| Sufat Sheleg Training Philosophy
“Don’t train for perfection, train to be better.” These words were spoken by one of Macc’s seminar instructors, and they are the basis for our Training Philosophy. Just as every person is an individual, each dog has their own personality. This includes individual strengths and weaknesses. Match that up with a handler’s own traits, and you can see why a fluid training methodology is required. We did not participate in any performance events with our mixed breed dogs. Agility was still new, and Rally was not on the radar yet. But we had the expectation of our dogs being good companions and good canine citizens, or to be more Canadian, neighbours. First and foremost, are Canaan Dogs are our companions. They are loving and loyal members of our family and are expected to be well-mannered dogs around people and other animals. And in this age of BSL, why would you want anything else? Among our requirements for a dog when we set out to investigate the various breeds was for a healthy, athletic dog with whom we could compete in performance sports. This is one of the foremost versatile breeds, a dog that had to develop and hone all of their senses in order to evolve and survive for thousands of years in the desert. They have very balanced drives and enjoy working with their handlers. Through the course of raising and training our dogs we have used a wide variety of training methods. The philosophies of our instructors have also come into the mix. We have borrowed from herding, obedience, agility, and conformation. And in Michelle and Larry you find people that realize that they are only scratching the surface of training and handling. They are always learning, through courses or literature, how to better motivate their dogs. You will not find anyone at Sufat Sheleg hiding behind rationalizations when an activity falls apart. The dog’s performance is only as good as the preparation that goes into it. If you have failed as a trainer, then the dog will not respond properly. This is not a breed-thing, this is a dog-thing. Training Tips Obedience training is the foundation to establishing the “social hierarchy”. When your Canaan obeys a simple request of 'come here, sit,' he is showing compliance and respect for you. You CAN teach your Canaan his subordinate role by teaching him to show submission to you in a paw raise (shake hands) or hand lick (give a kiss). Most dogs love performing these tricks (obedience commands) for you which also pleasantly acknowledge that YOU are in charge. Enroll in puppy socialization classes and dog obedience training classes to learn the basics. Then most teaching and training can and should be done in your home. It is best to begin training in an area that is familiar to your dog and with the least amount of distractions as possible. When you feel both you and your dog are skilled at several obedience commands, then take these commands to different areas. Introducing distractions may seem like starting all over again, but it's worth the effort. In reality, who cares if your dog will sit stay when no one is around? What you need is a dog who will sit-stay when company is at the door. Who cares if your dog heels beautifully in your own back yard? But you need to start there if you eventually want a dog who will heel when walking down the street. Canaan Dogs are quick learners. We refer to them as a "thinking breed", which makes them great problem solvers. They can learn a variety of commands in one session, which makes training easy and fast. Because they learn so quickly they may get bored of repetition in a training session – once they have the command in place they are ready to learn something new! In fact, since they are quick studies, they are more responsive to learning a multiple of commands in one short session. Keep training sessions short and lively! We look at training as being a 3-part procedure: [1] Training - Learn the exercise, [2] Proofing – Training something the dog already knows while adding stress to the situation, and, [3] Testing – Simulating a Trial situation. To date, we have trialed in Conformation, Herding, Rally, and Obedience. With a Canaan Dog, you are only limited by your imagination. |
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