My years of dog training

An interest that I always had was training dogs with or without behavior problems. When I was a baby in arms, my family always had a relatively large dog. Maybe it only seemed that way because I was so little back then. Sometimes our dogs had behavior issues such as excessive barking, jumping and running wild. The first one I remember was Floss, a sheepdog who was a really exciting guy. He was predominantly white with some black and tan highlights to distract him.

Anyway, when I was eleven years old and on summer vacation from school, the whole family went to my mother’s house in rural Ireland for the summer months. One day, while on my regular rounds of the local town visiting cousins, friends and acquaintances, did I not hear the barking of what I discovered to be a charming dog? He was an Irish Red Setter. Wow, I thought, I would love that beautiful dog. His name was Bruno and he was owned by the local police sergeant. To my surprise, it turned out that Sergeant Lowery was willing to sell his barking dog, and within thirty minutes of seeing the lovely dog, he had arranged to buy it for six pounds. My first purchase would be. Wow, I was delighted.

Now I had to run home to tell my parents who, to my dismay, seemed to take the news as if I always had the same right as the next to conduct such negotiations without hesitation. I was worried that they would worry about strange dog behavior problems. But no, there was no such concern. I seem to remember having to arrange an advance on my pocket money or something like that. But it was worth it to have such a good dog, and the whole family seemed very happy with the new addition to the house. I remember wondering how the dog knew it was mine. He took me very well and I also him. I was the master and he was my new partner. He sure was proud.

I remember even my father deciding it was best to bring the dog home to Dublin before the rest of us just to get him settled in before we all went back for the new school term. Of course, it was just that Dad wanted to be the first to show off the new big dog in the parish in full view of all the jealous locals. Dad was also proud of the new addition. That was easy to say. When I got home to Dublin that September, Dad had changed the dog’s name from Bruno to Bran, saying that was a more appropriate name for a mature-looking dog. I think my dad didn’t like the dog’s name because it reminded him of the pipe tobacco with the same name that is regularly advertised on television. He was always very anti-tobacco.

Anyway, as soon as I got back to city life, I started training Bran to my liking. Sit, lie down, stay, fetch, heel, and sit were the commands I focused on. Bran was more than happy to oblige. He was so happy to be told what he wanted him to do and he was also happy to understand each different order. Eventually he literally jumped through hoola hoops. I know it’s not what the inventor intended for his novelty product, but I found a new purpose for it.

Of course, I took to dog training like a duck to water. Since those days I have always had one or more dogs. Since then I can list an Irish Red Setter, a Doberman, an Afghan Hound and also, what is now my favorite breed of all, various German Shepherd Dogs. German Shepherds are very interested in learning to please their master by obeying all his commands. In fact, almost all breeds of dogs have this inclination, if they are treated well by responsible owners.

Dogs can start by having behavior problems. But if such behavior problems are caught early by understanding from teachers and owners, then there is no long-term problem. I really enjoyed training my dogs to behave in an ideal way and advice on these matters is always a plus. A dog that responds and behaves correctly is worth its weight in gold. A properly trained dog is a great personal asset in terms of company and security. And remember that owning a dog is a very real responsibility.