Forward to Training Tips I am proud and honored to be considered a friend of Gail and her unrelenting dedication to the Karelian Bear Dog breed. In getting to know Gail, you will find that her work with KBD’s and the breed itself is a pursuit of passion, both from her heart and soul. Her cause can only be described as a "calling" a calling that she is well suited to fulfill, and fulfill she does. Gail's ongoing continuation of developing the proud breed is only surpassed by her dedication to making sure that KBD's are only adopted to appropriate homes. Much like a surrogate human mother, she takes this role very seriously, rightfully so. I was fortunate to have been selected to receive one of ILO and Kukka’s prized pups thru a commitment to provide a loving home and training to make the most of a KBD’s capabilities. I had now become apart of an extended family of KBD owners and enthusiast thru Gail. The moment that we received this wonderful pup, Mieli and I have been on a quest for adventure and excitement. I often imagine that if a person was suddenly catapulted back in time, surviving by living in an ice cave in the far north………well my guess is that is why we now have KBDs. These canines provide intelligence, hunting, tracking skills, durability and loyalty that makes them ideal companions for the right environment with the right person, in that order. Gail had asked that I share some of the training tips used with Mieli. In the following training tips, you will see that effective communications between my dog and I are the focal point. Many of the skills applied in training Mieli have been learned by observing interactions of all the wild animal’s that live within her world. Our hope is that maybe some portion of the following will benefit you and your companion, whether it is a KBD or another breed. Mieli’s proud papa, Rick |
Gail’s cyber KBD pack or group has much more in common than having a KBD as a family member. We have all purposely chosen the challenge of raising and living with an extremely high spirited canine. (If you do not believe that KBD’s are high energy, high spirited, read no further) In making the selection to obtain a KBD vs. a lapadoddle dog, this says alot about our own spirit that we harbor within, thus we are all sharing a kindred element and bond. I believe that the high spirited KBD’s retain this genetic trait from their wild ancestors the wolf or possibly the black foxes. Google black foxes. The component of high spirited dogs that will be addressed here is the innate desire to be the pack leader or dominant member. If the dog’s spirit is unbroken, this desire will probably last a life time. Going back to my earlier thoughts, spirit is the reason that we obtained a KBD and I will be the very last person that would advocate breaking their spirit. Thus our only choice is to have more spirit and to be dominating over them. If you don’t have the fortitude to dominate, they most certainly will. The end result of that scenario is not good for either party. If there is a significant other in the home, I will take this one step further and say that it is advised that ever two legged pack member in the household should be dominant over the KBD. Anything short of this goal, the KBD can move up the chain of command and will try to dominate over the person below its ranking. I am speaking from experience and not what I believe. In our household, Mieli is #2 or the Alpha female. I cannot demand that Mieli yield dominance to Sherry, my wife, especially when I am not there. I can only demand obedience from Mieli and to have her respect Sherry. Dominance has to be earned, and then it must be maintained on a regular basis. It is worth noting here that Mieli obeys Sherry’s basic commands, but will also try healing Sherry when Mieli is trying to assert her dominance. Usually, you cannot have good obedience without having earned dominance. If your dominance is ever challenged by your dog, time is of the essences to curb the situation. It is also best to establish dominance when your dog is still a puppy. Here, I believe is the key to leaving the spirit in tact, while demanding submission. It is best to use only as much force and reinforcement as necessary to maintain dominance over your best friend. If one was to beat a dog into submission, on a regular basis, you would gain unquestionable dominance, but be left with a hollow shell of a dog with its tail tucked between its legs. In tip # 1, it was discussed how animals communicate. Our dogs are intelligent, plus they are bilingual by communicating in both human and canine understandings. However, a dog better understands it's native language versus the one we are so familiar with, especially the iron fist. In watching canines work out the dominance issues between themselves, it is often done without fur flying or blood being shed. It is all done by dominant posture, self confidence, direct cold eye contact, mouth open, lips rolled back showing exposed teeth and then delivering a guttural vocalization resembling a growl. The submissive dog lies on its side and try’s to keep further aggression from escalating. I suggest to you that when your dog challenges you or that if it is going thru a really disobedient state, you slip your thumb under its collar and take its neck down to the floor. With the other hand gently be sweeping its legs out from under it and use your chest to softly but quickly pin the animal between you and the ground. Then make direct cold eye contact all the while showing your teeth with lips rolled back giving the low pitched guttural growl. Make sure your dog submits to your dominance before you let it up. This is usually signified by it refraining from struggling and then looking into your cold stare to see what your next move is. This will probably take less than 15-20 seconds after the initial first few times. The key to this working is that you have your thoughts together on what you are doing, do it swiftly as a fluid motion, make eye contact and keep your face within close proximity to your dog’s face. Once you let your dog up, give it time to digest what just happen. After sufficient time has passed, maybe 10 minutes get your dog to participate in a command or activity and reward it with affection after successful completion of challenge. Note: KBD’s are quick and hard to get their feet out from under them. As Dave has pointed out, you really don’t want to get bitten by a KBD either. Putting your thumb in their collar and holding your hand flat on the ground or floor, the dog should not be wanting to bite you or your face if done correctly. It will be focused on your eyes and trying to get its feet back under it to get mobile. Mieli has never given me any indication that she has wanted to bite me when I have executed the above drill on her. I would not suggest that you start a relationship with your puppy like dogs do, which is right off the bat one has to dominate the other. But within the first several weeks your dog will surely do something to challenge you and this is a good time to start getting control. This exercise in establishing dominance should be handed out fairly and only when required. This is not to be used in the everyday run of the mill violations like potty accidents, tearing up a newspaper etc... On the other hand if the dog is getting mouthy, biting, chewing or roughhousing it is time to show that ank (more later on ank) means no. Here you can substitute a guttural no bite…..no bite or no chew…..no chew instead of the growl. Conclusions: Mieli’s loyalty to me is beyond reproach and her high spirit is fully intact. It is hard to get to the next step in training until you master the one above. There may be other ways to gain dominance, but the dogs have shown us the way they prefer it to be done. |
Tip # 3: Recall & Off Leash Training Tips As this will involve numerous commands and challenges from you and your dog, maybe this should be titled getting your dog to mind all your commands. In picking a place to get started here, I am going back to the beginning, as it is good to have a good foundation. You will see that certain skills that you and your dog develop here will have across the board applications. Your Finnish dog doesn'tt necessarily prefer English words as we do, but does prefer clarity in what you say and how you say it. I often ask Mieli "do you want to come in" "come over here Girl" In order to translate my come command meaning to her, I combined this thought with my thought process when going thru a traffic signal in seeing a yellow light. The yellow light prepares me for what comes next rather than getting a red signal that I was unprepared for. The single come word in the following command is the yellow light. So here goes my command sequence: "Mieli……Come,,,,,,,,COME-COME Girl" (The COME-COME is in a rapid heavier tone than a normal voice, but not a yell). This command is not a negotiation and must be backed up without continuously repeating the command. (more on back up later) I also started with a referee whistle in order to compensate for distance, lack of line of sight and wind noise that would prevent the dog from hearing my oral command. Two quick toots on the whistle was given immediately before our "Come" command sequence. The whistle and the command being used in conjunction, one was synonymous with the other when necessary. In later training, I dropped the referee whistle in favor of my voice whistle for her to "come". Living in an open area, we used our yard, open fields and grassland for getting started without a leash. In an area where automobile traffic is a safety concern, other safety hazards exist or you are apprehensive about your dog running off, you may want to start within a confined (fenced) area like a ball field, park or really open place with few distractions to begin with. After establishing a foundation, distractions are a really good thing, the more the better. Mieli was trained with elk, bighorn sheep, deer and rabbits in our yard every morning and evening. On our outings, she was purposely exposed to training within herds of these wild animals. Domestic animals can be substituted for distractions once you have the beginning down. I would get Sherry to help me with training Mieli for recall. We would separate 20 yards at first, then in a really happy animate voice, call Mieli back and forth between us. Plenty of praise, physical contact and food rewards were given for the fun new game. In retrospect, I would now have provided her a special treat (like a small bite of regular Slim Jim, chicken tender etc..) to separate the "come" training from other training commands. Without recall, you really can’t move forward into any other training. As our separation distance increased, we incorporated hide and seek into the recall training. The recall exercise can also be used within the home. After moving out of the yard into open fields where the animals were wintering, I let her drag a 50-75’ long check cord (small rope) behind her. The cord would give me something to grab a hold of if necessary without the appearance of chasing her and also give her a sense of being under control of a long leash. Keep in mind even as your dog is exercising, periodically call it back to create repetition and develop good recall habits. You will want to start recall and off leash training long before it is recommended to start your dog on an electronic training shock collar. Mieli went off leash on the 2 nd day we had her and was only leashed for her safety around the animals and "do it’ training from then on. I highly suspect that the earlier you get started the better. Backing up your commands early will have to come from your voice disapproval and very mild punishment. Note: No punishment should ever come from overhand swats . I will let you determine what method of punishment suits you and your dog’s temperament. With Mieli, my voice and cold stare serves all my needs. If she gets mouthy, I will sometimes thump her with a finger on the tender part of her nose to get her attention, then a "No Bite" command. This differs from my rebuff when it comes to the recall and off leash disapproval. When she does something that I do not approve of, she gets a sharp verbal "ANK" which she knows to mean listen up and stop what she is doing that got her censored. You can use any command que that you like, but choose one that is sharp and firm. You can use the word red but probably not use the word soft if you grasp my meaning. "Stay close/Walk with me " as we go down the road before we get to a trail where she can run & hunt on her own. Rick & Mieli If your dog’s environment allows, there is nothing that beats an electronic underground fence. The E collar that is provided with some models and manufactures doubles as a training collar. Once again, there is a minimum age that these are recommended to be used on your dog(s). When Gail told us that we were approved for one of her upcoming puppies and that we could have one, I immediately installed our KBD’s underground fence before the winter set in. As the fence was in place when we got her, we started her training with the E collar/fence at 4 ½-5 months old. From there, I was able to fine hone her obedience skills with the shock collar (calling it what it is).The one that we have is an Innotek. Their customer service and warranty is premier, however I have had problems with collar life and the remote transmitters distance range. They provided me at n/c with new E collars and a new 750-1000 yard transmitter. After acquiring the new products, I can say that I am a satisfied customer of their products. The fence itself has never given me any problems. Like juggling eggs, use your E shock collar carefully and with forethought. It is not a weapon to be used against your dog. It is a tool and it can be a very effective tool. I would also suggest that you use it only when necessary, and use it equally or less with the other training skills you possess. Being a one dimensional trainer is probably not good for you or your dog. An old adage comes to mind, "speak softly and carry a big stick". I think most E collars have an audio buzzer that in most cases serves the same function as the stimulation. Keep in mind that your dog’s thick coat requires that you use the extra long contact points on the E collar. The tips on the standard collars will not work consistently or at all. I would not think that you would want to shock your dog to make it come to you. That seems most counter productive to me. If you have laid the foundations, the dog will respond to your call command. However, if your dog is ranging, chasing, barking etc… and you have given a command and it is not complied with, an "ANK" and a simultaneous stimulation does get results. After a short time an audio buzz/ANK works. Here are a few of the off leash commands that I provide to Mieli and back up with the E collar. As you go thru these, it helps for all to bear in mind that her non- compliance to the rules in this environment means certain death. As fearless as Mieli is, venturing off on her own will put her in the grasp of a wolf pack that winters here with the deer, elk and sheep. The wolves come within a 100 yards of our home and stay in the area most of the winter. Running and chasing after game animals will get a dog shot by a game warden or concerned citizen about as fast as the wolves would kill her. As it turns out, the bears prove less danger to her than wolves, mountain lions or people. Henceforth, the rules are in concrete and anything less than 100% compliance; I would not be doing my job to protect her. The only rules I have ever changed is when I took rabbits off of protection. "Stay Close Girl" Means to stay within the range that I select for her, based upon the threat level and the time of year. In the winter it is within 75-100 yards or visual line of sight. In the summer she gets much more freedom and when we are riding the mules, I put a bell on the mule in order for Mieli to orient herself to our location and she ventures out of sight 200-300 yards into the forest. If I whistle for her and do not see her soon or hear the bell that I also have on Mieli, I will page her with the audio portion of the collar. "Wait, Wait on Me Girl" When we are going down the trail, I tell her to wait on me to catch up. If she was to keep walking away from me I would audio page her. When the pages come to frequently, I apply the stimulation and for the rest of the day or week, no more stimulation is needed. "Walk With Me" Keeps her immediately to my front or side much as if she has an invisible leash on. "Leave It" This command is used to cover a wide range of applications. An example would be when we are riding and she gets on a squirrel, rather than letting her get left behind, I tell her to leave it, and she moves on. If she abides by the command well the same drill would apply. Leave it also is used anytime I want her to, well leave it. "No Chase " This is used with a strong "ANK" and a "Leave IT" Then the stimulation. After she learned that the animals were her friends, we walk right thru them with only an occasional looks. Her non threatening disposition to the animals also prevents them from running from her, thus more encouraging her to chase them. "Hello Deer, Good Deer " I use this phrase for all ungulates to alert Mieli that the animals are within sight and she looks where I am looking to zero in on them if she has not already seen them. This also tells her that like her, they are good. "Front" If there is a need to isolate her on a trail, like when another dog, other riders, cars etc… are coming or when I want to take off her collar to come thru the underground fence I tell her "In Front". That means come to my legs and wait there. We have many leisurely walks and outings, but Mieli and I are always sharpening the plow. Every outing, we work on or retest our communications with one another. |
Training Tip #1: Communication Skills
owners.
used in conjunction with your dog obedience training instructor. The following tips are what have worked very well with Mieli in her environment. Her training was not designed for show rings or competition. Her training is based upon communication, repetition of learned commands and her absolute acceptance of my commands 100% of the time. Living in prime grizzly, black bear, mountain lion and wolf country, Mieli’ s life and safety is dependent upon her adherence to my rules. (As it turns out, her life skills in the back country work very well in the civilized world as well). These are non-negotiable rules that require constant work and retesting on both of our parts. By choice, a leash is not part of Mieli’s world, not saying we did not use one in the very beginning. Remember that, you only get out what you put in when it comes to training your dog. There are few short cuts to quality time spent together, and I cannot think of a better way to spend my time. We will start on communication skills. Most of what I will share is from observing animals, whether it is the barnyard variety or the varied wild animals of Yellowstone National Park, which in this case are also in our barnyard part of the year. With the absence of speech, animals rely upon body posture, ear, eye, mouth, teeth, tail, sounds etc... to communicate within their species or outside of their own kind. With the exception of moving our ears and tail, we can and most certainly do communicate with animals. Not unlike our politicians of today, some of the time we do not understand what we are saying. In your dog’s world, they understand perfectly everything you are saying by the signals they are receiving from you. Your job is to make sure you are sending the correct message you want conveyed. For example: commands from you to your dog will require self confidence, dominant posture, direct or sometimes cold eye contact [(when possible and necessary) addressed below] and your gift of dominant speech projection. These signals, when they are all combined, will gain you favorable results. In the animal world, this is the norm and certainly not cruel. On the other hand, a less dominating body stance, maybe a crouch, a warm eye, gentle soothing voice conveys that you accept your dogs adherence to your command and that this is a just reward for compliance. This too is part of the animal world. Live outside of the world as you see it and all will seem more balanced and fair. In demanding respect from your dog, give it back in equal amounts and be consistent in your communication skills. One word of caution, do not repeatedly give commands to your dog that go unheeded. Not if, but when they do not respond to a command as you wish, quickly determine if the breakdown in communications is the fault of the trainer, the dog is distracted, the dog is testing you, or it did not receive the command as given. Be honest. If you are unsure, put the dog in a kennel or give it a time out while you think the situation through. Sometimes it may be necessary to take a couple steps backwards and work thru areas where more positive results can be obtained. Then proceed with a more favorable environment on the area that had proven to give a challenge. Remember this: A firm command like come means come now. A suggestive command like look pretty so I can take your picture is a suggestive command that is open ended and up to interpretation. If you are unsure of the outcome of a firm command, do not give it until the outcome is more certain. i.e. don’t tell a dog to come when it is chasing a rabbit. ( see leave it in later tips) In making sure your dog is receiving your message, whether it is being given orally, by body posture, hand signals, or what ever queue, ask your dog to "look at me ". In the beginning, you can hold a treat up by your eyes or mouth in order to get your dogs attention looking at you. With your dog looking at you, you know have its undivided attention so that you can use all your resources to give a command. Once the command is given with eye contact, the command executed by the dog, you can now give it the treat. In the beginning, I would encourage you to give hand signals with oral perform commands when possible i.e. open palm facing the dog meaning stay, waving toward yourself meaning come, pointing to the ground in front of you meaning come to your front and set, pointing to the ground in front with a more definitive jester meaning lay down in front of you, pointing to the ground beside you as you walk meaning come walk with me etc… Naturally some commands like do it and fetch , this is not practical. Signing allows you to take the enjoyment of your best friend to the next level. A whistle, by mouth or the plastic variety to start with gets your dogs attention so you can deliver the signing. Keeping your dog close enough to receive the message will be addressed later in stay close or wait on me. Closing thought for this tip: Let there be no doubt that the KBD’s are capable of going to where you want to take them in your training level. Any preconceived notion that they can't or won't do a task is because they have not been asked properly. |
| How these training pages came to be...
our love, joy and passion for the KBD with other people, but what if I ended up with a household of KBDs because I couldn't part with them, or find the right families for them? I asked the breeder of our male, Ilo, who has been breeding for many year, how she could do it. She told me something I will never forget, "You always have to remember, these pups were born to make other people as happy as you are." That simple sentence put it into perspective for me. Knowing that the KBD is definitely not a fit with everyone, I feel it's my responsibility to make sure that it indeed is a happy, fulfilled "new beginning" for all. I truly want all of our puppy families to be as happy with their KBDs as we are with ours. I'm very fortunate to have found such wonderful homes for our pups, and when one of them is adopted, I feel we have made new friends and "in-laws" for life. It's hard to give them up, but the joy of sharing them with the right people makes up for it. I always say that we have extended family all over the country, and are fortunate that they share their lives with their KBDs with us, and I'm very grateful for them. We really don't have to give them up at all. Our Oso's owner, Dave, suggested we start a private discussion group where we can communicate with each other and share information about our dogs. It was a great idea! I asked Rick, who owns our Mieli, if he would be willing to share his training tips with everyone in the group. I believe Rick to be one of the best animal communicators I have ever seen, and knew we could learn so much from him. What he contributed, was much more than I ever expected. He now graciously has consented to share, on my website, what has worked so incredibly well for he and Mieli. When I asked him, here was his reply. "I would be honored to give back a little to the KBD breed that has given me so much in return. I say without any hesitation that Mieli has elevated my senses of observation and learning from her to a much higher level. Her intelligence and loyalty to me, has shown that I could have trained her for any job that I desired. I have also noted that Mieli does not do anything stupid that will endanger her life." On the menu to the left, the sub pages under this heading were entirely written by Rick. Thank you Rick for sharing this and for your kind words in the forward, I am both honored and humbled. I have no doubt that there will be something here that will benefit anyone in the training of their KBD or other "spirited" breed |
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