Understanding Your Dog

Just as being polite to people can keep us from being “snapped at,” so being polite to dogs can help keep things friendly. Dogs are as diverse and individual as people are. Many are outgoing, cheerful, and eager to meet anyone they see. Some are less social and do not enjoy meeting or being petted by strangers.

Breeds: Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Curly-coated Retriever, Flat-coated Retriever, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, Standard Poodle, Doodles with Lab/Golden/Standard Poodle in them.

Irish, English, Gordon, Red and White

Another athletic gun dog group, Setters share a similar history with Pointing Breeds, but tend to be a bit more pliable and a lot more clownish. They were not expected to be guards. All these breeds require grooming time.

Breeds: Akbash Dog, Anatolian Shepherd Dog, Caucasian Shepherd Dog (Caucasian Ovcharka), Great Pyrenees, Komondor, Kuvasz, Maremma Sheepdog, Pyrenean Mastiff, Tibetan Mastiff

When we humans started amassing large numbers of animals, such as flocks of sheep, we issued an open invitation to local predators to come get the goods. Sheep -- slow, easy-to-find, abundant -- are a predator's dream come true.

Created to run, often covering more than ten miles over rugged terrain in a few hours. Pointers worked independently and at a distance from the hunter. To do their job well, they had to be single minded, and remain undistracted by other sights and smells. Several of the pointing breeds were also expected to protect the hunter's possessions and family. This being the case, what can we expect from a Pointer as a pet?

When society developed enough to have an upper class, they had developed enough to give some lucky folks free time. They wanted companions; not rough-and tumble-companions, but sweet, adorable, charming companions. That is how many toys came into being, as entertainment for royalty. Other toys are scaled down versions of larger breeds. They all have one thing in common; they were created for companionship. Small they are, playthings they are not. These are some of the most intelligent, strong-minded and creative dogs around. Never underestimate them.

Created to work closely with people, think independently when necessary, work long hours and control large moving things, herding breeds are smart problem solvers. Certain breeds bark to move their charges.

Your job, as your dog’s coach and teacher, is to “get to good” - meaning look at training as a process of rewarding rather than correcting.

 Here are a few examples:

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