ACD Spotlight Page 32

And so ended a potentially unhappy ending.

I have no intention of enumerating the steps I sug-
gested to Alice to undertake establishing pack
leadership. It is an undertaking that could fill a
book--many of which have already been written
and are available to those who feel their dogs
might be exhibiting any of the characteristics listed
above. The point is: respect is the bottom line.

In order for your dog to be able to work with you or
for you, the dog MUST understand his/her position
in the scheme of things. In competitive obedience
you and your dog must work as a team--with you
as the team leader!!! If you are not the leader out-
side of the ring, it will not be possible for you to be
the leader inside of the ring: your performance will
disintegrate and your control will be nonexistent.
Again, it

s as basic as that.

Do not relinquish pack leadership for

friendship

with your dog. A dog is not a child, a sister, brother,
or any other human counterpart. A dog is a dog.
ALLOW your dog to be the best dog there is!!! If
you can support your canine buddy with sound
pack leadership, you will have the best human/
canine relationship possible. And believe me, it is
THIS relationship that will most help you excel in
any performance venue and will ultimately be the
most rewarding.

So if your dog is not responding to you outside of
obedience training, is content with amusing himself
and doesn

t require your attendance, is more inter-

ested in sniffing other dogs than in being with you,
considers your belongings his private reserve, does
not allow you to take toys/food/chewies from his
mouth, then I HIGHLY SUGGEST that you rethink
your training regimen and first learn how to estab-
lish pack leadership and a stronger bond with your
canine buddy. Recognizing that you have a prob-
lem is the first and hardest step. From then on it

an upward climb. Just don

t deny yourself this fun-

damental relationship--and supreme pleasure.

GOT TREATS?

You can find out more about Catherine at
http://www.gettoready.net
Email: catherine.zinsky@gmail.com

Catherine and:
Int/Mex Am Ch. Castle Butte's Masked Bandit,
CDX, U-CDX, ASCA-CDX, PC ('Huckleberry')
Ch.OTCH Trumagik Step Aside, UDX 9 ('Kyle')
Ch Borderfame Soul Train ('Kellan the Felon')
Cache and Carry ("Cache") (Pet Raven)

Catherine and Silverhills Demolition Derby, UDX at
the 2004 Australian Cattle Dog Nationals. Photos
by Lynn Tatro.