Special Education and Training

If a dog is able to handle all basic commands even under very difficult conditions, a specialized education can follow.  How successful this specialized education will be, relies on genetic endowments and the character and physical nature of the dog.  For example, a Golden Retriever is unlikely to be the perfect guard dog, and trying to educate a Malteser to hunt will bring poor results.

We have to be careful not to go beyond the potential of a dog.  It is similar to humans:  a small lightweight boxer, despite hours of training, is unlikely to beat a heavyweight boxer, but he can be champion in his class.

The education and training is done in individualized lessons. We have to keep in mind that this specialized training puts the highest demands on dog and owner, and the owner needs to have the knowledge to maintain this level.

The watchdog

The task of a watchdog is to protect, for example, a fenced property, a warehouse or a production facility.   A watchdog is mainly working alone, and not under direct control of his human leader.

The educational goals range from “announcement” which is barking, to active defense against persons or animals that try to enter the protected territory.

Nearly all breeds and mixes are suitable for a watchdog education, as long as they show the required territorial behaviour.

A thought from the Phuket-Dog-Resort.

Most street dogs show very developed territorial behaviour, and are suspicious of unknown people and events.   They defend their resources(food, accommodation) very strongly.  Because of their socialization within a pack they are easy to educate and learn the needed commands quite fast.   According to our experiences terrier-mix and Thai-ridgeback-mix are very suitable.

So why not a street dog as watchdog!

In case of bigger properties and if an active defense is required, then well-defined breeds like the German Shepherd, Dobermann or Rottweiler have an advantage.

The guarddog

The task of a guard dog is to protect his owner from any use of force.   The requirements for a guard dog are similar to a watchdog, but at a much higher level.

A watchdogs' territory is stationary, but a guard dogs' territory is moving. This is the main difficulty in educating them.

For this education it is essential that the dog follows given commands totally.  If confronted with an external stimuli the dog must react in a competent and calm manner. In order to maintain the education level it is necessary to train regularly. The owner must have the experience and knowledge to train a guard dog.

The education must start as early as possible. The best time to start is as a puppy when it becomes obvious that the dog has, or is developing the necessary nature.

The education uses the inborn behaviour of the dog to seize prey.  The dog is trained to see a protected arm which he will see as prey and has to get. The education is as playful as possible and avoids any unneeded harshness.

Additional education goals are to get over barriers, climb ladders and walk over obstacles.

Also maintrailing elements might be an education goal for a guard dog.

A dog for huntsmen

The task of a hunting dog is to support the huntsman. For different modes of hunting there are different breeds for each one.

A few examples...

The bloodhounds sniff for tracks on the ground to locate shot animals and reports the position of the animal to the huntsman. Bloodhound breeds have “hanging ears” in order to avoid distraction from small stimuli on the ground.

The flushing dog scans a certain area with all his senses for prey. They have a brilliant nose and big, standing, free-moving ears.

Retrieving dogs search for shot game birds and small game and bring it to the huntsman.  He uses techniques similar to the bloodhound and flushing dog and must also be a good swimmer for retrieving game from the water.

For this training the first step is to control the hunting instinct and use it in accordance with the huntsman's needs.  

All these dogs must have a high tolerance for gunshots and loud bangs.

Particular elements of the hunting dog education is dummy-training, searching for objects and people, watching over the prey and in some cases working with a dog dangler;  all this can be done at the Phuket-Dog-Resort. 

The "Circus dog"

Not education in the traditional sense but its a lot of fun:

We can show you how to train your dog to do “circus tricks”, like walking on their hind legs, balancing a treat on their nose, to close the door and similar activities.  

If you have a special trick you would like your dog to learn....let us know!

For this training we use the “clicker” and a method called “shaping” which splits the trick into easy steps and are then joined up.

The training is totally violent free and many dogs follow with great enthusiasm and with the “shaping” method, results are observed very quickly.

For further information:

info@phuket-dog-resort.com

Telephone +66 (0) 835 996 017