Introduction

I was sitting on a bench in a picturesque park in a suburb of Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, Australia. The time was 6am and it was a magnificent spring morning in 1990.

A handful of energetic people were jogging or walking around the park and 2 men were spending time with their dogs in an area closer to a busy nearby road, the other 3 sides of the park were surrounded by a national forest.

Definitely a day to reflect the pleasures of being alive. The sky a clear soft blue and the grass deep green in appreciation of recent rain, with birds flitting through the area obviously enjoying life to the fullest.

Having a close interest in dogs my attention turned to the 2 gentleman spending time on this wonderful morning with their canine companions. They were both about the forty year mark and one had a Golden Retriever male the other a German Shepherd bitch. The dogs a picture of perfect health and both were clearly dearly loved.

Both gentleman were involved in training their dogs in basic obedience exercises and they were strangers to each other. I watched the owner of the Goldie going through his paces first, the owner had his dog off lead and was continually rewarding his dog with food and profuse verbal and physical praise. The dogs attention was focused on the mans hand and its smiling face and perpetually wagging tail exhibited a dog loving every minute of its training.

From time to time the owner lost the dogs attention as it stopped to discern distractions such as a back firing vehicle, a dog barking across the road and to sniff the odd interesting odour arising from the grass. The owner would call his dog a few times and although it was slow to return, the owner gave freely of praise and bits of food. Yes, very much a picture of a man and his dog in love with each other.

My attention turned to the 2nd man with the German Shepherd. This fellow was busy involving himself in his training program however, his method was very different.

The 2nd man and his dog were locked in deep concentration as they went through a variety of changes of pace and turns, sudden halts with the dog sliding to a sit, or almost throwing itself on the grass into the drop position. The dogs face was a picture of concentration, as hard as the man tried to trick the dog into overshooting on sudden halts whilst running at a fast jog, or making sudden turns the dog was always there as if glued to the mans left leg even though the lead was very loose.

After about 5 minutes this man removed the lead and check chain placing them on my park bench beside his morning newspaper. He then continued as before with the dog concentrating intently on the owners commands and accepting light warm praise. I noted with particular interest that the man did not use food as a reward.

A few minutes later the Goldie broke away from its owner and raced across the distance between the 2 men to challenge the German Shepherd with its owner running in pursuit unsuccessfully calling the dog back. The Goldie, totally ignoring its owner confronted the bitch with the usual body language exhibiting aggression. The 2nd man alerted by the 1st man’s loud requests to his dog saw the Goldie’s intentions and moved swiftly and confidently between the 2 dogs at the same time giving his dog a stay hand signal locking it in its present position of sit.

The German Shepherd quietly watched the Goldie reflecting the quiet confidence of its owner. The action on the part of the 2nd man delayed the Goldie’s intentions long enough for its owner to arrive and take control of his dog.

The 1st man, clearly a pleasant person, apologised and began conversation with the 2nd man. The 1st fellow centred his conversation around his training methods suggesting the 2nd man should use these methods on his dog. The focus of my training I overheard him saying, was that the dog must enjoy its training, he never used forceful corrections and always praised with food because it was the ultimate reward for the dog. He stated that he rarely used a check chain or lead when training and was very impressed with the results, proudly adding that he had already achieved a CD obedience title with his dog and was now preparing it for its CDX title.

Both men parted company on pleasant terms with the 2nd man thanking him for his advice adding that he was happy with his own methods.

The 1st man went off to throw a frisbee for his Goldie while the 2nd man placed his dog in a sit stay with its back towards the road, and its owner sat down on my bench some 50 paces away from his dog and commenced reading his newspaper.

About 5 minutes later a small cross bred came belting towards us from the back of the park hotly pursued by 2 large nondescript breeds intent on annihilating the little one. These dogs raced past us between the Goldie and the German Shepherd towards the road. The German Shepherd remained locked in position regarding the affair with mild interest, meanwhile the Goldie joined the chase followed by its owner calling him to come back.

When the pack reached the road the small dog shot through the traffic to the safety of the other side as did the other two. However a screeching of brakes and a sickening thud left the Goldie laying in a heap on the road.

The Goldie’s owner ran to his dog carrying it back to the park where I rushed to assist along with the 2nd man. The dog was obviously near death and its owner was so distraught he asked me to drive him and his dog to the nearest Vet clinic.

The 2nd man now returned to his dog breaking it out of its sit stay position placing it in his car and followed us to the surgery. Unfortunately the dog died within minutes and I drove the owner home, needless to say he was torn apart with grief at the tragic loss of his dearly loved companion.

The 2nd man and I returned to the park where we shared an ice cream with his dog and discussed the incident. He expressed frustration at the fact that had the dog been trained to be obedient instead of the owner “playing at training,” it would not have died a painful and unnecessary death.

My name is Ross Davidson, former Quarantine dog handler. This story is true, and the 2nd man in the park was the author – Ross Allan.

Inspector Ross Davidson,
National Training Development Officer,
Australian Protection Services.
www.corporatetrainingcompany.com.au