As I continued to train with the dog, I had several police departments and “master trainers” come to look at it. They were in the market for a dual purpose German Shepherd and wanted to come by and see this one work. So, time after time, I had departments sending people by to watch the dog work. All of them were impressed with what the saw. However, no one was interested in the purchase. The dialogue usually went something like this: “Man that’s a really nice dog, so how old is he?” My reply was always the same “Well, SHE is about 18 months old.” Apparently the name Kira wasn’t feminine enough to clue these guys in. Or apparently they were dazzled by her work ethic and athleticism so much that they didn’t take the time to notice the undercarriage.

Once the cat was out of the bag about her gender, none of these guys were interested in working with her or giving her a second thought. I even had one handler, who stated that he had years of prior experience handling a dual purpose dog, that said “I can’t work with a B!%*h dog”. So I politely walked them back to their patrol cars and haven’t heard from any of them since.

About a month later and officer called and stated that he was in the market for a dual purpose police dog. He stated that he saw some dogs on our website that he wanted to look at. One of the dogs that we spoke about was in fact Kira. Well, I had been through the drill before and explained to him up front that Kira was a female. The last thing that I wanted was for him to drive 600 plus miles to look at her and later find out that he was a she. He stated that he had not preference as to the gender of the dog and that all that he was concerned with was whether or not the dog would work.

Well, it has been a little less than three months since the handler and Kira completed their training here at Highland Canine Training. The handler called me today to tell me that Kira “did it again” last night. He was referring to a successful track of two suspects in several car break-ins. It appears that Kira tracked the individuals for about ¼ mile and ended up at a house where she alerted to a door. After speaking with the occupants of the house, one of the suspects was found hiding in a closet and another was arrested from the home as well. All of the items that they had taken were recovered and at least four car break-ins were cleared. Great Job Kira! This adds to the other 10 successful tracks that Kira and her handler have completed along with the more than fifty…that’s right 50, felony arrests that this team has had in this short period of time.

I have seen plenty of successful police dog teams over the years. Some of the K9 counterparts were male and some were female. If you have a good quality dog, gender doesn’t matter. So the next time you find yourself in the market for a working dog, take a few minutes to look at the girls that may be available.
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The first step is to decide which area of dog training is most interesting for you; is simply pet dog training (basic obedience and advanced obedience), behavior modification, agility, rally sports, herding, puppy training, therapy dog training, working dogs (police, detection, protection, Search and Rescue). The second area you should work on is deciding how you want to work your schedule or run your business. If you are the person who wants a little more freedom, then private lessons and group classes would be the area to focus on. However if you want the consistency of an everyday schedule, in-kennel training may be a better choice for you as a dog trainer.

Next you should narrow down a few schools that interest you, and go personally visit the site. You can get more out of personal visit than a telephone call; meeting the people you would be working and learning from can help you decide if you are a good fit for that particular school or environment. After a quick visit you can decide how much time you want to put into your career. For example, you could choose a 6 week program or tough it out and sign up for the 12 week program (which will allow you more experience by putting your hands on different breeds of dogs with different behaviors).

At Highland Canine Training we offer teaching for all the above areas of dog training. Students are able to combine classes and learn as much about as many areas of dog training as they can obsorb. Students who are just starting out,often sign up for obedience courses, but are also interested in protection courses; as a student you are able to take the both courses parallel for the length of time you wish to attend (6-12 weeks). Highland Canine also offers custom classes to fit your lifestyle. Many of our students also work full or part-time, have families, layed-off, or simply live out of state; we are able accomadate their schedules to help them earn the certification they are striving for!

Many students ask how they can gain experience after their school is finished and they are building their book of business? The answer is simple, pro-bono work with local shelter and rescue groups is the easiest way to gain experience and give back to your communities and the animals. Now more than ever, family pets are suffering because; people are surrendering their family pets at rescue groups or pounds because they are moving (leaving animals behind), have no time for the dog, or simply don’t like the dogs and will not take the time to place them in a proper home or work on fixing behaivor issues. Rescue groups will return the favor and referr business to you so everyone wins!

Finally, many people want to become dog trainer’s so they don’t have to work with people. That is not the case, the wonderful dogs usually belong to people and you must be able to communicate effectively with the owners to first off, diagnose the problem (if any), then teach dog owner’s how to work with their dogs! At Highland Canine Training we involve our students in the initial drop off of client dogs, what questions to ask the oweners, how to perform at both private lessons and group class settings, and how to teach the pet owner’s to work with their dogs and complete the “Go Home.”

If you think becoming a dog trainer may be in your near future, please give us a call or better yet stop by for a visit ,and we would be happy to introduce you to the wonderful world of dogs!

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Here is a break down of the communites that have benefited from the Paul LeBlanc Memorial Working Dog Donation Program:

2006- Canine “Jake” Alexander County, NC

2007_Canine “Star” Vail, Colorado

2008-Canine “Hawk” Thomasville, NC

2008-Canine “Wiley” Desoto County, Mississippi

2009-Canine “Jerry Lee” Marietta, Georgia

Many thanks to the departments and individuals that make this program possible!

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However, it’s best to start at an early age if at all possible but if you decide to adopt or rescue and older dog, you can teach an old dog new tricks!  Let me give you a few examples of some experiences we have have personally encountered that has had a happy ending! I recieved a phone call from a client in Huntersville, NC who had explained to me that his dog was agressive and growled at any dog and most new people.  It was to the point where the owners were very paranoid to have take the dog out in public and mostly hid him from the outside world.  The straw that broke the camels back was that he had Max out in the yard on leash, but Max had gotten away from him by accident and ran over to a neighbors house and “loaded up” on the neighbor barking and growling…very scary for this dog owner.

After speaking with Max’s owner, we decided that our in-kennel training, or Boot Camp would be the best program for Max.  This would give us 6 weeks of diagnosing and rehabilitation with Max.  The day Max dropped off at our facility we didn’t quite know why Max was growling at anyone that made eye contact with him, he also growled at our 12 year old German Shepherd, Cyrus that wouldn’t harm a mouse! Max’s owners were very helpful and honest, which is huge in helping us understand what’s going on with their dog.  The owner’s admitted that Max was not socialized very well as a puppy and as his behaviors grew more cumbersome they began hiding him from the outside world, which is a typical method in these situations, since liability is a big factor in today’s society.

The first week with Max was very difficult for both the dog and our trainers, Max was terrified of everything and everyone.  His aggression grew worse as we were slowly putting more pressure on him to interact with us.  We actually had to feed him the first few days with a bite sleeve for our protection.  Slowly Max began to come around and trust us, everyday he got better it was even emotional for our trainers to see him actually start enjoying life again and trusting his surroundings!

By the time Max was ready to go home, he was interacting with strangers and new dogs, was he a social butterfly yet?  No, but the foundation was laid for his family to continue working with him and for Max to get better everyday.  Max is very fortunate to have such dedicated parents, after we gave them advice and steered them in the right direction for his continued success with rehabiliation, we recieve emails that Max is still improving! In fact the last email I recieved from his owners, was that they had began taking Max to a dog park and cutting him off leash with other dogs and people with no incident!  We are very proud of Max and his owners!

With that said, professional intervention with puppies may also be helpful for socialization issues.  We recently had a 4 month old puppy named Ginger that was highly food aggressive, and had no manners when it came to meeting new dogs at such a young age. Ginger’s owner also saw this to be a little too much and brought her to our in-kennel training program for obedience, socialization, and behavior modification.  Ginger would bark and growl at new dogs she met no matter how big or small they were, we worried about the safety of Ginger just as much as the safety  of other dogs that encountered her!

Our trainer Bobbie, worked with Ginger very consistently and by the end of her training session had Ginger learning to greet and play with new dogs of all shapes and sizes!  It’s crucial to understand how much to expose  a dog that has not been socialized properly, for what ever reason, and not shut them down.  Ginger is a very sweet puppy and will be a nice dog as long as the owner continues to expose her to new things and has a structured lifestyle!

Highland Canine Training offers several different dog training programs to help out with any issues you may be experiencing with your dog.  Our pograms include; inkennel training, private lessons, in-home training, group classes, and custom training.  Please contact one our trainers to see which program best fits the needs of you, your family, and of course your dog!

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