Archive for the ‘Look Ma - No collar!’ Category

We hope you enjoy our Sit Means Sit dog trainers at their various National Television appearances. In this video, Alfredo Rivera and “Power Puma” are seen doing the ‘big air’ competition at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge that was seen on ESPN.

Sit Means Sit dog trainers are firm believers in the true test of a dog has to do with how he performs without any training aids at all.

Bobby Pablico, a Sit Means Sit dog trainer is interviewed here after 22 Sit Means Sit clients took the Canine Good Citizen Test or ‘CGC’ as it is commonly referred to as, and had them all pass on their very first try!

Training/Testing: Canine Good Citizen

Watch the event on the Outdoor Channel!

Alfredo Rivera with Puma, Fred Hassen with Rex and Lisa Weber with Tractor….competing at the Stihl Dogs & Logs DockDogs World Championships in Stillwater MN 2009.

Police K-9 Handler Bob Campanile from the Sit Means Sit Ocean County New Jersey dog training location, is seen here at a 2008 USPCA Region 15 PD1 Trial. This is a video from the “Criminal Apprehension” phase of the trial. No training aids of any kind are allowed on the dogs at these trials, and at many other types of dog training competitions of various other disciplines as well. Dogs are living, breathing creatures and do not always listen the first time every time, so having your highest rate of reliability in practice is always best to keep those percentages as high as they can be. There are 3 different phases in this trial, and Bob took 1st place overall at the event.

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Lianne Hassen and ‘Tank’, are seen here taking and passing their very first AKC Hunt Test as a team.
Lianne and ‘Tank’ have already achieved this year’s National Championship in DockDogs in the senior division, and also have 2 perfect scores at the highest level of AKC Rally competitions! We wish them the best in their new venue, and look forward to many more exciting videos!

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Lianne Hassen and ‘Tank’, are seen here in their route to win the 2008 DockDogs National Championship at the Senior Division level. This was the most competitive of all the divisions at the Championships, as there were over 90 dogs competing in this class. Tank won the preliminary qualifying round to get to the final 8, won again at the final 4, and then won the National Championship. Press release on Lianne Hassen’s win.

Lianne Hassen is seen here getting another perfect score at the Rally Excellent level. Both of Lianne’s attempts at her title at this ‘Excellent’ level resulted in 100 perfect scores. Very difficult to achieve, and especially at the highest level. Here is a video clip of her first perfect score as well.

For more exciting info on Lianne Hassen, visit her blog

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Lianne Hassen is seen here during her perfect score in the ‘Excellent B’ division of AKC Rally. The Excellent B division is the highest division of Rally competitions. Lianne also went on to get another perfect score at the excellent level in her other performance for her title. Here is a video of the other perfect score as well.Here are some tidbits of information about Rally.

Excellent Level- this third and highest level of AKC Rally is the most challenging. The exercises here are not patterned, and your dog must know not only how to do a variety of exercises, but in the sequence that is presented on the particular day. Like agility, the handlers can walk the course to familiarize themselves without their dog before competition.
*Exercises are performed off-leash except for the honor exercise.
*There is a requirement of 15-20 stations, with no more than 7 stationary exercises.
*Handlers are only allowed to encourage their dogs verbally. Physical encouragement is not allowed at this level.
*The Excellent-level exercises include backing up three steps, while the dog stays in the heel position and a moving stand, while the handler walks around the dog.

Rally is a sport in which the dog and handler complete a course that has been designed by the rally judge. The judge tells the handler to begin, and the dog and handler proceed at their own pace through a course of designated stations (10 – 20, depending on the level). Each of these stations has a sign providing instructions regarding the next skill that is to be performed.

The team of dog and handler moves continuously at a brisk, but normal, pace with the dog under control at the handler’s left side. There should be a sense of teamwork between the dog and handler both during the numbered exercises and between the exercise signs; however, perfect “heel position” is not required.

After the judge’s “Forward” order, the team is on its own to complete the entire sequence of numbered signs correctly.

Unlimited communication from the handler to the dog is to be encouraged and not penalized. Unless otherwise specified in these Regulations, handlers are permitted to talk, praise, encourage, clap their hands, pat their legs, or use any verbal means of encouragement. Multiple commands and/or signals using one or both arms and hands are allowed; the handler’s arms need not be maintained in any particular position at any time. The handler may not touch the dog or make physical corrections. At any time during the performance, loud or harsh commands or intimidating signals will be penalized.

Rally Signs:

The signs may be any color and they include descriptions as well as directional arrows of exercises. Signs are numbered to make it easy to find the next station when navigating the course.

RALLY SIGNS: All signs are placed to the handler’s right side. The signs are large enough to be easily recognized when going through a course. The exercises designated on the signs will be performed in close proximity to the sign itself, either in front, back of, or beside the sign.

Excellent – this third and highest level of AKC Rally is the most challenging.
*Exercises are performed off-leash except for the honor exercise.
*There is a requirement of 15-20 stations, with no more than 7 stationary exercises.
*Handlers are only allowed to encourage their dogs verbally. Physical encouragement is not allowed at this level.
*The Excellent-level exercises include backing up three steps, while the dog stays in the heel position and a moving stand, while the handler walks around the dog.

A lot of members of the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) are involved in this exciting sport!

Here are some other links to Rally.

American Kennel Club – AKC Rally®
Rally is a sport in which the dog and handler complete a course that has been
designed by the rally judge. Learn more about Rally titles, regulations, …

American Kennel Club – Getting Started in Rally
AKC Rally is the new dog sport that is taking the nation by storm, a successful
stepping stone from the AKC Canine Good Citizen program to the world of …

Rally Regulations
[ pdf ] duct of AKC rally trials and shall apply to all persons. and dogs participating
in them, ….. Rally Excellent (RE) title or any AKC obedience title, …

American Kennel Club – Rally Judges Requirements
Personally owned, trained and titled a dog to an AKC Companion Dog Excellent
title (CDX) and trained and titled a dog to an AKC Rally Excellent title (RE); …

American Kennel Club – AKC Rally® Regulations
AKC Rally® is a sport in which the dog and handler complete a course that has
been designed by the rally judge.

For more info on Lianne Hassen, visit her blog

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Sit Means Sit trainers working above with the NYTF-1 team.

On September 30, 2007 Search One Rescue Team, a volunteer K9 search team in the Dallas area, were called to assist the Ft. Worth Police department in locating a 73 year old man that had walked away from a nursing home. The man had dementia and had lived in the home for a couple of weeks. The nursing home called the police around 11 AM who in turn called upon the services of Search One Rescue Team. Upon arrival Search One deployed several K9 resources including a trailing dog and an air scent dog in the area west of the nursing home. In an attempt to have full coverage around the nursing home, Team Scooby was deployed in a wooded area directly behind the nursing home. The subject was found by K9 Scooby with assistance from his handler Carla Collins and flanker Terri Griffin. The man was found standing around by some brush. He was a bit confused but able to walk out with some minor assistance. When asked if he was surprised by the dog when he was found he said “No, that’s a good dog, a really good dog.”

Carla Collins is the owner of the Sit Means Sit Dallas dog training location, and her search dog Scooby has been trained using the Sit Means Sit dog training method. Carla and Scooby assist with Sit Means Sit basic and search seminars across the country.

December 8 & 9th 2007 – Sit Means Sit Trainers Pass Their FEMA Certification for Urban Search and Rescue

Carla Collins with K9 Scooby (Labrador Retriever), along with Lisa Myers and K9 Sampson (Golden Retriever), passed their FEMA K9 certification test at the Broward County Florida Task Force 2 location on December 8th and 9th. This was a re-certification with Scooby and the first time for Sampson. Lisa Myers, owner of the Sit Means Sit South New Jersey dog training location, has only had Sampson for 9 months, and he had no previous training. The Sit Means Sit dog training system has helped dramatically in getting Sampson trained in a much shorter amount of time, thus having him able to be able to work saving lives much sooner. The certification consists of search 2 separate rubble pile searches that have anywhere from 1-6 victims total on the piles. One pile is full access and can have 0-4 victims, the other has only limited access with at least 1 -4 victims. The dog is required to search this pile independently to find the 1st victim, after that the handler is allowed to access the pile but must stand at the area of the fine and direct the dog to search the rest of the pile. They handler may move to the dog only if it barks at another victim. Distractions such as food, worn clothing and live animals are hidden on the piles as distractions. The dog should not bark at these distractions, but if it does and the handler marks it as a find the team is failed.

Team Scooby and Team Sampson passed by finding all victims in the allotted time with no false alerts. There were a total of 14 teams testing and 13 passed over the weekend. In addition Team Aid’n handled by Denise Corliss and Team Dakota handled by Johnny Lane passed. These two have also used the Sit Means Sit dog training methods in training their disaster K9s.

Whether it’s a dog training collar, equipment, or any dog training aid, Ashton Fitz-Gerald demonstrates that how a dog performs without any equipment on at all is a very true test of dog training skills.

Will my dog listen even if he’s not wearing his collar?

This question is asked to us at Sit Means Sit dog training quite often. In fact, it is asked often enough that we usually do our demonstration for the people both with, and without the Sit Means Sit dog collar on.

Over the years, Sit Means Sit dog training has attracted a number of competitive dog handlers, police dog trainers, and people in the field of Search and Rescue a long with handlers of other dog related activities because of the reliability in dog training that the Sit Means Sit dog training system brings. Sit Means Sit dog training does not in any way recruit competitive dog people, nor is it a requirement in any way for people to compete. However, any one looking for an edge in dog training, whether it be competitive, or to make their pet dog more reliable, and trained in a faster, more efficient manner, these people will inevitably come across the Sit Means Sit dog training system. A lot of dog training systems that are out there, do not attract competitive people at the highest levels, and do not also have successful pet dog business trainers as well, basically because their systems may be limiting in the type of dog, or the training that they do. Sit Means Sit dog training rises to whatever the occasion might be. In many dog trials and tests for dog performances, the handlers are not allowed to use any sort of training aid during the testing of the dog. This is a great policy, and most certainly is a factor in how reliably a dog will listen and perform. It also makes the selection of the right type of dog a big factor in these tests and trials, which will only further dog breeding and dog temperaments. The cream will always rise.

Dog Training Aids

What exactly is a dog training aid?

Many things are used as dog training aids to assist a dog in learning a specific, or many specific types of behaviors. There are common aids such as toys or food, which can assist in the learning, or also referred to as motivators. There are also other sorts of aids such as using a hand placement on the back side to aid or assist a dog into a sit position. Groomers use tables, as do many dog trainers, to aid or assist in keeping the dog stable when grooming. Many dog trainers use a stake tie out, to aid and assist the dog in learning to stay put when teaching a stationary command. We are all familiar with choke chains, prong collars, halti’s and other aids or devices to help in the learning process of many commands. Agility competitors use wires as aids in teaching a dog to go through weave poles. In it’s simplest form, all dog trainers use leashes to aid a dog in learning to a certain degree. A leash is an aid, and for the most part a restrictive device, and is put on a dog to prohibit him from being out of control for the most part. I have personally never seen a person that claims to use nothing but positive methods, be able to take a roomful of random dogs and control them without using aids such as leashes to restrict the dog in some manner. If we just let dogs do whatever they wanted to do, without restrictions, we would not be able to do something as simple as eating our dinner in front of our dog.

On the other hand, when a statement is made such as: Will the dog work without the collar on? People are referring to the dog working without a particular aid, or aids that has been used in training the dog. In this case, they are referring to an electronic dog collar, but we could replace that with ANY aid, or aids that have been used, because they are usually not allowed at most trials and tests for dogs, as it should be. You are not allowed to use a leash in an off-leash trial on the day of the trial, but most people use their leash constantly to build, and maintain building their reliability, up to, and including the day and moment right before the trial. The same with cookies and treats, barriers, your hands or any other sort of aid that is at your fingertips. I can also give numerous examples, where aids are ALLOWED in the training, and it still does not matter because they are still dogs. A lot of trials have ‘on leash’ obedience, where in this instance the handler is actually ALLOWED to bring his aid into the ring, which in this case would be the leash itself. However, we still see most dogs far from performing perfectly even though the leash is on the dog, and they are employing it to a certain degree. We also see many instances of a dog having it’s highest score 2 years into the training, even though the individual may compete the dog for 5, 6, 7 years or more! The dog obviously has more training the more time that he has into it, but things don’t always go as planned because of a variety of factors, one of which is the fact that they are living, breathing creatures that things constantly change with, and that is the main reason why aids are used so much in training, on a continual basis, and rightly so. Here is a video of Lianne Hassen of Sit Means Sit dog training getting a perfect score in an advanced obedience competition, placing in a Police dog championship, and winning a National Championship in a sport where a dog has to be free from worry to compete, or even a World Championship.

Obviously, from an emotional standpoint, people do have a tendency to look at a remote dog training e collar as some sort of different aid because of their lack of understanding, and lack of education on our training process, and of the tool itself. This is very normal and to be expected. When you look at the fact that very few professional dog trainers are familiar with successful remote dog training in general, it is not unusual that the average layman would not have much knowledge either, and we thoroughly understand our position as an educational source in the scheme of things, and we understand that we need to educate people by showing them. Talk is cheap, we show you.

In the above video, Ashton Fitz-Gerald from our Las Vegas dog training office is seen doing a demonstration and he has just been asked to take his collar off for the demonstration. I’m sure trainers are also asked to put the cookies away, and the leash away and whatever else the aid might be. We all strive to have the dogs the best they can be with or without training aids, and we are very strong believers in that our dog training collar is the best training aid available to have the dog the most reliable, and in the shortest amount of time, with or without any aid available in the end.

Here is a police dog training video also showing a demonstration involving search and bitework with a Police K-9 dog working with and without collar on.

The well known Canine Good Citizen test, or “CGC” as it is commonly referred to as, is another well known recognizable test in which no training aids other than a leash are allowed.

This is Toni Drugmand and “Stuff” from our Sit Means Sit Phoenix Arizona dog training location. “Stuff” started with his Sit Means Sit training from about 9 weeks of age, and is just a quick little attentive dog with a boatload of personality. Sit Means Sit dog training proves time and time again about their dogs reliability by having a number of people that are competitive dog trainers, and during competititions, no equipment at all is allowed to be worn at the trial, as it should be. “Stuff” and Toni took first place in this competition. Live in Phoenix Arizona and want to have your dog off-leash reliable and a lot more freedom? Give Toni Drugmand a call!

Maddy the Pit Bull Wins Awards for Obedience, Protection Skills

By John Przybys, Review-Journal

Maddy doesn’t look like a pit bull — at least not if your idea of a pit bull is that of a muscular, snarling, teeth-baring canine. Make no mistake. When Fred Hassen, Maddy’s owner, tells her to attack an accomplice wearing a padded sleeve on his arm, Maddy will chomp down and hang on for dear life until Hassen tells her to release. But, other than that, and most of the time, Maddy is a friendly, tail-wagging charmer and just about as normal a dog as you’d ever meet.

The two sides of Maddy’s personality may be best illustrated by the awards she won October 3 during the National Association of Protection Dogs National Championship in Rio Vista, California. Maddy, according to proud owner Hassen, took first-place awards in both obedience and protection. And, in doing so, Maddy is a fur-covered advertisement for Sit Means Sit, Hassen’s dog-training business, and, Hassen says, proof that any dog can be trained with patience and proper technique.

Hassen — who also co-hosts a talk show about dogs and dog training at 11:30 a.m. Fridays on KLAV-AM 1230 — and Maddy, a three and a half-year-old American Pit Bull Terrier, have been a team since Maddy was about six weeks old.

Hassen, who was training dogs then, too, says he "saw some local people’s dogs that have done pretty well in competitions, and I just kind of thought, comparing my dog to their dogs, that [Maddy] could do better than this."

Maddy competed in her first event at the age of 11 months. Hassen says she has won awards in several obedience and protection trials since then, but this month’s win was her charter national first-place finish.

Sonny Henegar, president of the National Association of Protection Dogs, says the group was created about five years ago. One goal was to create a standard of performance for personal protection dogs, he says, and the other was to educate the public about protection dogs.

During competitions, dog owners put their dogs through events designed to simulate possible real-life scenarios, Henegar says, adding that "we believe in courage and control equally. So, you don’t have just a bunch of maniac, biting dogs out there."

In fact, he notes, dogs must perform well in obedience trials before being permitted to participate in protection trials. For the obedience part of her trial, Maddy and other dogs were judged on their ability to follow a series of commands in sequence as they and their owners walked a specified course, Hassen explains.

"This isn’t something you can prepare for," he adds. "The way it works is, you don’t know what they’re going to make you do until the day of the trial."

He demonstrates by putting Maddy through a series of about a half-dozen commands, walking a circuitous route with Maddy at heel, sitting, waiting while he walks away and then coming to him when he calls her.

Henegar says the dogs also have to deal with obstacles and distractions placed along the course. "There’ll be guys in `bite suits’ kicking footballs, and … we’ve pulled stuffed animal cats in front of dogs, and we’ve had gunshots go off as you walk the dog, simulating the backfire of cars. We have a lot of stuff going on because we try to be realistic."

For the protection trials, dogs are required to cope with a number of real-life scenarios. They’ll be judged on their ability to attack a mock assailant on command, refrain from attacking a mock assailant, and even start to attack a mock assailant and cancel the attack in midstride.

Hassen and Maddy demonstrate this, too. As Hassen’s associate stands about 30 feet away, his arm covered in heavy padding, Hassen orders Maddy to attack. Maddy streaks toward the padded arm, jumps, grabs hold and hangs on, even while being swung around in the air. Hassen counts down from five, tells Maddy to release, and the dog lets go and returns obediently to Hassen.

Hassen again sends Maddy to attack, but calls her off about 20 feet into Maddy’s sprint. Although Maddy’s momentum carries her past her mock target, she doesn’t chomp down on his arm, but returns to Hassen.

Henegar says the concept is that a protection dog must be trained not only to attack, but to not attack, too. "Once you teach a dog how to bite, you have to take responsibility to teach him control," he says.

Hassen is, of course, proud of Maddy’s award-winning performances. At about 57 pounds, Maddy "was one of the smaller dogs there," he says. " A lot of the dogs competing were German shepherds and Rottweilers, and she was the only one to knock the decoy (a man wearing a full set of pads) over."

When she’s not working, Maddy is a friendly ball of fur. Even after she’s been put through her paces, still catching her breath and waiting for the adrenalin rush to subside, she’ll calmly cradle a stranger’s bare hand in her mouth on Hassen’s command. When she’s not obeying Hassen’s commands, Maddy is just another frisky, inquisitive canine. " You’ll see a lot of people think these dogs are robots or whatever," Hassen says. " But as soon as I give her the `release’ command, see how she turns into a regular dog?"

Maddy also is evidence of Hassen’s belief that dog training is as much about training a human owner as it is training a dog.

"If I were to take this dog, as well-trained as she is, and give her to somebody who doesn’t know what to do, they’d untrain her," he says. Hassen says he tells his clients that, even though Maddy probably is more highly trained than their dogs, they, too, should expect their dogs to sit, heel, stay and perform basic commands, regardless of distractions around them.

"The most important command for a dog is for the dog to come to [the owner]," Hassen says. "You can tell how well-trained a dog is by the dog’s reliability off-leash and under distraction."

Dog training isn’t a one-time endeavor, but an ongoing process, Hassen adds. " You’ve got to stay on top of it."  Hassen says some people might be surprised that Maddy — a member of a breed often thought of in starkly negative stereotypes — is so friendly, so obedient and so well-trained. In fact, he says, "I train everything, but I get a lot of pit bull clients."

But if you need further evidence of Maddy’s character, consider that Maddy even is trained to pick up trash in the park.

"A lot of people have trouble getting a dog to just get a ball when [the dog] feels like it," Hassen says. "So what I’m trying to show here is that a dog can pick up anything you tell it to and come on command."

Maddy, still panting from her workout, just offers a slightly slobbery smile in what could be agreement.

Training a Pitbull: Maddy" the pit bull picks up all of the trash in the park and throws it away! A true public service pit bull!

Fred Hassen, CEO/Owner/Founder of Sit Means Sit Dog Training, is seen here with his dog Maddy the Amazing Pitbull. Well, the news story pretty much tells it all!