A Pet's Ten Commandments

1.  My life is likely to last 10 -15 years.  Any separation from you is likely to   be painful.

2.  Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3.  Place your trust in me.  It is crucial for my well-being.

4.  Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment.  Remember that you have         your work, your friends.  I only have you.

5.  Talk to me.  Even if I don't understand your words, I understand your voice when you speak to me.

6.  Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.

7.  Before you hit me, remember I could hurt you and yet, I choose not to bite you.

8.  Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me.  Perhaps, I'm not getting the right food, I have been in the heat too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9.  Please take care of me when I grow old.  You, too, will grow old.

10. On the ultimate and difficult journey, please go with me. Never say you can't bear to watch.  Don't make me face it alone.  Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so, ALWAYS!

Practice for Real Life

by Ted Terroux

Ted Terroux began handling household, show and obedience trial dogs as a young child and has over 30 years of professional training experience with over 16,000 clients.  He has personally lived with, cared for and trained over 50 dogs of 27 different breeds from all seven AKC breed groups.  He has been featured on Animal Planet, KCNC News 4 and KUSA Petline 9.  Ted is a canine behavior consultant for many Rocky Mountain Region rescue organizations that are dedicated to finding lifetime homes for "second-hand" dogs.  Ted uses comprehensive and gentle training methods. Recently, Ted was kind enough to answer some questions for ShelterKarma.com about his book, Practice for Real Life.

SK:  What made you decide to become a trainer?

TT:  There really wasn't a "choice" in the early going.  My mother was already established as a regionally respected dog behavior expert before I was born.  By the time I was 5 years old, she had gone national.  She used me as a handler for her public training demonstrations at that young age.  I stayed with her as a trainer at her board and train facility until I was 27 at which point I decided that I had enough of the dog business.  I went off doing other things for a couple of years when an acquaintance called and begged me to substitute for another trainer for just a few weeks.  I reluctantly agreed and before I knew it, I was back in the dog training business full time and was really enjoying myself - but I was on my own this time!  That was about 25 years ago.

SK:  What do you believe is the single most important thing for a pet owner to know or understand when it comes to training?

TT:  It's all about leadership.  Firm, but positive and consistent leadership 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Dog owners can dedicate themselves to training their dog 60 minutes a day, but the dog may believe that they have control the other 23 hours.  "Pet me, feed me, let me in, let me out, play with me, throw the ball, we're going this way, get out of my way, wake up!"  Dog owners respond to their dog's commands regularly without a thought and wonder why their dogs don't  listen to them.

SK:  Have you trained any animals other than dogs?

TT:  On a professional level, I've helped dog owners that also have cats with behavior issues - particularly in their relationships with dogs.  Most often it was conditioning the dog and the cat to accept one another and live in harmony.  Sometimes we taught owners how to teach their cats to come when called, sit, down, stay, roll over or fetch.  It's really fun to see cats doing what we are conditioned to seeing dogs doing.  It requires a different approach of course!  On a personal level, I've worked with horses and birds teaching them various practical behaviors and tricks.

SK:  Do you believe a dog can be trained regardless of history or age?

TT:  The old saying that you can't teach an old dog new tricks is a complete fallacy.  There is truth in saying that it's harder to change long established behaviors in an older dog, but it's not nearly as fun to say.  We regularly get dogs that are over 10 years of age in our training and are regularly successful with them.  The hardest behaviors to modify in the older dogs seem to be the more severe cases of thunder fear and separation anxiety.  In some instances, I'd rather tackle an aggression case!

SK:  There seems to be a growing trend in this country to outlaw certain breeds.  What's your opinion?

TT:  Dogs don't need to be regulated - people do.  I do not believe in specific breed regulation, but if I were President of this country, I'd require specific schooling and licensing before people could have dogs or children.  I don't subscribe to the line that some "guard dog" enthusiasts try to feed the public that all dogs are equal.  "Guarding" breeds need a lot more structure than most other breeds and inexperienced or irresponsible people simply shouldn't have them  - period.  (SK wholeheartedly agrees!)

SK:  Does training need to be periodically "renewed?"

TT:  We advise all of our students to incorporate their obedience commands into the dog's daily routine so the training is in a constant state of reinforcement.  "Sit, stay" when visitors come to the door.  "Down, stay" when people are eating.  "Stand, stay" when cleaning the dog's feet, brushing, bathing or nail trimming.  "Come" and "sit" in front every time you call your dog from the yard or another room.  Casual walk and "heel" every time you take the dog for a walk.  Respect for the "Release" command for car doors, crate doors and exterior doorways every time.  Trick commands scattered throughout the day.  If people maintain their dog's training, targeted refresher trraining often isn't as necessary.  We do offer an advanced class where owners can drop in for "refresher" training every now and then so they can polish up on their handling skills and work their dogs in a controlled multiple distraction environment.

SK:  What's your personal zoo like?

TT:  We've trimmed down considerably from where we were five years ago.  It was three Golden Retrievers, a Flatcoat Retriever, a Jack Russell Terrier, a Borzoi, two cats, a blue and gold Macaw, a double yellow-head Amazon, a sulphur crested Cockatoo, a Percheron, a black and white paint, a miniature pony and three llamas.  Then throw on top of that a continuous and ever-changing flow of boarding dogs, cats and birds that came through our very popular 80 run kennel.  We sold that kennel in 2004, built a large training center and are now down to just three dogs!

We try to impress upon every dog owner that we come into contact about four crucial categories that will help insure that a dog will always be a responsible citizen in the home and in the community.

1)  Make sure that your dog is kept in an environment where he isn't going to be influenced by, and allowed to respond to, events that aren't under your control.

2)  Always interact and play with your dog in constructive ways so that he doesn't feel that he is in competition with you or in charge of you.

3)  Address behavior issues 100% of the time that they happen with effective methods that don't cause fear, pain or injury to your dog.

4)  Train your dog to be single command responsive in your daily routine so that when a critical situation arises, your dog will be much more likely to respond to you immediately.

To order Ted's book or for more information, visit www.tedterrouxdogtraining.com

Ted resides in Lakewood, Colorado with his wife Tiffany, who co-authored Practice For Real Life.