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Since moving to Montana in 1985, Sam has been heavily involved in Schutzhund, competing in the early years with an Aussie Maggie SchH1, then with several German shepherds (including Hawkeye SchH3 and Saga SchH2) and most recently, a Malinois Lexi and German shepherd-in-training Dax. On a fateful January in 2005, she entered her first Agility trial with an awesome Aussie named Cosmic Corbie. Sam teaches classes in agility, competition obedience/rally, and occasionally puppy kindergarten and puppy preschool. Besides offering dog training classes in Bozeman, Sam's business K9FUNdamentals sells "toys and essentials for performance dogs" including tug toys and other motivational toys for drive building, collars and leashes, etc., both online and at agility trials around the northwest. Sam homeschools with her 15 year old son, raises Jacob sheep, tries to make time for her horses and riding and dreams about gardening. In her spare time, she writes and blogs, enjoys graphic design and webdesign (Lodestar Graphics), and most recently learned Joomla so she could build this new interactive Big Sky Schutzhund Club website. She is currently designing tee shirts with agility, Schutzhund and other working dog themes.
I have been involved with dog training since the late 1970s. My first dog was Logan of Cheshire — an awesome Aussie who taught me a tremendous amount about dog behaviour and training. I wish I could have Logan over again, knowing what I know now.
When Logan was a pup he went everywhere with me. I was a student at UC Davis and he accompanied me to class where he learned to lie quietly by my backpack and coat while I moved about the classroom or lab. He was a natural guard dog, on alert until I said "hi" — then he'd relax. When I started work in an automotive repair shop, Logan came to work with me. He was a smart dog, and quickly learned how to deliver parts to the mechanics by name ("take this to Jimmie"), help push in disabled cars, close doors that had been left open, bring shop rags to the mechanics on command and recycle beer cans into the trash can. The reward for all of these tricks was the chance to play tug with a piece of heater hose. Logan introduced me to the world of competition obedience and Schutzhund. In those days, the general philosophy of training was "don't let your dog get away with anything." So while Logan learned scores of behaviours for a chance to play a game of retrieve or tug, it didn't occur to me that I could use these same games to motivate him in obedience. Instead, I used the traditional methods of praise and collar corrections to teach and reward. After all, obedience is serious stuff! Fortunately, I was able to attend several Glenn Johnson (author of Tracking Dog: Theory and Methods) seminars. He was a pioneer in inducive training methods. If the dog understands "what's in it for him" (in Logan's case, the chance to play) he can be induced or motivated to learn complex behaviours, rather than being forced or compelled to perform them. As Logan was entering old age, I got another Aussie pup, Maggie. I was determined to train Maggie with all inducive methods. But somewhere along the line, I confused inducive with permissive. Maggie grew up wild! When she was a little over a year old and I finally had to gain some control, she was shocked and offended that I would treat her like a dog! We worked through that, however, and she became an excellent obedience dog. Unfortunately, she was severely injured in an accident, and her show career ended. During this time I started a German shepherd puppy, Hawkeye. I was determined to not make any mistakes this time (!) and started Hawkeye with a balance of motivation and control. He blossomed and was an outstanding obedience dog.
Over the years I have titled a number of dogs to ASCA and AKC obedience and tracking titles, ASCA herding titles and UScA Schutzhund titles. Not the most competitive person in the world, I have also raised and trained many more dogs who were never titled, but taught me a great deal about training and behaviour. I've often learned the most from the difficult dogs MembershipsI am a proud member of: |
Sam has been a student of dog behaviour all her life. Sam (& husband Warren) were introduced to dog training, Search & Rescue and Schutzhund in the early 1980s by mentor Bill Dotson. Sam and her first Aussie Logan were members of California Rescue Dog Association (CARDA), the Davis Dog Training Club (where they competed in obedience and tracking), and the Northern California Australian Shepherd Club where they showed in conformation and herding.
Domino
