Lately I have been wondering if I could perhaps find a job here with my working dog as my colleague and partner. So I applied for a position as a dog handler, but got the answer back that my dog needed to have passed the socialization test in a dog school that was officially FCI recognized before I could continue the selection procedure.
There was not much time left and it was in fact almost too late, but in another province town, close to Brussels, I found a school that still had one seat available for the socialization test during their large-scale exams event. Without being a member of an FCI club I would not have been allowed to participate in this socialization test. So I quickly made myself member of a dog school in the province of Antwerp - where in the recent past I found some like minded people who train exclusively force free and who keep me on the right track <3
The day of the testing, my Ziva passed each element flawless , without any problems . The judge said she was behaving well, 'very well even' he added. Funny detail: while waiting for our turn I asked Ziva to heel next to me, which suddenly caused her circling backwards around me for several rounds :-p And if some people were at first laughing a bit because of my answer when asked what I was training Ziva in (heelwork to music) I am sure they had changed their mind once the testing was over. Some guy noticed afterwards that my dog was in fact 'sharp as a knife'. but I just replied I knew very well and that I thought that seen this , we had done very well.
Regardless of the outcome of applying for a job as a dog handler, whenever I think about this day it will put a huge smile on my face :-))) Because the majority of dog handlers here will still claim it's impossible to train a Belgian malinois with this kind of pedigree force free, but I at least gave them a sample of what the result could look like hehe. In short: we kicked some ass that day haha.
Edited by - Quincy on 08/22/2025 03:34:12
That's awesome. I'm a positive reinforcement guy too. Just the other day at the pet food store, a spastic younger dog got in line behind us and I quickly asked my boy to sit. He sat quietly ignoring the other dog and I rewarded him for complying. The cashier complimented us, "It's nice to see a reactive dog given something else to do. Nice job." I still smile about this because Reggie is/was a very reactive dog when I got him back in January 2020 and we've put in a lot of work changing that.
Congratulations on passing the test. My boy still has work to do and will likely not ever be that social (he ignores most people, too busy sniffing and being a dog to be bothered lol).
Congrats on that success, Anja! Glad your doggie behaved so well.
I have a Chihuahua...well I have two, but one in particular really acts like a wild maniac pitbull killer...lol...and I don't think we can change him...he's probably a hundred years old in dog life...so...lol...the other one just has a nicer disposition...I'm no disciplinarian, not by nature...fortunately my one and only child just had a nice disposition and one of our dogs does. Outside of that...it can get very wild...lol. But I sure do admire dog trainers and I hope you can get some employment in that field.
@chickenman: I"m sure you did a more than just great job with Reggie. I know what it takes to recondition severe reactivity. You need to have great nerves when you start training, especially to withstand all of the judgement of people that just don't know you or the dog. I must say the judges here respect the breed and origin of the dog during testing.
@Peggy : laughing here, there is no breed that can compete with chihuahua's when it comes to attitude. I just recently watched a couple of John Devaney videos again, the way he depicts them is hilarious hahaha. My aunt has this cute chihuahua, but whatever I try, he one day made up his mind regarding me and I still cannot just pass him from a reasonable distance (carefully watching not to look in his eyes or do anything wrong in his eyes) without getting some mean growling. He is friendly to others but I'm his big NO! NO! and NEVER! My aunt finds it so bad because I am so fond of dogs and most dogs immediately like me, but that little guy stays determined hehe. It's kind of cute in a strange way :-p
Edited by - Quincy on 08/24/2025 03:10:57
Lol. Yeah it's cute when a little dog is nuts...lol. But it'd be nice if some of them would just act nicer once in a while...lol.
I feel you could win that Chihuahua over by having some tiny treats in your pocket and randomly tossing one in its direction when you visit. You know, make the dog associate something positive with your presence.
Better a chihuahua that hates you than a German shepherd!
I agree with the treats thing…while I was leash-training my dog*,every dog in the neighborhood became extremely friendly because they knew I had cheese tidbits in my pocket. Lola (the poodle down the street) would come up to me and execute a perfect Sit while gazing into my eyes…who can resist, right? :-D
*German shepherd/husky mix…boy, did he pull me around at first! I am no dog trainer like you, Anja!
It has to do something with the smell of Ziva, the day I showed up at my aunt's place with fresh clothes straight from the shower without contact with Ziva before, George was calm and easy and open for some cuddles. Now my mother is taking care of him for a short while, I am not allowed to do anything. He doesn't want me to enter, he doesn't want me to speak, he doesn't want me to move , he cannot be bribed with treats , nothing works : he is very firm about it . Satan's dog hahaha.
Is he at you mother's home? That could be an issue, out of his usual domain. Could also have to do with how he perceives his"new" relationship with you mother, who is not his primary caregiver. I think I'd wait until your aunt is back and try again rather than try to read his mind.
Oh, just thought of something. Perhaps George doesn't view those treats as delicious. Try a higher value treat... raw salmon, smelly cheese, lamb, maybe sometime sweet. Dogs have different tastes, just like people.
Yes , George is at my parents' place now. You probably have better insight than I do Billy... I have only used his own treats there and they are not very smelly or very soft. I'll leave the situation for now, when I will visit my aunt I will try 'ripe dog saucage' ( yummy :-p). It's quite a problem since I visit my parents almost daily, we live very close to eachother- just three town streets in between us. My mother put him in her own dog's bench in the bedroom while I was there and there he seemed to feel safe, no more barking. But it's kind of sad that he is isolated then, he actually does not know the bench at his own place.
George is very special, he belonged also to my beloved uncle and my mother's youngest brother, who passed away way too soon last year and was crazy about this dog. I'm not the only family member he behaves like this with, also my other uncle (who has a rottweiler) he does not like at all.
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