When I was a kid growing up in a farming region in Northern California, there were very few kids my age to play with just two within a few miles. My more reliable and ever-present playmates were my familys dogs and what a lot of dogs we had! We had five females deliver at least one litter of puppies (and a couple of them had more than one litter) when I was between the ages of five and 14. Its embarrassing to admit now, but in those days it was highly uncommon to own a spayed or neutered canine. And my parents, bless them, knew practically nothing about responsible pet ownership other than keeping animals well fed.
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For a dog-loving child, though, it was heaven. It was only occasionally sad when we found homes for my favorites; we were always on the lookout for friends or relatives who wanted a puppy, and somehow always managed to find homes for all the accidental mixed-breed pups. But even with the puppies coming and going, I always had a built-in pack of friends, confidants, co-conspirators, and followers. The pack would greet me when I got off the school bus, and I spent just about every minute with the dogs until I went to bed each night.
As the youngest child, I loved bossing the dogs around (since I couldnt boss anyone else), but, knowing next to nothing about training, and lacking leashes and collars, all my dog training was based on the dogs utter complicity. If they didnt want to do what I wanted them to do, they left. If I wanted their company and I did! I had to hold their interest. I did that with play and exploring. I was forever making up games to play with the dogs, wandering with them through our neighbors orchards or up and down the bed of the creek that flowed by our house, swimming with them in the creek, crawling under the blackberry bushes with them to try to collect eggs from our free-range (read, escaped) chickens, and so on.
My family regarded me as the designated animal trainer. But the fact is, I totally took it for granted that my pack of friends would always come when I called them, and mostly behaved as I told them to. Looking back, I see now that its not that I had a special gift for training; it was the bonding that we did while hanging out for hours and hours each day that made our dogs enjoy my company and offer me their genial compliance.
We have three articles in this issue that discuss how spending more fun time with your dog can improve both his training and the bond between you. Its something I know to be true from the bottom of my heart.
-Nancy Kerns
