If you've got an Aussie, you will soon find out that training is a big MUST! Aussies do not like having nothing to do. Below you will find articles as well as links on how to become the best darn dog trainer you can be! Coming to this site also lets me do something else to you. Sway you to the power of positive obedience! I can almost hear the "Force" of positive obedience trainers whispering, "Hey yooooooou, join the Positive side!!!" What? Oh, that's just the Star Wars promo on tv. . .

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Articles and Insight

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Important message to beginners

Okay, while this site is geared toward experienced Aussie owners as well as beginners, I want to send a message to you beginners. If you are like me, your dad's childhood dog ran loose in the neighborhood, had his "unsquelched personality," and then got hit by a car. Call me crazy, but I've got a hunch that those three things are related. So my point is this:

1) Fence your dog! I get a million e-mails a year asking me what owners can do with an Aussie that tries to bite car tires as they roll out of the driveway, or how to stop them from nipping and scaring the UPS man. Easy! Get a fence! If you can't do that, neighborhood zoning, etc, then at least get a radio collar, which sets up a border around your house and if the dog gets too close, it gets shocked. Don't like the shocking? Then get a fence. Don't have enough money for a fence? You shouldn't have gotten a dog!

2) Training will not make your dog into a "robot" any more than sending your kid to a private school will make your kid the next Stephen Hawking. It takes work to make a dog look like a robot in the ring, you should meet the dogs outside the ring, I bet they are just like your dog, but the difference is, they come when you call. Even so, I don't like robot dogs any more than I like push-button dogs in the conformation ring.

3)Fence your dog in! Okay, maybe I'm repeating myself, but I mean it. Unless you are lucky enough to live up in the hills on 300 acres, you need a fence.

Keep the Faith!

All right, I admit it. . . I've never titled one of my own dogs in AKC or ASCA.  BUT (that's a huge but, isn't it?) trained others to train their dogs and they HAVE gotten their CDs. Why, you ask? Well, number one, I'm a much better philosopher than I am a physicist. For instance, my dog jumps up. I know,  I know, bad habit, but I also know how to stop it. The thing is a) I'm lazy and b) I don't mind it. And, number two, I haven't kept the faith. If you really want a nice, competitive dog, you don't skip the steps. You go from a to b, and you go slowly. Its a lot harder to correct bad habits than to not allow them to form. So, if you want a nice house pet that comes when it calls, sits, etc, but you aren't counting on it for a title, then don't worry, most Aussies get these commands in a matter of a few sessions. BUT, if you are on your way to a competitive career, learn from my mistakes and be persistent. Your Aussie isn't dumb, he or she will get it soon enough!

Positive methods

Okay, I said it before, but what is this positive obedience stuff, and why are you so keen on it? Like many of you, I started out on the standard choke chain. I jerked and pulled my dog as instructed, and by-golly, he learned it. But you know what? My dog hated it! I'd take out the leash and he'd wag. . ."Walk??" and then I'd pick up the collar, and the familiar jingling sound would send him running. No matter what I did, Dusty hid at the sound of that collar. I also knew that that collar would not get me anywhere.

Dusty went downhill, and per one of my many instructor's request, I bought a prong collar. I've come to believer these are like antibiotics, they get prescribed far too many times than they should. I know that this was the case for me. I'm about to admit something to you, the reader. And I do it because I know some of you are in the same boat. I am a very pushy person, and when I get my hands on a choke collar, if my dog doesn't get it, my natural inclination is to jerk. I've since learned that this is bad enough, but soon your dog gets accustumed to it, so you jerk harder. When I got that prong collar on Dusty, the second he did something wrong, I'd jerked too hard. Dusty yelped, and I decided that I could not do this to him.

I went in search of something better, and for  a time, play training seemed nice, but Dusty didn't respond well to it. And then I met a man named Mike in an AOL Pet Care forum chat room. He told me about Patty Ruzzo and her wonderful methods, he was so kind that he sent me some seminar tapes for free, on the grounds that I would spread the word. Thank you Mike, should you ever read this, and Patty, in the off chance that you stumble onto this, this page is my tribute to you and your work.

Anyway, obviously, I found that something better in Patty's methods. I was lucky enough to attend a seminar with her in it, as well as Leslie Nielsen, who did a speech on positive class teaching, and Ted Turner, who did basic behavioral techniques (we are on the video, with Ted taking my age for granted, a sore point for me [I introduced myself and my dog, "I'm Kristin and he's Dusty," and Ted responded with, "That's nice, and what is your doggie's name?" grrrr], and a cute little scene where Dusty licks me). Eventually I will take the time to do some notes on their methods, but I think the main thing I learned was, if you don't know what to do, then do nothing!

Positive obedience is a great way to have fun with your dog, and to make you, and him, much more creative. Every link and article here has positive methods in it. Yes, you can go against my will and disobey the "Force" but do you really want to?

Dog collars and training, is the choke collar the best choice?

Tricks you can train your Aussie. Well, I may not be the best obedience trainer, but you don't have to be one to teach your dog some killer tricks!

A basic training link for competition, behavior, anything.