Hi Cathy,
You're welcome to post my e-mails, and we're *so glad* Skipper is
doing so well. High power deer rifles ain't got nothin' on the spirit
of these dogs! Now, here's what I think about Hank's training,
behavior, and happiness.
First, let me start by saying that I grew up with a blue heeler, so I
have a pretty good understanding of what it's like to deal with
working dogs. Also, we have 5 english shepherds within a close group
of family and friends (4 from another well known and well respected
breeder), and Hank is no better and no worse than any of these
wonderful dogs. Each have their own personality, and each presented
their own challenges as puppies, but with consistent, positive
training, they've all turned out to be wonderful.
I know this breed pretty well, and what I know is these puppies need
to be worked with--otherwise they're so smart they'll train
themselves, for better or, more likely, for worse. Also, these dogs
need consistency and LOTS of positive reinforcement. ES's are very
sensitive, so I think it's so important to only use positive training
methods. They have such a strong desire to please that I think
negative reinforcement only does harm. Yelling, hitting, etc..., I
think that just reinforces poor behaviors.
As for Hank, he's not on a farm, but he works with us all day--it's
just a different kind of work. Hank is at our side all day every day
and has been for the past year, going to school, going to work, going
for hikes, skis, snowshoes, etc... He goes to houses with just
people, houses with people and dogs, cats, .... He's been in a ton of
different situations, and he's received training and lots of positive
reinforcement everywhere he's been.
Also, we've established a relationship with Hank where he knows that
we're in charge, but he's respected and appreciated for what he does
(sounds a little crazy, but it's true!). If Hank is telling us
something, we listen. If it's not what we want from him, we tell him
what we want him to do, and he does it. And we make sure to praise
him--he really wants to please us, and I think it's so important to
let him know that he does!
Hank never cowered and never growled when first meeting strangers.
Sometimes he would be shy, but he quickly got over that. Every now
and then he meets someone and barks at them (usually a man with a
beard), but we say "thank you Hank, we've got it," and he quiets down
and accepts the person (no doubt reacting more to a calm tone in our
voice than the words themselves). About once every few months, or
maybe even less frequently, he meets someone that for whatever reason
is just a bad person in his mind. It's usually a pretty strange
person, often with noticeably bad odor, so I think he's right on. He
doesn't bark, but he won't approach the person or let the person
approach--he'll just trot up the trail 10 feet ahead of us. I doubt
he'd let the person get close to us without a bark, but we wouldn't
want the weird-o to approach us either!
Regarding children, I'd say this was where we were a bit concerned and
put some work in. At first (8 months old, approximately), he would
want to chase kids. He never would bite or growl, but kids move in
strange ways, smell funny, and make weird noises. Heck, I want to
chase them sometimes. We had one incident where a small child was
running towards the lake and hank gave him a nudge before he reached
the water (not a bite by any stretch of the imagination, just a nudge
with his head). The child fell down and got upset, but the mother was
wonderful and assumed the dog didn't like that her child was running
towards water. Since then Hank has had a lot more contact with kids,
and we've worked with him a lot. I think the most effective training
was having one kid that he wanted to chase (a rascally 10 year old)
call Hank, give him a treat (really good treats like chicken work
best), make him do tricks (sit, down, high-five, etc..), then give him
more treats. That helped a lot, and now small children are an outlet
for lots of kisses (probably food on face?), not chasing.
I wouldn't ever describe Hank as over reactive. If he's in his yard,
he'll bark at something strange or unusual, but it's easy to get him
to stop barking by saying "thank you Hank, we've got it." He never
tries to attack anything, ever. I can't even imagine a situation
outside of a mountain lion attack where he'd attack or get aggressive.
I think his instinct is to watch the situation from 10 feet away
before he reacts to it. With horses, he really likes to be near them.
He'll lay in their hay while they eat, but if one of them makes a
sudden move or noise, he'll very quickly get 10 feet away from them
and watch to see what's next (usually goes right back to the hay!).
He's really interested in cows, but he doesn't bark, and he looks to
us with the "what do you want me to do?" look. Usually we just tell
him to "leave it," which he does, but every now and then we'll let him
"go check it out," and he'll slowly walk up to the cow and give it a
nose sniff. Then he'll calmly walk away.
Hanks doesn't bark a lot, but he's not silent, either. Things like a
knock on the door, a car in the driveway, or the doorbell will get him
to bark, but we can tell him "thank you, we've got it," and he stops
barking. When he was about 3 months old, he'd bark at nearly any
strange noise (especially the coffee grinder), so we'd make the noise,
give him a treat, and say "thank you, we've got it." Took about 2
rounds of coffee, and he's been great ever since. Strange noises get
the curious look, not barking
All in all, I think he's a really happy dog. He loves being with the
horses in Steamboat, but don't we all! I think he's a very happy
'companion' dog because as our companion, we have him with us all day
doing all sorts of things.
I think the bottom line with these dogs is that they need consistent
training and lots of positive reinforcement. I know 5 ES's very well,
and they're all very different, but their basic needs are the
same--consistency, direction, and positive reinforcement.
And I can't imaging that Hank is an outlier, behaviorally, compared to
the disposition of your other pups. ES's can be challenging puppies,
but my experience with Hank is the same as my family's and friends'
experience with 4 other ES's, and I strongly believe that your dogs
can all be wonderful ES's in any situation with consistent training
and positive reinforcement.
If you have any other questions, just let me know! And thank you for
breeding such a wonderful ES for us!
-Jeff
