AN INTRODUCTION TO DOG GAMES
at Buddies Hundeschule, Germany
11-12 June 2005
After my successful weekend in 2004, Silvia Foeller invited me back to Buddies Hundeschule, in the beautiful countryside of Bavaria, to give a lecture on the eight Dog Games. Silvia, who is on the Committee of the Pet Dog Trainers of Europe, offers a wide range of weekend courses which both dog owners and trainers from all over Europe can take part in. For instance, on this particular weekend we had delegates from all over Germany (some having traveled very long distances to be with us) while Eggi Chromecek came all the way from Austria!
Many of the delegates are currently studying with the International Dog Training School at Silvia's peaceful and very relaxing venue in the countryside, and saw the possibilities of adapting my Dog Games methods to use in conjunction with the training ideas that they are now learning to use.
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For instance, the delegates realised that these seemingly "quiet" times at the beginning of a training session are a wonderful opportunity to really watch and assess the dog's body language, and develop an understanding of the relationship between the dog and its handler. This careful assessment enabled them to offer specific advice about certain areas of the partnership, and how to help build a stronger bond of understanding between human and dog. |
It also gave them the opportunity to plan how they would train the dog in the future. For instance, if the dog is reluctant to leave the immediate vicinity of its handler, then Games where the dog is sent away from the handler (such as Round or Hand) will be more difficult for the dog to do confidently, rather than Games such as Recall or Bounce where the dog is running back to the handler.
| Another important lesson that the delegates learnt was how important it was for the dog to be trained in very short sessions so that the dog did not become bored, or stressed from doing too much. After the training sessions the dogs were able to relax and remember what they had just been taught and were keen to repeat and progress with the training in the next session. |  |
Here are pictures of some of the dogs and handlers who did the Games over the weekend. Further details about these and many other dogs and handlers can be found by visiting the Roll of Honour and clicking on "Recall Starters". The codes for the dogs from Germany begin with "DE".
| Baba | Chira | Harris |
| Sergo | Sunny | Tara |
May I take this opportunity to say many thanks to -
- Eggi Chromecek for the photos shown on this web page
- To Silvia and all the delegates for their very warm welcome and for all the positive feedback that I have had from them by way of e-mail.
- Sabine Hoff who has very kindly offered to translate parts of this web site into German - I am extremely grateful to her.
- Petra Lorenz, who I was introduced to on the following Monday. She runs a really good web site - www.hund-und-gesund.de - selling dog leashes, training treats, dog food, motivational toys etc and I was very impressed with her quality of goods. She also works closely with Silvia and trains a variety of dogs. I hope to work closely with her in the future.
- Finally, I would like to thank Silvia Foeller for inviting me to lecture at her training school, and also asking me to return next year to do another weekend on Dog Games.
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