I think my biggest achievement was helping our collie who had a terrible start for the first few years, blossom from a dog with separation anxiety issues, and erratic recall, and a shadow of what she became. To a dog who no longer destroyed the house if left, and having 100% recall, and became a dog in a million.

All done with patience, time and only positive training. The bond we developed, I could not imagine developing if we had used other methods or quick fixes, she needed time and understanding. She also taught me a lot


Meggie had a steam train problem, even though she had been taught to walk on a loose lead as a pup, we had to start all over again at about 8 months. had to start from scratch. A friend gave me Turid Rugass's My Dog Pulls, and I used the techniques in the book, I taught Mack to walk nicely on a loose lead using the same techniques.

Mack's my work in progress he had 100% recall up till 12/18 months, he's coming up for 4. He will recall great as long as there is nothing small and furry around, if I can stop him before he has started the chase, with a leave it or aaah, he will sit and watch, but stopping once the chase and adrenaline has kicked in is still tough. He makes progress all the time, and will now recall off a rabbit or squirrel in the garden,which awhile ago would of been impossible but offlead in a wide open space, it's still too risky. So we work on the problem in enclosed spaces. I'm realistic about this though, he has a good dollop of husky/mal, the desire to run is hard wired into him, and I accept that, and treat him how I would treat a husky or a mal offlead. I don't set him up to fail or take risks, where I could lose him.

Hopefully, have taught them to both avoid snakes, so far, so good, but I think this is one area that is very difficult, as a situation may occur, where the dogs don't see or smell a snake, and all the training in the world won't help, so I am very vigilant when they are out .

I`ve had fun with my dogs for 40-odd years. We`ve been abroad, we`ve camped, we`ve had a go at most dog activities. We`ve visited hospitals, been on boat rides, trains and ferries. We`ve been in fun shows and HTM classes, learned about WT and scent stuff a bit, brought up children and made a lot of friends. My dogs all have their fans and friends who buy them presents and greet them before they say hello to me.
They are family dogs. And this has been achieved with love and patience and understanding.

The words "what a well-behaved dog - can you do that to my husband?!"

Well , they reckon you cant train greys , I got down to some serious training with Bella , she is doing KCGC at the mo (got all of the bronze reqs and working on silver) , and in 2 weeks she can do sit (difficult for a hound with those big muscles at the rear) , she will give a paw and will do down and stay.

Tom the lurcher is a bit further on , sit , paw , down , fetch , leave it (treats placed on his paws when he is down) , stay indoors and out , and recall is 100% the last few months. If only he wouldnt react to certain other dogs at times(altho much improved) , he would be just perfect, he can also open any door in the house ! Not so good when they are in the garden and its wet ! Muddy paw prints all over as he lets himself and Bella in thro the patio doors ! All done with the use of very small treats and a clicker ! And for Tom now for a bit of fuss and loving ! I need to find him some problem solving toys at Crufts as the Kong wobbler is way too easy for a clever lurcher ! And so much fun for me and the dogs !

Skye (BC) 95% of the time can now stop her/call her away from herding joggers and cyclists
Being fear reactive with other dogs if too close, trained her a "watch me" command; now she is comfortable around other dogs

Drift (BC) my rescue boy who was so shut down when we adopted him, he knew nothing, didn't even have a "sit" and re-call was non existant! Got him interested in food, and with a whole lot of patience & Love and consistency he started to trust in me. Long line trained re-call which is 98% reliable now A year later he does agility, and loves doing tricks too.
Everything trained with clicker and treats/toys

Jann xx

Parker is one of the few Kerries to have an award in heelwork to music (judged by Annie Clayton no less!). The judge said twice to me what a lovely dog he was and how nice it was to see a different breed in htm.

Also been told by a judge in KCGC scheme that I have a good working dog.

Brilliant recall-other owners get quite jealous! I let him chase bunnies on the heath and call him in full flight and he comes straight back. Nowadays he is older and wiser as knows he is not fast enought to catch them anyway so doesn't try!

The other week we were walking on the field near my Mum's where there are lots of horses and Parker ignores them from what I call a "critical distance" and all was going fine till one of the horses started walking towards him and he took off full pelt at it. I called him and his name got to his ears just as he was 1 foot away from the horses head and he didn't even stop-he just carried on away from the horse this time and back to me. It was actually lovely to watch (though my heart was beating fast!)-poetry in motion.

I know of at least 2 people who have gone on to have Kerries from Parker's breeder after meeting him.

Although lightly shown at local dog shows he has 4 best-in-shows, 2 reserve best-in-shows and about 150 rosettes plus an obedience trophy he shared with Cherry.

Cherry is a work in progress -she still has her naughty moments but nothing compared to what she used to be like. She has 2 obedience trophies and she can do all the heelwork to music moves and she was beautiful to watch in agility. Our trainer was an international judge and she said Cherry would have made a good agility dog. Unfortunately because of her fear reactivity this was never going to be an option. We were doing agility up to a year ago and I didn't know she was practically blind (she hid it so well). The specialist vet was astounded when I said and she commented "you must have a fantastic bond as she oculdn't see the equipment-she was going just by your voice commands". This made me feel differently about our relationship as I always felt Cherry and I were wrong for each other but I felt humbled by her trust in me.

Most of all, despite all the things they do I love them for just being them and the contribution they make to my family life.

There are always different ones - but what happend the other day makes me proud

Walking with Mia and Ben and my mum. heading back to the car (in a safe place) dogs are both offlead calm and trotting infront of me
When a lady with two grayhounds in muzzles appear from behind a hedge RIGHT by my car
We were mibby 10m away
I called Ben back and got mum to put him on the lead
The dogs were now barking and snarling at us
I called Mias name so she looked at me (didnt think it was fair to try a recal) I walked over to her and she stood and waited till I clipped the lead on her. The lady and her dogs walked by
- yes Mia and Ben did have a bark back at them - and the lady said her dogs have big problems with other dogs

My acheivment that I am so proud of - my reactive girl was startled with 2 agressive dogs right infront of her
She didnt race up to them, she waited and trusted me to deal with it

I started training dogs using positive methods in the 50's long before this method of training was given a name.

As a child I spent a lot of time with my uncle, a farmer who instilled in me that all animals should be treated with care and consideration and you achieve far more with a carrot than with a stick.

The first dog I owned which was exclusively mine was Bunny, I had her when she was a tiny puppy and we had the most amazing bond of trust between us. At the time I was working away from home and allowed home for a day a month. I only earned £1 a week and found it difficult to afford the bus fare for the five mile journey home. I taught Bunny to jump into my old wicker cookery basket with a gingham cover (which I had at school) so no one knew she was on the bus. Bunny was the most amazing little dog, she would stay in one place all day if asked to do so and I never needed a lead for her.

Years later I was offered a dog called Tilly who was thought to be about four years old and had spent most of her life in an outdoor kennel. She was unsocialised and fear aggressive and spent her first weeks in my house hiding under a chair growling and snarling when anyone went near her. I left the back door open and put food down and she would come out from under the chair when no one was about. I left her alone asking nothing of her and instructed my son who was only 6 at the time to do the same, no word no eye contact. I gained Tilly's trust by sitting on the floor near to her chair still ignoring her but holding pieces of chicken in my outstretched hand. Gradually she came out and took the chicken and I progressed to stroking her chest with one finger and talking to her softly. She came on in leaps and bounds and became my son's best friend. Sadly she eventually developed pyometra and although I caught it early she died on the operating table.

My current dog Chloe aged three is a happy fearless little dog. Her recall is pretty good in spite of her having a high prey drive, I wouldn't trust her 100% though so only let her off lead in the fields. I allow her to chase birds and squirrels across the field and I don't call her when she is mid flight and I think there is a slight chance she won't obey.

If she sees another dog in the field she will run over to it and stop a few feet away, turn and look at me and if I don't call her back approach and play. We don't get many strange dogs in the field they are usually neighbours dogs known to us but we did today.

I had let Chloe off the lead and someone with a Cairn Terrier appeared over the style at the other end of the field, off went Chloe. I don't have a voice at the moment and suddenly realised I was unable to call Chloe back. Chloe stopped and looked at me when she was feet away from the dog and instead of calling her I crouched down and held out my arms as I used to do when she was a puppy. Without hesitation Chloe came flying back to me, I was so proud of her .

I am also proud of the fact none of my dogs have ever had cause to fear me and obey my commands willingly in the certain knowledge that doing so will always be a rewarding experience.

Getting my male EMD Dan through his bronze, silver and gold good citizen tests, teaching him stop command (which he can sometimes do outside, we're still working on distractions), giving him confidence and making him a happier dog. All this with positive training, and clicker work. My others are also trained, Rio to bronze and Rogue to silver. Harsh methods don't work with EMDs, they would just shut down I think. Never underestimate the power of clicker!!!!! My boy also walks much better on the lead, without resorting to inflicting pain etc. My dogs do things for me because they want to please me and get loads of praise, not because they fear the consequences. That's priceless!

Me too! Oh the pre-Woodhouse days when if you were cruel to a dog you were simply a nasty person, not using a `method`.

I used positive methods to help Daisy change from a dog you couldn`t safely walk down a street to a sweetie who will train gullible passers-by how to play Ballie with her (to their delight). She will never be totally tolerant of human ways... but then, neither will I.