26/5/12 Aggression; Management & Rehabilitation with Geert de Bolster

One day Seminar delivered by top European Trainer Geert de Bolster, a leader in the rehabilitation of dogs.

With practical demonstrations and presentation, it is a must for anyone working with dogs or owners with dogs that need help in this area. Highly recommended.

Venue: Capel Manor College, Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield Middlesex,EN1 4RQ

Contact: See Seminars page www.imdt.uk.com or email info@imdt.uk.com

Contact No.: 01707 263 836
Website: www.imdt.uk.com
EMail: info@imdt.uk.com

This is being hosted by Steve Mann, and Geert is a lovely man who is very skilled at identifying what dogs are actually doing.

I have been on workshops with Geert before, an he is very approachable and knowledgeable.

is he the guy that is very much anti saying anything to your dog other than commands?

i heard about one seminar where someone said they would recall their dog and when it arrived they would say good dog then give out the treat and geert said why say 'good girl', just give the treat.

is he the guy that also uses the phrase 'psychological connection'?
and he is very much into the eye contact thing?

if i have this all correct, i would say that mere eye contact exercises and treats sans verbal communication/praise is contrary to what i personally would view as 'psychological connection', as Pys con to me very much depends of talking to your dog, and spouse, for that matter!

i might have some of my impressions wrong though

I always find it better to form my own opinions by attending seminars with the actual providers rather than relying on the "interpretationss" of others who often have their own agenda(s)

There are many ways of looking at psychological connecton and engagement, if there were not, we would all only have to attend ONE seminar by ONE speaker to know everything there is to know wouldn't we?

And there would be a lot fewer books on the market.

Of course to all of the above.

However, this is the second time steve has bought geert over and i can reveal i directly know some attendees and got direct feedback, so it wasnt a case of agenda mining.

Of course i would prefer to go to the seminar myself - i used to go to them all the time.
Facts are though that just aint gonna happen anymore, due to time and money.

So if your reply is geared toward the purpose of motivating me to do so, then unless you buy me a ticket, you is wasting your time

However, that doesnt stop me still learning, researching, examining...i just have other resourceful ways of doing so now....hence why i made this thread

The feedback i received previously re geert has been bitty...different aspects given by different people, but i havent been able to obtain a complete overview of his work and seminar from one person.
I thought you might be keen to do such a thing, as you often like to forward the knowledge

For example, i do know it is true he is the 'eye contact exercise' guy (this is where steve mann got his technique from),
I do know he is strictly the 'no talking guy'....for example, some of his audience differed with him as he told them they should never say 'good dog' to their dog when it has come back on a recall, But should just give the treat.

However, the bit i am unclear about it the 'psychological connection' idea, i "think" that was Geert, but not certain?
And if him, i would like to understand better what he means by this, as i cannot accept that strict silent eye contact execises represents what i would see as a 'psychological connection'.

In my assessment, a good psychological connection between and within all sentient species is contingent upon verbalisation.
I also feel that a lot more expressive body langauge communication is important too.
I utilise both contantly and i feel that this means i and the dog tune into each other on a strong emotional and mental level. ~This is what psychological connection means to me.
I feel minimised vocalisations and body language is contra indicated to all of that.
I feel that this 'eye contact' way of training is a bit too OTT OC, and a masculinisation of dog training.
As it would be manna from heaven for many geezer blokes if they didnt have to be all that expressive or talk much when it came to dealing with their dogs.

By the way, i also learn and evolve by questionning the ideas i have heard, and then what usually happens i discover a new theory or book which goes on to say what i have been already saying for a long time.
This has just happened in relation to all i just wrote, above and my views on over application and clinical appliance of OC, now i have just read Control Unleashed

Am really looking forward to tomorrow!

A very good day, it was great to catch up with Geert again and to remind myself that in fact he is FAR from anti talking to your dog and encouraged this at every opportunity.

I thought I had not misremembered from the last three training sessions I had with him over the years.

But he does like both informal and formal checkins with the owner, something I found extremely useful during protection training.

Thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I would have loved to have gone to this one, but wasn't able to.

Did he say anything about using food rewards in a way where you kind of push the food into the dog's mouth? I know it sounds odd, but someone at a SW masterclass mentioned it as they saw him last year and were very impressed. But I was not clear on what they meant.

Wys
x

I have just this minute finished writing up my notes and so I can only comment on the footage and explanation of the use of food in this presentation.

Footage was shown of a Rottweiler on lead, wearing a muzzle, checking in with the owner on whether or not he can go for food that was thrown. Food is used because it is a stimulus BELOW the one that is a problem for the dog ie other dog/person.

The idea is to throw food, the dog registers the thrown food, looks to the owner and the owner reinforces this check in by hand feeding and then picking up the thrown food and hand feeding this to the dog as well.

The dog is never released to take the food himself.

If the food was a dog/person we do not want the dog to make the decision to approach the dog/person but to check in with the owner.

Once this skill is acquired and practised on food, then the food can be replace by eg stuffed dog, real dog and then generalised to locations, orientations etc.

However I HAVE seen the food stuffing method demonstrated by Anne Bussey, she uses it in a particular context.

Eg to discourage dogs from going forward to the food, the food is rammed in and so the dog automatically starts to move head away from what it wants to stuff in its face!

Thanks for the explanation of Geert's method , that's good. So to make sure I've got it right, he's using that method to teach basically a check in with the owner?

Sorry I am still a bit confused about the food stuffing bit with Anne Bussey - is she using this for when a dog is trying to grab at the food?

Wys
x

A check in is PART of the behavioural approach system that Geert uses.

And yes, AB uses food in this way as ONE method of approach to dogs that mug food, as well as others.