K9 imprinting came about because I have always felt I really wasn’t getting to the root of the problem with the way my dogs behaved. Despite some small successes throughout my years with dogs, I was still getting dragged around rather than going for a walk, no recall, visitors to the house flattened when they came in. It got to the point where I would take the dogs out at 5 in the morning in the hope of avoiding too many confrontations, or drive for miles to find somewhere no one else would go, not really the fun life with my dogs that I had pictured!
A visit to Badminton horse trials led me to a book stall where I came across Jan Fennells’ book, ‘The Dog Listener’. I started reading as soon as I got it home and by the end of the weekend I knew that I had found the answer to all my problems! It seemed so simple I thought I’d missed something! A gift from my partner was Jan’s 2nd book which left me wanting to have an even better understanding of Jan’s ‘amichien bonding’, and a visit to Cruft’s pointed me in the direction of her seminars. I now proudly hold her Advanced Certificate in Canine Communication and the rest, as they say, is history.
I now get so much pleasure from my dogs, they are reformed characters anyone would be proud to be associated with. Even professional dog people have commented ‘we couldn’t do that with our dogs’. My dogs are happy, I am happy, and now, if we walk at 5 in the morning it is because it is the best time of the day, to take advantage of a beautiful sunrise or a first snow fall, but certainly not to avoid confrontations.
So, if you feel it is necessary to walk your dog in the dead of night, have one arm longer than the other or people have just stopped coming to visit because of ‘that dog’. If you have to encourage your dog to eat, if it takes flight whilst on a walk or because of loud noises, this method can work for you too.
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