It's so nice to meet you!

After buying Carole Fletcher’s book Trickonometry, I decided to train Beau to shake hands. But I didn’t follow Carole’s instructions which included tying a lead rope around the horse’s foot. I have a fear of hurting horses with ropes and I prefer to use more positive and less restrictive methods.

Since Beau already knows to lift each foot on command it was an easy trick for him to learn. For anyone wanting to teach ‘shake hands’ I would recommend teaching your horse to lift his feet first rather than using a rope around the leg. Teaching him to lift his feet comes in handy for so many other tricks like Spanish Walk, as well as hoof picking and farrier work.

Beau has a pedestal which he loves, so I decided to do the trick with the pedestal for a couple of reasons. One reason is it is easier to shake his hoof when I don’t have to lean over or bend down. The second reason is that trick trained horses like to spontaneously offer their tricks. Tricks that involve the front legs like shaking hands and Spanish Walk can be dangerous to people on the ground who are not expecting the trick. This way he will associate ‘shake hands’ with the pedestal and hopefully will not offer it from the ground.

All I had to do was teach him the cue. I decided the cue would be walking towards him quickly with my right arm extended while saying “It’s nice to meet you”. I approached, asked him to lift his right foot, caught it with my right hand, clicked and praised. It only took a few times for him to understand the cue. In the following sessions we will work on remembering to only offer his right hoof, and lifting the hoof higher and more forward so I don’t have to reach out to him.

Here is a very good video I found on the Internet of Toby the Percheron learning to shake hands.

More tricks for horses:

Pick up feet on command

Stand on a mat

Pick up a handkerchief

Smile

We hung it in a nearby oak. I’d like it farther out in the pasture and I’m worried this branch might break, but for observation purposes, this is a good spot. So far Jubee is a bit nervous around it because it swings like a punching bag. But it doesn’t bother big ol’ Beau!

With help from my husband Jason and my nephew George we brought the horses out and played a little bit. Then I tacked up and got on. We had a lot of fun as you can see!

Later George took this awesome picture of Beau. I’m hoping Jason can ‘Photoshop’ a unicorn horn on his beautiful forehead.

Dear Eve,

Thank you so much for a positive article about Cesar! I think you really zeroed in on the contributions he has made – and on what his mission really is – rehabilitating dogs and TRAINING owners, not classical dog training per se.

I am one of the show’s executive producers and also Cesar’s co-author. Regarding him learning from other professionals, in this newest book we are working on, Cesar reaches out to professionals in every area of the dog training field (including some of the most highly respected positive people around) and asks them to share their wisdom as it applies to the quest for an obedient dog. He remains a “perpetual student” which is a great part of his effectiveness.

Cesar has never had any one “method” of working – just a philosophy – leadership, exercise, discipline (meaning rules boundaries and limitatons) and affection – and fulfilling the needs of your dog before you expect your dog to fulfill yours.

I love your columns by the way!

Wow! What an honor. I’m still riding Cloud 9!

Rest assured, ‘humane’ is the key to the type of training I study and write about. You can expect me to continue discussing humane, positive reinforcement or reward-based, and operant conditioning training methods, while also exposing inhumane, cruel and abusive practices.

Next up is a series of articles following the rehabilitation of a beautiful but highly aggressive chocolate Labrador Retriever who was surrendered by his owners after having bitten his family members numerous times.

The name Lyssa Howells might not be familiar to you, but if you read People magazine you may have seen a story about Lyssa and her extraordinary dog Willow. Willow has learned how to read words! We’ll be talking to Lyssa later this week.

On the heels of my last post, I would like to share an inspiring quote from Lyssa’s website:

My job is to get you and your dog to speak the same language. I find myself being more of a translator than a trainer and I look forward to transforming you and your dog into a better team.

Stay tuned next weekend for my interview with Lyssa and Willow!

Cesar Millan really cares about dogs & people.

One thing I love about Cesar is that he is always growing and evolving. He is the kind of trainer who considers the animal to be his teacher. Back in 2006 some of my horse-owning friends were telling me about a search for a horse and a dog that needed training help because Cesar was teaming up with Pat Parelli of Parelli Natural Horsemanship. The show finally aired in early April of 2009. It was a great show with Cesar frequently praising Pat and expressing his admiration.

Linda & Pat Parelli of Parelli Natural Horsemanship

Since then I’ve noticed some changes. For instance, shortly after that episode Cesar was called to rehabilitate a pit bull. The poor dog had been kept on a chain her whole life and tormented by her drug addicted owner and his friends. Now clean and sober, the owner wanted to make it up to his dog. Cesar was unable to safely approach the dog so he went into the house and rigged up a home made ‘carrot stick’ in order to touch the dog from a distance. This strategy is similar to ‘pole gentling’ which is a process of building trust with wild or extremely fearful horses.

I’ve also noticed that Cesar talks about ‘dogs and horses’ now. In another recent episode Cesar discussed the flight response. While this is most common in prey animals, like horses, certainly many dogs choose to run rather than fight and I was happy to see Cesar address this behavior which is sometimes misinterpreted as a dog being willfull or disobedient.

I’m not sure what the problem is with other trainers. Do they even watch his show? I find many of their criticisms completely unfounded. Are they jealous? Perhaps. They almost always concede that he is ‘charismatic’. I believe the truth is - professional dog trainers don’t want the general public to train their own dogs. Maybe they think it will put them out of business or decrease their value.

“It’s not about what I can do with horses. It’s about what I can teach you to do.” ~ Pat Parelli

I believe the goal of all animal trainers should be to teach other people how to effectively communicate and develop relationships with their own pets. Pat Parelli along with his wife Linda and psychologist Stephanie Burns have created an educational program including DVDs, books and online resources precisely so people can learn to safely and gently train their own horses.

“I rehabilitate dogs and I train people.” ~ Cesar Millan 

Those trainers who genuinely care about animals and want the world to be a better place for all dogs and horses, will eagerly follow the lead of Pat and Cesar.