Natural Handlers?

lizziedog1 · 11-01-2009, 10:41 AM

My sister-in-law has an uncanny ability with dogs. She is a soft-spoken, petite woman. However, what happens with dogs near here is amazing.

I have seen her approached by people with unruly dogs. When she calls the dog over, they immediately sit and mind her. If the dog is a leash puller, she grabs the leash and the dog walks perfectly. If a dog is doing something it shouldn't, she commands a soft no and the canine stops its current activity. This woman is not a professional dog trainer nor has she had any training in it. I have told her many times that this would be a perfect occoupation for her. Some how, she has a natural ability to handle dogs.

Do you guys believe in this phenomenon? Are there some folks that seem to have a way with dogs that most others don't? Have you ever witnessed this?

Cracker · 11-01-2009, 10:49 AM

Yes, I have seen it.
I think a lot of it has to do with calmness and body awareness, both on the part of the "natural" handler knowing HER own body language and that of the dog.

TooneyDogs · 11-01-2009, 11:03 AM

Yes. Ten years ago I watched a 6 year old child using 'advanced' techniques in dog handling. The owner of the dog was trying to hand lure his puppy across a flattened chain link fence in a puppy class (getting the puppies to walk on strange surfaces-confidence building).

The puppy balked and the little girl said, "Not like that....like this" and started dropping treats in each of the links....laying a path. Her family didn't own a dog. She was just visiting the class with a friend. All of the puppies gravitated toward her.

Marsh Muppet · 11-01-2009, 11:08 AM

I've seen it. I don't have it. I sure wish there was a way to bottle it.

MoosMom · 11-01-2009, 11:22 AM

The only dog that won't listen to me is Yoshi, LOL. I have a good friend of mine that gets mad when I walk her wimeriners(sp, I know). One is 4 the other is 7. Neither one had been on a leash anymore than about twice when I first met her. Deuce the older one had been on a walk ONCE because he actually pulled her shoulder out of its socket. I took him once on a hike in a busy park and was commented 3 times on how well behaved my dog was. and most people that come into the groom shop with their dogs are always amazed at how well their dogs act around me. It's a nice thing to have.

Darkmoon · 11-01-2009, 03:07 PM

I've been told that I have this ability as well. I've had no formal training at all but yet, any dog that I come around listens to me. I was once doing a working interview out at a shelter, and there were dogs that only certain people could approch without issues, and even then not every person could approch every dog. I was able to walk up to ever cage, enter wthout an issue. I was able to leash these dogs, walk them into the shelter without problems. Even ones they normally have to use catch poles on, I had no trouble with.

It's odd... I wish I could harness this a bility more.

Willowy · 11-01-2009, 09:10 PM

I did know a guy with that talent. He could get any dog to do anything. If he kicked a dog (he wouldn't have), the dog would have been grateful for it. His dogs weren't trick trained, but they would have done anything they could for him.

My uncle also has it to some extent. Once he came into my yard (I was home but inside), jumped the fence into the dog yard, told the dogs to go into the kennel (built in when I bought the place), and they did! They didn't even bark, I didn't even know he was there. And they had never met him before.

I definitely do not have that talent. Too bad it can't be harnessed.

wvasko · 11-02-2009, 07:34 AM

Well, there are natural dogs. Why would there not be natural handlers. If I pick a wrench up, a bolt or nut flys off the wall and hurts me. There are mechanics/techs (whatever they call them now) that pick up a wrench and the car magically repairs itself.

I am without a doubt a natural poop/scooper, we all should have something we excel at.

Jellybean · 11-03-2009, 12:56 PM

I absolutely believe in this! You see it quite often in the horse world and normally it boils down to how the person actually uses their own emotions in a manner that the horse responds to. Sounds like your sister-in-law has that wonderful ability to exude calmness, security, etc. to the dogs. They naturally respond! Would be so nice for her to get into dog training! When I think of a good dog trainer, I also think of someone who is going to be good at training people to be good with dogs!

TxRider · 11-03-2009, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wvasko

Well, there are natural dogs. Why would there not be natural handlers. If I pick a wrench up, a bolt or nut flys off the wall and hurts me. There are mechanics/techs (whatever they call them now) that pick up a wrench and the car magically repairs itself.

I'm one of those... It's just how our brains developed and what we were exposed to as they developed I figure.

If I met you I would likely completely forget your name in 5 minutes, but I can see a perfect image in my mind's eye of a transmission mount or something on a car I worked on once 20 years ago. A massive library of mechanical reference is stuffed into my head.

I'm good with dogs and other animals, some people think I'm a natural at it, but I'm not really. I just enjoy it and work harder at it then the average owner. Animal behavior sparks the same need to know how it works gene that machines spark in me.

wvasko · 11-03-2009, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TxRider

I'm one of those... It's just how our brains developed and what we were exposed to as they developed I figure.

If I met you I would likely completely forget your name in 5 minutes, but I can see a perfect image in my mind's eye of a transmission mount or something on a car I worked on once 20 years ago. A massive library of mechanical reference is stuffed into my head.

I'm good with dogs and other animals, some people think I'm a natural at it, but I'm not really. I just enjoy it and work harder at it then the average owner. Animal behavior sparks the same need to know how it works gene that machines spark in me.

I believe you are correct. I have had people tell me that to be a dog trainer one must have patience. Mechanics as far as I'm concerned should get hazardous pay duty.

Cracker · 11-03-2009, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TxRider

I'm one of those... It's just how our brains developed and what we were exposed to as they developed I figure.

If I met you I would likely completely forget your name in 5 minutes, but I can see a perfect image in my mind's eye of a transmission mount or something on a car I worked on once 20 years ago. A massive library of mechanical reference is stuffed into my head.

I'm good with dogs and other animals, some people think I'm a natural at it, but I'm not really. I just enjoy it and work harder at it then the average owner. Animal behavior sparks the same need to know how it works gene that machines spark in me.

Oh yeah...me too. I wanna KNOW how it works, why, what it means, how to use and can I make it into something else..lol. This is part of the reason my bookshelves look like twelve different people live here...lol.

Michiyo-Fir · 11-04-2009, 06:39 PM

I think it's like my grandfather lol.

He never walks the dogs or takes the dogs out but when he does, they are perfectly well behaved. He took Nia out and Nia is dog reactive but with him, 2 dogs were screaming at her from half a meter away and she just walked with him without trying to run away, bark or do anything. She didn't even look at them.

With the rest of our family she can see a dog from a couple blocks away and start barking.

Same with the other 2 dogs that usually pull on the leash and try to run towards any signs of food in the park, with him they don't pull and seem to have no interest of food. Plus when they're off leash they just follow him where as usually they run pretty far and bother people having picnics in the park.

zimandtakandgrrandmimi · 11-04-2009, 06:51 PM

there's an intuitive leap one has to make when training any dog...its the same kind of leap you have to make when you learn a language....because when going from one language to another, the exact meanings of the words never really match up literal for literal....or the kind of leap you make when doing math and you kind of blink and an inverse process dumps itself into your head...

its just training your brains...like anything else.

wvasko · 11-05-2009, 04:04 AM

Quote:

its just training your brains...like anything else.

Theoretically it sounds like a plan, but what if you got nothing to train

Manders · 11-05-2009, 10:40 AM

I know a couple of people that have this ability. In my experience, its not so much their ability to naturally train dogs... but how they carry themselves and the "vibes" they give off. I think it has a lot do with, as Ceasar would say, "calm assertiveness." My dad and my Uncle didn't know a thing about dog training, but you could take the most viscous of dogs and turn them loose and they'd turn into to big babies around those two fellas. My dad used to do contract work on houses. He'd show up and there would be some huge dog in the back yard licking and making over him and then the owner of the dog would come out and say, that dog usually attacks strangers. That happened more than once with my dad. Dogs are an amazing judge of character. We had this friend of the family that would go camping with us on another friend's property. He would always try to talk sweet and pet the dog that lived there. Blackey would have nothing of it. He HATED this guy. If you didn't know any better you'd think there was something wrong with the dog... but we knew that this dude didn't really like dogs, and that dog KNEW that. We always got a good laugh out of it and would say that if Blackey didn't like 'em, we didn't like 'em

Allie3985 · 11-05-2009, 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zimandtakandgrrandmimi

there's an intuitive leap one has to make when training any dog...its the same kind of leap you have to make when you learn a language....because when going from one language to another, the exact meanings of the words never really match up literal for literal....or the kind of leap you make when doing math and you kind of blink and an inverse process dumps itself into your head...

its just training your brains...like anything else.

I like this. Very true!