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Dandies in Obedience
By Lee Palmer
Dandies in obedience, now that is a contradiction of terms. I have
been earning obedience titles in Dandies for 28 years. It is a challenge
but also so rewarding when it is accomplished.
These terriers are very smart, but their independent spirit governs
your approach to the training methods. Once your Dandies know an
exercise it is better to no train every day; break it up by going
through some exercise one time, then different ones the next training
session.
I usually start my Dandies with what I refer to as “kitchen
Training’’. I call her, when she comes, she gets a cookie. If you have
to go get her, no treat. She soon learns it is pleasant to come when
called. The sit command is incorporated when the response to the come
has progressed to a point t where she obeys most of the time. (We have
to be thankful for what we get.)
The sit is now ready to be introduced. When the dog comes to you on
command, I have the treat ready. I hold it over her head so she must
look up and usually, she goes into a sitting position. I give the
command to sit and then the treat and a lot of praise. If this procedure
is done several times a day, it does not take long for it to become
familiar to the dog. Always, give lots of praise.
I don’t feel there is any one way to train a Dandie except I do
stress patience and love, not harsh corrections. Having the independent
nature that they do, the procedure in training must be gentle but firm.
Even when the dog knows the obedience exercises there will be times
when they will not act like they ever heard of that command. They all
hit these snags in their training. The best method for solving this type
of problem is to treat the exercise like the dog does not know it. Go
back to the beginning and work trough it.
Another problem area for Dandies is doing their
obedience work outside in the grass.
If you have ever gotten down on you hands and knees and peered through
the grass on their level, you will be amazed at the difficulty you have
seeing an object that is lying in the grass just several feet away. Such
would be the case when you throw the dumbbell for
the retrieve open work. The same would apply for the scent articles and
glove retrieval in utility.
The one exercise I have had some difficulty with is
the dumbbell retrieve. The can be tough a number
of ways, but all of the trainers I spoke with agree that a force
retrieve has to be a part of the training in order to get a constant
performance. Even handles of retrievers teach a forced method.
Only one of my Dandies had to be trained with that methods, the
others accepted the dumbbell
without question. I was told that I would have a
problem later on, but I never had one of my dogs
fail to retrieve the dumbbell. On occasion, one would return around the
jump instead of over it, but the dumbbell was
firmly in her mouth. One of my dogs broke a tooth when the dumbbell hit
the jump as she came back over the high jump. But even after that
experience, she never refused to do her dumbbell work.
 The drop on recall in another exercise that can be started in the
kitchen. When I have an occasion to give the Dandies a treat, I tell
them “down” before rewarding them. I start with short recalls, telling
her to down right in front of me. I put the treat between her paws.
Slowly, we move to more space. I repeat the treat between the paws.
While she is in the down position, I walk around her, as I get to the
heel position, I tell her to heel and we run to the end of the room.
Gradually, I move back and start dropping her sooner, until you have a
complete drop on recall.
Dandies resist repetition; sometimes they will show disinterest or
boredom. A good idea when that attitude surfaces, it is best to layoff
your obedience work for a while. Once they know the exercise lay off for
a few weeks will not harm your training, it will most likely have the
opposite effect.
You are very luck if you have a good obedient training school nearby.
Be sure that the instructions are not heavy handed. Not too many
trainers fully understand the terrier temperament and sometimes moved to
force that can be a disaster for anyone training a Dandie.
There is a satisfaction having a Dandie in obedience as they are
seldom seen in the obedience ring. Judges seem to enjoy having them in
their ring. I have rarely had a Dandie that I could show 2
days in a
row. I had the impression they think “I did all of this yesterday”.
However, my Pumpus S.D.T. after fooling around for over a year when
being shown in the utility class with no qualifying score, earned her
title in two weekends in a row. You never know with these wee ones, they
call the short!
They are a challenge, but it is so rewarding when they finally give
you what you want. So good luck with you Dandie, and don’t give up.
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