This web site offers Keeshond Rescue contacts throughout Canada as well as informative links.
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The Keeshond and Obedience Training
Some people may regard this topic as joke material...Kees in obedience, oh sure, right, lottsa luck! But hey...we have proof that a Keesie is an obedience natural!
It's not so
much training Keeshonden to be obedient, it's more like training their owners
on what to expect and how to creatively work out a compromise. Keesies so much
love to please their people, but people can be so very confusing! Training has
to be a "win-win" situation for both the human and the kees. Both have to have
fun and both have to understand each other. Pay attention to your kees, and,
pay attention to yourself. Training should be consistant in order to have the
best consequences and a training program followed...but always allow time for
play. Kees learn very quickly and nothing puts them off more than boring
repetition. One can train at home, using the excellent video tools and books
available, yet one will also benefit by attending obedience classes. The latter
provides necessary socialization for your kees and helps you to gauge your
progress as well as get helpful pointers. A rule of thumb in judging whether a
particular obedience class is right for you is if you are comfortable using
their techniques. If you are not, or if you find the techniques 'heavy
handed'...it may be best to look for another class. 'Beating' obedience into a
Keeshond, or any other breed, just does not work. Success is better gained
through love and mutual respect.
Here's the best piece of advice
anyone can give any puppy owner: Get a newspaper, roll it up very tight, secure
it with a rubber band and leave it on the coffee table. Then, when the puppy
piddles in the house, chews up a slipper, or does anything it is not supposed
to: You simply take the newspaper and bang it on the top of YOUR head very hard
while repeating ......"I should have been watching my puppy" !!
On this page we will feature a listing of books and videos along with sound advice from folks who have experiences to share. Where there's a will, there's a way..and as keesies certainly have the will, it behooves us to find the best way!
Suggested Reading:- Anything by Dr. Ian Dunbar!
- How To Raise A Puppy You Can Live With, Rutherford and Neil, Alpine Publications. This is an excellent 'starter' book for any dog owner.
- The Art of Raising A Puppy, The Monks of New Skete, Little, Brown & Company, is also a good basic book.
- Creating a Peaceable Kingdom by Cynthia D. Miller Animalia Publishing; Yuba City, Ca.; 1997 This one is about living in a multi-animal and/or multi-species household.
- DogSmart by Myrna Milani DVM -Contemporary Books; Chicago, Illinois; 1997- behaviour type book.
- What the Animals Tell Me by Sonya Fitzpatrick -Hyperion; New York; 1997. A little weird but interesting none-the-less.
- Housebreak Any Dog by Audrey Carr -Contemporary Books; Chicago, Illinois; 1997 FANTASTIC book--should be required reading for ALL potential dog owners.
- Smarter than you Think by Paul Loeb -Pocket Books; New York; 1997. Some radical thoughts on how we normally do things.
- Food Pets Die For by Ann N. Martin New Sage Press; Troutdale, Oregon; 1997 Scary stuff .
- The Natural Dog by Mary l. Brennan Plume div of Penguin Books; New York; 1994 good general reference.
