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! | Ta w; PORT @ PERRY JILYAS PORT PERRY, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1975 -- PAGE 17 SECTION - SFE Shy . "New Blackstock course You say. Fido chews the furniture? Pulls you around - Widdles on the: the block? carpet? Well, now you can try the Strickland-Carlsen method of dog obedience to get him out of those annoying habits, Others have tried it, and it works. . "Main ingredient is a lot of patience -and a. little tech- nique," said Mrs. Annette Carlsen, who is instructing a 10-week. canine . obedience school in Blackstock. Mrs. Carlsen speaks with author- ity and experience. She has six shepherds of her....and at the present time, 11 pups." "What we try to teach the student is the basics," she said. The dog learns such things as to come when called, sit, stay, and to heel. "All these things are design- ed to make a better pet...a better companion for the owner." she said... While admitting the 10-week course will not. qualify the dog for any obedience trials, she does lay the groundwork for such additional instruction. "I hope that some of these will go on for further training for obedience trials." If you think "these' means the dogs, you're mistaken. While it is the dog where the_ results are most clearly seen, itis his owner who is actually "trained". Toby learning to stay. Only a hand signal needed. "I'd say about 99 per cent of our instructions are aimed at the handler, He is the one "Thor" and "Brandy"', School days (for Fido) who mustteach the dog, so he is the one that needs the training." The school's flexible pro- gram allows owners to work out individual problems with their animals. Special emphasis can be applied where necessary to elemin- ate a bad habit. An owner who wants to keep his dog from jumping up on people, for example, will be given , special instruction to elimin- ate the problem. As the dog learns, the process becomes easier. "The dog must first learn to learn," said Mrs. Carlsen. "After it has grasped that, it all becomes that much easier." Mrs. Carlsen also frowns on what has been described as the purebred snob. "A mongrel canbe just as smart, and as good a pet, as any purebred." she said.. She said that there are a number of new clubs now that allow trials for non-purebred dogs. One club in Toronto, she said, has quite a follow- ing. '"There's no reason that any dog...purebred or not... {continued on page 27