CHECKING OUT CANINE SAFETY
Library hosts trainer who teaches kids proper behavior around dogs
When children are brought to a program that teaches how to be safe around dogs, the first thing they want to do is pet the dog.
Ava White, 8, and her brother, Kain, 5, were eager to meet Enya last week at the Brookline branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. The 61-pound Beauceron was eager to do whatever owner/ trainer Annette Sexton asked her to do.
Before the fun could start, there were procedures to follow.
“First you ask the owner if you can pet their dog,” Ms. Sexton said. “Then the best way to approach the dog is from the side. Let the dog smell the back of your closed fist. Pet under the chin, on the chest or on the shoulder — not on the top of the head.”
Enya, 7, never took her eyes off Ms. Sexton as she kept up a patter while giving her dog voice or hand commands to heel, sit, lie down and stay. The dog was especially happy when Ms. Sexton said, “Go say hi!” She visited with Ava and Kain, and it went very well, which is exactly what you’d expect from a dog owned by a woman who has been a professional trainer for 30 years.
“People take a dog to one puppy class and expect the dog to be trained,” she said. “I have been training Enya all her life.”
The dog has earned many titles in canine competitions, including obedience, rally, AKC Canine Good Citizen and schutzhund, a German word that translates as protection dog.
Spectators were fascinated to hear Ms. Sexton give commands to Enya in French. When Ms. Sexton pitches her voice in a certain way to talk to Enya, the dog talks back in “yodels” that none of us had ever heard before.
“Enya is very, very talkative,” Ms. Sexton said. “It’s typical of her breed.”
Beaucerons have been bred in France since the 1800s to herd sheep. The breed is rare in this country; most people have never seen one.
“They usually think she’s a German shepherd mix,” Ms. Sexton said with a chuckle.
But the breed is not for everyone. Beaucerons like to have a “job,” and they need an owner who will keep them busy and engaged in training and activities.
Also, Beaucerons are loyal and protective with their owners but generally aloof to strangers. Ms. Sexton gets around that by giving Enya a command “to go say hi!” and then rewarding her with praise and with occasional food treats.
People in the audience wanted tips on dealing with their own dogs, especially big puppies and dogs that jump up on people.
“Everyone has trouble with dogs jumping up,” Ms. Sexton said.
She suggested more training classes and teaching the dog to jump up only on command. For dogs that joyfully jump up on visitors to your home, “I’m a big fan of house leashes,” she said.
e said.
“The most dangerous dogs I see are spoiled dogs,” she said.
One family called her after their Cairn terrier bit off the lip of one of their young children. The parents were first-time dog owners and got the dog as a puppy. The little dog ran the house, taking over couches and beds and snapping when family members tried to get him off the furniture so people could sit there. The dog was also dangerously obese, at risk of developing crippling hip and knee problems.
The story has a happy ending. The child’s lip was surgically re-attached, and the family kept the dog after working with Ms. Sexton. He was also put on a diet and lost weight.
Abused and neglected dogs are easier to work with because they are generally eager to please, she said.
“I often get dogs that no one else can train,” and she has adopted some of them, including her silky terrier, Chip. He had been abused and had bitten multiple people. He learned to love, trust and behave, and he has won many titles in agility competition. He’s now 14 and gets along well with Enya and her son, Indy, at Ms. Sexton’s Mount Washington home.
At the library, Ms. Sexton passed out a sheet with tips compiled by American Humane, the West Virginia Extension Service Families & Health, and 4-H Youth Development programs. These are “Doggie Don’ts”
• Don’t stare into a dog’s eyes. They view that as a threat.
• Don’t reach into a car or a fence because dogs are protective of their territory.
• Don’t approach dogs chained in their yards.
• Don’t run or scream if a loose dog runs up to you. “If you run, they will chase you, and the dog will think that is fun,” Ms. Sexton said. “Even if the dog is nice, it could knock you down.” Stand still or slowly back up against a wall or a building if you can. Some “Doggy Dos”: • “Be a tree” if a strange dog comes up to you. Stand straight with your feet together, hands glued to your sides.
• “Be a log” if you are knocked down by a strange dog. On the ground, curl into a ball with your legs together. Keep your face down and cover the back of your neck with your fists. Put your arms over your ears. Stay quiet and still until the dog goes away.
• Adults need to supervise children to make sure they never pull on a dog’s ears, tail or paws and that they never hit, kick or bite a dog.
“Not all dogs like children,” Ms. Sexton said. “If an owner tells you their dog is not good with children, walk away.”
She teaches at local obedience clubs and gives private lessons in the homes of clients. Email her at inaworlfshadow@aol.com.