Dog Questions & Answers - Fear of Water & How to Become a Dog Trainer
By Chang Seward
Question 1: Dog Afraid Of Water
We have a dog of breed German Shorthair Pointer which is 1½ year-old and this has an abnormal fear of water. His mother and others in the litter did not have any fear regarding water; in fact they love water. My dog's pedigree indicates Duals and Field Champions and hence there is no problem existing on this score. Our dog is well trained; however his fear on the water is quite embarrassing. Can you advise us on what should be done to overcome this?
Answer 1:
We have consulted on this issue with various top field trainers and were made to understand that this behavior is not unique to your dog. Many dogs of the breed of the field champions of today were afraid of water initially. However, if these dogs are properly trained at least 99 percent can overcome this problem.
To start with you should begin by taking your dog to a sheet of water wherein the depth increases gradually; ideal places for this could be a beach or lake with a gradual slope. First you should get into the water up to your knees with the leash on your hand.
At the time of training your dog to overcome the water phobia problem it is essential that you always be in the water with your dog. You should teach him staying in water as though you were teaching swimming to a small child i.e. show encouragement, praise and confidence. However you should be persistent and expose the dog for several days in a week to the water.
Question 2: How to Become a Trainer
I am interested in knowing how to go about in becoming a professional dog trainer. I have experience in training of a few dogs; however none of them for show. I am extremely fond of dogs and I would like to take up a career in dog training. Unfortunately, I am unclear about the way to go about this. I possess 4-H experience in dog care and training and my age is 18 years. I would like to start as early as possible.
Answer 2:
We suggest that as an initial step you get a group of your 4-H people and their dogs together and form a small class. We presume that you have made a lot of effort in reading training books and publications and hence you should start focusing fully on dog obedience training manuals for training of trouble dogs. You can easily start becoming a dog trainer once you go through the information given in such books and videos.
A word of caution to you is that you do not become a professional trainer by just knowing how to train dogs. You should acquire sufficient knowledge in the field of canine behavior, canine nutrition, preventative medicine, canine physiology, canine psychology, etc.
It is absolutely essential for you to understand the limitations as well as capabilities of your dog. You should learn management subjects such as business administration and also human psychology; a good dog trainer should also be a good "people teacher". Most of this may come with experience; but you must also learn by studying books and videos. You should read as much as possible on this subject to become a good trainer.
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