CAROLYN READ
Hi, I am Carolyn and I am really pleased to meet you. When I got my first Golden Retriever back in 1991 I had no idea that it would lead me to where I am today. In fact, when people asked me “Why a Golden Retriever” I couldn’t really even answer that other than I had some vague distant memory of being in primary school and a class mate’s Golden Retriever had followed them to school. That was it! And now, since I’ve had two Golden’s I would never have any other breed! But what I’ve discovered is that regardless of what breed of dog you have, they can take you on an incredible journey…….This is my story of how my dogs changed my life.
Back in 1990 I returned from a three year working holiday over in the UK. Over in London there was no need to own a car as the public transport could get you where you wanted to go, or else places were close enough to walk. This gave me plenty of exercise opportunities, so when I returned back to Perth, Western Australia, and knew that I needed to get a car I figured I wouldn’t be motivated enough to go walking so decided that if I got a dog then I would make the effort to get some exercise. Really, that is a pretty poor reason for getting a dog and I would suggest that you take more consideration about getting a puppy than what I did – not a good example to follow! To top it off I didn’t do a lot of research either – another thing that I would strongly recommend that you don’t follow!
Fortunately, I got my Sophie from someone who turned out to be a reputable breeder and she came with pedigree papers. I picked her up at 8 weeks of age and she was one cute little fluff ball. Back in those days there was no such thing as “Puppy Pre-school or Kindergarten” – the concept had not yet caught on here. I was told that I shouldn’t take her out into the big wide world until she was fully vaccinated (which was at 16 weeks back in those days). I adhered to this instruction implicitly as I had had no reason to question or do anything other than what I was told.
At 16 weeks Sophie was introduced to the world and was full of the joys of spring (her pedigree name was Springhall Clarissa) when in the company of fellow Golden Retriever puppies at the breed’s training classes once a week. She made some wonderful friends and so did I, people I have close connections with today. She loved the world – other dogs and anybody who was willing to give her some attention.
A couple of years later I decided to get another puppy as company for Sophie. One of the Golden Retriever breeder’s (Frances Strover of Westrova Kennels) had a litter and we decided to go joint ownership with the “pick of the litter” boy. I went to visit these pups a few times while they were babies. Frances had her eye on a couple but had a preference of which one was going to be Elliott and then in the week leading up to me picking him up, Frances rang me and said she had changed her mind – Elliott was going to be the other puppy.
Have you ever had the experience of a puppy picking you rather than you choosing the puppy? This is what happened to me. When I went to pick up Elliott – the original pup paid absolutely no attention to me whatsoever and the one who I was now taking came running up to me, wanted to play and in particular, fetch a stick and bring it back (in fact, the reason Frances had changed her mind as he was the only pup in the litter who would consistently fetch and retrieve which turned out to be a godsend in the end). It was like he was saying “Ok, mum, I’m ready to go home with you now”.
So, Elliott arrived home, cute and cuddly just as Sophie had been. Nothing had changed as far as the vaccination thing went. I kept him out of society until at 16 weeks he was fully vaccinated and then started at training straight away. He was different though. Despite the fact that Sophie was his best mate, he was growling at other puppies and didn’t like them being too close. As he got older he got worse, not better.
He was also hyperactive (I think if he had been a child he would have been labelled ADHD)! As he got into juvenile delinquency and adulthood his aggression escalated. I had no idea how to deal with this and got some advice from a behaviourist, advice which was popular opinion at the time but which I now see as outdated and somewhat inappropriate.
Anyway, he was a handful. I realised because of his energy levels I had to channel his energy into positive activities. Yes, we walked every day and every weekend we visited the beach – he just loved to swim, fetch his ball (or anything really) and play in the waves! Sophie was happier wandering over the sand dunes hunting out dead birds, fish anything that smelled ghastly! Elliott needed more than this though. I spent a lot more effort on training him and started going to a mixed breed obedience club.
Yes, it was frustrating owning a dog who was “dog-aggressive” or “reactive”, as it is called nowadays. There were the frowns and scorns of others, particularly Golden Retriever people, when they observed his behaviour. He was labelled as having “bad temperament”. This is what you expect of a Doberman, German Shepherd or Pitbull not a Golden Retriever.
Anyway, as we continued our training path, his obedience skills actually became quite good and got to the point where we were ready to enter a Novice Obedience Trial. An incident occurred in this first trial (that is definitely another story) which unsettled him and it then took us two years to overcome. Yes, I nearly gave up – I never thought we would get his basic obedience title. Fortunately I had a few friends and supporters who encouraged me to keep going and we finally did get his CD Title.
By this time he and I were both bored with obedience and our next venture was the sport of retrieving – this was his love! He loved to just fetch and retrieve. We faced more challenges throughout our training and trialling period. (This is another story which I will write about some day). Finally, at the ripe old age of 11 he got his three wins and gained his Novice Retrieving Dog Title. We had aggressive incidents happen here as well and I just had to have eyes in the back of my head.
Despite his aggression which I did learn to cope with, he was the most wonderful dog and was the reason for me getting more involved in helping others understand their puppies and dogs and obedience training, and he ultimately has changed my life’s journey around completely – from working for a living to now working for myself. I have a lot to be grateful for and very grateful that he came into my life. I sometimes ponder about what would have happened to him had he gone to someone else – would they have worked with him as I did or would he have ended up being shipped from one home to another because of his aggression? He has taught me so much and if we had our time again, knowing what I know now, I would have done everything so differently.
Oh, and those who had labelled him as having “bad temperament” I believe were wrong. I firmly believe now, having seen the results I am now seeing with my clients and their puppies who are fearful to begin with in class and watch them grow in confidence when it comes to interacting with other puppies, that had puppy pre-school been available back then Elliott would have been a completely different dog. I believe that a majority of behaviour and temperament issues are environmental and not inherent. But that is just my belief…. And the more I see puppies shine after 5 weeks of my classes the more I am convinced that we are just too quick to label and judge temperament.
Yes, our journey involved a lot of stress, frustration, determination, joy and elation and love. It caused me to take a step up and to learn to read and understand dog behaviour more … and there is still so much more to learn. I did my best with what I knew at the time and at the end of the day, Elliott (and Sophie as well) really had a great life.
I am currently a member of:
Canine Association of Western Australia since 1991.
Golden Retriever Club of Western Australia since 1991.
Association of Pet Dog Trainers.
This is my instructing experience:
Golden Retriever Club of Western Australia – 2 years instructing for obedience training.
Southern River Dog Obedience Club – 3 years instructing all breeds all ages.
Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club – 3 years as instructor for the beginners classes.
Mukluks Alaskan Malamute School – 3 years as instructor for beginner’s classes.
Canine Good Companions – 7 years instructing classes of all breeds of dogs and all ages.
I am currently instructing for Canine Good Companion Programme in Spearwood and Southern River Dog Obedience Club.
These are the courses I have attended:
Honey Gross-Richardson’s German Shepherd Dog Association Instructors Course – 8 x 3 hour lectures; 4 x 1 hour practicals, 3 hour written exam.
Canine Good Companions – Instructors and Assessors Course; 8 x 3 hour lectures; 4 x 1 hour practicals; written lesson preparation and situations.
Ian Dunbar Instructors Seminar, Sydney and Perth
– 30 November to 02 December 2001.
– 23 to 25 January 2009.
Annual Association for Pet Dog Trainers Conference, Sydney
– 31 October to 02 November 2008.
– 03 to 05 October 2009.
And these are my own achievements with Elliott:
I have trained my own Golden Retriever to CD Title in Obedience and to Novice Retrieving Dog Title (NRD) in Gundog Retrieving Trials.
~oo0oo~