Max v Stephanitz thoughts on training

The Captain On Training the Dog, Correction & Punishment,

& Temperament of the Trainer:

"How then shall we produce in dogs that which is so absent in man?"

"Whoever can find the answer to this question:"How shall I say this to my dog?" has won the game."

"The good Shepherd Dog knows his master almost better than himself and must wonder indeed at the lack of the reverse."

"Not everyone is suited to be an instructor and even less to be a trainer."

"Confidence in the master must be the foundation...all exercises culminate in coming to the master and working with him."

"Our chief means of influencing our dogs are eye, gesture and voice...a good trainer can do everything with these, without any other means at his disposal for punishment."

"Training is a sine qua non and obedience the foundation of every training; both go hand in hand, and both are inseperable. Blind & servile obedience is not rooted in trust, but fear...such we do not demand from our dogs, but an obedience that is joyfull & willing, founded on love for the master..."

"The art of a good trainer consists in making (any) compulsion as imperceptable as possible...compulsion is not punishment, the trainer must make sure the dog understands this by his tone and countenance."

"Training that is too severe and loveless causes agony to the soul of the dog, his possibilities will not unfold, because his trust in his trainer is lacking. Sound training keeps itself within its bounds...producing joy in work..."

"The dog can read from the glance of the trainer the state of the trainer's soul..."

"The trainer must first learn self-control before he can control the dog. He must always know how to adapt his methods to the nature of the dog."

"Let the Trainer examine himself when the dog makes a mistake, or does not understand the exercise, or fails in obedience and let him ask "Where am I at fault?"

"Drill never produces the same results as training, which penetrates the soul of the dog."

"Easily irritated and rough is absolutely unsuitable."

"A short jerk must not deteriorate into a senseless jerking here and there...whoever loses his temper deserves a thrashing himself."

"bygones must be bygones...proud dogs especially need this."

"To obtain good results, ...(a trainer must possess) even disposition, decisiveness, clearness and a loving understanding of the animal and his nature..."

"You must discern between the stubborn and the yielding, the receptive and the slow in the uptake..."

"One must begin with the easiest...the more difficult when the dog has a thorough grasp of what is elementary."

"To enforce the performance of an exercise is only right when the dog refuses out of 'sheer cussedness', and there is no fault in the training, or error of giving an order...even then, the conscientious trainer will ask himself whether he will attain his end more certainly, by appearing to break off abruptly, and change over to an exercise the dog knows well & does gladly...to calm the dog & have him in hand again, (rather) than to exact again an exercise which was just before refused."

"The foundation of confidence starts immediately...constant changes of homes, like a servant, destroys the nature of the dog and his faculties."

"Nothing tires and paralyses the mental powers as much as constant reiteration of the same exercise...it's as weary as when 'Uncle sings the only song he knows' ."

"If a dog does not understand an exercise, a change of venue, or trainer, often works wonders."

"The first training of a pup should instill good habits in them, while the training for a specific vocation must not start before the 10th month, better still after a year."

"It must be a principal that every session ends with a petting to keep alive the joy in the work."

"The dog must be praised for prompt obedience, and for work well done, and indeed the praise must be given at once, especially after initial stupidity or opposition it does it correctly or shows willingness to do it."

"A dog, especially a young dog, can never be praised too much."

"The aim of punishment is improvement, not vengeance..."

"...punishment must only be given in close connection with what has preceeded it, NEVER for clumsiness, always for defiance & disobedience."

"There are any amounts of punishment a thoughtful trainer can discover...reproof, or with-holding praise, is the mildest and are sufficient in the majority of cases...a short jerk on the collar...a clod of dirt thrown at a dog not working close...the whip the last, most drastic and never anything but a light switch, never the leash, never the hand, never during a walk, and never for very long, (and) the owner always with the whip testifies to his own incapacity. ...many dogs cannot bear it and are ruined, others may need or endure it, but it doesn't affect them at all. The whip must first be shown as a threat, or cracked, if applied, done only on the flanks, never the back or sides.