It was September, 1999, in Tucson Arizona that I first met Fred Hassen. Pam Green of Cactus Canine Training was hosting his first seminar, called “Facts and Fallacies of Electronic Collar Training.” The advertisement read, “Bring the worst dog you can find!”
I remember having to talk a dog trainer friend into attending the seminar with me. We were convinced electric collars were effective training tools in the hands of experienced trainers and both of us had dabbled with them. The summer just before I had the opportunity to meet and work with Jim Dobbs of the Dobbs training center. Dobbs is a noted dog trainer whose expertise in electronic collar training for field dogs contributed to our desire to learn more in this area of training. He was very kind, applying his approach to my interests – the world of competition obedience.
When I heard about Pam’s seminar with Fred Hassen I knew I wanted to go and hoped to learn more advanced techniques that would further my abilities in the competition world with my own dog in training.
What I hadn’t expected was to find that nearly everything I witnessed Fred Hassen do at that seminar could apply to almost all my everyday clients.
The one thing that stood out the most in my mind at that seminar weekend was that shy and insecure dogs, ones that could not be approached, were coming around to Fred in minutes. Since that first seminar when I witnessed the remote approach that Fred Hassen was using to combat serious socialization problems, I personally have many accounts of the same successes.
There were probably fifty trainers and students from across the country at this seminar. A Great Pyrenees dog had been brought to Fred and the owners explained that no one could get near or touch their dog. Fred was not even able to put the remote training collar on the dog himself. The owners had to do it. The poor dog had been walking around beforehand with his owners and he ran from anyone that got close. His tail was tucked and his body posture was lowered, he was so terribly uncomfortable it was hard not to feel so sorry for this big white beauty.
In Arizona in September it is still extremely hot and with temperatures over 100 degrees we were inside the training building of Cactus Canine’s site. This only made things worse for the Great Pyr because he was in the center of the room with fifty people surrounding him on all sides. He not only didn’t want to be with Fred, but every where he tried to escape he found another scary person. He couldn’t get away from them. He would go one way, and Fred would struggle to hold onto him with the Flexi lead he was using, then he would go the other. The dog was hitting the end of the leash in each and every direction he could turn.
I didn’t know it then, but Fred was teaching this dog the same attention lesson we have been sharing with our clients since that time. It looks weird at first because you don’t know what is happening, and then, as if by magic, the dog starts to respond.
I remember asking Fred at one point during his work with the dog if he ever experienced really panicked dogs urinating out of fear or submissiveness. This is often a behavior I had witnessed with severely shy and nervous dogs when being approached by a stranger, or having to deal with being close to someone they didn’t’ know, and especially when feeling any pressure on the lead.
Fred was concentrating on his new student and never responded to my question. Fred is a very calm and quiet man with a funny hoarse voice. In his quiet and calm manner he continued to help the dog come into him. This was a tough case. After a few more minutes, the dog suddenly let go of his bowels and defecated on the floor. That was exactly what I had just been asking Fred about happening, and sure enough…
Now, remember we all saw this dog before Fred started to work with him, no one could approach him then. He was scared to death. Fred kept saying to the group, remember you saw the dog before this. The collar didn’t create this problem, right? We all agreed with him, the collar didn’t create the problem. This dog had come to the seminar because of the problem and in hopes that someone could help.
But then, all of a sudden and really like a magic wand had been waved , the dog started to move towards Fred on his own. His body language which had been crouched and slinking as if he was trying to get smaller, suddenly became a little taller. He visually started to relax and instead of his tail being completely tucked and held on his belly, he started to bring his tail out. Like more magic, he was suddenly following Fred where ever he would go.
If that wasn’t enough, Fred wanted to make an important point . He took the collar off the dog ( remember he couldn’t get the collar on before) and continued to work the dog for a few more minutes. He wanted to show the group that the dog was really starting to learn and even without the collar on he was still continuing to follow Fred around, almost happily. Fred then put the collar back on the dog and continued the same way. Again Fred did something amazing. He asked someone else in the room to come and walk the dog. The dog tried to move away at first, but this time in a matter of seconds he started to follow the new person as well. Pretty soon the dog was going to anyone in the room that would call to him. Fred had every male at the seminar take a turn at calling the dog. The dog started to show remarkable improvement with everyone, not just with Fred. I remember something Fred kept saying about this dog too. He said “the work is done now, it just needs to be managed.” It was an amazing sight. I was convinced then and their that I needed to learn all I could about this training method if it could help a scared and shy dog gain that kind of confidence. And as important as helping the dog, I could see how many dog owners would be helped as well. I was hooked!
I turned at some point during this dog demonstration to my friend and smiled at her asking her “Aren’t you glad you came?!” All she could do was smile and nod towards me.
Since that time, I have experienced many of my own successes with nervous and shy dogs over and over. Nothing -- and this is sincerely and genuinely meant -- could be more gratifying to a good trainer than to see those dramatic and incredible results happen right before your very eyes! This is also a thank-you to Fred Hassen for showing the way!