Culture and Leisure

Courtesy of C.C.Cheung Boarding Training School of Lotus Kennel Limitied

Dogs go to school

by Florence Chan

Wong Wai-sing says he can teach dogs new tricks and train them to walk on a seesaw and jump through circles.

“Your dog can also do those tricks just like the dogs in an acrobatic troupe if it receives appropriate training,” he said.

The 44-year-old retired dog trainer of the British army runs Ho Wah Yun Dog Training Centre, a 30,000-square-foot dog training school, in Yuen Long, which also coaches guard dogs.

“I like to train dogs because the training helps the dogs bring their strengths into full play.” He considers training as some kind of guidance to the dogs and a method of communication between trainers and the animals. To make the dogs understand and perform what the trainers want them to do is challenging, said Wong, who began learning how to coach dogs when he was 16.

He noted that more people were investing in the dog training industry and more owners took their dogs to training schools nowadays.

“People tend to treat their dogs not only as pets, but even as their children. They love them so much that they want them to be trained and well-behaved, just like they want their children to be well-behaved,” he said.

Dog lover Jackie Poon Lung-yee pays $5,500 each month to train two of her 11 dogs, Coffee and Rocky, and considers that the training is worth the money.

“After receiving the training, Coffee really behaves a lot better,” she said. “It is not as shy as it was before.

Before going to the school, it always tried to hide whenever people approached it, but now it is not afraid of meeting people.”

Poon is planning to bring Coffee to perform in elderly centres and schools when she does voluntary work.

Coffee's trainer, Daniel Tang Yip-hay, said the dog had already learnt five or six commands in a month's time. It can perform a trick “handstand”, which means balancing upside down on its two front legs.

“It usually takes about a week's time for a dog to learn a command,” said Tang from C.C. Cheung Boarding and Training School of Lotus Kennel Limited.

When he teaches a dog a new skill, he will first help it hold the right posture and at the same time keep saying the command.

“I need to keep saying the word ‘handstand' while it is doing the trick. After some time, the dog will understand that you are asking it to stand on its front legs when you say ‘handstand',” Tang said.

He will also train the dog using the strength of its legs by teaching it to stand up against the wall on its front legs.

Derek Yip Kai-fai, manager and dog trainer of the school, said knowing the psychology of dogs was essential. It is important for dogs to feel happy when they receive training.

“To dogs, receiving training is like playing games. If they feel relax and happy, they will enjoy the lessons and learn fast,” Yip said.

One way to make the dogs happy is to teach them with rewards rather than punishment. “We never beat the dogs when we train them,” he said.

Dogs like to perform in front of people if they feel that their performances can make people happy, the trainer noted.

For example, Rocky, Poon's another dog, loves to stand up on its hind legs and salute when it meets people because people are always amused and give it a big round of applause.

For dogs in Yip's school, they often have chances to perform. In January, five dogs of the school and six others from the customers performed in Hong Lok Yuen.

The dogs will also take part in competitions. “In April, our school will hold our first obedience competition,” Yip said.

Dogs usually have four to five training lessons every day and each lesson lasts 10 to 15 minutes. “It is to make sure that the dogs will not get bored with the lessons,” he said.

Wong said dogs normally needed to go through training for three months to be disciplined.

When dogs are between nine months and two years old, it will be the best time for them to receive training.

Once their habits are formed, it will be very difficult to change them. It is much easier to teach a dog than to correct a dog.”

Establishing a friendly relationship with a dog is the most important part in the training process, and to do so the dog must stay in the training school for the first two weeks.

“The first 14 days is the key to a successful training. During this period of time, the trainers will try to gain the trust of the dog,” Wong said. “Once the dog has faith in the trainer, training can be done smoothly and efficiently.”

Yet, owners do worry that the dogs will forget what they have learnt after they leave the school.

“Actually, the dogs will remember what they have learnt for life.

However, trainers will still provide a set of training methods to the owners.

“The owners should reinforce what the dogs have learnt by giving them regular training. If they get training more frequently, they will be more familiar with the tricks,” Wong said.

Although more people send their dogs to training schools, some owners still doubt whether their pets should be trained.

“For dogs, the best thing must be having total freedom and no restriction at all so that they can do whatever they like,” Wong said. “However, if they need to live with people, that will not be permitted. Or else, they will be abandoned because of naughtiness.”

But training for dogs has to be humane, he said.

“It is not acceptable if a dog is forced to do the tricks. Whether the dog is willing and happy to do the tricks, it is shown on its face.”

Yet, it is also not good for dogs if their owners treat them too well.

“That will spoil them,” Wong said. “Dogs have their own style of living. The right way to love them is to let them live as a dog so as to make them happy, but not to treat them as a human being.”

Percy Chan Ching-shan, who keeps a three-year-old Golden Retriever, does not send his dog to any training school. He does not want his dog to learn
different tricks.

“However, I do train it on my own,” Chan said. “With some guidance and constraint, the dog knows how to behave and sometimes even entertain us. This helps develop a harmonious relationship between my family and the dog.”

Coffee practises a handstand against a column.
Jolly Lam

A dog climbs up a trapezium-shaped stand to get used to high areas.
Florence Chan