Dog training at MGI:
By: Nyeleti Furumele
Every Saturday afternoon the MGI campus gives way to dog lovers who come together every Saturday afternoon to do protective training with their dogs. The Midrand German Shepard club get together every Saturday with one common goal and that is to teach their dogs how to protect their owners and also to have fun while their doing it.
Protective dog training is when owns try and teach their dogs how to protect them and also how not to attack people at random. This form of dog training is said to have started back in 1984 but back then it was called the German Shepard Federation, then it was later changed to its current name.
The club Chairperson Denise Trotter mentioned that this club is not only for the training of dogs but it is also a social get together for dog lovers. ‘The dogs are also get trained for breeding shows that take place all over South Africa, like the breed show’ said sixteen year old Azraa Kazi. She happens to be one of the clubs young handlers, this basically means that she is the person who will show the dogs during the Breed show. ‘I take peoples dogs and handle them around the ring, I also teach them how to stop and sit,’ said Azraa.
Depending on how early the dogs get trained will determine how well behaved the dogs turn out to be once they become adults. Dennis said ‘we try by all means possible to make sure that the dogs start early with their protective training, this is not just to benefit the people but it is also to benefit the dogs’.
They are hoping to have the dogs fit enough for the most important dog show in South Africa: the Johannesburg dog show, where all the major dog clubs will be showing off their best well breed dogs.