Get Rec'd with a Tête-à-Tête for Your Pet!

Dog trainers Deborah Miller-Gurchak and Kelly Pontiere are on a mission. They want to educate the public about dog safety to protect humans and dogs.

Miller-Gurchak came to Peters Township 30 years ago. She trains Shetland sheepdogs in competitions and teaches obedience to all breeds. She stressed that it is a responsibility to be a good pet owner.

“Dogs are not always easy, but most problems arise because pet owners don’t understand the dog they bought," she said. "Most pet owners buy a dog because they think it’s cute. Take a papillon for example. Adorable dog. Not good with kids, though. A lot of owners don’t bother to find out if the dog is good with children, good with strangers, or a loud barker."

Miller-Gurchak elaborated, "I had a phone call and this woman calls me up and tells me she can’t stand her dog. He barked constantly. I asked the breed and she said, ‘it’s a labradoodle.’ Well poodles are German hunting dogs, and labradors are hunting dogs. They are both very mouthy breeds. They want to alert you to everyone that comes into their territory. They think of it as their job. They think they’re doing their job by barking all the time. She didn’t understand the breed, or in this case mixed breed, she bought."

She continued, "If you own a mixed breed, like a labradoodle, pick up a copy of ‘Your Purebred Puppy – A Buyers Guide’ and read the entries for labrador and poodle and note the traits of both dogs."

Miller-Gurchak is a strong advocate of purebreds. She contends that in many cases mixed breed dogs take on the worst traits of their genetic line.

Miller-Gurchak and Pontiere helped Peters Township resident Kelly Bryan with her new puppy.

“I went to buy a couch and I ended up with a dog,” Bryan said.

She and her family went to the mall, looked around and just thought they would stop in and look at the pets in the pet store. She ended up taking one home with her.

Bryan was having trouble with the dog barking when the doorbell rings, a common dog owner complaint. Miller-Gurchak explained to her the reason the dogs bark, "When the doorbell rings, the dog thinks, ‘someone is coming to see me.’ Then, they bark. And then you yell. When you yell the dog doesn’t hear your words, he or she just thinks, ‘The doorbell rung and now my master is upset. Someone bad must be at the door.’ So, they bark louder and with more urgency."

"He’s a good dog," she insisted. Her daughter Taylor immediately blurted out, "He’s a bad dog." Both were right. All dogs have both good and bad behaviors, but Kelly added, "He’s my baby."

Miller-Gurchak and Pontiere chastised Bryan for this. "No. He’s a dog. We do our animals a disservice when we add human traits to them. They have a much more simple set of emotions. Their emotions come from their basic survival needs — food, water, shelter, safety. To add complex human emotions to them really puts stuff on them they don’t need and ends up frustrating the owners and their families."

They demonstrated the click method, a non-verbal way to train your pet.

"They don’t understand words. So, we’re going to do an experiment." Pontiere shot the audience with a devilish grin, "We’re going to get Taylor to do something without words." They got the young girl to walk over to the light switch and turn the switch off, without words. She had to respond to the clicker. It was a lot like the hot and cold game. They clicked when she moved in the right direction. They were silent when she went in the wrong direction. Eventually, the girl turned off the light switch without any verbal commands. 

Pontiere explained, "Your dog doesn’t understand English. He will grasp a few rudimentary commands with training, but anything you say until he learns those commands is gibberish."

Other owners discussed their problems and Miller-Gurchak and Pontiere handled them with grace and ease.

The two trainers provided a list of valuable resources, including their favorite books on dog training. “The Culture Clash” by Jean Donaldson was one of their preferred selection, but they also recommended “Your Purebreed Puppy – A Buyers Guide,” “The Complete Dog Book: by the American Kennel Club," "Click to Calm" by Emma Parsons, and “Reaching the Animal Mind” by Karen Pryor. The two trainers also recommend some DVDs such as “The How of Bow Wow — Foundation Skills for all Dogs”  and “Best Friends AKCS Elementary School Programs About Dogs and Responsibility for Grades K through 6.”

The trainers are offering a course on dog training on Thursdays, March 17 to April 21 (six one-hour sessions) starting at 7:00 p.m. in the community room of the police station, 200 Municipal Drive, off McMurray Road, near the Peters Township Public Library.

Pre-registration required. You may register in person at the Community Recreation Center or online at www.peterstownship.com.

To complete an online registration, select Township Departments, Parks and Recreation, Registration for Member Pass and Recreation Classes, Classes and Events, then Dog Obedience. To simply print a registration form for mailing, choose Class/Event Registration.

For questions regarding class content, please contact instructor Debbie Miller-Gurchak of Hollybush Dog Training Services at 724-942-3134, or assistant Kelly Pontiere at 412-264-5155.