Alex - Bernhardt's Journey

September 2, 2019November 3, 2020

Vision and Foresight

or THE TRUE MEANING OF A VERY TALENTED ANIMAL

There is a German saying ” when you work with a lot of limited or poorly trained horses you eventually want recognize exceptional talent nor know how to work that ” For that i personally always assume that any animal comes with a great amount of natural talent and want miss one when i see it. All can be brought to their best potential and will shine one way or the other. In reality all animals are plenty equipped to perform at most or almost any level of human desire – they just have to run into the right person, somebody that understands the game from scratch or one that is willing to learn.

Almost on the day one year ago a than 11 months old puppy started at his first dock diving event ever with his very green handler who did not know anything about the sport engaging in. There were funny throws, fumbles, stumbles, the puppy got loose, there was no plan or concept and plenty nerves – on the human side. The puppy however showed something that is embedded in the expert commentary on this video – He showed NATURAL TALENT – and NO NERVES jumping 8 feet 9 inches. In reality it is almost always the case that our horse or dog is way ahead of us in training because nature had given them all the ability to do so. Showing and/or training are nothing but a replication of natural given talent, the demonstration or execution of that is based on trainable pattern recognition.The trick should be an easy flow on a small command.

We, the humans just ever so often fail to keep up with the very simple complexity of nature by not having our priorities in order and by giving into our emotions and social pressured way of thinking way to easy forgetting about the ultimate important part – to observe, feel and interact with the animal.

So next time things don’t go so well just be aware – you might be behind for whatever reason unrelated to your partner. And when things go extremely well you have to think about how to preserve and protect the talent and to keep the correct time frames of training as your priority.After all i have seen and learned in only one year competing on the national dog dock diving circuit i must say a huge big thank you to dockdogs organizer and host Thomas Platts who was a very genuine, patient, never tired to help and explain teacher for a back than absolute beginner like me. A part of Bernhardt’s great success with invites to all national finals. He saw him first and i was lucky.Thank you for making us better !

……this could be a big jumper, guys ….. A true expert recognizes talent no matter how strong or good a performance really is. Thomas Platts of Dock Dogs comment at Bernhardt’s first show Ridgeville Oh 08/2018

August 17, 2019November 2, 2020

The human Factor

Showing, rules & regulations,evaluation systems,merits ribbons titles and EMOTIONS. The ongoing human conflict of interest which animals just do not care about yet are severely impacted by.

Any show, exhibition or competition in which animals are involved do have one essential priority that must be enforced no matter what – the protection and preservation of the integrity of our partners, their well being physically and/or psychological and the utmost respect for their place and status in nature and our lives.

Eventually we all encounter the same outcome of showing….there has to be REPAIR WORK done as a result of rules and dynamics that are just not written by the animals themselves but by those that believe they understand how dogs or horses operate in nature.- unfortunately most don’t or just prioritize selfish commercial interest and the lust for sensations expressed by their spectators.

In the jump disciplines like air retrieve or extreme vertical the hosting organizations require that a dog must jump at the bumper until it fails two times consecutively or three times overall. So fact is that any time one enters those venues one can be 100 % assured that the dog no matter how hard it will try will in the end NOT succeed. On top of that the owner is deprived of their right and ethical obligation to protect the animal by withdrawing at a certain length/height. Those rulings are obviously incorrect just applying common sense of positive reinforcement and experiences to strengthen the confidence, trust and willingness of your animal to go to a show and perform. And you as the handler must do the right thing here – protect your dog and work on productive rule changes and give your dog a voice !!

We, the humans make decisions for our partners that trust in us, respect and accept us even heal us and help us as good as they understand and can. Those decisions can not be jump in ice water, run until you break, eat garbage, put your head on your chest because the judge likes that, take your own bath, fit your own tack, love my spur and foremost WIN FOR ME.

Never forget to praise and love your animal in what you consider a defeat. Remember that as more difficult a trick to train as more fragile it will remain. Cheer for them even louder and laugh with them harder. The show defeat only means something to YOU, they do not care but hey will feel that you do. Sometimes even literally.Showing is a matter of human character and when done correctly will bring out the best in us because our best friend did win in the end. Against all odds because they wanted to and because WE mastered THE HUMAN FACTOR !!

May 28, 2019November 2, 2020

Truly Majestic

30 jumps of the dock with 21 one of those in the range 18’3 ft to 21’6 ft. That is the advanced senior title and the confirmed invite to the US championships in Orlando end of the year. Fact is that no matter how hard it emotionally can get to the human training and or owning animals you must simply NEVER forget the moments of joy,reward and gratification you DID receive. Than you must ask yourself whether you truly had always RETURNED that favor in the same way.Remember that your dog or horse means well and will give their best purely based on your ability, your experience and skill level to train. Nothing else matters here. Your animal reflects your daily work and routines and the patterns you have established with that.Finally be aware that what they give to you is their way of saying thank you in their personal special way and that is TRULY MAJESTIC !!

April 26, 2019November 2, 2020

Power,Precision & Determination

are natural built in features one has to carefully orchestrate and direct. When you know very little or just something about a topic your intuition can become your strongest ally. The submission/obedience part of training is the most misunderstood and often wrongly handled link of the puzzle. Any suppression of natural reactions and instincts based on human insecurities or emotions will only lead to fear, refusal, anxieties and even aggression in your partner.When you seemingly know a lot or everything about a topic that requires feel than you truly know nothing. To be with animals is a natural way of life and as such training has to be treated.Our winter season is now concluded and we sit in a comfortable second spot nationwide one inch behind the leader.There are only two “other-mixed” breed dogs in the top 40.

April 19, 2019November 2, 2020

Early Rewards & Prizes

This is what we have so far with a career start in August of 2018 not to forget the WC invite 2019 and an almost confirmed invite to the US championships 2019. WELL…but being me i still see this 28 pounds starved little creature all beat up sitting in Texas in his crate and how amazed i was that there was not even the blink of anger or aggression towards humans in that dog. How forgiving he acted. How trusting he went with anybody. How quiet he sat when Magdalene Guiot gave him a first time bath.And so i can only repeat myself saying that there is that ONE ribbon that really does matter working with animals, the most meaningful one of all. I call that one the human FEEL ribbon.That’s the one we truly should try to win and that’s the only one that matters. Before one ever becomes a meaningful winner one has to learn how to truly be a superior looser. And that is the true meaning of Bernhardt’s story. To be continued…….