Vice and Virtue Dog Training LLC
"A balanced dog is a better dog"
My Dog Training Philosophy
PAWS FOR THOUGHT
In my opinion, any good dog trainer would tell you that their dog training philosophy is still in the process of being worked out. This is because the world of dog training is continuously evolving, with new things being discovered about dogs all the time. My knowledge and experience will continue to grow throughout my life, and with this, I can better assess situations and how to correct them. The one thing I know that will be the foundation of my dog training is the relationship or bond between humans and their canines. For a long time now I have contemplated the human-canine bond and how to put it into words, I know what it was in my soul, but to be able to capture it and describe it is something else entirely. Over winter break, my father bought me a trio of wonderful books that were written by The Monks of New Skete, these books have helped me to better articulate what this bond is and how it comes to be.
It is in my own strong opinion that the human-canine bond is an absolute necessity for being able to train your dog. Essentially, if you do not have a strong relationship with, compassion & respect for, and understanding of your dog then attempting to train them is pointless. Dogs are not robots put here only to please us or to blindly do work for us, they are our loyal companions and partners in this life. This is the foundation of my dog training philosophy “The relationship is the most essential and is of the most importance, once you have this, the rest will begin to fall into place.”
According to the Leerburg website, there are three categories of trainers, ones that primarily use positive training, ones that are too harsh and use primarily corrections, and those who use positive training along with corrections. While I understand their point, I would also say this is a bit of an oversimplification and that there is a wide spectrum from primarily positive to primarily corrections and trainers could fall anywhere in between. "Corrections" are something that appear to have become taboo, and using them is something that has conflicted me during my time at Bergin. After much research into the issue, I believe that positive training, such as classical or operant conditioning, should be used whenever possible. However, I also believe that corrections do have a place in dog training, where there is disobedience there are also consequences. Last semester we learned that dogs have a mind much like a three-year-old child in which they learn through cause and effect-based training.
I believe that there is a very fine balance between positive/rewards-based training and the use of corrections. Use corrections all the time, too harshly, or inappropriately and this could turn into abuse instead of training, additionally, the dog could lose respect for you, fear you, and not enjoy working anymore.
In the end, the goal is to increase the owner's understanding of their dog and focus on how to improve their dog's lives by teaching them to look at life through the eyes of their dog. When we look at things from the dog’s perspective, everything becomes clear and humans and canines are better able to coexist with one another, and then from there to enrich each other's lives.
JOELIE GENGLER
HOW I BECAME A DOG TRAINER
A bit more about myself,
My fascination & love affair with German Shepherds started when I was a young girl. Our close family friends had two GSDs while I was growing up named Brick & Rommel, and every chance I got to go play with them I would.
I didn't get my first shepherd until I was eighteen years old, on a whim I went to go pick up my Nova from someone whom I would later learn was a backyard breeder. I would never see nor have contact with them again, but the experience would have a lasting effect on how I wanted to conduct my own business in the future.
After getting Nova in 2013 (and quickly falling in love with her) I began to research more into German Shepherds and their genetics, and this is how I discovered the Panda German Shepherd. I quickly became enveloped and obsessed with the beautiful coloring and look of Panda GSDs, and sought out to have one of my own.
Viserys or "Vice" was my first Panda Shepherd, and lord was he beautiful. When you search for "Panda German Shepherd" on Google, Vice's image is one of the first that will greet you. While he was certainly gorgeous, Vice had a horrendous temperament that caused him to be extremely fearful and anxious despite being socialized as a puppy. He also had one undescended testicle that made him unfit for breeding. Unfortunately, we lost Vice to bloat at only one and a half years old. I decided to honor his memory by naming my kennel after him.
After Vice's death, I became very lost, I wasn't sure of what direction I wanted to take in my life. I had been interested in breeding but hadn't learned much about it in the couple of years I had Vice & Nova and I had no idea where to start. Service dogs had always piqued my interest so I began to look into dog training and schools that provided information on it. This is how I discovered Bergin University of Canine Studies.
While taking prerequisites for BUCS, I acquired a few other dogs and reared a litter of surprise puppies. I adored the experience so much that I made the decision to become a breeder and dog trainer. I wanted to be better than other breeders I had experience with, and keep in close contact with my puppy buyers.
I graduated from Bergin University in May of 2018 with my Associate's degree in Business & Companion Dog Studies. After that, I bounced around a few different states looking for the right place to settle down and start my own business. We purchased the perfect property in November of 2019 in Lewisburg, Kentucky on 26 acres. We are still working on renovating the property and improving the kennel building we have in place. After working for several local dog trainers and not really finding the right fit for me, I decided it was finally time to take the plunge into running my own business, and voila, here we are today!