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relationships and improves the dog’s Now recovered from her accident, Beverly has resumed Fancy Lady’s agility training
overall behavior. with the assistance of professional trainer Gerry Brown.

Beverly has always trained without N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 6 SUNRAYS | 67
using treats as an incentive for a desired
behavior. She states, “There are many
ways to reward your dog such as using
praise, play and touch to name a few.” A
simple “good dog” said in a happy or loving
tone is often reward enough. Playing with
your dog can be a powerful relationship-
building tool. Dogs love to tug and retrieve
and this can be very rewarding. Also, most
dogs enjoy a gentle touch, such as petting,
rubbing or a massage.

There is no other creature on this planet
so connected and dedicated to humans
as dogs. These traits, coupled with their
intelligence, have allowed them to learn
a wide variety of tasks, such as working
with K9 police officers, bomb or drug
detection, search and rescue, assistance
for the disabled, disease detection, farm
herding and more.

Waching Beverly and Fancy Lady in
action during an agility training course,
you can see the loving bond and trust as
well as the desire of her dog to please.
Beverly says she would love to someday
see an agility course set up somewhere
in Sun City Texas so residents who are
interested in this activity have a place to
train their dogs.

Williams has found that with her special
gift of communicating with dogs combined
with patience, love and trust in her training
methods, success is assured. There is
nothing more rewarding than having your
“best friend” by your side, whether it’s in
competition, on a long walk through Sun
City Texas, or curled up on the couch with
you watching Marley and Me.

If you would like dog training or similar
information, please contact Tom Olsen of
the Pet Club at 512-639-2085 or email him
at [email protected].

ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG