DOG TRAINING The Art & Science of

“I loved being a judge,” Carole said. “I observed other judges and talked to them about judging. I wanted to understand what different people looked for. It takes a while to find a happy medium. I exhibited at or judged many weekends a year. I was told I was a consistent and fair judge, and the exhibitors felt relaxed around me.”

At one point, Carole read all the books about dogs in her local library. She and her husband, Mike, especially, were interested in the psychological issues behind a dog’s behavior and learning how special training can desensitize them to things, such as loud noises. She also studied the work of Dr. Ian Dunbar, who emphasized a dog has to enjoy being trained or it won’t be effective and that it’s important to re-direct or ignore negative behavior, while more frequently reinforcing positive behavior. As Carole’s skills grew, she pieced together different methods of training to find the best results for each dog.

Carole Artim has spent decades training for, competing in and judging dog agility. Her dogs earned many recognitions, but the most rewarding part for her was always when her efforts made a difference in someone else’s life.

It all started when Carole moved out on her own in the 1970s. She wanted a dog and got a German shepherd puppy. She was familiar with the

American Kennel Club (AKC) and its obedience and tracking courses. (Tracking is a dog’s natural ability to recognize and follow a scent.) Her first dog completed the training and competed in AKC trials, earning several titles. After helping her local club for several years during competitions, she applied to be an AKC tracking judge and later, an obedience and rally judge.

“It has to be rewarding for the dog,” Carole said. “Sometimes you have to let the dog figure it out and reward it along the way. We had a rottweiler that we couldn’t motivate to do anything he didn’t want to. It was my job, using positive motivation, to convince him he wanted to do it.”

Agility training includes tunnels, jumps, teeter stand and more. To help dogs overcome fears, such as falling off a teeter board, Carole breaks it down into smaller steps. As first, the teeter board is barely off the ground. As the dog becomes comfortable, the board is raised higher. This builds a foundation for the dog to feel safe. As trainer and dog become a team, the training becomes easier.

Mike and Carole rescued and helped re-home many dogs. Mike’s first dog was asked not to return to a training class because the dog was “untrainable.” That motivated Mike to determine how to help other “obedience class dropouts,” and focus on addressing their needs.

“Dogs will learn whether you provide input or not,” Carole said. “Like children, dog training is always a work in progress. As your dog becomes more confident with simple foundation work, you provide additional building blocks for more complex exercises. Each individual personality must be considered for that team and the process and modified as needed to have success.

“Our puppy training starts with manners versus commands. It is better to praise and reward what they do right, than only give negative attention when you are not happy with them. Some behaviors should be automatic, for example, jumping up on people. We often hear, ‘but he gets off when I tell him,’ but the dog should not be up on you to begin with. As the dog becomes an adult with manners, then you can introduce gray areas and invite the dog up at certain times. Techniques we use allow even a 5-year-old to be successful teaching manners to a dog.”

In addition to training her own dogs, she and Mike led puppy training classes and trained dogs to become service dogs. Few of the puppies they trained needed to come back for additional training. It was rewarding to ensure a dog wouldn’t be given up because of behavior issues.

Mike worked with the Sertoma Club to train dogs to assist individuals with hearing loss and other disabilities. One man they provided a dog to was in his 40s, and his mother went everywhere with him for safety reasons. After he received his dog, he was able to travel across the country by himself.

Carole describes her current dog, Watson (shown left with Carole), as a clumber spaniel that looks like “a cocker spaniel swallowed a rottweiler — a big dog on short legs.” He is not the fastest dog she has worked with, but he performs well in competition. At an agility event needed for Watson to qualify for the AKC Agility Invitational in 2020, Carole heard the first jump bar bang as they went through the course. She and Watson kept going, despite thinking they were out of the competition, only to realize at the end that the bar landed right back in its place, and they qualified.

“It doesn’t matter if I qualify,” Carole said of competing. “On any given day, it’s about learning how to be a team. You build confidence in each other. Sometimes things go awry, and it’s not the dog’s fault. I ask myself what I did wrong. But, I do really like qualifying.”

Carole also has Gizmo (shown below), a 3-year-old Barbet (French water dog), who she got at the onset of COVID-19. He missed some early socialization and needs more training before he competes.

In 2021, Carole and Mike moved to Masonic Village at Elizabethtown, where she found herself in good company among many other dog owners. She, Mike and Watson gave a demonstration for residents on a canine agility course in November, and it was well received. Carole has retired from judging since it requires a lot of travel over weekends, but she still attends competitions.