It goes without saying that a school and visiting dog must be a well-behaved and well-balanced animal that does not lose its patience even in hectic and noisy situations. Nowadays you can find private persons, tutors, teachers and also otherwise trained persons with dogs of many breeds as well as crossbreeds in training institutions and companies. The number of training dogs is constantly increasing.
The characteristics of a visiting dog and school dog:
- very human friendly and approachable
- excellent mental skills
- quick mental grasp
- serenity, yet good assessment of situations
- controllable, retrievable especially in critical situations
- calm and balanced
- highly socialised
- non-jumpy
- playful and open
- high threshold of noise
- no potential for aggression
- excellent compatibility
- high tolerance for body contact and unusual behaviour
- deep, close and trusting relationship with the handler
- very attentive and accessible
It’s here you’ll meet François. François is a mixed breed between Australian Shepherd and Bernese Mountain Dog. Both types of dogs are so-called herding dogs and were and still are used for herding cattle. In this case, however, the herding of the respective training group is in the foreground, which is also fully exercised.
Both breeds – Australian Shepherd and Bernese Mountain Dog – are highly intelligent and extremely sweet, reliable and attentive. François has the positive characteristics of both breeds, as well as the above mentioned qualities.
She has been a constant companion and caring assistant in my lessons since she was 8 weeks old – of course she came and comes to her mum every day. Since her dad unfortunately passed away a few months ago, she cannot see him anymore.
François knows how to cast a spell on people with just a glance of hers. She knows how to take away people’s discomfort and fear. At the same time, she knows very well that she has to be patient during a lesson until it is time to go out into the fresh air again. But she enjoys the cheerful faces that come towards her. Her patience is fabulous and her threshold of irritation cannot be reached. But even if she is gentle, she takes good care of her participants.
What can be accomplished:
- Social barriers are unknown to a dog. The dog approaches people in a friendly and unconditional way and thus contributes to their relaxation.
- The sole presence of a dog can already reduce stress in humans and give them a good feeling.
- Impartially, the dog listens calmly to your voices and lets itself be cuddled.
- The dog creates an atmosphere that is favourable to learning, because a completely new level of attention is reached.
- Not to mention the feel-good factor in the presence of a loving dog.
Unfortunately, many people often cannot keep their own dog. In order to enable these people to still have the positive effect of a dog, there are visiting dogs.
At this point we are with François again. Whenever we are not ‘teaching’ together, we are either out in the wild or we visit older people in their homes or residential homes.
