“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” ― Albert Einstein There are times in your life when in a group you can actually feel the anticipation for something to begin. Where you can feel the restlessness in the air as people prepare to learn from a singular person who has evolved and fought for change not only for dog sport but for the breed, the German Shepherd.
Melbourne Sport Dog Club had prepared in anticipation for three years for the following four days and wanted to ensure that all that attended were drawn to the learning. Walked away with different ideas to implement into their training, providing clarity and harmony between handler dog and helper.
Dr Raiser draws you into the conversation by introducing you to his life passions, his business of dentistry and those that work for him, his wife Heidi, his children, his dogs, the sport and RSV 2000. They are all intertwined, and he shines as he discusses each.
You can feel the crowd shuffle forward on their seat, pens raised in anticipation as he slowly works towards what RSV 2000 stands for in its attempt to preserve theutility dog and what he is best known for, ‘their drives’. Dr Raiser begins to break down in perfect English his colour system that allows uncomplicated communication for the dog, handler and helper so that it becomes harmonious and less of a conflict. But along the way, there is “Heaven and Hell”, however heaven is the better place to be during the “levels of training”.
As a collective group, we listened in stunned silence as we began to comprehend how complex we, as handlers, can make our training with the overuse of body language (rock and roll) and voice (acoustics) and what appears to be the ‘less ismore’ approach and clearly understanding how your dog works best within the differing colours.
The theory continued over two days, with several handlers taking up working positions and being guided directly in how the colours work within the context of their dogs. We learnt fast that body language should be minimal, although required, and the acoustic (voice signal variation) was simply to be black or white. As handlers, we quickly learnt how complicated we made it for our dogs and how clear Dr Raiser made it for everyone; his agility and stamina left us in awe.
Here is some fantastic feedback: “I’ve been thinking about it, and it’s the most interesting dog training workshop I’ve been to since I entered this field.” “… I had the most incredible time learning from the source of so much of the information and techniques around modern dog training. The truth is I was in awe….” “…as a dog trainer, it was an insane experience… “This weekend, I had the privilege of learning from one of the best dog trainers in the last 60 years, Dr Helmut Raiser.”
We are incredibly grateful as a club and country to have Dr Raiser come to us to impart his knowledge and ensure the continued growth of not only RSV 2000 around the world, the sport of Schutzhund but of the German Shepherd dog. Having recently achieved the status of “ausgroup”, RSVglobal Melbourne, we are looking forward to the next opportunity of developing Australia’s education of the RSV2000 ideal. We anticipate another RSVglobal-styled event in late 2023.
Warm regards
Rheana Nation
Melbourne Sportdog Club
