about

Meet Shirley McVicker

Shirley developed a multifaceted obedience and personal protection training program designed to accommodate training requirements for both business and commercial applications while working for Security Dogs, Inc, in Charlotte, NC. She trained over 1500 dogs annually.

Shirley developed and instructed an obedience training program for the YWCA and the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Shirley hosted the first-ever weekly radio broadcast talk show on animal behavior in Charlotte (WSOC), and was referred to clients as an animal behavior consultant by area veterinarians.

Upon joining the Air Force Shirley became a Law Enforcement Military Working Dog Handler at Nellis AFB, NV. She was considered the first USAF female K-9 Corps instructor, but chose field duty in lieu of instructor duty.

Shirley was asked to evaluate the USAF K-9 training program to determine the effectiveness and future success of the program as designed.

Shirley was chosen to represent women in the Air Force in a U.S. News & World Report article (June 1976) featuring women in the military.

Shirley developed and instructed the first civilian dog obedience program offered at Nellis AFB, NV, and her volunteer activities in support of the community and youth groups as a law enforcement dog handler were recognized by BG Rob Risner, longest-held American prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.

Shirley assisted the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Department K-9 Division, following her Air Force service, and supervised the training of three patrol-tracking teams and three bloodhounds

Shirley is an experienced competition handler in AKC-sanctioned breed shows and obedience trials.

Shirley volunteers her training services to local area animal rescue groups. As well as a Memeber of the American Canine Sports Medicine Association.

Meet Shirley's Dogs

Dawson is a male 4 year old Siberian Husky I rescued in Dec 2003. Found in the Richmond, VA area as a blind stray, he was rescued from a kill shelter by volunteers from an area Husky rescue. He was called dumb, stupid and just crazy! After a couple of unsuccessful adoption attempts two trainers evaluated him as hyperactive, would never make the "human connection", not trainable and therefore not a candidate for adoption. Their recommendation was to put him to sleep. I was asked to evaluate Dawson to render my opinion of his adoptability. It took me four minutes to recognize his exceptional talent! A canine Sea Biscuit describes Dawson. Shocked and surprised the rescue members repeatedly reminded me Dawson was blind. Yes, I know he's blind...so what? The adoption process began and Dawson came home Dec15, 2003.

Dawson's blindness was caused by juvenile cataracts. A veterinary opthmologist successfully removed the cataracts, inserted new lenses restoring sight completely to both eyes. I cannot tell you the joy I felt when Dawson saw me for the first time! He no longer bumped into or tripped over anything! I watched him look at butterflies, squirrels, and airplanes!

Today, Dawson's training continues without limits. He is a great demonstration dog for classes, an enthusiastic tracker, in training for scent discrimination, brings smiles to an area senior citizen's home and regularly swims for wellness and conditioning. Dawson accompanied me to Mississippi and Louisiana to help with the animal rescue effort. By the way, there's not a hyperactive bone in his body!!! Dawson is perfect!!!!!!

is a 3 yr old Rottweiller I rescued while assisting in the Katrina animal rescue effort. When Tyler came home she weighed under 70 lbs. You could count every rib and hip bones. Looking at her broke my heart but her personality stole my heart. Literally hundreds of displaced, abandoned, dogs of all ages became a part of daily experience and my memory for life. But it was Tyler who stood out as the one I was to bring home.

Today Tyler is in perfect health weighing in at 102lbs, shiny black coat, a personality that will melt your heart, and is sailing through training. She's already a demonstration dog in classes. Tyler and Dawson play constantly and go everywhere with me! Tyler's love of retrieving has been incorporated into her regularly scheduled swim sessions with Dawson.

Blue is a 6 yr old female Siberian Husky who came to me when the previous owner's domestic situation could no longer accommodate a dog. Blue is a beautiful, energetic, vivacious, personable dog who loves being with people, kids, and gets along great with dogs every where.

In 2005 Blue's personality and physical appearance began to deteriorate. Unfortunately the diagnosis was cancer. Blue has low grade lymphoma. Thankfully low grade lymphoma responds fairly well to chemotherapy. She currently undergoes treatment for the cancer and other conditions developed as a result of her compromised immune system.

Blue is responding very well to therapy! Outwardly she shows no signs of illness. She continues to astound her veterinary oncologist and general veterinarian with her bright eyes, beautiful coat and playful endless energy. Blue's swim program was postponed until her condition was stabilized Her program has been resumed and swims regularly with Dawson and Tyler.

Philosophy

There are two reasons that traditional obedience programs fail to meet a dog owner's needs. The first rests with a failure to recognize that obedience already exists in dogs. The second is a lack of understanding of how to APPLY commands as tools rather than just perform them. By combining conventional training, natural obedience, and application, Leash and Collar, LLC enables you to apply your dog's already obedient nature to your everyday life. While other programs try to interpret and define animal behavior patterns using human models of behavior, Leash and Collar, LLC, recognizes natural obedience as the language of your dog.

Leash and Collar programs are based on two fundamentals. First, obedience is not taught. Rather, it exists in all dogs from birth. It is how the process of obedience manifests in behavior. Second, the measure of obedience you receive is determined by knowing how to apply it.

First, your dog is already obedient or it would not be able to communicate with other dogs. The human definition of obedience is described as a voluntary gesture of respect, such as a bow, curtsy, salute, or shaking hands. Dog obedience can be seen as well whenever two or more dogs interact. Obedient behavior (posturing, exposing the belly, mounting, etc.) forms the social hierarchy or pack order. The success of social order and communication is based on the level of the dog's obedience. Dogs are social animals whose world is defined and grounded by such a hierarchy.

The scope of traditional "obedience training" is superficial in that the success is based upon the dog's ability to perform certain actions. After weeks of using outside influences such as treats, clickers, special leads and other artificial means no appreciable progress can be seen. For example, restraint devices, such as headcollars and harnesses that restrict movement of the legs and head do not require any voluntary gesture, do not require the dog to be a part of the process, gives a false sense of accomplishment and promotes the separation between the dog and owner's relationship. Owner's that base the level of success upon the dog's ability to perform these commands, commands that you have been told your dog must do to be obedient, unintentionally set their dogs up not for success but for failure. Owner's that base their expectations of success on past experiences fail to recognize the obedience within their dog. A dog's ability to be obedient is not based upon the dog's breed, age, sex, size or background. All dogs are perfect!

Change the way you look at your dog and the dog you look at changes. Embrace your dog's natural state of obedience and begin to experience the process of communicating with your dog. Begin to experience your dog not as a four legged human that is failing to meet your expectations but as the perfect creature of nature that it is. Obedience is the medium of communication between dogs. Your dog does not and can not discriminate in the way it displays obedience. Your dog's obedience is consistent regardless of the nature of the environment, be it at a dog park, your living room, or in your car. It is incumbent upon dog owners to be willing to transcend their long held belief that dogs interact one way around dogs, and another way around people. Understanding the process of calling upon and molding a dog's natural obedience begins with an understanding of what exists within your dog, erasing any notion that a dog is not trainable, needs mood altering medication, or should be put to sleep. Nature creates perfect creatures, short-changing not a single one. Humans cannot add to or remove what nature instills. Their world is defined by a hierarchy and humans must step into the role of the pack leader. To effectively train your dog, humans must shift away from the notion that dogs are somehow lacking in their ability to be obedient, and come to the realization that their dogs are already obedient, and that all animals are perfect creations of nature.

Success is not inherent in performance. Rather, success is measured by the ability to apply those demonstrations of obedience to compliment one's lifestyle. Unless and until an owner understands that performance is not based upon certain situations and certain environments one will always labor under the falsehood that either you have done something wrong to your dog or that your dog is somehow lacking in ability.

The process of manifesting your dog's obedience, in a form that is useful to you (sit, stay, down, etc.), begins the moment you recognize your role as the leader of a single pack with a goal in mind. The natural state of obedience that defines the pack's hierarchy is the same as the obedience you will receive when you communicate your goal to your dog using your dog's language. Remember, your dog is perfect. Give him the opportunity to show you! Abandon the thought that you must teach your dog to be obedient, and embrace the thought of how you want to form it. In other words, the command is translated from a human desire to a dog's action.

Commands are now no longer characterized as performance. Rather, they are tools used to capture your dog's obedience. With this understanding apply these various commands as tools to communicate with your dog in their language, not yours. These tools are used to address a myriad of issues such as pulling on the leash, bolting at the door, jumping on people, etc. An example of applying commands as tools rather than a measure of performance alleviates the anxiety producing burden of defining and characterizing every nuance of your dog's behavior that you seek to change. Any distraction that interferes with your activity at the time can be addressed by applying one of a number of commands used as tools. Tools as commands transcend life's situations. When your dog pulls on the leash, you are not punishing your dog for pulling, but correcting him for not heeling. In other words, you are applying the heel command as a tool. Process and application do not work independently of each other.

After more than 30 years of experiencing a dog's obedience through process and application, I have never told an owner their dog was not trainable.