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Silvanus Koh is a confident man who radiates authority and his voice booms across Coffee Bean in greeting. His ease and friendliness hint at a man at the top of his game. Leaning back on
red plush seat with smoking hot coffee, Words flow easily between us.
The founder of Merlion K-9 is one of the top dog trainers in the region. Experience, client
list and results prove it. Silvanus criss crosses Asia to help clients and organizations
train their canines in obedience, detection and protection. With a profound
understanding of canis lupis familiaris, a creature he calls an opportunistic predator,
he knows that they require a firm hand of a different kind.
"Even a small dog like the shiatzu can become a biting machine if it believes it is the
alpha member of the family," Silvanus said. Having helped many dogs retrain and rehome after
difficulties with behaviour, he would like to see more people adopt a more responsible attitude
to owning a pet.
Playing his part, Silvanus instils discipline in a family pet by forming a triangle with the owner, helping to grow a bond between the two. Even a stubborn dog or dog breed can be taught with the right methods and understanding, he says. Age is not a factor either. Silvanus has just trained a nine-year-old dog with a long history of behavior problems satisfactorily.
"If we observe the dog to have problems even after training, we may refer the owner to some of the vets we work with," he said, "It could be a medical issue. The first hand information provided to us from a vet helps us to shape our advice to the owner."
With 30 years of experience, the man has seen no end of bad behaviours from man's best friends. When two dogs fight, Silvanus breaks it up by judging the situation with an impartial eye - which is gripping which with its teeth, whether their teeth are interlocked and so on. Lifting both
hind legs of a dog is one way to deflate its aggression. For some of the extremely furious guard dogs however, a pepper spray may be employed, which he learnt from his associate trainers in Miri."You learn new methods still," he mused.
Merlion K-9, Silvanus's company, has grown due to reliable and effective results from his training. "Most of my clients are very reasonable people despite their status," he said, "Whenever they get a new pet they would give me a call."
In his experience, every breed has its purpose, and if you work with its natural instinct, it can be readily trained. And in order to measure its progress, Silvanus first sets a standard and program with the owner. According to him, judging the trainability and cooperativeness of the dog in the right can yield training results instantly.
While he may use a range of methods, postitive reinforcement makes the most sense to Silvanus. "It is simple, and dogs love it. You will find your relationship enhanced. There is nothing secretive or magical about training dogs."
Merlion K-9 also offers protection and detection dog training. These programs have special requirements. For example, his team may use German and Czech to train guard dogs that shouldn't be seen as receptive to commands to sit or lie down.
Training guard dogs also yielded one of the most fearsome moments of his life. Some years ago, a German Shepherd rocketed like a toothy missile against his presented padded arm but missed.
Silvanus Koh is founder/CEO of Merlion K-9 training. Learn more about his methods at www.merlion-k9.com. In part 2 of this article, learn more about Silvanus's personal history and his successful training methods.
Article By Vincent Soh
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Malaysia Dog Club