Wessex Area German Shepherd Dog Club

Stan Browning

And German Shepherd Dogs

Stan Browning, ex Army paratrooper, judo champ and retired Ministry of Defense (MOD) Police Officer, is known locally as a dog trainer and canine hydrotherapist.

As we sat and talked in the small office adjoining his hydrotherapy pool, Rose and Graham join us with Storm, their German Shepherd Dog. Storm has hip dysplasia and the weekly therapy sessions that Stan gives him in the pool have vastly improved his condition.

While Rose and Gray know Stan as a canine hydrotherapist, I know him as a dog trainer. My German Shepherd Dog, Molly, attends his weekly training classes.

Based in Shrewton, Wiltshire, Stan has built his reputation on a string of wins at local and national level dog trials. In March 2002, he gained an Instructors Certificate (grade 1) from the British Institute of Professional Dog Trainers. However, his career as a dog handler and his ability to train a dog to compete at a high level goes back some 20 odd years.

He left the army in 1986 and went straight into the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP). He then did a year and a half “just as a copper” at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield, Berkshire. During this period, while on patrol, he would often pass the MOD kennels and speak to the dog handlers. The stories the dog handlers told interested him and the rosettes and trophies they brought back from dog trials appealed to his competitive nature.

Stan has always been a sportsman with a strong competitive streak. He confesses, “My background has always been kind of sport.”

“Kind of” is an understatement typical of this unassuming man. Stan, a black belt 3 dan rank, was Army Judo Champion for at least 7 years. In fact, in judo he twice won the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) Championship, Bronze medal in the All England Championship, the Southern Area title at Crystal Palace, the silver medal at the NATO Championships in Holland, the Northern and Southern Ireland Heavyweight and Open Championship title – and so on.

And so it was, after 22 years in the Army (15 of those years as a paratrooper), and the thrill of judo championships and competitive tug-of-war (another sport that Stan excelled in), he found himself walking a perimeter fence as a MOD Police Officer.

As Stan recalls, “I’d left the Army and there was nothing – you know, it was like a big metal gate coming down and all I’d got to do was to walk around a fence and check on buildings and make sure doors are locked and things like that. And then, all of a sudden, this business of dogs came up and it opened up a whole new life to me. A new life – wonderful.”

Stan continued his chats with the dog handlers, offering to sweep up for them or to help with grooming the dogs. Someone suggested to him that if he became a dog handler he could compete in a canine biathlon. His competitive spirit was piqued and he applied to be a dog handler. Initially, he was turned down, being told that, at 42, he was too old.

But Stan persisted, “I’m fit. Give me a chance.” As it happened, a vacancy came up and Stan was given his chance. They sent him to the Army dog training school at Melton Mowbray for a two week course and then handed him his first dog, Buckle, and, as Stan says, “It kind of took off from there.”

Constable Browning and Buckle (front)

“Buckle was important”

Buckle, an unusual looking German Shepherd Dog, was important, not only because he was Stan’s first dog, but because he won a vast number of rosettes and trophies and allowed Stan to make his mark as a first rate dog handler.

A winning smile from Buckle (centre)

It was during the early days of training Buckle that Stan made a new friend that would change the way he looked at dog training. One day he was walking the fence on his usual patrol and, as he walked, he played with Buckle. A woman on the other side of the fence stopped to watch. She had four dogs with her – a German Shepherd Dog, a Collie, a Poodle and a Chihuahua. She called out to him, praising him for taking the time to play with his dog, but then added, “You want to try motivating the dog even more”.

Stan admits that he was slightly miffed, and says, “I thought something like, ‘Well, who the bloody hell is this? I’ve done an Army dog training course, you know. I’ve had two weeks of training’. So I said to the woman, ‘Well, show me’.”

The woman proceeded to show Stan the most fantastic heelwork with the German Shepherd Dog, then with the Collie, and with the Poodle and even with the Chihuahua.

“She just sold me the whole thing and I was just really so impressed with what she could do with those dogs. Watching her handle dogs – I was really lost to it. As I say, she sold it to me.”

This chance meeting became a formative moment in Stan’s life and influenced his future as a dog handler and trainer. The woman’s name was Lynn Clark and for a number of years she became Stan’s trainer and mentor. “She would come over to the fence every couple of days when I was on duty and oversee what I was doing,” says Stan. Within a year of this chance meeting, Buckle and Stan had won a MOD Police national title. Stan modestly attributes this success to Lynn.

Buckle Up

The Constable Stan Browning/Buckle team has an impressive list of achievements, including four consecutive wins at the UK Canine Biathlon (1988 to 1991).

Constable Stan Browning and Buckle

The biathlons are a test of physical fitness and endurance for both dog and handler, usually covering several miles of difficult terrain and obstacles, including muddy water hurdles and equestrian jumps. The handlers are also required to stop part way through the course and, despite gasping for breath, shoot accurately on a 30 meter range.

Stan and Buckle competing in a canine biathlon

The competition also includes a ‘manwork’ (baiting) element where the dog must chase down and halt a running man. Once the dog has detained the man by biting his arm the handler takes charge of the situation by instructing the dog to ‘leave’, at which point the dog must release the arm.

Stan and Merlin compete

Over the next years as a MOD Police Dog Handler, Stan trained and took to competition quite a few German Shepherd Dogs, including Merlin, Kane, Pace and Duke. Stan acknowledges, “I was a bit obsessed. It became very obsessive. I tend to get very channelled. I see neither left nor right, which is to my detriment, I suppose. I’m so channelled into something I don’t see either side.”

Stan and Duke compete

Each of his dogs attained success in competition. Pace was a particularly inspiring success story.

“They (MDP) gave me old hand-me-downs. Pace was awful. A police officer had had him for a year and a half and couldn’t do anything with him. The dog was not interested in anything or anyone. I threw a ball for him and he said, ‘get stuffed’. It took me 3 months to teach the dog to play. And, once I taught him to play, he was a different dog.”

Pace brought home trophies from Biathlons, Sector Trials and National Trials in obedience and agility, and in field work.

Stan and Pace compete in the 'manwork' element

By the time Stan retired from the MOD Police Force, he had been awarded the Chief Constable Commendation for Achievement and the Divisional Commanders Commendation for outstanding contributions in the area of dog handling.

Training methods

“Get the dog to play. If it won’t play, it won’t work. First and foremost, get the dog to play. Play motivates the dog, builds up your rank status and it builds up an emotional bond between you and your dog.”

Stan warns that if your dog prefers to play with other dogs rather than with you, the emotional bond between handler and dog is not as strong as it might be. He says, “It is wonderful to see dogs play but you’ve got to know when to separate them out. If you allow them to play too long together, I think that what you’re getting is a dog that says, ‘I prefer to play with that dog than I do with mum or dad’.” He advises that your dog should be attuned to you, not to other dogs.

Stan refers to the wonderful top dog trainers we have in this country, including people like Sylvia Bishop who Stan has trained under. He explains that, “Dog training evolves. It’s never static.” He regularly attends courses and shows where he compares methods with other trainers and says, ”There are new things to learn all the time.”

Stan has decided opinions on those that often refer to themselves as dog listeners and whisperers. Never one to bullshit you, his words are chosen carefully and spoken clearly, “I’ve never spoken to the dog whisperer types and neither do I want to". Stan concedes, “There are some that are very credible with a background of competitive handling, but there are others that come in, go through their spiel, and walk out again and they’re charging people ridiculous sums".

He recounts a story of a woman who had a dog that would not stop barking at people. “She called in a dog whisperer who gave her a can with a few nuts in it. A hundred and seventy pounds he charged her, and did it work? No, of course it didn’t work.”

Similarly, Stan has an opinion on the way the Services train their German Shepherd Dogs. Although he says that things may have changed since he was on the job, he feels that the GSD dogs are not treated with sensitivity and many GSDs are sensative. He repeats that dog training evolves and that the trainer must be open to new methods, and adds, "The sign of good trainer is one that is able to adapt, and has a depth of knowledge.”

“German Shepherds are, in many cases, sensitive and they should be handled with sensitivity rather than, because they’re big dogs, pulling them around and expecting them to learn that way.”

He continues, “All the top handlers will treat their dogs with sensitivity all the time rather than pulling and pushing. This is one of the big problems that I’ve always found with German Shepherd owners in general, but especially with Service handlers.”

Credibility

Working trials have, in the past, been dominated by German Shepherd Dogs and supported by dog handlers from the Services. However, these days, more and more of the general public are becoming obsessed by the sport and the versatile Border Collie has become the favourite in competition.

In recent years, Stan has also started to compete with Border Collies. Currently Bouncer, a strong, self-motivated collie is the star of his family. And Molly Mop, another collie, has recently produced a litter of seven.

Bouncer and Stan

The collies excel in competition with their lightening speed and precision. Stan continues, “The German Shepherd has always been my dog but, whilst I am a trainer, and because I run a club, I have to be credible. I might be silly, but I feel that I have to compete and bring home trophies or rosettes so that I remain credible.”

“I love German Shepherds. I love German Shepherds to bits. There aren’t enough good German Shepherds around,” Stan says as he leans back in his chair and, with obvious pleasure, extols the virtues of GSDs. “If I could have a good German Shepherd I’d have one before I would have collies, but it's horses for courses and collies are hard to beat at competitive obedience.”

He plainly states that if he could have another dog like Dixie he would prefer her to the collies. Stan competed with Dixie, a beautiful long-haired GSD, for some years but, at 11½ years old, she is now retired. He rescued her when she was a year and a half and he refers to her as the “epitome” of a German Shepherd Dog, “A tremendous tracker dog, superb bite work, tenacious – and yet, she was very gentle and comfortable with children and other dogs.”

Food for thought

Stan has another appointment. He’s a busy man. I comment on his busy schedule and his popularity as a dog trainer and a hydrotherapist. He chuckles and mildly replies, “It’s because I’m cheap.” Rose immediately voices what I’m thinking, “No, it’s because you’re good at what you do.”

Before we leave, Rose asks Stan, “You don’t happen to have any of those little gravy bone treats do you? I know Storm’s not supposed to have too many but he likes them.”

Stan responds, “Yeah, they’re nice.” He rushes off to find some and I make a mental note to remember to ask Stan whether he taste tests the treats himself. As a supplier of competitively priced dog treats and brand name dog foods, Stan offers free delivery and advice to anyone that has questions on their dog’s diet.

As we get up to leave, Stan goes ahead to find one of the new Border Collie puppies. A little fluffy bundle of black and white rushes out onto the patio to greet us. Dizzy is one of the two puppies Stan has chosen to keep from the recent litter.

I jokingly ask if he’s already started heelwork with this tiny pup. Stan seriously states, “Actually, she does have a lovely recall already.”

---

Author: Kay Wheatley. Photos contributed by Stan Browning.

Copyright © 2008-2010 Wessex Area German Shepherd Dog Club