An apartment dweller while growing up, Nick Schumacher was determined to one day live in a place where he could have a dog.
When he bought his first house at age 23, he began perusing local newspapers, and settled on a Rottweiler puppy he named Roc.
“I thought I knew what I was doing as far as researching the breed, but I didn’t,” Schumacher said.
At about 4 months old, Roc became aggressive — growling, barking and lunging at people and other dogs while out on walks or at the front window.
A trip to the vet because of a suspected eye infection ended up with Roc being muzzled and held down by three people for the exam after he tried to bite the vet. Because of Roc’s aggressiveness, the vet told Schumacher to consider getting rid of him or putting him down.
Instead, Schumacher took the vet’s words as a challenge.
He immediately signed Roc up for dog training and saw an almost overnight difference.
“Mostly it was what I was doing with him that wasn’t helping the situation,” Schumacher said. “I was leaving him outside unattended, and roughhousing. I was actually building his aggression.”
Soon, Schumacher began an internship to be a trainer. Eventually he got tested to be an instructor and began Roc Solid Obedience.
For the past decade, much of the training was done with Roc by his side. But last October, Schumacher had to say good-bye to his right-hand pooch. Roc passed away at age 10 from bone cancer.
Schumacher, a full-time pressman at a printing company, spends his mornings with his family, including his Doberman pinscher, and on dog training before heading to work. Saturdays are spent at the park with other dog owners to work their pets together and chitchat.
His favorite part about dog training?
“Seeing the expression on the owner’s face when their dog is actually behaving,” he said. “And the change of the behavior of the dog. That’s what makes it for me.”
For information about Roc Solid Obedience, visit www.r-solid.com.
Notable
Though their methods differ slightly, Schumacher is a big fan of trainer Cesar Millan and has been to a few of his seminars. “It’s nice knowing there is somebody out there really trying to show people that there are ways to train aggressive dogs,” he said.
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“Dog training is a lot of work,” Schumacher said. “I always tell people when they come to my class ‘We are here to train dogs. We’re not just going to sit in a circle and feed them a bunch of treats. We’re going to be really working our dogs.’”
Philosophy
When it comes to dogs, Shumacher’s motto is ‘Don’t blame them, simply train them.’ He said 98 percent of dogs’ behavior is not their fault. “It’s something we’re doing indirectly that’s causing their behavior,” he said. “A lot of it is due to underexercise and poor nutrition.”
Favorites
DOG BREED Rottweiler
MUSIC Classic rock
TEAM Cubs
INTERESTS Hanging out with his family
