The True Story Of The Smartest Dog That Ever Lived.

 

Once upon a canine there lived a puppy named London. London was a curious looking German Shepherd, who by today's standards resembled a cross between a purebred Shepherd and a Siberian Husky. London was born in 1946 and was purchased by a retired U.S. soldier named Chuck P. Eisenmann.

If at first the names of London and Eisenmann arouse no sense of familiarity, perhaps the title of "The Littlest Hobo" will jog your memory. London was the super-smart "hobo dog" featured in the top-rated 1960s television series.

 Click here to watch a clip from the television series.

Along with names like Old Yeller, Lassie and Benji, London was among the canine elite who helped to establish the notion that dogs are "man's best friend".  What made London shine above his canine contemporaries is that his trainer, Chuck Eisenmann, never taught London to perform tricks for the camera. Rather, Eisenmann asserted that London had become a bonafide actor, a canine superstar that genuinely understood the English language!

Between the years of 1963 and 1965, London did far more than act on his award winning television series. He also toured the world, appearing on the highest-rated television talk shows, many of which were aired live. During these live television appearances Eisenmann demonstrated that London was able to understand English. He demonstrated this by uttering a sentence that asked London to perform a series of tasks in chronological order.

 

 

For example: while standing on stage with his dog in front of a live audience, Eisenmann would ask London to: "...leave the stage and bark at the first person, in the fifth row, that is wearing boots." Astonishingly, London would walk off the stage and proceed to perform these requests in the exact order that they were asked. Then, to prove that people were not witnessing a trick, before London was asked to return to the stage, Eisenmann would say: "Before you return to my side, bark twice and then immediately touch any lady with your l-e-f-t  p-a-w."  Amazingly, London would do exactly what was asked of him.  Time and time again, no matter how varied or convoluted the requests, whether the request was spoken or spelled out, London would consistently dazzle audiences with his ability to seemingly understand everything and anything Eisenmann asked.

The following is a first hand account of Eisenmann working with his dogs, written by TV Guide writer, Arthur Fuller.

A four-door sedan stands in the driveway, the driver and rear passenger doors open. For this scene, the dog must go into the car through one door, pass over the seat, and exit the vehicle by the other door. Eisenmann hems and haws, surveying the sedan.

"No way Toro can do it," Eisenmann tells the director. "His body's too long; he'll get caught. It'll have to be Bo." Chuck turns to the blanket where the five magnificent German shepherds recline. He summons the smallest dog, who prances forward, looking like a young actor sensing his big opportunity. Chuck crouches to speak to him. "Bo, I want you to run up to the car, go in this door, jump over the seat, and go out there." The camera rolls, and Bo receives his cue and heads for the sedan. In, over, out- flawlessly. "Print it," says the director.

Trickery or not, the manner in which Eisenmann was able to communicate with London, and later with a number of other dogs in his care, left expert dog trainers, veterinarians and animal behaviorists dumbfounded. Eisenmann was the Chris Angel of the dog world and was regularly seen with television's most famous face.

More impressive was that Eisenmann did not use corporal punishment or food bribes to train his dogs. In fact, he became upset when the word "train" was used to describe his work. Eisenmann would enthusiastically exclaim: "I do not train my dogs. I educate them!"

 

How The Trainer Of "The Littlest Hobo" Transformed Normal Dogs Into Canine MASTERMINDS!

 

Unimpressed by the public assumptions that he and his dogs were simple tricksters, Eisenmann wrote a number of books that instructed dog owners how to "educate" their pets, using a style of teaching that he called, "The Intellectual Method".

"A Dog's Day In Court", "Stop! Sit! Think!", and "The Educated Dog" were three of Eisenmann's books that impressed readers with a caliber of insight that, even by today's standards, caused a nation of dog owners to stand in awe.

In 1981, Toronto Star writer, Lotta Dempsey, wrote about Eisenmann's famous dogs saying, "These miracle animals are taught without any harshness or (food) reward other than affection and understanding."  Eisenmann believed that his dogs were capable of working for the reward of self satisfaction. "When my dogs do something right," Eisenmann explains, "they reward themselves with feelings of accomplishment and camaraderie."

Unlike most modern trainers that simply bribe dogs with food, or punish them with fast, sharp, corrections, Eisenmann's Intellectual Method helped dogs shine by elevating them to a higher level of understanding.  Simply put, Eisenmann believes that there is more to dogs than meets the eye, and that most dogs are far smarter than people give them credit for. He rejects training methods that cater to our dogs' most base instincts (such as greed for food and the desire to hunt), and nurtures the intellectual giant within all of our pets.

Your dog does not need to learn half of what London was able to understand. Nonetheless, The Intellectual Method of puppy training can help you cure behavior problems and establish a flawless relationship with your dog. The Intellectual Method is the only training method that truly addresses the super intelligence found in most canines. While other puppies are learning to follow food lures and shake-a-paw, your puppy can actually learn to understand you when you talk.

 

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