Ilza is a dog whisperer
“Dogs are capable of doing anything and I trained them to open doors because maybe one day I will need their assistance.”
SECUNDA – Ms Ilse Engelbrecht has a natural way of understanding and interpreting canines’ way of communication.
Her dogs do not only react to her commands, but if she cries or tears roll downs her cheeks, they cry too, including her pit bull terrier that smiles at her every morning.
“When I wake up, she smiles at me and when I ask if she is smiling at me, she smiles completely and that revives my mood daily,” said Ms Engelbrecht.
She said her passion for dogs comes from her grandfather who bred beagles for hunting purposes.
Ms Engelbrecht currently owns six bull terriers, one pitbull terrier and an American bully, whom she defines as her true friends.
She is a member of the American Bully Federation of South Africa and will be judging at a dog show, which will also help her to be accredited with a dog trainer certificate.
“People always miss the opportunity of training their pets when they are still puppies, because all they see is cute puppy and forget that they will grow up to be big dogs,” said Ms Engelbrecht.
She taught her dogs to jump on her after a command.
They are also taught how to open and close doors of the house and when asked the reason behind it, she said: “Dogs are culpable of doing anything and I trained them to open doors because I might one day need their assistance.
“The first day I saw a bull terrier, I was very young when we visited my uncle and the dog nearly hurt my mother.
“My curiosity of understanding canines’ behaviour began there,” said Ms Engelbrecht.
“Dogs are not just animals, in my house they are part of the family.”
Ms Engelbrecht’s mother, Ms Anna-Marie Engelbrecht, said though her daughter is passionate about dogs, she feels it is time for her to stop getting more dogs.
“She always says she thinks she needs a bigger plot and when she looks for property, her first priority is always dogs,” said Ms Anna-Marie Engelbrecht.
She also said people must build trust with their dogs, because where there is trust there is communication and no communication means no proper training and no obedience.
Ms Engelbrecht’s son, Juan-Claude Engelbrecht, said though he helps his mother to wash, polish and prepare the dogs for shows, he does not have the passion that his mother has for dogs.
Besides being a dog trainer, she is also a bull terrier breeder who does not consider selling her dogs to people who want to buy them, because they consider them as vicious or those who are looking for guide dogs.
Her dogs will take part in the dog show at Evander High School on Saturday, 3 September.
She said people think that bull terriers are the dumbest dogs, but she would like to show them what they can be if they get love and care, training and discipline.
Her greatest fear is to lose one of the dogs.
