Dog Training

Off Topic
1

Not another weight training thread…

I mean training man’s best friend. I’ve two beasts, both of whom are sweethearts, but don’t listen worth a shit.

A 120 pound lab, mixed with horse, and a rottie I got from a rescue. She’s 80 pounds. Both great natured, but as soon as I let them off a lead – they’re gone, running the hills.

I know a little of the Kohler Method, a very ‘hands-on’ style, which includes choking the dog when he doesn’t obey, as a last resort. Needless to say that’s not so appealing. There’s got to be a compromise between a hands off approach, and choking, no?

Any tried and true methods you have successfully done? Or is it just a matter of devoting enough time to it?

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treats.

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[quote]5.0 wrote:
Not another weight training thread…

I mean training man’s best friend. I’ve two beasts, both of whom are sweethearts, but don’t listen worth a shit.

A 120 pound lab, mixed with horse, and a rottie I got from a rescue. She’s 80 pounds. Both great natured, but as soon as I let them off a lead – they’re gone, running the hills.

I know a little of the Kohler Method, a very ‘hands-on’ style, which includes choking the dog when he doesn’t obey, as a last resort. Needless to say that’s not so appealing. There’s got to be a compromise between a hands off approach, and choking, no?

Any tried and true methods you have successfully done? Or is it just a matter of devoting enough time to it?

[/quote]

i have am old great dane right now and a lab chow mix
always had dogs and we used to train search and rescue dogs

the rotties were shutzen trained
but with our puts we just trained them like you would a baby.
patientce was key,when they did bad if you caught them doing something show them what the ydid and stern voice and thump them on the nose or ass.

if they did good when you wanted them to reward them with a treat or playfulness.
voice tone is important like the baby cooo coo cooo whne there good and a stern HELL NO when not

my dane has a favorite bunny rabbit stuffed animal its her “baby” she dosent chew it very gentel with it and when I am teaching her something I will guide her in what to do and when she does it I paly with her with the bunny.

same thing police do with thier dogs and the balls they get the ball when they do good

I hate the choking or hitting type thing dogs dont really understand and if you keep doing tha tits more of instilling fear in them.
I think the idea here is for you to be the leader of the pack and to show them they can trust you and they will in return protect you out of nature.

4

[quote]skidmark wrote:
treats.[/quote]

Yeah, that’s simple enough.

5

example of my dane
this is several years ago the dog was about 3-4 and shes 15 now and my little sister was jr high school age me and my mom was both at work and she was home from school.

my sister told us what happened after finding her crying,scratched up and stuffed under her bed.
she was walking the dog and this guy walked up started talking to my sister.
my dog stepped sidways between her and the guy and pushed my sister back but didnt growl or bark.
the guy saw tha tthe dog was nice and wasnt going to bite him so he reached for my sister some how,and the dog grabbed my sister by the arm and dragged her back to the house.
my sister mad hitting the dog screaming at her opened the door and the dog still draged her and somehow stuffed her under her bed and laid down next to her where she couldnt get out and started barking.

we found the front door open dog barking and walked in and the dog jumped up ran to me and jumped on me almost to say “look I did a good job” my sister was pissed she didnt understand till later why the dog held her hostage for several minutes before we got home

she wasnt going to allow this guy get my sister and wasnt going to get into a fight with something bigger than her.

this dog has slept in my sisters bed since a puppy she was trained to watch my sister,follow her and basicly my sister is her puppy. so she is to protect her.

she is just as protective of me and my brother but I used to slap my sisters arm in front of her and my sister woukld go “ouch saffie help me” the dog would push her down and bark at me till i stopped.

her first priority was my sister,we did that on purpose too.

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The solution to all your needs…

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[quote]Nich wrote:
example of my dane
this is several years ago the dog was about 3-4 and shes 15 now and my little sister was jr high school age me and my mom was both at work and she was home from school.

my sister told us what happened after finding her crying,scratched up and stuffed under her bed.
she was walking the dog and this guy walked up started talking to my sister.
my dog stepped sidways between her and the guy and pushed my sister back but didnt growl or bark.
the guy saw tha tthe dog was nice and wasnt going to bite him so he reached for my sister some how,and the dog grabbed my sister by the arm and dragged her back to the house.
my sister mad hitting the dog screaming at her opened the door and the dog still draged her and somehow stuffed her under her bed and laid down next to her where she couldnt get out and started barking.

we found the front door open dog barking and walked in and the dog jumped up ran to me and jumped on me almost to say “look I did a good job” my sister was pissed she didnt understand till later why the dog held her hostage for several minutes before we got home

she wasnt going to allow this guy get my sister and wasnt going to get into a fight with something bigger than her.

this dog has slept in my sisters bed since a puppy she was trained to watch my sister,follow her and basicly my sister is her puppy. so she is to protect her.

she is just as protective of me and my brother but I used to slap my sisters arm in front of her and my sister woukld go “ouch saffie help me” the dog would push her down and bark at me till i stopped.

her first priority was my sister,we did that on purpose too.[/quote]

That’s pretty cool, man. I always like hearing those types of stories, since dogs rule.

I’ve wondered if my lab was mixed with dane, he’s so damn big. But in the right light, he’s got the brown/tan markings like a rottie. Who knows…

Thanks for the info.

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[quote]Blacksnake wrote:
The solution to all your needs…

[/quote]

Thanks, Blacksnake.

And as always, I appreciate your never ending efforts on your “War on Test…” thread.

10

5.0

I recently took my 12 y.o. bordie collie/golden retriever mix to obedience school for her (us) to learn how to walk “loose lease”. I wanted to get in a lot of walking/jogging with her this summer and I’m tired of her lunging and pulling.

The initial instructor was excellent…with a ‘Dog Whisperer - Cesar Millan’ philosophy. He recommended the “Gentle Leader” collar…which works like MAGIC! She’s a totally different dog on-leash…it seems that she CAN’T pull! Highly recommended.

Then, that instructor had some personal issues and was absent from class…they sent a substitute trainer. The owner of the dog school was greeting each of the dogs in class and introducing the new substitute trainer…and when they got to us, the owner got in my dog’s face…and my dog snapped at her and nipped the owner on the hand! She has NEVER biten anyone! Then…a week later…before the next class…they called and said because of her ‘bite history’ we couldn’t come back to class! WTF! THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE F’EN EXPERTS! Turns out, the initial trainer doesn’t work there anymore.

Anyway…I bought the book “Cesar’s Way” by Cesar Millan. He has a show on the National Geographic Channel, although I’ve never seen it. The book is really good and I’ve learned a great deal…everything I’ve done wrong for the past 12 years! I still have a few more chapters to go. He’s got an interesting personal life story too…that he goes into in the book (illegal immigrant from Mexico).

Thanks to the previous poster about Vistorias link and shows. I’ll try and catch those.

GOOD LUCK!

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I don’t know about anyone’s particular method or style of training, but in my experience it’s all a matter of time and negative and positive reinforcement. Some dogs take longer to learn (and honestly, some dogs never learn).

Are you taking enough time each day to work on training? Do you separate the dogs and work on the skills individually? Do you work on the training in different environments so the dogs are used to new and different surroundings?

I’m not implying you don’t do any of these things, it’s just things you may need to look at. Also, always remember to reward the dog for a job well done. It doesn’t always have to be a treat either. Some dogs respond to verbal praise, belly rubs, and other things.

[photo]15811[/photo]

There’s my APBT. He was a rescue and some of the training took some extra work. I don’t know the details of his past, but he was neglected(he was severely underweight) and possibly abused.

Now, two years later, he is trained fairly well. If I had to, I could walk him without his lead without much of a problem.

Also, think about what you need the dogs trained for. Most house dogs only need to learn a few commands. Sit, Stay, Come, and maybe Drop it. If you go beyond that, you will need to invest much more time and may want to consider professional help.

Good luck. A dog is a wonderful friend to have.

12

[quote]Sweet Revenge wrote:
I recently took my 12 y.o. bordie collie/golden retriever mix to obedience school for her (us) to learn how to walk “loose lease”. I wanted to get in a lot of walking/jogging with her this summer and I’m tired of her lunging and pulling.

The initial instructor was excellent…with a ‘Dog Whisperer - Cesar Millan’ philosophy. He recommended the “Gentle Leader” collar…which works like MAGIC! She’s a totally different dog on-leash…it seems that she CAN’T pull! Highly recommended.

Then, that instructor had some personal issues and was absent from class…they sent a substitute trainer. The owner of the dog school was greeting each of the dogs in class and introducing the new substitute trainer…and when they got to us, the owner got in my dog’s face…and my dog snapped at her and nipped the owner on the hand!

She has NEVER biten anyone! Then…a week later…before the next class…they called and said because of her ‘bite history’ we couldn’t come back to class! WTF! THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE F’EN EXPERTS! Turns out, the initial trainer doesn’t work there anymore.[/quote]

Man, that’s ridiculous. That’s the substitute trainer’s fault, not the dog’s. Wow.

His show is great to watch. He makes it look like second nature the way he corrects bad behavior. Maybe you can help, since you’re almost through with the book. I live in the boonies, and would love for them to run off lead, but of course to come back when I call.

There are deer and rabbits, etc, that get their atention, and they bolt. Apparently I’m not the alpha in their eyes, since they just…keep going. Anyway, does his book address any off lead obedience? I guess it all ties in to on lead obedience first, eh?

[quote]Thanks to the previous poster about Vistorias link and shows. I’ll try and catch those.

GOOD LUCK! [/quote]

Thanks for the input.

13

[quote]malonetd wrote:
I don’t know about anyone’s particular method or style of training, but in my experience it’s all a matter of time and negative and positive reinforcement. Some dogs take longer to learn (and honestly, some dogs never learn).

Are you taking enough time each day to work on training? Do you separate the dogs and work on the skills individually? Do you work on the training in different environments so the dogs are used to new and different surroundings?[/quote]

And I think that’s what it boils down to - commitment. Just like anything else we do.

[quote]I’m not implying you don’t do any of these things, it’s just things you may need to look at. Also, always remember to reward the dog for a job well done. It doesn’t always have to be a treat either. Some dogs respond to verbal praise, belly rubs, and other things.

[photo]15811[/photo]

There’s my APBT. He was a rescue and some of the training took some extra work. I don’t know the details of his past, but he was neglected(he was severely underweight) and possibly abused.

Now, two years later, he is trained fairly well. If I had to, I could walk him without his lead without much of a problem.

Also, think about what you need the dogs trained for. Most house dogs only need to learn a few commands. Sit, Stay, Come, and maybe Drop it. If you go beyond that, you will need to invest much more time and may want to consider professional help.

Good luck. A dog is a wonderful friend to have. [/quote]

I couldn’t imagine my life without dogs. Thanks for the addition.

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A dog will only obey the Alpha Male, so put some bark in your voice when you speak to them.

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A blurry pic of my “saffy” named her that because she has blue eyes " saffire"
shes in “her” bed this is a california queen bed btw

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[quote]streamline wrote:
A dog will only obey the Alpha Male, so put some bark in your voice when you speak to them.[/quote]

Like birch, or oak?

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[quote]streamline wrote:
A dog will only obey the Alpha Male, so put some bark in your voice when you speak to them.[/quote]

False. Our dogs obey every human in the family, children included. Sorry, Streamline, not trying to be rude, I’m just sayin’.

One method that might help your dogs off leash is to walk them individually on leash, using continually longer leashes (you can use one of those long retractable leashes or even a rope). Let them go to the end of the leash and periodically call them back, for no apparent reason.

This just gets them used to automatically returning when they are called. Always use the same command to call them,so they associate that sound with returning to you. Praise them immediately for compliance. Insist that they return to you with a tug on the leash if they don’t do so immediately, and stop walking.

This shows them that nobody’s going anywhere until they return on your command. And as streamline says, put some bark in your voice. Then, when they’ve had a string of successes, start letting them go for brief periods off leash, as they earn it by quick return when you call.

The freedom of being off leash is the positive reinforcer, along with lots of praise & petting for any small improvement. If you don’t have time to walk the dogs separately, you can walk them together, but let them off leash individually.

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IF she requires training now, you married the wrong woman…

Maybe your best choice of action would be to di… oh wait… nevermind

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[quote]HangerBaby wrote:
IF she requires training now, you married the wrong woman…

Maybe your best choice of action would be to di… oh wait… nevermind[/quote]

Ha, yeah. That one could never be trained.