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I try and answer every question I receive on dog training. I may often come across as a little on the blunt side, (some may call it brash). That is because I consider myself an advocate for dogs and not dog handlers. I am an advocate for common sense dog training and not the latest fad that appears on the horizon. Good dog training is not rocket science. It's common sense.
We have two GSD's (a male and a female) age 9 months. They were spayed & neutered at age 6 months. We have used your training videos and the dogs have performed remarkably. They were house-trained practically overnight after we used the information from one of your videos. The new problem is our neighbors. They are old, cranky, and light sleepers. We have the dogs on a routine to accommodate our work schedule. We take them out between 6 and 7 am every morning to eliminate. Some mornings they bark at the paper boy or another animal they see. Our neighbors complain the barking is bothering them and waking them up and have threatened legal action. Would you recommend us trying to train the dogs to use a litter box for the 6-7AM potty break? Would this mess up their house training? We're working on eliminating the bark but, the neighbor said, "If they bark one more time..." well you can figure out the rest. Your comments would be appreciated. Answer: I have the same problem with my neighbors. They hate barking dogs. I solved the problem with the No-Bark collars. This took care of the problem in one day. There are a lot of no bark collars on the market. I have tried them all. The Tri Tronics No Bark is by far the best. They work off lithium batteries which will power the collar for 5 or 6 months. Many people resist using a collar on their dogs (especially young dogs.) That’s a mistake, especially with the Tri Tronics collars. The beauty of this system is the stimulation from the collar can be adjusted to the point where the shock does not hurt, it’s just slightly uncomfortable. This is great for young dogs. There is a video that comes with the collar that explains exactly how to determine what level of stimulation to use on your dog. The important thing to remember with collars is that they are not meant to be worn 24 hours a day. They must be taken off for a few hours before being put back on. We put them on at 5 PM and they come off in the morning after 8 AM.
We have a male Rott that is ten months old, he has one annoying habit. When on the leash he will periodically bite at the leash and we have tried everything to try to break this habit, he seems to do it to get something going and then he gets feisty and argumentative. If you try to use force, it gets worse. The Alpha roll does not seem to get it. He is better with my wife, he really tries to get something going with me. Looking for help, we would like to break him from this and we do not want it to grow into something more serious. Do you send videos to Canada? Thanks ......concerned L. Smithson Answer: There are a couple things to talk about here:
Our 1 year old dog is obedience trained but we cannot keep him off the furniture. What can we do? Answer: There are a couple of things that come to mind when I see and hear about this problem. 1. The dog is not really obedience trained. What I recommend is the dog should always wear a short drag line while in the house. It should be as long as possible without causing problems with getting snagged on furniture. If the dog has somewhat of a hard temperament (one that recovers quickly from a firm correction) the owner should also consider a prong collar. If the dog is a softer dog (one that takes awhile to recover from a correction) then a normal choke collar will work. When the dog climbs on the furniture, the handler should only use "ONE COMMAND" either No or pfui (pfui is the German word for NO). Many dog owners forget this very important point. They come into the room and say "Spot get off the damn couch." or "Spot if I told you once I told you a hundred times, get down off the couch." The fact is that the only word the dog probably understood was his name. He may react to the harsh tone of the voice but this is not good dog training. We should not have to get mad or even sound mad when we train our dogs. It's important to learn to give a firm command without sounding mad. This is not easy to do, it takes practice. Too often new dog owners teach their dogs that the only time they really have to mind is when they sound mad. They accomplish this by not moving to give a correction until they sound upset. So, the proper way to handle the dog when it gets on the couch is to issue a firm "NO" and if the dog does not get down the owner should calmly walk over, pick up the drag line and give a firm "JERK." Here again we see a lot of mistakes. Many owners will drag the dog off the couch or chair and not give a proper correction. The correction needs to be a "snap jerk," it’s more like "Popping" the dog. Many new owners correct the dog with something more like a pull on the leash rather than popping the choke collar with a firm quick pop. This kind of a correction should almost create a little shock in the dogs temperament. We want the dog to realize that he screwed up and just got popped for it. The most important part of the entire process is to praise the dog when it gets down off the chair. Dogs will naturally seek an area area of least stress. If owners are consistent with this NO - calmly walk to the dog and give a JERK CORRECTION followed by praise or NO followed by praise when the dog gets down. The dog will quickly learn that getting on the furniture is not in its best interest. If you have a very stubborn dog that will continue to climb on the furniture (after you have gone through the above process) and just get down when told then you need to change tactics. When the dog is found on furniture you must calmly walk over to the dog and give an automatic correction. This means that you don't act mad or upset, you simply walk up to the dog (without giving eye contact), reach down and give the dog a correction that he will dream about tonight. As you issue the correction you give the "NO" command. When it’s down you still must praise. Every dog will appreciate your consistency and praise.
I was wondering if you are able to help with a few questions. My husband and I have had a German Shepherd for the past two years. His name is Sargent. We picked him out when he was six months old. He has gone to puppy training and adult training and passed very well. My husband was the one who took him, so he is much more well behaved for him then myself. He is very good and listens most of the time, except when it comes to children. When he sees them running and riding the bikes, he likes to chase them. Is there anything or anyway he will grow out of doing it? The second thing is that he is very, very protective of me and my husband sometimes, almost too much!!! Could that be worth worrying about? Do you have any suggestions or any information you can send me? Thank you for your time, Answer: Realizing that you and your husband are probably very very attached to this dog, I offer my opinions as a word of warning. You sound like you have the beginning of a real problem here. Unless you recognize it for what it is and deal with it you may have an accident waiting to happen. The dog chases the children on bikes because they stimulate his prey drive. He sees them going and he goes. The problem is going to come when he combines the protective aspect with the prey drive problem. It could easily result in a dog bite. If you have questions about the drives a dog uses in bite work I suggest that you refer to my article titled The Drives of Protection Training. Correcting the dog for chasing kids on bikes goes right along with normal obedience training. The fact is that this dog needs to learn to come under distraction. This means that he needs to come every time you call him and even when he sees a kid on a bike. If he will not respond then his "come" training is lacking. You have not done your job properly and you need to back up your obedience training and he should be on a long line and preferably with a prong collar. If you have questions on obedience training you should refer to my tape titled Basic Dog Obedience. The dog also needs to learn that chasing kids on bikes is the worst thing that can happen to him. This can either be done with very strong leash corrections (probably with a prong collar) or with a long line and an electric collar. If an electric collar is used it is critical (in my opinion) that the dog be attached to a long line in the initial stages of training. A situation could develop where the dog would think that the stimulation (shocking) from the collar actually came from the child and this could trigger aggression. So you have to have him under control so that if this happens he can not get to the child. The bottom line is that most dogs will respond to strong leash corrections, or long line corrections if they are strong enough. Remember that one good correction is worth 1000 nagging mid-level corrections on a deal like this. If the dog does not respond to obedience training and corrections you need to consider putting the dog down. No dog is worth taking a chance on a child being hurt.
Could someone please guide me in the right direction to finding help with training an aggressive male German shepherd named "Storm?" He is 18 months old and a dear children’s pet but he has a terribly dangerous habit. We have two horses whom he loves to chase and nip at, (he will not respond to our calls when he is doing this and has recently been kicked twice). We are fearful he will be seriously hurt or killed if we cannot control this behavior. He is currently in a dog run but we would like to give him the freedom of running our 2 1/2 acre fenced property. Options we have considered are a shock collar. He is so strong I cannot hold him back if he is on a leash and he wants to get at these horses. Should I put a prong collar on him? Please send any helpful information my way. We would love to breed him as soon as his bloodlines and confirmation are exceptional. I would appreciate any information in this area. Also, (we are currently seeking a female mate for him). Answer: My last choice would be an electric shock collar, especially for people who are not familiar with dog training. It would be much wiser to get a prong collar and my video titled Basic Dog Obedience. I call prong collars power steering for dogs. In this tape we show how to fit the prong, how to determine what level of correction each dog needs and how to maintain off-leash control with the use of a long line. This is not a difficult thing to train. The biggest problem is that you are expecting an untrained or partially trained dog to mind under a very high level of distraction. That’s an unfair expectation. You should take the dog through the training steps of correction training and distraction training and have the horses be the last step of distraction training, (this is all explained in detail in the tape). As far as how to deal with your property boundaries, there is only one reliable way to do this and that’s with a fencing system. This is never a training issue. If you do not want to go to the expense of a normal fence then go to the innotek Fence System. This is similar to an "Invisible Fence" in design and quality except it costs 80% less than an invisible fence. The "Invisible Fence" patent was up in 1989. There have been a lot of clones that have come on the market. Most are garbage and not worth the money. This innotek Fence System is excellent quality and every bit as good as the Invisible Fence. I know because I sold Invisible Fences for six years in the early 1980's.
My dog takes food off the table, cupboard and out of the garbage when we are not in the room. Can you help? Answer: This is a simple problem. You simply place mouse traps under a piece of paper near the food that you leave as bait. Usually the dog will set the trap and never get snapped. Some dogs are especially pain resistant and care free. If they are large enough you can go up to a rat trap. That is seldom needed. Before I do that I usually take the paper away and leave the trap sitting out. These traps are also very effective in keeping dogs off of furniture or even out of certain rooms where you don't want them to go. You start with the paper down and land mines under it (the mouse traps). Then gradually take the paper away. This system works almost all the time.
I have made almost every mistake possible buying a new puppy. Here is my story. I can hardly believe it's 3 a.m. and I've been reading all you have to say! Such a wealth of information! I can see many places that I have gone wrong. First, I didn't buy a Leerburg pup. I can clearly see that was the first mistake! In fact, I got Gatsby (sort of black & cream American) from a fairly respectable breeder... to our dismay we found that she had a heart defect (valve didn't close after birth) and she was the only one in several litters with this problem. We got our money back, but I couldn't trade in a pup that stole my heart in the first week we had her! In the seven short months she lived, I found her to be the most wonderful dog I have ever owned. She bonded to me immediately & would never leave my heel. I could let her out & know that she would never leave the yard regardless--she couldn't stand to be away from me for too long, I guess! She would come when called & sit well. I decided against any other training considering her short life expectancy...but she was so well-mannered that it really didn't seem necessary. I held her when they put her down & I swear a part of me died, too! I was depressed for weeks. Then the problem came--his name is Meeko. I just had to have another GSD to fill that void!! We, completely by chance (we weren't really looking at that point, but knew that we'd like to get another one) found Meeko--he is one of the White GSD misfits that no one likes to talk about (more info on this??). I thought he was gorgeous despite the fact that they are "inferior." We got him at 4 mos. of age--he had not been housebroken! The people had several little girls that would drag him around on the long line -- thankfully he is excellent around our sons; (They are twins, both 14 mo. old now), but often balks at the concept of a leash (not surprisingly). Problem is he is a runner. He will take off at the drop of a hat, driving me totally crazy. I try to approach him slowly & get him back in the house (as our neighborhood streets can get some fast traffic) as soon as I can, but often he will just bolt as soon as I get close! I am infuriated! He refuses to pay a bit of attention to me (and only somewhat to my husband)--I have always been in charge of the "training" or "handling" of any breathing creature in our house. Meeko has recently obtained a prong collar, but I want to make sure that I use it properly (a level 10 seems harsh to me at first, but I'm totally willing to try it if you think it's appropriate). Also he still has "accidents" in the house if we leave him for more than an hour. I can't keep him from going spastic every time we have company (I've had to pay for clothing & dry cleaning bills from his jumping up habits) & I find myself getting angry. He has a thing for the garbage (including diapers, which is really disgusting let me tell you!) I know I shouldn't get mad and I keep telling myself that he's a normal pup, and will never be another Gatsby. So do I need to lay down the law with him, or what? What steps can I take to undo some of the nasty habits that are already there!? I'm going absolutely insane here! I have checked out the pix of the gorgeous Leerburg pups and wish I could go back & do things differently! But Meeko is a part of our family & we want so badly to see him do well & learn how to behave better. I really don't think he's stupid--I can see the cogs & wheels just behind those beautiful black eyes ...I just need a little confidence!?!! Yikes! Thanks so much, Answer: The mistakes that you made are no different than those made by other people every day. Unless you are in the dog business you can not be expected to know how to go about acquiring a new pet for your family. Frankly, I think the cost of my puppies is a little prohibitive for people looking for pets. Your new dog definitely needs work. You need to start with a dog crate in your home. I like the wire cages vs. the plastic crates. The wire cages give the dog more room to see things around him and they seem to relax better in them. Kennel-aire in Minneapolis makes a good one. Once the dog is crate trained (it takes about a week) he should be put in the crate every single time you leave the house and every time you have company. This will eliminate the peeing when you are gone, the jumping on people when you are there. Once the pup has had some basic dog obedience he will calm down. Then he can be around strangers. But until he will mind and go lay down when you tell him to, he should be crated. The garbage problem is another matter. I would start by putting mouse traps on top of your garbage. If he ignores them and is willing to get snapped, then escalate to a rat trap. This is going to keep most dogs out of the garbage. There may be a problem with the dog’s diet that causes him to eat your kids poop. Make sure you are feeding an all-natural diet. I would also give him a good human vitamin every day. Dog vitamins are pretty poor. The running can be cured with a drag line and a prong collar. Keep the line by the door. Every time the dog goes outside he gets a 20 foot line attached to him. They never know where the end of that line is. So you always want to be within reach of the line when you call. If he does not come he should be corrected (this is assuming that you have done your motivational training and he knows what the word "come" means). I strongly recommend that you get my training video titled Basic Dog Obedience. You need this tape badly. It will solve all the problems you refer to and a lot more. A major part of your problem is related to the fact that you have a poorly bred dog. His genetic make-up limits what he is capable of learning and how well he learns.
My 6 month old Australian Shepherd is an extremely smart, responsive dog but has no use for my husband. I walk him everyday and I used to feed him. Since we noticed this problem my husband has begun to do all the feeding, and though the dog is nicer to him he won't leave the house with him or play with him. Thanks for any help you can give us. Kathleen High Answer: Maybe your dog is trying to tell you something about your choice of partners. Just kidding. Have your husband turn into a hot dog machine. Go out and buy these cheap hot dogs and cut them into small pieces. Your husband should give the dog treats every time he can think of it. When you go for walks, let your husband call him and give him a piece of hot dog when he comes. Have your husband brush and groom him. This also helps. In addition, your dog should never sleep in your bedroom. Sometimes a dog will get attached to the female in the family and be allowed to sleep in the bedroom. When the husband sleeps with the wife, this triggers a dominant response from the dog. Make the dog sleep in a dog crate in another room. If these things don't work - either get a new dog or a new husband.
Should I take my dog to obedience classes or should
I train it myself? Answer: You should NEVER take a totally untrained dog to obedience classes. You will never find an effective professional trainer taking his totally untrained dog into a room full of other dogs to start his training. I have written a complete detailed training article on this subject and placed it in the description portion of my video Basic Dog Obedience. If you are serious about doing a good job training your dog you need to read this information.
I want to train my lab to retrieve frisbees, tennis balls, etc. She loves retrieving, but also likes playing games of not giving it up to me when she returns. Would the forced retrieve video that you well be a good idea, or is it really intended for competition dogs? Bob Answer: One of the things new trainers need to do is step back from a problem and analyze what is actually going on. Sometimes they confuse "what they want to have happen" with "what is actually happening". I think this is the case here. What you want to have happen is for the dog to retrieve the Frisbee and bring it back (with emphasis on bringing it back). Your thinking is that it is a forced retrieve situation. When in fact the dog is going out to get the Frisbee to retrieve it just fine. She is just not coming when you call. Initially let her keep the Frisbee when she comes to you. She obviously likes it or she would not play. When you do take it away maybe you give her a treat or when she comes back you can have a second Frisbee and show it to her. Make her spit the first one out on the ground before throwing the second one. This works great with tennis balls also. I talk about it in my videos and call it the "2 ball game." It does not take a dog long to learn that if they charge out to get the ball and run back they will be able to chase the second ball. Once the dog learns this game you can add obedience to it by making it down after it spits the first ball out but before you toss the second ball. This is all called "training thru drive" and is always a better idea than using force as a first option. If a dog will not play the 2 ball game (and very few will not) then you can look at a different approach. You can look at this problem as a recall problem. It seems the distraction of the game is so strong the dog does not want to quit playing and come because she knows she is going to lose her toy - and that is no fun at all. So you need to work on the recall under distraction. Go back to long line work (away from the Frisbee work see my Basic Dog Obedience video.) Take the dog to areas where there are other dogs and make her come every time. The emphasis needs to be placed on praise for the dog when she comes. When the dog will do recalls under extreme distraction you can then go back to the Frisbee work. If she doesn't come, put a long line on and guide her back to you. If she drops the Frisbee and loses interest in it then you have another problem. But if you make a big enough deal about having her come back to you with the Frisbee this may help. We live in a small town and I can't find anyone to train us, mostly my husband and I. Laney (1 year old part chow part Shepherd) has many annoying habits: constant licking or jumping up on us. She can never just sit or lay by us while we watch TV or talk. She also play bites my husband, but never me because I have been firmer in the past with her. Last, she is too smart for us, we can never get her to come or leave the room, go to bed, go outside... When we try she always lays down, rolls on her back and puts her paws in the air. If you try to grab her or get her by the collar she will raise her gums and try and bite you. Please help! Answer: Your dog needs obedience training. That’s the place to start. At one year of age she needs to learn manners. She is old enough to begin to go through serious training. You need to get my tape Basic Dog Obedience. This dog is crying for attention and dog training provides this attention. It also teaches the dog manners. The bigger concern is that you have allowed her to roll on her back and show her teeth to you. By allowing this to happen, you have trained the dog to do this. She has learned that it produces results. When a dog shows its teeth as a young dog (under 1 year) it needs to get corrected and a very good correction, at that. The dog is not mature enough to really turn on (no matter how inexperienced the handler is) and come back on the handler. If you do not feel comfortable about sticking your hand down to grab the dog, put a short leash on her and make her wear it all the time. You can always reach down and grab the end of an 18 inch leash. If she snarls, she needs a level 10 correction. She needs to learn that every time she shows her teeth she is going to go through HELL. If you as the handler refuse to do this, you are creating a very dangerous situation. As this dog matures, it will gain more and more confidence in its ability to defend itself (when it is under 1 year it does not have that self confidence yet). The dog is learning that if it does not like something it can snarl at a human (even a human it knows) and get its way. One day it will be around a child and the child will do something it does not like. The snarl may not work because the child does not recognize it as a warning signal. Then the dog bites and everyone is a loser.
I am hoping you can help me with a problem I am having with my female German Shepherd "Gracie." Gracie is now 14 month old, she knows the basic obedience commands, but refuses to obey on recall. The minute she hears the door she will try to bolt through the door and refuses to come back until she is ready. We will live in a rural community in Fairbanks, Alaska and so far this has not caused a problem, but it is extremely frustrating as well as posing a potential future problem. She does chase people and horses. I am quite concerned but do not know how to break her habit. I did go ahead and ordered a training collar in hopes this will break her, but I am not sure if this is the right thing to do. Any suggestions? Answer: There are a number of things that need to be considered to correct this problem. The electric shock collar is the last on the list and probably not needed. Every single obedience command follows 3 simple steps. First we teach the dog the meaning of the command. Second, we teach the dog that once he knows a command and then refuses to do what's asked he gets corrected for it. Third, we teach the dog that he must perform the command under distraction or he is corrected. A dog can never be corrected for not "coming" if it does not know the meaning of the word "come." So the first thing that needs to be determined is if she knows the word. I assume she does because you said that she has gone through basic obedience. So this dog needs to learn that it will be corrected for not coming. This should not be done in the back yard. There are too many distractions for this dog out there. I would begin by putting a prong collar and a normal leash on the dog in the house. I would put here in a "Down Stay" in the living room and then have someone open the door like they were going outside. At that moment I would call her to me. If she goes to the door rather than to you (your assistant does not allow her to go outside), you calmly (without screaming or raising your voice) walk over pick up the leash and give her a level 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10) correction for not "coming." In these circumstances I correct several times as I back up to the point where I was when I called her. All the while saying "Come !!!- You Come!!!" The key is to sound firm and not mad. There is a big big difference here and novice trainers a have a problem not sounding mad. When you get back to the point where you were when you called her, you stop (she should be considerably upset if the corrections were firm or hard enough). Wait a second or two and then praise her and show her that you do not hold a grudge. This training continues until the dog minds under every distraction in the house. We want her to mind when the back door is wide open and she needs to run by it to get to you. When you get to that stage of training it is best to put a 30 foot line on her and not a leash. If the dog bolts outside it is always easier to catch her again if she is dragging a 30 foot line. They never know where the end of the line is. But again, when you catch her, the corrections are severe. I have one simple way to look at corrections: "ONE GOOD CORRECTION IS WORTH 100 NAGGING CORRECTIONS." A point not to forget is that the correction is actually a series of corrections all the way back to the point where you originally were when you first called the dog. Also this process can take days to accomplish. Do not try and rush through this in one or two training sessions. Then when you get to the point where you are outside, you always have her drag the 30 foot line. When she is 100% with the line on, you can shorten it to 10 feet, then 3 feet, then a foot long line attached to the collar. Very few dogs do not respond to this training. If you want to get then entire program I recommend you buy my video titled Basic Dog Obedience. This tape covers this program and a lot more. It is a no nonsense approach to dog training. The following are a list of the biggest mistakes novice trainers make, don't let yourself fall into one of these traps:
My husband and I bought a German Shepherd pup at 4 1/2 months of age from a professional breeder with several past champions. We wanted to make sure we were purchasing a dog with a good pedigree and excellent temperament. The dog is now 11 months old and we are extremely disappointed and ready to give it back to the breeder. We don't know if it is our problem in training or the dog is the problem. The dog will obey my husband most of the time and will listen when he tells him to sit/stay or down/stay, I have a difficult time getting him to obey me. He will listen most of the time to sit but he will not stay for long and getting him in the down position is one of the most frustrating things I have to deal with. He fights me all the way and it takes several times before he will listen and I'm on the verge of tears and frustrated. Sometimes it gets to the point where if he won't listen I will just put him outside so I won't have to deal with him. He jumps up on everyone in the family and I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter and 7 month old son, so I am very concerned about that. He has made her cry several times and is constantly grabbing her clothes or biting her to play with her. We are there at all times and supervise but we are constantly saying NO MAX! and I will grab him by the neck and shake him and look him in the eye. I can control him if it's just me or my husband in the room most of the time but all it takes is for my daughter to walk in and he's jumping all over running around the room and getting all excited and grabbing anything he can get like my children's toys or clothes. I have gotten him chew toys so he would have something of his own that he knows is only his to chew on but it doesn't seem to sink in no matter how much we tell him NO! We have taken him to Dog Obedience School in a group which I realize you don't recommend. He knows how to heel, sit, stay, down. The problem is he won't listen to me all the time and I want him to be an obedient dog at all times around people and it's not turning out that way. He seems very bull headed and extremely dominant. Nothing we've tried seems to help and we're ready to get rid of him if he doesn't get any better. That is the last resort. We don't want to give up on him. We know that GSD's mature between 18 months and 2 years so we don't know if it's just puppy behavior and he will eventually calm down or he just wants to be the alpha dog in the house. He is outside during the day and has the run of the back yard and I bring him in at night. We want him to be a part of the family and a watch dog for us. But it is hard to bond with a dog that your always yelling at and won't respond to your commands unless he wants to or is put on a short leash and is forced in the down position and made to stay. What should we do with him and what are we doing wrong? Please help! Answer: It is always difficult to try and solve complicated problems without seeing the dog in action. This situation sounds like there are several factors affecting the solution. People that lack experience tend to think they are getting a good dog when it comes from Champion bloodlines. The mention of "Champion Bloodlines' indicated an American bloodline vs. a German bloodline dog. In effect the working ability has been bred out of these dogs. The only thing they are bred to do is to run in a circle and look pretty. There is no consideration given to temperament or working ability in American bloodlines. The AKC (American Kennel Club) and the GSDA (German Shepherd Dog Club of America) have destroyed the working ability and temperament of the American bred Shepherd. So, this is where the problem began. What you thought you were buying and what you bought are two different things. It could be worse, you could have bought an American German Shepherd with the intention of wanting some form of a personal protection dog. I compare that to buying a local farm horse with the intention of running him in the Kentucky Derby. The odds of getting protection work out of an American bloodline dog are about the same. The dominance issue is something else. There is a difference between dominance and being stubborn. If the dog shows possessiveness towards his food bowl or toys or dog crate by growling. Then these are early warning signs of Dominica. In this case I recommend that you neuter the dog if you plan on keeping him. Keep in mind that if there is a possibility of you not keeping him, it is often times more difficult to sell a neutered dog. Dogs will show dominance over children or other dogs by playing with them and then when the dog or child is down on the ground, the dominant dog will stand over the top of the other dog or child and stare down at them. I call this bracing. It’s their way of establishing dominance. The first time you see him standing over (bracing) one of your children when the child is laying on the floor you need to recognize this as a sign of this dog trying to establish pack order with that child. It's time to either get very serious about showing that dog where he stands in the pack or get rid of the dog. Don't gamble with your child's safety. At 10 or 11 months a dog is basically a puppy. He does not have any fight drive to back up a good swift kick in the butt. In other words if you correct him and he would growl at you, you correct him twice as hard. At 11 months he is not mature enough to challenge you for pack authority. Now, this may not be the case 6 or 12 months from now. A two year old dog is mature enough to say, "You are going to treat me like this, I am going to show you who's boss and then we will see who is going to tell who what to do around here!" At that point, the only thing left to do is to get rid of the dog to either an experienced handler or put that dog to sleep. This dog is an adolescent. He is immature and in reality untrained. This is part of the reason for the way he is acting. It sounds like he does not get enough attention. I say that because of the comments on how he acts when the kids come into the room. I would recommend getting a good metal dog crate and keep it near the living area where you spend the most time. Keep the dog in this crate. This accomplishes a couple of things: it gives the dog the feeling of being part of the family unit but also does not allow him to be crazy. Later, when he proves himself, he can be allowed to be loose as long as he is not too wild. If he gets wild - then back in the crate. The odds are you will only need to use the crate until he is about 24 months old. The last problem seems to be a handler problem. The
dog does not respect you. Until you are prepared to teach this dog that
he has to mind and if he does not mind you are fully capable of giving
a meaningful correction, he will never respect your commands. I recommend
the tape we have titled Basic Dog Obedience. Some
people are not prepared to get a prong collar and give a dog the kind
of correction that is necessary. Other people have problems with consistency.
They can give a good correction but are not constant. They are willing
to correct the dog one time but don't do it another time. This only creates
problems like you have. If your dog wore a prong collar with a short leash (18 inches long) all the time and he knew that every time he disobeyed a command he would get a level 10 correction, he would quickly develop a new respect for the spoken word. Lastly, dogs are not robots. You need to allow some free time. This does not mean that he is allowed to be crazy in the house but if he is calm he should be allowed to be free. Maybe one or two walks a day would help settle him down. Walk him on a prong collar and a Flexi lead. Take him out in the back yard and throw the ball for 5 minutes in the snow. Let him burn off some of this pent-up energy. I have written an article called Will My Family Be Safe with My Protection Trained Dog?If you are interested in more information on dominance in dogs, read this article.
I sent my 8 month old female German Shepherd to a professional for advanced training. She doesn’t have much drive for the retrieve, should I send her back? Answer: No, 8 month old dogs should not go through any kind of formal training, especially force exercises like the retrieve. This only kills the dog’s drives. A person should not call themselves a pro if they are accepting this type of work. I would think they are better described as a prostitute. There is little wonder that an 8 month old female would have little drive after going through forced retrieve work. When I first started in Schutzhund you could not put a title on the dog until it was 13 months old. That has since been changed to 18 months because of the damage it did to was started too early when training young dogs. The way I see it is that anyone that accepts a job doing force retrieve on an 8 month old dog is more concerned with his wallet than his client’s dog. I have an 18 mo. old airedale that does excellent obedience work, except when she is on a field where lots of other dogs have been allowed to run around or walk on - including an obedience ring. She'll refuse to sit or down, side steps over patches of grass, and usually backs up when she does sit at a halt from the heel. Have you encountered anything like this before? I've been at "dog-run" parks and tried to force the sit and down, etc. At that point she usually shuts down and of course the sessions are no longer any fun for either of us. I have to end the sessions myself before I take my anger out on her. Answer: The fact is that your dog is only partially trained. I guess you already know this. The dog needs to get over the hump that exists in learning that they MUST DO what they are told to do. Once they understand this concept things will move ahead. Until then there are no magic tricks that you can do to make her sit and down when she does not want to. I am not one of these mean trainers - but I expect my dogs to mind all the time or they get a correction. You identify the biggest problem that ALL her trainers have "ANGER" - there is no place for this in training. If you can replace ANGER with "BEING CALM" and you have taken the first step to becoming a dog trainer. I talk about this in my training tape titled Basic Dog Obedience and Training a Competition Heeling Dog. I would recommend these tapes to you. So what this dog must learn is that it is going to receive a correction every time it does not sit down. This stage comes directly after we know 100% in our mind that the dog knows and understands these commands and is refusing to do them. The correction must be followed by exaggerated praise from you. The dog must feel that you corrected it for doing something wrong , but you have immediately forgiven it and still love it for doing what you asked it to do. That’s the concept. Some people can never learn this, some people
take years to learn this and some people are naturals. Where you fall
in the loop is something that you will have to figure out. The fact that
you have identified your temper is a first step.
I have what I believe to be a dominant dog in some respects. I have show dogs (Belgian Shepherds), one of my Groenendaels can be a hand full, most of the time he knows that I am boss and will behave but the thing that is the problem is when any one in the family goes out of the house he barks cries and screams even though there is still someone in the house. Also, this then sets the other dogs off barking and some time it progresses then to a howl. I have tried a number of different things to cure this (playing to distract him, sits to wait for food, putting him in a different room) all of these to no avail. Could you suggest any thing as before long we will get neighbor complaints. Thank you, Answer: This is not a dominance issue. From the information that you provide in the email its more of a spoiled or hyper dog issue. I recently took back a 15 month old male from my breeding program. He was more dog than the handler could deal with. This dog has so much drive that the local schutzhund people screwed him up. They tried to work him the way that they work all of their dogs in drive development. The problem was that this dog started out in drive at the peak level that they end up getting their dogs to after 2 years of work. This resulted in this dog almost becoming hectic. When he goes into a dog crate in my truck he screams like your dog does when someone leaves. He gets himself so wound up that he throws a fit barking, biting the crate and trying to dig to China. He does not do this when he is in the crate in the house or anywhere else. I took the approach that this was unacceptable behavior. No amount of pampering or socializing around the truck was going to change it. So I simply put a Tri Tronics Collar on the dog and when he threw a fit he got level 5 stimulation (without verbal commands - strictly avoidance training). When he barks he gets random stimulation - initially if he was stimulated every time he barked he would get constant stimulation and this does not work. Only through time has he learned that if he gets in the crate and is quiet he is fine. It sounds like this is what needs to be done with your dog.
My name is Mohamed Nazir. I am from South Africa and love anything to do about animals. I may come across as a child but my excitement is to blame for that. My question is: Can a person train a dog in 3 weeks? I have seen several advertisements on the internet and was actually considering sending my 11 month old doberman for such training. The person I was considering was recommended by my training school. His name is Robert Lee and he further guarantees that the dog will maintain its training for life provided you continue with certain prescribed exercises. The training he is supposed to do is Obedience and Protection. I am a bit skeptical considering that I will be paying a months salary. I was given names and contacts of others who have made use of his services and they all seem very pleased. What I really want is an expert opinion that says, “YES, IT CAN BE DONE,” or “YES, IT IS REALISTIC.” He has approximately 20 years experience in training. Answer: The answer to your question is yes to obedience and no to protection. Professional trainers can put basic obedience on a dog in three weeks - usually people like yourself lack the skill to maintain that level of training and the dog regresses after you get it back. You can read what I have to say about obedience training here. As far as training any dog in three weeks to be protection trained - that’s bull. This guy is out in left field and a con artist who knows very little about protection training. Maybe he is just hungry and needs your money. Training a good protection dog requires months. Training a dog to become sharp and a little dangerous to be around is another thing. This can be done by working a dog in defense from the very beginning. This makes the dog dangerous to be around - or it makes them neurotic. If you want to learn how to protection train a dog get my training videos titled The First Steps of Bite Training and The First Steps of Defense. The information in these tapes takes months of work.
I have a male GS 15 months. His temperament is excellent. He is a very happy and a confident dog. Now that I have him it has become even more apparent that the female did not have good nerves. Anyway, I have started doing bite work with the male. That is going great. He has a full, strong grip. He really enjoys the work. I have been trying to do something with him every night (socialization, obedience, playing) he has so much energy! Now that the holiday are here my trainer is taking 2 weeks off. We are going to start formal obedience training after the holidays. My question is this: his ball drive is so intense I am having trouble using it when teaching him hell. Is it OK to pop him if he tries to take the ball from my hand or will that discourage his ball drive? He also does it with the jute. It's like he gets so excited, he just wants the toy and can't focus. Should I just stop using the toy for now? Do you have any other suggestions I can do to keep him busy? How often should I be doing obedience work with him? Andrea Thompson Answer: You need to understand that some dogs have so much prey drive that a ball or toy can not be used for obedience work, because it’s such a distraction. It sounds like this is what you have. If you try and continue to use toys you will just promote problems - the solution for these dogs is usually to go to food for obedience work. Take a look at my tape titled Training a Competition Heeling Dog. I will also warn you that dogs like this are very easy to get locked up in prey drive in bite work. You need to be very careful of this. Make sure that you understand the foundation of defense: The First Steps of Defense.
I really enjoy your web page. I believe I've read most of your training articles but don't know how to get my 6 1/2 month old male GSD to obey my wife. We've trained him in basic obedience (no, heel, sit, down, stay, come). My dog ignores my wife's commands when he becomes even slightly excited because he wants to play or he sees a strange person or another dog. He obeys me on the first command as long as I use a deep, stern voice. I've found that he is much slower to obey if I don't. My dog often gets bored and uses a very high pitched bark to get us to play with him. With my wife, he will escalate to the point where he runs in, nips at her pants or shirt, and then runs away to get her to chase him. My wife has corrected him as you describe for over a month, but he still doesn't seem to take her seriously. I think he sees her as more of a playmate than a master. He will also completely ignore my wife if he sees a strange person or a dog. He will bark at strangers and will run to play with other dogs. We usually play and exercise with him about 30 to 60 minutes a day. My wife uses the sternest voice she can muscle when he ignores her but it doesn't work. Answer: I suggest you read what I have written about obedience training here. You may think you have trained your dog but it is obvious that you have only half trained him. You need to learn how to administer a proper correction. Raising your voice should not be part of the equation. This only creates the situation you currently have, which is he only listens to you when you raise your voice. The dog needs to go through a correction phase and a distraction phases, but this needs to be balanced with praise. The tape will show you how to do this. I have a question on the use of compulsion with my dog. He is now 7 months old, and I am working with him on his come. I wanted to start him in herding just for fun until he turns of age to compete in his SchH trials. The herding person wants his come to be solid as I would like also. He understands the command and will obey in the house and outside too. He can get distracted when playing with other dogs, as he is still a puppy, but when it is me and him on our walks he listens. I wanted to know if it was too early to use a prong collar on him with his long line when he gets stubborn and just gives me the finger, so to speak. I hope this message makes sense as to what I am asking. Thanks again for all your help. Dan Answer: If you know that the dog understands the command it’s appropriate to use compulsion, even with a prong collar if that’s what it takes to get his attention. The recall is a command that needs to be 100% because failure to comply could result in a dead dog. What I do is have one command for a dog to come to me when we are outside, and a different command for him to come during an obedience recall exercise. This recall needs to be a dog coming in fast with a sit-front and a good finish. Keep the 2 commands separate. It helps in the competition. The dogs quickly learn the difference. I have an 11 month old female shepherd named Tasha. I have never owned a dog before and I've been very surprised at how much work she has been the entire time. At this point Tasha is not very trained and is in her adolescent stage. I've gotten very frustrated with her and I'm looking for your advise because I'm at my wits end now. First let me start by saying that I've not taken as much time with her as I'd imagine I should have. I am a mother of two girls and have only so much time to spend working the dog. Her behavior is as follows: She sits, stays and lays down briefly for treats or a toy. Beyond that she never comes when you call her, if she gets out of the yard she chases cars and bikes and whatever else is moving quickly, she barks aggressively at strangers and all other animals. She is defiant when I tell her to go outside, she runs around the furniture until I pick up a big pillow and swing it at her. She is constantly pestering us to play fetch (day or night) and never stops. Get the picture? At this point I've tried dog training class but that is too expensive to continue on my budget. I've tried a Haltie because my hands were hurting from trying to walk her on the standard choke chain (she is always pulling and needs to be jerked). The last few times she bit the leash and growled at me and would not stop jumping and biting at it. She is very wild when she gets out in public. In addition, she never comes when I need/demand her to! Nothing has worked so far... I am looking for your advise because sometimes think I have a stupid dog. Everyone else's animal seems to not have the same problems as mine. We sometimes laugh and call her the "happy" dog. Life is too good for her. She is wonderful with me, my husband and daughters. She is never aggressive at them and I trust her with my precious children. This is why I need to know if I am working with a lost cause or if she will mature in combination with training and become the pet I dreamed of. Sincerely, Answer: It sounds like you need to find another home for this dog. Either that or make an effort to do the proper training. If you choose to keep the dog you need to:
Obedience training is going to solve a whole range of problems. A prong collar is like power steering on dogs. Training does not have to take a lot of time. When we approach people and especially other dogs on our walks around the street or in the local pet store and in puppy kindergarten class his hair stands up, he barks low and sways his tail slowly back and forth. Or it stays partially limp, not stiff nor tucked. When he's in actual contact with them, he's fine. Perhaps a bit shy, but not scared. This is sending me mixed signals. Is he just happily greeting, feeling threatened, or being protective. Answer: Your pup is not being protective this is impossible at 4 months. Pups at that age are too immature to protect you. I would compare this to a 5 year old boy being protective of an intruder in his home. He simply cannot do it. The dog hair goes up from insecurity. He is nervous and bristles up to make himself look bigger. The important thing is to not allow the pup to be attacked by an older dog. If that happens at this age he will always be dog aggressive as an adult. So be very careful with your pup. They NEVER forget being attacked. If the pup acts aggressive towards other dogs you should correct him for this. He must learn that this is not acceptable behavior and he can learn this from his pack leader (you). If he approaches a safe dog and acts socially, then pet him on the side to show your approval. I would recommend that you read what I say about Basic Dog Obedience. Zeke is an 8 month old un-altered GSD from working lines. We've had him since he was seven weeks old. He is obedience trained and minds well. However, although I've had GSD's before, he is by far the most stubborn of them. In any event, he understands that he is "low man on the totem pole" and will accept corrections from any family member, although I seem to have more influence with him. One problem we cannot solve, however: Zeke hates having anyone within 3-4 feet of him when he is eating. He is crate trained, and his food bowl is next to, but not in, his crate. If he is touched or approached closely while he is eating, he will stop eating, "freeze," look very uncomfortable, and growl. When he does this to me, he acts as though he knows he shouldn't do this, but just can't help himself. He will let me touch him, and even take his food away, and not show teeth, but he will growl nonetheless. When my son (age 13) approaches Zeke when he is eating, Zeke will occasionally snap at him. We have tried fairly severe corrections, and taking away his food, which he will tolerate. As soon as we correct him, Zeke acts very contrite, wagging tail, flattened ears, etc. However, the problem with him growling while eating (or even snapping) doesn't seem to be getting any better. Mind you, this is a dog who will do a down-stay, and you can put a treat right in front of him, say "leave it" and he won't touch the treat until given permission. Do you have a suggestion? Should we be removing his food and NOT giving it back within a few minutes? What do you recommend? Should we neuter him at this point? He does not show aggression toward family members under any other circumstances, and he accepts strangers well, although he is very quick to bark if he hears someone approaching our door. Thanks for any advice you can offer, Answer: I would not take the food away from the dog. He is growling, because he thinks you will take the food away. So to do so only confirms that there is something to be worried about. If you want the dog to do some form of personal protection do not neuter him until he is 2 years old. If this is not a concern then neuter him now. If this is the only place that he is growling I would teach him to eat quickly and make sure that no family members go near him when he eats. I would put the food down and pick it up in 20 minutes. He will learn real quick that he has to eat when its presented to him or he will not see any food for another day. Trust me it does not take long. Feed him in a location where he can have peace and quiet. Some people will t |
