Dog Training Question....

[MoKelly]

That's why it drives some of us crazy to see them abused.

100%.

When my dog died a few months ago I was hurt. It was hard. Haven’t yet got the courage to get a new dog.

My cat is wonderful. I love him. He is sweet and friendly. Loves people. Loves being in your lap. Loves being petted.

But - it’s not the same. Cats don’t run to greet you when you get home. Cats don’t prance up and down in joy when you get the leash to go outside. Cats don’t fetch anything. Cats aren’t outwardly loyal. You can’t take cats for a walk. Cats don’t follow you on a 4 wheeler.

The old saying is correct - dogs have owners, cats have staff.

MoKelly

 

[Dftodd]

If you know the dog is getting ready for a fight, a shock collar may work before the fight starts. If the dog is in a "full fledge fight", a shock collar may do nothing but enhance the fight instinct in the dog and will accomplish nothing but to motivate the dog to fight more. Something to be aware of. I've seen this from first hand experience.

Our trainer mentioned on incident when he first started using a shock collar for training purposes.

They train personal protection dogs and were working on calling off an attack.

His partner was in the bite suit and he sent the dog in. Called the dog off and hit the button to shock it.

Dog finished off the attack. His partner said that the dog actually increased the intensity of the attack. Said he thought he got hit by a truck.

 

[Dftodd]

My wife was reading an article where dogs have been trained to detect covid with a high degree of accuracy.

There was a kid in my daughters class that had a service dog. Kid was a sever diabetic. The dog would let him know when his sugars were off.

They have been experimenting with dogs detecting cancer as well.

The nose knows

 

[drssg]

If I may add an aside to your excellent post...
Something like this will help.HERM SPRENGER Ultra-Plus Training Dog Prong Collar, 14-in neck, 2.25-mm wide - Chewy.com

My last dog was a puller... this was the only thing which worked. Far from being cruel the way that some people told me, she would get excited when I put it on her because she knew that it meant we were going out in public and she loved people.

Yes, that's the collar I was thinking of. I've never used one, but it seems like a good idea for a chronic puller.

Back when I was using the zap collar, our dogs would also get excited about having that collar put on. To them, it means they are about to go for a good run in the open field.

 

[Sigarms]

Thanks! That sounds smart (I should have thought about that). I知 going to get a training collar.

MoKelly

My FIL passed away a little while ago. His two dogs came to stay with us because my MIL couldn't handle them by herself with her grief on how he died. We adpoted these same dogs out about 10 years ago when we fostered to my in laws, so we know these dogs pretty well (I think Roy up in Vermont even met them when I transported them down to NC from Vermont).

Generally, you don't want to leave them off lead unattended or they could run off on you. After the first week, took the one collar off on my smaller dog and put it on my FIL's dog. Within two days, that dog knows when she wears that collar that when I call for her, she needs to come to the house. Point being they do work pretty well (same MO with her, vibrate then shock). After one "yelp" because she wouldn't listen to me, the negative behavior was resolved.

When we fostered dogs, we got in over our heads with the sheer quantity. Those training collars really did come in handy, and if that makes me lazy, at least I found those dogs good homes instead of having the county put them down. Kind of feel guilty for using them because I never would want to cause a dog in my care any pain.

 

[drssg]

First...thanks to everyone for your thoughts & comments.





I personally agree with this logic (not knowing if I'm right or wrong) My wife however, is a genteel softie who wants to save the world. (one of her nicer aspects) What she never seems to realize though is sometimes you need to punch a bully in the nose.

I don't recall the specifics, but I was in our foyer once (earlier on) playing with Rufas, rubbing his belly, pulling his rope... I don't recall how it came about but, he nipped at my face. I don't think he was actually trying to bite me but he did nip towards me.

Out of pure reflex, I swiped at him to block it and (with open hand) essentially slapped him upside the face. It was a very interesting look on his face.... he just stopped and had a bit of a puzzled look on his face as he looked at me wondering "MAN, what are you DOING??" He immediately "toned" that down a bit and we played on without that happening.

Of course, "I" was the bad guy for "hitting" him, never mind that it was simply a reaction by me to his jumping towards my face.....I'm the bad guy, abusing him.

It sounds like your wife is the one that needs training. If you find someone to assist, perhaps she would be more open-minded to third-party feedback.

In the meantime, I would suggest being quite cautious with him around other people. Much of the world will jump at the chance for a lawsuit. It comes down to the question, "Would a reasonable person have foreseen the likelihood of this dog bite? If so, would a reasonable person have taken additional precautions to prevent it?"

Some friends of ours had a huge Great Dane. He was a friendly, goofy, Marmaduke-type dog, and I never saw him act aggressive to anyone. Nobody saw what happened, but he bit a woman that worked in their barn, and gave her a small cut to the face. I suspect the dog was asleep on his bed, and she bent down to say good-bye with her face next to his, and she startled the dog. She was "kind" enough to settle out of court, but they had to put the dog down. The owner's lawyer advised them that, if the dog bit anyone else, they could easily lose everything.

 

[Jstpssng]

There was a kid in my daughters class that had a service dog. Kid was a sever diabetic. The dog would let him know when his sugars were off.

They have been experimenting with dogs detecting cancer as well.

The nose knows

I've seen them used for detecting when a kid was going to have an epileptic seizure, and get him down to a safe place. My current dog originally came from someone who breeds dogs for therapy training. They can tell by 6 weeks whether the dog will work out... Ruger didn't make the grade.

 

[Dftodd]

I've seen them used for detecting when a kid was going to have an epileptic seizure, and get him down to a safe place. My current dog originally came from a breeder who breeds dogs for therapy training. They can tell by 6 weeks whether the dog will work out... Ruger didn't make the grade.

They can tell similar with personal protection dogs from what our trainer said.

Our trainer imports German Shepherds as was training them for personal protection. The issue was some of the pups in the litter weren't really suited for it because of their disposition. They were lovers not fighters

He went back and got his certification for service animals as well. Specifically for the needs of vets who really just need a therapy dog with a disposition like our shepherd. But able to go everywhere with them.

This way he can train the dogs for their disposition, and not have to sell some of the shepherds for just pets after spending the money to get them here from Finland.

 

[Alien]

There is a 10 year old thread on this subject, Can't link it on this tablet. In fact there are about 5 threads.

 

[Richard]

Bit of an update:

Went to town yesterday. Bought one of those pincher/training collars. Came home, fitted it to him and while putting it on him, just tugged a bit on it to make sure it seemed to fit ok but also let him know it was there.

Now.... is this the fruits of my prior working with him or is it because of the new collar??? When I went out with him he was (almost literally) at my side. If he wanted to walk ahead, I could just flick my wrist to "jostle" the collar and he came right back. I'm wondering if he's been exposed to one of these before because again, either what I've been doing has finally come clear to him OR, this collar is an immediate help.

As we were walking and I was mesmerized with how well behaved he was, I kind of laughed at myself thinking "Nah.... there's really no test until we go outside and get confronted with deer" (at which point he goes ballistic wanting to chase them).

As luck would have it, as we topped the hill.....there were about 5 deer a couple hundred feet ahead of us grazing. You could see him get excited but again, I twitched (didn't pull so the amount of NON-pressure this took was amazing) anyway, he came back and sat down. Now, he was whining and doing his short chirpy barking but NORMALLY He's reared on his hind legs letting the pressure of the leash on his neck hold him back as he's leaning forward at a 45 degree angle trying to pull me to them. It was quite the difference.


Later, went on walk with sister in law with her three dogs, one being a male that Rufas once attacked. Rufas was on leash the entire time and they got to run around (we're trying to show him how normal dogs might act) He stayed by my side the entire time, never lunged at her male dog, never barked at him....actually, showed near indifference to him/them as we traipsed through the woods.

I've seen Rufas hide his thoughts though....and (before) act nice, then if he gets off the leash he's off like a rocket to attack his target. So I was suspicious of him this entire time however from the first step out of the house until we returned, he was under composure.

Even sister in law was making comment that she can't believe how well behaved he was. Now, I want my wife to walk him with the new collar so she can see how to maybe control him but to also let him know that she's the Queen Bee who must be obeyed. He's strong enough to pull me over IF he catches me off guard (or wraps leash around legs and then bolts in other direction) but I'm usually watching out for that. He can pull her over much easier. I don't think she walks him with the apprehension (I really want to say focus/attention to his shennannigans) that I do.

Right now I'm putting this training collar up there with one of the best 'dog purchases' I've ever made.