Similar here. "ok, that's enough".
dog training tips and questions
- Thread starter Rockbadchild
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ponytug
Super Member
I'm all ears for training tips on these commands. We currently have a very reactive dog with great hearing, great eyesight, and a great nose. "Keep calm and carry on" is proving challenging for me with this dog. Very high prey drive, and great senses.
That said, she has no trouble running down a wild pig or coyote and body checking them, even giving them significant head starts. She's easily the fastest dog I have ever lived with.
All the best,
Peter
CalG
Super Member
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- Hurlimann 435, Fordson E27n, Bolens HT-23, Kubota B7200, Kubota B2601
My son has a whippet that is quite speedy.
When she feels to get her yah yahs out, ' Nothing but a streak of white fur.
Dumb as a stump, but gentle to the extreme.
Don't raise your voice, or you won't see her for a long while.. Goes down stairs and huddles under the office desk most of the daym and all of the night.
It's that hour outdoors that she shines! ;-)
Torvy
Super Member
@ponytug. Our bigger dogs are car chasers. The GSD just sits back and watches. We imagine her making fun of the others for being dumb enough to think they will catch them. (The fence is in the way, so they aren't in danger). GSD will chase squirrels, rabbits, etc.
For us, 'settle' is for when they are around people and get too excited. Especially when they are all out, the dogs vie for attention. We use settle to calm them down. Hold their collar and stroke their whole back while speaking the command in a calm voice. We never considered using it for chasing.
If we were wanting to stop the chasing, we'd probably use the collars and use 'Stay' or 'Come' commands. I have had limited success using my factory installed whistle. I have a sequence I use that equates to 'come'. GSD listens 90+% of the time. The other 2 are a very stubborn breed. 'Guarding' takes a higher priority than listening. One of them I get to come maybe 30% of the time. The 3rd one only comes once the other 2 have listened and a minute or two have passed. Since they are enclosed, we haven't done much with that. We do reward with praise and treats. Always praise, sometimes treats.
My long winded way of saying the details matter if you will have any, and how much success with interrupting their prey drive. A breed that loves to please like a GSD will listen much more quickly than a Kangal. Individual personality matters, too. Some GSDs seem to say "I'll be right there after I catch you this rabbit. You will be so proud of me bringing you a rabbit".
For us, 'settle' is for when they are around people and get too excited. Especially when they are all out, the dogs vie for attention. We use settle to calm them down. Hold their collar and stroke their whole back while speaking the command in a calm voice. We never considered using it for chasing.
If we were wanting to stop the chasing, we'd probably use the collars and use 'Stay' or 'Come' commands. I have had limited success using my factory installed whistle. I have a sequence I use that equates to 'come'. GSD listens 90+% of the time. The other 2 are a very stubborn breed. 'Guarding' takes a higher priority than listening. One of them I get to come maybe 30% of the time. The 3rd one only comes once the other 2 have listened and a minute or two have passed. Since they are enclosed, we haven't done much with that. We do reward with praise and treats. Always praise, sometimes treats.
My long winded way of saying the details matter if you will have any, and how much success with interrupting their prey drive. A breed that loves to please like a GSD will listen much more quickly than a Kangal. Individual personality matters, too. Some GSDs seem to say "I'll be right there after I catch you this rabbit. You will be so proud of me bringing you a rabbit".
ponytug
Super Member
Ours is a sweet dog and eager to please until the scent of a prey or the sound of a vehicle waft by. GSD, out of a K-9 breeder that we have had several from in the past that were trivial to train. This one is bright, excitable, and much harder to get her to focus on us, distracted by her own internal excitement, or by something. That behavior is a sharp contrast to the prior dogs who watched for our slightest fidget or gesture.
Generally she is extremely reliable, but yes, if she lights the afterburners, "come" is not something that she hears. She is laser focused on the intruder. Otherwise, "come" is quite reliable. Ditto, in the house, when she can be fast asleep, wake up, and feel the need to defend the house from unseen forces. Loudly. She seems very inconsolable about it, even if I sit with her, pet her, or hold her (she likes whole body snuggles normally). I'd just like to help her not be so off the charts internally in excitement, as I would like to have her be safe.
All the best,
Peter
Generally she is extremely reliable, but yes, if she lights the afterburners, "come" is not something that she hears. She is laser focused on the intruder. Otherwise, "come" is quite reliable. Ditto, in the house, when she can be fast asleep, wake up, and feel the need to defend the house from unseen forces. Loudly. She seems very inconsolable about it, even if I sit with her, pet her, or hold her (she likes whole body snuggles normally). I'd just like to help her not be so off the charts internally in excitement, as I would like to have her be safe.
All the best,
Peter
Peter, the collar may be the only way to break her from
"unstoppable actions". As in ignoring you outside or
ignoring commands when she is at a distance. Prey drive is
very strong. Ours will chase roadrunners, rabbits, has tried to
catch humming birds etc etc and 90% of the time we let her.
They come into her area, they get chased off.
Not sure how old your dog was when you got her, but
I'm in the camp of the earlier training can start the better. I prefer
8 weeks, however our current dog was 12 weeks old, but it
presented no unusual problems.
To help control her energy level we play games twice a day in addition
to normal everyday activities. We throw tennis balls. But even then
we control what she does. Sometimes a down command. She will lie
down (with the ball). Then good girl, come. Sometimes throw the ball
and just as she picks it up throw another the opposite direction. Talk
about running hard....now she has 2 balls. What's a dog to do? It takes
her a bit of thinking to decide which one to bring back. Then I can send
her to " go look" and she'll go bring back ball #2. We throw A LOT of balls.
She tracks first by sight. Then by scent, especially in high grass. She'll
stay on it until she finds the ball. Good way to burn off energy.
The other thing is to let her run along with the Mule. She likes to ride
sometimes. Other times she doesn't want to stay in the Mule and that lets
us know she wants to run. We'll drive the property perimeter and that
seems to help too. Try to physically wear her out. You can't. But try anyway.
I've never had a dog chasing cars problem. Someone here might be able to help
with that.
As far as senses.....I am continually amazed at what they can hear, see and
smell. Even when inside the house. My GSD is not alerting/barking excessively,
but if she goes to the door baking at 3am, I get up to go see about it. If she's
got hair raised or kind of in a frozen stance, I let her out. Sometimes she stays out,
sometimes she comes back in. I'm not sure of your exact property size, locale or
set-up, but at times letting them investigate will ease the unsure or curious
nervous behaviors. Your dog can pick up cues from you. Make sure she absolutely
knows who the boss of your house is and use that authority wisely. Good luck and
please keep us up on your progress.
"unstoppable actions". As in ignoring you outside or
ignoring commands when she is at a distance. Prey drive is
very strong. Ours will chase roadrunners, rabbits, has tried to
catch humming birds etc etc and 90% of the time we let her.
They come into her area, they get chased off.
Not sure how old your dog was when you got her, but
I'm in the camp of the earlier training can start the better. I prefer
8 weeks, however our current dog was 12 weeks old, but it
presented no unusual problems.
To help control her energy level we play games twice a day in addition
to normal everyday activities. We throw tennis balls. But even then
we control what she does. Sometimes a down command. She will lie
down (with the ball). Then good girl, come. Sometimes throw the ball
and just as she picks it up throw another the opposite direction. Talk
about running hard....now she has 2 balls. What's a dog to do? It takes
her a bit of thinking to decide which one to bring back. Then I can send
her to " go look" and she'll go bring back ball #2. We throw A LOT of balls.
She tracks first by sight. Then by scent, especially in high grass. She'll
stay on it until she finds the ball. Good way to burn off energy.
The other thing is to let her run along with the Mule. She likes to ride
sometimes. Other times she doesn't want to stay in the Mule and that lets
us know she wants to run. We'll drive the property perimeter and that
seems to help too. Try to physically wear her out. You can't. But try anyway.
I've never had a dog chasing cars problem. Someone here might be able to help
with that.
As far as senses.....I am continually amazed at what they can hear, see and
smell. Even when inside the house. My GSD is not alerting/barking excessively,
but if she goes to the door baking at 3am, I get up to go see about it. If she's
got hair raised or kind of in a frozen stance, I let her out. Sometimes she stays out,
sometimes she comes back in. I'm not sure of your exact property size, locale or
set-up, but at times letting them investigate will ease the unsure or curious
nervous behaviors. Your dog can pick up cues from you. Make sure she absolutely
knows who the boss of your house is and use that authority wisely. Good luck and
please keep us up on your progress.
ponytug
Super Member
We use a training collar each time we go out every day. The immediate area around the house is fenced and she gets chunks of time to patrol to her hearts content. Our prior dogs preferred to be out almost all of the time, but no barking. One did windsprints back and forth with coyotes along the back fence, silently. They all seemed to enjoy it. This one prefers to be inside, perhaps because there is less stimulation.
She does track the cats and other animals around the ranch, and I do call her off cat tracking when she starts as I think her prey drive is too high. She did catch a cat once, and got claws sunk in her muzzle instantly. Neither animal was at all injured, which I thought was wild, but I'm not anxious to repeat it.
Thankfully, she doesn't chase vehicles, and she is good with anyone we sign off on.
All the best,
Peter
She does track the cats and other animals around the ranch, and I do call her off cat tracking when she starts as I think her prey drive is too high. She did catch a cat once, and got claws sunk in her muzzle instantly. Neither animal was at all injured, which I thought was wild, but I'm not anxious to repeat it.
Thankfully, she doesn't chase vehicles, and she is good with anyone we sign off on.
All the best,
Peter
Peter, we don't have chickens presently due to prey drive.
Probably should have introduced them when our dog was
very young, but didn't. However, our neighbor does and he
free ranges his birds. On occasion they will fly over his fence
(he keeps sheep and has sheep fencing) and our dog has not gone
after them, so far. But his property line does not lie within the
area she considers hers. I do find a chicken carcass in my back
pasture every once in awhile. Death by coyote. Neighbor has a
Great Pyrenees, but sly yotes get a chicken sometimes. However I
don't think they've ever gotten to any of his sheep.
I think cats pretty much send the "rake claws on the snout message"
to dogs frequently. Most dogs get the message. You might have the
exception. Sometimes you have to let the dogs "learn" on their own.
Do you have close by neighbors? Are you worried about excess barking
because of neighbors? If not, then let her bark her butt off. Maybe she'll
realize there's nothing to bark about and stop on her own. Other farm
dogs around us will bark and ours will join in....usually due to coyotes
or deer movement through the woods. When the threat is over they all
stop barking. I keep a Q-beam by the back door. Make sure at night she's
barking at something......I'd never want my dog to stop alerting. Tough
decision on how to handle it.
Probably should have introduced them when our dog was
very young, but didn't. However, our neighbor does and he
free ranges his birds. On occasion they will fly over his fence
(he keeps sheep and has sheep fencing) and our dog has not gone
after them, so far. But his property line does not lie within the
area she considers hers. I do find a chicken carcass in my back
pasture every once in awhile. Death by coyote. Neighbor has a
Great Pyrenees, but sly yotes get a chicken sometimes. However I
don't think they've ever gotten to any of his sheep.
I think cats pretty much send the "rake claws on the snout message"
to dogs frequently. Most dogs get the message. You might have the
exception. Sometimes you have to let the dogs "learn" on their own.
Do you have close by neighbors? Are you worried about excess barking
because of neighbors? If not, then let her bark her butt off. Maybe she'll
realize there's nothing to bark about and stop on her own. Other farm
dogs around us will bark and ours will join in....usually due to coyotes
or deer movement through the woods. When the threat is over they all
stop barking. I keep a Q-beam by the back door. Make sure at night she's
barking at something......I'd never want my dog to stop alerting. Tough
decision on how to handle it.
ponytug
Super Member
Nobody all that close, and she pulls the fire alarm with enough accuracy, that in the few times when I don't see it, I tend to believe her.
We have enough wildlife for there to be lots of legitimate alerts. Two months ago, we had some work done here, and the contractor remarked that he had watched a fox walk right by them, and up the slope, and a day later that a bobcat had leapt onto the roof while they were working nearby. As we didn't hear the bobcat, I'm inclined to think that the nocturnal thumps on the roof are probably mountain lions. So, yes, probably lots of legitimate alerts.
On the barking front, I'm really just trying to cut down the indoor house explosions, for my sanity. Hence the work on "settle"/"you're ok". Outside, I'm working on the prey drive to turn it down/off for our cattle, for the safety of both.
Don't get me wrong, I adore the dog, and vice versa. The durability and strength of the prey drive just seems to take a lot of work, and at some point, I do wonder if there are better ways to help her.
All the best,
Peter
