May 18, 2011
My 4 month old puppy is very unruly in puppy class. I've tried a prong collar, a choke collar and a nylon collar and nothing works. Would a dominant dog collar help?
Full Question:
Thank you Ed and Cindy for all the information on the Leerburg website. I just purchased 3 DVDs - puppy, basic obedience, and pack structure and am anxiously awaiting their arrival.I have a 4 month GSD hard puppy. He has strong prey drive and is learning quickly with markers and food (at home, no to low distractions).
At weekly obedience school (outdoor, at least 50 other dogs around, super high distraction), he is very unruly. I've used a standard choke chain, a snug prong collar, and a nylon type choke collar and none have worked. He continues to lunge at other dogs and pulls a lot. I'd like to take him on daily walks, but he pulls so much I think he might hurt himself. Will the dominant dog collar help to safely control him while walking?
His hackles are raised when transitioning from the car to the class. He so wants to play with the other dogs. He does some high pitched barking and some whining. Other class members seem fearful of him, but I believe he just wants to play (though I suppose I'm biased). When he finds a dog with similar high energy, they have a grand old time - soft biting, wrestling, pinning, being pinned. Do these behaviors indicate he is an aggressive dog?
I appreciate any assistance you can offer.
Aloha from Hawaii,
Jennifer
Cindy's Answer:
Your puppy is only 4 months old and you have already used all of these collars to correct him? Dog should only receive corrections for choosing to not follow a command they 100% understand. Putting a puppy in proximity with 50 other dogs is such a high level of distraction that there are very few adult dogs that could focus in that environment. You will effectively be teaching your puppy to ignore you and will damage a relationship with him if you continue with your current line of thinking. A dominant dog collar is not the answer, backing up and teaching your puppy what you expect of him in a non distracting environment in a fair way is what will get you the results you want.
I also would NOT let him play with other puppies. Again, you are teaching him that the other puppies are more fun than you are. You are setting him up to either be dominant and pushy around other dogs, OR he will be dominated and pushed around by other dogs. Neither scenario is healthy for him. We don't allow our dogs to interact at all with any dogs from outside our family. NEVER.
My recommendations would be to stop with the group class situations until he's trained, and then use the class to proof your training. I would never ever take an untrained puppy to a class full of other untrained dogs. You are setting yourself up for problems you don't have to have.
I have raised my current dog using the following system.
Read this article on marker training first.
The Power of Training Dogs with Markers
The Power of Training Dogs with Food
These videos will complement the 3 you have already ordered.
You can see lots of video of this system at work with untrained dogs and puppies. We have tons of free streaming video.
I don't feel there is a better way to train dogs than this.
I'd also direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the website. It will find posts, articles and Q & A's that deal with your search terms.
I also would NOT let him play with other puppies. Again, you are teaching him that the other puppies are more fun than you are. You are setting him up to either be dominant and pushy around other dogs, OR he will be dominated and pushed around by other dogs. Neither scenario is healthy for him. We don't allow our dogs to interact at all with any dogs from outside our family. NEVER.
My recommendations would be to stop with the group class situations until he's trained, and then use the class to proof your training. I would never ever take an untrained puppy to a class full of other untrained dogs. You are setting yourself up for problems you don't have to have.
I have raised my current dog using the following system.
Read this article on marker training first.
The Power of Training Dogs with Markers
The Power of Training Dogs with Food
These videos will complement the 3 you have already ordered.
You can see lots of video of this system at work with untrained dogs and puppies. We have tons of free streaming video.
I don't feel there is a better way to train dogs than this.
I'd also direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the website. It will find posts, articles and Q & A's that deal with your search terms.
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