May 13, 2011
My rescue dog is very timid. She sulks and drops to the floor after a soft correction. What should I do?
Full Question:
Dear Ed,I received your Basic Obedience tape a couple of days ago and was eager to start training. I had already been to my local obedience classes, so she knows sit and down, but performs only when I have a treat in my hand. She is very soft, so I used an extremely gentle leash correction and she became scared. She froze and put her ears down. I praised her greatly, but when I stopped she tried to run. I stopped and tried again after a few hours with similar results.
I adopted this dog from the shelter. I think she was about a year old. I have had her for about two months and have been working on her gaining confidence. At first she just followed me around all day, wouldn't chase balls and had no interest in people or other dogs. Now she seems very confident, she loves chasing balls, squirrels, etc and pays little attention to me when we are outside. But overall, she seems like a much happier dog.
Is it possible that it is too soon to be using a correction, even though she knows what the commands mean? Or if she was treated roughly in her previous home, could it be a bad idea to use physical corrections at all? She seemed slightly traumatized when I got her and as I said she is extremely soft so I don't want to break her confidence again.
Thanks,
Emma
Ed's Answer:
Your dog has a soft temperament. She has also learned that she can get her way by sulking or acting shy.
It is your choice but the solution is to train this dog that there is no other way than to mind you. She must go through corrections; it's just that the level of correction does not normally have to be as high as other dogs. But what needs to happen is the dog needs a harder correction for sulking, in other words if you give the dog a command that you are 100% sure she understands and she refuses and sulks, she needs firm POPS on the leash (get a prong collar and use it). When she screams and drops to the floor she needs additional POPS on the leash until she minds. She must learn that there is ONLY ONE WAY and that is to mind. The important thing is to really praise the dog when it finally does what you want. I normally start with a recall, then a down. DO NOT FORGET TO ALWAYS GIVE A RELEASE COMMAND.
It is your choice but the solution is to train this dog that there is no other way than to mind you. She must go through corrections; it's just that the level of correction does not normally have to be as high as other dogs. But what needs to happen is the dog needs a harder correction for sulking, in other words if you give the dog a command that you are 100% sure she understands and she refuses and sulks, she needs firm POPS on the leash (get a prong collar and use it). When she screams and drops to the floor she needs additional POPS on the leash until she minds. She must learn that there is ONLY ONE WAY and that is to mind. The important thing is to really praise the dog when it finally does what you want. I normally start with a recall, then a down. DO NOT FORGET TO ALWAYS GIVE A RELEASE COMMAND.
User Response:
Dear Ed,Thanks so much for your advice. You were completely right. She had me believing that she was too scared to understand the commands, but just a few good pops on her choke collar (I didn't have to use the prong collar) and she sat right down. After a few times she became used to the idea and now just a small firm pop makes her obey, but she remains happy and interested.
Your video is great. I had taken her to obedience classes and have a few books on training. All of these gave training methods for teaching the commands but not enforcing them. They used only positive reinforcement. I was a little reluctant to use force on my soft dog, but just a few days with your methods and I am now converted. She will now do a sit stay for a full minute and I can even roll a ball past her after just a few days of training. The people at the obedience school said that using physical corrections would make her scared of me but it seems to have had the opposite affect. She pays more attention and now follows me around at home even more closely than before but she is not scared of me. I will definitely recommend your video to everyone I know who owns a dog!
Thanks for making such a wonderful tape,
Emma
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