May 03, 2021
I’m afraid I have ruined my relationship with my dog, can I start over?
Full Question:
Hi Cindy,I would like to purchase some of your training videos for my young GSD. He is quite a handful.
I am concerned because I am fearful I may have set him back in training because my trainer here has had me be pretty stern with corrections, even in the beggining phases when he was a puppy. Neither do we train with treats.
I notice now that he is older, he no longer wants to "come" and is starting to run from me. Have I RUINED OUR RELATIONSHIP with my training?
If I purchase some videos or courses will I be able to start over and repair any damage I have caused??
I am pretty upset. Please advise.
Cindy's Answer:
I can't tell you with 100% certainty that you can permanently repair your relationship because a lot of it will depend on your ability to try a new approach AND the dog's resilience. Some dogs can move past what they consider aversive experiences and others will always have problems letting go of their old concern about specific training commands or situations.
If you never have used food or treats, I'd start over like your dog is a new puppy and condition him to the marker training system where we use food (and later toys) to reward him.
One thing to consider, when you use verbal commands for him-DO NOT use your old cues. In other words, if you have said COME to him in the past and he won't respond or run the other way you'll need to come up with a new word for that. By using too much pressure or corrections and not enough motivation it's possible for a cue to be what we call "poisoned". So, instead of the dog responding the way we want them to, they look at the word as a predictor of something they don't like and either refuse to respond, respond very slowly or run the other way.
If your recall command was Come and avoids, you'll have to start from scratch and make coming to you a great experience and only after he's responding appropriately will you add a verbal cue for it.
I'd start with learning how to use food and marker training and then work through the recall material. Once you have a better working relationship with him and he's enjoying the process you can work on more complex behaviors.
If you never have used food or treats, I'd start over like your dog is a new puppy and condition him to the marker training system where we use food (and later toys) to reward him.
One thing to consider, when you use verbal commands for him-DO NOT use your old cues. In other words, if you have said COME to him in the past and he won't respond or run the other way you'll need to come up with a new word for that. By using too much pressure or corrections and not enough motivation it's possible for a cue to be what we call "poisoned". So, instead of the dog responding the way we want them to, they look at the word as a predictor of something they don't like and either refuse to respond, respond very slowly or run the other way.
If your recall command was Come and avoids, you'll have to start from scratch and make coming to you a great experience and only after he's responding appropriately will you add a verbal cue for it.
I'd start with learning how to use food and marker training and then work through the recall material. Once you have a better working relationship with him and he's enjoying the process you can work on more complex behaviors.
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Very much appreciated. Thank you!
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