Hi All,

I just joined here recently and this is my first post, so here I go. Some history, I have 3 GS dogs Major-7, Fero-2 and Sampson-almost 8 months.
I moved a year ago to a small town in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska, I moved from California where I had lived for almost 20 years. I was involved with a dog club there where we got together every weekend and trained, helped each other, etc. We attended a dog group class where the trainer used the yank and crank method to train the dogs, this is how major was trained (poor dog). Anyway, this was how i was used to training, then when i got Fero, i found Ed's website and became aware of his philosphy of training with motivation and how it was not fair to the dog to correct before it new the command, so I did not take fero through the class but tried this new way. I actually started training Fero with a motivational trainer (Moira Cornell) for about a couple months before I moved. Well now I've been here a year and figure it's time to get back in the game with training, especially with the new "crazy boy" Sampson (he is a challenge) but I'm just at a lose on where to start. I always had people, trainers around to help out plus the weather was always nice there, here its freezing right now, how do you train when its colllddd out? I bought Connie Cleveland's DVD's and have Terri Arnolds Books, along with a couple other motivational books, there is so much information out there, i guess maybe i'm getting to bogged down on which one to use, etc. I want to train both Fero and Sampson for AKC competition obedience, Major has a few AKC titles already but has bad hips so he will be watching from the side lines most of the time - I guess i am looking for how other people start their training programs, what order they train when you have to train by yourself and how do you train 2 dogs? Are either of these Dvd's, books I got worth following? and the other thing is that Fero has more training then Sampson so there at different starting points. Any advise??


Kathy

More info needed....

Training in what? Obedience, I am guessing, based on Connie Cleveland Method ads... ?

When that's confirmed, you will find that this board has many folks who can help with motivational training.... and with suggestions for training two dogs separately.

Hi Connie,

training for AKC competition obedience. I found out that there are 3 to 4 trials throughout the year that are within 3 hours or so of where I live.

Ah! Great! I know people will see this and make suggestions.

So will I, when I get back later today. There are perfect articles, threads, DVDs, and books for you here at Leerburg.

http://leerburg.com/928.htm

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/143029/page/2#Post143029

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/postlist/Board/22/page/1

http://www.leerburg.com/dvd.htm
(Scroll down to the list of Obedience DVDs)

There is a section here devoted to competition obedience (I linked you above).

I have and love that Sheila Booth book, Purely Positive Training
Companion to Competition.

You mention having two dogs at different levels of training.

Even for basic recall, heel, place, etc., I personally do not find it possible to train two dogs at once in the teaching phase. Too much confusion. So each dog needs one-on-one time with me. And throughout the day, as I do short upbeat sessions, I will sometimes put one dog in the kitchen (gate) while the other dog and I do something, then vice versa.

What will you be training the hip-problem guy now?

I train in both Schutzhund and AKC obedience. Love the Sheila Booth book.
Ed's basic obedience tape is a winner as are the Ivan Balibanov tapes.
It works for some people to let one dog watch while training the other.I have to keep one dog out of sight while I train the other. The one watching just can't handle seeing me "alone" with the other dog.
Do some training while in a Petsmart or similar store. The exposure to the public and other dogs will do you good. Don't train WITH Petsmart. YIKES!
"Fero has more training then Sampson".
No reason youo can't go over the basics with Fero. It will nly help you in the long run.

Kathy,

When it's cold out or raining like now, I see it as a good time to get some good focus exercises in. Especially if your just starting out with a young dog it's a great way to set the foundation. I don't know if you've seen the Tom Rose Healing for competition DVD but it has some great ideas in it. It shows how to do some of these focus or (watch me) exercises and how to go right into the basics like sit, down, and stand. These are real basic and perfect for this time of the year with
a pup like you've mentioned.
Marker training is also a good thing to work on when it's nasty outside.

Kathy,

When it's cold out or raining like now, I see it as a good time to get some good focus exercises in. Especially if your just starting out with a young dog it's a great way to set the foundation. I don't know if you've seen the Tom Rose Healing for competition DVD but it has some great ideas in it. It shows how to do some of these focus or (watch me) exercises and how to go right into the basics like sit, down, and stand. These are real basic and perfect for this time of the year with
a pup like you've mentioned.
Marker training is also a good thing to work on when it's nasty outside.

Dear Kathy: I agree with all wthat had been said so far, I would just add that Ed's videos have been a great blessing to me. And they get your brain working, and have helped me to take what ed teaches and develope my own program from it, tailored to my dogs. I have had great success. Every video I have purchased has helped me in some way to enrich, reinforce, or just learn something new to help my dogs. As a result, my dog Bindi does wonderfully and many people have commented on how well trained she is. And in it all we have great fun to. You get a real sense of how much Ed and Cindy love thier dogs and enjoy them. They are not going through the mechanics, its a joy for them, that translates into joy for me and my pups as well. What I like about this site is the fact you get the feeling Ed and cindy are not just after money or selling thier products. Ed has many free publications to read and ebooks too. So, I hope you find what you need here.
God bless you
God bless you

Thanks for the info- I'm alittle embarrassed though- I actually have like 8 of Ed's videos. I have competition heeling with Tom Rose, Building drive and focus, basic ob, puppy one, rasing working puppy, dominant/aggressive dogs, and just got pack structure & electric collar training (got these because the puppy has bad habit of jumping and nipping and thought electric collar maybe the way to go and having 3 male dogs now I wanted to be prepared for pack problems, Sampson could be the kind of dog to try to dominant I think) and I have Sheila Booth book- I just figured the obedience tapes were geared more for schuthund training then AKC - when I lived in California, I got a taste of Schutzhund with Fero that is why i got those tapes. But i'm guessing maybe I should dig them out this weekend and watch them again - should I just focus on using those tapes to keep it simple for now? I am just going to focus on things I can do inside(like focus) and if its nice enough on the weekends I will do some things outside, maybe some games and recalls. and in a couple months it will be warmer and the time will change then I can really get going- I'm just too anxious I think.