Hello again,
yesterday I worked with the little one in my back yard. She was wearing the dominant dog collar. Well my neighbor let his dog loose. She saw him and had a fit. I pulled on the collar and she stood up on her hind feet. In order for the collar to have any impact I had to pull up even more. She started spinning in a circle. It looked awful. I was thinking, if anyone sees this they will think I am strangling the dog. I tried a prong collar on her but she will barely move and has a tail in between her legs. Any ideas on how to deal with this?

Hi Lenka,
Do you have a puppy or a fullgrown dog? In general, a dominant dog collar is used as a backup collar for a prong, or as a tool to control truly aggressive dogs.

It's not a good correction collar or training collar. Is your prong collar the quick-release type?

If she is reacting to the prong, then she is too "soft" for it...or has no idea what the correction was for. You normally don't correct a dog with a prong collar until they know the command.
If you do then they will shut down as you are seeing, or get worse and fight you.

She has no idea why you are hurting her, and thinks its unjust and so is shutting down on you. This is less painful than the alternative, but still not good.

Hanging is only for certain very specific reasons, none of which you have listed.

We would love to help ...could you write some more details?
What have you done to train her not to do this...not correct her...but train her?
How long have you had her?
How old is she?
what training have you done with her?
You say little...small or young?
Has she been attacked by another dog ever?

Willie

Hi Lynne,
she is 1.5 years old, a little terrier. As you can tell I am a true beginner. The prong actually belongs to my older one and I would have to get the mini prong collar for her. I just tried putting it on her to see how she would react and yes, it is the quick release type. The one she needs is not though. Her neck measures 9". Thank you so much for the reply, I really really appreciate everyone who has answered my ignorant posts!

Lenka

Dear Willie,
thank you so much for helping me. We live in a condo with many stupid people around so we can have as many as five dogs running loose at any given point. This is my story: I started groundwork July 5. Has gone very well. I actually have two dogs, the older one is 6 years old, both terriers. I started marker training about a week ago. I do short sessions where I have them touch my hand, I touch their snout, and their feet as I have seen Cindy do in the DVD. We just started with "sit". Now the issue with loose dogs is a huge one because I can't really avoid them since they come out of nowhere and that's where I live. I don't know really how to train for it. She lunges and starts barking. When she was maybe 5 months old my neighbor's four-year-old ran towards her to pet her. The older one became protective of the puppy and bit the girl. Since then she hates kids. This was of course my falt and my complete ignorance prior to Leerburg. If you read my post from yesterday about fearful reactions to vaccines that's her. So there are many issues and one completely inexperienced owner. I really appreciate all your help and all your time. I read all your posts especially because you are in a wheelchair and my husband needs it for distance also. That's another story, he is not strong enough to hold the dogs so we have some real issues here.

thanks,

Lenka

As far as training her not to lunge and bark at other dogs I took her in the back yard couple times when I knew there were safe dogs around and had her walk on the leash with me and have her sit while I stood between her and the dog (which was at a distance) and rewarded her for sitting and looking at me. I kept walking in the yard rewarding her for walking quietly, sitting when asked, and looking. We have not had many opportunities to do this so far but maybe I can ask one of the neighbors to help me with that.

Lenka

Be careful who you ask to help. If the dog isnt completely indifferent it can make things worse. Keep using distance Lenka.

Don't think you have to rely completely on the collar. If you have to use your hand on her back or whatever to calmly move her into a sit, go ahead. You just make sure your calm about it.

Mainly you need to use enough distance so that she doesnt react strongly. You just want her aware, not worried about.

First of all I applaud you for being teachable and having a kinnd attitude.
Thank you.
I admire you for trying to work through all these"pre Leerburg" issues.


So the older one is the one from the vaccine thread?


Off leash dogs is a huge problem...I have to deal with it as well.
I had a thread on protecting Eddie that you might want to read...the guys here had great suggestions for me.

You need to have a solution ready where you can stop any dog that comes at her.
I know that she is nervous that she isn't protected...she can feel you are nervous as well....the first step is with YOU so you aren't nervous...you need to come up with a combo that you know you can stop any dog...cane and pepper gel....something that will work so you relax.

If I were you, I would focus on teaching her with marker training the skills to control her.
Teach leave it, teach "no talk" teach "focus"...proof those things on stuff like balls, food, cats, and then do it for dogs...at a distance first, then closer and closer.


I took Eddie from a goat guardian with no house manners or OB to a qualified working service dog in a short amount of time..you have the dedication to do it as well.

Eddie knows it's his job to stand next to me no matter what..he has done this with dogs rushing him......lol....a while ago my husband kicked one of those huge exercise balls..like 2 ft tall..and he kicked it wrong so it came right toward me and Eddie.........

I was still on the walker then....I couldn't do anything to stop it, I couldn't move, we watched in horror as it rocketed right at Eddie's head........holding on to Eddie for balance I leaned out really far and at the last min put out my hand in front of Eddie's face and stopped the ball.

Eddie never moved..he never twitched....he trusted that I would stop the ball...even when I couldn't stop it till it was less than 2 ft from his face.

Now...Eddie has really strong nerves which helps...but it comes down to training and trust.....that is why I was so cranked up in my post about defending him.....I have to because he knows I will...I can't let him down.....

Your little one needs to know that about you as well.
That is one of the most important things you can do in her training.

For now I would focus on the training...you can't correct her for behaving this way yet..you don't correct for what they don't know.
I would manage it as best as you can while training the things I listed...just ignore it for now, till you get the other things trained.

Since she is small I'd put her in a harness or really wide collar, something you can restrain her with without hurting her.

Work on those commands lots...like 10 sessions a day lasting 5-7 min.

Be patient it will come soon.....
I would also give them both jobs in the house like picking up, helping with chores...laundry, helping your hubby pick up stuff he drops, fetching things...a tired out dog that has been using its mind to help its master is a happy dog.

The only thing I have to add is that a tired dog is a MUCH LESS REACTIVE dog. I'm learning that with our current foster mutt. Critters that would send him through the roof when he's fresh don't even phase him after a long walk. If you can get past the dogs in your immediate neighborhood, can you just get your dog out for some good, long walks? Over time, with lots of walks, the dog begins to trust you as its' leader, and doesn't feel the need to react - knows you will take care of business.

(Edit - oops, didn't catch Willie's last line. AGREE!!!!)