Ok, so first a little background for my first post. Last week I adopted a 1.5 year old CKC registered black mouth cur (bmc). Her name is Ziva. The previous owner was about to take her to the shelter because she said her house and yard were too small. While I'm sure that was part of the problem, I've decided there was more to it than that. Ziva is very rambunctious. The previous owner had a young daughter, 8-9 I'd say. She plays very rough. While she won't actually bite, she will nip at your hands and heels. I believe she got into trouble a lot at the previous owner because when I get home, she cowers like she's done something wrong. I have a huge backyard where there is absolutely nothing she could get in trouble for. She will come to me, and after a few seconds of reassurance, she's fine the rest of the time. She is jumpy at times though with loud noises or sudden movements. She is a super sweet dog and will sit forever and let you pet her quietly. When I'm home, she never let's me out of her sight. I also believe she is very protective and super jealous! The cable guy came out Friday. For the most part, she was fine with him being there until I had to talk to him and sign paperwork. Then she growled and barked, and not playfully. Now, while I would love for her to protect myself and my house, when I'm standing there, I expect her to stand down. She is a very smart dog, and she seems eager to engage. I have literally spent hours on this website alone, plus reading about the breed. I read the article on marker training and really enjoyed it. From what I've read on the breed, the general consensus is to wait a couple weeks before training to bond with the dog. I understand the reasoning behind this, but from the way Ziva is with me, it feels like we've bonded already, but I'm trying to be patient!

OK, so now for the questions. I plan on ordering the marker training video, but noticed the food training video is also recommended. It seems like the same training to me? Will the basic obedience video benefit at all since I plan on marker training? This is the first dog I've owned in years and I want to do this right. She seems very eager to please and I hate to see her cower when I get home.

On a side note, the previous owner was feeding her regular purina. I'm fading her into better kibble now, but was fascinated on the raw diet info I've read here, so considering that once she feels more at home.

Hi, and welcome.

There's a lot here!

" I also believe she is very protective and super jealous! The cable guy came out Friday. For the most part, she was fine with him being there until I had to talk to him and sign paperwork. Then she growled and barked, and not playfully. Now, while I would love for her to protect myself and my house, when I'm standing there, I expect her to stand down."

She's not protective. Even if she was ever going to be (and this is not your goal, I hope), she doesn't even know you. She's not jealous. These are descriptions that a lot of people use for such issues as resource guarding (and others).

If the dog was off-leash when you had the cable guy there, IMO you made a major error with a dog you've had for a week. You found out it wasn't a good idea, and no harm was done. Don't forget that learning experience.

Are there kids in the house?

Do you have dog experience?

Are you familiar with the term NILIF?



This is just a start.

I'd order the Power of Markers and then the Power of Food (for starters). You could start with Food if you had a basic idea of marker training. But with no background at all, I really recommend starting with Markers because it's so insightful about how humans try to teach dogs, and how they really need to do it in a way that bridges the "language barrier." I think Power of Markers intros the whole Ellis series with a strong foundation.

(It has been pointed out that you may decide to go more with the charging of the marker as described in the Food and later videos, but to me this is a very small part of the Power of Markers video and an extremely easy variation to absorb and decide about. I mention it only because it's probably the only item that may have some small variation from this foundation video to the Ellis series.)

You might need to learn quite a bit about pack structure, though, and that's why I asked if you were familiar with NILIF.

You'll get more (and better) answers too.

I congratulate you on your decision to go with marker training. For one thing, this sounds like a dog with some anxiety, and there's nothing like marker training to build confidence and strengthen your bond. JMO!

Welcome to the forum, James. You and Ziva are going to love marker training!

I adopted my GSD as an adult (2.5yo). I made some mistakes before I found Leerburg's info on introducing an adult dog into the home. While I wish I had done some things differently in the beginning, I found that having an adult dog made it easier to correct the mistakes than if she had been a younger, more impressionable puppy. We bonded and settled into what was to become our normal routine very quickly.

Be patient a little longer while you study the materials on marker training. I would want to see the submissive, avoidance behavior gone before I started to put expectations on Ziva. I would work on getting her settled, which you are making progress with already, then low levels of engagement. Once you start marker training, her level of engagement will increase very quickly, and the avoidance and submission should all but disappear. That's when you are ready to intensify your training, very gradually at first.

I found the "Basic Obedience" dvd to be a nice refresher course in living with my dog, and it pointed out to me how I could better my understanding and expectations of my relationship with my dog. It is not necessary for marker training if you are going to use the marker series, but there is some info that I found helpful.

As far as the marker series; other people will weigh in, but, IMO, the proper sequence would be:
Marker Training
Power of Food (some of this will be repetitive, but it is reinforcing and advances the concepts in the previous video)
Power of Playing Tug (if you plan on using tug as a reward)
Advanced Concepts in Motivation

There is some advanced info on the philosophy behind these concepts in the Michael Ellis lecture videos.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

Hey Connie,
Thanks for the response. I'll start off by answering your questions. The only people in the house are my 18 yr old son and myself. Currently my son is at his mother's till the 25th, which I thought was ideal to let me establish as pack leader since she is my dog.

As far as dog experience, very little. I had them as a kid through high school, a couple we taught basics to, but nothing since then. I've been driving a truck over the road, and while I always wanted to have one with me, I didn't feel it was fair to the dog to be cooped up in a truck. Now I'm driving locally and have a house on the river with 17 acres, perfect dog environment.

Nilif I had to Google! While I'd never heard the acronym, I've read Mr Leeburgs article on his theory of dog training and currently reading establishing a pack leader ground work. He touches on this briefly, just doesn't call it that, at least so far. I am very excited about this dog, and I know I'm going to have trouble with the isolation phase he mentions, as well as the parts about not letting anyone outside of my household to be able to interact with her. I certainly have my work cut out for me!

Thanks for the input Duane.

I definitely don't regret starting with an adult dog, although I don't think Ziva is really adult yet, she has a bit of puppy in her still! I just started reading the pack article today, and have some changes to make when I get home. I don't even have a crate for her at this point. She pretty much follows me as if I had her on a leash, and sleeps next to my bed. We do have leader issues to work out though. And I need to get her a drag rope to stop her jumping on me. I know she'll make a great dog, I just didn't realize how much I didn't know until now lol.

For drag leads:

I have this http://leerburg.com/1209.htm ... and also a piece of a very old one of these http://leerburg.com/729.htm for drag lines.

Of course, almost any leash with the hand-loop removed will work.

How's it going with your new girl?

Wow, pack ground work is killing me! I've had her a very short time but I love this dog. When I get home from work, I want to play with her, I love petting and spending time with her. So ignoring her and her pleas for attention, just sucks! I read that with this breed, it's best to have a 2-3 week bonding period before starting any actual training, so I'm trying to be patient. She doesn't know any commands at all, even though I was told otherwise. Or she may just be testing me. I've never owned a dog that wasn't just treated like one of the kids in the house, so I'm having to train myself as well. It's not as easy as it sounds lol.

Is this what you're reading and following?

http://leerburg.com/pdf/packstructure.pdf

I've read that as well as. http://leerburg.com/groundwork.htm.

Much of it was the same, but I'm trying to get as much info as I can.

 Quote: James Childress

She doesn't know any commands at all, even though I was told otherwise. Or she may just be testing me.

She may have had some lessons, but her behavior was not generalized. If she was only trained in one specific location, or under a set of given circumstances, but her training was not proofed, it all went out the window when she ended up in a strange new place.

You will learn, as you further your training, to take your dog to different places and set up new scenarios to generalize your dog's training before you proof it.

You are on the right track. I think Ziva is a lucky dog!