Mike,
I'm not aware of you and I getting off on the wrong foot, but am too tired to look for earliers posts. Got bad back ache today from hanging clothes on the line and yard work, and that makes me feel like getting drunk and going to bed for a couple of days.
I know some trainers are not in favor of using treats, but never heard the term negotiating with treats. They always refer to "rewarding good behavior with treats" and trainers such as Ed Frawley swear by this method. For a long time I did not feel right about "paying" the dog to obey me, but when I started to use it, when Kobe was a pup, it seemed to give him the motivation to continue with doing what I asked of him. I agree that rewarding for non-compliance is self defeating and I Do NOT do that,the last treat that Kobe got today was after he obeyed with coming, sitting, etc.
It may be that I do not have the prong on tight enough to make it effective when I try to correct him, but my husband hates the prong and if he finds it is on tight he gives me heck that I am hurting the dog. However, I put it on him every morning (Kobe not DH) I make it as snug as seems reasonable with making him gasp for breath, and it is more a case of my not having enough strength to give a strong correction to this size dog. That is the only reason I resort to an e collar, as I hate them, not that I am a wimp about necessary corrections but they take away the trainer-dog connection that is important in impressing on the dog that I am the one who is expecting you to do what I say, not that gizmoo in my hand. But if it takes zapping him with a beer bottle in order to give him the message that if you are going to live in my house you will stand on your head and spit nickels. ( exaggeration, obviously).
Yes, I keep a trailing lead on him all the time, mainly to drag him away from the window when he hears UPS man and/or other serial killers.
I understand what you mean by a woman's voice, and while I am guilty of many infractions in dog training my voice is always low keyed, no matter what the situation is, I spoke softly to Kobe, and have only raised it in frustration a few times when his insanity at the door is on the verge of deafening me. When we are walking or bike riding I give him commands in a soft voice, such as heel, wait, sit, right turn, left turn, turn around and he responds instantly. I will never forget being amazed at how fast he learned what his right and left are, I still forget many times. Of course I do change to a firm tone of voice when he disobeys me, like today, but I never scream at him, I learned a long time ago that that is a losing game. I don't know if it is because he is so large, I am not a short person, or because I am not strong enough but he does not show any sign of being corrected when I correct him with the prong. I remember being able to correct 1st GSD 3-4 years ago and getting him to yelp but I have never been able to do that with Kobe. Ah, the joys of getting old. Probably should have bought a Maltese, but having bred and shown them for 25 years I was ready for something different, little did I know!
you have been very kind in writing to me with your thoughts and ideas, no mea culpa necessary at all! and it is so true that I can use pointers in training and Kobe needs retraining periodically. I will be anxious to see what new trainer's thoughts are about using treats and other areas of training and problem solving are. And I hope his communication skills are as good as yours are. I will let you know.
Nancy
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Re: Perfect GSD Turns into Dog from Hell
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