thought you'd get a kick out of it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> yeah, i had knee surgery last week and been having some complications and all this pain med is making me a bit wacky today, just look at my post in the Doberman forum : : :rolleyes:

I have a 7 month old GSD that pulled hard when I walked him, at Eds suggestion I used a puppy prong on him and he self corrected himself, it did not take away from his drive at all. I would just reassure him that everything was all right and we continued our walks in peace. without the prong collar on he continues to pull which I don't mind, but when I want to control the walk I use the prong. At this age I really haven't started to train the fuss, I am still working the bite and basic ob with food.

Are you sure your not walking my dog? I do this same thing... thank you for your reply.

This is how I have kept all my dogs from chasing cars at night or in the daytime.

1. I start off by going to a road with very little traffic. I then put dog in down/stay position. I praise dog for not breaking command, any sign of movement on dog is met with instant correction. (I aways use a 4ft leash & choke chain)

2. As dog demonstrates his abillty to contol his impulse to chase the car I move on to a street that has a heavy volume of traffic. Same tactic used at this location.( It only takes a few sessions and problem is usely solved)

3. Final session is the same in heavy traffic again with instant correction at first sign of dog moving from my side. ( this distraction takes some what longer if your dog has been allowed to chase cars as a pup) Then I walk along road with dog at heel,correction given if he is not completly focused on me at this time.

Final note: I never have either dog off lease in any enviroment that I feel they can not handle.

I'm not a trainer so I might get slammed for these techniques, but have had very good results.

Butch,

I don't think anyone will slam you for that post, in fact is sounds like excellent distraction training to me.

The only thing I kinda would not do is make a dog heel for extended periods of time on the street, out for a walk. I use a looser "with me" for walks, a radious of about 8-10 feet with the flexi and no off the curb without an O.K. I save focused heeling for the field.

Now for a success story, I did use my Prong for 2 nights and Zeus self corrected about 3 times, he now ignores all passing cars, he still needs a couple more times tho, busses are to much to handle, he went for one on lastnight's proofing walk.

at what point is it "alright" to use a prong for recall ? my gsd is only 5 months so I have only used positive reinforcement, however she is at the point where I cant always coax her easily, and soon will be the day that she cant be coaxed and will need a good correction or 3, but I dont want to do it to early. This is the first puppy I have raised and trained (well at least started) so any help is much appreciated. DJ

DJ,

What have you used for Positive Reinforcement, can you tell me what you do during a recall?

The reason I ask is it is important to have the best possable reason for comming, it must be better then any other distraction. I use food for recall training and not just a biscuit, I use little chunks of smokey hotdogs. My dog 6 months and one day loves thoes little things better then life itself, he will come to me no matter what is happning, dogs, kids, rabbits, ball, whatever, I only use these treats when I do this type of recall "Here" and no other time, so when he hears me say "Here" he comes in full speed no matter what. No prong needed.

My suggestion is up the prize during your recall and only that favorite one for only that single command, so there is no mistake in his mind that he will recieve truley what he wants, if he comes. Then of course act as if he just turned lead into gold, get really excited about it. After a while you can tone down the excitment, he will get the picture.

You can however use a prong if you want, it will work, but if you prefer to wait like I have, try it the way I just suggested and see how it goes!

Lonny

hopefully using the food treats the dog will respond to your commands because of the command and not the food.
good practice to not give the treat all the time following the success of the command, that way he will never know when to expect it.

Good Point Dobe,

I failed to mention that part of it...I agree 100% Thanks for having my back! Reward is reward for a job well done, not a bribe.

Do you feel that you can train a dog to recall 100% by regular work and intermitten reward? Even with distractions ie. squirrels, cars, strange dogs. I guess I was under the impression that food was mainly used to teach the command, but then the prong was on when you proofed, is this altogether wrong? DJ