But many 2 legged ones don't understand reward based training and seem to need a more severe old school yank & crank positive correction to come around, prong collar works well.

 Quote: Cathy Goessman

I'd just like to point out that operant conditioning principles don't change for different species. Two legged animals often respond just as well to marker training as the four legged animal does.

Case in point...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euINCrDbbD4
http://leerburg.com/flix/player.php/80/Clicker_or_Marker_Train_a_Human_-_Session_1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=I9qHbx58dv4&feature=endscreen

Thank you everyone for the support. You brought up some good points I can use. I will bring this up to my husband today and also start taking more responsibility for the dog by myself. I can block him in our room when I am not home so no one else has to deal with him.

He has been getting in the trash lately. (He figured out how to step on the thing that lifts the lid...) There is a box that fits perfectly on top that keeps him from getting in but some people are not remembering to replace it, so that can be another reason why I want him confined unless I am there.

His dad does not hit the dog when I am around so keeping him away from him when I am not there should do the trick. He has told me many times that he smacks him though. I think it is for getting in his space and for not obeying commands. I don't think he should have to obey commands from him but since we live with him others disagree.

I am planning on getting an e-collar soon and getting the DVD from this site to learn how to use it. I would most like it for off-leash work, he used to be great off leash but then he realized that those deer creatures were really fun to chase. I also want it for the trash issue as it is becoming very dangerous. I figure with a baby coming he needs to be better around food in general.

Oh, and I do have a crate but it doesn't fit in the bedroom so people may see him and feel the need to let him out.

"His dad does not hit the dog when I am around so keeping him away from him when I am not there should do the trick. "

Well, that's a step in the right direction.

The dog has full run of the house? IMO, he is being set up for failure with the trash.

I do like for him to have free roam when everyone is gone because I have been feeling like crap lately and haven't exercised him like I should so I feel bad to have him cooped up all the time. The box keeping him from getting in the trash was working great for a while but a couple of my husband's brothers have been over a lot lately and they don't always remember to put it back.

 Quote: Steph Schneider

His dad does not hit the dog when I am around so keeping him away from him when I am not there should do the trick. He has told me many times that he smacks him though.

Well, I hope this works, but when you're not around you don't really know what treatment your dog is being subjected to. But if the dog can stay in your room while you're gone, and your FIL respects your privacy and will stay out of the room, that would be helpful.

As far as the trash, is there anyplace the bin could be placed where it is simply not accessible by the dog? In my house, our trash is behind a closed door in the utility room, adjacent to the kitchen. Simply not possible for the dogs to get to it. If there's no place else to put it, can you keep the dog out of the kitchen or whatever room it's in, maybe with a baby gate? (You'll be using lots of those soon enough, anyway!)

I do understand that you are living in your FIL's house, and he is probably set in his ways and may not be amenable to making inconvenient changes to accommodate your dog. Tough situation.

I do think it's a good idea to continue to talk to both of these men in your life to try to teach them what marker training is all about. They may even find it fun to learn to communicate with dogs in a whole new way. After all, many people who do marker training today are converts from the crank-and-yank school of thought.

Best of luck to you, Steph, and I hope you'll keep in touch and let us know how things are going. And I hope you start to feel better soon!

Steph, if you do start training with an e-collar don't give anyone else in the house the opportunity to use it. While I think partners or families can learn to all use this training tool effectively and consistently I'd hate to hand the transmitter to someone that thinks smacking a dog is acceptable. It's bound to give them an even more tempting way to mistreat the dog. There is certainly a right way and wrong way to use an e-collar and I wouldn't trust someone untrained or heavy handed with one.

 Quote: Bryan Simms

Steph, if you do start training with an e-collar don't give anyone else in the house the opportunity to use it. While I think partners or families can learn to all use this training tool effectively and consistently I'd hate to hand the transmitter to someone that thinks smacking a dog is acceptable. It's bound to give them an even more tempting way to mistreat the dog. There is certainly a right way and wrong way to use an e-collar and I wouldn't trust someone untrained or heavy handed with one.

That is a really, really important point! An e-collar in the hands of someone who already thinks it's okay to hit a dog could end up being an instrument of torture.