Ah Barbara,
Just when it was getting to be fun.

Well, later guys it's getting late.
Ciao.

M & M Enterprises

Ok, Ok, Iam sorry for bringing up the water bottle. I had a feeling someone would get upset. What can I say, I confess, I was crazy at the time living with JAWS. I was desperate, I lost my head,I couldn't take it anymore, I didn't know what I was doing, I had no solution, ...........but it worked and she is a happy dog with no side affects from maybe the 10 times she got a little water in the face and she obeys "no bite" now without even bringing up the water bottle.

Sorry for the upset Randy. I am sure you know better ways to train than a water bottle, you have probably trained more dogs than I ever will, since this is the only dog I have trained and probably the last dog I will train...as always I appreciate your imput.

Anna

No reason to be sorry Anna, my feeling aren't hurt. And I wasn't particularly upset.
As long as you're happy with the results and the means are humane, train your dog (or cat) the way you see fit. I know I do.

Like you and everyone else here though, I will reserve the right to give my opinion about stated methods of training.

I am sorry to hear of someone who thinks only one dog in their life time is enough.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

 Quote: Kelly Schultz

Well, I just made my own long leash and we went out in the yard to try fetch. First, when I threw the ball, in mid chase, he got distracted and went off to do his own thing. Then, when I did finally get him to bring one back and tried to get him to drop it by tossing the other ball, he jumped up, got a hold of the ball I was tossing along with my finger, and wouldn't let go of it!

Kelly, he's 6 months old. He will get distracted easily, so you need to be way more fun and interesting than the distraction. Have you taught him the command 'drop it'?

Good job with the long line!

Yes, I've taught him "drop it", and when he knows I'm going to give him food for it, he drops it instantly (unless it's something really good). However, if I don't have food in front of him, forget it! I also just had a scary experience on our walk. We met a lady who just said "Hello" to him from a bit of a distance and Toby started to growl and lunge at her. Holy Cow! He has growled in the past, but he would always pull away from the people, not towards them. I had the martingale on him, and he just gagged and continued to lunge. I'm not sure if this is an aftereffect of the pinch collar or not. I am highly concerned, however, because this pup was meant to be a family dog. Growling and lunging at 6 months is not comforting to me. I'm very worried that he is going to be a fear biter. Yet, when people come to my house, his whole body wags with excitement.

Kelly, I think you need to find another trainer who is using positive reinforcement and has experience with fearful dogs. The prong collar trainer has done you no favors with this pup and has probably set your training back.

Without seeing you and the pup working together, it will be difficult for anyone to give you meaningful advice over the internet. In the meantime, don't allow people to approach him on your walks and crate him when your daughter's friends are over.

I saw a trainer who used all food rewards a few months back. She was mostly a sit, stay, down, drop it trainer. I went to this other trainer, because I felt Toby needed more as far as the spontaneous biting when excited and growling at other dogs went. Also, nothing was working to get him to walk calmly and he was starting to physically inflict pain when pulling. However, I think I am going to give her a call again. He will only work for food right now (besides his sit), and sometimes I just don't have food on me! I will be honest - with his skittishness right now on the walks, I really don't even want to walk him. It's like he's gone from fleeing out of fear to attacking out of fear. He's so stinking strong, that I am having a hard time controlling him. I purchased the Establishing Pack Structure video from this website. I'm hoping that will help as well.

Ask her if she's had experience with fear aggression. If she hasn't, keep searching.

Kelly DO you use clicker training? This is the way I used to teach Ranger not to pull on walks.

Take your clicker & some treats. It should be on a day you have at least a little while to work on this. This is not a 'walk' but a training session.

You may not even get out of the door! Put the leash on your pup. Go to the door. Tell him 'sit'. C/T. Then put your hand on the doorknob. If puppy gets up, take your hand off the doorknob & tell him 'sit'. Repeat dozens of times (or however many it takes--LOL!) until pup gets the idea that you will NOT be going out the door until he sits and waits for you to tell him 'ok, let's go!' This may be all you do on the first day.

When you can finally get outside with pup sitting and waiting by the open door, then you take a step or two. The SECOND pup starts pulling you stop moving. Tell pup 'no pulling' or whatever you want to use. The second he stops pulling (which might be several minutes) C/T and have a party!! Take another step or two. As long as pup is WALKING keep going and C/T occassionally. When he pulls, stop instantly and repeat your cue words. The key is do not move when he's pulling. It make take several lessons but pup will soon understand that walking only occurs when he is being nice and not pulling. Be sure and C/T every now and then.

Do these lessons every day until pup will walk nicely beside you. This is what worked for me. But then, what do I know? I used a spray bottle too.

So, basically, I guess I should keep him on a short, loose leash (so that he stays beside me instead of in front), and as soon as there's tension on the leash, say "No pulling". As SOON as he relaxes and stops C/T. Once he continues to do this, do I just C/T using no cue words? LOL for the spray bottle! I didn't realize it would cause such a debate!