MUCH more no-distraction groundwork is needed. Indoors is a great start, so don't worry about the small apartment. There are very few (if any!) basic obedience and focus training steps that I can't begin indoors (and I do), including the recall and even retrieve.

The time it takes for the dog's lightbulb to go on is fully dependent on the consistency with which you work on it. I'm a firm believe in having 100% compliance with no distraction before I add even the smallest distraction or the smallest distance (or even change of venue). That is, I want the recall, or sit, or down, or focus, to be 100% reliable in the living room, for example. Then I introduce change of venue by moving the show to the kitchen, and then the hall, and then the porch, and so on.

Tell us about your marker work. I think that marker work is so fun and exciting for the dog (and you) that training advances much more quickly than otherwise. I don't even agree with folks who say "marker training is better if you have the time" because in the long run, after the admittedly more time-consuming step of loading the marker and getting started over compulsion, marker work makes for such an eager dog ---- you can't beat it for swift returns. The dog will live for the moments when she hears "ready?" once she knows that it means "let's train!"

So describe some of your marker work, if you would.

Hey Jenn, you'll be surprised how much progress you can make with a couple of the points brought up. Hang out with her at a distance that she feels comfortable and you can be completely relaxed. Don't do anything but relax together. No obedience, nothing. Learn to be calm when you have her out and watch the world go by.

Do your obedience in private where nothing distracts either one of you. Don't rush it and stress the two of you, take your time and enjoy it.

Some of my post may sound far afield from your challenge with the dog.

But it's not. As Steve or Randy mentioned earlier, you can make the wanted behavior become the default behavior with the foundation work we're talking about. Then distractions are proofed against only in increments. Other dogs (especially with this reactive dog) are big distractions.

Jenn,

I am just now getting around to reading your (and others) posts after mine.

If you went back and restarted your ob work only a couple of weeks ago, and you can now see some positive feedback with your dog, you are doing great.

Read up on all the free marker training advice and when you can afford it, get the DVD's. They are super valuable.

Also, I don't know if you ever did it, but have tethering is a super great tool for your NEW tool bag.

I got a rescue when she was six months old. Super barky, super excited, super energy, super cute (think Jack Russell on crack).

I tethered her and it was soon that she was MY dog. The bond was and is incredible.

Also, as many of the great guru's here will tell you, it never hurts to go back to step one and re-start everything. Of course, every time you go back to the first start, all things are quicker and easier.

PS

Tethering means tethered indoors to you, and not to a piece of furniture or something.

Yes, tether to yourself. Then the dog can not do anything that you are not aware of.

When I got my dog, I really wanted a perfectly behaved dog that slept at the foot of my bed.

I had forgotten what it was like to have a puppy.

After tethering, she even now stays right on my heel even walking thru the house. It is near impossible to ignore any behavior of hers.

I don't let her walk in front and she is much faster than me. The few times she has walked in front of me, I stop and look at her and say, "Now, Mimi?". She instantly stops, turns in circles and gets behind me.

I also crated. Now, she goes to her crate when she wants to get away from it all. Noise, company, the grandson. The crate is in an un-obtrusive part of the house, but she goes there for her 'private den'.

I still have problems with barking but after consulting some of the experts here, I realized that I still hadn't done everything I should have with basic obdience before I go for the bark collar. And, interestingly enough, she is continuing to get better about the barking. Hopefully, I will one day graduate to the bark collar but right now we are still working on obedience and perfecting it and it has been over a year.

Granted, I have been slow for lots of reasons, but she is still an impressive dog to other people who have never seen a dog do marker stuff.

 Quote: connie sutherland

MUCH more no-distraction groundwork is needed. Indoors is a great start, so don't worry about the small apartment. There are very few (if any!) basic obedience and focus training steps that I can't begin indoors (and I do), including the recall and even retrieve.

The time it takes for the dog's lightbulb to go on is fully dependent on the consistency with which you work on it. I'm a firm believe in having 100% compliance with no distraction before I add even the smallest distraction or the smallest distance (or even change of venue). That is, I want the recall, or sit, or down, or focus, to be 100% reliable in the living room, for example. Then I introduce change of venue by moving the show to the kitchen, and then the hall, and then the porch, and so on.

Tell us about your marker work. I think that marker work is so fun and exciting for the dog (and you) that training advances much more quickly than otherwise. I don't even agree with folks who say "marker training is better if you have the time" because in the long run, after the admittedly more time-consuming step of loading the marker and getting started over compulsion, marker work makes for such an eager dog ---- you can't beat it for swift returns. The dog will live for the moments when she hears "ready?" once she knows that it means "let's train!"

So describe some of your marker work, if you would.

hi connie i am not exactly sure what you mean by marker work. do you mean like clicker training?

Yes, I do.

connie,

not sure i ever mentioned clicker work. i've never actually used a clicker in training.

 Quote:

I'm a firm believe in having 100% compliance with no distraction before I add even the smallest distraction or the smallest distance (or even change of venue). That is, I want the recall, or sit, or down, or focus, to be 100% reliable in the living room, for example. Then I introduce change of venue by moving the show to the kitchen, and then the hall, and then the porch, and so on.

it's funny, since i have read this a lot through out this thread, i have just now been realizing how UNRELIABLE these things are, just in the house. My dog doesn't want to listen to a damn thing I tell her to do unless I am holding a treat over her head! (a little exaggerating, but not completely).

sigh we have a lot of work to do!