Again, for the record, I AM doing motivational training right now!

Heh it's ok, I know not everyone will read through the whole 8pages thing.

I'm ALSO working on exercices. I'm playing with him more than ever. Last night we went for a bike run. Streets were empty, so there were much less distractions. I went as fast as he could keep up with, slowing down now and then to let him catch his breath... until he ran off, asking me to go faster!

Once back home I dumped the bike and went for a walk. He was still quite alert, but seemed less focused on what was going on around us. Probably due to both the fact that he was exhausted, and the streets were less crowded than at 7pm.

I just walked in circle for a moment. Not going in a straight line prevented him for getting in front of me, and he got tons of praise for it.

Looks like I'll have to introduce a "midnight bike run" in my routine.

 Quote: Bob Scott

Terriers! Gotta love em cause it's illegal to shoot them!

Force training a terrier will get you a couple of things. A dog with flat obedience. a dog that has lost it's drive or a dog that tries to eat the turd on the other end of the leash.

After 30 yrs with a half dozen different terrier breeds the one thing I've learned is be patient and HAVE FUN!

Most don't take the motivational training to the extent that I do but terriers are the dogs that got me looking at this method. If a terrier is having fun, the world is yours.

It sounds like your trying to hard to train the dog instead of enjoying it.
Dump the trainer! No point in beating around that bush.

Staart from scratch and teach this dog that your not going to require precision obedience every time you put a leash on him. A 20 min walk should have no more then 3-4' 15-20 second obedience workouts. Your boring the daylights out of the dog and his response to corrections tells me that he's not really understanding what you want. To much correction will over ride any effort on the dogs part to want to learn.

Of course the dog is going to be more interested in the dog outside the window then it is with the food you offer. That's WAY over the top distraction for a dog that really hasn't properly learned the behaviour you want from it without distraction.

Go back to ground zero and let this dog know that obedience can be fun.

An obedient dog is more about being a good leader then it is about overpowering the dog with correction.

Try and find a motivational trainer. If that doesn't work for you then find a happy medium. Either way, the dog needs to have fun in training.

Just bumping this post.

Francis, you'll read a lot of good advice here, but not much with the amount of experience behind this one.

Old Earth Dog Bob trained terriers for Moses, I hear. Something about Moses and Bob, anyway ....

 Quote: Francis Daigle

I just walked in circle for a moment. Not going in a straight line prevented him for getting in front of me, and he got tons of praise for it.

VERY good!!

All advices have been very precious. I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to this thread.

My vacation is beginning Friday, which will give me 3 weeks off to put all these good ideas in practice. I'll have an easier access to woods, fields, rivers & creeks (for less intimidating sources of water) and a lot more time to spend with Diablo.

Lately, I've been giving so much attention and care to the dog that my girlfriend is getting jealous.

 Quote: Francis Daigle

All advices have been very precious. I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to this thread.

My vacation is beginning Friday, which will give me 3 weeks off to put all these good ideas in practice. I'll have an easier access to woods, fields, rivers & creeks (for less intimidating sources of water) and a lot more time to spend with Diablo.

Lately, I've been giving so much attention and care to the dog that my girlfriend is getting jealous.

Excellent!

And walks in the woods while you converse with your girlfriend and just march along, assuming that the dog is marching by your side but paying him little attention, is a nice exercise in leadership.

Please start a new thread, because we will all be eagerly awaiting developments!

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

Francis, you should look at Michael's link, too, because it's a true JRT burning off JRT-energy.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

Francis, you'll read a lot of good advice here, but not much with the amount of experience behind this one.

Old Earth Dog Bob trained terriers for Moses, I hear. Something about Moses and Bob, anyway ....

If only there were video cameras back then...........

OED Bob uses terriers for what they were breed to do. Earth work. Bob may know, or you could do some searching on the internet, but you could probably find some earth dog trials near you. Get hooked up with the right people and they could get you started. That would be an EXCELLENT outlet for energy and a confidence builder for the dog as well.

Edited by Michael_Wise (07/16/2008 01:05 PM)
Edit reason: Bob...Sir...I don't know you, so please accept my apology for my above statement. Connie started it...

 Quote: Michael_Wise

OED Bob uses terriers for what they were breed to do. Earth work. Bob may know, or you could do some searching on the internet, but you could probably find some earth dog trials near you. Get hooked up with the right people and they could get you started. That would be an EXCELLENT outlet for energy and a confidence builder for the dog as well.

http://www.dirt-dog.com/awta/
http://www.earthworkers.com/ukcprogram.htm

He sure did. (If you're older than dirt, then when dirt comes along that's what you work with.)





Edited by Connie Sutherland (07/16/2008 01:14 PM)
Edit reason: Bob .... sir ..... Michael is trying to start trouble.

 Quote: Alyssa Myracle

Take a break from training this dog for awhile.

Your trainer has helped you to put a big nasty dent in the trust and faith your dog has in you as a pack leader.

It is NOT your fault. There are millions of crappy and even criminal trainers out there- and you met one. If you haven't already given this trainer the heave-ho, please do. For your dog's sanity. This trainer is a moron.

Your dog has it's entire life to learn OB. Right now, he needs to learn that you are worthy of his trust and respect. Take a break from all training for a week or so.

Take him for nice walks, toss a ball around, groom him every single night. Don't give him commands unless absolutely needed for safety.

Give the dog time to see you as something other than a heavy handed taskmaster. Let him see you as fun, kind, fair and worthy of trust and respect.

After a week of this, begin easing slowly into 5 minute OB sessions, with high value treats, zero compulsion, and always ending on a high note.


A dog that won't accept a treat for performing a command, is telling you that he values being left alone by you, more than the treat.

Thank You!!! I so wanted to say the same thing, I have a JRT and a Cairn Terrier and they both are extremely happy, fun-loving dogs with fantastic dispositions, this type of training would have brought their natural scrappiness to the surface, Terriers in general do not thrive on repetitive, military type training, my 4 German Shepherds thrive on training, obedience and just plain have a high desire to please. Terriers are not so motivated in that type of way, they are smart as all hell, but they are a very independent breed and cannot be drilled , they will shut down, lose interest and lock up. I enroll my terriers in general obedience for the socialization and while my expectations are not as high as say for my Shepherds, they have done extremely well, albeit being the class clowns in addition to grasping everything presented to them.

I cannot recommend enough the necessity of a lot of stimulating exercise, these dogs are tireless and still have retained their deep ingrained desire to hunt, my terriers are oblivious to the elements, all they have to see is me putting on my boots and they know it's stable time and that means MICE!!!!!! I take them to the stables ( I live on horse property) at least twice a day for them to run/dig/hunt etc.. and they still come in the house looking for their Cuz balls for me to throw while I watch TV. I can't imagine how destructive and incorrigible they would be if not highly exercised/stimulated every day! I hope you take these buggets of advice to heart and help your JRT to live a happy, natural life for him! I LOVE this breed and they can make your life so enjoyable, conversely they can be the dog from hell if not correctly taught their boundaries. Good Luck!!!!

I have no doubt Diablo would have a blast if he was given the opportunity to chase critters in stables/barn. But it is not possible where I live.

Regarding the earthworking club, I don't think we got such things in my area.

I'd like to do agility with him, but it can't happen at this moment with him getting so easily distracted with other dogs.

One step at a time.

 Quote: Francis Daigle

One step at a time.

Absolutely!

And couch potato-ness is no excuse when there are such things as
http://leerburg.com/772.htm



You can SIT and wear out the dog. Don't ask me how I know this.

Walks with companion dogs are crucial, IMO, and so are frequent mind-tiring upbeat training sessions. But for draining off some physical energy, there are easy ways to play it off.