Our girl was in the field today, off-lead, when her favourite 'enemies' came by..two on-lead Dalmations, who never take any notice of her.. and she did her usual, barking, hackling, growling and jumping at the fence.

I gave a 'Boost' stim(ie 2 levels above the one which she just'notices'), the first such she's had and she yelped loudly and jumped about a foot in the air, and was/is very subdued for quite a while after <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

She is eating OK and doesn't seem completely 'cowed', but I just wonder if you think that's within the range of normal reactions?

She is a bit physically 'sensitive', I think, so probably has a low pain threshold.

For now, I intend to only use Levels 1 or 2, unless she shows no reaction at all.
Does that sound sensible?

(I have watched Ed's dvd a few times, and her reaction did seem 'excessive', although she's a healthy, outgoing 2yo MalxGSD. I obviously don't want to 'damage' her in any way.)

Thanks

Rodger,
I am not expert by any means so take this as one learning trainer to another and I may get hit over the head here by others who know more than I do.
Did you try her normal working level before you jumped to the 2X button? I would never push the 2X button unless my pup/dog was not reacting to thier normal stim level (and was in danger), I would more than likley not push the 2X button but move up the range. One level at a time until she did re-act to the stim levels. 2X would be my choice of last resort. So next time try increaing the stim level one degree at a time, she may have very well re-acted fine to her norml stim level, if she did not react to that move slowly up unless you have a right now type of thing, in most cases I think you will have time to move up one level at a time.
My Two Cents.
Jay

BTW: I also use the Innotek, my dog does not even flinch until about level 4 using the nick button and not constant stim,if using the constant stim he will react at 2 to 3 but would jump out of his skin at 6, just for reference sake there.
Have not tested this but I think that 2X is also not a nick but constant stim.
Jay

Rodger, Stop it before it starts. The correction or a distraction from you should come when she even looks at the other dogs. Once a dog is in a state of hyper-defensive behavior it is harder to stop it.

Is she back to her old self now? I can't say whether you over-corrected or not, I don't know. Guess the next time you're out with her if she doesn't bark at the other dogs.... well,then it worked. We all make mistakes and hopefully learn from them. Don't beat yourself up over this just think about the whole scenario, use common sense and figure out a way that works.

Best regards,
Debbie

Rodger -

I am with Debbie on this...I have had to deal with DA for some time now with my Am Staff, after an unfortunate incident I turned to the e-collar. My K9 trainer took her in the field with a long leash, a prong and an e-collar for one of his GSDs. She is a 34 lb Pit. He told me to let her loose and he brought out one of his highly trained GSDs to walk past her, she ran at the dog, I told her NO, she got a correction and then a healthy STIM. By the end of a 20 minute session, dog or no dog she understood that I was the "safe" spot....and this training continues to be effective 8 months later....she is no worse for the wear. I don't even have to use the stim any more, she understands my voice command when another dog is in the area....the right trainer, tool and trust that your dog will be OK..worked for me

My "good girl" collar of choice is the DOGTRA 1200

The "boost" is programmed to just nick the dog, so it's a VERY quick stim (she's not ruined!) -- And I agree with the other posters, try to time your correction for when she 1st starts to focus on the distraction, not for once she's already acting out...

Your girl sounds like she might be pretty soft/submissive, so I would definitely keep the stim quite low, only resorting to a quick boost for refusals.

A bit 'soft' maybe, but dog-submissive she isn't Candi, and I do think she has a low pain threshold.
The only time I've seen her look 'submissive' was when younger and playing with a young boisterous Ridgeback boy... I think his sheer size intimidated her.

She shows the classic 'required reaction' ("Hey, what the... was that?") to just a L1 stim, so that's what I'll be using!

I just wasn't sharp enough the first time to catch her in time(She saw 'em first!), but did this evening and she sort-of shook her head and turned-away from the other dog (a JRT, another of her 'friends'!) who was about 20 yds away.

She soon recovered from being 'over-zapped' this morning, for which I am much relieved!

Thanks for the advice and reassurance.

My friend, I wasn't talking about being DOG-submissive <:-)

Unless you see the the word "dog" in conjunction with temperament terms such as aggressive, submissive, etc., I believe it is normally understood that you mean in relation to the handler, or humans in general -- thus you see "dog-aggro" or "dog-friendly" being used to denote one canine's attitude toward another of its own kind...

Anyway, I meant she will not likely require much in the way of high-level and/or continuous stim from you in her training -- Of course, when no one is there to correct her, she will probably act out toward other dogs (her natural inclinations being what they are)...

Hope this clears things up -- and she sounds like a basically good girl <:-)

Sorry for the confusion, Candi... with people she is usually confident and friendly, although she gets a bit 'protective' if a stranger approaches when my wife is walking her, and she does does sometimes think that joggers are to be chased!

But nothing unmanageable....

Her attitude to dogs is very 'human'(ie variable!).... most she likes but some just get her wound-up (esp those Dalmatians & the JRT!). But even that is getting better as she matures.
We took her to a charity Dog Show, for the rescue centre where we got her... there were over 120 dogs there, in various states of training, but she was as good as gold!