We used to have to spell certain words out. The dog certainly understood them in a sentence.

 Quote: david ross

http://www.tsumelabs.com/malamute/

she's absolutely gorgeous! is she somewhat stubborn like i've heard malamutes to be?

did you decide which language(s) to train her with?

 Quote: eva czarnojanczyk

We used to have to spell certain words out. The dog certainly understood them in a sentence.

haha. yes, been there too. it works until they get the hang of that. it almost looks as though they know how to spell! my wife would say "are you going to take her b-u-b-b-y-e", then i'd say "sure.. ruby, let's go bubbye-dog!". now when you spell out "b-u-b-b-y-e" she gets excited.

You need to ask yourself, "Will I remember all the commands in German, Hindu, or Yiddish when I'm under duress?". We speak to Jäger in German because I still think in German when I speak it (although my vocabulary has shrunk considerably) and my bride remembers enough that it's not a problem, and yes, we do it because it looks cool. I taught Jäger to pick his commands out of a sentence, but, there's added inflection that's missing in normal conversation so we don't have problems with Jäger responding to others or going off during conversation. One of the neighbor's children has learned to command Jäger while playing with him, but he always defaults to me if I change the command. Most people mangle the German so badly that Jäger doesn't recognize it.

I don't have anyone who regularly tries to order Jäger around, if it ever became an issue I'd begin correcting the dog in front of whoever was bossing the dog around for fun. When they complain simply inform them it's for the dog's safety and they're welcome to get their own dog to boss around. And having the dog react predictably in an emergency could well save his/her life.

We've gotta remember that the dog's action is simply conditioned response to a sound. You can condition the dog to lay down when you say sit or poop when you say Hillary. The dog's only responding to a noise you make, and, frequently the way you say it even if it's unintended. You've gotta watch what you say, how you say it, and what you're doing around dogs. My little goober learned to anticipate commands to get in or out of the truck. He expected it because I'd inhale sharply before speaking. I wonder if there is excitement in people's voice when they say the female dog's name.

 Quote: jamie fraser

 Quote: david ross

http://www.tsumelabs.com/malamute/

she's absolutely gorgeous! is she somewhat stubborn like i've heard malamutes to be?

did you decide which language(s) to train her with?

Malamutes do what they feel like it, same with Saint Bernard dogs. Nobody sees Faith as stubborn. I train her constantly, she follows me right by my side, even off leash. I seriously think anyone who says "malamutes run away when off leash" and "malamutes are not trainable" have serious patience issues. I'm a very patient person, and when patience doesn't work my hand does work. I do also train by kibble and good praise, so she is getting a good dose of both types of training. I don't really believe in praise only training. If the dog pees on the rug, it will get a good whooping. I'll be damned if I ever have a unruly dog. It won't _ever_ happen.

I taught her commands in English, but am regretting in doing so. She is being triggered by words in my sentences when speaking to other people.

oh yeah, i understand. both the dogs we have here are allegedly an accidental breeding between a "purebred" GSD and a decent quality malamute, but i never saw either parent - we just wanted a house dog!

one of them is quite independent, and i was curious as to how much of that came from her alleged malamute heritage. she's definitely trainable, just takes some doing and i'm learning all the time.