Hello everyone,

Wanted to say hello and say thank you in advance for any support i get from this forum. Ive done my research and this looks to be the place.

To the point, She has a Beagle/Boxer breed approx. 9months

I dont know alot of the boxers or beagles other than it makes for an interesting
personality combination. From what i understand Beagles are very focused and make great bird dogs sometimes too focused especially if it is their focus. Boxers ive seen to be very nervous high-strung and very loyal/protective/curious. Ends up feeling like a dog with ADD.

She isnt what i would call a Pack leader sort of personality which has made for a poor start to training. She's just now getting into training but on her terms a bit late for my taste but better than never.

I just purchased the Leerburg 4 hour DVD on basic dog obedience and look forward to watching it with her.

I guess im asking for any tips on how to help out with the training without it seeming to her like im taking over. I think she will be open to professional input but i just want the best approach for an assisted training attempt.

Also any tips on this combination of dog.

Thanks in advance.
Jay

The first thing you both should read is this:

Groundwork to Becoming a Pack Leader

This method really made a difference when I adopted a very high-strung lab at 9 mo. old who had no training or pack structure in her previous home. Man, she was quite a pill at first, but after going through groundwork, she knew who was in charge, and the respect level went way up. You need to start this now, so you can have the dog ready to focus to her when Basic Obedience starts.

As far as you being involved in the training here's a quote from the Pack leader article:

"THE FAMILY PETTING AND PLAYING WITH THE NEW DOG

This may fly in the face of people who want a family dog but the fact is in the beginning I never allow family members to pet or play with a new dog.

My primary goal is to establish a family pack. I can best do this by firmly inserting myself as PACK LEADER. once that is accomplished I can easily step in to help establish the rank of other family members within the pack."

So, your GF needs to be the only one really making any contact with the dog at first to avoid confusion about who is the Pack Leader here. I am almost sure that I have either read or heard Ed mention that the training is done by one person, in this case your GF because two people have a hard time being consistant in the training. But I think you understand that, and are asking how can you tell her to do it right without upsetting her.

When I started groundwork, I made my GF not look at her, no touching, nothing. This would apply to you in this situation. Also, anyone who comes over, same rules. This really upset my girlfriend, who wanted to play with the dog, and such, but the bottom line is, if I didn't follow pack rules, the dog would be confused, and I wouldn't have the focus on me, which allows me to control the dog. She knows now that I am the pack leader, and through me she gets pleasure, not anyone else.

You want to help her with training, but don't want to take over. Well, she is the one who should take over. It is her dog, after all. This dog will be alive ten years from now; will you all still be together then? Who knows? But her and the dog sure will be, and she should want to make the most of this long-lasting relationship by being a leader for the dog. If that is not in her personality, trust me, dog training will certainly bring it out of her!

When you get the Basic OB DVD, you will learn about marker training. This is one of the most fun things I have done in my life! I think she is really going to enjoy it! After she puts the dog through groundwork, and starts with the basic obedience for a few weeks, update us on how things are going. I am confident that she will have new character traits like leadership that she never knew was in there! Good luck...

I think you will do well to follow Rick's suggestions.

And I agree that you'll like http://www.leerburg.com/302.htm very much.


I also agree that marker training will be a joy for your GF to discover and practice, whether she's a "pack leader type" or not. And when she reads some of Ed's eBooks and listens to the podcasts, she'll discover that leadership is one of the primary needs of the dog. Lack of pack structure is a source of anxiety and even outright fear for the dog. A strong, fair, reliable pack leader, OTOH, is a source of confidence and security.

I am not a Expert, but i get a lot of Pigeon Fanciers come to my place, and as my Dogs live outside in the Kennels and Have a Metal Compound, Most ask if the Dogs are Friendly, I tell them i prefer them not to go near the Dogs and in fact ingnore them completly. Otherwise my dogs would be petted by at least 10 + people a week mostly more, and i do not want that