Boy, I think it really depends on the dog.
I have always been a "just do it, they get over it" person with my personal dogs, dogs I have raised - terriers, Chesapeakes, setters, hounds of various types, mutts -- never had a growl- Actually, most dogs in the clinic, dogs that don't even know you, cut a person a lot of slack. With this ACDx and my previous ACD though, I had trouble achieving complete trust/acceptance. I think these kinds of dogs require more finesse, better leadership, and a stronger bond. They take a better owner. Training seems to be key-and food too!
If it's something like a bath which is only going to happen once or twice a year, I'm in the "just get it over with" camp. You aren't hurting them, it shouldn't be a scary thing to them unless they are easily scared in the first place, I'm not going to spend a few months trying to marker train them into doing something I can have done in 10 minutes.
When possible I make bath time fun, if it's warm out we will go outside and play with the hose. Once the dog is all wet I'll suds them up and we'll play with the hose some more. At the very end I'll give them a rinse just to be sure all the soap is gone. But if we need to just do a quick bath, then that's what we do.
He is a dog that is easily scared. He spent the second half of the summer indoors at the lake, despite having acres of woods and water and kids and all sorts of things to smell.
No fence, no cars, no other dogs...should be Loki heaven. Instead he would lay in the sunny spot by the front door.
The reason: a horsefly scared him.
It didn't even bite him, just spooked him really bad. He got better by early fall, but still had to be coerced into actually hanging out outside instead of just going out to potty.
The thing that helped the most was taking Nico up one weekend, her confidence and stability really helped his bravery and they ran all over the place and had a blast. I worry for him when she is gone.
That being said he isn't actually scared of the bath, or getting his nails done, or leaving my parents house etc.
He just doesn't want to do it, so he will lay down/go limp which is totally different than his actual fear response.
Well then, Nico just can't go any where. Loki sounds like such a sensitive soul.... not to digress from your post but I am curious if anyone knows of a way to use Nico to instill more confidence even when she is not present. Would it be effective to have something Nico has slept on available to calm Loki when they are not together?
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Re: training VS getting it over with
[Re: Melissa Hoyer ]
#315789 - 02/08/2011 08:31 PM 
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