I was thinking about the idea that we are going to 'ruin' our dogs, especially when they are puppies. I had this fear when I first got Jethro, that every wrong step was the road to a red zone, ill-mannered, incorrigible dog. But we are proving every day on this board that if you change the conditions your dog is experiencing, your dog will adapt to those new conditions. So things like consistency, clarity, fairness, appropriate corrections and appropriate rewards, will change the mental, emotional and behavioural condition of your dog. Granted, consistent missteps are going to take longer to change, particularly when they have become ingrained as superstitious or habitual responses to environmental conditions.

The wonder of our dogs is that they are so responsive to us, and to our efforts. If we continue to work with them, they will evolve in the direction we wish them to go.

I'm sure many of us live with husbands, children, parents, friends, etc. who do not understand dogs or dog training or dog handling. In a sense, these people become distractions that we need to teach our dogs to cope with, even if they struggle to maintain the self-control, obedience, or calm energy level that we work so hard to bring out.

I, for one, am not going to think about 'ruining' Jethro anymore. He is going to push me to up my game as a handler, but really, no one can 'ruin' him. He is going to adapt to his conditions and I can keep working to make those conditions bring out the best in him.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! You can handle this, and so can your beautiful pup.

LOL at "sitsitsitsit.." I too had family in for an entire week..they left today. and training is starting allll over for me too. I just knew it was only for a week..and saying ANYTHING to my mom would turn into a "i know more about training" argument. My dad on the other hand asked me if he could play fetch with our pup and learned VERY quickly to only use a comand once, wait for the responce, and quickly reward. if both your folks...or even your sis...could maybe bring up to your mom that this dog training "stuff" is VERY important to you, and that you have a specific purpose and goal for it, maybe she would ask how she could imporove. If she is anything like my mom i doubt it'll happen..BUT it could turn into a bonding experiance like it did with me and my pops.
Maybe show her a youtube video of your altimate goal with your dog? try to find one with a good emotional song lol..appeal to the "motherly" side.
don't worry..it'll get better..and i have learned that dogs can unlearn bad behavior, even if it is us the owners that teach it to them. I know i'm still a work in progress.

I'm adjusting my training philosophy a bit, With Erika I was a total control freak and she ended up a very one person dog, I had to go back and train her that it was ok to play with and listen to other family members. I'm letting my kids get much more involved with Drago even at the expense of having to go back and fix stuff. I want him to be the family protector.

As your pup gets older, she'll quite possibly start ignoring others on her own as she gets more focused on you. And you can still teach her to be calm around everyone but your mother. Eventually people seem to get annoyed enough by a rambunctious dog that they want something to be done about it. Then maybe you can step in and fix it.

My dogs often ignore family members giving them commands because they don't *have* to obey them. They need to listen to me and they understand that (most of the time at least :grin. Listening to other people is optional and may happen if they have something the dog is drooling over besides "sitsitsit" sounds nothing like the commands in their vocabulary!

I had a breakthrough today with my mom I had Izzy on a lead in the house ,I had my mom call Izzy say sit then say yes and treat I had her do this a few more times , until she said my way is not fun(too boring) and told me to train her

I did not believe she would ever stop and listen to me and try it my way (however it could have been the fact that I gave her two gift card for a massage and nail salon thirty minutes earlier :whistle

I still want Izzy to look at me as her main caretaker but I guess it does not hurt to let my mom help now and again while she is here.

I live the situation where the bad dog trainers have their run, but I actually take the time to train my dog in a rewarding (for him and for me) way. Is it needless to say that when I say 'come!' the dog races to me no matter what those dummies are saying or doing?

If you train your dog that when you bother to tell him a command, awesome things are going to be happening, you will have absolutely no need for those others to be on the same page. In my experience, bad dog trainers either do not reward or do not reward enough, and the dog learns that. If you are different, and your dogs trusts that you are going to be a VERY interesting person with the best food and the best toys, he will always listen to you. Be the best leader and you will get the best dog.