It has been a long 5 weeks of Pano. I am just beginning to take my boy on walks again.
He is now 9 mo and 75lbs(GSD). Adolescence is in full bloom, leg lifting etc. I am using a prong collar and dominant dog collar with Leerberg leash. I do not need these for aggression or fear. He is very sweet and VERY friendly. But, when we have distractions (meeting people or dogs) I am not strong enough to control him without.
With the prong on, no problem. He will sit, behave etc. and rarely do I have to give a correction.
Without distraction, he will pay attention with a regular collar, do basic heeling to some extent.
I do not want his neck to become hardened. I would like to be able to walk him in his regular collar eventually.
If you know another post on this, I will gladly read it. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.
Your dog is going to learn (if he has not already) that you can't administer a good correction with the "regular" collar but that you can with the pinch/prong collar. It seems that he is on his way to reacting to this accordingly.
I guess my question to you would be to explain the hardened neck comment. What exactly do you mean by that? What do you see as the harm in his wearing the pinch/prong collar as his standard collar?
I guess I am figuring if I let him know I will not accept that behavior enough times,he will quit doing it.
And if I ever have the time to do any formal OB, will he be hardened to leash pressure?
And also, I can actually jerk(correct) him off his feet in flat collar if I have to. But it makes the walk very tiring. With the prong it takes no effort.
The dog is simply collar wise. I'm with Matthew on leaving the pinch on AS LONG AS YOU CAN SUPERVISE HIM.
"Jerking him off his feet" with a flat collar is a good way to do some damage to the dog's neck.
!!!Get into marker training!!!
I wouldnt worry about leash pressure Carol, and don't think in terms of trying to control him with the prong collar. Think more along the lines of what am I going to teach him.
If there's things he's doing you don't want, its too tough to fix them in random situations that come up. It has to be a controlled training session. If you want to teach him he can't go forward to people or dogs whenever he wants, you need to set that up with people who will work with you.
With corrections, being able to jerk him around isnt what matters, its making the association in his head with the unwanted behavior being what got him corrected. Its more in the timing to do that.
What you mean by hardening him, maybe what you mean is him ignoring corrections? I think its more a problem in the way you use it and that goes back to the random times with distractions you can't control. It can teach him there's no real consequence to ignoring it and that its just another part of what you're asking of him so he doesnt have to comply because another correction is still to come.
I marker train as much as I can. But unfortunately, I have no one at the moment who I can set this scenario up with. Wait, actually I just thought of someone!
I always tell him "no" and correct. I know he gets it. The other day, he made a sudden move toward two people and a clam dog while we were walking. I said no and corrected. Then we turned around and walked back by them twice and I praised for good behavior. This is not always possible, but it was that day. That is what I try to do whenever I can. I will try to set up a scenario with that person.
So far, he does not ignore corrections. And they are between 4-6 level, and not very often. I think my timing is OK.
My dog is the friendliest dog I have ever owned. Maybe he will change as he ages. But he is fearless, very sweet and gets along with everyone.
IF.. he reacts to distractions like other dogs etc., it is friendly curiosity. But , obviously, I cannot allow him to interact with everyone.
And, I agree with Bob, about neck damage, which is why I got a prong, which I only need when we walk.
All this will have to wait once more. Yesterday, he began another attack of PANO in the left, front leg. Hope it's not another 5 weeks. Poor boy!
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