Anyone have recommendations for good dog obedience training in the area? We have a 2 year old Weimaraner who could use some training. (It would probably be more accurate to say that I could use the training along with him.) ;)
There seem to be a lot of options out there, but its hard to know who is "good" unless you hear from a satisfied customer. :)
Thanks so much for your help!
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I forget the name of where we went, but the trainer was very good. It's not so much training your dog, but training you how to work with your dog. Had very good results and highly recommend. Will ask my girl she's better with names than I.
Though it's over off Route 2 going toward Maumee Bay.
Just general obedience training, I guess. Overall, he's a good dog, but has a few small bad habits. I thought that a class would be good for me. (Good for him too, of course, but I realize that the real purpose of a class is to teach the owner how to manage the dog.) :)
One example, I guess, is leash training. He likes to pull (which is typical of his breed, of course), and he's a strong dog! I have a harness to walk him with, but I'm also considering a Gentle Leader collar. Have read some positive things about them.
Check with your vet about who's good in your area. There are several in Toledo. Pups and People or the Toledo Kennel Club are two that come to mind that I've had experience with over the years, but they are not the only ones who do a nice job.
Garbage food might be an issue.
Organic food, carrots, celery, and omega 3 oil for my furball. The only time she acts sketchy is around sketchy people. And then I threaten to take her to the Dawg Pound. Watching Cleveland Browns football is worse than waterboarding to her 3 ounces of synapses.
Classical music and death metal also keep walking on the beach next to Jesus.
Some peeps swear by this dude over the as seen on TV guy:
http://www.siriuspup.com/about_history.html
Here we go, gotta love google.
http://www.apromisedfriend.com/
I adopted a dog last year, we think he might have been a dog fighter and abused in several ways. He is very loving, but would go into attack mode around other dogs and growl at some people. This lady is absolutely wonderful. Her methods can be a little rough, and agree it takes you out of your comfort zone at times. However you can't argue with the results.
We even had a Pit Bull in class that was going to be put down, but the end of the 6 weeks it was playful as a pup, good tempered and my dog and he could pass right next to each other and not a single growl or eyeball movement.
Another thing I like is that she never hits a dog. That's never an answer, she teaches you how to be the alpha leader and throw attitude to keep your dog in check, and also simple ways to play and work with the pooch to keep him happy an active, so there's a little dog psychiatry in the course.
Sorry to go on and on, but money well spent. She also has a nice training facility which is nice.
If you go tell her Josh, Susan and Quinny say hi :)
-Josh
I had problems with my dog pulling on the leash while going for a walk. She knew Heel but in most cases I didn't care if she heeled. We go for fairly long walks (3-5 miles/day) and I just wanted her to walk along nicely without pulling. I didn't want to use the Gentle Leader because that only prevents pulling when they have the Gentle Leader on. I wanted her to walk nicely with a normal collar and leash.
By allowing the dog to pull while walking, the pulling behavior is just being reinforced. The way I got my dog to not pull is to give a command (I use Let's Go) and start walking. The second the dog pulls, STOP and just stand there. Yes, you may only go a few feet before you have to stop. At this point, some trainers say that you just wait for the dog to move back to you and then you start walking again. I used treats - once she moved towards me, I'd treat her and then say Lets Go. Then start walking again, when the dog pulls, Stop and wait. I also ended up saying NO when she pulled. We would walk, she would pull, I would say NO and stop walking. If she continued to pull even while standing, I'd call her name and the second she looked back at me, I'd get a treat out which would bring her back to me. It took my dog a long time to catch on -- I adopted her when she was 4 so she was over 5 years old when I did this. So she'd had 5 years of pulling behavior and about one year of me allowing her to pull.
I've seen this method work, even on Huskys. But you have to be consistent. NEVER let the dog pull. Yes, at first, it may take you an hour to go 100 yards but for short distances, they usually catch on pretty fast. It probably took us about a month before I could consistently walk a few miles without stopping because of pulling.I also recommend going to obedience school. It provides a good foundation and lets your dog be around other dogs/distractions. If you don't have a good foundation, you won't have much luck with any other training.
To take Surfer’s method a step further. Instead of just standing there, use a lunge line (very long leash often used for horses). The dog will want to lead and forge ahead. When it goes far ahead, you the handler go the opposite direction and the dog will gag/hang itself sort of. When it comes back to follow and go ahead in the new direction you turn and go the opposite direction again and repeat as necessary. The dog will soon learn the value in staying close! It also helps prevent you from being the bad guy as the dog will learn that he is doing it to himself. As said, a reward and lavish praise for reinforcement.
Healing a dog is actually stressful for the dog so, heal in short spurts at first. To get it to heal, chew a hot dog in your mouth and occasionally drop a chunk into the dog’s mouth. I guarantee he will pay attention to you.
Today is the last straw with my pooch and his sometimes sudden lunge at people/other dogs. So my wife walks him and they see a lady walking, he goes up to her sniffs, and then just snaps and does one mean bark. I'm tired of telling people "it's his Chihuahua side" (he's a chi-terrier). Poor guy knows he's in the dog house right now, because he knows I am dissapointed when he lunges/growls/barks at people. So I'll look into some kind of schooling for him and us owners as well.
I think the first step, djim, would be to make sure the dog is not allowed to sniff strangers, even if he's invited -- at least for right now. If someone says, "Can I say hello to your doggie?" you can just reply that no, he's in training right now, and keep on walking.
I think a lot of leash-walking problems stem from the fact that owners aren't controlling the walk. Rather, they let the dogs control the walk. (Or in dog psychology, if you're not controlling the walk, the dog assumes it's his or her job. Dogs instinctively know that SOMEBODY is ALWAYS supposed to be in charge.)
JMO, but I'm not a trainer ... and I'm guilty of this, too, with our Boston Terrier. :(
Thank you so much for all of the suggestions.
I experimented with solutions for the leash pulling issue this weekend. First, I tried the Easy Walk Harness. (Made by the same company that does the Gentle Leader head collar - I wanted to try the harness before the head collar, because I had a feeling that our dog would react better to it.)
What a difference that made from the very first walk we made using it. In the past, I've had to hold onto the leash using a death grip with both hands. (He's strong and energetic.) The very first walk we used the Easy Walk Harness, he didn't pull at all. I was very impressed. I managed to do the whole walk holding the leash normally with just one hand.
I still want to do an obedience class just for extra help. But that Easy Walk Harness has made all the difference in the world for the leash issue!
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current date: 29-Aug-2008 8:40 P.M.
It depends. What do you want your dog to do?
When you're selecting a trainer keep in mind that no one is ever allowed to hit your dog. Never. Nor are they allowed to substitute other forms of abuse for hitting.
Your dog really does want to do what you ask of him, but he doesn't understand you and isn't willing to invest a lot of time learning your language. Ergo, your commands must be simple and require a single response.
You can't teach a dog what not to do. You can replace bad behavior with good behavior. For instance, if your dog is begging at the table, teach him to go to his place and he'll get a nice rawhide to chew. When he barks at the doorbell, tell him what a good dog he is and make him go to his place and sit. After the company has come inside and been seated, release him from his place and reward him - everyone should tell him what a good dog he is immediately.
Your dog wants an alpha dog to follow. If he can't find one, he'll do the job himself - and that's when trouble starts. You, the resident two legs, are supposed to be the alpha dog 24/7. You are always alert, always watchful, always right. If you aren't doing that, then you are not the alpha dog. And, by the way Mom2, your little darlings are not alpha dogs either, and for the same reason they (hopefully) are not allowed to dictate what is served for breakfast, whether or not they go to school, and whom they associate with, when and for how long.
So, again, what do you want your dog to do?
posted by madjack on Apr 02, 2008 at 08:05:11 pm #