New dog owner

If you guys are doing research a la De Maria's post, let me also recommend the other "school" of training currently in vogue, "Positive reinforcement." It's celebrity proponent(as opposed to Cesar), Victoria Stilwell, has this website up:


Victoria Stilwell Positively| The Books

There is a great divide on this website, some people love Caesar, some hate him... Guess which side I'm on?

Check out Cats site, Victoria Stillwell has some great techniques, plus, she's more likeable

I've known a lot of trainers in my time; some successful, some not. All of the successful ones used a combination of the two schools.

Some dogs need a pack leader's dominance demonstrated, others need to be shown what to do and that's all. They're happy to do it just to get attention.

There are other times when neither school's techniques will work. For example, a puppy will not follow his person or his pack leader onto a 110 degree sidewalk - it hurts his paws.

I appreciate all of your opinions and will look into the information. I would not be as far along with John today with out your input.

I like Cesar, and he does have many techniques and ideas that work really well, but I like to mix it up.

Cesar relies mainly on what he's deemed "dog psychology". Basically it's letting a dog be a dog, you being the leader, and working with the dogs basic instincts to teach him what you want him to learn.

I do like the idea of teaching your dog that you're the leader, and that part of the training does work, but I also believe in positive reinforcement and treat training (rewarding good behavior with a treat, not just the thought "you did good").

I find that the people that mix up the training techniques and don't just stick to one school of thought do the best when it comes to getting the dog they want.

Just something to keep in mind.

I use positive reinforcement to train my dog. But Caesar's method is not a DOG TRAINING method. It is more properly described as a method which teaches the pet owner to relate to his dog in a manner that his dog will understand AND MORE IMPORTANTLY a manner which his dog will respect.

So, it is more properly described as Dog OWNER training.

Rick, you might want to read this book:
Http://www.amazon.com/Marley-Me-Life-Worlds-Worst/dp/0060817089

Its a book about a dog that was taken to several obedience classes and failed them all. This isn't a rare case. I have friends who have not been able to train their dogs.

Its not that the dogs are untrainable. It is that the owners have a utopian view of dog ownership. They own a dog but they treat it as a human.

Let me give you an example. Have you ever seen those nature shows where they show the cubs playing and they say something like this, "Mammals are the only animals that play. This behaviour is very important. They are practicing their fighting skills and at the same time they are establishing their place in the pack." Generally, at that point, they show one cub on top of another.

ESTABLISHING THEIR PLACE IN THE PACK.

When most pet owners see a dog coming at them wagging his tail and jumping on them, they think the dog is doing it simply because he loves them. Yes, he does love them. But he is also establishing his place in the pack. What do most pet owners do when they their pup jumps on them? From my experience, they pick them up and PUT THEM ON THEIR LAP. ON TOP OF THEM.

Without being aware of it, they have unconsciously told the dog that he is the pack leader! And that message has seriously compromised their ability to ever train their dog to follow any of their commands.

The news is not all bad however. From centuries of breeding, most dogs are born natural followers of human beings. It is programmed in their dna. So if the dog owner provides even a minimum effort to give his dog rules, boundaries and limitations, he will probably succeed.

But not all dogs are that way. And too few dog owners know enough to establish a relationship of dominance over their dogs. And when they neglect to do this, the dog will not neglect to establish his relationship of dominance over the owner. I've seen it all too often.

Anyway, the point of my message is this. Caesar's methods ( as some people on this board refer to them) are the best foundation for any type of dog training. Be it positive reinforcement, clicker training (a form of positive reinforcement) or the Koehler method (the best known form of negative reinforcement).

As for me, I use dog psychology (Caesar is the best known representative of that body of knowledge) as a foundation for both positive and negative reinforcement. I use them all.

Sincerely,

De Maria

I have to say, I am not a Caesar fan... I don't agree with a lot of his methods, but there are a few friends of mine who have had success with his tecnique.

I am a fan of pos reinforcement. I know this sounds corny, but I like to try and ignore the bad, and praise the good. For example, my friends mixed breed dog is really aggressive. She runs out of the driveway barking and baring her teeth at people. My friend will say "Sammy NO! Come here", and when Sammy starts to come to her, she says "bad dog".... Well that to me sounds like she is disciplining her dog for coming. So I try and tell her, as soon as Sammy looks at her and stops barking, reward, either with lots of happy talk or a lure like a bone or a treat. Your essentially rewarding the behavior you want and expect.

Hi, thanks for posting that example. Here's the difference using dog psychology before using any training method, positive or negative.

First, if you've used dog psychology from the beginning, your dog will be stable and well socialized. In other words, your dog will be polite. He won't attack anyone.

However, if you have not previously used dog psychology your dog will more than likely exhibit this type of behaviour as well as other unruly behaviours.

Why? Because dog aggression is a SYMPTOM of a larger problem. That problem is specifically called aggression dominance. Addressing the symptom will probably not correct the problem. And this is only one symptom of aggression dominance. There are many others which will probably accompany that symptom.
1. Food aggression. The dog won't let anyone come close to his food. Ever heard of biting the hand that feeds them?
2. Toy aggression. The dog will become possessive of anything that he plays with. Give him a ball and you won't get it back without a fight.
3. Aggression towards children in the family. Dogs will view the children in the family as their subordinates and will forcefully and aggressively make their dominance felt.

So, to correct THE PROBLEM you must establish yourself and every member of your family as a pack leader. Remember that dog psychology is a method of TRAINING THE DOG OWNER how to interact with his dog more effectively. The dog already knows how to be a pack leader and how to be a pack follower. Humans are generally completely oblivious to both.

Before I begin. Verbal commands are discouraged. Using the dog's name is discouraged after you begin the walk.

Why? Because obviously the dog doesn't obey verbal commands, so they just add to the confusion. And using the dog's name is discouraged because you want the dog's name to be associated with positive reinforcement when you begin that training.

The easiest way to become your dogs leader is to take your dog on a power walk.

What is a power walk? A power walk is a walk wherein you will nonverbally communicate to your dog that you are in command of every aspect of his life. Including when and what he smells and when and where he relieves himself.

The control over when and what a dog smells is a big deal because the sense of smell takes up more than half of the dog's brain. If you control his sense of smell, you control the dog.

Here's what to do. First, plan your walk. Plan the time you will take your walk. The best time is after your dog has relieved his bowells. That way your walk won't be interrupted. Plan to take at least one hour. Next, decide your route include in it a place where your dog is permitted to relieve himself. Even though he has already done so, walking moves the bowells and your dog (as well as you) may need to go again.

Ok, now here's the instructions:

1. Observe your dog. When he is calm, get the leash. If your dog is typical of an alpha, he will get overly excited when he notices that you have the leash. DON'T DO ANYTHING. Don't look at him, don't acknowledge him UNTIL HE CALMS DOWN. No matter how long it takes. Go to the kitchen and have a snack if you want. Or read a book. But wait until he calms down.

2. After he calms down call him to you. DO NOT GO TO HIM. He must come to you. He wants to walk and the walk will be his reward for being calm and obedient.

Therefore I repeat again, do not acknowledge him until he calms down and do not go to him. He must come to you.

3. If he gets excited when you call, repeat step 2. Repeat it as often as it takes until your dog is calm.

4. ASSUMING THAT YOUR DOG REMAINS CALM AFTER YOU CALL, and assuming he has come to you when you called. Put the leash on him. If he hasn't come to you with a verbal call alone, you might want to entice him with a bit of food.

4a. For a leash, I prefer a choke collar of some sort. But use whatever is your preference. Only thing is, keep it high on the neck next to his head. Have you ever seen how dog handlers in dog shows place the leash. They do that so that they can have better control of the dog. And the dogs don't seem to mind.

5. Now with the leash on the dog, the dog might get excited again. You must become the strong silent type. Your communication with your dog will be through your leash. SAY NOT ONE WORD. Let me repeat, DO NOT SAY A WORD. Especially do not call the dog's name.

6. Now, observe your dog. He should be used to your waiting by now. But if he isn't and he is excited, simply observe him. Wait until he sits down AND drops his ears. Do not move if he is in an alert position. If his ears are up and he is looking at the door, do not move.

Wait until he is at ease and looking elsewhere. If he lies down that is even better.

7. Now the walk will begin. The alpha dog always leads, therefore you must be the first out the door. If he has beat you to it, return and start from step 6.

Let me give you a few preliminary instructions.

A. Begin to walk and do not stop except to obey traffic laws or UNLESS YOU WANT TO, in order to talk to a neighbor or whatever.
B. Do not let your dog pull you. But if he does, correct him by jerking the leash quickly but firmly to the side. This will throw him off balance.
C. If you must drag your dog, do so.
D. If your dog looks anywhere but at you or forward, correct him by jerking the leash.
E. Do not let your dog sniff the ground, sniff any bushes or trees.
F. Do not let your dog pee. Do not let your dog relieve himself.

8. Take your dog to an area where he can relieve his bowells, let him do so, then resume your walk. If he doesn't relieve his bowells after whatever amount of time you have planned begin to walk back home.

9. The walk back is the same as the walk home. Don't let him pull, sniff any bushes, trees, poles or anything. Don't let him become fixated on anything or anyone. If he does, correct him with a quick jerk of the leash and keep walking.

10. Finally you are near your house. FREQUENTLY, everything breaks down right here. Don't let that happen. If the dog begins to pull you to get home, jerk him to let him know that is unacceptable and stop. Do not proceed until he is calm and submissive again.

11. Now you are at the door. Stop. Do not move. If the dog pulls towards the door correct him. If he knows the sit command, command him to sit. When YOU are good and ready, open the door. You must enter through the door while your dogs sits and waits outside.

12. Invite your dog in the house. Remove his leash and proceed to live in your house.

If the power walk has worked, you will find that your dog has been transformed. He will become your shadow. He will obey your every command. Sometimes even without speaking. Dogs are either mind readers or they read our body language so well that they appear to be.

An easier version of the power walk is the power bike journey. Everything is the same except you ride a bike and the dog follows beside you. This is easier because the momentum created by the speed of the bike makes it harder to distract the dog. It also tires the dog more quickly so that you don't have to take an hour. And he is so tired that he is more submissive when he gets home.

This is not a one time thing. Do it as often as you can, everyday if possible.

WHY IT WORKS

Because you have proven yourself the leader by showing that you control his behaviour. Including when he relieves himself, whom he meets and what he sniffs and marks.

There are two types of dogs, followers or leaders. They are prepared to follow any human who will lead. But if their human won't lead, they are ready to do it.

If you don't lead them and you don't permit them to lead, they become insecure and all types of behavioral problems ensue.

Now, many people object that if you don't let a dog pee and sniff, you aren't letting them be a dog. But that isn't true. You are simply not letting them be a dominant dog. You are letting them be an obedient and well balanced dog who is confident that YOU his leader will protect him and take care of him.

That is the difference. A dominant dog is sure of himself and UNSURE OF YOU. That is why he attacks anyone that comes near the house. He has to protect it.

A calm and submissive dog is confident that his master will protect and take care of him. He will no longer need to show aggression to anyone unless you train him to do so.

Ok, but what if the power walk doesn't work? It worked for me with three dogs. So I have no experience with it not working. However, I have heard that it doesn't always work completely. In that case, I would simply have to address the specific problem.

Lets say you want to address the people aggression. You prepare to take your walk as before. Now you simply walk into your front yard following all the instructions for the power walk. You go out of the door first and you make sure your dog is calm and submissive before you do anything.

Now you just wait leash in hand. Your dog will go into waiting mode. When you see someone coming you CALMLY observe your dog. If his ears prick, you immediately correct with a quick jerk of the leash and send him back to waiting mode. You do this for as long as you desire. Never permit the dog to escalate to an excited state. Not even if you think he is being friendly. You want him to ignore passersby.

I hope that helps.

Sincerely,

De Maria

A lot of people here are big on rescue, where using dog psychology isn't always feasible. Sorry Rick and Lida, I am only going to hijack for one quick second

When dogs come through my house, they are usually trouble children to begin with, deemed un-trainable. I usually foster/adopt the staffy bully breeds, which on their own can be very bull headed. A lot of times I (or we at the shelter) don't have time to psycho analyze the dog, we have a short period of time to prove that this dog, despite the lack or previous training or being tied to a shed for it's miserable 5 years of exsistance, can in fact be trained and excel as a loving family pet.

There are different training methods some work and some don't. No two dogs are the same, and the learning curve and train-ability will always be different. I think there is great stuff on this thread about training ideas!

With that explanation, I'm surprised my dog doesn't attack everyone considering he gets excited when I get the leash out and I let him take his time and sniff and do his thing during the first 10 minutes of our walk... I must have some horrible dominant, aggressive dog.