Ok wow, long post but here goes...
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Originally Posted by
De Maria
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.
Unless of course your dog has inherited aggression, then no amount of 'dog psycology' will help, this includes fear biting. Although I do understand where you are coming from, sometimes aggression is a learned behaviour and in that case training from the beginning will help.
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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.
Unruly behaviour yes, but temperament is temperament, by not using it you can't say a dog will most likely be aggressive.
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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.
Agreed on the symptoms, they are the main reasons for aggression and do sometimes coincide (food aggression being the most common).
However, I'm a little confused on your definition of dog psychology... do you mean it is more like just the owner being educated in how to train and react around a dog? Dog psychology is more to do with how a dog thinks and behaves than the owner.
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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.
If we are talking about the dog in Auroras example the dog isn't on leash so I don't know how that would help? :confused: How would the dog know what it is doing is wrong if it's up the other end of the yard and you can't use commands?
In that situation I would recommend obedience training including learning the command "come" and "wait"
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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.
Makes sense to me, although I would like to hear the Beagle owner on this sites opinion hehe :D
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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.
Nothing worse than an overly excitable dog jumping all over you to get to the leash... I have 2 of those :rolleyes:
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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.
Choke collars shouldn't be used for long walks unless you really know what you are doing. Unless you have been trained in how to use one they can do a lot of damage to the dogs throat, espacially a long walk with an untrained dog.
Show dogs are used to wearing choke chains and only wear them for the few minutes they are in the ring... after that off they come and on goes a soft collar.
For the kind of training you are suggesting a martingale collar would be better, they have a soft front but can still give corrections.
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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.
How about "sit" or "stay" to calm the dog down? In stead of just waiting it out for the dogs to calm down on its own.
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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.
Again... why wait until the dog sits or lays down... why not give them the command to? If I waited until my dogs laid down on their own when they know a walk is coming I'd be there all day. If I asked them to "drop" however and lay on the ground we'd be out the door in less than a minute.
Laying their ears down is pretty irrelevant IMO, but I digress.
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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.
I'm sure you have very well trained dogs but I personally think that's a little over the top. Walking should be enjoyable for both the dog and the owner and by taking away every little bit of enjoyment a dog has on a walk doesn't sound very fun. Do you go to the gym, get on a treadmill for an hour and just stare blankly ahead of you? Of course not, you have music to listen to and if you need to use the bathroom you stop and use it before getting back on.
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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.
Ummm, but you aren't permitting them to lead... at all... you keep them on a very tight leash by the sounds of it. And if anyone approaches them on walks they could possibly lash out because you have not allowed them to interact or even look at anything but what is in front of them.
If you don't allow a dog to expereince a variety of different things on a walk when something does happen such as a dog suddenly appearing from around a corner or a child running out from behind a gate how do you know how the dog will react?
Yes, you have trained them how to walk calmly beside you and not to stop and sniff but you need to always expect the unexpected and I try to expose my dogs to as much as I can during a walk. This includes how to greet people, and if the dog is trained to just look straight ahead of them someone suddenly appearing from beside them could startle them easily. By allowing the dog to look at its surroundings and become familiar with them it's more calming and they can see people approaching.
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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.
Nah, you are just being a killjoy, letting a dog pee on things doesn't make them any more dominant of you, obedience is the key IMO. Getting a dog to follow what you say and do commands the second you give them to them is much more important.
If there is a small fluffy dog running up behind you off-leash would you rather have your dog trained so that it doesn't turn around and that small dog could possibly jump on it, startle it and be killed. Or would you rather allow your dog to turn arouns... see the small dog coming and be able to tell you dog to sit and stay ignoring the approching dog.
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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.
Yep, every dog is different and every owner is different
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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.
A power walk will not fix aggression, it may aid along with other methods sure, but simply getting your dog to walk beside you will not make it not want to attack people, it will just hopefully give you more control over it.
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I hope that helps.
Sincerely,
De Maria
It does, it's another point of view which is great. Hopefully we can discuss our different techniques and ideas about training. I think everyone on this site does things differently, in fact everyone in the world probably does things differently.
The more ideas and techniques we can get the better, just be prepared for a good discussion about them :D
