I haven't watched the show in a while because the people he is training irritate me. If they would use a little common sense and basic training they wouldn't need to call Caesar in the first place. Did you see the episode where the Lady got upset because he called her dog a *gasp* "dog"?
Victoria Stillwell is okay but one thing that bothers me is no matter what the problem is, she won't allow the dog on the bed anymore. I am sorry but whether the dog sleeps with you or not has absolutely no bearing on behavior.
Clicker training is gaining popularity too but I don't agree with it because I have seen dogs that are clicker trained and if that annoying clicker is not there the dogs seem to forget their training and you shouldn't need to carry something with you to have a well-behaved dog.
I approach each dog differently, like my agility sheltie Mira, you get exited and praise her and she is happy, but her full sister Hana from a previous litter will get scared if you get act too happy and excited when she does what you want. I volunteer at an animal shelter, and do some of their grooming, some dogs I have to be dominant with while others you have to be gentle and encouraging. Then there are the ones you look at and go 'uh no, I am not opening the cage'.
The biggest thing is starting the training right away and don't let bad behaviors pass because '(s)he's a puppy' or '(s)he's just adjusting to her/his new home' the little behaviors now are the big problems later, and younger/newer dogs tend to be easier to train because they don't know what to expect from you and how much they can get away with. Correcting behavior the first time will get better results than correcting it the fifth time. I have seen lots of little dogs with biting/aggression problems because when they were puppies they didn't cause damage or the owners thought it was cute and then the dogs are set in their ways when the people realize its a problem. Spending time on training, positive praise, and an occasional treat work pretty well, and if you don't have much experience with training a dog a competent trainer should be able to help you. Don't be afraid to shop around and ask questions, How long have they been training dogs? Do any of their dogs have obedience titles? See if you can watch a class. You want a trainer that is not afraid of telling you that you are doing something wrong. Some trainers will be afraid lose business and those that are in retail chain may worry that they will get in trouble with the boss. IMHO sometimes trainers will back off just to keep you coming back and paying, a good trainer will sometimes be blunt but the people need to know if they are messing up.
I got lucky that I have a great trainer that is close, my best friend has been training with them for years and I started going there when I got Mira.
Reply With Quote