Paul asks…

training methods : remote collar or praise? hyper aggressive dog.?

Help i have a big Adult bulldog. he has had no socalization, bites hard, has caused serious injury, will not listen but rebels with jumping, barking and biting when told “no”. tasty treats have no effect, praise only gives this dog a bigger head. what can be done? he is a year old

admin answers:

Sorry but dogs don’t get inflated egos or bigger heads as you seem to think. A dog with no socialization is often afraid of things and so behaves aggressively. Imagine being afraid of something and everytime you screamed someone shocked you. You might stop screaming but you sure as heck don’t stop being afraid. You might try other things or you might go crazy.

Find a trainer, learn how dogs learn. Read some books. The problem with most dogs is not that they cannot learn new behaviors but that their owners don’t know how to train them.

Www.fearfuldogs.com/books.html

Feisty Fido for a start

Carol asks…

Has anyone had success with a vibration/shock dog training collar?

I have a 2 yr old very hyper female rottie that has some bad behavior with fixating on chasing cars up the driveway on the other side of the fence, and now going crazy at my sisters horses on the other side of the fence. She won’t respond to anyone when either distraction is there and you can’t get near her she takes off and then returns to the crazy barking. I would like to try a vibration/shock collar that is remote controlled to break her fixation and get her to listen since nothing else has worked. Has anyone else used this in training a hard to train dog? Are they safe when used responsibly? I do not want to hurt her but her behavior is going to get her injured if she gets out and get’s in that horse pen the horses will kick her. And she is only getting worse in her fixation on vehicles and larger animals not better as she gets used to them being there. Any suggestions would be great. She also has a acre of yard so she has lots of room to run just is so hyperactive though.

admin answers:

I refuse to use them. Try classical conditioning, operant conditioning and speaking to a behaviorist. You can actually make the behavior worse if you aren’t careful. If worse comes to worse use a citronella spray collar. They work on the same principle but do no harm to the dog.

Michael asks…

I’m looking for a remote training tool for my dog that is not a shock collar… like a spray thing, maybe?

I have a dog that is super fun-loving, to the point where if he has something in his mouth that could be dangerous (something sharp, something bad for him, etc) he will take off running with it and any attempt to try and chase him down seems like a game to him. It was suggested that I try shock collars, but since he’s still a puppy and, while they seem humane, they just aren’t for me, I was looking for an alternative. I was hoping for something remote-activated, so I could do it from across the yard, but something a little less… scary than a shock. Like, maybe that burst of water or air? Do they make such a thing? or something with a bad sound or smell, as long as it won’t cause damage.

Any suggestions?

thanks!

admin answers:

Glad you don’t want to use a shock collar on your puppy. I don’t think any kind of collar device would work, either. Startling him when he has something in his mouth that could be dangerous sounds like a bad idea.

You really need to keep the house and yard puppy-proofed, so he can’t get anything in his mouth in the first place. Make sure his toys are abundant, and rotate them, so you can always keep some of them seem new and interesting.

Then, teach him to voluntarily give up whatever’s in his mouth:

1. W hen a dog has something he is permitted to have, that is either not edible (a toy) or takes a long time to eat (stuffed Kong, bully stick, etc.), give a teeny but very high-value treat.

Fine-tuning for this first step, for various situations:

– if the dog has a habit of playing “keep-away,” set this game up in a very restricted space — inside an x-pen together, in a small bathroom, etc. — or, tether the dog.

- if your dog is very defensive, try to start with his having a “medium-value” object in his mouth, not a true treasure. You may need to be prepared to do this at a time when your dog has suddenly decided to pounce on a mid-value toy or chew.

- if the dog shows any doubt about letting go of what he has, just give the teeny treat and repeat that step many, many times. If and when the dog takes the teeny treat readily and without showing any concern over the original object, take the original object away.

- if the dog is defensive enough to growl, snarl or snap when people approach an object he is guarding, and is this way with all objects (in other words, there isn’t a lower-value object with which you can practice), just toss the teeny treats from a distance – even trusting enough to take his mouth off of the valued object may be a big step for him. Make sure you start far enough away and are quick enough that you toss a treat before the dog tenses up or growls, so you are not accidentally rewarding the unpleasant reaction. Then work up to coming closer, then touching the original treasure, than taking it away, as described above. However long it takes, that’s how long it takes – rushing it will only create more work and danger for you.

2. As soon as the dog notices the original object has been moved, give it back. Repeat a few times, then leave the dog with the original object. Repeat the whole sequence a bit later, and at another time during the day, if possible.

3. When that gets easy, take away the original object *before* giving an alternative treat (but with the treat on you and ready). Still give back the original object. Repeat quite a bit before moving on.

4. When that gets easy, take away the original object with no treat on your person — have the dog follow you for a few steps to get a treat, then give back the original object. You can extend this to the dog needing to follow you further to get a reward and get their original object back (sort of reverses those awful games of keep-away!).

Sandra asks…

As anyone been able to get the Petsafe remote training collar to work for their German Shepherd?

I have a German Shepherd who we have tried to train with just simply a lesh and a training collar to be well-mannered (no jumping, no begging,off furniture, etc) but he really does not listen very well. So we are giving the remote training collar a try, today we have just tried to introduce the collar to him by telling him to “stay” then come” and we would hit the snap when he wouldn’t, but we dont think he felt anything and the level of stimulus was set on 5. Does anyone have a big dog where this actually was successful??

admin answers:

Uh, you need to find a good obedience trainer to teach you how to properly train your dog. I have used e collars on a variety of dogs and know a ton of GSDs who have had the use of ecollars but they are also being used by people who have an idea how to properly train a dog as well as how to properly use an ecollar. The way you are using it is wrong and you are simply going to train your dog to not only disobey you but likely to just be freaked out at the world. Please don’t use tools that you don’t have any idea how to use or you will simply be making things worse. I really haven’t found a dog that HAS to be trained with an ecollar in the first place, certainly not for general manners and basic obedience and it is likely he will ‘listen’ to you just fine once you learn how to properly interact with and train him as you likely, like most people, give mixed or confusing messages.

Add: Actually Majestic, there is one of the models of the PetSafe that I have used as well as a number of schutzhund trainers I train with, that is a fine training tool and it really isn’t about the brand so much as the knowledge of the person using it. I have both TriTronics and Dogtra collars as well but the one I actually use the majority of the time is the PetSafe one — it was around $300 (little less) but I can’t recall the model number — it is the one with the small yellow and black control with the nick/constant buttons and a dial that from what I recall goes to 8. It works just fine. Again, not about the product as much as the persons using them. I like my Dogtra too but this PetSafe one I have had for a couple of years now and it works fine.

Mark asks…

Recommended Training Collars?

So, I have been looking at getting a shock collar/training collar for my Labrador Retriever Mia. Before anyone tells me how horrible these collars are blah blah blah. I won’t hear it. I just want honest good answers in helping me choose which products are the best for your money. I have been looking on eBay and found this prong collar http://cgi.ebay.ca/Herm-Sprenger-Stainless-Steel-Ultra-Plus-Prong-Collar-O-/250653155627?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a5c17a12b

Also do you recommend prong collars with the plastic/rubber ends, or the collars that are just metal?

and this shock/vibration collar – http://cgi.ebay.ca/HUNTING-SPORT-WATERPROOF-DOG-REMOTE-TRAINING-COLLAR-/220522330901?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335827bb15

The above collar is however pretty pricey but it seems to be the ‘best’ out of them all. Any brands/recommendations for prong and/or ‘shock’ collars (I hate using that term)?

Thanks all!
Prong for walking.

Shock for barking.
Add: I just wanted to add that correction by saying “no” does NOT work for this dog. We have tried in vain to get her to stop barking when outside. She is just a VERY hyper dog and gets herself too wired up. (no matter how much exercise or mental stimulation I give her, she will bark when she sees another dog, person etc.) I adopted her at 1 yr 3 mnths, and she was never trained at all, so through two years of that form of training, using a citronella bark collar (does not work), and countless other tools, I feel that this is the only option. I don’t ‘like’ the idea of using a collar like this, but if anything I would be using the vibration setting or tone setting first as a methods of distracting her from barking. She can be a real nuisance and we would like to take her camping with our family but she just cannot be quiet, so she is left at home. Our other two dogs are great camping with us, just this one is a terror.
As for the walking, yes I want to use the prong collar on her first to train her, then after she has learned to not pull and walks by my side she can be switched back to a regular collar or harness. I trained my other Labrador with a choke chain and she walks wonderfully, now she only needs a collar to walk with.

admin answers:

I use prong collars when working some of our Dobermans.
They work well. They must fit properly and I have never used the ones with the rubber tips.
Herm Sprenger makes a very high quality product. I have had one for about 20 years and still use it.

The shock collar you are looking at is a nice model. Able to be used for anti bark while in remote and it is also nice that you can set the level of correction to get the desired response.
Many dogs learn if you give a tone first then shock that if they hear the tone they will change the behavior before they ever get the shock.
The shock collars are a good tool when used properly and they are not harmful to the dog.
I have used them for behavior modification for years and now I rarely ever do more than give a tone on the collar.

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