Postings by Koda's Family

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Sassy ~Hyper yet as- smart as can be~-     Barked: Sat Apr 20, '13 6:16pm PST  Just a regular nylon collar and leash. The leash is probably around 5 foot long. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Sassy ~Hyper yet as- smart as can be~-     Barked: Sat Apr 20, '13 4:22pm PST  Well, my one year old lab mix is horrible on walks. She pulls and pulls and pulls and no matter what I do I can't stop her. I get so frusterated that I feel like hitting her... But I don't want her to be afraid so all I do is pull her close to me and pet her for a momentent to calm me down. We weren't even close to being down with our walk when I decided I'd had enough and drug her back to the house. Now, I thought I had this problem fixed a while back. I had her walking okay on the leash and I felt pretty good about myself. Then, my neighbor joins me on a walk one day and did nothing at all to help my training (He would run ahead and try to get her to pull on the leash.) I told him several times not to do that but that just made him do it more. Since then I've refused to go on a walk with him but Sassy's good behaviour had already been affected. Now, she pulls to the side instead of forward. I do all I can but I find it hard to correct that sort of pulling. I used to stop and wait for her but she's now too strong for me to be able to stand in one place without being pulled over. So, I've tried jerking the leash sharply whenever she pulls. This works when she's in front of me but not when she's trying to pull to the side. I've tried not leaving the house when she's excited, I've tried turning around and walking the other way when she pulls, I've tried warning her when she begins to pull, I've tried treats, everything! The turn around method worked until she started pulling to the side. I can't really turn and walk across a busy road with cars going down it at 60 miles per hour, can I? So I gave up that. What else can I do? The only I can think of is make my step dad come along. He's the only one that she will listen to... She listens to me but only when I have treats. But I really don't want him to come because we don't exactly get along the greatest... Any help? my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Laws & Legislation > Is there anything i can do? Prong collars for basic obedience

Sassy ~Hyper yet as- smart as can be~-     Barked: Sat Mar 9, '13 1:51pm PST  I saw a post on a site called the dog training secret about police dogs and their training. It said that police dogs should never be trained using fear methods. You wouldn't want the dog chickening out on you, especially not if your life depends on the dog. ***** "When I was slightly younger than I am now, and I was training very actively with one of my many mentors I was beginning to learn the world of police, military, competition, and attack dogs. Ironically the older man who was teaching me was insistent on using positive reinforcement as often as possible. Unlike the woman who I began learning from he believed that NO PUPPY should ever have a prong collar on and that teaching dogs how to behave was the only way to train. ...Most people training police and attack dogs, especially back then, were all about corrections, and shock collars and punishment. And, even though he had been working with police departments for over 30 years, he wanted to be kind to the animals and teach them what to do, not force them. He also refused to work with any dog that did not pass his temperament test. He always told me never to become the kind of trainer that “scares” a defensive or fearful dog into a behavior that makes him uncomfortable to bring out aggression. He convinced me that these dogs may begin to come out of their shells and show signs of being aggressive in the work, but it was not a strong training technique and eventually something somewhere would break down. He simply declined to work with a dog like that, for the sake of the dog and all the discomfort it would have to endure and work through while knowing that someday when a police officer’s life hung in the balance the dog might break down and revert to his first instinct of flight rather than fight. That was an important lesson to me when I was young. You can force some dogs… but what does that get you and when will those behaviors break down? So I never learned to use table or box work to make a dog more aggressive, I believe what he told me back then and I am grateful for the information and education he instilled on me when I was young. Seeing a big police dog trainer using the principles of positive reinforcement and reward was very powerful to me and was when I fell in love with the work." ***** The above was taken directly from the dog training secret. I use positive reinforcement to teach behaviors and then gradually switch over to punishment once the dog understands what's expected. I use the punishment, usually a sterner voice, more threatening posture, or even a little swat on the butt, for teaching them to listen to me without me repeating myself ninety times. I would never do anything to make the dog fear what ever I am trying to have it do, however. I want them to know that not listening to my commands is not a good thing so if their lives depend on it one day I can keep them out of trouble. It makes me so angry to see my dogs being submissive around my father. One of them is so scared of him right now she won't even go near him. He's constantly yelling at her to lay down even if she is already sitting and being calm. Ugh! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Dog Laws & Legislation > Stolen dog returned now someone is knocking at my door

Koda 1278725     Barked: Mon Mar 4, '13 6:15pm PST  Wow... I just read a thing about how the number of stolen dogs has risen lately... I had a dog run away before. He had on one of those collars that are like a choke collar but are made out of nylon and are limited as to how far they can 'choke' the dog. I can't remember what they are called right now... Anyway, we live on a busy road. We were home at the time. I had let our dog outside for a few minutes. Were we would chain him up was in perfect view of the road. We had just gotten him and he had no tags or microchip. When I got up to let him in, I found, to my horror, just a collar laying on the ground and no dog. We searched and searched. One of our neighbors said they saw a black dog but the didn't think to catch it. We never did get him back. Now, we have a full blooded husky who is tied out all day. I have tried to tell my parents about the danger of leaving a full blooded dog outside all day long but they refuse to put him in a crate. You see, my aunt had a dog that was crated all of the time. That dog was so skittish it wasn't funny. But, Koda is out of sight of the road so I can only hope that is enough... Also, I have heard of people stealing dogs and then waiting to see if the owners will post a reward and if they do they will return the dog and collect their reward... People are so cruel... my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Fixed male dog peeing in house.

Koda 1278725     Barked: Fri Feb 1, '13 5:36pm PST  Wow, thank you! I didn't even consider the fact that he could have an infection. I just learned that I am a little late in stepping up and trying to fix the problem... My mom has already put an ad in the paper. I'll do what I can but there's not much I can do when no one else, family not the people here, is willing to help me. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Sassy ~Hyper yet as- smart as can be~-     Barked: Thu Jan 31, '13 5:36pm PST  I agree that there are so many stupid people out there. Like my neighbors who tie their small black do out all day, no food that I can see anywhere, no water, and no shelter. Their previous dogbwas kept in a kennel all day and night. Not once did I ever see that dog out of her cage. My friend who's German Shepherd would 'play' with their cat. She was shocked when one day she found her dog killing her cat. Or that woman who got her child a kitten and when the kid came up to her with blood all over his shirt, the mother furiously went looking for the kitten. She soon found out that the kid had broken the cat's jaw. And the parents that allowed their toddler to bounce up and down on a boxer's back. Eventually the dog, who was showing every sign of discomfort short of growling or hitting, got up and walked away. The parents then encourage the girl to follow the dog and laughed while the girl once again jumps on his back. They were lucky that dog did not attack the girl. My parents, although not quite that stupid, are ready to rehome our huskey because he has a marking problem. I am going to do all I can to prevent that but I can only do so much alone... my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Fixed male dog peeing in house.

Koda 1278725     Barked: Thu Jan 31, '13 4:55pm PST  Okay. I have decided that, unlike my parents, I will not give up on Koda just because he is not perfect. I am going to ask them for a month; one month to work on correcting his marking. I will treat him like we did Sassy, our puppy, back when we first got her. He will have me following him everywhere he goes in the house. If I am going to go to the bathroom, he goes out. If I go out, he goes out. I am the only person in this house who cares enough to do this. Thank you, the one person who replied. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Fixed male dog peeing in house.

Koda 1278725     Barked: Thu Jan 31, '13 3:12pm PST  Okay now I need a lot more help soon. I just heard my stepdad on the phone with someone askng them if they would take Koda. Help me please before it is too late!! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Behavior & Training > Fixed male dog peeing in house.

Koda 1278725     Barked: Thu Jan 31, '13 2:01pm PST  The one time I have caught him was when he had just been let back into the house from outside after being out for over 10 minutes. No we do not have a crate for him. We put him outside while we are not home and our 10 month old lab goes into the mud room. I will try to get a good cleaner. Do you know of any good ones? my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

Koda 1278725     Barked: Thu Jan 31, '13 1:41pm PST  I don't know how abrogated got in there... it was suppost to say a dog. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become pals [notify]

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