Postings by Guest ID 1138017

Service & Therapy Dogs > We have a new trainer -- what do you think?

Member Since 10/28/2012     Barked: Sat Apr 6, '13 2:16pm PST  Have you looked at Sue Ailsby's Levels training? She has two books, and a list that you can join, and many people have you tube videos of them using her Levels. She uses a service dog, has for many years, is a trainer and most important for you, i think, she has Portuguese Water Dogs. I bought her 2 book series and I'm almost through the first book and my dog has learned so much, not sure she needs to learn more. My dog was almost all the way trained when I got the books. I went back and started over to make sure I didn't leave any gaps in training. It's a very organized type of program, where one thing builds on the last. Even though I am almost 100% positive in training and do use Clicker a lot - I have upper body mobility and pain issues and absolutely cannot be pulled on. I got my dog at 6 months old and 50 pounds, and I did use a prong on her till she understood not to pull. Now she wears a martingale that only tightens to the tightness of a regular buckle collar. Prongs can be used with a very light hand, and not be cruel - but it is also easy to lean on them to much. Porties are incredibly intelligent and would be easy to train with Clicker and positive training. I'm used to working with Border Collies and Aussies. The don't do very well, in my experience, with harsh methods. Please check out Sue's website. It is easy to find. Her "old" version of her levels is available free there, if a bit hard to find on the website, but I recommend the new book version. Much better explanations, and ways to proof the behaviors. my posts [notify]

Member Since 10/28/2012     Barked: Sun Oct 28, '12 2:25pm PST  This one is a message that finally made me join Dogster after lurking for years. I am a service dog partner. My dog is a Border Collie mix, owner trained. I use her for mobility. I showed in obedience and trained for almost 40 years before training my own dog. I have a tri pod cat, that showed up at my house at 3 months old missing most of a leg. He is 10 years old... so I have long term experience with a tripod animal, as well as a service dog. There is NO WAY that I would ever ask a tripod dog to be a service animal. Not even part time and not even for Psyche work. My dog is very, very agile. She is going to be 4 in a couple weeks and in her prime. Knowing what she has to do to keep up with me when I do errands, attend meetings, etc - there is absolutely no way I would ask a tripod to do it. The slippery floors in some stores nearly take my very fit, very active 4 legged dog to the floor. If you feel a SD would help you, please look into using a different dog, and let your tripod stay home. This is coming from a person who HAS experience with a tripod animal and the problems that they have. Early arthritis is just one of the problems to consider. Just having a tripod is challenging if your interested in keeping them fit and healthy. Don't make your dog work for you on top of it. Please. my posts [notify]

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