Obedience question about an Italian Greyhound
Comments (0)This is a question I recently received from a reader of my website:
Question: We have a five month old Italian Greyhound puppy. We have started training him using treats as motivation (which he responds to VERY well!) and also using water squirts and time outs for undesirable behaviors (but not commands training). He is doing great overall and we are having a blast. You recommend treats for puppies as motivation. When do you recommend using corrections along with rewards such as with teaching the very important “come” command with a prong collar. Should these be used on Italian Greyhounds at all, and are there any other factors to consider about this breed specifically? He is a little sensitive, but also a bit dominant which is why I have read a book and am reading your great advice on obedience training. Thanks!!
Answer: At any age you can use ‘age appropriate’ corrections. So to answer your question, you can use them now. I would probably just use a flat collar versus a pinch collar. Tell the dog ‘come’ and if he doesn’t give a tug as you trot backwards. It doesn’t need to be super firm, just enough to grab the dog’s attention and begin forming an association with not coming when called.
At this age the best training program is going to combine some treats with some small corrections. This will help the dog start to realize that obedience is fun, but also mandatory. Good luck with your puppy training.
Question about Shih Tzu manners
Comments (0)This is a recent question from a reader of my website.
Question: My Shih Tzu is approximately 11 months old. I also have a 4 year old dog. As soon as I leave the young one gets into trash, my plants and onto the coffee table. I have watched her through the window. She does none of these when I am home. When I confine her in the bathroom when I am gone she does not get into anything. What can I do so she can stay out with the other one?
Answer: This is a very common problem. Once an owner gets the dog to the point where there are no house training accidents, no chewing, and no manners issues they want to leave the dog out during the day. The problem is that the dog knows how to be obedient while you are home. When you are gone, though, there is too much freedom for the dog to deal with. Imagine leaving your teenagers alone for the first time over the weekend. Some teenagers will not misbehave, others will throw parties with kids hanging from the rafters. Your dog doesn’t know how to deal with eight hours of freedom. Here are the steps to teach your dog how to cope with being alone for so long.
1- Make sure that the dog understands proper boundaries and house manners while you are home. Make sure that your dog won’t break the rules by getting on tables and in the trash while you are home.
2- Crate train while you are gone. It’s important that your dog doesn’t have the option to misbehave at all. Keep your dog in a crate while you are gone.
3- Gradually give your dog run of the home. Leave the house for two minutes and watch in through the window. Then five minutes, then ten, and so on. It usually takes a few months to build your dog up to a full eight hours. Gradually increase your dog’s tolerance for being alone. There will be times when you are watching and catch her in the act. You can either burst into the room and correct her or use and electric collar to correct her from outside.
By taking away the opportunities to do something wrong and correcting the misbehavior when you catch them in the act you will be able to have your dog understand house rules. Good luck.
The proper way to use a bark collar
Comments (0)Do you have a dog with an excessive barking problem? Is your dog waking up the neighbors and yourself and generally being a nuisance? There are several ways to address an excessive barking problem.
Address the source of the problem
Often a dog is excessively barking due to a lack of structure, training, and mental stimulation. Make sure your dog is getting good training, good walks, and isn’t left to himself in the backyard for 23 hours a day.
For outside dogs it may be very beneficial to bring them in the house or use a crate when it comes time for bed.
Use an electric bark collar properly
A bark collar, used properly, is a great tool for curbing excessive barking. Most people think that this is a collar that does all the training for you. Not true. You have to use it properly in order to have success. Here are several key points to have success with a bark collar.
1- Condition your dog to the collar. Most people get the collar out of the box, turn it on, and start using it right away. This is a mistake. Your dog is not dumb. He realizes, “Hey, every time they put that collar on me I can’t bark. I’ll just wait until the collar comes off.” It is important that your dog does not understand what the collar is for. Take a week or two before you start using the collar and have your dog wear the collar. Don’t turn it on, just have your dog wear it. Don’t say anything when you put it on, don’t say anything when you take it off. You want your dog to have a neutral association toward the collar.
2- Adjust the level of stimulation. It is important that you have a bark collar where YOU are in control of the level of correction. There are many collars that have only a few levels, all of them high. What happens is that the dog gets too overwhelmed too quickly. By starting on a high level your dog is not in a great position to learn. It is kind of like throwing your dog in the deep end of the pool. Some will learn to swim right away, others will struggle. It is best to start out on low levels and gradually increase the level as the dog understands what the correction means. You shouldn’t have to get too high on the levels if you gradually increase the levels over the course of a week or two.
3- Get a quality collar. Most pet store brand collars are junk. They get set off at the wrong times (like when a car drives by, when a neighbor dog barks, etc.), run out of batteries very quickly, and fall apart after a short time. Usually the difference between a lousy collar and a great one is about $20. Spend the extra $20 and get a great unit.
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Using an electric collar to fix cat aggression
Comments (3)One of the primal urges and drives of many dogs is to chase, capture, and/or kill prey. In many cases this takes the form of going after the household cat. But how can you fix an urge that is hard wired into the head of a dog? The key is using the proper tools and techniques.
Those that read this blog know that I am a fan of electric collars (sometimes called e-collars, remote trainers, or shock collars) only when they are used properly. This dog training tool should never be used in anger or as a means of ‘getting revenge’ for a dog that is misbehaving. Most of the time this tool should be used on low levels and used as a means of communicating a training principle.
In the case of fixing cat problems I recommend using it a bit differently. In a case like this I recommend using it on medium levels. For most cat chasers the drive to get the cat is so strong. Because the drive is so strong you have to use a higher than normal level to fix the issue. The following are some steps to keep your cat safe.
1- Condition your dog to the e-collar by having the dog wear the collar for several days before using it. No, not several days straight. But for several days put the electric collar on at random times and have your dog wear it for several hours at a time. You don’t want your dog to associate his displeasure with cats with the collar. You want him to believe that cats are inherently negative.
At this point you have to keep your dog separate from cats because it is not time to train yet.
2- Once the dog is accustomed to the collar it is time to start training. Have your dog wearing the collar and on a leash. Keep the collar on a medium level. Allow him to be around a cat. The second he starts to show any interest in the cat at all (looks at the cat, barks, lunges, ears perk up in the direction of the cat, etc.) immediately give a quick stimulation. If the dog continues to show interest in the cat continue giving quick taps on the button. DON’T HOLD THE BUTTON DOWN, simply give a few taps until he starts to look away. Throughout this whole process don’t say anything to the dog. Don’t say “No, bad dog, no cat” or anything of the sort. Continue giving the stimulation until the dog no longer is looking at the cat.
This style of training is called avoidance training. The idea is to form a negative association in the mind of the dog with respect to the cat. For that reason you don’t give a command, you want the dog to believe that cat itself is a negative object. If you give the dog a command to stop going after the dog that means that his obedience is relative to you. Normally that is fine for most behaviors but in this case you want the dog to really dislike paying attention to the cat.
3- When the dog continually looks away from the cat it is time to move on to the next step. Allow the dog off the leash so he is feeling more open and free. Repeat the same step as before. The second the dog even looks at the cat give him a stimulation.
4- At this stage your dog should really dislike even looking at the cat. Your dog is just about fixed of his cat addiction. Now the only step to complete is keeping a close eye on him. You will probably catch him taking quick glances from time to time at the cat. Make sure you can consistently correct him for his interest in the cat and you will soon have a cat-proof dog.
For discounted Dogtra brand Electric Collars click here.
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