Sometimes when it gets busy, I don't get to blog as much as I'd like. And the newsletter is another way for me to get info out. Classes are busy and life is good. What I don't like (or get)is that I hear more and more people that are training using the "shock" collar. I don't mean invisible fence "shock" collars. I mean like regular training. The ONLY time I would EVER consider the "shock" collar outside of invisible fencing is if I lived out west and my dogs were in danger of getting bit by a rattlesnake. Other than that, all other training is very possible only using non-punishment type training. I've seen it, I do it. It is possible and successful but it does not depend on "shock" collars or other people ("shock" collar trainers) to do that for you. If you are too lazy to train your dog, you get what you get. Dogs learn quickly but need consistant training. Not just when you have time. In every thing you do, you can put in a little training.
I'm working with a rescue dog with fear issues. Right now I'm concerned with her getting past that. But I'm not ignoring the basics. In everything we do, we do a little training. Yesterday, putting away chairs, I made her stay while I went to another room to put the chairs away. I never trained her with stay yet but it was a life lesson and each time she tried to come out of the big room, I put her back in and told her to stay while I left to put chairs away. Did it take longer? Yes. Did she learn stay? Yes, in a life lesson that will "stay" with her a long time.
For those interested in "shock" collars, you should wear one at work and everytime you make a mistake, your employer should "shock" you. See how long it takes you to develop a fear, an anger, or resentment. Wouldn't you love it better if ever time you did something good, your employer would toss you a $20 bill? How long would it take you to do many good things? And love it?
I just can't say enough about how much I hate the "shock" collars. They are inhumane and not training at all. Training is all about teamwork and working with your team mate to succeed in whatever you attempt. It's about a bond, a trust and never breaking that bond and trust by hurting your dog intentionaly. I'll get off my soapbox for now. Unless I see you use that "shock" collar on your dog around me.
No Shock Collar Philosophy – I use to agree. I adopted an 8 wk old Lab/Pointer mix from the SPCA in April of 2010. When going through click & treat classes with her, she would get so worked up that, what was SUPPOSED to be an enjoyable bonding experience turned out to be a Stressful hour for me. She knows her commands well, but when she is around small dogs her prey drive kicks in & she would not be able to settle down. We finished the classes, but this prey drive behavior still existed & was very worrisome to me. I bought a 1 year membership at Wags for daily exercise. I used it a total of 2 mths because of her bad manners towards small dogs. I paid a trainer to go to Wags with me to see if we could get her behavior to change with no result. She almost drowned a small dog in the lake. 3 additional trainers within the following 6 months to focus on this behavior, all told me afterwards that there was nothing they could do & advised me to never let her off lease. Okay I can walk her twice a day no problem. EXCEPT that when we bypass houses with small dogs in the yard or owners out walking their small dog, she would trip me trying to get to them. The turning point was her jumping a 5 ft fence & biting a small dog at doggie daycare. My vet gave me the # for Unleashed Canine Obedience. (Continued in Next comment)
ReplyDelete(Continued from first comment) I took her in for a consult. We talked all the pros & cons, I watched her with some of the dogs that she was currently training. They ALL loved her, very excited to see her even though she was training with a shock collar. I checked out her references, all glowing recommendations. I researched the collar as well. It has 2 buttons, 1 is for the pager which vibrates & 1 is an electric tap on the neck. The setting is 1 - 146. I have never had it past 10. I have shocked myself at a 10 & it made the muscle in my hand contract but it was not painful, went up to a 15 with the same result stronger contracting of the muscle but not painful. I signed her up since she was subjected to the backyard only because walks were stressful, dog parks & daycares were not even an option. I felt badly for her as this was not what I had in mind when she was adopted. I was in touch with the trainer every day. When I picked up my Pup the trainer spent 2 hours with us (A requirement) & she went over the remote, the training, took us over to the local park, instilled upon me the sensitive nature of the collar, when to use and when not to use. She came to our home 3 days later spent about 3 hours working with us, in our home, our neighborhood, walking on a leash & off leash. She calls often to follow up. She also told me that my dog isn’t going after the small dogs prey wise, she goes to them to play, the small dogs do not like her energy so they tell her to back off, she doesn’t know how to take this & gets offended therefore the fight. I can honestly say that my pup is happier. She is well balanced, better behaved, & much calmer. She gets many hours a week of off leash time. Our bond is much stronger & and we enjoy our time together. She is no longer sequestered to the backyard. I let her out in the front she runs & jumps into the back of my 4Runner because she is sooo happy to go. Her tail wags & she gives kisses when I get the collar out because she associates good things with that collar. So after a total of 4 trainers over an 8 month timeframe our 5th trainer & the remote collar allowed my pup to have the freedom that she needs to be off leash & able to run or on leash for a walk around the neighborhood & me to be able to give this to her without being stressed. I think that this type of training isn't for every dog or maybe not even for most dogs but having been through many types of training including the click & treat/ treat & praise training over the last year, the training provided by Unleashed Canine Obedience was by far the right fit for my particular dog. If it's done CORRECTLY it can be a good experience, my pup is proof of this. Just as everything else in life ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL. COST was worth every penny.
ReplyDelete