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Author Topic:   Training Again
Jamiya
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Posts: 1392
From:
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-09-2003 04:20 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jamiya     Edit/Delete Message
I'm baaaaack! LOL.

Well, I was feeling pretty guilty about leaving Nala in a down all day, and she was starting to backtalk me about not wanting to lie down. I e-mailed the trainer (who was out of town) and she just now got back to me. She said my rapport with Nala will be better with respect and not bribery, that it is human nature to feel guilty, and that she is backtalking me and I need to be firm and consistent with the downs.

I just don't know. I feel like I am making a toddler sit still all day long except for a couple play sessions. I pretty much stopped doing it a while ago. She still has a lead on her, usually attached to me or my chair. I occasionally put the prong collar on her, if she is refusing to cooperate at all.

I don't know what to do. She did seem like she was getting a little better with the cats when we were being more strict with her, but I also think that's because she had the prong collar on. She *knows* when she is not wearing the collar or not tethered to something. Maybe the idea is if she knows she can't chase them, by the time she earns her freedom she will be older and more in control and cooperate without the collar and leash? I don't know.

I wrote to Suzanne Clothier and she said I could set up a phone consultation. She said she had some ideas for me that would be better than the advice I have been given.

How am I developing a rapport with my dog by making her lie down all day and jerking on her neck if she doesn't? I can see the look in her eyes. I know we are not supposed to generalize them as little humans. Yes, they have feelings, but not always the same feelings we would have in the same situations. But I see the look in her eyes.

I guess I will make an appointment with Suzanne, but I am rapidly running out of money. Christmas and car repairs would have been enough to suck it out of us, and then there's boarding Nala and the training fees. And now my cats were in to the vet for a checkup and it ended up costing almost $200 and one needs to have an echocardiogram done to determine what (if anything) is wrong with his heart - it is scheduled for this Saturday and will be about $350. I'm never going to get out of debt.

What did all of you do who tethered your dogs to you? Did you require them to sit or lie down, or just sometimes, or just let them do as they pleased?

I know some of this is just puppiness that she will outgrow. But I also don't want to let her hold on to bad habits that will be even harder to get rid of in the future. She NEEDS to stop chasing my cats and stop nipping for attention.


Jamiya

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Nik
Member

Posts: 115
From:UK
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 12-09-2003 04:50 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Nik     Edit/Delete Message
As I read alot of your posts it's like I'm talking to myself. I'm saying to myself and asking myself exactly the same questions you are.
I have exactly the same 'problems' with Floob... the nipping at me with barking too and the cats. I can't get him to stop jumping now either.
I don't tether Floob to me tho, he has playtimes alone, playtimes with me and quiet times.
When I'm on the computer he knows now to play by himself or lay down, usually at my feet or in front of the fire. If I'm in the kitchen he lays in his bed. I don't make him do this, he choses to knowing he's being ignored.
I do have a leash I've tied around the bottom of the front room radiator. When he won't stop nipping and barking I put him on that for a matter of seconds. If, when I let him off he goes straight back to nipping I put him right back on it and leave him a little longer.
I know exactly how you feel about forcing them to 'down stay' and I couldn't do it. I tried but I wasn't happy that he wasn't happy.
I know I'm quite lucky in that he stopped jumping and nipping me when I'm on the computer but he still does it when I get on the sofa. I did the computer thing by ignoring him, gritting my teeth incase he nipped too hard but just looking away, it took about a week before he realsied all his tantrums weren't gonna get him anywhere. I'm hoping that happens when I'm on the sofa too.

I really wish you all the luck in the world. Keep going and keep asking different trainers for advice... one of them *has* to work for you in the end.

It's so hard to keep reminding yourself that it's natural puppy behaviour sometimes isn't it.

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puggleowner
Member

Posts: 228
From:Grand Rapids, MI
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 12-09-2003 05:51 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for puggleowner     Edit/Delete Message
I understand what you're saying about feeling guilty with Nala, but wanting to train her correctly. Maybe if there was a way you could still let her walk around, even play with her toys calmly, but as soon as she makes a dash for the cats or jumps up, then make her lay down? Then again, I know that's probably easier said then done, and maybe it's easier to go all or nothing with Nala, but I just can't help but think it's so hard for a puppy with all this energy to have to sit down all the time! Then again, I'm not a trainer so I don't know I know that Cameron, even with lots of outdoor exercise, still walks (sometimes runs) around the house for most of the day until about 8, when she starts to lay around. We have no problems letting her do this, but as soon as she jumps up on us or gets too rough, then we make her "settle" until she seems to have calmed a bit, then let her up again. This doesn't always work, but I think a lot of Cameron's antsiness she will eventually grow out of anyway when she gets older and has less energy. We have already noticed a change from when she was a young puppy, so I assume she will continue to gradually calm down. Maybe I am being too optimistic, I don't know Anyway, maybe you could try to do that- let her roam around, but then make her settle when she gets out of hand.

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Jamiya
Member

Posts: 1392
From:
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 12-09-2003 06:42 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jamiya     Edit/Delete Message
That's sort of my thought at this point. We regressed too far and other than tethering her, we have been asking very little of her the past few days. I think I am going to pick a time when I know she has the capability to behave and ask for a down-stay and make her hold it. I *know* she can do it for hours (with reminders) because she did it at my in-law's house (by necessity) and she did it at home for a few days. So I guess just for consistency I will require a down-stay while I work on the computer or something.

Then I will let her roam, tethered to me (or my chair). Sometimes when I lie down on the couch for a rest in the mornings and loop the leash around my forearm, I envision her taking off after the cat and breaking my arm. With what happened to the other Nala, I'm not so sure this is as far-fetched as I thought!

When she is wild or chasing the cats and won't listen to me, I have been putting the prong collar back on her and making her down-stay until I let her up.

I am also signed up for a 2-day TTouch workshop at the end of January. It is about 4 hours from here, but that's not too bad. Now I have to find a hotel that will take dogs.

Maybe Suzanne can help me with the cat-chasing thing. I would love to go to her place and work with her. She actually has a little place you can stay for longer training visits, and we could make it part of a vacation. I have no idea how much it costs, though, and it would take a LOT of vacation time to drive there, spend some time, go to my grandparents' house and spend some time, and drive home.

We just need to win the lottery, that's all. Anyone know the bankruptcy laws?


Jamiya

[This message has been edited by Jamiya (edited 12-09-2003).]

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