• Suddenly unable to log into your ZooVille account? This might be the reason why: CLICK HERE!

Dog trainer here. Ask me anything

Doggyluv

Doggyluv

Citizen of Zooville
I'm a positive reinforcement dog trainer. I focus on teaching, promoting a stress-free environment and helping people build a healthy positive relationship with their dog. I always put the dog's feelings first when teaching or addressing any behavior concerns. I have a lifetime of experience studying dogs and over 10 years of experience training and teaching dogs. I would love to help by using my knowledge and skills to help Zoos build a better relationship, understand, and communicate in a positive way with their canine companions. My purpose in life is to improve the life of dogs and learn everything I can in order to do that.
 
What's your opinion on Beckman's way of dog training? He gets aggressive dogs to stop being so aggressive with the help of his doberman correcting the dog.
 
I read that to train my dog to heel I should "make like a tree" and just stop walking when he pulled. It didn't work at all.
Then, I firmly pulled him back and said "heel" when I needed him to. I praised him after he did it on command.
 
after my dog got bitten very badly from another dog nearly 3y ago she is not good with any other dog now and try to scare them away/leans to get agressive too - is that possible to get trained to normal again?
 
Cookiecaretaker said:
after my dog got bitten very badly from another dog nearly 3y ago she is not good with any other dog now and try to scare them away/leans to get agressive too - is that possible to get trained to normal again?
Click to expand...

A dog may never get back to normal after a traumatic incident. We can lessen their fear by counter conditioning, and creating a positive association with their fears starting from a distance that is comfortable to them. The important thing is to not expose them to a overstimulating or fearful situation while you are working on counter conditioning and creating a positive association with their triggers or fears. It's like a bad habit. The more you do it the words it's going to get. And if negative feelings or any feelings are attached to that bad habit, those feelings are going to be amplified even more over time
 
Cookiecaretaker said:
after my dog got bitten very badly from another dog nearly 3y ago she is not good with any other dog now and try to scare them away/leans to get agressive too - is that possible to get trained to normal again
Click to expand...

Another way to relate to it is look at what happens to us when we get in a car accident. We might be afraid and have a lot of anxiety around driving a car again. We can start to get past that and try to drive, but we still might have the anxiety associated with that even though we know cars aren't out to hit us. Now if something traumatic happens to a dog, they're going to have that same anxiety, but they're not going to be able to realize that other cars are now to hit them or in a dog's case. Another dog is not going to bite them, so it sticks with them longer. The situation they are in at the time of the traumatic event plays a huge role in their emotions. So the place it happened the people that were around even the smells that they smelled at the time could trigger that anxiety or fearfulness
 
lockeliberal said:
What's your opinion on Beckman's way of dog training? He gets aggressive dogs to stop being so aggressive with the help of his doberman correcting the dog.
Click to expand...
I'm not familiar with the trainer but I am not one to correct aggression. I like to figure out why a behavior is occurring and then take steps to modify that behavior without force or any adversives. It takes longer but you build a better relationship with the dog and you don't get a dog that's shut down or defeated. The dog's able to be themselves without the fear and lack of confidence that has caused their behavior. In my experience, most aggression comes from poor social skills, lack of confidence, or some sort of medical issue. Genetics and breed specific behaviors play a huge part in aggression as well. Aggression is also a broad topic. What might look like aggression might be something else. There are not too many dogs that want to hurt something just for the sake of hurting something which aggression would be. When I think of aggressive dog I don't think of a dog that bites to get someone out of their space or to signal that they don't like something being done to them. I think of the dog that bites multiple times, shakes when biting, lunges, causes more injuries than just a superficial wound or a scratch.
 
SxaBeast said:
I read that to train my dog to heel I should "make like a tree" and just stop walking when he pulled. It didn't work at all.
Then, I firmly pulled him back and said "heel" when I needed him to. I praised him after he did it on command.
Click to expand...

Another way and a more fun way for the dog to learn would be to do a pattern game and teach them in an area with no distractions that walking on a loose leash is beneficial to them. Start with high value treats and slowly introduce distractions. Look up "dog training pattern games"
 
Doggyluv said:
Another way and a more fun way for the dog to learn would be to do a pattern game and teach them in an area with no distractions that walking on a loose leash is beneficial to them. Start with high value treats and slowly introduce distractions. Look up "dog training pattern games"
Click to expand...
Well it worked immediately but I'll try that next time, thx
 
Since this is ZV, many dog owners here probably are engaging in sex stuff with their canine companions, or at least intend to try once the dogs reach maturity. For my part, I intend on getting a large male dog (as a puppy) sometime in the next year. Teaching an adult male dog to do sex stuff and to enjoy sex stuff is probably not going to be terribly difficult (there are exceptions, but...). My concern is that I will inadvertently train the dog to ask for sex from me at an inopportune time, or to try to initiate with strangers, etc. Basically that his overenthusiasm will blow my cover, as the "haha he's just a horny teenager pay no mind to his sexy antics" defense only works for so long. I am a very solitary creature who (voluntarily) has never had a human partner so I feel it wouldn't take much of a spectacle to ignite the suspicions of friends and family.

What techniques or practices would you recommend to be able to train the dog to only expect, want, and/or ask for sex during 'safe' times, ie only when we are alone together? I don't want him to to just be a sex toy I can turn on and off at will of course, but neither do I want him to just be 'on' all the time, and I worry about accidentally training that into him if I go about it the wrong way.
 
I'm all for positive reinforcement. I would prefer it over the alternative, yet I don't know what I'm to do with my akita when it comes to one single dog. Just one, she loves all the other dogs that frequent the area but this beagle has drawn her Ire. She's basically kill on sight with the little bastard, who granted doesn't have the most inviting body language walking around thinking he owns the place. Other dogs will check him or ignore him but my girl wants blood lol. Ever dealt with that before? Anymore I just have to clip a lead back onto her harness and just keep her by me while my other girl runs around playing with the other dogs and owners. Aside from putting a muzzle on her which safeguards the other dog, I'm not keen on her gettin chewed up by the time I get between them. Your thoughts on the matter would be rather helpful I'd like to think.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top