ETA: I wonder if Emma’s problem is she’s not used to the lead … the last ten years of my dog’s life he didn’t even wear his collar, completely well behaved off-leash … just a thought …
I’m a qualified animal trainer.
Since your dog is six years old, you probably have six years of bad leash habits to undo. Be patient!
For lots of dogs, especially those prone to high arousal like PRTs, the feeling of pain or pressure on the neck isn’t a punishment any more. I’d suggest giving the front clip Easy Walk another try, especially with a trainer’s guidance. If you post your general location, I’d be happy to recommend a trainer.
My own rescue dogs were TERRIBLE on the leash when we adopted them at 2. Now they’re 11(!!) it’s all a bad memory.
So what? One should always start positive – there’s literally no reason except human ego to do otherwise.
Yes of course, start positive. But move on if positive methods are ineffective. Like they sometimes are.
I’ll look them over more closely later, but my initial scan does not readily reveal what you think they prove. As far as I can see, both studies describe multiple situations in which older/gender family/pack members exert dominance throughout the year. They indicate that not ALL pack interactions hierarchically reflect dominance.
Not sure how that extends to say dominance has no role in companion dog training. I welcome any explanation.
Sure. One is a breed that tends to be difficult and prone to aggression. The other is a pit bull.
This is the important point. If you raise a dog from a pup, and do it properly, you’ll have a well behaved good dog, or unfortunately in some cases a dog that the public has to be protected from. If you take in an older dog he may have some problems due to poor parenting and it can take a lot of time and patience to undo the bad habits and develop good ones.
In the case of the OP it’s possible this dog has no leash habits at all, she may have rarely been on a walk and spent her outdoor time behind a fence, if she had any outdoor time at all. If you were a dog who finally got a chance to see beyond a limited territory you’d be pretty hard to control also.
The point of those articles is that the dominance theory of dog training is based on early observations of wolf pack behavior. These early observations have been shown to be inaccurate by more recent scientific observations.
Also, dominance theory assumes that what is true about how wolves behave is relevant to how dogs will behave. Dogs are different than wolves. They stopped being wolves over ten thousand years ago. They’re raised with humans from day 1 and we humans influence their behavior and culture (and they have influenced us, of course). Trying to cram wolf pack behavior onto two creatures who are not wolves and who were not raised by wolves in a natural wolf setting … is misguided, at best.
The analogy between wolf::wolf behavior and human:: dog behavior is very poor. Assuming that a dog who has never even seen a wolf would respond to the behavior of a human as if he and the human are both wolves is extremely naive.
In short, dominance theory is based on an assumption, which itself is based on flawed (preliminary) research.
It’s true that positive reinforcement, which teaches a dog to respond to “Yes!” can’t cover all situations. But negative reinforcement, which teaches, “No!” can’t be the only word in a person’s vocabulary, either. Dogs operate at about the level of toddlers, intellectually. The goal should be learning to communicate so that you work together as a team. You can’t do that if you’re relying on a painful collar.
The reason dogs pull on leashes is very simple: dogs LOVE TO PULL. It is intrinsically rewarding. Ask any sled dog. It has nothing to do with dominance. That’s why so many people have trouble with it. It’s like training a dog not to eat steak dangled in front of his face. For positive reinforcement to work on this, you will need a lot of skills in order to create a better reward system than just continuing to pull. You don’t have those skills. Which is okay.
I very very strongly suggest buying a Halti or Gentle Leader. They work just like a halter for a horse – you have total control of their head. They cannot pull. You don’t have to train them to do anything except tolerate something fitted to their head. There is no punishment involved.
I have a 60 lb dog who lunges suddenly. He can pull me off my feet effortlessly, and he has, multiple times. He is very strong for his size and utterly impetuous. I am a dog trainer. I have trained many dogs to trot at my side perfectly lined up with my pants seam, looking up at me “adoringly” (which he will do, and then suddenly lunge). I tried many techniques to keep from getting hurt by my dog. None required anything less than 100% total attention on my dog forever. And he still pulled me off my feet.
The Gentle Leader solved this whole thing for me. Really. Try it.
Wow! Your interpretation clearly differs from mine. I perceive you making an impressive number of extrapolations in quite a brief post. From your first sentence: you say “The point of” the articles has to do with dog training? Does the word “training” occur in either? Or is the main point implicit?
But I’m not interested in explaining my interpretation to or dueling cites with you.
Instead, I’ll express my wholehearted agreement with your ultimate paragraph. If I understand you (and correct me if I don’t), you indicate that there is a place for positive AND negative reinforcement in dog training. I suggest that someone would have to be blinded by an agenda if they interpreted my post (or anything I’ve ever said or done) to suggest that negative reinforcement and exerting dominance are the only tools to be used in dog training.
I’m sure we would likely disagree as to what is effective/desirable positive/negative feedback, and the relative utility of either in various situations.
Also, you will be just as well off if you didn’t worry yourself with the It’s All About Love vs You are the Leader and Your Dog Must Show Respect circus. At this point it has gotten to the baboons screaming and throwing feces stage, in the public arena. Dog training is not moral philosophy.
Just be sensible and practical. The best advice I can give you is learn how to read your dog and how to communicate clearly and fairly. Set small goals not big ones. Be consistent, it really helps. You’ll do fine.
Interesting. I never tried this lead. Alas my lovely Cheasapeake Bay Retriever is now chasing tennis balls in heaven. Dusty Rose was small, 55-60 lbs, but she was very strong! And headstrong too.
Araminty, I’m in Rhode Island.
Today I took the advice of several of you and worked with Ammy in my yard and up and down the driveway. I used a normal collar and leash. She did pretty good. I kept saying heel and using a gentle tug when she started to get ahead of me. Worked like a charm.When she started to pull I firmly said no and stopped walking until she stopped. I gave her plenty of “good girl’s” and a treat when we went back inside. It was far from perfect but I think it was a good start.
Later I tried taking her for a walk through the neighbourhood . The first 100 feet was pretty good then it went down hill fast. Seems like the further she gets from the house, the worst she gets.
I’m not going to give up on this dog. I certainly will not be taking her for a final visit to the vet as one poster posted.
Consider Patience or Wayward Hound (she’s in Norfolk MA, but might be worth the drive.)
Hey there fellow Row Dilander. What part of the state do you live in? Here’s a link to Alpha Dog way up north here in Cumberland. Wonderful place, wonderful people.
I’m in Newport but in more ways then one I’m far away from Bellevue Avenue.
We had a dog that scraped her way out of a Halti (a brand of head harness) in the time it takes to snap your fingers. We put it on her out on a sidewalk, and she leaned down, and scraped it off in two quick moves. Just shredded it right there on the sidewalk. It looked like she had an opposable thumb and a cheese grater. It was a good thing she had a strong recall, and also good she still had her collar. We had had so many people recommend the Halti, and claim they had stubborn dogs, etc.
Just sayin’.
Don’t use it for the first time on a hard surface. If you do try it.
Don’t use it at all, until your dog is so comfortable in they do not object to wearing it. The first few times out, tie a second leash snapped to the collar to your belt. Also, they are designed to fit much more tightly than you’d think.