Dog Health Questions: Another dog training question please!?

I had just recently asked about bark busters and also read reviews... It soes not seem right so I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of Superdog... Is it good?

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Recommended Answer:
If you're talking about the Super Dog / Super Puppy book series, yes, they are good.

I'm not clear from your question what you are having doubts about, the bark buster? Any device you use to manage a dog's nuisance barking is only going to be as effective as the training you do along with the product. There is no product out there that will fix a barking problem entirely on its own. Anti-barking devices come in three basic designs: shock, ultrasound, or citronella. The studies I have seen and my personal experiments tend to indicate the citronella is the most effective, but again, only if you immediately follow the silence with genuine praise. The objective with all of these devices is to startle the dog to interrupt the barking so that you can squeeze in praise for the silence during his confusion. It is the praise for silence that works, not the correction for barking. You must also get in the habit of randomly praising the dog at other times of the day when he is quiet, and not just when he is quiet immediately after barking. Do the tools help? Sure, I've found them very helpful. I had one dog in particular who figured out I couldn't cover her crate with a towel while sitting on the toilet. So she only barked while I was indisposed. A citronella collar gave her the correction while I was in the next room, and I called out praise from where I was when she was quiet. Now I pee in peace, even when she is crated.

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Yes, the SuperDog books are good. They are effective, but they are not purely positive so not in favor with some people. Personally I use a mixture of techniques. I am unwilling to do anything harmful to my dogs, but I don't mind telling them "no." That's the kind of books SuperDog produces (you set boundaries and rules for the dog and teach them what "no" means but without any violence.)

There are many good books out there. I bet your public library has some. Some of the training for dummies books can give you a good start. I like Peggy Tilman's "Clicking with Your Dog." Anything by Ian Dunbar is going to be good (his series is called "Sirius Dog Training.") For videos, I like the "Take A Bow Wow" series. For online training resources, I recommend Sue Ailsby's "Training Levels" ( http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Le… ) and Suzanne Clothier's Flying Dog Press Articles ( http://flyingdogpress.com/content/view/1… )

There's no real substitute for taking an obedience class with your dog, however. Each dog is unique. There is no one cookie cutter approach that will work with all of them. If you enroll in a class with a skilled trainer, he'll be able to give you custom coaching on the specific approaches that will work with your individual dog's personality. You can gain some very valuable insight that way. However, it does depend on finding a good class with a skilled trainer/instructor and sometimes those are difficult to find.

Good luck.

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