Dog Health Questions: Anyone tried "The Perfect Dog" training system by Don Sullivan?

I had two dogs (neutered males) who got along without issue. I just took home another older neutered male dog (Bo) from the shelter at which I volunteer. Bo and my other older male (Tuba) scrap about once every three days or so. No serious injuries yet, but I'm worried and looking for some guidance. The little dog gets along with everyone as he is not much of a threat and is pretty goofy. Bo (lab/shep) is understandably needy and seems to want to be the sole recipient of our attention. Tuba is a chow mix who is incredibly loyal and smart. He does not like when Bo comes between him and me, but does not fuss about it. Bo often growls and shows his teeth at Tuba when Tuba walks by or walks by me.

Small Dog Training - Small Dogs Need to Feel They Are Pleasing You

Recommended Answer:
I believe he uses a correction collar to train.

For your problem, a correction collar will only make the situation worse.

Try NILIF (google it).

Dog House Training - Complete Dog Training Tips and Tricks For Training Your Dog in Your Home

• you know, i was watching that thing on tv the other day and i think its all crap. no way some flimsy looking collar is gonna train any dog, big or small.


• no


• No, and don't waste your money. That man and his training system are a joke.
  
  Try this with your dogs:
  
  Undesirable behavior can be caused by many things, including undetected illness. No behavior modification program should begin without first taking the dog to a veterinarian for a complete physical examination. While you're there, give your vet a printed copy of this page and ask if it would be an appropriate technique for you to try. The NILIF program is an accepted standard in dog training/behavior but it is not, and is not intended to be, a substitute for an in-person, professional evaluation of your dog's behavior. This technique is intended for dogs in good health and of sound mind and stable temperament.
  
  The NILIF program is remarkable because it's effective for such a wide variety of problems. A shy, timid dog becomes more relaxed knowing that he has nothing to worry about, his owner is in charge of all things. A dog that's pushing too hard to become "top dog" learns that the position is not available and that his life is far more enjoyable without the title.
  
  It is equally successful with dogs that fall anywhere between those two extremes. The program is not difficult to put into effect and it's not time consuming if the dog already knows a few basic obedience commands. I've never seen this technique fail to bring about a positive change in behavior, however, the change can be more profound in some dogs than others. Most owners use this program in conjunction with other behavior modification techniques such as coping with fear or treatment for aggression. It is a perfectly suitable technique for the dog with no major behavior problems that just needs some fine tuning.
  
  ATTENTION ON DEMAND
  The program begins by eliminating attention on demand. When your dog comes to you and nudges your hand, saying "pet me! pet me!" ignore him. Don't tell him "no", don't push him away. Simply pretend you don't notice him. This has worked for him before, so don't be surprised if he tries harder to get your attention. When he figures out that this no longer works, he'll stop. In a pack situation, the top ranking dogs can demand attention from the lower ranking ones, not the other way around. When you give your dog attention on demand you're telling him that he has more status in the pack than you do. Timid dogs become stressed by having this power and may become clingy. They're never sure when you'll be in charge so they can't relax. What if something scary happens, like a stranger coming in the house? Who will handle that? The timid dog that is demanding of attention can be on edge a lot of the time because he has more responsibility than he can handle.
  
  Some dogs see their ability to demand attention as confirmation that they are the "alpha", then become difficult to handle when told to "sit" or "down" or some other demand is placed on them. It is not their leadership status that stresses them out, it's the lack of consistency. They may or may not actually be alpha material, but having no one in the pack that is clearly the leader is a bigger problem than having the dog assume that role full time. Dogs are happiest when the pack order is stable. Tension is created by a constant fluctuation of pack leadership.
  
  EXTINCTION BURSTS
  Your dog already knows that he can demand your attention and he knows what works to get that to happen. As of today, it no longer works, but he doesn't know that yet. We all try harder at something we know works when it stops working. If I gave you a twenty dollar bill every time you clapped your hands together, you'd clap a lot. But, if I suddenly stopped handing you money, even though you were still clapping, you'd clap more and clap louder. You might even get closer to me to make sure I was noticing that you were clapping. You might even shout at me "Hey! I'm clapping like crazy over here, where's the money?". If I didn't respond at all, in any way, you'd stop. It wasn't working anymore. That last try -- that loud, frequent clapping is an extinction burst. If, however, during that extinction burst, I gave you another twenty dollar bill you'd be right back in it. It would take a lot longer to get you to stop clapping because you just learned that if you try hard enough, it will work.
  
  When your dog learns that the behaviors that used to get him your attention don't work any more he's going to try harder and he's going to have an extinction burst. If you give him attention during that time you will have to work that much harder to get him turned around again. Telling him "no" or pushing him away is not the kind of attention he's after, but it's still attention. Completely ignoring him will work faster and better.
  
  YOU HAVE THE POWER
  As the human and as his owner you have control of all things that are wonderful in his life. This is the backbone of the NILIF program. You control all of the resources. Playing, attention, food, walks, going in and out of the door, going for a ride in the car, going to the dog park. Anything and everything that your dog wants comes from you. If he's been getting most of these things for free there is no real reason for him to respect your leadership or your ownership of these things. Again, a timid dog is going to be stressed by this situation, a pushy dog is going to be difficult to handle. Both of them would prefer to have you in charge.
  
  To implement the NILIF program you simply have to have your dog earn his use of your resources. He's hungry? No problem, he simply has to sit before his bowl is put down. He wants to play fetch? Great! He has to "down" before you throw the ball. Want to go for a walk or a ride? He has to sit to get his lead snapped on and has to sit while the front door is opened. He has to sit and wait while the car door is opened and listen for the word (I use "OK") that means "get into the car". When you return he has to wait for the word that means "get out of the car" even if the door is wide open. Don't be too hard on him. He's already learned that he can make all of these decisions on his own. He has a strong history of being in control of when he gets these resources. Enforce the new rules, but keep in mind that he's only doing what he's been taught to do and he's going to need some time to get the hang of it all.
  
  You're going to have to pay attention to things that you probably haven't noticed before. If you feed your dog from your plate do you just toss him a green bean? No more. He has to earn it. You don't have to use standard obedience commands, any kind of action will do. If your dog knows "shake" or "spin around" or "speak" use those commands. Does your dog sleep on your bed? Teach him that he has to wait for you to say "OK" to get on the bed and he has to get down when you say "off". Teach him to go to his bed, or other designated spot, on command. When he goes to his spot and lays down tell him "stay" and then release him with a treat reward. Having a particular spot where he stays is very helpful for when you have guests or otherwise need him out of the way for a while. It also teaches him that free run of the house is a resource that you control. There are probably many things that your dog sees as valuable resources that I haven't mentioned here.
  
  The NILIF program should not be a long, drawn out process. All you need to do is enforce a simple command before allowing him access to what he wants. Dinner, for example, should be a two or three second encounter that consists of nothing more than saying "sit", then "good dog!", then putting the bowl down and walking away.
  
  ATTENTION AND PLAY
  Now that your dog is no longer calling the shots you will have to make an extra effort to provide him with attention and play time. Call him to you, have him "sit" and then lavish him with as much attention as you want. Have him go get his favorite toy and play as long as you both have the energy. The difference is that now you will be the one initiating the attention and beginning the play time. He's going to depend on you now, a lot more than before, to see that he gets what he needs. What he needs most is quality time with you. This would be a good time to enroll in a group obedience class. If his basic obedience is top notch, see about joining an agility class or fly ball team.
  
  NILIF DOES *NOT* MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO RESTRICT THE AMOUNT OF ATTENTION YOU GIVE TO YOUR DOG. The NILIF concept speaks to who initiates the attention (you!), not the amount of attention. Go ahead and call your dog to you 100 times a day for hugs and kisses!! You can demand his attention, he can no longer demand yours!
  
  Within a day or two your dog will see you in a whole new light and will be eager to learn more. Use this time to teach new things, such as 'roll over' or learn the specific names of different toys.
  
  If you have a shy dog, you'll see a more relaxed dog. There is no longer any reason to worry about much of anything. He now has complete faith in you as his protector and guide. If you have a pushy dog he'll be glad that the fight for leadership is over and his new role is that of devoted and adored pet.©1999 Deb McKean

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Dog Health Questions: I am a dog trainer. Is there any dog trainers on this site who could answer this question?

How on earth do you get your clients to obey??? Give me a dog anyday but please lose the people! Omgosh how frustrating are some clients! I am feeling a little frustrated right now and would appreciate any suggestions you have on how to get clients (the stubborn ones) to participate throughout the week (when you aren't there) in the dog's dog training. I have went through every tactic I know on trying to get them to practice what I taught them.

5 Levels of Dog Training

Recommended Answer:
As a private trainer you have no choice really but to accept clients in order to pay the bills, being picky is not really an option!!
I realized that early on, about 30 years ago when I started training dogs and I knew back then that I could NEVER train a dog for a civilian, no matter how I tried, I just do not have the temperament to deal with people who will not listen, especially when they are paying me real money....

You need to realize and accept that as humans, we all have a brain and we can make choices, sometimes not the best ones, but, there is nothing you can do to make people think differently, the way you would want them to.
Once you accept this, things will be alot easier to deal with.
Train the dog, assign responsibility where it belongs and tell your clients that the dog will not train itself, they need to work on it...if not, just accept it and walk away, having done the best job you know how.
Hope I helped!

ADD: I understand what you mean about your rep, believe me, I do, that is another reason I cannot deal with "pet" owners!!
Patrol, narcotics and exposives mixed in with sport dogs is what I have done for the vast majority of the time, the rest of it was spent working with one of the dogs mentioned above either here in the Middle Eastern theater!!!

Dog Training Hand Signal - Train Your Dog To Sit With Only Showing Your Hand

• I don't train but a good friend of mine spent a lot of money and time to become a dog trainer about 12 years ago. She trained both of my Labs through to off leash and 30 minute place.
  
  She was great but got out of it for the very same reason you are sighting. People expected her to to 'train' their dog without their participation or practice during the week.
  
  I do know a young woman who is a trainer that does it a whole different way. Heather takes the dog. She also takes half of the fee, writes out a contract etc. She makes video tape of the dog's training.
  
  When she brings the dog back, she takes one week with the owners for 5 'people lessons'. She gives them the video tape to keep for referral.
  
  She teaches whatever the people want. She will do a simple sit/down/stay and walk well on a leash or all the way to the recall and 30 minute place. According to what people want is how she charges.
  
  It has worked well for her. You may want to think about a different approach.


• Well, that's the exact reason I was a "dog" trainer and not a "people" trainer. :-)
  
  I trained dogs for 30 years and worked almost exclusively with shelters and rescue groups. I was an aggression specialist for at least 10-20 of those years, so I was usually getting dogs with very bad, sometimes dangerous behaviour problems, who were usually already scheduled for euthanasia.
  
  Training dogs is a piece of cake! Most undesirable behaviours are significantly improved or even corrected in a matter of days, hours sometimes. I never needed longer than 6 weeks to work with even the most aggressive dogs. They lived with me, in my home, with my family and my other dogs. They quickly learned boundaries, and had expectations of appropriate behaviour.
  
  But I remember having a conversation with a dog walker at one of my local off-leash parks. She asked why I wasn't a "professional" dog trainer (I.E. taking clients). I explained that I train dogs. Professional dog trainers don't really train dogs. They teach people how to train their own dogs. It was as though a light went on over her head. Training dogs is easy. Humans, not so much.
  
  I have all the patience in the world when it comes to animals (I also worked with difficult horses, too). But when it comes to people, I just don't seem to have that same level of patience...for whatever reason. I try. I really do. But it's the precise reason why I never wanted to be the kind of dog trainer whose existence relied on getting clients.
  
  (I also was never inspired to become a dog trainer because it just doesn't pay very well. When I was still working, I made a very good living. ...Still do, I suppose. One adorable person once told me that you could make a "good" living being a dog trainer because she knew one that made $75 an hour. I smiled, and I'm not sure how I handled that exactly. I was polite, I'm sure. But let's just say that $75/hour would have been quite a pay cut, and that's with me working 8+ hours per day. I doubt there are many dog trainers making $75/hour or more, 8+ hours a day, every day.
  
  Those that do make a good living as dog trainers usually have to branch out into media...which I also didn't want to do. By that I mean they had to write books, columns, do radio shows, television shows, etc. You know...try to become famous in some way. And that's pretty much the antithesis of what I want out of life. I"ve authored a lot of dog-related articles, etc. But never with the goal of being famous. Sometimes, I used a pseudonym, other times I was able to publish them anonymously or through an umbrella organization.) ;-)
  
  EDIT: RE: "Launi: Now, that is a good idea. I have been thinking about taking dogs into my home and training them myself."
  
  You know, it's such a hypocritical thing for me. I take dogs into my home and train them quickly, and beautifully, in no time. Because, as you know if you have any competence with training dogs, the dogs, themselves, are pretty easy to train. At the same time, I would caution any dog owner not to have someone else train the dog. Even if they can trust a stranger with their dog (I wouldn't), they will likely continue to do whatever it was that allowed the undesirable behaviour to develop in the first place. The dog might come home well-behaved. But it will likely go back to old habits, or pick-up new ones, if the owner hasn't learned how to interact properly with the dog.
  
  It's kind of 'do as I say, and not as I do'. In my own defense, I don't take dogs owned by anyone (only rare, lucky shelter/rescue dogs that currently can't be adopted due to severe behaviour problems). In fact, I have a rule that I use often, "I don't train other peoples' dogs!" (Often said with emphasis.) It's a rare, rare day where I'll agree to train someone else's dog, simply because I know it will go home, and they'll dismantle all my hard work. When I do agree to do some training, it's usually either a specific behaviour, or it's to demonstrate the dog can be trained. It's funny how many people still don't "get" that is their own behaviour that is the problem, and not the dog.


• We quit doing group & private lessons over 20 years ago. The success rate is just miserable. One in a thousand people are capable of training their own dog to any kind of respectable level. About the same time, we stopped training the FuFoo dogs as well. 99.9999% of the people that own them are completely unwilling to enforce anything...thus, waste of our time. We have 50 runs here and 40 in Europe, but we only take 3 "client" dogs for training at any given time. Even with the dog fully trained, the majority just don't REEALLLLY want to do anything. What they want is the IDEA of having a dog...and of course something to show off if company comes by. Dealing with fully trained adults, I can fly a handler to deliver the dog. The client receives about 5 hours of "hardcore" instruction on how to handle him. By the time the dog gets to this level (18-24 months of training), he doesn't care how ignorant the owners are. All they have to do is feed him and clean up after him. We normally get 2-3 phone calls after delivery with "follow up" questions. I would never go back to training client dogs for a living. I'm not sure exactly what Greekgod does, but we also got away from the police almost 20 year ago. We used to oversee 15 departments. Too much red tape, too much attitude, not enough money and no way to re-acquire a dog if one of them decided to quit the K9 unit. They'd let them age-out sitting in a kennel rather than let us buy them back.
  
  Needless to say...headaches ar few and far between now.


• HAH!
  
  Not a trainer myself but i do own a dog, and i live with my parents (who, like your clients, don't want to listen to anything i say in regards to the dog.)
  
  I'm afraid it's up to the client, really, to follow through with the training. If they do not, then they will never have a reliably trained dog. Period. They may need to learn that on their own...
  
  How are your lessons set up; do the dogs have to somewhat know a command/behavior for the upcoming lesson or are the times between each lesson just for "practicing" without really building on one another? I would think that being the only one in class who has a dog that does not know the commands or behaviors NEEDED for that lesson would be pretty embarrassing... yes?
  
  So if you haven't tried it, try modeling each lesson after the previous. Example: Lesson One is a sit. Lesson Two is a sit PLUS stay (dog must know SIT to stay.)
  
  Or (this is what we did in advanced class.)
  
  Lesson One: dog must know down command from a distance. Lesson Two: Dog must know how to go down on command while moving by the owner. Lesson Three: dog must be able to sit/stay then come when called and go down when told (at a distance while moving.)
  
  If the person didn't keep up with the training between lessons, the dog would not be able to do these commands. Maybe if they are the only ones who can't do them...?

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Dog Health Questions: Is the book "For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend" any good?

am looking for a dog's book that explain dogs in general. Not a dog training book (I already have 101 Dog Tricks). I run into this book that looks very promising. I have read some reviews in amazon, an apparently is very good. However, I would like to know if there is a better book that deals with the topics in this book. Any recommendations on books about understanding you dog.

Clicker Dog Training Will Make Your Pet the Next Neighbourhood Wonder

Recommended Answer:
Its a book by Patricia McConnell. A well respected woman in canine behavior people. How can you doubt it just based on its title?

Anyway to answer your question: I like the book. Will it do everything you want, maybe, maybe not. There is no book or item out there that will just give you everything. Your dog is unique to what he responds to and dog behavior is just as varied as human behavior is. Time will teach you when your dog is thirsty as an example.

Now after that, this book is a good book but so are her other books, Suzanne Clothiers articles/book and many others linked within the elite group they are in. I still want to read Brenda Aloffs book on aggression in dogs, but its 40bucks and I just dont have that yet.

Combination is key. This book will help you understand your dogs behavior better, no doubt.

As an answer to your question: get the book.
I'm still reading it along with about three other books in rotation, but I remember a chapter where she was doing a seminar and she asked the audience to count one second. They did and she did anything she could think of in that one second. Then went on to explain there is no way to ever truly know every second what your dog is thinking. But as you start to notice one thing, you get better at it and can notice more things in that second. Kind of like going back and describing all the things she did in that one second. Maybe the first time you try, you only get one or two, but the next time, you get three or four.
If you are looking for a well respected book to read on dog behavior, you can not go wrong with a patricia mcconnell book.

Dog Training Basics - Avoid These Five Common Mistakes

• Never read it and never would just judging by the title.
  Why would anyone be interested in reading a book that compares human emotions to that of a dog?
  
  Also, FYI, a book titled "101 Dog Tricks" does not sound like a good training book at all. It sounds like a book just to teach your dog tricks - which is NOT obedience which is what you should be teaching your dog.
  
  Why are you trying to "understand" your dog exactly? Gives us a better idea of what you're trying to accomplish.
  
  ADD: Okay, but getting books about doing tricks with your dog - that's not going to help you with obedience trianing at all. I will get back to you with a training book that was recommended to me...trying to relate to your dog is not going to help either one of you.
  It's called "Control Unleashed"


• Patricia McConnell (the author of this book) is very good on the subject of understanding dogs. I haven't read this one, but I did read her book, "The Other End of the Leash," and found it to be one of the best dog books I've read. Cesar Milan is good, I like him, but not everyone agrees with his methods. Jon Katz is another good author to help understand dogs. Coren is good but you might his approach a bit dry. "How to Be Your Dog's Best Friend: The Classic Training Manual for Dog Owners" by the Monks of New Skete (a monastery) truly is a classic, although you should keep in mind that they've backed off on one bit of discipline (I think they called it the "alpha wolf roll" or something); I don't know if that will be reflected in new versions of the book. Everything else about the book is solid, and covers both understanding dogs and training.
  
  It's good that you've decided to read up on dogs before getting one. More people should do that.


• I have never read that particular book. I am, however, a huge fan of Stanley Coren books. I think he gets it right on the money. A couple good books by him are Why We Love The Dogs We Do and How Do Dogs Think. How Do Dogs Think is really interesting because it explains scientifically how dogs perceive the world. Also How To Speak Dog, by Stanley Coren is a great tool for learning the body language of dogs.
  
  ADD: Coren's book Why We Love The Dogs We Do, includes a personality test (he's originally a Psychologist) that tests for certain personality factors in order to best match you up with a breed. I took it afterwards and it was pretty interesting. I actually got matched up with one of my breeds.


• I highly recommend anything by Cesar Millan, aka The Dog Whisperer.

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Dog Health Questions: Dog appears to have cherry eye?

Hey I rarely ask any questions that should be directed towards a vet but I am just curious. I usuallly ask questions that deal with dog training etc. My pitbull/cane corso puppy woke up this morning with what looks like Cherry eye. Anyone have or had a dog with this condition. Yesterday she was perfectly fine. This morning it popped out of nowhere. This sound familiar to anyone? We will be bringing her in in the morning to see the vet. I know theres a chance she may get it in the other eye as well.

Dog Treats for Dog Training

Recommended Answer:
Hey Javier! I have a Chihuahua named Angel, who 3 years ago had Cherry Eye in one of her eyes, she never got it in the other eye, thankfully. This is a picture of Angel, when she had Cherry Eye!
http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk159…
I knew that Cherry Eye can only be repaired through a surgical procedure, so after I noticed Angels Cherry Eye, I took her to the vet and had her Cherry Eye repaired. Since then, she has never had any problems with her eyes and the Cherry Eye never came back in neither one of her eyes. What the other poster said about Cherry Eye Surgery being Pointless is wrong, so please don't pay attention to that statement. It's easier for a dog with Cherry Eye to get a bad Infection or Injure it's eye, so the sooner you can get the Cherry Eye repaired, the better for your dogs eyes. The advice the other poster also gave you about their little Home Remedy with the Baking Soda and Water and rubbing it into the dogs eye. That's insane and you don't do that or you will cause your dog pain and you can cause your dog to go blind. Forget the home remedies because there aren't any! I would take her to the vet and have the vet take a look at her eye. The vet will give you the options you have and what steps to take next from there!

Show Dog Training - Be A Winner!

• Cherry eye is an inflammation of the third eyelid, and your dog sounds very much like she has it. While they can give drugs to reduce the inflammation and get the eylid to pop back into place, it will eventually recur, generally worse than the first time. The only permanent solution is surgery to correct it. There are a few options, depending on severity. Cherry eye surgery has minimal recovery time and is generally not extremely expensive (depending on the type of surgery).


• If you bring her to the vet, they might make you pay a lot for a little almost pointless surgery.
  My Cocker Spaniel had cherry eye and it just came out of no where.
  It looked nasty D;
  My Mom rinsed her finger in water, dipped it in baking soda and lightly put some of the baking soda on the cherry eye thing...
  My dog rubbed her eyes for a little, but after a couple minutes it went away.
  
  Edit:
  Jeez. I can't believe I'm getting thumbs down...
  You people haven't even tried this to see if it works.
  It actually worked on my dog... I don't know how I'm suppose to prove this. D:
  My dog never had cherry eye again...

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Dog Health Questions: Are you open to criticism of your dog training abilities?

Not really, but I figure if I put a legitimate dog question in the subject line, there is a chance that it will be posted.

Now....Have you ever went back and looked at some of your answers? Is there something that you usually do when answering, or something specific that you've answered in the past that makes you laugh and shake your head???? (as in something absolutely ridiculous or embarrassing?)

I, for the life of me, cannot figure out why in the world I capitalize some words. LIKE this for EXAMPLE...wtf?

Searching For Cheap Dog Training Collars

Recommended Answer:
I am always open to listen when someone knows something I do not.

When I trained horses and gave lessons, if I saw another trainer who was really good, I would sign up for a few lessons from them. Learned a lot of different approaches that way.

Yes, I am lots o dogs. I know I use a lot of ..........and I try to leave a lot of space to make it easier to read. I hate reading answers that are long and all stuck together. I tend to use too many commas....sometimes I just go back and remove commas.

I recognize Greek for his "hope I helped".

UHave2B is known for her Shepheranian and Tampom.:o)
***
Tsk, tsk, Julie....its "I YAM what I YAM. " :o)
More spinach for you.

Puppy and Dog Training

• I'm perfectly open to criticism of my training methods if said criticism is given from somebody who actually knows that they're talking about. If there's a better, more efficient, long-term solution then I'm open to it.
  
  I go back and check my answers if the question was interesting, because I like to see how it develops and I'll often add comments to the additional details or even other answers. There have been times where I've answered something and then later thought "you know...that doesn't sound right now that I think of it" and will remove said answer because I'm not sure of it, or will amend it.
  
  I don't really use a "signature". I use the sources for listing my sources. Often times my sources are myself, so I'll put for example "experienced with sled dogs/huskies" when I answer a husky-related question. Is it necessary? Probably not lol. But at least my own personal experience with the breed will put more weight to my lengthy answer than somebody who said "HUSKIES ARE CUTE YOU SHOULD TOTALLY GET ONE I'VE ALWAYS WANTED ONE!".


• You have asked two questions in one.
  
  1) dog training - of course , how can you learn if you don't accept criticism which is really advice underneath it all.
  
  2) opinion poll question on our writing habits in responding to answers - time makes us wiser in everything if we become conscious of it so naturally one sees where you could have been clearer, or not so verbose or confusing or included thoughts that do not pertain to one's question. The feeling that you experience are varied and probably all natural and normal.


• i do go back and look at answers and of course as i learn more about dogs some thing seem like i could have answered better.
  Legit: i am open to criticism which i get weekly from my trainer. there is always way to improve and i make my fare share of mistakes when training. In theory i know things way better than i am sometimes able to perform in practice so its always a pleasure to have an unbiased observer give me feedback.


• Open to criticism? Absolutely, those who aren't, aren't advancing. The problem in that should be clear (sadly it isn't to many people!).
  
  All the time, everything comes into perspective when you re-read.
  
  My signature move used to be "Hope I helped!" and "Feel free to e-mail me with questions/concerns"...since I've stopped doing that the # of emails I get a day have gone from about 10 or 15 to 0 lol. Maybe I'll start adding it again, I really do enjoy helping people who have a functional brain in their head.


• Do i have a signature move? hahaha, i do tend to capitalise words that i want to emphasise. & when i look back at my answers, when a Border Collie question comes up i seem to talk and talk and talk and talk. LOL. I don't think i really put anything in my "source". I tend to use a lot of "-" and "...." and i paragraph.. a LOT!
  
  As far as training goes as long as it's constructive criticism i'm always open to it!


• Hmmmm . . . . well, I'm kind of an @ss about poor grammar - drives me up the wall - so I sometimes snidely throw a comment in my answer. Yes, it's not nice. I have never claimed to be nice. : )
  
  My dog training abilities? Well, I'm full of great ideas . . . now putting them into practice is a horse of another color! It's hard (for most owners, anyways) to remain clinical and remove emotion from training so that a dog's disobedience doesn't send you into a rage. I generally know the appropriate response and correction for most behaviors - for me it's a matter of how often I get to put them into practice.


• It makes me crazy when I click submit before spell checking. I regret being so short sometimes, with people asking legit questions (to them) when it's just such a stupid question. I don't use signatures, but sometimes I think I identify myself when I talk about training guide dogs.
  
  Finally, when it comes to criticism, I usually don't mind. If I'm right, they don't matter. If I'm wrong, then I've learned something. We added clicker training to our regimen in the past 4 years, and we had a huge learning curve there - warm and fuzzy clicker trainers beating the crap out of each other about timing, cues, poisoning cues, yada yada. But as long as we're alive, we have to keep learning!


• By whom, that is the question. There are about 10 people on the planet I will accept genuine criticism from, but, I am always open to hear what someone has to say...there have been many gems discovered this way.
  
  You already mentioned my signature move, I think that everyone knows it in here. Aphrodite, when I said "I hope I helped", I did not specify in what way I helped, did I?


• I feel like every single question I talk about myself or my dog! Haha, if I even SLIGHTLY relate to it.(i capitalize words alot for no reason like im shouting or something?) Someone will ask something like "Fox are killing dogs in my neighborhood." and i'll be like, "Oh yeah we have fox in our neighborhood, my dog got into a fight with one, and blah blah blah...then after like a couple paragraphs I realize I didnt even answer the question.
  
  I also noticed I sound really childish, haha :(


• i use no punctuation ... i edit reports as a job and fix and correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, so when i am doing something for fun i avoid all that stuff ... when i first joined i answered questions angrily and rudely as that is how i saw people answering ... after a few violations i finally got the point of the site, asking and answering questions ... this "question" is not a question and should be in polls and surveys because it does not contribute anything no matter how it might entertain a few ...


• I notice I do this - separate my sentences with a "-".
  I notice I put words in quotations when I'm telling someone they are stupid in some way. Like so, Bells you're really "cool" and all, but you....ARE THE BEST! hahaha
  
  I capitalize things I want to get across too I guess lol.
  
  ADD: Greek puts Realist and he always ends it off with "Hope I helped!" even though he usually just finished making someone feel stupid lol.


• I laugh at all my responses for the most part!!
  
  By the way I have
  30 Years Experience DMV
  President of the "Insert Hybread new dog breed here" Club
  
  I also use
  Pomeranian Owner
  Akita Owner
  Rough Collie Owner
  Former Doberman Owner
  Former Rottweiler Owner
  Owner of SIX SIBERIAN HUSKIES in my lifetime
  
  and
  http://www.koehlerdogtraining.com


• Yes! I used to tell people Purina was crap, based on my experience with their lower and mid-grade foods (beneful, etc.) until I had really, really good results with proplan and selects. Then I had excellent results with those two foods and my lab, so I recommend them now for people with very high energy dogs.
  
  I don't think i have a signature- I should get one!


• Uh, yes. Some of my answers should have been deleted. (By me). I have a habit of using *-----*.
  I also use capitalizing when I am trying to get a point across.
  
  I also use a lot of *for crying out loud* *gawd* *gosh durn* *hmmmm*
  
  I could go on and on. It is very interesting when you go into the voting section I can pick out who's answer it is simply because we all have our *signatures*.
  
  As far as criticism? No, I am not okay with it. Unless it is by someone I respect and then it would be done via email.


• I use a lot of ...... ..... and capitalize too. I am usually too lazy to captalize anything else.
  
  I've answered questions and then gone back and said "wtf was I talking about?"
  
  Criticism? Always open to new ideas, never open to insults.


• When I look at some answers waaayyyy back, I think that I used to be too harsh in my answers.
  
  I also STILL talk like this SOMETIMES, just like the others said; only when I'm trying to get my point across. ;)
  
  I don't have a signature.


• Oh god.. yes.. so embarrassing lmao. I wish I could go thru & delete all of them.. they're horrible.. I was full of "prong collars are mean" BSI used to put "Mutt" in my "signature".. but then I changed to my actual name, Mariah, & stopped putting Mutt.. lol


• I always instead of one period add many... Like that... I think it's easier to read even tho it is'nt proper english but really whats proper in YA anyway...


• I use a lot of "...", and I tend to do a LOT of capitalizing on emphasized words, like you!


• Sometimes I go back and my answer seemed bitchy or like I was mad but, I was really typing it calmly/nicely. whooops.


• Well if you haven't noticed I always SCREAM........ VET!..lol


• For the most part, I don't care what anyone thinks of any of my abilities, dog related or not. I am what I am, as Popeye (sp) use to say.
  
  I answered something really bad about a year ago, about the *color* when a b*tch was whelping. In other words I f....d up and deleted my answer, as not to give false information. The color pertained to *before a pup was whelped, or after.* (green, that is) Also, there is a question I WISH I never answered in another section about a month ago. I now have MY fan club because of it.
  
  You capitalize words for the same reason I just capitalized WISH....to emphasize it, or to put emotion to words that people can't actually hear on a computer screen.
  
  If a question has to do with a Bulldog or Dobe, I will usually, but not always, put "Use to show and breed Dobes for 25 years", just so people know that I've actually owned this breed. I usually put something in about owning a Bulldog when someone asks something about health issues with their Bulldog, particularly Hip Dysplasia.
  
  @ms. manners........Thank you very much for correcting me. I will make spinach for dinner tonight. Hey at least I remember Popeye, since it's been about 50 years.


• You need to get a life, and stop judging others for theirs. I'm looking at your questions and your answers, and all you do on Y!Answers is get on to rant and rave about this or that, and try to make people feel bad about themselves. That's really pathetic. Sounds like you are unhappy with yourself, and are trying to bring complete strangers down, to make yourself feel better about yourself. I hope I'm not the only one that's reported you for abuse on Y! Answers for not even attempting to answer the question asked, bc you shouldn't even be allowed usage of this site anymore... And to ensure I'm not violating Y!Answers, I'll attempt to answer your question: No, I'm not, and most people are NOT open to criticism of their dog training abilities, especially from a complete stranger such as yourself, bc what the hell do you know about anything?


• I capitalize certain words. I can hear myself talking in my head as I write and they are the words I would stress. LOL.
  
  I also use a lot of quotation marks.
  And I add on alot.
  
  But to answer your "question", yes, I am open to criticism of my training abilities, as long the other person can legitimately back up what their argument is. Telling me I am cruel and I don't bond as well with my dogs because I use corrections is just BS. Backing it up with websites that are all the same BS, with no actual REAL information to back it up other than an opinion is it is mean is not a legit argument.
  
  Or there was the guy who called me an idiot because I do not believe in the "wolf pack theory" and stated that I obviously didn't know what I was talking about because I do believe there is a hierarchy but don't believe my dogs or I are wolves.
  I wasn't aware the wolves were the only species that had a hierarchy and that if I didn't believe in the wolf theory, I couldn't believe in hierarchy.


• Oh, I'm sure there are several occasions where I thought one thing and then began to adapt my views because of the fact that, here, I was exposed to alternating viewpoints. If that makes sense, lol, I'm pretty tired right now :).
  
  I remember switching sides on the "designer dog" issue -- I used to be one of the troubled few who believed that they were actually *constructive* "breeds". . . but that was long ago. Hope that some people can change, I suppose, and "see the light".
  
  Signature move? I don't really have one *here*--I answer some PC-game questions and I always put "played/replayed all 22 games + SCK2" at the end of it -- MY personal credibility in that department, lol. Here I just tend to go "--" and " . . . " crazy.

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Dog Health Questions: Dog training, please help!?

I am at my wit's end with my dog. He's 6 years old, and has been generally well-behaved all his life. We recently moved, and since we've been in this house, he's been getting up on tables. Coffee tables, end tables, even this pub table that sits about 4 feet off the ground. (He can jump very high). He only does it when no one is home, so I have no idea what to do to train him to not do it.

When the weather is nice, I can put him in the yard, but during winter in Colorado, it's too cold most of the time to leave him outside. What can I do, aside from putting him in a crate? I just can't do that to him! Please help me, I am so stressed and have no idea what to do!!

Small Dog Training Tips

Recommended Answer:
Crates are good not cruel. It will protect your dog from breaking a leg or going through the window while you are not home. It is impossible to train a dog when you are not there so the best thing you can do is keep it safe, you are suppose to protect him and a crate is the only way I see to do this. Good luck ! Oh and close the curtains if you can so as not to entice him to look out the window.

"Dog Care" - The Reason For Dog Training

• crates are fine,,,,,,,,, same as a playpen or crib for a human baby.. it is NOT cruel.


• I would assume he is misbehaving because he is bored in the new house, or stress from moving. Find toys to keep him busy, maybe if his mind is occupied he will behave more. We give our dogs these orange balls from petsmart that you can put treats in - treats fall out when the ball rolls over a specific hole. I've also found kong's filled with peanut butter & let to freeze are great too. Dogs love PB & when frozen it takes longer to eat. If you dog enjoys other toys, make sure he has access to them during the day (if he isn't a destroyer). Good Luck.


• I would suggest confining him to a room, maybe bathroom, laundry room or garage. Also make sure he has a bone (or something equivalent) to chew on to keep him occupied while you are gone. Is there stuff left on the things he's jumping onto? Maybe food, clothes that smell like you, or toys of some sort? That also may be why he is jumping up on things, to get some comfort or to sneak a treat in. Like another used said, he may just be stressed from the move or bored.


• You CAN train your dog, anyone can. They make it look harder on television than it really is. I had mine trained to avoid constant barking in under a week. I got a bit lengthy on my reply when I answered a similar question earlier so I'll just post the link to the guide I read that motivated me. You could probably click my profile to read my other reply if you wanted. http://www.barkingdogs.net/detailedexplanation.shtml
  
  I loved the humor in his story.


• If you don't want to crate him, you can try an ex-pen (slightly larger, no top or bottom, like a playpen) or gating him into a room without any furniture to worry about. You can also try closing the blinds so that he can't see out.


• Crates are actually a place a dog should be happy to go and where the dog feels safe. If your dog is already crate trained than it may not take to much to teach him to be comfortable in a crate again. If you are really against it even with that then try putting something on all the tables to deter him from jumping on them. You can buy those plastic mats that are for carpeting so that computer chairs don't ruin the floor and put them with the pokey plastic pieces facing upwards. When your dog jumps onto the table, the plastic will be uncomfortable for your dog to sit or stand on so it will deter him from jumping on the table. It doesn't usually take long for a dog to figure this out.
  
  If you believe it is the windows that your dog is trying to see out of then place a bed or something comfy for your dog to sit on that is positioned so that your dog can see out the window.
  
  Good luck!

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Dog Health Questions: Can we have a dog trained to alert, without going through assistance training?

My husband has seizures and sometimes seizes and falls when nobody's home, or when he's outside alone. We don't feel the need to take an assistance dog because they're so specially trained, somebody could use the training a lot more.
We're really just looking into a dog that will, of course, be obedience trained, but also be able to bark and alert when he falls.

How would we go about doing this?

Why it's Important For New Dog Owners to Take Dog Training Seriously

Recommended Answer:
Dogs aren't trained to seizure alert. About 15% of dogs in the general population do this naturally. In order to train this behavior, we'd need to be able to control it in some way, either to cause it as needed for training, or accurately predict it. We can do neither, so it is hit or miss whether a dog figures it out on his own. Nearly all dogs are able to detect the signs, whatever they are, but only a few are able to make the connection between observing those signs and understanding what they foreshadow.

We aren't exactly sure what they are detecting. There are several theories. It might be scent based changes in blood chemistry. It might be fine motor changes or subtle changes in behavior. Dogs are much more sensitive to these things than humans are because very subtle changes in body language are how they communicate with one another.

What I suggest is that you contact a program that trains seizure response dogs and ask if they have any dogs from the program that aren't working out as public access dogs that they might be willing to place as home-only service dogs.

I suggest this because the dog will already have basic training, and the odds of finding an alerting dog in a seizure response program is nearer to 50% instead of 15%. We believe that the innate ability to figure out alerting can be screened for when candidates are selected for training. Some of us have gotten good results above 90% accuracy. Some of what we look for are also characteristics that would coincidentally make a dog a good service dog. Programs have been reporting that within six months of placement about half of their seizure response dogs begin alerting. This tends to support our position that selection criteria for service dogs in general also tend to select for dogs who are natural alerters.

That's alerters (dogs that predict seizures about 20 minutes prior to them occurring).

What you've described is actually responding (acting at the time of a seizure or immediately after). That actually can be trained fairly easily.

First, find a local trainer to work with. Ask them to select the candidate for you. You need a dog with a good work ethic, biddability, and a love of learning. He also needs to be open to bonding and have a stable personality.

Any decent trainer should easily be able to help you teach a dog to bark on cue. The rest is just a matter of transferring the behavior (the bark) onto a different cue (your husband falling to the ground).

Your husband "falls" on the floor, you cue the dog to bark, reinforce the dog for barking, and repeat. Do the exercise at random times and in random locations around the house. After about a dozen iterations, have your husband "fall" to the ground and you hesitate before giving the cue to bark. Does the dog anticipate that the next thing that will happen is you will cue him to bark? If he does bark without a cue, then it's time for a jackpot (big reward and making a huge fuss over him).

If he doesn't make the leap in logic, repeat another dozen or so times and try again. Different dogs learn at different rates.

You could take it a step further and get a k9 rescue phone ( http://www.iaadp.org/rescue-phone.html ) and teach him to bark and then push the button and continue barking. If you notify your EMS system that you have a k9 rescue phone and that if it is activated and they hear a dog barking it means your husband is having a seizure and requires emergency medical care.

edit:

The bulk of service dog training is proofing, generalization, and habituation. The task training is actually fairly quick and straight forward. If you only need the dog at home, then you don't need about a years worth of that specialized training intended to prepare the dog to work in the distracting environements of public access.

If a home-only service dog will suit your needs, then you should seek that kind of dog, rather than a full access dog which might be needed more by someone else. There are more public access dogs needed than there are to go around. Home-only dogs are much more easily available because they've washed out of the public access part of a program and the program would still like to be able to place them in service because that's what they were meant and trained to do (just not at WalMart with all the little kids trying to stick French fries up their noses).

Training a home-only service dog with the help of a professional trainer is completely do-able, and legal in the U.S.

No-No Dog Training Techniques

• alot of time a golden retrever or a german are good at alerting, some dont even need training, its a rare case but some times they know some one is in trouble and they go and find help by barking or something but as training goes im not sure


• If you're worried about your husband, you're worried enough to do things properly. Don't think your problem is too much and "somebody could use the training a lot more". If you're truly worried, at least look into a real disability dog.
  If he's outside and collapses yet no one is in, who is going to bothered by a dog barking? I'm sure real disability dogs are trained to do much more than bark.


• Find a local trainer that has experience in training service dogs.


• I think that you could probably get an assistance dog trained exactly for what your husband needs, without taking a dog from a more deserving person. I think your husband is definitely deserving. You need the dog with the mind to do that work and although some family pets would learn to warn, you could have others that would not.. The trained dogs are chosen for their ability to recognize and act when they are needed. So go with the pros and get an assistance dog to guarantee the dog would help your husband in a time of need.


• Look into getting a real, trained service dog. You could be saving your husband's life. Even if you feel that it isn't needed, the people that train these dogs can probably steer you in the right direction.


• Maybe there is a specific trainer for that exact reason that would be able to help you out. However, sometimes dogs have an instanct which would let you know something happened. Whenever my older brothers rough house with my youngest brother (15 year age difference) my GSD who is normally quiet and low key will bark and growl.

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Dog Health Questions: Dog Training. How to get immediate responses to commands?

I have a Basset/Beagle mix that I absolutely adore, but he has major training issues. I am not okay with him only responding to commands he knows when I have a clicker and treats, and taking his sweet time to do it. I know he knows the commands, he just won't do it immediately when I ask him to. He knows:

Sit, Down, Sit/Stay, Down/Stay, Recall, Attention, Shake, Roll Over, Leave It, And Touch (Hand Targeting)

He will do all of them very very well if I have a clicker and treats, but if I don't he ignores me. How do I get him to do what I say, immediately when I say it?! He is a very sweet dog, and I love him to pieces. He is intelligent, and if I can get him to do this one thing I'm sure he could be a canine good citizen, and run an agility course. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Dog Training Courses - Which One is Right For You?

Recommended Answer:
Throw out the clicker and the treats.

So far you have just trained your dogs stomach.

Not getting a cookie is NOT a consequence.

I NEVER EVER EVER use food to train a dog for obedience.

Use traditional dog training methods that require your dog to obey on one command and one command only. When they do not obey the command they get a correction. An actual consequence that they understand.

http://www.koehlerdogtraining.com

The method I have linked above would have your dog able to do the AKC Novice Obedience Test in 9 weeks.

I know, I have done it with my own dogs, both of them titling in three tries at just one year of age.

Service Dog Training, Teaching Dogs to Assist the Infirm

• Get rid of the clicker that is something that you will not have all the time. Use the treats make it fun for him to come and give lots of praise. You will be able to ween him off the treats if you use lots of praise when he obeys.
  Keep him on lead until he gets the idea just a quick snap and release will keep him focused to follow the command.
  I have a beagle/basset also and they can be a little stubborn especially in the recall


• Keep using the clicker but only reward on immediate response. Then, still using clicker, reward every other time with treats, alternate with praise only. Slowly increase the praise reward while weaning away the treats. But only reward for immediate response and only use the command once, ie. the command is "Sit" and not "sit...sit...sit...SIT!!" Just keep working at it, he'll get the idea. Congrats on going after his CGC!


• First, you may want to get a book like I have about being a canine good citizen. I think it's great that you want this for your dog!
  
  To do this, you may want to try starting off with treats, saying "Good boy!", and petting him when he does what you want him to. Eventually, you can go to just "Good boy!" and petting. Dogs love to be petted and to get attention. Just keep working at it and he'll get it. You may also want to try dog training.
  
  I hope this helped!
  
  ~Holly


• UHave2BKiddingMe gave you the absolute best answer you will get. No reason to postpone selecting BA. It is 110% CORRECT...period


• I agree with uhave2be. Seriously this dog has learned to only obey when a treat is offered. I am not against treat training and I do use treats in the initial training period to condition my dogs thru operative conditioning to make them think thru and try to understand what I want. After that, I phase the treats out. For instance, I reward every other time...every third time...& so on but I maintain a pattern. This will get them thinking a bit. After they are doing well there I will reward randomly, which means no set pattern. I don't care for the clicker as I do not and will not carry one around. I usually use "gooood" then reward etc. So when I am phasing treats out they know that when I say "gooood" that they gained my approval. If I am dealing with a dog that has a favorite toy I may use that toy as a reward for a job well done. Or a pat on the head..scratch behind the ears whatever. Essentially, I want my dogs working off of praise only. This whole training phase can vary in time...for my Labs I could usually accomplish commands with NO treats after a few days...for my Cavaliers a week or so. Honestly, if I would continue using treats beyond this initial phase they would come to expect it too and probably be right where you dog is.
  
  As far as getting a dog to respond quicker to the command. I have yet to see that rewarding only when they respond quickly elicits a quick response from the dog. I do not believe that they put that together. If you KNOW the dog knows the command, then I suggest correction for not responding right away. An example would be leash work. You ask your dog to sit and he is somewhat ignoring...an appropriate correction is due. DO NOT repeat a command ever without reinforcement. You want to teach the dog to sit (lets say) first time you ask it and not wait until you repeat it. If you must repeat the command physical correction is necessary. Make the right thing easy the the wrong thing hard. It takes a dog no time to understand if they sit right away you are happy but if they fail to they will get a leash correction or a tap on the rump. Make sense? Another word of caution. Not ALL dogs are hop to it obedient. As much as we would like that some are just softer and lazier and simply lack the drive. So you must recognize this. Even a dog such as this should not require you to repeat a command however.
  
  Hope that gave you a bit of insight and a starting basis.


• Jamie, congratulations to you for the skills you've already taught your dog. You didn't say how long you've been working on it or how old your Basset/ Beagle mix is now.
  
  I have a thought that may or may not be pertinent to your situation. Have you tried teaching your dog some hand signals as cues for some of the behaviors? Because dogs are so keyed in too observing motion, I've noticed that they respond very readily to hand signals for cues,perhaps swifter than to verbal cues. That just may mean that some dogs of my acquaintance are not verbal learners so much as they're visual learners.
  
  Also, for each of those behavioral cues, have you tried lessons in different parts of the house, in your yard, in your garage, on the lawn behind the public library, many different locales? Dogs are not single event learners; they need such experiences to generalize the association between verbal cue or hand signal and its linked behavior, as they're learning new skills that they previously may have associated only with the family room.
  
  Remember to raise your criteria step by step for each skill. One criterion you're concerned about now is the dog's speed in responding. Personally, I like to check to make certain the dog is awake, someone attentive to my location before I give a verbal cue or hand signal from a distance. Another hint is to vary the reward. Try to choose things that are really meaningful to the dog; then you can begin to introduce real life rewards to your dog.
  
  Best wishes to you.


• Have you been luring the behaviors? One error some (many) people make is making the presence of the treat (or other reinforcer) part of the picture that the dog considers part of the cue (command) for the behavior. So while you think that your dog understands that sit means sit, what the dog understands is that the silly word you say while you've got a treat in front of him means if he sits he gets a treat. Makes a lot of sense from a dog's perspective! So for a sit, I would lure the dog maybe three times, giving the treat from that hand. Then continue to lure 3-5 more times, but DON"T give the treat from that hand- give it from the other hand. Then get treats off your body completely, continue to use the hand signal (which is what your arm motion of using the treat was) and treat from a nearby table or whatever works to keep your treats handy but off your body. Then introduce the verbal, saying it before you give the hand signal (dogs pay a lot better attention to body language than verbals) so that the verbal predicts when the hand signal will come, until you note the dog starting to react to the verbal alone.
  
  One stage I go through is make sure that the presence of clicker/ treats is not required for the dog to still get reinforcements. One way I do this is simply to make sure that I use a wide variety of reinforcements, including life rewards. So when I'm on a walk in the woods and call my (offleash) dog, she gets reinforced with a game of tug on her leash, or by me throwing a stick. Another is to start a session without the clicker or treats on me, use a verbal marker, and run to where I have hidden some reinforcements. I incorporate a lot of training into life, so that sit (or whatever) gets reinforced at mealtimes, when going out the door, when putting leashes on... I'll also do things where I do have treats on me, but the dog doesn't get those treats, gets something different.
  
  Another factor to consider is that the breed mix you have isn't known for being speedy, so you'll have to work at it. You might do something like ask for a sit 10x, click and treat each correct response, and note how long it takes, on average, for the dog to sit. Then decide not to click and treat the slowest ones (whatever criterion works for you, I usually count under my breath after deciding what is an appropriate time frame). Then when the slowest ones have been eliminated, decide on a new criterion, and so forth, until the dog is sitting promptly. There are actually 2 separate issues in regards to speed- the actual performance speed of the behavior, and the latency, or how long it takes to start the behavior. Whenever you increase a criterion in one area, loosen up in others, so its ok (for a while, while working on speed) to click sloppier sits than you would otherwise. I usually work on latency first, speed second. And once you've done this (well) with one or two behaviors, it usually generalizes well to other behaviors, so choose one behavior that you want to work on, and really get it under good stimulus control.
  
  For more information on clicker training, visit www.clickersolutions.com and read some of the various training articles, and also consider joining the listgroup.

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Dog Health Questions: Are there universal hand signals in dog training when it comes to cueing basic obedience commands?

If not universal, what are the most commonly used signals?

Top Three Problems Solved by a Secret to Dog Training

Recommended Answer:
That's a great question. I think it only matters if you are training the dog for someone else, or with the intention to show them. One of our dogs is trained to voice commands as well as hand signals, but originally the hand signals just kind of 'happened'. We realized that every time we told him to sit, we were holding our hand out with front of us with the palm facing him- and we were curious if he responded to the hand signal or the words. Now he can respond to both, and we made up other hand signals for his other commands.

House Dog Training Secrets and Dog Food Secrets Revealed

• Not really, depends on who you talk to. Be consistent and pick signals that are different from each other and your dog will figure it out. The ones I've used and teach: Right arm up then sweep it downward for down, right hand at side and sweep it upward, elbow bending, for sit, stop signal for stay, right arm out to side, sweep hand in to body (elbow bending) for some, palm swept from one side to the other in front of the dog's face for wait... and so it goes.
  
  Decide, repeat, reward - dog will get it. They are amazing that way. :)


• I've seen different signals from different people, but the ones we've always used:
  
  Sit: Closed fist in front of your chest
  Down: Palm open facing downward, make a downward motion
  Stay: Palm open facing the dog
  Come: Beckoning motion with hand
  Wait: One forefinger raised (like you were going to shush someone)
  
  Some people use actual sign language signs, others just use signs they feel comfortable with.

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