soloagility

The point that the majority of us are trying to make is that it is unnecessary to use punishment to train a pup. Positive reinforcement is much more effective for teaching, building a relationship and the dog's drive. The top competitors in most dog sports train using positive reinforcement and most would never lay their hands on a choke (prong, yes....choke, no). So....I guess all of these world class competitors (in Schutzhund, ring sport, agility, obedience, etc) have it wrong. Silly them.

Wow. There really is no point in answering your "questions" as you've shown in your posts in this thread and others that you are not looking to learn anything new here. Your attitude isn't really surprising though, coming from someone who still uses a choke to train puppies. The majority of people who I still see using chokes to train behaviours have been training like that for many years and are too stubborn or proud to acknowledge the progresses that have been made in dog training.

Yeah, same with Solo! If you watched him run a course you'd think he loved agility more than anything....but he'll do anything with vigor just to get his toys! The dragging dogs through courses comment wasn't directed at you. But it sounds like you've seen it at trials too. I don't know why people insist on forcing their dogs to do agility when it isn't fun for either the dog or the human! Funny that you mention the off-leash thing. At one trial here in Ontario....the judge actually allowed a handler to leash their dog to make it run the course!

Solo is another dog that loves agility because it involves a reward. He is awesome, fast, and focused, but he really only did it for the chance to chase his ball. I made the decision to stop agility after Solo was attacked and harassed by other dogs at lessons and trials. He started to get very stressed at trials and obviously didn't enjoy them. Solo is just as happy to play fetch at home and to go for hikes in the woods. We still train obedience and silly tricks because he loves to learn, and I'm much happier now that I'm not trying to turn him into something he isn't. Plus, I hate seeing people drag dogs through agility courses at trials when it is so painfully obvious that the dog is not enjoying it.

At least you were in the woods! Try doing it facing all of the balconies of your apartment building!

I know a lot of agility people who chose dogs based on colour.

Bliss has some awesome drive and control, especially with the distance work!

You have to stop allowing her to self-reinforce by going to the neighbour's, and you have to stop letting her chose whether or not she wants to be on a leash. Of course her recall is falling apart, she has repeatedly been reinforced for ignoring it. Have her on a long line every time she's outside. Try having her wear the long line constantly. Have her wear it inside as well so she gets used to it, then maybe being on it outside will stop being such a big deal. Don't forget to reward her for normal behaviour while on the long line. When she starts acting normally while on the line, retrain your recall. Practice inside and outside..... a lot. I know how it is to live in the bush and have dogs run free, as my parents used to live like that. Then they got a dog that would run to other people's property, eat others' dog food and steal their toys. They couldn't allow it to continue, so the dog was kept in a pen when it was outside. It might not be what you're used to, but if you don't want your dog to run wild and don't want to get a fence, you might have to consider changing your expectations. She might be able to run free again with your other dogs eventually, but the retraining will take time.

Yep. Those jerks on the head halter were most definitely corrections. Just because the dog was rewarded doesn't mean that this was "positive training". I could just as easily correct with a prong then reward for attention, it's the same thing. IMO, I'd much rather see a dog on a prong than see it getting it's head cranked around with halter corrections.

Thank you Lenajo! I've been feeding raw for 3 months now, and while I did quite a bit of research before taking the plunge, I was beginning to have second thoughts lately. With your raw-raised litters, have the dogs continued to eat raw and thrive throughout their lives?

I actually found it very demotivating to attempt to run full courses early in my agility training. I started out with an instructor who had us running courses way too early, and it turned me off agility for a while. I started training on my own after that, and broke down the handling moves for myself. I would work on small sequences to perfect my handling of front crosses, rear crosses, and so on. We always break down criteria for our dogs, and I think that we need to break down criteria for ourselves as well. Work on small sequences to teach yourself confidence in handling. Run it a few times without your dog as well. Many great agility competitors run small sequences when training. There is really no need to always be running full courses, especially if it's frustrating you. In your class, you could tell the instructor that you only want to work smaller sequences until you feel more comfortable, and chose a smaller part of the course to run. That way, it will be fun for both you and Joy.

My Chessie used to do that. She would occasionally swim, but was much more interested in digging the water while screaming. Lenajo is right.....if you want a dog that is sane around water, don't encourage the water-digging!

Check out the club list on the AAC website, I think there are a few near London. http://www.aac.ca/EN/Events/Main/Ontario_Club_List.aspx

Happy Birthday Solo! I remember coming across your story years ago when I first started to research behaviour modification and address my Solo's issues. It was eerie to read about this other Solo who had so many of the same problems. You guys were an inspiration to me, and my Solo has improved drastically throughout the years as well. Thanks to both Solo and Melanie from Solo and Tabatha.

I'll start by saying that I only have experience with my one dog. To me, I'd be more concerned about the approaching and growling than the car issue. Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for the approach and growl because I haven't dealt with that. Solo is 7 now, and has come a long way in his behaviour. He was a very scared puppy that turned very fear aggressive after bad experiences in punishment-based obedience classes. He used to be extremely reactive to dog and people, just seeing them from a 50 ft distance would set him off lunging, growling, and barking. Now, he is people-friendly, and we're making progress with the dog issue. Solo is a huge jerk in the car. In the car, he acts like he did 6 years ago. He barks at every dog he sees, and heaven forbid someone in the next car looks at him. But, the funny thing is, he can be barking like a fool at a dog in the car, get out of the car, look at the same dog, and be totally cool. Ideally, I would train him to behave and be calm in the car, but we have so many other things to work on, that I just accept the car behaviour since it doesn't transfer to his behaviour outside of the car. Just my experience with one crazy dog. Keep up the work though. I know how frustrating it can be, and you can feel like your dog will never get better. They do backslide, but keep working on it, and the small improvements will start to add up.