I used to think the cesar milan way was how it was supposed to be. I never owned a dog, just cats. I never liked dogs much, and felt they need a stern hand, or they'd be dangerous. And I thought the balanced approach made sense. All until I got our own pup. He's 21 months at this point, and there's just no way I'd use any aversives on him. To boot, the breed description says it needs a soft hand, so even if I insisted on that type of training, it wasn't the breed for us anyways. He has responded very well to positive reinforcement training. He's almost done with adolescence. Just the last shennanigans period now before he's officially adult. (He's a japanese spitz.) He has days where he's borderline perfect at this point. Days he doesn't pull, walks heel past other dogs (we made the mistake of thinking he had to greet every dog when he was young). He spent hours in the garden today with hardly a bark, despite several times running to the hedge to check out who was walking past. I'm so proud of him. I never thought I'd ever train a dog, but here we are. I'm not sure why I ever thought aversive training made any sense. He's so happy and full of life, and quite mischievous at times, but he'll be one heck of a good dog as an adult. Such good manners and a sweet nature. The only bad thing about him is him insisting on a 6 am wake up time. Like dude, 8 would be good k thanks.
So nice to have found your channel - I'm a cross-over trainer, (and Mastiff owner) too! How encouraging to listen to your story. Same dynamics here - I tought my own Mastiff, when she was young, to be and stay super reactive to dogs and people. She only improved when I started to do my best Zak George imitiation to counter-condition her to the trigger of dogs, joggers, and cyclists! Now, she's wonderful; she still doesn't allow strangers to touch her, and wears a muzzle at the vets, but apart from that, she keeps her cool in almost every situation we encounter on walks.
Is there any chance that you’ll return to San Diego? I’m really struggling with my 3 year old, sensitive, smart GSD, and looking for a positive trainer to help us. Thank you for this video.
www.wagworksdogtraining.com/ Courtney will be able to help, if you tell her I referred you. If she's too far, she'll likely know someone. I'll probably be in SD mid August, if you email me info@glasgowdogtrainer.co.uk, we can set something up.
I used to think the cesar milan way was how it was supposed to be. I never owned a dog, just cats. I never liked dogs much, and felt they need a stern hand, or they'd be dangerous. And I thought the balanced approach made sense.
All until I got our own pup. He's 21 months at this point, and there's just no way I'd use any aversives on him. To boot, the breed description says it needs a soft hand, so even if I insisted on that type of training, it wasn't the breed for us anyways. He has responded very well to positive reinforcement training. He's almost done with adolescence. Just the last shennanigans period now before he's officially adult. (He's a japanese spitz.) He has days where he's borderline perfect at this point. Days he doesn't pull, walks heel past other dogs (we made the mistake of thinking he had to greet every dog when he was young). He spent hours in the garden today with hardly a bark, despite several times running to the hedge to check out who was walking past.
I'm so proud of him. I never thought I'd ever train a dog, but here we are. I'm not sure why I ever thought aversive training made any sense. He's so happy and full of life, and quite mischievous at times, but he'll be one heck of a good dog as an adult. Such good manners and a sweet nature.
The only bad thing about him is him insisting on a 6 am wake up time. Like dude, 8 would be good k thanks.
Thank you so much for being open and sharing your journey with us.
So nice to have found your channel - I'm a cross-over trainer, (and Mastiff owner) too! How encouraging to listen to your story. Same dynamics here - I tought my own Mastiff, when she was young, to be and stay super reactive to dogs and people. She only improved when I started to do my best Zak George imitiation to counter-condition her to the trigger of dogs, joggers, and cyclists! Now, she's wonderful; she still doesn't allow strangers to touch her, and wears a muzzle at the vets, but apart from that, she keeps her cool in almost every situation we encounter on walks.
Welcome aboard! I hope you look through our back catalogue, too
Is there any chance that you’ll return to San Diego? I’m really struggling with my 3 year old, sensitive, smart GSD, and looking for a positive trainer to help us.
Thank you for this video.
www.wagworksdogtraining.com/ Courtney will be able to help, if you tell her I referred you. If she's too far, she'll likely know someone. I'll probably be in SD mid August, if you email me info@glasgowdogtrainer.co.uk, we can set something up.
@@GlasgowDogTrainer ,
Thank you.