Dog training - Good citizen

bouicca21

An analogy to try on your mum is attitudes to child rearing. Would her only method of discipline for a child be a spanking? Or would she have a set of strategies to persuade a child to behave in a decent way?

The old fashioned authoritarian methods you describe are not the way to persuade a dog to behave, they are a way to force it. IMHO dogs are much like toddlers.

Katiehound

Dog training classes should be using positive reinforcement not negative. Give this trainer a wide berth! The session should be fun for the dog.

We are currently practising for the gold. My boy just loves going to classes and his tail never stops wagging. Any dogs attending with behavioural problems stay on the lead and do individual exercises rather than with a group, but as their behaviour improves they get to work off lead etc.

Blondygirl

I think you have got the answer you need, it should all be positive. Where I train it's all positive & we do everything with treats & you guide your dog into a sit/down etc with the treat time & time again & mark with a trigger word or clicker so it knows it's done right. Only when it's doing that realiable do you add the word sit etc. A good trainer would have asked to see you first after telling them your dogs issues, so agree find a new club. If you want any reading I've just read a new training dog Call Educating Alice - The Essential 4-Step Guide by JJ Fitzpatrick & it's excellent.

sheramber

A very good article

http://deesdogs.com/documents/idratherdance.pdf

summed up at the end

In the final analysis, it’s much more productive to look at dog training through the metaphor of dancing rather than that of domination.
When two people dance, one must lead and the other must follow, if both try to lead, they’ll fall on their faces!
But the best dancers show complete harmony and teamwork, not dominance and submission.
And this is what I strive to achieve with my dogs –.
Building on the relationship between handler and canine. This is for me is what we are looking for, the harmony and joy of teamwork.
For me “every interaction is a teaching learning opportunity.”