Positively | Victoria Stilwell | Forum

The good old Pet Professional Guild came through. It's not nearly as good but it's still very helpful. http://petprofessionalguild.com/DogBodylanguage Maybe I'll do one soon with realistic drawings or pictures. I don't want to go around scaring or pissing off dogs though! So I'll probably have to fi...

Mounting is usually due to over stimulation, so that may be what you're looking at when he puts his chin on other dog's backs. A lot of people have different opinions on this but I don't allow this, particularly not with strange dogs because it's considered "rude" and a lot of dogs get roy...

Thanks, I thought he meant the other kind of correction!

I wasn't getting technical. +P, -P, corporal punishment type corrections vs. more mental corrections like a time out, etc. On forums, it's hard to know which people mean so I try to keep it simple, but you're completely right in that even time outs are corrections and punishment. I wouldn't have cor...

One of the problems is, can you put the dog into time out within a few seconds after the behavior so the dog can associate the punishment with the behavior? I'm sure some dogs can make the leap but for others, it has to immediately follow within a few seconds, just like for corrections to be effecti...

If your dog does anything out of the ordinary, then it's always a good idea to get a vet check just in case there's a potential medical problem at hand. Although it's likely what Jack's dad said, a bratty teenager pushing the limits. I agree with holding off for him to fully sexually mature until yo...

So Jean Donaldson used to have a really great body language series on Youtube that I liked to refer adopters and training clients to, but she's since made them private so I can't do that anymore. It was a presentation of actual dogs and their body language and interpretations. It was free so it was ...

We've tired a bunch of different objects. They like a small piece of branch or a pighide roll the best. Rather than something soft. I haven't watched the Tab video through, to be honest. I get bored about halfway through his videos. He seems to have a complicated, convoluted way to go about teaching...

All the videos and such I've found on teaching "hold" are done through shaping longer holds, or using tug. Mine aren't offering these behaviors. Then there's all the force fetch videos that my search brings up but of course, this is just out of the question.

I have never had so much difficulty teaching a retrieve to hand before as I'm having with my own two dogs. I've tried shaping it. And breaking it up into tiny steps but we're missing critical steps. They're just not grasping the hold concept. I dunno where I'm going wrong. They understand "take...

Does anyone use the tennis ball with a slit cut in it and insert a treat inside to teach retrieve to hand? How do you go about it? How does the dog learn to bring the ball to you so you can take the treat out to give them for a successful retrieve?

In MY opinion, yes. Only when supervised and only on a harness should he forget and run to the end of it. You should teach him boundaries with it, so he's not prone to rushing to the end of it and coming up short. Kikopup has some good videos on invisible boundaries. Check Youtube. Before I get ream...

Yes, I feel that it (when correctly dosed, utilized, etc.) better opens the dog up for bmod to have a higher success rate.

You're very right. I wish I had as much patience for the human animal as I have for others. I guess what really bothers me is what seems like willful ignorance and I suppose it is that, often, but people stick to what they know or aren't ready to move on to learning new things, like you've said. So ...

Shock collars and the like are just crutches for lazy training or ineptitude of better training skills. I'm working with an extremely impulsive, unfocused, bouncing off the walls rescue right now. He's a challenge. What did I do? I'm boning up on educational materials regarding his issues. You can N...