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Dog Geekin' !!

CeeCee

Well-Known Member
Pru and I just spent an AMAZING four days at an Understanding K9 Behavior seminar! The seminar ended on Sunday and I have unknowingly spent this time avoiding TV, social media, radio, etc. while my brain processes all that we have learned.

For the first two days Pru whined, cried, demand barked and vocalized whenever she could not get her way i.e., meet the other dogs, people, etc. We had to stay about 20 to 30 feet away just so she would stop vocalizing. After I learned to speak to her in her own language, here she is a part of the group and calmly watching the events.

Pru hanging chillin' and watching as another owner and dog learn. (BTW, the Prong Collar is only used for whispered communications; not corrections.)
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Pruie hanging out offleash in the shade just watching the other dogs and people. She has not been given an obedience command, this is the decision she made. :)
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Finally, here she is hanging by my side. What you can't see is that about 5 feet away on my right are about 5 other dogs and about 200 feet in front of us is a horse jumping competition with about 20 horses and 100 people.

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The ripple effect that my learning has had on my entire pack is already TRANSFORMATIONAL!!!
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Good for you! Watching them make good choices, on their own, is the best ever. It looks like Pru is wearing two collars in addition to the prong. Is the one an e-collar?

My daughter has several behavioral conferences to attend coming up. One with Patricia McConnell in Milwaukee, the clinical animal behavior conference in Las Vegas, and another one at Purdue. I'm deciding if I can do the Milwaukee one with her.
 

CeeCee

Well-Known Member
Good for you! Watching them make good choices, on their own, is the best ever. It looks like Pru is wearing two collars in addition to the prong. Is the one an e-collar?

My daughter has several behavioral conferences to attend coming up. One with Patricia McConnell in Milwaukee, the clinical animal behavior conference in Las Vegas, and another one at Purdue. I'm deciding if I can do the Milwaukee one with her.

I would absolutely go to the Patricia McConnell conference if you can!

Yes, she is wearing a remote collar as well. The whole conference was about learning to communicate and teach dogs using their native language of pressure and release. The remote collar is used to layered over their existing learning as a tool to continue to communicate with your dog over distance. If you are familiar with remote collars, her working level is a 5 out of 100. (100 being the highest level.) I didn't feel the collar's information until a it was at a level 10 and even then I wasn't sure if I was feeling it so I had to ask them to turn up the "volume" a little.

Because I know you are familiar with him, one of the trainers was Tyler Muto - the other was Blake Rodriguez. If you ever have the option, I cannot recommend this seminar enough. Their work is masterful!
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I was just curious. I know that it can be a good tool when used properly. Unfortunately most people do not use them properly and I don't believe that the general population should have free access to them. Just my opinion.

The McConnell conference is free to the public. She's going for sure. My issue is that I can't do crowds, and that's likely to be a pretty packed conference.
 

CeeCee

Well-Known Member
I was just curious. I know that it can be a good tool when used properly. Unfortunately most people do not use them properly and I don't believe that the general population should have free access to them. Just my opinion.

The McConnell conference is free to the public. She's going for sure. My issue is that I can't do crowds, and that's likely to be a pretty packed conference.

Crowds...eak! This seminar was limited to 10 people with 8 working spots.

I absolutely agree with you! What makes me hurt is that both the prong and the remote collars can be so INCREDIBLY GENTLE (even more gentle i.e., less pressure than even a flat collar) when used with consciousness. One of the things they taught us was the active release of pressure (most people learn a passive release). Boxergirl, it takes the communication feedback loop from 1 second to .05 second. Oh. My. GOD!! You should see the dog's faces light up when the communication they receive is that clear and that precise...it's like the dogs have been trying to listen to us as we talk to them through a crappy, static-filled Bluetooth connection from a crowded room and all of the sudden we are speaking to them face to face in the comfort and quite of our living room! (As you can tell, I am beyond thrilled and deeply grateful to have the knowledge to take my communications and relationships with my dogs to an even deeper level!)

...See, dog geekin'. :D
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
Nothing wrong with being a dog geek. My poor husband has two of us in the house, lol. I'm thrilled that you had the opportunity to attend the seminar.