Cinder Starting Training

[season]

I'll add my 2 cents; 3 mos is too young for a prong collar. I trained my puppy on a harness and a limited slip martingale or flat buckle collar. I let her pull on a harness. I trained a nice, loose leash walk right next to me with the collar. Started out with only a few steps when I had her attention and lots of treats. I also randomly popped a treat in her mouth when she was walking next to me of her own volition and just made walking near me really, really great. I just posted in another thread about the fact that she is now almost 10 months old, she weighs approx 75 pounds and she NEVER pulls on a leash. She walks immediately next to me unless I release her to sniff or potty or whatever, and I only have to apply a little light pressure if she moves ahead a bit or gets distracted. She has never been on a prong collar for one minute. By the time your puppy gets to be physically too big for you to control, the hope is it's well trained and socialized enough that you won't need to physically control it.

Or you could go with JamieHalverson's advice because that works too....it worked for her because she put in the work and does a good job with her dog..at the end of the day nothing works if you don't.

 

[JamieHalverson]

Well, I don't hate prong collars, I use one currently for Yogi in certain circumstances and I still don't recommend one for a puppy. I'd recommend a prong over a head collar pretty much any day of the week... they can be valuable training tools. I know Solo is a great dog, and you are absolutely right that discipline plays an important role in bringing up puppy. But that said, prong collars are not necessary or recommended by most trainers/behaviorist who DO use them for adult dogs, for use on puppies.

 

[JamieHalverson]

Or you could go with JamieHalverson's advice because that works too....it worked for her because she put in the work and does a good job with her dog..at the end of the day nothing works if you don't.

HA! You beat me! Thank you, and you are right, it does take work. I pretty much scheduled my life around that puppy for 4 months, lol.

 

[Boxergirl]

I don't hate prongs either. I think they are much better than head collars and chokes.

...But that said, prong collars are not necessary or recommended by most trainers/behaviorist who DO use them for adult dogs, for use on puppies.

^^^^^^^Agreed 100%.

 

[Winter's Cinder]

You guys are all great!!! LOL!! I will post some videos when I get a chance to take some... I try to do most of her training while everyone is out of the house because it creates less distraction than when I have 4 little helpers!! Once they get home, I try to show them what I've done with her that day, and let the training continue with all the chaos...
But with everyone gone it's kind of hard to video... I haven't used the prong collar yet... and since we are having a heat wave the next couple of days of 40, I'm taking advantage to hit her leash training a little harder in the backyard...
We went to the vet this morning and she did alright with the leash... she was more mad I wouldn't let her run around and find the mysterious sounds (kitty meows) from the back room... but for the most part she was decent... (way better than the last time which included lots of whining and an alligator roll)

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[Winter's Cinder]

I'm sorry I haven't gotten any videos of up of Cinder's training yet... been busy around here...
Thought I'd add an update... I have yet to use the prong collar yet (yeah!!) She still pulls on the leash, but not as much as she once did..
We have been working on sit and stay at the moment... this training really happens at meal time. She is very food motivated and we about get run over at mealtime... so it was a must!!! The last week she has been really good with the sit part... she learned very quickly she wouldn't get a meal if she didn't sit down and calm herself!! (We didnt withhold the meal but to her it was FOREVER if she didn't get it right now) we can't get her to stay much longer than us getting out of the direct path to her bowl... but its a start!!!

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[Winter's Cinder]

On another note, she did bite my son a couple days ago... BOTH of them got in trouble for it!! I had gotten a rib bone for cinder to gnaw on... and she was happily enjoying herself in the kitchen... I was sitting at the kitchen table, and my son (edwin) was watching tv/playing on his tablet/doing whatever 4 yr old boys do/playing...
Well he came in the kitchen and decided he wanted to get right in Cinder's face for a kiss/pet/whatever.. she growled at him... and he backed up... I told him that he needed to leave her alone, and I told cinder she needed to relax...
Edwin leaves and comes back to do it again... Cinder growls again.... I get up and tell him he needs leave her alone, and I make eye contact with cinder and sternly tell her relax and be nice...
About 5 mins go by and sure enough Edwin comes back to try again... this time Cinder doesn't warn him and let's out a short bark with a snap of her jaws and gets his hand... as soon as edwin starts crying Cinder is instantly remorseful of her action and tries to get in his face to lick his tears... but edwin isn't having it, and this mom is fed up with both of them... .. Cinder gets sent to the kennel (she pouts the whole way) and once checking his hand (mostly looks like a scratch, but she did draw a little blood) Mr. Edwin gets sent to sit on the couch...
I go in and have a talk with Edwin about what happened... he understood why he got bit (cinder is just like him and is young and her bone was her toy and she didn't want to share) and he found out the hard way he needs to listen to mommy (what 4 yr old listens ALL the time...lol)
And after cinder had calmed down... I got her out of the kennel, got the bone, got edwin, and I got down on the floor and we sat there and worked on edwin giving her the bone... taking it away... and working with cinder to understand her aggressive behavior wasn't going to be tolerated, but also teaching cinder that edwin wasn't out to take her precious bone and that I wasn't going to allow him to bully her either...
Im sure I could have been more preemptive in preventing what happened, but I think I did pretty good with taking the situation to the learning level it needed to be...

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[season]

Yeah, should have never gotten to that point. I mean 3 times your kid keeps trying the same thing even after u tell him not to? This shouldn't have gone past once. You and your kid are very lucky. I'm not going to sit here and say you did a good job. U missed the opportunity to correct your kid and your dog the first time. Your kid is old enough to either believe you or not believe you when u tell him not to do something. Also, u need to be proactive in dealing with your kid and dog in situations that could be dangerous. Hopefully u learned something. Watch your kid. Watch your dog. None of that should have happened in the first place. Your son didn't listen and your dog didn't listen. There needs to be better leadership before it gets worse.


Carpe Diem

 

[season]

Things like this don't just happen out of nowhere. Your dog shouldn't be showing this kind of behavior. We've seen ppl on this board in almost the same scenario. The dog ends up being put down. The dog gets labeled as aggressive. The parents act like they didn't see it coming. It's sad. That's why we have 5 million dogs a year in shelters and being put down. I'm not going to sugar coat this or pat u on the back for doing a "pretty good" job to a learning level. I hope u get things figured out. There are many vids out there that can help and many ppl on this forum that can help. Take their advice if u don't want to take mine. But I'd be surprised if there are good owners on here that think this is a situation that was handled well. Get some help. For your kid's and dog's sake.


Carpe Diem

 

[Winter's Cinder]

Yeah, should have never gotten to that point. I mean 3 times your kid keeps trying the same thing even after u tell him not to? This shouldn't have gone past once. You and your kid are very lucky. I'm not going to sit here and say you did a good job. U missed the opportunity to correct your kid and your dog the first time. Your kid is old enough to either believe you or not believe you when u tell him not to do something. Also, u need to be proactive in dealing with your kid and dog in situations that could be dangerous. Hopefully u learned something. Watch your kid. Watch your dog. None of that should have happened in the first place. Your son didn't listen and your dog didn't listen. There needs to be better leadership before it gets worse.


Carpe Diem

I kinda expected to hear from you on this season... I also kinda of expected to be harsher than it was...LOL!! It's ok... I accept full responsibility for what happened... I know things could and should have been done way differently...
I try really hard every day to keep on top of the chaos, and this situation could have been way worse.. I was distracted with what I was doing at the time... and I wasnt giving it my full attention. Both Edwin and Cinder are usually pretty good with listening to me, but just like every puppy, he is a 4 yr old kid and decided that the hard way was the path he needed to go down...
We havent had situations like this come up at all with toys/chewies for cinder.... she has been pretty lax in guarding her things and the kids are usually cautious in grabbing at things because both Craig and I have been diligent in overseeing everything...
Im not saying my lack of attention and missed opportunity should be commended with the after treatment of the incident. .. im just saying I'm glad you didn't chew me worse.. ...
I also understand the severity of the actions and how lucky I was it wasn't worse...
Im trying to be be a good parent to all my kids 4 legged and all... im really trying season!!!

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[season]

I'm not saying you aren't trying. Most everyone tries. But trying doesn't always get results when it comes raising a dog. It's all about how you are choosing to live with your pup. Is love and affection coming before rules, boundaries, discipline etc? Love (Happy Vday) is the easy part.


Carpe Diem

 

[season]

Make sure Cinder is earning everything she gets. Make sure u and the fam are on the same page and following through with discipline. There is a big difference between being well trained and well behaved.


Carpe Diem

 

[season]

Work on thresholds. Work on waiting for food. Work on the structured walk. Work on place/duration. Work on crate. Routine. Calm assertive leadership. I know u have a lot going on in your home. Kids, cat, daily stuff but it's your job to keep the "chaos" to a minimum. You want your dog to look to u for that leadership. For decisions to be made. For routine. That way your dog can be at its best. When it's unclear that leads to anxiety and stress. It's no different than us.


Carpe Diem

 

[season]

If u want me to help I'd be happy to. PM me if u choose.


Carpe Diem

 

[Winter's Cinder]

I'm not saying you aren't trying. Most everyone tries. But trying doesn't always get results when it comes raising a dog. It's all about how you are choosing to live with your pup. Is love and affection coming before rules, boundaries, discipline etc? Love (Happy Vday) is the easy part.


Carpe Diem

I know what your saying, and I totally respect everything you have to say on whatever I post!!! I was just giving you a little bit of static is all...
My kids can be heathens, and I'm really proud of the fact they mostly choose to be turn into heathens at home and not in public... but im not one of those parents that think my precious babies can do no wrong...
I also am of the midset, most of the time when a kid and/or dog that acts out or doesn't listen... its usually the fault of the parent/owner not doing their share...
I accept my lack of parenting/ownership in this situation and can only offer that I will do better in the future!! ;-)

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[Hector]

Your dog is showing possessive behaviors. It's a good time to start teaching a leave it and drop it. I use a crate as a time out in situations like these. My dog has a strong crate command so I don't need to touch him or anything and he removes himself and goes in the crate.

 

[Winter's Cinder]

Hector, cinder went in her crate as a time out.... and we will def work on the leave it and drop it!!!

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[Winter's Cinder]

In other news... she is reluctantly learning stay and off ... LOL!!!

"What do you mean I can't get on the couch until I'm dry? Dad made me this way, why does he get to sit on the couch?"

This is the "dad gave me a bath, and mom won't let me on the couch, so I'm gonna lick it instead" face...

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[Hector]

Oh my, hahahahaha. Totally wanting on the couch!

 

[Hector]

Hector, cinder went in her crate as a time out.... and we will def work on the leave it and drop it!!! Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

Next time, it's crate time on the very first growling or showing signs of resource guarding.