My neighbour told me he should be out having exercise all day, bit like you. She said her mum had dogs, she knows what dogs need.
I told her to do some research on French Bulldogs.
Maybe you should too.
I am not saying I know more than you, but looking at your one glove fits all attitude, I think I do.
Cesar is great, but he has a general attitude to dog care and training. As I said, not all dogs are the same. My dog requires 2x 30minute walks, 3 max a day, particularly in this heat.
He often gets more than that as he goes to dog sitter, but he will seek out the shade and sleep a lot of the time.
Not all dogs are greyhounds, whippets or collies
Demonstrating your knack of, the TV told me something and I know more than anyone else who has real life experience. You really should get out this habit of reading "expert" and "30 years" as the be all and end all of all topics. Sure, listening to experienced people can help guide you sometimes, but its better to do your own research and encounter your own experience, especially when particulars are involved and not looking for a generalisation.
in your anger ... did you happen to notice, or could you point out please where I flat out said, one glove fits all situations... I was generalizing when the thread started for all dogs need exercise.
no doubt every situation is different when not dealing with issues that come up...
on to your sarcasm... first, you attacked me, implying I was like your neighbor. You don't know me, you don't know how I am, nor how I treat dogs. But, you decided I was your neighbor. So, I gave it back to you in that same manner. Instead of seeing it as that, you decide to yet attack me again instead of accepting you didn't need to lump me in with your neighbor.
Again, I was offering a general solution, not looking into it as a severe problem. You will note (well, one could hope) that after it was made clear even further that it wasn't just a dog needing exercise, that I kept my two cents to myself and dropped out of the conversation. I only checked back this morning and found you attacking me to which I put my cape on and came to my own defense.
in your anger ... did you happen to notice, or could you point out please where I flat out said, one glove fits all situations... I was generalizing when the thread started for all dogs need exercise.
no doubt every situation is different when not dealing with issues that come up...
on to your sarcasm... first, you attacked me, implying I was like your neighbor. You don't know me, you don't know how I am, nor how I treat dogs. But, you decided I was your neighbor. So, I gave it back to you in that same manner. Instead of seeing it as that, you decide to yet attack me again instead of accepting you didn't need to lump me in with your neighbor.
Again, I was offering a general solution, not looking into it as a severe problem. You will note (well, one could hope) that after it was made clear even further that it wasn't just a dog needing exercise, that I kept my two cents to myself and dropped out of the conversation. I only checked back this morning and found you attacking me to which I put my cape on and came to my own defense.
and ...
i cannot tell you how relieved I am. I am humbled at your presumptions of my simple comment and generalization.
sorry.. i cannot let this one go... did you read anywhere I said I saw this on TV? I would swear I mentioned reading a book... but, in your words..
oh, I don't know... try paying attention to what people say before you accuse them of something they didn't
Who is angry?
Oh dear, prob best you stick to your "dropping out of this subject" suggestion.
You groaned me for it, but now you admit it CLASSIC
Attack you? Jeez, you are a sensitve soul aren't you. I did not "attack" you, I merely implied your one size fits all to dog exercise, which you have stepped back from, is not correct. Unfortunately many people have this perception, dog is dog, dog needs exercise make him walk / run for hours.
No one is attacking you, just educating you.
Now breathe
This user would like to thank JBZ86 for this useful post:
I'd just like to add something here. I am not taking sides but I would like to jsut point out that what MC has said about fearful dogs and excercise is a very important point.
I have been having some issues with Bella regarding her fear of ALL fences electric or not following a zap a few weeks ago.
Not only has this resulted in fearful behaviour on walks around fences but also anything that she would deem fence related so, sheep, cows and bells on animals, rabbits behind fences and areas where she can sense electricity.
Her walks were normally a good hour each morning with an afternoon/evening stroll around the block. I have had to cut this right down to 20 mins at the moment as she cannot cope. She is so nervous and fearful she is unable to get out of the stressful mood. It then moves from out doors to inside the house. Where she has generalized her fear of fences to the feeling of being touched (i assume the pain from the electric shock) on her back legs. So much so that when we have patted her she yelps and runs for cover and we don't see her again. I've rulled out physical issues through our vet. It is psychological.
On top of this because of her generalisation she is purely miserable at home. Home is supposed to be her safe haven. Imagine a constantly nervous dog. Now her fear is moving to other new behavioural problems that I have noticed recently i.e. barking at the door, barking at fireworks, aggression towards other dogs all of which were not present.
Now understanding my dog and also taking advice from a qualified trainer we have a plan of action. This plan though can be changed or accomadated to ensure it works for the dog.
So shorter more controlled walks in environments that I know she has been calm in before and that are not new. This includes driving to places where she has been before to keep her interested. Playing games, 'thinking' games that also exhausts her just as much as a long walk. Exercise is not just about letting you dog run free or long walks. They need to build confidence from thinking and mental stimulation. We've also been facing her fear with introducing games or jobs that she needs to complete around them so she can see nothing happens to her. My example before was carrying water bottles near fences and today I set up a scent trail.
I have only been doing this for a week and I already a slight improvement. Its only slight but she is already starting to calm down at home, which is important for me.
It is going to take us a lot of time and effort but I can see that it will work. And although the walks are shorter they require more effort from her and her body not to mention the HEAT! With the adrenalin from the fear, her mind constantly thinking about the potential for pain and the heat, 20 mins can infact tire her out for the whole day.
You will know your dog and you must observe them carefully. As MC has said a constantly over stimulated and stressed dog is a ticking time bomb. I would hate to see fear turn to aggression to turn to them turning on you.
As for our good old Mexican 'dog trainer'. Personally, when I first saw his work I niavely thought GREAT. But he does not train dogs in a positive way. It is through pure dominence and submission which can in fact exacebate fearful behaviour especially in more sensitive dogs. He also cannot read dogs well. I'd like to point you in the direction of Turid Rugaas. She emphasises how dogs communicate with one another to ensure calmness between them. Understanding their reactions to situations will help you communicate and help you dog better.
I love Turid Rugaas. I think she is one of the best. She has a lot of respect for dogs, and i think she teaches people to listen, and observe. My dog gets overstimulated with too much training, too much exercise and it makes her crazy. She needs to rest.
Caesar Milan has an amazing rapport with dogs. But it's hard for the average schmo to replicate. And when people try to replicate it, they become too aggressive, IMHO. He's toned down the dominance crap in favor of "energy." Still, it's hard to do things his way without being overly aggressive toward the pup.
And now that I think of it, you're totally right about CM. he doesn't teach people to pay enough attention to their dogs. Dogs are great communicators....but we have to learn to listen to them.
The following 2 users would like to thank edot for this useful post:
Actually, I felt you were being patronising, but my offense was really taken by your first sentence which was, I thought, a rather snide reference to Melloncollie's extensive, thoughtful and helpful post. And the rest of your replies are very antagonistic.
The problem with CM as far as I see it, is if you gain control by dominating the dog, by being the 'alpha' then you will continually have to defend that postion, a dog will always be looking to jump rank and go up in the pecking order - that how pack animals operate. If you can condition the dog using any one of a number of techniques then you don't need to continually impose yourself as the alpha. I suspect that a number of his methods might be dangerous for the inexperienced to use and will probably lead to someone getting bitten. And no, I am not a dog trainer, but I am a scientist with a fair background knowledge and I have read a fair amount around the topic and I don't want to use CM's approach on my dog - I think it would be really bad for him.
Yes, I read it clearly and I am not sure if you are referring to me as being patronizing or you are apologizing for what you were about to say as patronizing.
Walking the dogs has many faces depending on the person. If you took offense to that comment, well, I won't apologize because you were not clear about how far, how long, how much you walk your dog. I see people all the time walking their dogs around the block and think they have completed the task necessary to say they walked the dog.
As for your dog teacher... if he told you that dogs who lift their left leg to pee are more likely to get cancer and die younger, would you believe that too?
I have decided to get in touch with the Buzz guy and get some one to one training, as well as going to the dog classes with Sam's mates as I really want to tread careful and not mess it up for him.
Like you DHD, I have notice a deterioration at home too -much more barking, aggresivity to othhr dogs at the gate etc. And the heat I think is completely addling his brain too, poor dog is clearly feeling it and has quite snsibly sought out the coolest bit of the house to lay panting.
This user would like to thank terramundi for this useful post:
This evening's walk was kind of OK. Sam refused to go into the woods so we carrued on walking around the streets a while, getting him to walk to heel nicely (we still have to practise that all the time) and sitting and staying a bit. There were points where he just stopped looking and listening, tail at half mast but I didn't sense the same level of anxiety as before. So I think we'll just stear clear of the woods for a while, find other places to go. We are also working on the basic stuff still, the main one being stopping and sitting at the door or gate and then waiting until being invited through and then sitting again. I think it all needs constant reinforcement.
This user would like to thank terramundi for this useful post:
Wanted to say that we're slowly making progress with the walking - Sam seems happier retracing the places we've walked and he went into the woods, albeit cautiously, by a different path than we usually take. I'm encouraging him by doing a bit of training on the way, and we are going on much shorter and more frequent walks (2 or 3 times a day for about 20/25 minutes). I can see a slow improvement for the walking, nothing yet on rushing the fence but I have kept him on a long lead in the garden when I am there - otherwise he's inside with me doing my chores. Funny but when he's on the lead he immediately clams down in the garden and doesn't try to woof at all the passers by. At the moment he's lying here in the shade chewing on a nice bone I got for him the other day, very peaceful
The following 2 users would like to thank terramundi for this useful post:
Might I simply suggest visiting Karen Pryor's website www.clickertraining.com? When it comes to dog training, she and her associates are high on my list. They work purely from positive reinforcement techniques. Her website offers lots of resources. Just use the search box near the top of the site and type in "fear" or "aggression" or "anxious" or whatever and a bunch of videos or articles will pop up. Hopefully, something there will be quite useful.
The following 2 users would like to thank natmay for this useful post:
Wanted to say that we're slowly making progress with the walking - Sam seems happier retracing the places we've walked and he went into the woods, albeit cautiously, by a different path than we usually take. I'm encouraging him by doing a bit of training on the way, and we are going on much shorter and more frequent walks (2 or 3 times a day for about 20/25 minutes). I can see a slow improvement for the walking, nothing yet on rushing the fence but I have kept him on a long lead in the garden when I am there - otherwise he's inside with me doing my chores. Funny but when he's on the lead he immediately clams down in the garden and doesn't try to woof at all the passers by. At the moment he's lying here in the shade chewing on a nice bone I got for him the other day, very peaceful
I was shocked to read earlier in one of these replies in the thread that Sam was not even 1 year old. Please correct me if I'm wrong. This is not shocked in a negative way, just, he's a puppy. This might explain a lot. Perhaps Sam is being asked way too much in this stage of his life? It's also very possible he suffered some trauma that has stuck with him.
It is good that you have decided to make the walks shorter just more frequent. The key to training is having a plan, setting up the animal to succeed, and knowing when to stop and making sure you are stopping on a good note. It is best to have very short training sessions that end positively before overworking the animal mentally and occur frequently. Long drawn out sessions can become quite confusing and mentally taxing.
Treat your walks with Sam like they are training sessions. They are training sessions. It's ok that maybe you don't get very far on a walk. I would try consistently walking him and ending even before he will show any signs of anxiousness. Assuming this happens at certain points in a walk? You mentioned the forest, if he's still anxious, don't go there yet. Stick with what he is happy with for now. Build his confidence. Get him used to his new reinforcers too. You mentioned trying out different focus training and reinforcements during his walks, get him used to that. Let him see and understand how positive those are, so he can depend on those even more in more anxious situations.
Dog training can be taxing and require a lot of patience. Sometimes it really seems you are not getting anywhere because the baby steps you have to take are so simple. You'll get there though.
If he's anxious about other dogs when you are on walks, have him sit and focus on you and let the dogs pass by. I know it's harder when other dog owners aren't as responsible by either keeping their dog on lead and away from your dog, or their dog is off leash and calling the dog away from you. When Sam IS responding positively to another dog, make sure he gets reinforced for that.
I wish you much luck on your journey. Dog training has as much to with you and your dog and also other dog owners and their dogs and the environment.
The following 2 users would like to thank natmay for this useful post:
Now - this is written from the perspective of dealing with fear aggression and fear reactivity, but much of what she talks about is also applicable to other anxiety or fear-driven behaviors.
Hey, thanks for your posts natmay, you make a lot if really useful observations and give good clear advice - I appreciate that, and I will check out that website. When we walk I do try and do a bit of training and keep it quite fun too - he seemsto learn really quickly - just a few repetitions and he's got it, but he also either forgets quickly or learns undesirable behaviour quickly too. So for example, he learns sit and wait when going through doors very well, but just a coupleoftimes of me not reinforcing it and he's back to barging out in front of me! As Dr Yin says, every outing is a training opportunity. I like the idea of clicker training as a concept but don't know if I could have the consistency to do it - I must inform myself more. I interested that you say that we might be asking too much of him - what should one expect from aone year old? He's definately out of the baby puppy thing and is grown up physically (at least the vet says heshouldn't get any bigger). He seems to quite like just hanging out with me and doing what I'm doing, which is very companiable really and is generally undemanding.
Melloncollie, recently he's looked a lot happier out walking and we've done quite a few walks with friends with dogs which has been great. There's a lot of contradictory advice about how long you should walk your dog for and of course it varies according to age and breed - we were doing an hour in the morning and then another shorter outing in the evening but he seems happy having shorter more often outings (which also suits me to a certain extent). I have been paying a lot of attention to his body language and trying to work out whether what I thought was a 'smiley , panting face' is in fact an anxiety face. If so, he is anxious a lot!
Today I don't think he's feeling well - He's been lying around looking miserable and has been very quiet - I did catch him eating cat crap in the garden (charming) and he dragged some slightly dodgy meatballs out of the bin (kids left garage door open), so I reckon he's got a belly ache. In anycase he's now lying onme on the sofa, which is very usual as usually he would refuse to come up (he knows his place is on the floor when I'm sitting on the furniture). Poor dog!
This user would like to thank terramundi for this useful post:
). I have been paying a lot of attention to his body language and trying to work out whether what I thought was a 'smiley , panting face' is in fact an anxiety face. If so, he is anxious a lot!
...if you want to look a bit deeper into reading body language, two books I found helpful in learning to read my dogs are 'Canine Body Language, A Photographic Guide' by Brenda Aloff:
Both are chock full of illustrations of dogs in action, with interpretations of body language on display.
(My only quarrel is that the photos in both books are B/W)
But you are right - much of a dog's body language is indeed very subtle. In the early days I would often film Hooligan and narrate my first impressions of her behavior. Then I would go back and watch the film later - in hindsight, in freeze frame, I could see that my initial interpretations were not quite correct. It took a lot of watching, observing - and having a second person observe - to learn to read her more subtle signs.
As for the walks - trust your instincts.
Hope he starts feeling better soon...
This user would like to thank meloncollie for this useful post:
Hey, thanks for your posts natmay, you make a lot if really useful observations and give good clear advice - I appreciate that, and I will check out that website. When we walk I do try and do a bit of training and keep it quite fun too - he seemsto learn really quickly - just a few repetitions and he's got it, but he also either forgets quickly or learns undesirable behaviour quickly too. So for example, he learns sit and wait when going through doors very well, but just a coupleoftimes of me not reinforcing it and he's back to barging out in front of me! As Dr Yin says, every outing is a training opportunity. I like the idea of clicker training as a concept but don't know if I could have the consistency to do it - I must inform myself more. I interested that you say that we might be asking too much of him - what should one expect from aone year old? He's definately out of the baby puppy thing and is grown up physically (at least the vet says heshouldn't get any bigger). He seems to quite like just hanging out with me and doing what I'm doing, which is very companiable really and is generally undemanding.
All dogs forget quite easily. My dog is the same, even at 5. Question, you mentioned he has learned to sit and wait when going through doors, is this cued? Meaning, does he have a verbal cue or is he just supposed to recognize that when you get to a door and stop, he has to sit on his own? If it's not verbally cued, I would suggest just telling him to sit and wait (whatever your verbal or even hand gestured cue may be). It's a lot easier for a dog to forget to do something if it is not asked of them straight forward. My dog will definitely barge through a door if I don't tell her to wait first. Sometimes, she is good enough to offer it up.
When it comes to reinforcing a dog, it's good to have many different kinds of reinforcers, food and other. Learn which ones he likes the most and the least. The ones he likes the most will be his power reinforcers and can help encourage him when he is learning difficult behaviors or when you really want him to understand what he is learning is important to you. You want to be able to mix and match your reinforcers to keep the dog from getting bored. Animal training can get a lot more complex, in that the cue for the next behavior can be the reinforcer for the one the dog has just completed, but I don't want to confuse you too much. Also keep in mind, that in the future, not everything will need to be reinforced. In fact, it can get quite boring for the dog too if everything is reinforced. Variable schedule of reinforcements is very important. But again, this comes much later once a behavior is solid.
Think of everything you do with Sam as a behavior chain. Such as the act of going through the door. Walking to the door, sitting, waiting, door opening, release, walking through the door. Those are all the parts of the behavior of walking through a door. If you break down each chain of the behavior, you can start to focus on what needs more work, and what he is mastering very well. You can start to see how maybe one link of the chain can reinforce the other.
You may not realize how simple clicker training is and how you could very well have the consistency to do it. When Sam does something right, may I assume you give him a verbal reinforcer such as "Yes" or "good" or "good boy" and then you hand him a treat, toy, whatever? If you do not and all you do is hand him a treat when he is correct, then this could be a HUGE part of the training problem. The word "good" is an immediate reinforcer, it should be delivered the precise moment a behavior is done correctly. Without a verbal reinforcer, the act of delivering a treat is simply not fast enough. You could be delivering a treat 3 seconds after what you are reinforcing has ended and are actually reinforcing something else. The verbal "good" alerts the dog right then and there that what he has done is correct and a treat is on its way. Now a clicker, simply takes the place of the verbal "good". It delivers immediate, precise and consistent reinforcement. Consistent is the key. We, as humans, have the ability to change how we say the word "good". High pitched, low pitched, excited, low energy, etc. Yes, even that can confuse a dog if it is not consistent. Most people who use a clicker, still talk to their dogs, but at least the immediate and consistent click is still present. The beginning stages of teaching the dog what the sound of the clicker means is a lot of fun and easy for the dog to pick up. All you do is click the clicker and hand him a treat. That's it. You can do this several times in a day, maybe only a minute long. Click, feed. Click, feed. Click, feed. You'll know when the dog is understanding that the sound of the clicker means food is coming, because they will start getting excited or will respond to the sound of the clicker immediately. By the way, the dog should pick up on it fairly quickly. Within just a few training sessions. He could recognize the clicker in just one day, heck, even one session.
Ah, so Sam is one. Ok. Then yes, he should be able to move along in training. Unless you are demanding him to do physically challenging training (which you are not) you need not worry about his body being full grown. I only think about the mental capacity. Seeing as he is one, he is farther along mentally than a puppy. You need not be as forgiving as you would be for a puppy.
This user would like to thank natmay for this useful post:
I am sorry but I have to disagree with this comment.
Firstly, dogs don't forget everything, especially when they have been abused in some. We can help them overcome their fears through various methods as previously discussed. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn.t Generally though the dog will never totally forget.
My Bella, not an abused dog to be clear, has certainly not forgotten about the pain of being too close to an electric fence. Its an ongoing battle and I don't think she will ever be 100% happy about them anymore.
Secondly, when it comes to training dogs, yes dogs can seem to forget 'how to sit' but this is all down to how often it is practiced, in my opinion. With our dogs sometimes the obedience skills learned seem to magically disappear but with some gentle reminding it comes back ever so quickly at the same level.
__________________
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence
This user would like to thank darkhorsedrea for this useful post:
I think I owe you a really huge apology, because I never looked into/paid attention to the breed of dog that you are talking about. I don't mean to sound harsh or rude, but how is it that you came to own an Appenzell? You are aware of the breed, yes? This is a working dog. A dog that generally does best in wide open spaces, allowed to run, let off the mental and physical energy. This dog is going to need a lot of extra mental and physical work to keep him properly stimulated and happy. Without it, you will continually see behavioral problems. Since this is a breed happiest in open and free living and loves to bark, it will be more challenging perhaps to keep them quieter and more restrained. So far, every page I am reading about this dog says they need LONG walks if they are not on a farm or open lands.There is always difficulty when people take in a "working" breed of dog for quiet home living. Not to say that it is impossible, but it is more challenging to meet the needs of the dogs, when their needs aren't being met.
You may have more difficulties training him not to guard the gate of the yards, since this breed of dog is naturally inclined to keep a watchful eye on things, whether it be territory or herds of animals. Not saying you can't, but could be part of the reason why certain things will be more difficult to train out of this dog, since he is naturally inclined to do certain things.
A sentence caught my attention in one of these informational sites. "He needs total overview so that he can keep his territory under control." Perhaps, Sam is anxious because he does not feel as if he has control of his environment? I don't really know, as I am not there to see and observe. But you did mention a lot about his feeling unsure when on walks, he was away from home, a dog came into his home when he was not in it, only to be surprised by this encounter, reorganization of the home, dogs chasing him. This could very well be all part of his being anxious, like you said already. It just sounds to me that Sam, is going to need a lot of work to build up his confidence and make him feel in control of his environment again.
ok, "forget quite easily" was the wrong phrase, but I didn't actually mean that they literally forget things in their life. It was more of a cheeky statement of, they appear to "forget" what they are taught. Much like children will do in order to cut corners. Yes, animals will seem to forget or get horrible at certain behaviors from time to time and that is due to lack of training and/or lack of consistency.
I never ever meant the statement to be serious or a flippant remark that dogs will forget the things in their lives. I know this is not true. My own dog was abused in her past life before she came into mine and every once in awhile she reminds us of this when she cowers away from a rolled up piece of newspaper (which by the way is not being rolled up to use on her, just was an observation one day when I rolled up a newspaper to take it to the recycling bin in our US home).
So, I apologize for making a statement like that, not realizing that it just didn't come off the way I intended it to.
Last edited by natmay; 31.08.2012 at 14:31.
This user would like to thank natmay for this useful post:
Thanks for all the great posts- it neveer ceases to amaze me how kind people are to take timeour of their day to answer questions on the forum.
So to answer the quedtion of why I have an appenzeller - to be correct he's a appenzeller type mischling. His mum was taken into the tireheim pregnant and had the puppies there. She was an appenzeller type and we have no idea of course who the father was. Sam is not typical in that he's quite a lot smaller and not so stocky as a pure appenzeller, but he has the markings and tail. When I discussed it with the people at the tierheim they felt that because he was a mix he would probably have a dilution of the appenzeller character. I don't mind having a bit of a woofy dog per se, I certainly feel happy knowing that he is at home with the kids, and I doubt any burglar would want to break in. I also don't mind him being wary of other people or dogs - he likes to stick around with us, in our home and that suits us well. I could do with him not woofing at the neighbours dogs but I do understand his need to be territorial, and he's happy to have known dogs in the house. He needs to learn not to woof at the door at my visitors because that's just rude.
We live 2 minutes from the woodland and from open fields so it's easy to give him walks and we also have a garden and a detached house. Also, if we go to the mountai.sn he loves to walk with us. The garden is fenced so he can't get out (he did used to pop off into the neighbours garden until my husband plugged that gap) I'm happy to walk with him and as I understand he needs the mental stimulation I'd like to take him to agility or something when he's less anxious of other dogs.
Maybe the clicker training would really be interesting for him to do. I know what you mean about the timing of the treat because I'm sure I get it wrong sometimes, and I'm probably not reinforcing so well.
He's actually not a problematic dog for our lifestyle as I'm not always taking him out into lots of social situations or expecting him to get along with loads of other dogs. He needs to learn to be more polite with poeple - he's still a bit jumpy and excited, and I just don't want him to be anxious on walks and to feel comfortable enough with everone in our family to go on walks with them too (he much prefers me to anyone else).
Today we went on a lovely long walk with three other dogs that he knows and and it went very well - we were out for about an hour and a half. Very little obvious anxiety, plenty of playing with the other dogs, tail up and wagging. So I think that might be the way forward, surrounding him with trusted buddies, and a bit more demanding training.
Thanks Terramundi for giving us all a better understanding of Sam and the home he lives in. It sounds like clicker training and the games you could come up with for him would be quite stimulating for him, as well as agility training when the time comes. Another fun thing to consider is scent training. You can play scent games by hiding a plastic tube filled with a particular scent in the forest for him to find. There are articles and books on the scent training in the website I suggested in my earlier posts.
It sounds like you are on a good road with Sam and working through his anxiety. Good luck!
This user would like to thank natmay for this useful post:
Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions and feedback.
We were up in the mountains this weekend and Sam had a great time during our hikes trying to round us all up. We were visiting our mountain place where friends were staying for a few days and they had brought their golden retriever. I think it's fair to say that Sam wasn't best pleased that soneond else was in 'his' house and there was a fair amount of barking and growling. The other dog was an absolute dear and just stood there with sond dignity whilst Sam did the canine equivalent of telling him to F off. We found it best to keep them seperate, on their beds or leads and things calmed down. Interestingly out of the house and on the hikes Sam had no problem with the other dog (except trying to round him up).
So we can see that Sam is very territorial, which goes with his breed as you said Natmay. I have to find ways of working on that.
We started back at training class today and it was interesting. Sam was very happy to be back with the other dogs, but he was less keen on doubg what he was told. I think that before he was much less self confident and quite 'clingy' to me. Now he's a but older he's testing me a bit more - not in a naughty way, but pushing a bit to get to do 'his own business'. So, I'm glad we're back in class and I'm going to try the clicker training, and getting back to the basics.
Linear Mode
