Boxermama

Hanzhol

I was an apprentice to become a dog trainer.  What methods will you be using?  

I worked more with personal protection dogs and dogs with severe aggression. 

boxermama24

The main focus of my business will be basic and advanced obedience, and about 90% of my clientel will be dogs that are "punks" meaning they will be showing signs of aggression but mainly out of fear and being too big for their britches.  Some cases will definitely be true aggression I'm sure.  I'll be qualified to train in personal protection, police k9 training, service dog training, etc. but I doubt those avenues will make up much of my business.  As for methods, the type of training I prefer is with training collars (chain, pinch, remote).  I will be learning various methods at NK9 including those.

Hanzhol

My dog did very well with the prong and electronic collar, however I inherited a Chihuahua who cant stand any type of correction so I decided to put him in agility to boost his confidence. Every dog is so different, I had a rescued greyhound and he became very aggressive with correction and he attacked with a little pull of the prong collar. I can't tell you what I did to stop the attack cause it freaks people out.  What would you do with a very aggressive dog?  Sorry to ask so many questions.

Hanzhol

Inherited = my Husband whom I wasn't married to at the time was given this pup and two weeks later deployed to Iraq meanwhile his parents raised him and babied him cause their son was away. I met him shortly after being home from his first deployment.

boxermama24

Hanzhol:

My dog did very well with the prong and electronic collar, however I inherited a Chihuahua who cant stand any type of correction so I decided to put him in agility to boost his confidence. Every dog is so different, I had a rescued greyhound and he became very aggressive with correction and he attacked with a little pull of the prong collar. I can't tell you what I did to stop the attack cause it freaks people out.  What would you do with a very aggressive dog?  Sorry to ask so many questions.

These are things I will learn while I'm at my 8 week course.  I'm not prepared to speak on what I would do or how I would do it.  If I knew those things, I wouldn't need to go to a course I suppose.  I only know that I enjoy working with dogs, I foster them and do basic training with them (based on what I know from experience with my own dogs and their trainer who has been a big help/influence for me and I've gone with her to observe on several occasions doing various things from evaluations to lessons).  I'm very passionate about the need for training and am a big believer in high expectations for dogs.  They are smart and need to work, and I believe discipline (commands, work, etc) is the best way to work your dog's mind and works to wear them out physically far better than exercise does, which builds their stamina and endurance.

Agility is a great tool as well and should be a part of any well rounded training program.  I will also be qualified in this area, and study breed characteristics and evaluating dogs for their needs, to customize training plans for them.  My trainer has only had one dog that didn't respond well to corrections so I believe it can be done but as you said, every dog is different.  (I'm a teacher right now and am very aware that every child is different and many of them need alternate teaching methods to learn).

This is why I'm committed to becoming a certified master personal trainer and will not work at a company or pet store or anything of the like, which generally has generic forms of training and do not work on 95% of the dogs that enroll on their programs -- that, or it doesn't work for the owners, which is more likely the cause of the dogs being unsuccessful at the courses.

The training I will do will be 7 days for basic, 14 days for intermediate, and 21 days for advanced (all give or take depending on the dog's needs) and they will stay in my home for a full boarding/training program where they will be fully immersed in my expectations.  Then I will spend extensive time training the owner and offer unlimited follow up sessions for the remainder of the dog's life. Special cases like aggression, or dogs only coming to me for potty training, or dogs coming to learn service work, etc. will be an entirely different program and their time with me will likely be open-ended, as needed.

boxermama24

Oh and I'm not sure what you mean by an electronic collar.  I use shock collars which are a static shock, not an electric shock.  The static shock is the same as the shock you get when you walk across the carpet and touch something.  It's also used in muscle rehabilitation in humans.  Many people are turned off by these collars because they are misinformed and think it's a means for electrocuting your dog!  Not the case!

Hanzhol

It's the same. Something I learned in training people is, you don't want to use the word pinch collar or shock collar. It's always prong collar and electronic collar. I love my dog but some people feel like we are torturing them, which is total opposite. I'm only here to help the dogs.

Hanzhol

I can tell my dog to sit at a distance and then tell her to come and right away tell her to down. This helps if your dog is across the street and a car is coming.(Theory, I would not let my dog get that far) Dog training is an amazing thing.  I love it and I've been working with them for about 11 years. 

boxermama24

I've learned the word choke chain is a no-no, that it's best to call it a chain collar.

And pinch collar is best to call it a pronged collar.

But as for electronic collar, I wouldn't ever use that term as it's not accurate.  It's not electronic at all, as far as the correction it gives.  

The term best used for it, in my experience, is remote collar.  Simply because they are controlled by remote and that opens up discussion for "how are they controlled by the remote" and then I can go into discussion on how the remote has a nick button which emits a static shock at the appropriate level of intensity for the dog to respond without it being taxing on the dog.

Dog owners are sensitive about their babies as they should be Most just need a bit of an education on what these training tools are used for and how  they are used because they most DEFINITELY can be abused.  I never recommend the average dog owner to walk into a pet store and slap any one of these types of collars on their dogs.  Most dog owners give nagging corrections that are completely ineffective. 

 I actually think it's a bad idea that remote collars are even available in stores to purchase.  There should be some sort of buying process owners should have to go through, either through a trainer or at least the extent of which it takes to buy a gun in a store.  I've seen too many dogs damaged by misuse of remote collars, which unfortunately gives them a terrible reputation and it shouldn't.  They are so useful, effective when used properly, and used for other things like for hunting dogs.

But I can't change the world Just one owner at a time, one dog at a time... lol.

Hanzhol

Remote collar is way better, I agree.  And my sister wants to throw on a Remote collar on her dog.  I made my dog wear a dummy collar for two weeks, cause if she knows its me making the correction she will be scared of me. and I had the remote always being my back.  Just don't lay down.  

boxermama24

Hanzhol:

Remote collar is way better, I agree.  And my sister wants to throw on a Remote collar on her dog.  I made my dog wear a dummy collar for two weeks, cause if she knows its me making the correction she will be scared of me. and I had the remote always being my back.  Just don't lay down.  

Well I'm not sure what to say about that.  The dog should never be scared of the person who is giving the corrections so long as they have been properly trained.  They should first have a complete understanding of basic obedience and all the commands as well as basic collar corrections (on a chain or prong) and then move into advanced training using the remote.  They should go through maybe 2 days of being confused as to how they are receiving a correction when there is no leash attached or human beside them, but there should never be fear.  The dog should spend 2 weeks on basic and intermediate training, including moving on to the "place command" which is a distance command but still on leash, before ever being introduced to the remote.  Just my opinion.

Hanzhol

I didn't want her to know that she had to obey only when the collar was on her neck. Also I was training her for very advanced actions.

boxermama24

Hanzhol:

I didn't want her to know that she had to obey only when the collar was on her neck. Also I was training her for very advanced actions.

Oh, I misunderstood then.  Yeah, desensitizing the collar on the dog is a good idea so they don't become collar smart.  What were you training her to do?