I think the training method Learn to Earn has been mentioned before on the forum however a few days ago I refound Sophia Yin's Learn to Earn training method for developing leadership in humans and self control in dogs. I thought I'd post links for anyone who hasnt seen it and might have a rambunctious pup that could benefit from some self control. I say pup my two are five now and we still need to work on self control. It's a simple, straightforward method to follow although I must admit I haven't done the tethering the dog to me bit. I don't think that would work with two, not safely anyway. http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/the-learn-to-earn-program http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/the-learn-to-earn-program-implementing-the-program
I certainly do the "sit for please" part of this. We started on day 1, requiring a sit to be let out of the crate, for dinner etc. I didn't use body blocking; with the dinner, it was a case of waiting for the sit, bending to put the bowl down and standing back up if the pup moved towards it, eventually managing to get it onto the floor and having the pup wait for a release. Same with the crate - putting my hand to the door while the pup was sat, dropping it again if they moved, working on progressing until I could open the door without the bum lifting. I think it's a great skill for dogs to have. Whenever they want something I have, they'll sit now as a default, unless I ask them to do something else. It's far nicer than having a dog that is pestering you by jumping up or trying to mug you. The important part is that it's trained without using a cue. If you have to ask for the sit, then it's not the same thing.
