My parents adopted a two-year-old Great Dane Boxer cross, about 6 months ago. He is a sweet boy, has a little bit of separation anxiety but that is getting better. His main issues are unpredictable reactivity to dogs/unexpected people/other startling events (I think undersocialised as a puppy) and he has no recall. But the fundamental problem is that he is too big for my parents (although they will not admit that), so if there is a reactivity lunging episode, they can barely hold him and it’s really traumatic for them. They are despairing, and ended up signing up for this home training help called Bark Busters, where a trainer visits them every few weeks and advises them. But from what I have seen, the trainer is very much of the ‘dominance’ school. A lot of what she has said is good, general advice (ie if the dog paws you for attention, don’t give it, give it on your terms, ‘nothing in life is free’ philosophy) but they have been advised against treats and instead been told to make this ridiculous growly ‘Baaaah’ noise at him when he does something wrong. Ok this would probably work if the dog found this truly aversive (even though I wouldn’t agree with it) but of course the dog has listed it under ‘weird background noises that humans make’ and has started to ignore that completely. I signed them up to a free recall course on the positive gundog Facebook group but my step-dad went ‘oh they just give the dog loads of treats, we can’t be giving treats all the time’ and I can tell he won’t commit to it. So anyway, after that long-winded introduction, what easy-to-read, persuasive articles/blogs/books can I send them that will nudge them towards positive reward based training, and realise that the dominance thing is outdated? They are quite grumpy and resistant to me advising, and when I try, my mum starts pointing out all the problems I still have with the Pig, despite huge training efforts (eg chasing after pheasants, still walked on a long line in some places) as evidence that the treat approach is no good which makes me feel annoyed and crappy about myself. To make matters worse, their last giant rescue (mastiff boxer) they successfully trained without any consistency or rewards somehow and this makes them more convinced that rewards are not needed. Any help would be great as it’s driving me mad!
As something that isn't too jargon-heavy, I'd suggest Patricia McConnell's The Other End of the Leash. It's a little out of date in places, but nothing terribly worrying, and I found it an easy read. I also find it a little frustrating when people say "it doesn't work because your dog isn't perfect yet". They don't see the journey, so I point out all the wonderful things they can do that I've used treats and rewards-based training to achieve. I also point out that I never said I was the world's best dog trainer, and I've been learning "on the job" so have made plenty of mistakes along the way. That's not the fault of the method, but of the handler! At least if I make a mistake training my way, the worst thing that happens is the dog gets a bit of cheese for something wrong. Better that than being punished for something they did right.
Absolutely agree with you there @snowbunny. Not that I think you made mistakes, I'm talking about me, obviously.
Try not to -- you've done so well, getting the gold, you're an inspiration to me! I know what you mean though, if Cass (or me) slips up I hate it when people say "oh after all your training I'd have thought she'd be perfect" ---
Lara, I can't add anything useful in terms of reading suggestions for your parents' dog, but just wanted to say please don't lose heart - you got KC gold this year with the Pig, in very difficult conditions, all credit to you. I do know that everyone's a critic when you've got a dog (especially and including family!) and you've done absolute wonders with the Pig from where you started from. Just tell them the good stuff you've achieved with her. And anyway, do any of us want a perfect dog?! that would be boring... (My parents rescued a small dog with absolutely no recall - if he got out the front door he literally just ran and ran until someone caught him - record 1.5 miles with my dad chasing him - so my parents' answer was an extendable lead for 10 years on walks, not actually training him to come back.)
Thanks yes, the first thing that my mum said when she visited me and the Pig last time was ‘oh, Indie still jumps up! I’m surprised at that, with all the training you do...’
Thanks @snowbunny i might buy a copy for them. Are there any shorter online articles too that you know of, in case they decide they are too busy making ‘Baaaaah!’ noises at the dog to read a book? Oh my OH also has John Bradshaw’s ‘in defence of dogs’ which he liked but I’ve not read it yet...
You are right, we want a dog with character rather than a perfect one I had to tell myself that when the Pig sneaked and weasled a whole Comte cheese off the cheeseboard the other day! The first thing I did when my parents adopted the dog was lend them my copy of Total Recall. Mum gave it back saying it was ‘too complicated and faffy’ I honestly can’t think of a more simple training plan, the first lessons are literally ‘blow whistle give food’...if that is too complicated, then I give up!
Patricia McConnell has a blog that might have some interesting articles - maybe have a search through to see if there's anything that might click with them: http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/ Also Dr Jen's Dog Blog: http://www.drjensdogblog.com/ The Cognitive Canine: https://thecognitivecanine.com/ This is probably over their heads, but I'll include it in case there's anything you find interesting - Hannah Branigan's blog: https://wonderpupstraining.com/articles/ And, yes, Bradshaw's is a good book, but McConnell's is certainly a more "layman's" book.
Hi @Lara a couple of links which may be useful in explaining why we use positive reward/reinforcement training methods. There is a wealth if scientific study now on the benefits but guessing that may a nit more than you want I don't agree with all of her methods but good basic info in the links https://positively.com/dog-training/positive-training/what-is-positive-training/ https://positively.com/dog-training/positive-training/positive-reinforcement/
