i feel Milo has achieved a lot from the training and at the moment my trainer is trying to stop him fearing large male dogs which he has an issue with .So he brings his 2 year old rotweiiler that Milo is afraid of .My thing is if he is afraid of them at 2 how will he stop now? I worry it could all be too much for Milo and i might ruin all the good done as he doesn't really socialize a lot with other dogs as in Malta they have to be on a leash.
That was 30 euro well spent ! Great couple of hours fun , no jerking of leads or other nasties , all about click & treat ( which we already use) and lots of praise & love. Have been left with lots of tips and advice re Sam in new places/ initial nerves around other dogs and probably loads more that will come back to me later. Very proud of Sam , apparently we've already given him a great start with his training . Keep going the way we are and he says we'll have no bother
@crissie, I would talk to your trainer about your worries. My boy, Shadow, is 21 months and is fearful/reactive to other male dogs. I know it will never be "fixed", but I also know that every positive encounter he can have with male dogs is a step in the right direction. @Sammyboy, that sounds fabulous, well done. Are you going to go to regular sessions, or do you have enough to be going on with for now?
Oh @snowbunny it was great , he came to the house to see us and went out walking too . Amazing to see Sam play so well with trainers two dogs and get over the nervous barking so quickly . Have a session booked for the 30th may when husband can be here too . The trainer in middle of getting premises ready where he will be running puppy socialisation classes and various training classes, at the minute there are no such facilities about here. So in the meantime keep doing what we doing with added tips from trainer and keep working gradually but regularly on new exciting environments ( if that makes sense) . Just very relieved that Sam is a completely normal happy pup
Thanks i will do i just panic cause if the rotweiller was to go for him he would definitely get worse . At least yopu are familiar with my problem as people tell me its not normal lab behaviour
Labs have a reputation of being completely laid back and over-friendly, but that doesn't mean they can't have issues. There are several of us here on the forum that have Labs that are very different to that stereotype, so don't worry about him not being "normal".
@Sammyboy Sounds as if you had a lovely session with a really good trainer. Now all you've got to do is try to remember everything he said and practice it . If you're not sure about something he said or how to do something just give him a call or drop him an email. It's very easy to forget or get things muddled. excellent idea to have another session with OH there, kt's always good to be pulling in the same direction
@crissie it is a good idea to be using your trainers dog to help Milo overcome his fear, or at least help him to manage it, but no pressure should be applied to Milo to meet, greet or even get close to the dog. By working from a distance you will be able to discover Milo's threshold distance (the distance between him and the other dog before he starts reacting), then work can slowly begin to reduce that distance but it could take many weeks before Milo can cope with the dog being close but it is important that he is helped to cope
Maybe you have lower requirements for building trust than I do. You can take to someone on the phone. They can make all the right noises. They can say they're a positive trainer, but not truly understand what "force-free" means. If you've not come across people who believe themselves to be force free, but still use some forms of aversives, I'm very surprised. Until I spend real time with them, working with them and understanding the way they do things in the real world, rather than on the phone, then I'm afraid I would not hand my dog's lead to them. Did I say there was anything wrong with that? And do you believe that all "training activities" have to be done with a trainer? I've done the majority of my gun dog training with very few sessions with a trainer; by the time we went to see one we already had nine months of training under our belt that I had sourced online and from books. Money and availability of classes is immaterial to that. The time is also immaterial; you spend the same amount of time with your dog whether it be training or playing in the garden. Hell, the majority of my training is playing in the garden! They're just games with different rules. Still games. Do you not think it worthy to encourage people, if they are interested, to take up training opportunities with their dogs?
Unfortunately I have never found a trainer that I trust or believe in their methods, some which were very harsh so all our training is done by us. We do fun agility in our garden that our dogs love and the children can join in with, I have also recently started doing scent work with Charlie, again in our garden which has been a great hit with him and he loves it . I also practise his stop whistle training and a little steadiness and just playing with balls/toys to have some fun Anything you do with your dog that they and you enjoy has to be a good thing xx
I think you'll find, it was a suggestion not an assertion it's the only way. But I think you're just trolling now, and I don't like to feed the trolls.
@MaccieD , the guy was lovely , free advice & calls /emails all part of his services I think I've definitely struck lucky ! So good to see a young local fella making a real go of something he so clearly enjoys doing . And the services he developing such as the puppy socialisation and classes etc are so badly needed here xx ( Donegal in general that is )
@Sammyboy That is such good news . I look forward to hearing more about your training sessions, and how you put todays session into practice. It's always good to have a trainer recommended, and that they live up to expectations or surpass expectations is even better. Will you join classes once he has premises or stick with 121 sessions? Just thinking that there can be advantages, if the classes are well run, of having to work and focus around other, unknown, dogs.
Sounds like you have struck lucky! Finding a good trainer that you get on with is worth its' weight in gold.
