Hmm. I need help with teaching my pup, Tiger, to STAY and not to be so jumpy when he sees other dogs and sometimes people but taking him out has made him mellow down more so he is a bit choosy on who he wants to jump on. A dog sitter I met at the park told me to pull the harness up to get him to STAY. The dog trainer I met at the same park told me not to do that and doing so actually ENCOURAGES the jumping. I found his advice to be true as he became jumpier when he saw two bull dogs. He also advised me not to take him to dog parks until he is a year old or if I do it must be on a leash and with only one other dog around and not a pack of them. He told me to be very firm, firm Nos, grab his mouth (because they hate that) and push his head in. I noticed men (offline) have given me more physical solutions and women tend to give more gentler solutions. What are your thoughts on this?
Re: Male advice vs Female advice on dogs.. oh and he did mention to buy a harness when he hits about 40 lbs that straps around his mouth. I am unsure whether this advice isn't too...extreme. Labradors aren't exactly aggressive, are they?
Re: Male advice vs Female advice on dogs.. [quote author=TigersMom link=topic=5056.msg63340#msg63340 date=1395700661] grab his mouth (because they hate that) and push his head in. I noticed men (offline) have given me more physical solutions and women tend to give more gentler solutions. What are your thoughts on this? [/quote] I think physical punishment is likely to harm your relationship with your pup. The man talks nonsense! Can you have a few sessions with a professional trainer, who uses positive methods? Positive, calm, reward based training is the answer!
Re: Male advice vs Female advice on dogs.. [quote author=TigersMom link=topic=5056.msg63340#msg63340 date=1395700661] I noticed men (offline) have given me more physical solutions and women tend to give more gentler solutions. [/quote] Do you think it could be because men are being more honest and open about the methods they use, whereas the women feel the need to appear pink and fluffy (but don't actually use the methods they recommend)? I only ask, as I've seen far more women giving their dogs a clout, or yanking it hard on lead, or resorting to pain/discomfort inducing gadgets, than I have men.
Re: Male advice vs Female advice on dogs.. Tigersmom, the 'push them around' methods are outdated technology Never grab a dog's mouth. Grabbing will just make him shy of human hands and worried about going near you. The way to go is to use the modern technology of positive, reward based methods. Using that approach, you'd deal with an unwanted behaviour by teaching a more acceptable alternative (eg 'when we see other dogs let's sit for some treats instead!'). It is also ok to use the removal of attention or removal of a fun thing to stop unwanted behaviour (eg turn your back and remove your attention to stop jumping up, or put your dog back on lead for half a minute in response to overly crazy behaviour at the dog park).
Re: Male advice vs Female advice on dogs.. One blast on the whistle and a open raised hand does the trick with Benson. Roger
Re: Male advice vs Female advice on dogs.. Oh Lordy,I'm working through training my first dog Tigersmom,I don't always feel confident and clear in what I'm doing but I do know what I WONT do .....and that is the things this man has described!I would hate to see him handling his dog ,it's too uncomfortable for me.going through my learning curve with Dexter has made me realise that with patience and persistence you can train to get the behavior you want ......positive methods probably take longer but that's ok for me. I can't even see how pulling on a harness would make a dog stay?we don't have dog parks here( dubai)but if we did I would definitely use them but with caution,ie I would avoid big numbers and any rough play and would be watching to make sure the dogs we were meeting were with responsible owners.personally I feel that waiting until your dog in a year old is bad advice and would mean missing out on valuable interaction with other dogs.As to your gender question,I've never really thought about that being relevant to the advice I've been given,I just tend to meet that special kind of person (male and female ) 'Helpful' Member of the Public who usually after they've asked me 'what's your dog?,looks like there's a bit of lab in there ?'proceeds to give me all manner of random advice on training my dog! ;D
