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Your the one fixed on age.
I have already addressed this again with fact not an opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Va-Cat
We will agree to disagree. I am completely of the opinion that your statements have no basis in fact but are just an opinion. My opinion is that retraining or new training - its makes absolutely no difference if you use good training techniques. As I said in an earlier post - age is not a factor and never will be for training dogs - however genetics are.
Nope it's up to you.
Training takes time, months to years, not just a one time 4 minute session in the back yard.
If you meant me, I already said we work on this every day, everywhere. Walks, stores, and yes, the yard. Much more than four minutes, and I've been doing it for years. She has her good and bad days, but as far as being totally reliable off leash, no.
I thought of bike riding with my dog running next to me - my dog has been clocked at 25 mph and I can't run that fast myself! (nor do I want to...) It was at one of these doggie festivals where they cordoned off an area and used a speed meter to clock the dogs. Pretty funny. This wasn't fun the one time I let her off leash at the beach: dogs are allowed off leash at this one beach, and I'd worked so hard on recall that I thought she'd be fine. OH MY she was not fine. She took off like a flash and didn't come back when I called. She was getting smaller and smaller, with me running top speed - and a car coming the other way ON THE BEACH. One mistake I made was running after her - that turned it into a chase game. She did keep looking back, I guess to see if I was following. She was having the time of her life, I was having a breakdown. Thank God for the dead fish on the beach - she finally stopped.
Apparently you are not supposed to chase them, you are supposed to run the other way or in an arc away from them. But one way was the ocean and the other way were houses, and I wasn't even sure if she could hear me over the wind. Yikes.
Once I slipped on some ice and wiped out and accidentally dropped the leash, but she waited for me.
Thank you.
I know the feeling of a dog that just keeps running.......awful!!!
That is why Rip wears a GPS tracking collar whenever he is off leash. We tracked him 17 miles one night. (the last time I trusted him)
everyones entitled to their opinion, no point in turning it into an argument or drama fest...
personally i trust my dogs to be DOGS, living beings with brains and throughts of their own who will ocasionally screw up...
its why i bougth a dog and not a robot! :P
Yes - quite - I'd also like to review the documentation to support these "facts".
One persons belief is an opinion, a number of peoples beliefs brought together is a theory. Theories that are substanciated and supported with studies that have been performed by well respected professionals are then considered factual. I look forward to seeing what you will provide to support your opinion.
Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
2,308 posts, read 4,122,972 times
Reputation: 5025
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorasMom
............................This wasn't fun the one time I let her off leash at the beach: I'd worked so hard on recall that I thought she'd be fine. OH MY she was not fine. She took off like a flash and didn't come back when I called. She was getting smaller and smaller, with me running top speed - and a car coming the other way ON THE BEACH. ...............This is exactly why I use an Electronic Collar with a "Beeper" Horn. Wouldn't it have been great if (when she wouldn't respond to your "come back command",) you could have pressed the "Beeper Button" in your hand. If she continued to run away from you.....you then could press the "stimulation button" in your hand and give her a very slight "tingle". If properly used, an Electronic Collar with a Beeper Horn can be a very effective and humane training tool......AND under certain circumstances....save your dog's life: i.e. from being hit by a car, from being attacked by a wild animal, by being attacked by possibly a larger and vicious dog etc...
I look at it, as having "an insurance policy" on my dog. If (for what ever the reason) the dog is totally non-responsive to your "come-back-command".....you have the "back-up" "training-tool" right there in your hand..........No screaming commands....no running after the dog...no embarassment.........and eliminating the possibility of losing your dog or injury to the dog.
My age and mobility problems not-withstanding, I NEVER have my dog outside (in any enviroment) with out the E Collor on him. ..........(AND, I should mention, he is totally trained to verbal & whistle commands....but "dogs will be dogs", and I hate un-expected situations that I cannot control......as infrequent as they may be.)........ So far in the 5 years of his life: 1/ it has saved him from being attacked by a pack of 3 coyotes. 2/ it has enabled me to stop his investigating a "deep crevice" in a rock formation that did, in fact, contain a Rattle Snake. 3/ it allows me to let him "run out 500 yards or more" (on the beach on St Simons Island), on harvested wheat fields in MT (when hunting Huns & Sharptails)---and when he finds birds, he 'locks-up' on point and waits for me to approach him. To try and use verbal commands or a whistle much beyond 100 yards (particularly in the wind) is futile and frustrating.....again, IMHO.
I do realize, what works for me, may not work for others.
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EDIT: Bear in mind: The utilization of an E Collar requires PATIENCE, conditioning the dog to the collar, months of training, more PATIENCE and always remembering: "It is not a 'punishment tool'....it is a 'Training Aid'. And the younger the dog when starting him/her on the collar.....the better!
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Last edited by Montana Griz; 05-25-2011 at 09:05 PM..
Reason: addition of a precautionary statement:
Location: Approximately 50 miles from Missoula MT/38 yrs full time after 4 yrs part time
2,308 posts, read 4,122,972 times
Reputation: 5025
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssg II
My dogs have their fenced-in backyard in which to roam. Out on the street, they're in harnesses & leashes. >>>>>>Isn't that the safest way for everybody? <<<<<<
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Certainly not..........not everyone who owns a dog, lives in the city. Many of us live in more rural areas with wide open, uninhabited areas that allow dogs to run free (so long as they are under control of the owner and are not vicious.)
Many breeds require frequent perodic time(s) to run and work-off their excess energy. Example: Upland Bird Hunting Dogs. Various breeds of setters and pointers, for example, absolutely need to be able to run free and unrestrained, (but under the control of their owner), to stay in good health.
My Brittany for example "runs" and I mean "runs", on his own, when I let him out of the house or his outside dog run..... he runs approx 15 minutes every time I let him out which is 4 to 5 times a day. Admittedly I have 14 acres that is fenced (and he is fence broke), so I walk in his general direction while he "runs his little butt off". He smells and "checks-out" about 100 different "places" as he burns-off his excess energy. I'm sure you realize that different breeds have different requirements.............a 10 minute walk (twice a day) on a leash (or harness) down a sidewalk in a subdivision may be suitable for some dogs and owners)but certainly not "everybody".
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