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Many of us recently expressed our regrets at past dog handling/training in the past, things that we wouldn't repeat, on another thread.
My list did not include choke chains simply because it may be the method of last resort.
For the record; a choke chain used properly, does not mean constantly checking the chain on a dogs neck. One correction is often enough & then it's the sound of the chain sliding on itself that gets the dogs attention.
My 5 month old Rotti is 25kg. A lovely pup who is mostly obedient but has a stubborn & bossy streak.
When on walks, he's distracted by many things; scents, other dogs & people (he thinks everyone's his friend), especially children whom he adores.
When practicing 'heel' in the backyard he's almost perfect. Outside on leash he often completely ignores commands & I'm forced to hold him while people walk past.
It's something that I must get under control. He's only going to get bigger.
In the past I used a choke collar for head-strong dogs who refused to listen (people use them because they work) but I'd prefer not to this time around.
Although he's food motivated, treats don't work. He ignores & once the distraction has passed he then expects a treat.
Does anyone have an effective & proven alternative method than a choke chain?
Martingale collars are one answer. They tighten, but do not choke. They are typically made of nylon, although I have seen a couple made with chain.
There are other answers to that type of control issue - head collars - collar systems that pull the head towards you - several brands around. Head collars loop around the snout and act like a harness, so that if the dog attempts to go to the end of the leash, they end up looking at you instead. Proper work with those can be helpful for many dogs.
The positive training method involves recognizing the dog's trigger event. Meaning, "At what point will the dog react and go into undesirable behavior?" The idea is to go up to that point, but not over it, so you reward your dog JUST BEFORE they would react. And then you gradually try and extend that point. Like if they react to other dogs, you walk the dog until the other dog is, say, 20 yards away, and your dog starts lunging. Then what you do is put the dog in a sit or down when they are 21 yards away from the other dog. And reward.Then you slowly decrease that distance.
I think with puppies this is not such a difficult process, but when training adult dogs who already have bad habits, it can seem like it takes forever to make improvements. I literally spent years working on my last pair of hound mixes. And never did get it as good as I wanted. But they got better.
BTW, since your dog is a pup, and you have made good progress in training without distractions, I would definitely recommend you work with the positive training methods. Clicker training is a good help for positive methods. I think with properly applied positive techniques, you should see rapid progress in a case like this.
Your "trigger event" method sounds so obvious now that I read it, I'm thinking 'Now why didn't I think of that?' lol.
I'll get onto this straight away.
Rottis are easy to train because they're very intelligent off-course. Not having raised a Rotti from a pup before (both my previous Rottis came home at 18mo, well trained & incredibly obedient) I didn't realise that they're very sensitive to correction - thank-Zeus that I've mellowed with age & have gone down the 'positive training' path with this one. I shudder to think what a hard hand produces in this breed.
Finding that trigger point does sound easy in theory, and in some instances, like the dog-walking example, it SHOULD be pretty easy to work on. For some reason, though, it isn't obvious - so no worries on that score. I actually only learned it myself a few years ago, when someone else pointed it out to me. I felt the same way: "Well, Duh!"
With some behaviors, it can be hard to recognize the trigger point. Like my two current dogs - who will sometimes go into dominance aggression with other dogs - but they mostly don't do it. And I have yet to figure out what triggers it. Or the barking at people walking past our house in the street. I want mine to bark when the people come in the yard, but not just walking by in the street! Theoretically, you get a friend, or friends, to walk by on purpose, and work to change the response while you have control of the distractions. In real life, you have to get neighbors or friends to work with you, and coordinate, and all that real life jazz, which for me is hard to do. Either the friends are working, or busy, or taking the kids to soccer on Saturday - all that stuff.
Good luck! I'm sure you will have a marvelously behaved dog very soon!
BTW, a couple of small tips that might be helpful to you. First, a "Down" position is a self-calming position for the dog. More so than "Sit". It also tends to keep other dogs calmer when meeting. Of course, they will want to stand when the other dog gets very close.
Next, when using a command to help your dog stay in control when the desire for action is getting high, you can use "Sit" or "Down" first, rather than "Come". "Sit" seems to work best for me - it gets the quickest response from mine. But the idea is that "Sit" and "Down" are like yes/no. Either they are sitting, or they are not. Black and white. "Come", on the other hand, is less definitive. I've often found that telling my dog to "Sit" first, and THEN "Come" works better than just "Come". It gets them focused on me. But for that to work, you do have to a solid "Sit"!
Thanks Hiero2.
Funny that you say that; ever since training 'drop' (down) Legion did little hops, squirmed around, made funny noises & even to this day, seems to resist the command. He obeys but under protest, lol. 'Sit' seemed to come naturally to him (when he wants something that is)
Y'day I found a spot with regular foot traffic where we were 30 feet or so, back from the path. Although excited to see people, his trigger point seems to be when people are walking towards us ('They're coming to see me because I'm an adorable pup, right?' lol) or even when they looked at him & smiled.
During the 10-15 mins of training, I realised that he has a real preference for females over males.
It's interesting because I've seen this in male dogs before & presumed that it had something to do with their upbringing (a male using a harsh hand for e.g.) I've had Legion since 8 weeks old & the breeders raised a very social sire & dam. And he loves my 2 regular male visitors.
He actually growled with raised hackles at a male jogger y'day. (Good boy - I never dissuade controlled protectiveness in my boys) He didn't lunge at him, just a warning not to get too close. It must be instinctive in many dogs.
"Come", yes .... what mood am I in atm? He's so headstrong, the little bugger. Rather than repeat a command over & over, I'll stand there & stare at him until he complies. He knows. He'll pretend to get distracted but interestingly, he never wanders off (now that would irritate me) 9 out of 10 times a cough after 10 secs or so will prompt him.
He's always on leash out in public so I use 'sit'.
He was really good y'day. It's when he sees little kids is when he gets really over-excited; that's when, I now realise, he doesn't listen. Maybe it's because he sees them as his 'peers' because he's a pup himself? Idk, but it's one of the many reasons why I again chose a Rotti; all of my boys loved & were very protective of little kids, anyone's children. It's a beautiful trait.
But by God he's bossy/pushy. I've finally stopped him from trying to climb onto my bed at night & he's finally learnt not to wake me at the crack of dawn (I growl at him, lol) He's not shy at 'reminding' me when it's mealtime or when he's ready for a walk. I have to wait for him to settle himself for at least 10 mins before I decide that it's time.
Not having raised a Rotti from a pup before, I can now see how these dogs can take over a house & consider themselves top-dog.
With some behaviors, it can be hard to recognize the trigger point. Like my two current dogs - who will sometimes go into dominance aggression with other dogs - but they mostly don't do it. And I have yet to figure out what triggers it. Or the barking at people walking past our house in the street. I want mine to bark when the people come in the yard, but not just walking by in the street! Theoretically, you get a friend, or friends, to walk by on purpose, and work to change the response while you have control of the distractions. In real life, you have to get neighbors or friends to work with you, and coordinate, and all that real life jazz, which for me is hard to do. Either the friends are working, or busy, or taking the kids to soccer on Saturday - all that stuff.
Many years ago, a mate had 2 dogs (he owned 1 & was looking after the other for a mate while he was in hospital) barked at everything day & night, so much that he'd been warned that he'd be evicted if not sorted.
The dogs were escape artists so he kept them chained when he was at work. So I helped him install a running wire for each so they could at least move about a bit.
Then he spent an entire weekend on his verandah (even slept there) out of sight from the dogs. I kept him company & helped during the day by drinking his beer (I'm good like that ) Everytime that the dogs barked inappropriately, he started shouting "No, no, no ..." until they stopped.
We employed local teenagers to help. Gave them several dollars for alternating between walking past the house & coming to the door. As soon as someone stepped through the gate, my mate would encourage them to bark by hissing 'Who's that?'.
It took just 2 days & they were cured. They didn't even bark at the cats that walked along the fence (my mate said he knew when it was a cat because they'd whine a little)
When our mate got out of hospital he asked a few weeks later what had he done to his dog? It no longer barks like an idiot he said, lol.
It was a good lesson for me & taught me to teach my boys what's appropriate to bark at & what's not from the get go.
Not everyone can dedicate an entire 2 days but maybe you could try the same in hourly sessions as time permits?
I only had to use the choke chain for ten minutes on my pit-lab mix. She caught on fast.
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) Everytime that the dogs barked inappropriately, he started shouting "No, no, no ..." until they stopped. 
