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Yes, you have to know your dog, their personality, and what their tolerance is for different situations.
Neither of my dogs are suitable to be therapy dogs for various reasons. My girl has certain quirks that make her unsuitable. My border collie has the empathy and sensitivity needed, but at 6 years old, he still needs to mature- he still has a lot of the crazy ADD border collie energy. I re-evaluate every 6 months or so to see if he is ready.
I wanted to do pet therapy for many years but none of our dogs were suitable for a variety of reasons. I decided to ask God for a therapy dog and along came Tango.
Yes, you have to know your dog, their personality, and what their tolerance is for different situations.
Neither of my dogs are suitable to be therapy dogs for various reasons. My girl has certain quirks that make her unsuitable. My border collie has the empathy and sensitivity needed, but at 6 years old, he still needs to mature- he still has a lot of the crazy ADD border collie energy. I re-evaluate every 6 months or so to see if he is ready.
My dogs were not therapy dogs per say. The agility club just did demos at these places and part of the demo was running agility and part was doing tricks and visiting with the audience. Some of the dogs only did the agility and others did it all. Jazz and Dash did it all and Jazz had that crazy ADD BC energy yet she knew how to act with her special audiences.
Mind you Jazz is a dog that rounded up the 5th and 6th grade classes that came to visit the park that allowed dogs off leash. I had some agility equipment set up saw the kids so tied her up to a goal post while I worked Dash as kids could get her way too crazy. She loved them but they tended to drive her energy even higher. A little boy was over petting her and decided she wanted to play too so unhooked her from the leash and next thing I knew she was busy herding all the kids together and there was no stopping her.She was too focused on that task. While it was very funny it was also a bit frightening as she was obsessed with keeping her "herd" together. Lucky for me the teachers all thought it was funny and even asked if they could take her back to school with them as she could keep the kids under control.
Yet at demos she was so very careful and gentle and she had her favorite people that she had gotten to know over the years. The dogs did wear jacket with their names on them at demos and I think that had a lot to do with their behavior. It is a lot like the guide dog puppies my friend has raised they are racing around like crazy puppy and the minute she puts the jacket on they know they must behave and they do. Or the collars police dogs wear that signals they are working. Never did a demo without the jacket so do not know if they would have behaved differently or not.
Part of the fun for me is learning to speak Dog. It helps tremendously with all the other stuff.
We incorporate touching, handling, massaging of feet, ears, and teeth into play and snuggle time.
Letting a dog be a dog and training your dog are not mutually exclusive options. In not (intentionally) training your dog you are doing your pup a great disservice by not teaching it how to live happily in a human world. Imagine not providing any guidance or boundaries to an out of control 4 year old child = a recipe for disaster. As well, whether you realize it or not, you HAVE been training your dog as they are constantly learning from us what is or isn't acceptable via body language, tone of voice, and/or eye contact. The question is- what have they learned from not being trained?
My dog doesnt go out into the human world so it doesnt need that sort of training. I have no use nor want for a dog that sits, rolls over, speaks, etc on command. It knows full well that when i jump up and scream at it "Stop scratching!" or "Get the $#@%! off of the %$#@! couch" it knows to do just that. No obedience school required.
My dog doesnt go out into the human world so it doesnt need that sort of training. I have no use nor want for a dog that sits, rolls over, speaks, etc on command. It knows full well that when i jump up and scream at it "Stop scratching!" or "Get the $#@%! off of the %$#@! couch" it knows to do just that. No obedience school required.
So why DO you have a dog?
Your dog lives immersed in the human world = your home = the human world that you have created for your dog. If you never take your dog out of your house/yard then it lives a pretty impoverished life, especially in light of the apparent lack of nurturance, guidance, and positive human interaction.
Why on earth would you eschew maybe 10 minutes of training a week in favor of screaming at your dog?
As badly as I feel for your dog in having to live this way in what sounds like a toxic environment, I almost feel worse for you because you have deprived yourself of the possibility of having a truly wonderful relationship with your dog.
My dog doesnt go out into the human world so it doesnt need that sort of training. I have no use nor want for a dog that sits, rolls over, speaks, etc on command. It knows full well that when i jump up and scream at it "Stop scratching!" or "Get the $#@%! off of the %$#@! couch" it knows to do just that. No obedience school required.
Methinks we have a troll. Or a very unhappy human/canine family. I hope for the former.
Lots of great stories about successful dog training efforts. My dog has entered the stage where correction is usually very minor and 99+% of his training is based upon praise and occasionally treats. It has been a challenging 15 months. I was his last chance before euthanasia. He collectively bit 1/2 dozen dogs (some severely) and one person. He was badly fear aggressive and the previous owner just couldn't help him. Their hearts were in the right place, but they were fearful of the dog and transmitted that fear in their relationship with the dog. They didn't abuse the dog. They just couldn't help him.
I've worked since the first week with a professional trainer who uses the Caesar Milan approach to training. My dog and I pack walk twice a week. I call it group therapy. He has also been on a tough love regime. I have alpha rolled him three time, all within the first 3 months. These evens were triggered by a him attacking another dog. Over the 15 months my dog has learned that as the alpha, I protect him and attacking other dogs is unacceptable. He has also learned that most dogs are not a threat to him. The transformation has been astounding. My dog can now socialize with about 95% of all dogs. He still gets anxious around other large aggressive dogs. His separation anxiety is essentially cured. He has always been a responsive loving dog one-on-one. That hasn't changed. People who meet him today are astounded that he had problems because he is fawning in his affection toward people.
I listen to the proponents of positive training on here and my reaction is that it would not have worked soon enough to save my dog. He was one severe bite away from having to be put down. I find what I know of Milan's training to be well thought out and it works within the nature of dogs. I wonder why proponents seem so averse to training based upon natural dog relationships. I do think there is a collective denial of what I will characterize as some truths of dog behavior:
1. Dogs are social animals that are frequently confused about their position in the human family hierarchy.
2. There are valuable lessons that can be learned from wild dog and wolf behavior.
3. There are dogs that require extraordinary efforts to turn them into functioning members of a family. Dogs that have been abused have learned some bad habits. They need a lot of love and acceptance, but they also need to learn boundaries. This is no more abuse than giving an ADHD child a timeout to end a tantrum.
Lots of great stories about successful dog training efforts. My dog has entered the stage where correction is usually very minor and 99+% of his training is based upon praise and occasionally treats. It has been a challenging 15 months. I was his last chance before euthanasia. He collectively bit 1/2 dozen dogs (some severely) and one person. He was badly fear aggressive and the previous owner just couldn't help him. Their hearts were in the right place, but they were fearful of the dog and transmitted that fear in their relationship with the dog. They didn't abuse the dog. They just couldn't help him.
I've worked since the first week with a professional trainer who uses the Caesar Milan approach to training. My dog and I pack walk twice a week. I call it group therapy. He has also been on a tough love regime. I have alpha rolled him three time, all within the first 3 months. These evens were triggered by a him attacking another dog. Over the 15 months my dog has learned that as the alpha, I protect him and attacking other dogs is unacceptable. He has also learned that most dogs are not a threat to him. The transformation has been astounding. My dog can now socialize with about 95% of all dogs. He still gets anxious around other large aggressive dogs. His separation anxiety is essentially cured. He has always been a responsive loving dog one-on-one. That hasn't changed. People who meet him today are astounded that he had problems because he is fawning in his affection toward people.
I listen to the proponents of positive training on here and my reaction is that it would not have worked soon enough to save my dog. He was one severe bite away from having to be put down. I find what I know of Milan's training to be well thought out and it works within the nature of dogs. I wonder why proponents seem so averse to training based upon natural dog relationships. I do think there is a collective denial of what I will characterize as some truths of dog behavior:
1. Dogs are social animals that are frequently confused about their position in the human family hierarchy.
2. There are valuable lessons that can be learned from wild dog and wolf behavior.
3. There are dogs that require extraordinary efforts to turn them into functioning members of a family. Dogs that have been abused have learned some bad habits. They need a lot of love and acceptance, but they also need to learn boundaries. This is no more abuse than giving an ADHD child a timeout to end a tantrum.
Thank you for explaining your situation. Your dog is very fortunate that he ended up with you, and that you were willing to put in the time to show him how to be a good citizen.
1) yes, agree
2) hmmm, we have to be careful with that one. Wolf and dog behavior are similar in some ways, but the intention of their similar behavior is different, e.g. packing up, and they are very different in many important ways.
3) Yes, agree that dogs need to learn boundaries within the context of a consistent training program.
>"I wonder why proponents seem so averse to training based upon natural dog relationships."<
There is a lot in this statement and this is a really good discussion to have. For my part, I don't understand why you think proponents of positive training are averse to working with the dog's natural tendencies? I think this is an area of confusion that needs clarification on both our parts. I will need to think about this.
>"My dog and I pack walk twice a week. I call it group therapy."<
Yes, I often suggest variations on this as a way of resolving inter-dog squabbles.
Thank you for posting. I was hoping you would participate
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