Steve K9Pro

K9: whilst patience is a virtue, a dog can learn he doesnt need to come everytime if your giving him the choice to...

You need a strict consistent appraoch & you will have a good recall in a couple of weeks, worst case.

Spend the money on some good communication tools & it will be a few days.

S:

But Ill take some convincing that you could ever really trust the method to work every time.

K9: Each dog needs to go through the learning, correction & distraction phases of training, you just need to be able to read the dog & interupt that motor pattern & you will have reliability.

I have guided some of the toughest dogs through crowds off leash, when the dogs sole intention was to find someone to bite, as we were trying to find a runner, the dog was taught that it's not any bite that brings drive satisfaction, its the bite that I say...

Beagles are far from difficult to fit into this program.

S:

If you are going to keep your beagles ,there is no option but to build better fencing. No amount of training will ever ensure they stay with you. EVER .

K9: My reading of the thread has me thinking that the goal is to have the dogs not stray far on a walk? Rather than not escape?

Regardless of the breed, yes including Beagles, this can be taught & quite successfully at that.

When a dog goes into high scent drive, its not different to high prey drive, except for the fact that scent drive / hunt drive if you like requires more focus than prey drive does in their raw (instinctual forms).

When we observe a dog on a sent, we are watching the dog carry out a motor pattern that is genetically implanted, an interuptor placed at the first leg of the pattern will quite successfully extinguish the drive or refocus it onto something else.

K9 what is another way?

K9: I dont teach the way I explained, but it is a proven method.

I use a remote training collar, I can set a proximity that I want my dogs to stay within, 20 m, 10m, 1m, 100m.

K9: you can teach a "far enough" command that will end up with your dog staying within a few feet of you.

There are several ways to do it, one is to let your dogs have the use of a 30 ft tracking line, let the dog use it all & more for 15 mins, then when your within grabbing distance of the end, pick it up & watch for the dog to run out of leash, just before it does, call "far enough" & the dog will hit the end of the leash.

A few reps will see the dog not be so keen to get far away from you.

K9: In actual fact, the dog is training them both, pet me & I will not show you undesireable behaviours.................

K9: thats great Tommy, but you dont need a TRAINER, you need a behaviourist or behaviour consultant.

Your dogs behaviour requires modification, not learn a new skill or train an old one.

S

Well I tried, unfortunately the world is full of useless advisors and unless you have an expert (which none exist in S.A) it makes it rather difficult to go it alone and fix serious problems when you're a newbie.

K9: I know its difficult, you would be surprised how an evaluation & program set by the right person can change things...

Yes, but as my dog is *senior*, it wouldnt be fair to stress the dog further by flying him with me, and putting him through training

K9: I dont add stress, I remove it.

So what I read about dogs displaying separation anxiety out of dominance isn't possible?  Just wondering because I've never read that before.

K9: nothing is IM possible, but you can rule it out.

Number 1. Find me a behaviour consultant in Adelaide that knows wtf he is doing and I'd use it.

K9: would you like anything else? how about some fries? Instead of research SA, look for a BC.

I heard there is one coming down to Vic soon.. :D

Number 2. The separation anxiety symptoms eased after I did a behavioural program that was intended to stop separatian anxiety...

K9: are you saying the symptoms are barking etc? How do you know the dog has less anxiety? what was your program...

Number 3. What the hell does this mean: 

QUOTE 

K9: Tommy, you will be where Salli is in no time with her dog, reading your threads your dog has had every condition known to man

K9: It means that despite you seeking advice, & following it, you didnt get success as in hindsight you found that the advice you were given wasnt the best, your problems became habitual & now the dog is senior, it would be unfair to try & alter his behaviour.

I certainly dont feel you have done anything wrong, just been led astray, & I advise Tommy seek some pro help right now, before the behaviour becomes habit.

Despite what he may think, we can understand & interpret behaviours quite accurately.

Salli:

How often do you think the latter applies in dogs that are symptomatic of separation anxiety?

K9: never...

Anxiety watching you leave? maybe.... out of site, out of mind for other times though.

My dog whines/barks and cries whenever I leave the house, and stops once he can't see me or hear the car anymore etc...

K9: see, I told ya.

I was told he had separation anxiety, and that I needed to do a de-sensitization program with him.

This was 8-9years ago, and although I did the program, had good success ~ to a degree ~ he still shows these behaviours and he is now 10years old.

K9: I have to argue that you had good success, it seems to me the reaction on the dogs part just manifested into something else...

The only time he never displayed this behaviour was when he lived with a Staffy that was dominant over him, and would not allow him to bark when I left the house. 

But I'm sure he would have still been stressed inside, just did not bark as a result.

K9: the anxiety/stress was still there, the dog was just being corrected for the outward signs, this can be hard on a dog.

So whatever type of sep anx he has, it must be mild, yes?

K9: without a proper assessment, you dont know what he has or hasnt got. Maybe as he has been corrected the outward signs arent obvious?

How do I determine if his separation anxiety is a result of him being dominant or passive?

K9: by first having an evaluation completed.

But, how do I figure out the exact cause of this behaviour? Why does he do this?

K9: behaviour consultant.

As a side note ~ he used to bark incessantly whenever I tethered him... cry and whine and fidget if tied at the front of a shop etc.

Since re-training, he will sit or lay down and just wait, but keep an intent  eye on me to see where I went. Thankfully he no longer barks like an idiot when he is tied up.

K9: he learned that barking gained him no success, so he gave it up, this tells you clearly that it wasnt a reaction to stress, but an ACTIOn to get you to do something.

*********************

K9: Tommy, you will be where Salli is in no time with her dog, reading your threads your dog has had every condition known to man, & you have attempted to cure them with your ideas of how it should be, & no professional advice or diagnosis top even confirm you have a problem.

As these problems have come along of late, even at a distance I can tell you that your causing the majority of the probelms, if your concern is for your dog, you will take this as advice, not an insult.

All of your actions to date have gotten you where? Your considering a muzzle now, you lay down & are pounded by your dog on your arrival?

I know your intentions are the best, but your simply taking all the wromng steps, dont take it from me, look at your dogs behaviour....

Tommy:

Dogs are a whole different species to us, any trainer that claims to properly understand what thier thinking is full of the proverbial. Its just interpreting thier behaviour, experimenting, and then pretty much guessing, thats why everyone says something different.

K9: Just like Doctors I guess, they have no idea whats inside until they cut you open.

Something you were told must have been ok though, if your dog improved his behaviour

K9: or of course the dog is now OLDER...

K:

She rang her trainer to ask about the dogs behaviour & he said that the dog has been bred for that behaviour & the trainer appears to think it is acceptable.

K9: 2 things are possible, the story told to the trainer was not accurate or, the trainer has no idea...

GSDs are not bred to attack anything..

The puppy is being allowed to behave this way & should be put under control....