FranVT

Omg and she uses her bull terriers and there's a BT on the cover! Perfect! Thanks so much buying it right now.

COOOOL thanks!

I have been trying to say "good boy!" or smile and give as much positive energy or general praise as possible on the rare occasions when he DOES look at me - usually when he sits and is bored and looks up like "wtf are we doing herrree I just really wanna go play!" - but I don't feel like it's happening often enough for it to make a difference! I will definitely take him to more quiet areas after working more at home. how cute! Hehehehh I know I can't help but fall apart laughing because he's so damn cute. And then I'm laughing and smiling so he thinks "I must be doing the right thing!" This is why I am not a professional dog handler hahahaha. You're totally right I am asking a lot of him, he doesn't see other dogs very often (and it's always the same dogs) so I am not at all surprised that all he wants to do is check them out. He must give off intimidating vibes because there's been a couple of "grrrRR" moments between him and other dogs, not started by him, but that is DEFINITELY something I want to nip in the bud because of his breed and because it's the right thing to do. I will keep working at home and then maybe at the park across the street when there aren't other dogs / kids around.

Hi all! Last night was my second night of obedience training with my 20mth old bull terrier, Atlas. He is a very headstrong dog so I knew training was going to be a challenge, but it has been even harder than I thought! The first night we were shown heel (walking forward with left foot, loose lead) and that is fine At is not much of a puller really (especially with a check collar) and then 'sit'. This is where we fall down as Atlas is never paying attention to me and he just stands there so 95% of the time I have to physically place him in a sit. I should mention that at home or where there aren't many dogs around he is quite good at this, he is paying much more attention to me because there aren't as many distractions and yesterday when we were practicing he sat on command 90% of the time. ( Slight problem there: when I say "good boy!" he would roll over onto his back grinning and wagging his tail because he was so pleased to be praised ) I know that dogs are distractable and there are lots of delicious smells and other dogs to play with and other people to sniff but he absolutely ignores me and it drives me mad! All the treats, "Atlas!" or other words to get his attention make not a jot of difference. So what I was wondering is, are there any exercises / drills etc I can use at home to get him to pay more attention to me that will hopefully make a difference at training? I know he will still be distracted but any improvement is going to make things so much easier. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?!#$@#$ So many things probably, argh really beating myself up about this. I wish there was someone around my area (Rockhampton, CQ) who did private lessons because there are 30+ people in my lesson some with naughtier dogs than At and some with puppies just out of puppy preschool so we do not get much if any personal attention - not the trainer's fault she is lovely and is a volunteer I have no criticisms of her at all.