K9-Nutter

I thought so too, this is what I had been doing (quite successfully I thought) until we went up another class and came upon this new instructor. Part of the problem is this club is very geared to training for obedience trialling. So there is no room for someone who is not too concerned about perfect heeling or the precise requirements required to trial, as Mr Bullyboy told me, "that is what we do in this class". Maybe its time VCA affiliated volunteer clubs need to look at what they are offering the general public. This may have been ok 30 yrs ago when only people who wanted to trial bothered to take their dogs to training - these days I suspect most of their members just want well mannered dogs. Thanks Alpha, I will try another week and speak to the instructor before class and maybe we can come to some agreement.

Thanks for the replies and the experiences, all appreciated. It does seem as though an obedience class with 10 or more dogs into which I am forced to be in close proximity. i.e. closer than I would normally take my dog, is not the way to go at the moment anyway. Clearly in a lot of obedience schools there is a lack of both understanding of dog behaviour and/or the flexibility to allow someone to follow a desentisation program. Shame considering there are so many dogs that have these issues - I thought we were going so well too until this instructor came along. ;) Rusky, that is what I was getting at i.e. by calling this behaviour reactive rather than what it is, that is aggressive - are we going the way of everything else in society and trying to be too "politically correct". I am inclined to agree with Erny's definition, that reactive probably covers too many other behaviours and is not precise enough.

Ok guys, esp all you trainers/behaviousists out there. I want to know how you define the difference between what some people call 'dog reactive' as opposed to what some people may call 'dog aggression' and also whether you deal with those issues in the same way, or are they both really the same thing?. I have noticed in a number of posts people with dog to dog aggression issues who are advised not to correct these dogs as it will only make the issue worse. e.g. the dog may not give any warning by posturing or growling but may learn to just simply go for the other dog-no warning. My dilemma is that I have a dog (4 yo) who is dog reactive. I'll explain my definition of this - he will often react to another dog but not all dogs, by eyeballing, growling and lunging. He has never bitten/attacked another dog. I am trying to socialise him by taking him to obedience class, so I try to keep within his critical distance. I have been very happy with his progress as he actually submitted to and played with another dog a few weeks ago. This week he was very reactive to a dog beside him in class so I dealt with it by increasing his distance and tried to keep his focus on me as much as possible. I gave him a verbal correction, a low arghhhhhh before I moved away. Then praised when there was awareness but no reaction. I was told by the instructor that I should have given him a harsh correction on the correction collar, in his words "one that lifted all 4 paws off the ground - that'll get him out of it". So guys which is it, a correction or no correction? Personally I felt very uncomfortable with his advise and certainly did not follow through with it. But should I have? is he right? is this the way to deal with this problem? or should I go with my gut instinct and keep away from that class? I'm now just confused and I really want to do the right thing by my dog (and others)..

and they will sooner give up on the handler than they will on the dog... As trainers, if you give up on the handler, you effectively give up on the dog....IMO

Erny, care to share what those tools and methods may be??

LuvMyBc.. So have you been to 4Paws yet? How did it go? Whats happening with Winnie?

Answer to your questions - Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes Yes. I think thats the lot. I find that most people look at the advanced dogs at training, think they are great and 'that is how I want my dog to be', but have no understanding of what is involved to get them there. Unfortunately a lot of people are after a quick fix but few are prepared to put in the hard work and time involved. Like a lot of things, no one wants to start at the bottom and work up, they want to be at the top straight away and consider working slowly and consistently & striving for improved performance is too slow and boring. But I still love doing it, if only for those handlers who are prepared to listen and learn and hence you can see their dogs improving little by little every week. Thats what I do it for........

Wow Erny, do you have any more stories where that one came from BTW guys, this discussion has been most interesting, I haven't joined in because each time I think about it, one of you manages to get in first and say something along the lines of what I was thinking :p So for now I'll just sit back and enjoy....

Thanks heaps.....

Yea, I need to know that too. Would also like to know what the hell is a Springer and where do you get them?