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Sheesh! I didn't know what this was so I googled it and got "caught up" (hit cancel if you want to sign up!) trying to get back out....

Go to obedience = Winner! Go to Kohler website != Fail!

Edited by Okami
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IMHO, Koehler's leash foundation training and conditioning is still one of the best methods available and commonly used today by many trainers worldwide in some way.

Yes, the first two or three chapters in the first Koehler book are OK. I trained my last dog to loose leash walk using similar methods and he had a very reliable loose lead walk. There are other, more modern, methods you can use to get similar results, but the Koehler ones are still valid and can work well.

One big downside of the Koehler method is that it does need a check chain, and you do give leash corrections, so you can't do it with a young puppy. All those months of training wasted until the dog is "old enough" to train! You can start clicker or drive training the minute you get your new puppy home.

I don't particularly like the Koehler methods used for teaching the other exercises (sit, down, recall), they work OK, but in my experience you can get better (faster, more precise, equally reliable) results using more modern positive methods. Marker/clicker type training is IMO the best method for teaching these things, as it allows you to communicate to the dog precisely what you want, without even having to lay a hand on the dog. And I've never seen a recall that beats a recall in drive.

The "problem solving" section at the back of the Koehler method book is archaic and IMO should not longer even be published. Some of those methods for solving behaviour issues might have been acceptable in the 50s when there were no commercial dog behaviourists and people had no other options, but now days you'd be better off seeing a professional instead of opening that chapter.

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IMHO, Koehler's leash foundation training and conditioning is still one of the best methods available and commonly used today by many trainers worldwide in some way.

Yes, the first two or three chapters in the first Koehler book are OK. I trained my last dog to loose leash walk using similar methods and he had a very reliable loose lead walk. There are other, more modern, methods you can use to get similar results, but the Koehler ones are still valid and can work well.

One big downside of the Koehler method is that it does need a check chain, and you do give leash corrections, so you can't do it with a young puppy. All those months of training wasted until the dog is "old enough" to train! You can start clicker or drive training the minute you get your new puppy home.

I don't particularly like the Koehler methods used for teaching the other exercises (sit, down, recall), they work OK, but in my experience you can get better (faster, more precise, equally reliable) results using more modern positive methods. Marker/clicker type training is IMO the best method for teaching these things, as it allows you to communicate to the dog precisely what you want, without even having to lay a hand on the dog. And I've never seen a recall that beats a recall in drive.

The "problem solving" section at the back of the Koehler method book is archaic and IMO should not longer even be published. Some of those methods for solving behaviour issues might have been acceptable in the 50s when there were no commercial dog behaviourists and people had no other options, but now days you'd be better off seeing a professional instead of opening that chapter.

Koehler's leash work I like a lot and I agree that the problem solving is the major cause of people developing an anti-Koehler approach and throwing the book away, but in fact can miss out on learning some very good parts of the Koehler system. I don't know why they still publish the problem solving section as it does them a injustice :)

Puppies...........I am on the fence at present as to how much to try and train and suppress them with too many rules, many good arguments for and against and many great sporting dogs trained early and late. Perhaps drive building and play, then obedience when old enough for a choker???.

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