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Positive Obedience Clubs In Brisbane


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I am looking for a club in south Brisbane that allows people to use a halti in class. I have a friend who wishes to start obedience and had a bad experience with a club (not sure with one)where the instructor made her wear a check chain and aggressively yanked her dog enough to make it cry. She is not interested in returning to that one but would like to still take her dog to general obedience classes just for fun. I helped her with a halti (as it is a big dog who needed more than a flat collar) and she walked it around calmly and without pulling. Dog is quite a soft dog and already knows the general commands. I have done some googling but not started ringing as decided to ask here before I did that. Any suggestions?

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I am looking for a club in south Brisbane that allows people to use a halti in class. I have a friend who wishes to start obedience and had a bad experience with a club (not sure with one)where the instructor made her wear a check chain and aggressively yanked her dog enough to make it cry. She is not interested in returning to that one but would like to still take her dog to general obedience classes just for fun. I helped her with a halti (as it is a big dog who needed more than a flat collar) and she walked it around calmly and without pulling. Dog is quite a soft dog and already knows the general commands. I have done some googling but not started ringing as decided to ask here before I did that. Any suggestions?

From what I have seen most of the obedience clubs are still using check chains in their obedience classes - the ones on the southside anyway. (One in particular I won't trial in agility at because I have to watch their obedience classes if I go there on a Friday night.) It might be worth looking to one of the private providers or the RSPCA training centre. Then you could always try the agility clubs or the dances with dogs classes at Redlands for a bit of fun.

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I know RSPCA is all positive.

We're doing basic obedience at Centenary Dog Obedience (at Jindalee) at the moment, and our class is full of dogs with haltis. They actually sell them and let you try them before class, so there definitely wouldn't be any problem with that.

It is reward based, but they do also use corrections though, so if she's not comfortable with that then the RSPCA might be better.

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Why not attend a training club and do as you are told instead of dictation what collar should be worn :confused: A halti from a training perspective is useless both for positive methods which can be done off leash with no collar at all and useless for aversive methods as the collar has no off switch and remains an aversion whilst on the dog's head.......a halti is a management tool for people who don't want to train their dogs properly so not too many trainers worth their salt will be recommending haltis in formal training.

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If I just 'did as I was told' at my last training club then my only troubleshooting method would be to yell the command louder and then yank a chain when the dog did nothing. Works about as well as an American talking louder and slower just because they're in a foreign country.

I'm not a fan of haltis but experience has told me that just because someone volunteers at a local club is no reason to listen to them without engaging critical thinking and to discount my own experience with my dogs.

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Why not attend a training club and do as you are told instead of dictation what collar should be worn :confused: A halti from a training perspective is useless both for positive methods which can be done off leash with no collar at all and useless for aversive methods as the collar has no off switch and remains an aversion whilst on the dog's head.......a halti is a management tool for people who don't want to train their dogs properly so not too many trainers worth their salt will be recommending haltis in formal training.

Once the owner learns some skills they may wish to stop using a halti - at present they appear to find it useful , and are more confident using it . This should be a good thing :)

I am not really a head halter fan , but they do have their uses .

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If I just 'did as I was told' at my last training club then my only troubleshooting method would be to yell the command louder and then yank a chain when the dog did nothing. Works about as well as an American talking louder and slower just because they're in a foreign country.

I'm not a fan of haltis but experience has told me that just because someone volunteers at a local club is no reason to listen to them without engaging critical thinking and to discount my own experience with my dogs.

I meant as in "do as you are told" referred to the collar used not the training method, sorry I could have worded that better

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Why not attend a training club and do as you are told instead of dictation what collar should be worn :confused: A halti from a training perspective is useless both for positive methods which can be done off leash with no collar at all and useless for aversive methods as the collar has no off switch and remains an aversion whilst on the dog's head.......a halti is a management tool for people who don't want to train their dogs properly so not too many trainers worth their salt will be recommending haltis in formal training.

Once the owner learns some skills they may wish to stop using a halti - at present they appear to find it useful , and are more confident using it . This should be a good thing :)

I am not really a head halter fan , but they do have their uses .

I don't see any place for halti's in formal training........IMHO it's better to get them off and teach a proper training foundation from the beginning so the dog and owner actually learn something. They have their place managing an untrained dog I agree, but that's what formal training is for......teaching people how to "train" their dog and the halti has no benefits from either end of the method spectrum IME?

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Do you have any suggestions for training loose leash walking without a halti?

I have been strongly resisting trying one, because I figure I should be able to train my pup properly on a flat collar from day one, but I'm really struggling. If we take the same route every time, and don't see any other people or dogs, then we might have some success, but as soon as we go somewhere different, or we pass other dogs, I can barely hold on to him. He is completely overcome by excitement and wants to play NOW! I can barely hold on to my 5 month old pup in that situation, and I'm not looking forward to him getting stronger.

At our obedience class on saturday I finally caved and tried a halti - I still don't like them, but they certainly work like magic. Instantly no pulling, and he was more attentive to me and responded better to commands.

I'm still conflicted, but if it means we both get to enjoy our walks, then I will be buying a halti.

I would definitely appreciate some tips on how to train him out of pulling otherwise.

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Aliwake - I found this to be the single most helpful video for our loose leash walking:

E - helpful because it made the feel of leash pressure the cue to turn around and come to me, so the dog is self-redirecting instead of me constantly having to.

For the lunging I recommend visiting the "exercising reactive dogs thread" (http://www.dolforums.com.au/topic/232274-exercising-reactive-dogs-thread/) which is full of help and support :)

Edited by TheLBD
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,,and practice, practice, practice in backyard/quiet areas .. until you are both bored and doing it second nature ;) THEN , when the habit is ingrained ..move onto other things .

I always remember my old Guide Dog training days .. we would do a mile walk with each dog .. no stopping; straight up a road ..turn around, and back again ..day after day after day ..until the dogs were just 'in the zone' - then we would introduce other actions - like stopping at kerbs , etc ... let me tell you ..after doing that with 8 or so dogs each day ..it was often a bit like a walking meditation ;)

BUTthey got accustomed to the fact that a walk was just that ..a walk .. and they had to concentrate on JUST that ..relaxed and easy and settled ....

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Thanks Persephone - he's really good on our usual walk - just up a long street and back, but if we venture anywhere else it doesn't go well... And if there's other people and dogs around it doesn't go well...

Will just keep slugging away I guess. Hopefully he'll grow out of the excitement :)

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