I found this forum from google searches, and apparently I just made a huge mistake for my dog? We will be starting in the coming weeks.
I have a 1.5 year old female GSD. She has leash reactivity issues to other dogs. I tried a positive only trainer and she only lasted halfway through our second session before the trainer ended up refunding my money and telling me I needed to find a behaviorist. She was scared of my dog.
My dog is wonderful and a joy to have around. She is a very "Grab life by the horns" kind of dog. She has a wonderful personality, but she also will chase anything that moves. I want to be able to take her more places with me and keep her under control without constantly micromanaging the environment. We want to have fun! But we are a bit stuck, as just a walk around the neighborhood can be challenging.
So I did look up behaviorists. But the few I was rec. to were...very expensive per session. Like $4-900 per session expensive, with no promises. From what I understand, this would take several sessions at least. Ouch!
I also looked into Schutzhund or ringsport clubs, but they almost all use ecollars too. It seems to be the secret???
So I just did a bunch of it on my own, but I am still over my head. I am a big fan of Ellis, as well as all of the big name positive trainers. We tried BAT, counter conditioning...which helped at a distance. We have also used the c.a.r.e protocol.
I was not making much progress until I used a pinch collar, honestly. That suggestion was also on this forum. Now we can be within 20 feet of other dogs with no drama, but if the other dog is staring her down or barking she still loses it. She makes an effort to turn away from the other dog, or offer me sit/down before I correct her most of the time, which I reward.
So I saw the sit means sit people at my local market. They had dogs just chillin' with them and behaving well. They did not seem scared or anything, but I did notice the ecollars on the dogs. They offered a free consult so I said w/e, why not.
The trainer who showed up had a perfect little mal, who was off lead and impressive and yada yada, even with my dog barking at him. I could not tell when he was shocking the dog, but what do I know (I have never used an ecollar). He seemed really up to date on training stuff, and was happy I was already doing marker training and knew who Michael Ellis was. He encouraged me to continue with that, but I still signed up for classes (NOT CHEAP but supposedly life long lessons?) out of desperation/fear of my dog ever being able to attack another dog/family pressure.
I had looked up their yelp reviews, which were all glowing. I know people who used their training, and they were happy/dogs were happy.
But now I have seen other stuff, including on this forum, that suggests I have done the wrong thing. I am having a lot of anxiety over all of this. I am apparently going to turn my dog into a neurotic beast who is too afraid to do anything.
I don't know what else to do. He said we would work positively, but 'proof' her obedience with the ecollar. Him and the other trainers do bite work. I put the ecollar on, and even at the higher levels it was just...unpleasant. Not really painful though, just uncomfortable. I have put a prong on myself and that hurt more (yes, I wanted to make sure I could feel what I was going to do to my dog).
I have done some research on ecollars, and it seems intimidating and as opinionated as other forms of dog training. :surprise:
I have read Lou Castles website, and it seems quite reasonable though...
I am a newbie to ecollar training (but not dog training, I have had several GSDs) and just want to do what is best for the both of us.
p.s. I wish I could e-mail everyone who reads this some cookies for reading this doozy of a post.
Thank you for your time!
I have a 1.5 year old female GSD. She has leash reactivity issues to other dogs. I tried a positive only trainer and she only lasted halfway through our second session before the trainer ended up refunding my money and telling me I needed to find a behaviorist. She was scared of my dog.
My dog is wonderful and a joy to have around. She is a very "Grab life by the horns" kind of dog. She has a wonderful personality, but she also will chase anything that moves. I want to be able to take her more places with me and keep her under control without constantly micromanaging the environment. We want to have fun! But we are a bit stuck, as just a walk around the neighborhood can be challenging.
So I did look up behaviorists. But the few I was rec. to were...very expensive per session. Like $4-900 per session expensive, with no promises. From what I understand, this would take several sessions at least. Ouch!
I also looked into Schutzhund or ringsport clubs, but they almost all use ecollars too. It seems to be the secret???
So I just did a bunch of it on my own, but I am still over my head. I am a big fan of Ellis, as well as all of the big name positive trainers. We tried BAT, counter conditioning...which helped at a distance. We have also used the c.a.r.e protocol.
I was not making much progress until I used a pinch collar, honestly. That suggestion was also on this forum. Now we can be within 20 feet of other dogs with no drama, but if the other dog is staring her down or barking she still loses it. She makes an effort to turn away from the other dog, or offer me sit/down before I correct her most of the time, which I reward.
So I saw the sit means sit people at my local market. They had dogs just chillin' with them and behaving well. They did not seem scared or anything, but I did notice the ecollars on the dogs. They offered a free consult so I said w/e, why not.
The trainer who showed up had a perfect little mal, who was off lead and impressive and yada yada, even with my dog barking at him. I could not tell when he was shocking the dog, but what do I know (I have never used an ecollar). He seemed really up to date on training stuff, and was happy I was already doing marker training and knew who Michael Ellis was. He encouraged me to continue with that, but I still signed up for classes (NOT CHEAP but supposedly life long lessons?) out of desperation/fear of my dog ever being able to attack another dog/family pressure.
I had looked up their yelp reviews, which were all glowing. I know people who used their training, and they were happy/dogs were happy.
But now I have seen other stuff, including on this forum, that suggests I have done the wrong thing. I am having a lot of anxiety over all of this. I am apparently going to turn my dog into a neurotic beast who is too afraid to do anything.
I don't know what else to do. He said we would work positively, but 'proof' her obedience with the ecollar. Him and the other trainers do bite work. I put the ecollar on, and even at the higher levels it was just...unpleasant. Not really painful though, just uncomfortable. I have put a prong on myself and that hurt more (yes, I wanted to make sure I could feel what I was going to do to my dog).
I have done some research on ecollars, and it seems intimidating and as opinionated as other forms of dog training. :surprise:
I have read Lou Castles website, and it seems quite reasonable though...
I am a newbie to ecollar training (but not dog training, I have had several GSDs) and just want to do what is best for the both of us.
p.s. I wish I could e-mail everyone who reads this some cookies for reading this doozy of a post.
Thank you for your time!