Sending 'bruiser' to Canine College

[bruiser]

I've decided to get some help training 'bruiser' and sent him to Canine College for 4 weeks. We went and the master trainer evaluated us for almost 2 hours and had 'bruiser' under control in less then a couple minutes. I was very impressed, he was referred by my breeder and other respected GSD breeders which made all the difference to me. He is taking 'bruiser' in his home for 4 weeks (6 weeks including protection training) not a kennel which is GREAT. I'm going to miss him terribly but I think it the right thing to do to train him to be all he can be as well.

I'm wondering about 'protection' training. He suggested it and said he could integrate it with bruiser's advanced training and I'm thinking of doing it. The trainer will train us along with 'bruiser' when we pick him up. I think it would be good to embrace, control, and train this natural trait in 'bruiser' since I wanted him for protection any way. It would just be Level 1?

What do you think?

[JakodaCD OA]

certainly your choice, I personally am not a fan of sending away my dogs for training, I would rather be involved in the whole process.

Dogs can be like kids, they always behave better for someone else, you get them home and they turn into monsters again

[bruiser]

From your experience will 'bruiser' still be bonded with us when we go to get him. We did all of his basic training but I couldn't find a trainer here I was comfortable with to continue his advanced training. I would have preferred to be involved but the trainer will give us private home training in addition to his boarding and training with the trainer.

Do you know anything about protection training?

[suzzyq01]

I am on the fence about this type of training.

I like obedience training with my dog for several reasons, mainly because it is a bonding experience and secondly because it not only teaches him new things but it also teaches me how to obtain those new behaviors. This training is somewhat like a subject in school. You learn how to achieve a behavior so you know how to put that to use in future scenarios or with a future dog or be able to return to basics if the dog regresses at all. You wouldn't send your child away to learn how to walk and ride a bike, those are things that you want to be present for. My feeling is the same with obedience training your dog.

Now the part when I sit on the fence....my dog is a lower drive dog, and to build his drive is working with him and doing it persistently and often. I do not have as much time to do it as often as I'd like so it is a slow process. Would I send him to a "build your dogs drive" boot camp....sure! If something like that existed. I want to work with him to do everything else, but if someone could jump start his drive a bit by working with him for a week or two doing nothing but drive work I would absolutely think about it.

Every life style is different, and the fact that you are willing to professionally train your dog is fantastic. If time were to allow I would suggest you going through the process with him, but if it does not, then you are doing much better than some dog owners that don't do any kind of formal training with the dog.

[sagelfn]

How old is bruiser?

[MaggieRoseLee]

Originally Posted by sagelfn

How old is bruiser?

I think he's 7 months old..

I personally would never send my puppy away to be trained for a month. In my experience, only a small part of training is what my dog learns, the rest is teaching ME how to engage, work with, communicate, bond and be respected as the leader to be listened to.

So if I was ALSO going away for the month to learn and be trained WITH my dog, then I'd be all interested. But to send away a puppy.... not so much. That's a month I'd be missing from the continued bonding/socialization/training I want with my dogs. And I do not like to NOT know exactly what's happening with my dog for that length of time.

Training is a bit of work of dog AND handler. Not fair to just put all the 'burden' on the dog with what they have to learn. The reason the best trainers have great dogs is BECAUSE THE BEST TRAINERS KNOW HOW TO TRAIN THEIR DOGS ALREADY. So if my dog still needs training after being in my home, then it's clear to me that it's the HUMAN part of the bond not having the knowledge, skills and abilities to train. It's not my DOGS fault they haven't learned. So to send my dog off may not fix the 'problem' long term.

Unless the trainers coming back to live with me for the next 12 years!

[bruiser]

Bruiser turned 7 months on June 20th. I've had him in puppy class and basic OB classes with me. About 5 1/2, 6 mos. he became very dog reactive and people reactive which is common from what I understand during his adolescence phase. I was having a real difficult time with him and didn't want to wait until his bad behavior was ingrained through numerous attempts at different types of training techniques which I thought would just confuse and frustrate him even more.

I'm very interested in this Level 1 protection training? It won't change who he basically is will it?

[suzzyq01]

Dog and people reactive at 6 months? That's interesting, it sounds to me like you are not in charge of the dog. He handles situations the way he wants and you deal with the consequences.

Personal protection is a sport, and takes WAY longer than just two weeks to train. They may be able to begin the foundation and you continue it but honestly there are people who work for years to get their dog doing personal protection and bite work on a consistent basis.

Sending your people and dog aggressive dog to get personal protection training may worsen the problem. I wonder how this training facility can do all of this in just 6 weeks. Eeee!

[bruiser]

Originally Posted by MaggieRoseLee

I think he's 7 months old..

I personally would never send my puppy away to be trained for a month. In my experience, only a small part of training is what my dog learns, the rest is teaching ME how to engage, work with, communicate, bond and be respected as the leader to be listened to.

So if I was ALSO going away for the month to learn and be trained WITH my dog, then I'd be all interested. But to send away a puppy.... not so much. That's a month I'd be missing from the continued bonding/socialization/training I want with my dogs. And I do not like to NOT know exactly what's happening with my dog for that length of time.

Training is a bit of work of dog AND handler. Not fair to just put all the 'burden' on the dog with what they have to learn. The reason the best trainers have great dogs is BECAUSE THE BEST TRAINERS KNOW HOW TO TRAIN THEIR DOGS ALREADY. So if my dog still needs training after being in my home, then it's clear to me that it's the HUMAN part of the bond not having the knowledge, skills and abilities to train. It's not my DOGS fault they haven't learned. So to send my dog off may not fix the 'problem' long term.

Unless the trainers coming back to live with me for the next 12 years!

The trainer will also train myself and my son with 'bruiser.' I have a strong with 'bruiser' and I believe we will both benefit with training. We will even have a stronger bond together as we continue and reinforce what we learn. Also we will have a lifetime guarantee with the training so the we can make private appointments in the future to help us get through any training issues we're having on our own. He is teaching both of us how to work to together to be a great team.

I don't feel like I'm trying to give my problem away to someone else, I feel like I'm taking positive steps to increase our working together and become even better together.

[sagelfn]

He's a young pup still. IMO a reactive dog is not a good candidate for protection training, not sure what they do for level 1 but 7months seems too young for protection work IMO even for a stable dog.

Instead I would socialize more, train more, read a good book like Control Unleashed and start doing agility or something to help build his confidence.