Shouldn't dog training be a dictatorship?

[Emoore]

I just realized I almost never use "no." I use "Kopper, get your freaking head out of the garbage," or "Rocky, stop licking the daggum dishes in the dishwasher." They always obey. Maybe they understand my tone of voice?

I also use the ever-popular "Aaaccck!"

I don't use a lot of "dog-ease" with my dogs. I learned a lot from the old man that helped train our cattle dogs. He spoke to his dogs in a soft, conversational tone and used commands like "Lad, come over here and lay down," or "Tip, go round up those Bossies and put them in the pen." You could sit on the porch and say, "Dogs, go move the cows out of the pen now," and they'd jump up and do it. I use formal commands in class and in formal situations, but around the house and in "real life" it's more conversational.

[sheep]

Training shouldn't be forceful, it should be something enjoyable, at least when teaching something new to a dog. I'm just an average owner, and I use treats, toys and praise when teaching new stuffs or reinforcing what's taught already; as well as commands for when he wants something (sit/wait before going out and so on). But I'm not fan of always using treats/toys, and I expect my dog to obey whenever I issue a command that he already knows what it means. For that, I'd just try to have his attention by calling his name or using "hey", and then say the command and repeat after a while if he doesn't listen. I won't let him go away with not listening, since it might teach him that it's ok not to listen. If he tries to go away, I'd just hold his collar gently but firmly to restrict him from going away 'till he listens.

[MountainGSDs]

Originally Posted by chelle

I'm in the dictator camp I think. But a fair dictatorship, if that makes sense. (probably doesn't.) I like Zahnburg's post, that sums it up well I think.

Ideally, sure, I want my dog to *want* to do what they're being told, but bottom line is they *must* do what they're told. I'm strongly bonded enough to them that they know I mean what I say, so they don't often "question" it, it is just expected. They might be rewarded, they might not. If they do not do as told, it won't just be ignored. That's the hard part, with dogs AND kids -- it's too easy to give up and let things go, but that's such a recipe for problems.

Agree 100%. Even raising kids is a balancing act of positive and consequences. There are times I need my dog or child to have the fear of consequence but most of the time I want their experience to be positive.

[PatternDayTrader]

All I know is my my shelter dog was a grown adult when I adopted him and when hes tired out after a long run he obeys perfectly, but if hes all hyped up he ignores any commands, and Im not sure how to handle it yet.

[studio1one]

Originally Posted by Cassidy's Mom

I've said that myself many times. But you have to look at the context - it's in the puppy training threads, or at least my posts are. I like to build a strong foundation of default behaviors from day one with a new puppy, and to reinforce anything that I want to encourage more of. It's worked very well for me in the past and it's something I will continue doing in the future with my next puppy. I will sometimes randomly reward my dogs with a treat for something, but it's very sporadic, except for when we leave and they go into the garage pen - they always get a biscuit for that, and they always will. At this point I'm sure they'd still happily run in without a fuss even if they didn't get a small treat, but so what?

You don't need to go back and find posts about people not using the word no, I've seen some. I use NO sometimes, usually when I want to stop my dogs dead in their tracks, like if they're chasing the cats. But generally, I find it more productive to tell them what I DO want them to do, than to tell them not do whatever it is they're doing at the moment. Not using the word no doesn't mean that the dog gets to run rampant over the household and do whatever they want, with no rules or boundaries.

Bingo!!

[Butch Cappel]

You have 2 choices, witrh any dog at any age, you can be the "Pack Leader" or the "Pack Commander" when the Leader move he/she never looks back because they know the pack is following. The Commander must look back because the pack might be planning a mutiny.

There are very few that understand this, so I thought I'd confuse a few more.

[GregK]

Yeah it's a dictatorship once the dog is trained but not in the beginning. If it were me in this video, I would have given the 'sit' cue when that puppy offered the sit (once she was in position) and fed.

With the first sit, the 'trainer' is saying 'sit' as she's luring the puppy into position. Bad timing on her part.