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Advise on board train or not :(

5K views 31 replies 15 participants last post by  brandeeno 
#1 ·
Hi all,
I'm really looking for some outside advise from people not attached by heart on this. I was able to find a what seems to be a really worth while trainer near me (John Soares) and I called him to help me with a behavior that has started to develop into somthing I don't want.

I have a male working lines GSD, 15 month who you could say is a dominate male. Great personality, very friendly with everyone but dogs. Good on leash, not a structured heal, but will stop pulling on leash of you tell him to or just lock your arm. He will walk side by side if you ask him to with out pulling. Will sit, down, stay on and off leash, even if you throw a toy till you release. Not 100 present if dog is near, so this I know I want to improve and work.

Ok, here is the problem, it's me, my wide and my 7yr old daughter who we all been with him since I took him home. We all play and work his commands and feed him, though it is mostly me. I am the true owner if you will. The dog has bonded with me over all. I spend the most time with him and work him every day.
He has on a few occasions crowded at my daughter, each time when she would come near me while he wanted to be near me, or was waiting for his food near me. He at a young puppy had high value bone aggression not food bowl, but I can now take a raw bone from him at any time. I really don't think he would let my wife or daughter do it.
So he was always happy to be with my wife, he always wanted her to rub his belly and would roll over for her, jump on her(now thinking about it, that seems to be him wanting to dominate her) but the other night he was laying down at my feet. My daughter just jumped on the couch on me and my wife came in. He wag his tail as he saw her rolled over on his back and she got down on the floor to pet him. Then he jumped up growled, no teeth, husk up and jumped at her, she turned and walked slowly in a circle and he kept going after her. No bite, no the etch, just growling kind like when he his moving the cats around? So I immediately call him off and he listens but then she walked towards me and he wanted to go back at her. I called him and he came right to me and put his head on my feet.

Now. I know this is unexceptable so I want to work with someone to find out what is going on. I have had him in group training before and he was always fine with other dogs till around 12mnts. We train or play daily at parks alone and run for a few hours.

John looked at him and said he is a good dog, would do really well in sports, but needs to learn his place more. I agree. He suggested a board and train to reset the situation. Mostly because I have my daughter here. Now, Easton was borded once when we traveled and I had him do training also at Hal Wheilers. I hated not being with my dog.
I always wanted to be the one who trained Easton. I also feel that I need to learn this aspect of training and that I didn't correct this because I didn't know how to(thus why I'm asking professionals). I don't want another person to train him or reset him because in the end, in my mind then My dog will be great with the trainer, but then I still won't be able to fix the problem when he gets home?

I can see, yes if boarding you get more time working the dog, but at then end I get a few sessions on how to work with the dog. I would rather so a few hours a day with the trainer and me so WE both learn together, my dog and me. Plus my dog will continue to see me as a worthy leader and companion.

So my question is, am I to close to this? Am I playing with fire? Can I insist on no boarding? Am I wrong on thinking this?

I welcome any thoughts and appreciate any feed back from those that have worked these amazing dogs for a long time.

Thank you
 
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