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We had an incident at our house on the weekend - someone tried to break in while we were home. Everyone is fine, the small dogs were in the crate as we were getting ready to leave, and Bru was upstairs sleeping. We managed to get the front door shut and call the police, but the guy still broke the window to our screen door and now there's a small hole in the main door.
Part of me is glad that Bru stayed upstairs, most likely because we have band practice up here and it probably sounded similar to the drums to him. He's also pretty shy still, although he had been doing much better. Another part of me is po'd that he didn't come down at all, he didn't even look down the stairs.
I will admit that we have been pretty lazy the last little while with his training - he knows all his basic commands and will do them when I ask him 95% of the time, 80% with my s/o. Come is the one that we were having the hardest time with, we recently bought a long training line but haven't been able to work with him on it yet. I'm not trying to make excuses, I know it's our fault for not working harder/more often with him.
He's a year old, intact male King Shepherd, if that makes much of a difference. He seemed nice and stable at the breeders place but when we brought him home he completely regressed and was afraid of everything. It's been about 5 months now that we've had him and he has come a long way - he will come downstairs if there are people here, go outside, etc but still avoids coming down for "new" people and prefers to hang out upstairs with the cat. On walks, he sometimes still gets a bit jumpy if people walk to close to him or if a bike/skateboard passes too closely. He has come a long way already, compared to how he was, but still has a long way to go. It's nice to see him acting more like a puppy now though than the 15 year old dog in a puppy body.
Back to the point - we're now looking for a trainer to help us and give us some fresh ideas and things we can do with him. He is not food motivated and doesn't like toys, loves attention from us but doesn't seem to respond to it as a reward. We have been doing NILIF since we got him and I use a prong collar when out in public with him (he weighs 10 lbs less than I do and could easily pull the leash out of my hand or drag me along with him otherwise). For now, we'd like to just work on basic things and maybe work up to something else as he progresses, although I'm not sure what yet. Ideally, I always wanted to do personal protection with him but after he regressed so much when we brought him home I didn't think it was a good idea.
Can anyone recommend a trainer in the London area? Ideally someone that will come over or do private lessons, although small groups may be alright too. We've never used a trainer before, although I did go to Pets Plus for conformation handling classes with one of my dachshunds for a long time... I just don't think it's what I'm looking for and their schedule doesn't mesh with mine well - that's why I would like someone that does inhome training because if I have to work, my s/o can work with the trainer since he doesn't drive.
Any help is very much appreciated!
Part of me is glad that Bru stayed upstairs, most likely because we have band practice up here and it probably sounded similar to the drums to him. He's also pretty shy still, although he had been doing much better. Another part of me is po'd that he didn't come down at all, he didn't even look down the stairs.
I will admit that we have been pretty lazy the last little while with his training - he knows all his basic commands and will do them when I ask him 95% of the time, 80% with my s/o. Come is the one that we were having the hardest time with, we recently bought a long training line but haven't been able to work with him on it yet. I'm not trying to make excuses, I know it's our fault for not working harder/more often with him.
He's a year old, intact male King Shepherd, if that makes much of a difference. He seemed nice and stable at the breeders place but when we brought him home he completely regressed and was afraid of everything. It's been about 5 months now that we've had him and he has come a long way - he will come downstairs if there are people here, go outside, etc but still avoids coming down for "new" people and prefers to hang out upstairs with the cat. On walks, he sometimes still gets a bit jumpy if people walk to close to him or if a bike/skateboard passes too closely. He has come a long way already, compared to how he was, but still has a long way to go. It's nice to see him acting more like a puppy now though than the 15 year old dog in a puppy body.
Back to the point - we're now looking for a trainer to help us and give us some fresh ideas and things we can do with him. He is not food motivated and doesn't like toys, loves attention from us but doesn't seem to respond to it as a reward. We have been doing NILIF since we got him and I use a prong collar when out in public with him (he weighs 10 lbs less than I do and could easily pull the leash out of my hand or drag me along with him otherwise). For now, we'd like to just work on basic things and maybe work up to something else as he progresses, although I'm not sure what yet. Ideally, I always wanted to do personal protection with him but after he regressed so much when we brought him home I didn't think it was a good idea.
Can anyone recommend a trainer in the London area? Ideally someone that will come over or do private lessons, although small groups may be alright too. We've never used a trainer before, although I did go to Pets Plus for conformation handling classes with one of my dachshunds for a long time... I just don't think it's what I'm looking for and their schedule doesn't mesh with mine well - that's why I would like someone that does inhome training because if I have to work, my s/o can work with the trainer since he doesn't drive.
Any help is very much appreciated!
