I apologize in advance if I get lengthy, want to paint the whole picture. I am looking for advice/suggestions/input regarding my 5mth old gsd /training.
Ok, Masi is 5mths old, she is out of an imported slovakian narcotics dog(all pohracini (sp) lines x a ddr /czech Sar certified and a ton of other titles male)
I have had her since 8 wks old, she has been socialized to "death",,I take her everywhere, she is great offleash anywhere, very obedient, smart, social , willing, eager and a ball of fire. Atleast UP until I started a puppy class..
We began puppy classes 7 weeks ago. it is a PURELY POSITIVE class, (clicker) flat buckle collar only. This class I must say, had alot of idiots in it.
Masi would mind her own business but every single class she would get "jumped" by an uruly dog who's owner would slack off. Sometimes they were nasty to her, other times it was rambunctious puppies who wanted to play. At the end of each class, puppies were let offleash for 15 minutes of interaction. Masi wanted nothing to do with them, content to sit/lay at my feet and watch the exchanges. (This is FINE by me),,however, it never failed that she would again get jumped on/I don't want to say "attacked" because most of the behaviors of the other dogs were just unruly ill mannered dog stuff.
Anyhow,,this has made her in my opinion, defensive, each class she would get a little worse,,dogs staring at her she'd bark and hackle, dogs in her "space", same thing, if they came charging up to her,,she'd go ballistic RA RAing in their face (she has not "bit" YET, but has snapped at them),,
What I have done,,and the trainers instruct,,move out of the area,,work on refocusing, yada yada,,first I can't move or remove her from the "area" as this is a small room, and there just is no place to remove her to! Refocusing her attention is like talking to a brick wall when she has a dog on top of her, she is to much in 'defense' mode. This class is making her WORSE.
Ok,,we are done with puppy class, I move up to a Basic's class, thinking this may be a more controlled setting, better mannered dogs, people who respect other peoples/dogs space..Not so,,tho we are now only 5 in the class, we still have some ill mannered very reactive dogs,,once one starts, they all start in, the positive approach is NOT working. She has now transferred that "defensive" mode, to "some" people. IF a person charges up to her, she will bark and lunge 'a little',,not a full out LUNGE,,but something I definately do NOT want, We cannot do ANY corrections at ALL in this class,
There's alot more to this, but I don't want to write a novel..I have talked to the trainer, and tho she agrees with me, (there isn't enough room in the room we have class in, there are ill mannered dogs/people, ) she STILL wants me to keep masi in this setting AND let her loose with these unruly dogs.
I honestly don't see this as a "positive" thing, especially for a GSD who comes from lines with a high defense drive to begin with. I also do not see this dog benefiting from "purely positive" training.. She needs clear direction and needs to know the difference between good behavior and unacceptable behavior.
I kinda feel like I've let her down, as I should be the one protecting her from getting "jumped" constantly, I am seriously thinking of pulling her from this class and starting over with a different approach. For example,,today she lunged at a moving car,,I put a prong collar on her, corrected her once, and she didn't do it again,,it was like "oh ok, I'm not supposed to do that". In fact, she then sat by the side of the road watching cars "whiz" by without an incident. (and believe me a correction didn't hurt her one bit)
For those that have "hard" dogs, may know what I speak of, I guess I'm just looking for some ideas, suggestions, advice.. Ask away, I can provide more details if needed.
Diane
Ok, Masi is 5mths old, she is out of an imported slovakian narcotics dog(all pohracini (sp) lines x a ddr /czech Sar certified and a ton of other titles male)
I have had her since 8 wks old, she has been socialized to "death",,I take her everywhere, she is great offleash anywhere, very obedient, smart, social , willing, eager and a ball of fire. Atleast UP until I started a puppy class..
We began puppy classes 7 weeks ago. it is a PURELY POSITIVE class, (clicker) flat buckle collar only. This class I must say, had alot of idiots in it.
Masi would mind her own business but every single class she would get "jumped" by an uruly dog who's owner would slack off. Sometimes they were nasty to her, other times it was rambunctious puppies who wanted to play. At the end of each class, puppies were let offleash for 15 minutes of interaction. Masi wanted nothing to do with them, content to sit/lay at my feet and watch the exchanges. (This is FINE by me),,however, it never failed that she would again get jumped on/I don't want to say "attacked" because most of the behaviors of the other dogs were just unruly ill mannered dog stuff.
Anyhow,,this has made her in my opinion, defensive, each class she would get a little worse,,dogs staring at her she'd bark and hackle, dogs in her "space", same thing, if they came charging up to her,,she'd go ballistic RA RAing in their face (she has not "bit" YET, but has snapped at them),,
What I have done,,and the trainers instruct,,move out of the area,,work on refocusing, yada yada,,first I can't move or remove her from the "area" as this is a small room, and there just is no place to remove her to! Refocusing her attention is like talking to a brick wall when she has a dog on top of her, she is to much in 'defense' mode. This class is making her WORSE.
Ok,,we are done with puppy class, I move up to a Basic's class, thinking this may be a more controlled setting, better mannered dogs, people who respect other peoples/dogs space..Not so,,tho we are now only 5 in the class, we still have some ill mannered very reactive dogs,,once one starts, they all start in, the positive approach is NOT working. She has now transferred that "defensive" mode, to "some" people. IF a person charges up to her, she will bark and lunge 'a little',,not a full out LUNGE,,but something I definately do NOT want, We cannot do ANY corrections at ALL in this class,
There's alot more to this, but I don't want to write a novel..I have talked to the trainer, and tho she agrees with me, (there isn't enough room in the room we have class in, there are ill mannered dogs/people, ) she STILL wants me to keep masi in this setting AND let her loose with these unruly dogs.
I honestly don't see this as a "positive" thing, especially for a GSD who comes from lines with a high defense drive to begin with. I also do not see this dog benefiting from "purely positive" training.. She needs clear direction and needs to know the difference between good behavior and unacceptable behavior.
I kinda feel like I've let her down, as I should be the one protecting her from getting "jumped" constantly, I am seriously thinking of pulling her from this class and starting over with a different approach. For example,,today she lunged at a moving car,,I put a prong collar on her, corrected her once, and she didn't do it again,,it was like "oh ok, I'm not supposed to do that". In fact, she then sat by the side of the road watching cars "whiz" by without an incident. (and believe me a correction didn't hurt her one bit)
For those that have "hard" dogs, may know what I speak of, I guess I'm just looking for some ideas, suggestions, advice.. Ask away, I can provide more details if needed.
Diane