GSDlover_4ever said:
Excuse me, but I believe my house is MY HOUSE. I DO NOT work around my dogs, they work around me. I'm not going to hide the food every 2 seconds because my mother is calling me, or something happened and my dog will eat the food if I am not present. He WILL get corrected and know that that is unacceptable behavior. I can leave WHATEVER I want anywhere I want and my dogs are EXPECTED to leave it along. Again, I DO NOT work around my dogs.
Refresh my memory, please. You're the 17 year old with limited training experience, who is still living at home? I do believe that means the house is not YOUR HOUSE either .. *L* .. by the way, did your mother raise you by always setting you up to fail and then using correction?
The question on food on the counter was initially asked about a rescue dog that had no training - this was all initial training for the dog. There is certainly nothing wrong (and everything right) with setting a dog up to succeed, and that includes managing things so that there is not food laying around.
It's only fair to the dog to explain before you add corrections in. What you describe is much like the old way of teaching kids to play piano - the teacher sat there with a wooden ruler and slapped the knuckles every time the child hit a wrong note. Yes, kids learned to play, and they learned to hate the piano. Unfortunately people have the right to treat their dogs however they wish to treat them. I prefer that my dogs trust me and I train accordingly.
I remember those old days when I thought corrections were the way to go .. and I can state for an absolute fact that there is a higher level of trust and a higher level of bond between the dogs and myself then there was back when I used more corrections. The sad thing is that when you're in that style of training, you really THINK you have a wonderful bond and have no way of realizing that those corrections are compromising the relationship because you have nothing to compare it to.
What I find especially sad is that you have German shepherds - a breed I've had for YOUR entire life, and a breed that is so easy to train compared to so many other breeds. Yes, I understand dogs with a lot of drive because I've owned dogs with a lot of drive (putting this in there before you start in on how high drive your dogs are .. *RME*). I like a dog with a high energy level, which is what I've gone looking for and what I've gotten. Most of my dogs are very high in dominance and drive and I've found that use of corrections (especially physical corrections) are just not needed much because I'm capable of explaining to my dogs what I want - and they are intelligent enough to understand.
I rarely even put a leash on my shepherds these days. There's just no need to. Tonight I had Trick heel with me to the door of the store as I took the cart back, and left her on a sit-stay outside the door as I went inside and put the cart away. Oh - and this is a dog that learned to leave food alone (on the kitchen counter, on the floor, on the computer desk, wherever) without ever having to be physically corrected. I told her to leave things alone initially, rewarded her for not touching anything, and may have used an occasional "eht" along the way. But I have never had to physically correct any of my five dogs for getting into food. And I'm really good at bringing in the groceries, putting the bags on the floor and then forgetting to put the food away for awhile .. *L*
I realize that you are determined to defend your right to use corrections. What I don't understand is why - given two options, one of training the dog successfully without corrections and the other of training the dog successfully with corrections - a person would choose the corrective route. Again, I go back to the whole "lazy human" description. I know you have said you use positive reinforcement but in all honesty almost all of the posts I see you post are about how you correct your dogs. I get the distinct feeling that you are so adamant in your defense of these methods because you use them quite a bit. Otherwise, why bother? I've been straight-forward in saying that I think there are times to correct, but I do NOT think that time is during the training of a behavior.
I love my dogs too much to want to treat them anything but fairly. And those times when I slip and treat them unfairly I am angry at myself because I know that I FAILED, not them.
Melanie and the gang in Alaska
Trick AKC/CKC/ASCA CD, NAP NJP, RA (2/3 RE), HIC, CGC (GSD)
UCD Kylee AKC/CKC/ASCA CD, AKC CDX NA NAJ, NADAC NAC NJC, Schutzhund BH, HIC, CGC (Chow)
Dora NA NAJ (1/3 CD) CGC (Chow)
Khana RN (1/3 RA) (Chow)
Tori (GSD)
.. and always in my heart:
Dawson UD CGC, ASCA CD (GSD 1988-1999) and Lady UD CGC, ASCA CD STDs (Aussie 1987-1997)