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Dog Obedience: Recs needed
A friend of a friend just put their dog down. In a nutshell, horrible accident occurred and the family dog bit the couple's nearly year old child. I don't know who did what to whom first, but I saw the picture of the little girl's bruised face and stitches and it broke my heart.
We need to get Jewels' aggression issues taken care of ASAP. DH has always been hesitant to do anything, but I'm putting my foot down now. I can't get the image of that little girl's face out of my head.
Please, any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated. We have a 13lb spawn of Satan for a dog, who just happens to be absolutely adorable. Jax is pretty good. If I'm out on a walk with him he'll bark at other dogs, but once he barks it out he'll say hello. It's just when Jewels is around he gets all crazy because he takes her lead.
Re: Dog Obedience: Recs needed
my dog trainer who worked in crownsville moved away (we LOVED her) but she recommends this lady as well.
I remembered Pups being recommended in the past, but I couldn't remember the name. Their website looks amazing and I think the group classes would be best for Jewels.
I just wonder if a basics class is going to cover what we need it to. We've already done the basic course at Pet Smart. Both dogs know sit, stay, leave it, etc.
Yeah, we just did the basic training and there was nothing for aggressive behaviors. We couldn't even bring Humphrey near the other dogs during class.
In addition to training classes, which I believe all dogs and owners can benefit at together to gain confidence and learn together, I think for behavioral issues it really is best to also work with a behaviorist. Trainers are great for training, but behavior really does take more education and experience in those particular issues. Some might have personal recs for behaviorists but you can also find certified ones here.
If you like to read, I really like Karen Pryor clicker training books and books by Patricia McConnell and Pat Miller.
I'm personally not a fan of what I've seen of the training methods at PUPs but it's fine to disagree as I know others have been very happy. Sit Stay and Play looks good on first glance and I like that they are Karen Pryor Academy certified as well as behaviorist certified - Jules Nye has an impressive resume of the people that she has worked with in the dog world.
Bah I had a response written out and the nest ate it.
PUPS uses a very different training method than what i gather is in "vogue" now, but for us it was effective for exactly what we wanted - being able to walk Jackson through the city (since we walk him in more crowded areas with more dogs than most people do I think), being able to expose him to other dogs at dog parks and the like, etc. The class focused a lot on appropriate leash behavior which was basically exactly what we needed.
We hired a behaviorist a few months after the training session ended. epic fail on so many levels. But, every dog is different and what works for one dog is not going to work for another, which I think is the most important thing to keep in mind when finding a trainer. I was talking to my uncle about it (who is a vet) and he was just like, "like kids, every dog is different, so like one kid may fail at a school while another will do well, one dog will do well with being trained a certain way while others won't at all, so don't feel bad if it takes a couple tries to figure out what works."
Of course then he said Jackson was hands down the craziest dog he's seen in years and he laughed at us and said maybe he would calm down in 5 years or so. THANKS.
I saw her work a lot with aggressive behaviors but I think you have to ask for that, its not part of the regular class - Sue would lead our classes and Karen would be off to the side working with the extremely aggressive dogs.
I'm on the other side, I do not recommend SSP at all, especially for aggression issues and can message you more info (it's BARCS/Best Friends related so I don't want to say here). From personal experience I have yet to see a dog with aggression be helped by SSP. I think it really depends on what you need training for. I get frustrated when people are very against any kind of training no matter what because the reality is that all dogs aren't going to fit into one training style. For us with Spike's severe leash aggression we tried clicker training, positive reinforcement and leash training on a French slip lead, trainer with a different clicker trainer, and finally we moved to a prong collar. The prong was the only thing that helped him. Is it for all dogs? No, just as I don't think clicker training is for all dogs with all issues. I think training techniques and styles are unique to each dog as far as what will work.
Sorry, rant there that kinda got off course but I think TLB is right about needing a behaviorist at this point. PUPS will help with leash walking, confidence building, relationship building then basic commands but I think a behaviorist would be more helpful at this point. I've worked with Ruth Chase at Coventry in Columbia, Debbie Winkler with Dog Ears and Paws in Sykesville and like them both a lot.
Actually Ruth also does in home behavior appointments, not just training classes. Training is classroom setting, behavior modification is one on one with her, two separate things and you don't need to have done training with her for behavior help.