OT - Dog Training For Dummies, I posted this on Rennlist but thought you might like it too. Options

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have a little story to share:

I have a 4 year old German Shepard named Riley who I haven't been able to take to regular training classes because he is overly aggressive towards others canines. Around people he is great but as soon as he sees a dog it's rumble in the jungle. You really don't know how many barking dogs are on TV shows or commercials until you have a dog that responds to every one of them.

Riley knows some commands such as "Sit" and "Stay" but doesn't always respond, especially when he is preoccupied with something else. He got out of his dog run once and went running around the acreage which was actually quite frightening because he doesn't come when called and I live next to a busy highway plus my neighbors have livestock. I was thinking he would take off and who knows what would happen to him. It wasn't until he found something interesting in the woodpile that I was able to walk up to him and grab his collar to put him back in the dog run.

So I hire "Bark Busters" to come in and help me train him. Liz with Bark Busters came in for 3 hours the first day and spent 2.5 hours with me and .5 with him - guess I know where the problem lies. Apparently Riley knows what he is doing. She gave me us some basic exercises to do and I was told that he is currently the lead dog. I have to show passive dominance over him in the house so that he will obey more frequently. Liz said that Riley has me figured out and knows how to get what he wants from me. She said that I have to change his routine to get him off balance (ie: feed at different times in different places, etc.) and that I should never let him do what he wants to do.

So with this in mind I start the training. Off the start the change in routine was showing signs of success in that Riley was not sure what to do and paying much more attention to me.

However the other day something interesting happened. I came from work and as soon as we entered the house Riley started pestering me to be fed. I figured "You know what, I'm going to eat first and you are going to wait" so I went and made myself dinner. Riley was nudging me, running up to his dog dish and coming back all the time dinner was being made. I ignored him and eventually told him to lay down which he did. I then decided to go downstairs and eat on the sofa in the media room while watching a little TV. So downstairs I went, Riley right on my tail following me to the sofa. When I sit down he starts pestering me again. I tell him sternly to "Lay Down" and he submits and lays at the foot of the sofa. I start eating my dinner and watching TV proud of my new found control. After about 15 minutes Riley perks up. His ears go up and he looks towards the front door - which is just up the staircase from where I was sitting. He keeps listening and suddenly lets out a loud "BARK" - which from a 100 lb German Shepard in a closed space is nearly deafening. He sprints out of the room and up the staircase.

Not knowing what got him all fired up I decide to investigate and put my plate down on the sofa. I follow his trail up the staircase and sure enough he is waiting for me in the front porch. As soon as I get there he takes off back down the stairs. I follow him down and by the time I get to him he already has a mouth full of my dinner!! He set me up!! After I got over the initial anger I had a laugh at that. Now I know why I'm not winning this war......he's smarter than me

Just thought the dog owners here would get a laugh out of that story.

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Here is a story regarding the shock collars and Riley:

Back when I lived in the ciy, Riley was barking non stop during the day while I was at work. A number of times I would get home and there would be a note on the door from the city saying a complaint was filed about a dog barking. I usually kept him outside and didn't want to keep him in his kennel in the house during the day as somehow it just didn't seem right to keep a full grown german shepard in a box for an entire day.

So I bought one of those cheap bark collars from Walmart - the kind that zap him on the throat whenever he barks. I remember well the day that I put it on him. He happily accepted the collar and ran out into the backyard to play. I watched him through the back window of the house to see what happend.

Riley ran through the yard and let out a big bark. Immediately he jumped - all 4 paws in the air - and looked around like "What the f**ck was that?" He then stood in one spot and this time let out a really timid test bark. Instantly he scooted forward, his back legs almost passing his front as if he got shot by a pellet gun. I almost died laughing. After that he was quiet all evening. Even when he came to the back door to be let into the house he just sat there without barking.

So I thought the problem was solved. However, 2 days later I get another notice from the city. He was barking again. So I observed him in the back yard and sure enough he would bark at anything and everything. His voice sometimes seemed a little warbled but that was about it. At first I thought that the collar wasn't working and that the batteries had died. I listened carefully and could hear the beeping of the collar every time it fired the shock. I went out and got him and took the collar off to examine it. That was when I noticed the large red patch on his throat with all the fur gone. It turns out that once he figured out what was shocking him he would just grit his teeth and bark through it. So basically the collar was ineffective as a treatment.

It is for the same reason that I won't get one of those invisible fences because I know that if he really wants to cross the boundary there is nothing that will stop him. Friends of mine actually call it a "Two Yip Fence" because their dog would charge full speed at the boundary and would get shocked twice - letting out two "yips" - before the collar got out of range.