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

[soloracer]

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.