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.

My chick did the same thing...... To ME...!!
C

LOLZ!

Dogs are so good at training us, sometimes we don't even realize who is the trainer and who is the trainee.

I guess thats what you get for thinking you out smarted your German Shepard. Thats Classic!

Hilarious!!

We don't give dogs as much credit for intelligence as they deserve. Having had dogs for most of my life, I've had similar experiences, and there isn't much you can do but laugh when that happens.

Dogs rule

My Dog must have a twin

NO. do not laugh unless you want a life sentence of bad dog behavior. this is /WAS an opportunity for correction. If he ate your food it is because you are not in charge. he seeks leadership. A dog that knows his place in the pack would NEVER eat the ALPHA dogs food. you should set him up. this creates more opportunities for correction and speeds up teh training . next time he eats your food you must make a really big deal out of it. if "bad dog" is the term you want to implement then make that the words you use to point out bad behavior. be sure to look him sqare in teh eye. if you look away, he will think you have submitted

PS. I have an Austrailian cattle dog that tests me just to be sure I still want to be in charge

PSS. make the "come" command the best thing that happens to him. carry treats. when his attention fades. call him with a firm voice. always use his name first. as soon as he initiates the proper behavior, praise him He will soon asociate "come" with a tasty treat, praise and affection.

NEVER USE THE "COME" COMMAND FOR ANYTHING NEGATIVE. never call him for punishment and never be angry when he comes, even if he took too long

Let me give you a little advice, don't stand in one place too long or YOU will be the fire plug. You are pretty low on the totem pole yet, better start climbing.

MY #140 GSD KODA

That's a great story, but don't give up.

For most strong headed dogs like that you have to out think them. It sounds like he is very food driven, so make it clear that the only way he's getting to eat is to jump through your hoops. You really have to become the alpha.

I have a large akita mix that sounds a lot like your dog. She would run the show if I'd let her. When she was a puppy I made it very clear that she eats only when I let her eat. I would give her food and let her eat a little bit, then get down and nudge her out of the way with my head to pretend like I was eating her food. If she was aggressive, she got an "alpha roll" (which means to flip them on their back to let them know who's in charge). Anyway, now she's six, and while she will test the waters once in a while, she's very affectionate, obedient, and submissive. She still has a strong spirit, but seems very happy with her position in the "pack".

Psychology works way better than yelling or spanking every could, with people and with dogs.

When it comes to feeding him I have control. Every time I put food in his dish I make him sit which he does. I then make him wait until I say "OK" before he is allowed to eat. I walk away and come back and there he is sitting....and drooling. When I say "OK" he tackles his food with gusto.

About a week ago I did the usual sit and wait thing with him and his food. I took his water dish to go fill it up and made him wait until I got back. However, I heard his collar clinking on the food dish from where I was filling his water dish. I went back and he instantly stopped. I took his dish away and put it up for about an hour. Next time he obeyed completely.

About 2 days after that I do the same thing again. Food down, make him sit, take his water dish to get filled. As I'm filling his water dish I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. The little bugger got tired of waiting and ran back to get a look at me to see what I was doing. He was really quick about it too - just a fast run by to see what I was up to before sprinting back to his dish. When I went back to his feeding area with his water dish he was sitting in a slightly different spot looking all non chalant. They are a lot like kids I tell you............

Yes, a lot like kids. However, none of the dozen miniature poodles we have has caused as much grief as our daughter. She will turn 40 in a week and is still causing grey hairs. Oh well. Anyways, best of luck with your dog.

Heck this thread is better than most rust repair ones

You must be the Alpha dog.My father told me about how when his dog misbehaved he would bite the dogs ear(just until he wimpered)thus making him the alpha dog.He also told me NEVER EVER do this to an adult dog!

Your Cattle dog isn't checking on who's Boss, He or she wants something to do!
If you don't give 'em a job, they'll find something else to do, and sometimes it's not good.

Me and Henna are enrolled in Agility, and man it's a lot to learn.
She LOVES it, and I'm starting to get in shape (Only 35 lbs more to lose)

fred is point and shoot, easy to teach. I should do agility with him too

I had thought about agility as well but x-rays suggest that Riley has hip displasia and I was told that agility might be too damaging for him. He is registered as well and the breeder guaranteed that he wouldn't have displasia - however the guarantee I think is they take your dog and give you a new one. Like that is ever going to happen. So far other than maybe 1 day of the year where he shows a little lameness he has been good and I have him on supliments like glucousamine and chondriton.

Here is a picture of us back when he was 2 1/2 and a picture a couple months ago of him wearing one of my cycling jerseys to prevent him from ripping some stitches after a cyst was removed.

Great story! Dogs are awesome.

Their faces are so expressive. You can see the humiliation in his face in that last pic where you have him dressed as a spando commando!

Good one!

Three suggestions (worked for my dobermans):
1. Watch "The Dog Wisperer" on TV (National geographic)
2. Get a cheap shock collar
3. Get a "Licker" at the pet store for an outside faucet and never have to deal with a water dish again.

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.