June 28, 2010

i think i was wrong....

a while back i posted about dog training and how the caesar millan was overrated, and how evil "prong collars" were.  since this post we've tried every "gentle" dog collar & harness on the market.  really.

back clasping harness
sporn mesh harness
front buckle harness
gentle lead head halter
martingale collar

we've worked with 2 different trainers.  we've tried using the clicker and treats to get gilly to walk on the leash.  nothing works.  as soon as we get to the park, she's dragging us around full speed, sometimes choking herself in the process.

she's a smart girl, and a good girl!  she's not shy or timid, and loves people & other dogs.  it just seems like she gets over-excited and then she 100% tunes us out.

so we're going with a "dog whisperer" type trainer who i trust enough to show us how to use a prong collar.  not to punish gilly or hurt her, but to help us teach her how to be safe.  i want to be able to take her to a park and know she's not going to damage her throat or jump on some small kid and scratch them up.  i want to be able to have friends & family over without her scratching them to shreds.

we're also going to try and teach her how to walk on a treadmill!  we walk her every day, and play, go for rides, etc...and she's still full of energy when we go to bed. 

caesar millan says:  "exercise, discipline and affection—in that order" and that makes so much sense... 

and really, it's me that needs trained, not gilly.

1 comment:

Groundcat said...

adopting a dog training method is similar to choosing a religion. there are so many choices, beliefs, theories, etc. you have to go with what your soul tells you feels right and try to stick to it the best you can. there will be times when you 'stray' but the all forgiving God (or Cesar Millan, Victoria Stilwell, insert local dog trainer's name) should be understanding.

i've never had a dog that has gone through much training, maybe i'm lucky (or lazy) like that.

I think it's 80% human, 20% dog. This is going to be a challenge for us, but YOU have been working so hard at it and I am very proud of your efforts.

We have good dogs partly b/c we're good people.

Keep tracking our progress here.