distraction/socialization??

[jokowalczyk]

Thanks Mike for the response. It looks like we might put in an invisible fence and until then the dog is under heavy supervision or on leash.

I must tell you that he is doing very well with his progress but have few further questions. The dogtra collar is used only with 'come' in emergency situations. He does know what is means, but I do understand your step concerns. We have not made it to level 3 with other stuff yet...

I am trying to take him out and expose to new situations but it seems very challenging, stressful and sometimes embarrassing....what to do???
1. I walked him to a near by small trailer park where our relatives have a camp. There were other dogs there tied up/walked and he just lost it, jumping barking like hell...big black dog...He is very good/playful/excited when dogs come over to our house and he is free. Whenever on leash he does this. I want to take him to town to a park to socialize him but maybe he is not ready for it yet??
2. Walked him this morning and there were 2 big birds on the road finishing up some road kill, same response occurred...
3. Walking along the road...sees cattle...same insane response.....

I walk him on the road for a while cause our trails have gotten bugy. This way I can get in a nice walk and practice training with it... Any suggestions..

Also, I might be considering becoming a trainer and was wondering if you have any tips as to what to look for when finding a program. There is a school offering a program which is starting soon....I have become a little obsessed with this dog thing....

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Leash walking generally has to be troubleshooted the same way as the "come".

First, be sure that you teach a formal "heel" with no distractions. We did put up a few new videos recently. See the "heel" videos in phase 2. Or, you can see the link on the homepage that says "updates".

Let me know if you saw these and practiced the "heel chart" techniques with NO distractions first.

Have you ever practiced the "climb" command? That is where the dog learns all the patterns that they need for the "come" and "heel".

Also, what type of collar or harness are you using on the walks?

This shouldn't be too hard to troubleshoot. We'll do it bit by bit.

Remember where 'distractions" falls on our troubleshooting chart. Make sure you have your foundation.

As far as schools go - i am obviously biased to my system! But, even being on the site will help you recognize a school that is obviously bad.

Hands on work is really the most important thing, and you are finding out definitely aren't many quick fixes.

I have been discussing setting up some seminars and possibly a school in the future - but nothing in VERY near future besides seminars.

I did graduate from the Tom Rose School for dog training. It was a very good school if your focus is competitive obedience, but "foundation style" (this style) is almost nothing like it, since itr is designed more for everyday training which is actually very different.

[ddpowell]

In a month or so i'm going to start Phase 2 with our gsd (as long as she's ready), she's 4 months old now and i've got her responding to the basic commands by word only with a (brief) silent stay and free etc. I need work on leash manners and do climb + teaching 'no' and i think i'm ready..

On leash she's certainly getting interested by distractions like Jokowalzcyk is talking about; birds, people and other dogs are the main culprits. She gets fixated and i can't snap her out of it, even with food. She puts her head forward, ears right up and eyeballs them as they walk past, then she starts to jump in excitement. It's a little embarrassing when she does it to small children staring like she wants to eat them, the reality being she just wants to play and lick their faces!

Even when i practice the leash manners drill in your video she doesn't look at me and is happy to be pulled back when i start backing up (i'm using a crappy 5 foot leash and easy walk chest harness at the moment),

I've ordered a martingale collar + 6 foot leather leash and i've finally found a guy in Australia who seems to promote similar training to you and has a store stocking some good pinch and dogtra remote collars when i'm ready.

You might be interested to see his site actually..he uses different terms, talking about training in 'drive' a lot, but the combination of postiive plus fairly applied corrections seems to be his basic philosophy.

http://www.k9pro.com.au/index.php

So my first question is jumping - she's found her legs and jumps ALL the time mostly when she greets someone. With us she knows we won't say hello until she calms down and keeps her 4 legs on the ground but strangers it's quite bad - apart from putting her into a sit (which she won't do due to excitement), is there a command like 'easy' of 'leave it' that can apply to jumping and how do you teach her NOT to do something before she's done it? (i hope this makes sense)

Lastly is there something i can do to help regain focus on me when we're out and she sees any of the above (people, dogs etc)? Or is she just being a normal puppy learning about the big wide world and i should practice leash manners with no distractions and let her do want she wants when she's on a walk?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions, i've tried to work through any issues that have come up from the stuff on your site, these couple of issues have me stumped..

[ChrisNJudy]

Hello,
I'm glad to see things are moving along good for you! If you are getting ready to move on to phase 2, remember to stay gentle especially being that your GSD is only 4 months old..they are not fully developed yet and you can harm them if too rough, especially when moving onto phase 2. Also, I know Mike is going to put a updated video soon on leash manners, but especially with a phase 2 collar, you don't want to drop the loop because the dog can over correct themselves. Basically you will just put light resistance without dropping the loop. The video should be up soon, so you will be able to work off of that.
To answer your questions:
1.) about the jumping, just keep on doing what you are doing with no showing any attention until they are sitting at least all four paws on the floor. If possible, have anyone that comes to meet her do the same thing. With kids, just be careful and watch that she doesn't hurt them. Over time she will just start to sit automatically. If not then through obedience, you will be able to put them into a sit or send them to a place, etc. Right now you are very early in the process to expect too much. Just manage it as much as you can for now and stay consistent.
2.) I wouldn't worry about distractions right now, it is way too expect them to listen with distractions. That will come over time. Also about letting them sniff around and stuff, yes this is fine, just when you are ready to go, just say there name and start to put a little resistance and go, don't even drop the loop, just put resistance.

I hope this helps!

Keep us updated!
Chris