Dog Training and Behavior

[ShrekDawg]

That's exactly right. An Aussie will be like, "Why we doing this again?" A border collie will ask "How many more times you want, boss?"

My oldest Aussie needs to take daily pills. When we started it was a struggle to pry her mouth open and stuff pills in her. There's no way she's willing taking anything with pills in it. She's too smart. I was getting very frustrated. I finally sat down and had a talk with her about it. I explained it all. Than I get the pills, told her what each pill was for. She let me open her mouth and give her the pills. Now I explain what they are for each time, and I throw in an extra hotdog piece for "love" as I tell her and she takes them without problems. You can't force an Aussie. They have to agree with you.

That’s awesome!!! They sound quite similar to Gator so I have some experience already

With Gator it was always “what’s in it for me?” and you also had to negotiate with him.

I distinctly remember one time he was about to open the trash drawer and I caught him and was like “don’t you dare open that.” He literally looked me in the eye so I negotiated some more. I was like “yeah, you don’t wanna do that. You want a cookie? Yeah? You do? Well then don’t you dare do open that cause if you do, you’re not getting any.” Actually it might have been a walk. I forget what I promised lol but point is, I negotiated and wouldn’t you know!? He stopped in his tracks and didn’t do it

He was way too smart for his own good lmao

I think he actually stopped and then tried again at first so I had to remind him a second time

 

[ShrekDawg]

That's exactly right. An Aussie will be like, "Why we doing this again?" A border collie will ask "How many more times you want, boss?"

My oldest Aussie needs to take daily pills. When we started it was a struggle to pry her mouth open and stuff pills in her. There's no way she's willing taking anything with pills in it. She's too smart. I was getting very frustrated. I finally sat down and had a talk with her about it. I explained it all. Than I get the pills, told her what each pill was for. She let me open her mouth and give her the pills. Now I explain what they are for each time, and I throw in an extra hotdog piece for "love" as I tell her and she takes them without problems. You can't force an Aussie. They have to agree with you.

He also used to protest when you told him he couldn’t go with you lmao he’d snap the air and scoot backwards and get all sassy

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Most destructive behaviors in dogs is from separation anxiety. An Aussie is a dog that likes to be with it's owner always. A lot of breeds do. It's easy to create the problem by making a big deal out of coming and going. Dogs should be ignored when you come home until they all settle down. Than they can be addressed. Otherwise you reward an anxious state of mind.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Most destructive behaviors in dogs is from separation anxiety. An Aussie is a dog that likes to be with it's owner always. A lot of breeds do. It's easy to create the problem by making a big deal out of coming and going. Dogs should be ignored when you come home until they all settle down. Than they can be addressed. Otherwise you reward an anxious state of mind.

DB & SIL started doing this recently and make others do the same, totally ignore them until they calm down, and it’s amazing the difference hahah sometimes it take them a little while to calm down because they always go BALLISTIC when they see me but they had started jumping and mauling people again this year or maybe last even thing they had previously unlearned it so they started that haha cause Libby is a big powerful dog. You barely feel Frank

It still takes them a while to calm down cause I’m not over there a ton lately and they also don’t get why they have to cause I have previously always made a big deal and petted them all never crazy voice or anything but kind of rewarding the crazy I think even though I never allowed jumping. Because I was always so happy to see them too haha

But now they just go lie down

Not right away. It still takes maybe 5-10 minutes, maybe closer to 10 I guess or more, for every single one to calm down (because if you reward one they all get amped up again), but still. It helps for sure.

Dad and FIL are both not great with dogs and do big animated voices and get them going ballistic

DB & SIL also had to teach them to not follow them everywhere because she always got annoyed by that haha personally I wouldn’t mind and think it’s kind of cute but she got annoyed because it was like any time she got up to get a glass of water or anything they would always follow her there and back

Not they mostly just stay put in one of their beds of the floor haha

But they do still like to keep an eye on everything especially Franklin but I think they’re more relaxed not having to constantly worry about where the human is going haha

 

[ShrekDawg]

Sorry for the massive novel and the other novels. need to work on that but here are some pictures of the pups to make up for it hahah Libby looks so old lately she’s not. She’s gonna be 3 in I think November or December. Franklin just turned 2 in June and Ike is the baby at I think 9 months? Or 8? I’m not really sure. Don’t know how old he was when they got him but they got him in February.

Libby is the big black horsey, Frank is the super fluffy cloud/marshmallow of happiness and love (seriously happiest dog ever ), and Ikey is the little black floof/black bear looking one

Spoiler

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They are gorgeous dogs.

 

[ShrekDawg]

They are gorgeous dogs.

Thanks! We think so too.

Oh and I forgot to post the video that goes with the last two pictures hahah

 

[free range possum]

I trained my pup from Day 1 with hand signals for pretty much all her commands. Very useful in restaurant/brewery settings. I'm considering getting her a vibe collar to train her to recall on vibration.


Wolfdogs are a completely different beast, and are often much harder than just a regular dog. A lot more nervous, for starts- can lead to resource guarding issues. We worked on some of that kind of stuff with our pup, it's not easy.

What do you generally do/teach them to keep them stimulated?

My working dogs also live with us. I definitely believe in early start on pups . Wolves will out think you, definitely. Every dog I train, I speak their name before asking them to do something. And, all, I start as pups teaching them to sit/stay from beginning as we start potty training. Every one of them, I go to door, say their names, ask them to sit, and step out the door. They have to sit/stay even with door open until I ask them to go out. I NEVER ever let them out until I go thru those steps, and the same to come back in, get in truck, boat etc. It makes them look to me to make the decisions from the very beginning..and eliminates recall problems (many shepherds have poor recall) since they know I make the decisions ALL the time..If you allow them to sometimes get ahead, go before you then you ate letting them think they can decide when to look to you for instruction. I've had suspects try to time running into traffic to get dog hit, and absolutely no matter how wound the dogs are to catch somebody, they will lock their brakes and eye me. It's saved my partners many times. It also means the dog , even wound, we do no more harm to suspect than needed to hold him and release without question. My 24 year old is a Lapland shepherd, herder. They are known for wolf content and long, healthy mobile lives. His brother died after a full shift at work and he was vet checked/and also recerted that week. 17! USAF takes dental and feeding of their dogs very seriously. It is the last day Springfield worked when his brother died, and I nearly couldn't go on after this death and he was pretty close to my misery with his brother suddenly gone from our lives. My current partner is a doozy. Just love him although he is vastly different than the shepherd /wolf mentality. He is a Karakachan. Big like a Caucasian shepherd, but wire haired (a more rare trait not often seen in USA) and excellently livestock herder, family dog, and good in schools or high stress situations. Not a Shedder like a shepherd, and pretty vocal.. but despite his size he is every but as obedient and agile. If you colored a Irish wolf hound like snoopy, that's him! He's good with out livestock and I'll consider another definitely, but he needs to keep me for a long time. I grew up in AK with wolves/crosses so I prefer that challenge mentally to stay in a dogs respect. After 35 years, It still awesome me that a great big head gets layer in my lap and sprawls across me after a busy day. I had another karakachan I trained as a seizure dog . She absolutely loves going to school with her kid, the bus and pep rallies. I donated her to the family since she so naturally decided to get the child some help several minutes before a seizure. I was in store to get the pups (7 weeks old) socialist and she was determined to get to the kid.I wasn't sure why she was doing this, and the seizure started. It was what she decided, and I am glad she isn't a police dog. We spent so much time to get her certs for the job that I haven't chosen another rookie for me. The wolf Pup is strickl

 

[CharcoalDragon]

My working dogs also live with us. I definitely believe in early start on pups . Wolves will out think you, definitely. Every dog I train, I speak their name before asking them to do something. And, all, I start as pups teaching them to sit/stay from beginning as we start potty training. Every one of them, I go to door, say their names, ask them to sit, and step out the door. They have to sit/stay even with door open until I ask them to go out. I NEVER ever let them out until I go thru those steps, and the same to come back in, get in truck, boat etc. It makes them look to me to make the decisions from the very beginning..and eliminates recall problems (many shepherds have poor recall) since they know I make the decisions ALL the time..If you allow them to sometimes get ahead, go before you then you ate letting them think they can decide when to look to you for instruction. I've had suspects try to time running into traffic to get dog hit, and absolutely no matter how wound the dogs are to catch somebody, they will lock their brakes and eye me. It's saved my partners many times. It also means the dog , even wound, we do no more harm to suspect than needed to hold him and release without question. My 24 year old is a Lapland shepherd, herder. They are known for wolf content and long, healthy mobile lives. His brother died after a full shift at work and he was vet checked/and also recerted that week. 17! USAF takes dental and feeding of their dogs very seriously. It is the last day Springfield worked when his brother died, and I nearly couldn't go on after this death and he was pretty close to my misery with his brother suddenly gone from our lives. My current partner is a doozy. Just love him although he is vastly different than the shepherd /wolf mentality. He is a Karakachan. Big like a Caucasian shepherd, but wire haired (a more rare trait not often seen in USA) and excellently livestock herder, family dog, and good in schools or high stress situations. Not a Shedder like a shepherd, and pretty vocal.. but despite his size he is every but as obedient and agile. If you colored a Irish wolf hound like snoopy, that's him! He's good with out livestock and I'll consider another definitely, but he needs to keep me for a long time. I grew up in AK with wolves/crosses so I prefer that challenge mentally to stay in a dogs respect. After 35 years, It still awesome me that a great big head gets layer in my lap and sprawls across me after a busy day. I had another karakachan I trained as a seizure dog . She absolutely loves going to school with her kid, the bus and pep rallies. I donated her to the family since she so naturally decided to get the child some help several minutes before a seizure. I was in store to get the pups (7 weeks old) socialist and she was determined to get to the kid.I wasn't sure why she was doing this, and the seizure started. It was what she decided, and I am glad she isn't a police dog. We spent so much time to get her certs for the job that I haven't chosen another rookie for me. The wolf Pup is strickl

We adopted our pup at 2.5years old, we've only had her for about 3 yrs (she just turned 5). I've taught her that she does not cross a threshold without permission, she does not go outside to pee without a release cue, nor does she jump from the car without her release word. I've had professional trainers scold me for my strict practices, but we have coydogs in our area, and I don't want her jumping out of the car into traffic.
I hold her to a high degree of precision and obedience because she is more than capable of it.

I was looking into being a K9 trainer, but it didn't fit into my lifestyle.

 

[EverythingDucks]

I've always used positive training with my dogs. It works great with them. I've taught them basic obedience as well as lots and lots of fun tricks.
I think it's better to teach them with trust and love, rather than fear and dominance.
I'm on my phone right now but tommow I'll write more on my laptop.

Here are some recent pics of my dogs