I would love to discuss training techniques! Always. I can't promise I'll use them, but I will definitely take them into consideration and appreciate them.Originally Posted by gtmanning
I am a huge fan of clicker training, for teaching new behaviors and strengthening training with distractions. One of my favorite uses of the clicker is teaching my dogs to stay nearby when we're on off-leash walks on trails, in the woods, on the beach, etc. They, of course, want to explore, and I want them to, but I also want them to WANT to check in on me often and stay close. I used to repeatedly tell them to "come", which did work, but they were simply responding to a command rather than choosing to be near me. I started to click/treat every time they would turn to look at me, then I phased that out to only click/treating every time they came to my side by choice, then I began to only click/treat every few times and praise/pet the rest of the time. Now, we can go on an hour long walk and they will check in on me consistently, and stay very close, without any click/treat at all. I will do it every so often to keep the positive association, but it's not necessary, it has become second nature. Instead of before, where it was "Omg I get to run around and explore!" it's now "Omg I get to explore... but, wait, staying close is a good thing too!" and I don't have to pester them about it. Clickers aren't necessary, but they help tremendously to mark the "checking in" behavior. Their willingness to stay close has really come in handy, if I need to leash them or get their attention quickly. Fozzie actually stays by me too much! D: I have to tell him to go on, because he tends to constantly work for a click/treat/pet/approval.
Honestly, I don't care where my dog is located (behind me or in front of me) as long as they are paying attention to me and attentive of my commands. I see soooo many people jerking their dogs around behind them, because "leaders walk in front", but just because a dog is walking behind you doesn't mean they are respectful. Particularly in most cases where it takes constant leash corrections to achieve the dog walking behind you.
My bad... a dog nearly died in his care.Can I just bring up one more thing, no dog has died as a result of Cesar's techniques or subsequently in his care, in-fact, from a totally neutral point of view, Cesar has saved many, many dogs from death.
As a result of his techniques? I can say, by an acquaintence of mine, yes. Not killed by him personally, but from some one emulating the show and getting attacked then euthanizing the dog, as countless dog owners do without any legitimate knowledge or research of dog behavior. It's great that there is a warning during the show, but that is in place to protect the company only, not the millions of viewers.
I completely support giving dogs plenty of healthy exercise, restrictions, and boundaries, and I'm sure Cesar has saved dogs. But, would those dogs have also been saved, and been more stable/sound dogs if trained by a qualified positive-reinforcement behaviorist? We'll never know. I'm going to guess, yes, as my behaviorists have saved numerous dogs on the brink of euthanasia as well.
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