shadow~wolf wrote:oh love, if you arent comfortable with your dog trainer please dont hesitate to find someone else ASAP! trust your gut. there have been renowned dog trainers where it came out that they were mistreating their dogs behind the scenes. especially if it seems your trainer encourages you to act on anger, like if your dog is pulling, you feel frustrated, so you yank the leash back or shock him. i know you are trying to get your furbaby help, but it may be time to try a different trainer who has different methods, just to see how he does with it. and from the small details youve given about how youre instructed to use the ecollar, it seems unethical and like the dog hasn't been properly conditioned to it, which can cause further problems. like you said, sometimes when using the ecollar to "snap him out of it" it only increases the urge for him to lash out, this can be because this stimulation/discomfort or pain doesnt make sense. causing him to redirect at whatevers making him angry. think about when youre in a car and someone honks near you on a busy street. usually you dont immediately understand what they want you to you, or who it was even meant for. youre kind of left looking around confused, like was that for me? who was that even from?? some dogs can even think that the thing theyre reacting towards is causing the discomfort, and start to heavily associate new dogs or people with that discomfort if used excessively, making it much worse. and not putting anything negative on you whatsoever, but i did notice you used the term "you have to lock him in his cage" when people are over. how much desensitizing have you done with the crate? does he only go in if theres a potential for him to be reactive? is it out where everyone else is or in a private, quiet room?? its so hard to give advice without seeing the dog and with limited information. though it sounds like it wasnt what you wanted, it IS a great thing you considered a trainer first. i can tell you care about your pup and are trying to do whats right.
thank you for the kind words. i am taking everything you've said into mind.
i will respond to your concern with the crating! the "i have to lock him in his cage anytime i have guests over" in the initial post was just what i was instructed to do by my trainer! my goose loves his crate, as he was crate trained as a pup and finds hospitality and comfort in his bed. he will go into it sometimes at night with the door left open. ^^ i just don't want to have to lock him up in there while our little 8 month old captain is able to play with guests outside the crate, it would just make me feel miserable because i know it would probably cause some resentment with goose watching captain get all the attention.
She's my first primitive dog and first purebred. I got her in September at about 5 months, and she's 11 months in a couple of days. This is her as of yesterday. ^^ We're in Texas, so we had to take our obligatory bluebonnet photo.
) and the dog with the easiest life ever takes over my bed and heated blanket every night. almost pushes me off and acts "grumpy" if im stirring too much. it inconveniences her. soooo ungrateful!! LOL
