fascai wrote:Day Of Silence wrote:@fascai
Such a cute face!
Does the knotting in the long lead work?
it works perfectly! I like still being able to have control over how far he can get without having to hold 30+ft of it in my hand. It's much more manageable. I had to get my boyfriend to do it though, haha. I didn't have the patience to knot such a long lead. he was in boy scouts so he got through it with little complaining.
just a quick question, has anyone here done any of the petsmart/petco training sessions? I've considered it with Opie just as some reinforcement. I'm the only one in the house who trains him so I'd like to be able to pick up on some ideas as well. I know the particular location I plan on going to has a friendly, knowledgeable trainer so I'm not concerned about that. I just want to know if you'd consider them worth the time. I don't have many issues with Ope, but we have some small problems with him confusing basic commands. He won't "lay down" on command unless it's on a bed or sofa, and it usually takes a while to get him to sit on command unless he absolutely knows there is a reward in my hand. He'll lay down when I ask him to "sit" sometimes as well. I know it's just small confusions but considering this is something I'm not getting any help with, I don't know how to help him make the connection. We also have issues on pulling on a leash sometimes and when he sees another person or dog it's usually "HEY LET ME MEET THEM NOW THANKS".
I've looked into local trainers first, but most of them are pretty pricey. I was just wondering if the sessions with the chain stores would be considered worth it to anyone who has already went through one/many with their dog.
edit; dog food opinions?
Ope was on Purina I think from the shelter, but I want to switch him to Merrick grain free raw infused. thoughts? I've heard it's some of the best. I don't trust Blue Buffalo so that's not really an option.
When he pulls on the leash, just calmly stop, tell him "no" in a firm voice or make a sound like "eheh" or something like that, and gently tug on the leash to let him know that it's wrong. But don't continue walking until he either gives slack on the lead or he responds to you in a positive way, then praise him and continue on. I don't like the treats rewards as a form of praise... I've experminted with my own dogs and the ones I've trained using just the praise as a reward, listen a lot better then the ones I've trained using treats as a reward.
As far as dog food goes, I personally would recommend Whole Earth Farms. My fiancé doesn't agree with me on the grain free diet for his little dog, but I've seen some amazing improvements in her coat and everything just from feeding her Whole Earth. But I have heard that Merrick is really good as well. I have never tried it with my dogs, plus it's not exactly in my budget.
But the purpose of my post was to fight the stigma against treats, and believe me its in lot of circles. 
