Hi Evie,
I'm not sure what you mean by taking a" Dominant pack leader roll" in this context.

What a lovely piccy! i love Dobies! can you please describe your Interpretation of his methods, ie what you taught & how?

Eg, youve got a lovely Sit Stay there for that pic, how did you teach the Sit Stay?

Or other things like general Recall, Lead walking, Waiting, etc or anything else you may have taught?

Also, could i ask you if one of your dogs reacted negatively when a toaster "pinged" or a telephone rang, what would you do? Or if you had a dog that had a fear of water? cheers!!!!

Anybody please feel free to answer!

What beautiful dogs Trouble !

Not asking much are we

I have to say from the very beginning I think we should each use the training method we feel most comfortable with, as long as that method does the dog no physical or mental harm. What comes naturally to one does not necessarily come naturally to another.

I first saw the tv program about a week after I brought Syd home, I watched out of curiosity just as I have also watched Dog Borstal or Victoria Stillwell. Also I would not class myself as either a novice or an expert, but I am a very confident dog owner. I bought the book when it came out, and have since bought the second book, but they are just a few among many doggy books I've bought and read.

Also I had a course of lessons booked but they didn't start until Syd was 17 weeks old, the lessons were clicker based and due to demand that was the earliest age he could start. Obviously training started the moment he got home, and sit, sit stay have always been taught as part of daily life, usually centred around the fridge I find Anyway by the time he started his official training he was already doing sit, stay, down, wait, leave it, pick it up, to perfection and had a mighty fine recall. Recall I have always found to be a bit of a doddle, my dogs are off lead from the moment their feet hit the ground, I chop and change direction, I hide behind trees etc. and I become the most important thing in my dogs world. I fully subscribe to training being a life long commitment, it's ongoing the whole time, built into our walks and going pretty much unnoticed to observers.
Walking to heel, I started to teach offlead before teaching on the lead, in fact none of them ever really spend much time on the lead at all, yet when they do they walk to heel.
Contrary to popular point of view, I have never pinned my dogs to the ground or mistreated them in anyway and nor have I ever read anywhere in any of the Cesar Millan books that this is something anyone should ever consider with a pup. I have however taught rules, boundaries, limitations etc. and expect my dogs to observe them at all times, but overall the most outstanding thing about training my dogs has been about having fun and treating them with respect at all times. My dogs look to me for leadership because that is what I have always taught them to do, My job is to lead , theirs is to follow. Yes I've used treats, I've used praise etc. etc. nowhere does he ever claim you should not. In fact he states quite clearly that positive reinforcement is something to be applauded and if it works for you and your dogs that's wonderful.
I do have to say that the lessons came too late for us and as a consequence we found them boring and that is no reflection on the method taught. The class was small only 8 dogs per class, the methods were fine, but we were so far ahead of the class with our training, both the Syd and myself were frustrated by the whole thing, but we did stick it out to the end. The rest of the dogs have all been taught in the same way and so far we have no problems at all.

Ok, I believe in being very proactive with my dogs training rather than waiting for problems to arise, so I have always socialised them extensively from the moment they come home. I work on the theory that if I am not bothered by anything in life nor should they be. They are introduced to the hoover etc. as part of everyday life, nothing in life is to be feared, look at it, see how it works, it's not scary is it.
I can see where you are going with the toaster and the fear of water as both of these were programs which have been discussed to death I think, but they were adult dogs, and we are talking puppy training. None of my dogs would have reached adulthood without being introduced to each of these situations as pups. As a pup would I throw them into water, would I hell If my pups have been cautious with water, if necessary I would paddle in myself and let them see for themselves there is nothing to worry about. Although Rio as a pup fell into our pond which is quite deep. I was standing right next to her and she just went to chase the cat without paying attention to where she was standing and went straight in, I spoke to her in my usual happy voice and she swam to the side and I hoisted her out. No big deal no fuss. She now loves water and is one of the few Dobies who love to swim.

I'm refering to the "Alpha role" that CM speaks of.

As in being a leader?

For using your own words to highlight points ?


As a legal secretary, you should know that for me to libel you would mean me lying about you, [ which is what you did yourself about someone, the offending posts of which were deleted so as not to bring the forum into disrepute ], so to bring a case against me as you have inferred in your pm would mean you actually suing yourself as its your own words which have been quoted, [ which you posted in the public domain ].

I appreciate that in your pm you have kindly confirmed in that the context of my postings in this discussion are true on my part which would absolve me if you carry out your inferred libel threat, thanks for that

Incidentally, yes I did "find out the FACTS first" before opening my "big gob and mouthing off about unscrupulous breeding etc.," , those facts being from your own words.

HTH

and breeding crossbreeds on purpose and breeding from those unwanted hence rescue dogs on purpose...

so that you can use that dog for breeding, [ as you have already stated that intent ].

Unless you wanted to breed from a dog regardless of medical need for castration of course...

For all rescuing a dog from a shelter it is right and proper that the dogs and bitches are neutered.