Dawn and cheeky
I think you miss the point of positive training, it dosent mean you cant do anything with a dog till it is trained
You manage the situations, and try to be one step ahead of the dog. Understand what the triggers are and try and not put the dog in a situation it cannot deal with

As for the agressive dog in kennels
I have only had a short experience of people agressive dogs, a friend of mine GSD, she could do anything with him but noone else could even come near
a boyfriend I was seeing at the time who had dogs for years went to approach it and it went totaly mental before he was even 5 feet away

I haddent heard about calming signals or anything then, we were still pretty much in the woodhouse training times
I walked into the room, not making eye contact with the dog, crouched down into a little ball and the dog came over and licked my hand - was fine with me ever after
No correction or agression and it didnt take ages

- forgot about that one cos it was ages ago!

Sounds like you are doing great
Just slowly slowly there
I wouldnt try and give him treats when he is worried just when people are ignoring him and he is less stressed just have them drop treats so he learns that people can be good
and always let him approach them

A tummy rub is a great step forwards, he must really trust you to be relaxed enough to show his tummy

BenMcfuzzylugs, sorry if it sounds like I'm dissing positive training. Not my intention

I'm just a great believer in people doing what works for them and their dogs, whatever the training method (so long as it falls in line with being a responsible, caring owner I'm not talking about hurting a dog - EVER).

I just don't feel that clicker training (as well as some other 'positive' training methods) work for ALL dogs. Certainly wouldn't work for my lot

Your last post about the GSD was very interesting. Certainly something I shall remember for the future, just in case I come across a similar situation.

yes, provided people have allowed him to make the running he is very friendly - a bit too friendly in fact, trying to climb on their laps and stick his tongue in their mouths! I`ve never had a scared dog before, but he`s great fun apart from that.

good post dawn.

I think its one thing saying something and another in the doing,

If you like ben I could have you come down and watch/help if you feel like it, when I get the next true Bas**** of a dog to work with.
Please dont feel like thats an insult, its a genuine offer

Dawn working with an aggressive dog to understand and improve its behaviour and taking a dog in to board in a kennel are two different things ,you can't hope to do a lot with an aggressive dog which has been left to board with you for just a few days, (although as you are a fan of the methods used by CM you could try jabbing your finger at it/kicking it with your foot/choking it/alpha rolling it and see what happens).

I would refuse to take aggressive dogs to board and would make it clear to the owners that if a dog proved to be aggressive and needed medical attention they would be charged accordingly.

It is also possible in a kennel situation to make provision for an unexpectedly aggressive dog by having a kennel with a double gate arrangement which allows a dog to go from the kennel into an enclosure so that you can enter the kennel to clean it and the dog can get some exercise without you having to actually be in with the dog.

Sorry if you feel I`m `spouting on`, Borderdawn. But the title of the thread rather invites it!
I`ve never had any short stay dogs, so I`m not sure how I would cope with them. I really can`t comment on what I would do in that situation. I didn`t think that was what the OP was getting at though?

Cool cheeky, there have just been so many CM threads on this forum and people on CM's side often say that our methods are basicaly just bribing and going 'oh fluffy dont do that'
I agree totaly that every dog is totaly different, just about everying I tried to teach Ben didnt work and I had to think up different ways to teach him and Mia was so terrified of the clicker that I had to do something totaly different with her
interestingly she is now OK with the sound so I might go back to that as I do find it a useful tool for shaping some things that would take ages to teach other ways

For me the great fun thing about dog training is that you constantly have to think of different ways to do things based on the individual dog, and I have never totaly discounted everything ANY trainer says, its just some of the more extream methods that I cannot stand, as I said on another thread a while back I rem when I was a kid there was a short lived method where to show you were the dom to the dog you had to stare them down till they broke eye contact with you then you had to mount the back of the dog like you were humping it I still rem the foto on the tv of this lady astride a rather startled looking golden retrever

omg, I thought that was a bit of a mith, now that I draw the line at you wont get me humping any dog

the borders we ahve here have to come a few times first - we have had people aggressive, dog aggressive and nervous dogs coming. Trail leads are fantastic things.

We are NOT an kennels the dogs live in with us as part of the family. they have to come over a few times first to familerise them with the situation. So far, not one (people or dogs) have been bitten. Mainly they are dogs from eth NAWT that people do not wish to leave in a kennel environment again or dogs who have come through my classes or one-2-ones.

Dawn - Sorry you do not agree with what I said - but like I said - it was my experience when meeting and talking to people. A lot of people I go out to see watch the programme, and I am always being told - well he must be right to be able to keep that many dogs together. YOUR personal experience has obviously been different. Maybe becasue you agree with what he does, people you speak to about him do not feel the need to justify why they like him as they maybe feel with me. That could account for the difference in our experience?