I've achieved something today training wise

Zena is a nightmare with callers when the doorbell goes, and although I've managed to get her to stay in the kitchen, be quiet, whilst I go out and deal with it, coz my gates are quite a way from the back door where all visitors arrive. Nobody comes in the front coz the gate is always locked. When I come back in with the post or something, she's quiet, but if I come back in with a visitor, then we have a little ritual to go through with the cheese in the bootroom, sometimes there's lots of barking, sometimes not, depending on how good my visitor is with my instructions and the cheese lol!

Anyhoo, I've been concentrating on my sit/stays for a couple of weeks now out in the garden each afternoon, and I'm up to a good 5 mins, her just sitting there, watching me as I walk around the garden, I can even come indoors, go out of sight and she has never broken it during the past week at least, fantastic achievement for me anyway, with a dog who doesn't like me going out of sight.

Anyhoo, out of the blue today, a face appeared then a knock, at my front window just as I was sitting here at the puter, thankfully it was the garden man who had been fertilising the lawn (he'd let himself in coz I'd unlocked the gate, and I'd forgotten about that!). Zena went ballistic as you can imagine, being a gsd, so rather than open the top of the stable door and frighten him to death, I opted for the window to get his invoice with Zena going berserk at it and barking profusely. So there I am sitting in front of said window with my back to him, with Zena barking like crazy at him trying to get to him, whilst I'm trying to write a cheque on my lap. Hmmm, I thought, I'm going to use this situation to try out all my hard work, so I asked for a sit, she sat, she got up again barking. I urged her away from me (gently) with both hands on her chest, and quietly told her to sit/stay, blimey it worked, she stopped barking, she sat and she stayed This man was still standing there, but it was ME Zena was watching now I wrote the cheque and it looked normal! She got her good girl, good girl, as I slowly rose up, turned around, opened the window again, but NO barking all was quiet as I handed him the cheque, I felt no fur anywhere near me - blimey , I even managed to hold a conversation with him without her barking in the background That's never happened in this house, neither has it ever happened that somebody has appeared like that at a window I closed the window, turned around, and where was Zena????? Sat sitting there all quiet Oh Lordy, perseverence really DOES pay off over time!!!

As I released her we both went ballistic over what a good girl she had been, so she ran and got her ball coz I had nothing iin my pockets!!!! I'm winning ya know!

that really made me smile, well done

Well done Zena and you Helena!

I've just got Benjie to sit with the other two in a quiet sit stay too - it's so good when it pays off!

well done!!

Brilliant, very well done!

Brilliant, well done Zena As you say perseverence will eventually pay off.

Hubby is the worlds worse at training, he would just let dogs do whatever they want.
I caught him a day or two ago teaching Pepsi to bring her ball and then to leave it. Something she is very bad at.
Lo and behold today she did it, not once or twice but all the time!
So you see it is possible to train anyone ...... even my hubby

Isn't it great when it all comes together like that Jen! I'm still working very hard trying to train Dave when he comes home at night with Zena going berserk. I wanted to use him actually for the visitor training bit, but I feel it's unfair on Zena to make her sit and stay when she's just itching to get at him, and sadly, I don't get many other visitors. She wouldn't dare jump up at him anymore, she knows to stay on the ground, but she zooooooms around him and through the house like a maniac, but it doesn't last long, she's soon settled under his kitchen stool.

This is the start of my visitor training though, if I can get her to sit and stay in the kitchen, whilst I open the bootroom door, she will see them standing there, but I want her to wait until called in the hope that it can all be done much more calmly - that's my plan anyway, but plans don't always work in action do they!!!

Considering this was an actual "threat" kind of thing, i.e. man's big, ugly face staring through window, I think she did admirably being a protective breed that she is.

I've also managed to stop her barking when the 4 yappie terriers are kicking off at the fence behind us, she used to go ballistic at them, leaping up at the fence, but since I've been working on that, by stepping between HER and that fence, following her up and down saying "leave it", she now totally ignores their yappings (and there's FOUR of them doing it!!), and wanders off, which is another great achievement for me this past week. Plus the most hated dog in the world who starts barking and yapping when it leaves the house up the back of me, and by the time it walks past us all hell breaks loose, Zena's tail is upright, she's desperate to get at it from behind our big gates, but now I've taught her to ignore it, by taking her ball, getting her attention and telling her to leave it, and again, for the past week, I can hear that other dog, but Zena stays calm and QUIET.

She's not hard work, BUT, I haven't been on "top" of her lately, it was time for me to step in. These 4 little beasties have been on holiday next door (apart from one of them who lives there), so I had to sort it, it was winding her up something chronic, but now we have c-a-l-m, ooooohhhhmmmmm, lovely!!!

Thanks for the support guys, I will let you know when I have achieved the ultimate with a visitor, then I'll be over the moon, and it will happen, just gotta take a bit more work. She's a good girl, she is always willing to please, just a bit ott at times lol!

Thanks Dobermann, and not to mention the fact the I had her ball when practicing in the garden, and you know how ball orientated she is, but it was MINE all mine! Lol! She thought I was hiding it though

oh, but I'm sure she still got her ball anyway, in the end Shes a clever girlie (so's her Mum!)

So good when it comes together isnt it?

Oh well done Helena - one clever doggie and you must be soooooo proud