Oh! O?H has gronnies! i understand!

I remember when (initial training for contraband search) our whole class got told we had great dogs but not a single one of us 'listened' to the fact that our dogs had been indicating very clearly before touching anything even though there had been types of fire arms, gunpowder and drugs pllus our dogs individuals scents...and that we should all go away and work on reading our dogs as not one of them didnt indicate...and we dont want them blown up.. So true when you look for it

Absolutely for me having dogs is all about making it an enjoyable experience for both dogs and humans.

Training takes place throughout the day by taking every opportunity to reinforce wanted behaviour so it becomes second nature.

I never even shout at my dogs, what's the point, if they do something I don't want them to do it is because they are being a dog and behaving naturally /I haven't taught them required behaviour/ they haven't grasped what is wanted of them. Shouting may relieve human frustration but it doesn't do anything for the dog, it just causes confusion.

To give an example this afternoon Chloe was barking annoyingly at something outside. I could have shouted at her to shut up but instead I called her to me and she rushed to me growling 'telling me' about it. I praised her for doing her job and alerting me to a possible threat by which time the 'annoyance' had gone . I was happy because the noise had stopped and Chloe was happy because she had done her job and been praised for it.

So I would say my training methods are very positive , the only negative element is ignoring a dog for displaying unwanted behaviour.

I have one of those

Have to

Wys
x

This one was about 15 years ago and he was very smart, even for a Belgian.
Amongst other things he would also lead my horse in by his lead rope, and more impressively, always take him into the right stable without needing direction from me.
He once even let me into the house when I locked myself out, by passing me the keys through the letter box, on cue.

was his name 'lassie'?

My dobe just learned how to turn the key to open the door if he though someone was hanging around out there Luckily I caught him out a few times and so we stopped that behaviour - once was when someone chapped the letter box, he barked, went to the door and by the time I got there he was nudging the key over and pawing the handle lol couldnt believe my eyes.

Edit - I never taught him - must have been from watching me and thoughhe had to check the gardeners out!

No but he likes to watch "the littlest Hobo" on Tv.

And some people claim dogs can't work out complex sequences, by themselves, to get what they want?

The power of self motivation, and a good brain

Talaq was trained to lead the horse, and to "fetch the keys" but the right stable, and generalising to passing the keys through the letter box to a disembodied hand were his own bit.

I am impressed by your key operating Dob though.

Less helpfully I know someone who had to build a cover over the tab on their yale door catch as their weim would jump up at the inside of the door when they were out and accidentally knock the tab down, locking the owner out

Maybe the Weim also had self motivation and a good brain punishment for them going

Wow those things are pretty amazing! Clever boy

A very special breed

Wys
x

Re observing - don`t you find that if you teach one dog something, the other dog(s) watch and understand?