I have always used a method we can call "shaping" and have found this close to perfect. No struggle, no hard words and a dog who obeys you in any situation. And it's so easy - a week with the puppy and he/she can be called in and sit perfectly by your side, sit when you tell him so, lie down and stay there, and the most important - stop and stay

training - whats that ??

"hear that Bruno apparantely I can actually train you to do stuff rather than scream at you until you do what want ?? isnt that amazing !! LOL"

being a rescue bruno wasnt the easiest to train - only thing we have really taught him is paw, sit and down/off.
He chooses when to obey !!

Would love to go to classes but his dog aggression doesnt allow it. have never really found a way to improve that either.

LOL, sounds like most staffies I've met, lived with and loved

I took my last dog aggressive staffie to classes (obviously the instructors need to know first) and it really helped to desensitise him to other dogs. In the end he wouldn't go out of his way to aggress but would still get mighty peeved if another dog came bouncing up to him.

Lula is now at weekly classes and there are quite a few dog aggressive dogs there. The instructors are great at training the owners how to handle their dogs safely and avoid conflict with other dogs.

[QUOTE=Brundog;778995]training - whats that ??

"hear that Bruno apparantely I can actually train you to do stuff rather than scream at you until you do what want ?? isnt that amazing !! LOL"

QUOTE]

Big hugs to Bruno - and to you!

Hi sammy
I did try to get bruno into dog classes here but as soon as I uttered the words staffie and dog aggressive in the same sentence the doors were firmly shut on these classes. I must have called at least 6 or 7 classes in the lcoal area and nobody would take him on. They all just referred him to behaviorists and at £150 a shot its not something I can afford to do regularly - we had one who was dire and after that bad experience I havent attempted it again.
the only class who accepted him used choke collars and I really didnt like the way they treated him - although they did have him sitting being sniffed by other dogs but Bruno was literally terrified into doing that and I didnt want him to learn that way.

dani

My training has all been done using the ole common sense approach... Rewards (mostly praise but also some treats) for good behaviour and a firm "NO" to teach whats bad behaviour. I'm lucky in that there are many places near me where he can go play (socialize) with other dogs. So I'd say his home education has been just fine............

*Bet the little devil is chewing a sock somewhere as I type this *

Started training at home the minute we got them home, did 5 weeks of puppy class with Syd and was bored senseless as we were so far ahead of all the others. Continued at home, and Rio has never been to class.

Did a bit myself at home then went to classes purely for socialisation for me, I was new to the UK and didnt know that many people but joined a local club and made friends that way (Hi Wys ! )

I'll always take my pups to classes, but I'll be more careful in future about which pup classes I'll go too, the first one was ok, and the dogs did well and socialised ok, and we did off lead training in the hall which was fab, but there was no interaction with older dogs, so there was no chance for him to learn manners with adult dogs.

I'll always use a clicker now as well, and I learnt how powerful toys can be when you have a dog obsessed by them !

i have attended training classes for all my dogs, especially my rescue springer. we go 3 x a week, and do lots of training at home too, mainly clicker work. i usually do 10 min sessions a couple of times a day. its also a good social thing too and i've picked up lots of helpful hints from people.

Thanks for all your replies

I noticed quite a few of you use clicker training, does anyone want to explain how this is done please

Sorry ive never looked into it, and who better to ask then you guys