SHAN'T ... So there!!!

Seriously, you do have a point, I do bang on I know! You don't have to read my posts, just put me onto your ignore list!

I know, I know, don't rub it in!

I am not perfect ... Only Joedee is that!!

Trouble is Nikki that your banging on in other peoples threads sidelines their topic and it gets shoved out the way as you take over the thread making it all about you and your dogs.

No Jackie, that's not fair. I am probably one of the more experienced owners of Northern breed mixes ... In particular, northern bred wolf crosses. Siberian huskies are an exceptionally challenging breed for a first time dog owner, and I can offer the op some good advice ... Obtained over 16 years of experience with living 24/7 with Hal, woody, tai and Ben, 2 of those being rescues.

In my humble opinion that gives me the right to offer advice to the op without being subjected to the continuous gNAshER bashing whenever I post.

I am not perfect, I waffle, I bang on, but I do not speak with forked tongue, I give honest advice based on my albeit not very long experience of Northern breed crosses.

I have the grace and dignity to see and admit to my faults. It would be nice to see others demonstrate the same humility.

Yes it can be a God send but any tool has draw backs.
How much do you know about clicker training?

To teach a sit , you click the moment your dogs bottom hits the floor . The click is an event m arker , it means yes , that right , it also means the end of sit , the exercise is over . so the fact your puppy gets up doesnt matter. Lots of people hold the clicker behind their back or in their pocket . You can also make a click with your tongue so he doesnt get so excited . .
Where were you holding the treat ? Once the novelty of the noise wore off , he might have ben more interested in that .

If anyone has problems using a clicker , there is a very good book by Melissa C. Alexander caled Click for joy .
It answers all the questions asked about clicker training or things people arent sure about , some examples - If the click ends behaviour , does it matter what my dog is doing when I deliver the reward and What if My dog isnt interested in food , can I still clicker train.

Whats wrong with having your dogs focused on you? If any one is retraining a fear aggressive or reactive dog, its very useful indeed. The dogs arent being forced to look upwards , its their choice.
Why do you dogs need to be aware of their surroundings?
If I dont want my two to look up at me , I just say all gone .
You dont have to constantly keep treating a dog but a random reward acts as a reminder.
Most dogs would need a reminder at some time .
Its the same if you use another method , if taught your dog to heel by stopping when they were to far ahead , then at some time or another he will move ahead and you will stop to remind him or if you use a choke chain , then you will give a yank .

This is more likely to be inffective training and lack of experience at training.
You dont actually know how those dogs were trained.
I've seen many people yanking their dogs about and shouting HEEL and their dog stop for a moment and then carries on dragging them up the road.


have you told me how you taught Negredo to loose walk?
Was it by stopping if he walk ahead. That has worked for me . I have seen assistance dogs trained like that . You dont even need to say anything , just be consistant.

Its good to hear that you take your responsibility as a dog owner seriously . especially with a dog as large a Negredo.
That's an unusual name , did you make it up ?

Haha, really? The mods here allow people to express their views, also no where have I seen on this site that this forum "encourages" any one form of training. I have not broken any rules, and a good mod would not go deleting posts only because they don't agree.

Sure, there are a few semi relevant to irrelevant posts that could be deleted, but posts about alternative methods should not (and never will) be deleted. I don't have to respect a rule or whatever that isn't even posted... are you serious? Also, just because I don't agree doesn't mean I don't respect other people's opinions, because I do.

If people wish to undermine me and my opinions because they don't agree, then that is their prerogative, but it doesn't mean I have to sit here and just look, I have the right to type, as well, am I wrong? I stand by my statements, even if others don't necessarily agree.

I am not going to sit here and have people tell me things about my dogs that isn't even true. I'm also don't like when people plant their feet and think or say that their form of training is the only correct way. So I mean I'm not sure what you expect from me or the mods, but I see no issues here.

As for the training not having any negative effects, I don't agree with that. I posted some examples of failed "positive" training because the owner didn't know what they were doing. Any device, lesson, etc. if given/used wrong will not work and will result in failure.

He never pulled a lot, but I didn't want him focusing on food like I've seen some dogs, so I didn't use food for this. I did train him like you trained your dog, actually. If he didn't stop pulling when I stopped moving, I knelt/crouched and he'd turn back, then he got a good boy and we kept walking. He holds a heel with a hand signal and the command heel means stop walking. I have some grand videos of him on my channel.

You misjudged me, I think. I'm not mean to my dogs, I've seen too many dogs broken by this. I've never once advocated being mean to dogs to train them. I don't shout into their sensitive ears, I don't hit them or roll them over. I've failed time and time again with dogs, but I refused to fail Nigredo (that's how it's spelled btw, and it means "blackness" in Latin.)

Nigredo was trained under TDI standards for quite some time, and they don't allow being mean because the dogs must be well balanced and a dog who is treated cruelly may lash out, huge no no. Anyway, I'm all for positive training, and I use it for most training.

Never once have I shot down positive training, because as I said before, to me, any training is better than an unruly and dangerous dog. Btw, Nigredo is big, but he is not dangerous. He would never bite anybody or hurt any animals.

I want my dogs to pay attention because we live in an iffy area where sometimes questionable people or dangerous dogs are lurking. My dogs senses are better than mine, so to give us the best chance of defending ourselves should we need to, they need to know if something approaches. And they are both alert and paying attention, not staring at me waiting for food. This is another example of how the same types of training are not right for everyone.

As for clickers, it simply wasn't for me and I didn't need it. I just tried to ensure that Nigredo grew up to be quite good and well adjusted dog. He has a few kinks, but my training has worked well for the most part and I take him all over and get nothing but compliments on his behavior (and appearance) and so though I'm no expert, and I'm 25 and barely have any experience, I think I did a swell job so I share how I did it.

Again, I never say nor imply that my way is the right way and you'll notice that I encourage people to research and try all kinds of different methods.

All I can think to say of this is So what.

There are very general statements and I dont think you can prove them to be correct or not. There are many variables that have bearing on the truth of them. Bite rates for instant, how are bite rates recorded and how has it changed from the past . Most people never bothered to contact the police and I dont believe that hospitals kept a record of the number of people seeking treatment from dogs bites . Due to the DDA more dog bites are being reported to the police and hospital record bites.


Additives and colourants have been found to cause cancer in people, some are banned in the states and europe and not in less developed countries , I would assume that what causes cancer in people would cause cancer in dogs.
Other factors cause cancer or ilness, not just food, so maybe there has been a rise in other factors that affect health .
There are many different brands of dog food and some arent as "natural" as they make them out to be.
I dont know about statistics, it depends on where you get your information from . How do you that dogs that do have natural foods arent healthier ?

Bones and Raw food diet is very popular, peopel swear by it but its not something I fancy doing.

mjfromga, We're crossposting!
Its 2 in the morning here so I'm off to bed .