Hi Hammer to me your dog sounds like a typical exuberant boxer who had little training as a puppy. I understand he is a rescue dog aged 2. You don't say what age he was when you got him..
when you let him off the lead the barking/jumping up/nipping is to get your attention and an invitation to play by an excited dog and should have been corrected when he was little, saying 'no' /chastising him is giving him attention and rewarding the behaviour .You are doing the correct thing when turning your back. I would practice in the garden (or some enclosed area) walking up and down then letting him off the lead, make it clear that the behaviour you describe above will not get your attention and being calm will, this means when he jumps up folding your arms across your chest/no word/no eye contact/turn your back and do this for however long it takes the dog to be quiet. If he comes around to the front of you turn your back again, when his tactic fails to work he may try harder to get your attention for a few moments (this is called an extinction burst, like calling someones name louder when they ignore you ) but be patient and this method will work . As soon as he is calm ask him to sit/praise and treat (with a tip bit from your pocket) if he walks away call him to you/ask him to sit and praise/treat then play with him, throw a ball etc.. He will soon learn that being calm is the way to get your attention. If he stars jumping up again repeat the procedure.


This will take time to correct, I would concentrate on getting him to focus on you before expecting a good recall , do this by teaching 'watch me ' and 'sit and stay'. To get him to focus on you start with a high value treat (something he really loves), hold in front of your eyes and ask him to 'watch me' saying 'good boy' in a soft voice but not too exitedly, then give the treat and praise when he obeys.

Extend the 'watch me' time and see how long you can hold his gaze lowering your voice to a whisper and saying 'good boy ' all the time you have his attention. Make a sound each time his eyes leave yours to regain his attention, 'ahah' then go back to back to 'watch me, good boy' when he returns your gaze ' now treat and praise.

Do this in a quiet place to begin with, then somewhere with distraction and eventually you will get his attention for long periods. Do this for short periods a number of times each day if you can .

Extended 'Sit and stay' is taught by getting the dog to gradually sit and stay for longer and longer periods of time. Always walk back to it and praise/reward when it stays, then give a release word like 'ok' .If it moves to wards you walk up to it and start again shortening the stay period until the dog has grasped it. If you can't achieve a good recall a good sit and stay can be very usefully allowing you ho halt your dog then to go and retrieve it from difficult situations.
This is an article on recall by Shadowboxer, an excellent trainer who trained her Boxers to a very high level . http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=8049


He also needs mental stimulation as well as running around, have you tried the complicated puzzle balls/kongs and something like a suspended ball on a rope which he can swing on (this must be supervised, never leave a dog alone with this ). Try hiding part of his meal so he has to hunt for it, hide and seek is good to. Don't forget when he is sitting quietly or behaving to praise him lots so he knows what is wanted behaviour.

If you want a book giving good advice on understanding and training your dog I would forget the ones you mentioned and I would recommend 'The Culture Clash' by Jean Donaldson (from Amazon ).

A would also suggest a good APDT training class would help, many charge very little and will allow you to go and sit in on a class. I went to sit in on a locally run class recently, the lady charge £20 for 6 hourly sessions and the training was excellent (this one used clicker training) You can find one in your area clicking on the link I posted above .
Good luck.

No, I suppose what I've taken is more the idea of being calm & not getting frustrated with the dogs.
I have a 6year old Labxcollie & he is so high strung & if you stay calm with him he behaves better.

Hammer, Good luck with your young boxer they do take a while to grow up!!

Hi again.

Okay, here's the score...my wife insisted that we did this 'Dog Listener' thing. She is very into this kind of thing and was really interested in giving it a go. So we did, yesterday (Monday).

We had a very lengthy consultation, lots of information as to how dogs act, behave, think etc, and then a bit of 'hands on work'. My wife loved it, which, if nothing else, it's increased her interest in our dog (which was limited before).

So, will the dog listener theory and advice work? I guess only time will tell. However, I will say one thing. You have to be VERY dedicated and disciplined to make it work. If you treat your dog as your baby (cuddles, kisses and fuss all the time), there's no chance of keeping to the programme!

If anybody is interested, I will keep you posted? If it works...GREAT! If not, I can warn people first hand not to waste their money.

I would love to hear how it goes, thanks for that

I too would be really interested too

I am not an "Amichien Bonding" fan, but I would love to know how you got on.

Good luck, I hope it works for you

Well ... how on earth did we ever manage to co-exist with dogs and have them as companions before we were enlightened by these so-called 'experts'?

There were bits of it I could understand (whether I agree or not...I don't know).

Eating first, then putting his bowl down. When coming home, waiting until he's calmed down before acknowledging him. Avoiding confrontation situations on the walk by turning and walking the other way. Only letting him through the door once I've passed through first. These things, I get.

However, I started to think "you what" when he said that we shouldn't be leaving him with stuffed Kongs. This encourages him to 'hunt' for food while we are away, thus causing him to think of himself as the Alpha.

Also, we are to only fuss or pet the dog if, first, we call him to us or, second, we instigate the activity. If the dog comes to us for attention, we give none. If we walk up to the dog, we give none. He will then consider himself the Alpha again!!! However, we live in a small bungalow on a school site. We are all so close to each other, it's very difficult to determine who's called who over...did I call the dog, or did he call me? Way too difficult and not really worth it.

One thing I will say. On the five or so walks since the chap came on Monday, Benson is not pulling on the leash. granted, I have kept him away from confrontational situations, but he is keeping by my side. he didn't before. Maybe.............

Hi Hammer, well sounds like a good start

I'm currently helping a couple with their rather stroppy, young Bernese Mountain Dog. I don't know much about JF's methods but sound as if what we're doing is along similar lines.

It's taken a couple of weeks to persuade the owners to gradually introduce a completely differrent regime to their usual, he had them very well trained but the results have been very encouraging. The body language of the dog now gives the impression of a much more relaxed, happy dog.... as if a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. And we too had a big improvement in lead pulling. It's as if he no longer feels the need to take the lead.

The programme we're following is from this website here. Some really good info if you go through other parts of the website too. http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

I really hope it works out for you, but please watch your dog for any signs of stress or clues that he is not liking this type of treatment/training. I'm going to comment on your post, but purely to put the other side. There are so many ways to 'train' dogs and I fully believe that there is no one right or wrong method, you have to do what is right for you and your dog in a given situation as long as there is no pain or fear involved. I truly do hope it works...and am commenting merely to put the other side.



AS I say I wish you luck. Everyone is different and every relationship with a dog is different. I just feel that this type of 'training' inhibits something in that relationship, so it's not for me. That doesn't mean it doesn't work though. :smt002

Lets go through things piece by piece :smt001

This is one of the biggest fallacies going. Its hogwash. That womans cobbled together notions [ of other peoples theories which have been debunked years ago ], is based on flawed wolf behaviour theory in the mistaken belief that Alphas eat first. They don`t.
Also, dogs are not wolves, humans are not their alpha`s and never will be. Different species - and dogs know it full well. Applying wolf heirachy, [ and getting it the wrong way around anyway ], is utter hogwash.

That`s basic stuff - it does`nt warrant a huge fee to be told what`s basic common sense :smt001

Great way to increase the likelihood of problems by pretending the world is a sterile place where no other dogs or people or whatever other trigger existing in it.
Sooner or later a situation will arise where there is no where to just turn and walk away [ ie narrow path, dog ahead, turn around - and there`s another coming up behind you...].
It only serves to prevent a dog being able to get used to other dogs being around, and totally fails to allow them to develop any socialising skills - and that`s far more potentially dangerous [ literally ], than carefully managing and shaping behaviours around triggers.

If a dog has issues with other dogs, desensitise with careful safe exposure, make the distant presence of other dogs a rewarding trigger by interacting with the dog which has the issue, reward for focussing on the handler, create situations, [ preferably with the help of people with steady dog who do know what they are doing and understand dog aggression issues ], where the sight of another dog means positive interaction with the handler, with rewards for doing so be it treat / toy or the reward of verbal or physical praise or pleasant visual communication.

Turning tail at the mere sight of a distant dog will only cause the one being constantly turned away to learn that other dogs must mean trouble and that escape is paramount - and when escape one day isn`t possible, because the dog will have no idea of how to read the other dogs intent [ or total lack of any negative intent whatsoever ], three guesses what will probably happen....

You might get them but I`d for-get them - the going through the door stuff is yet more rot, it serves no `heirachy` purpose.
But it is one of the most commonly spouted alpha schmalpha` theories which is about blinding with [ flawed ] science to sound like something mystical for bonding and prevention of dogs taking over the world :smt042

I`m sorry, please don`t think my reaction is at you for writing the above, [ you have obviously seen straight through that rubbish ], its at the numpty who spouted that at you - when I got to this part of the post my reaction - literally - was :smt044 :smt044 :smt044

Nuff said

Imo that`s bordering on cruelty. Dogs are social animals. Communication and interaction is part of what creates their personality and ability to deal with situations. The average dogs mental capacity [ average taken across all breeds ], is that of a three year old human child.

Would you ignore a three year old child who is trying to get your attention ?
What if something was wrong ?

Its so important to learn to read a dogs communications. If that dog is not allowed to communicate then trust me, one day that dog will have a major reaction because of their human not being able to read that dog. The dog will have given up trying, it will have zero faith in their human because trying to instigate interaction leads to punishment [ being ignored ], the dog will become detached. Goodbye bonding...

Having worked on the rehab of seriously mentally damaged dogs, [ including adopting them ], seeing dead eyes because they have nigh on given up on life, or frightened eyes because they don`t know how to trust, having to teach them something so basic such as that even glancing in my direction brings a reward of some kind for the dog, let alone feeling they can safely and confidently wander over to be stroked gently or even just smiled at - imagine the impact on those dogs if the person supposedly helping them applied the JF rubbish....

Think about how many dogs in that state got to be that way in the first place - because of mental [ ignoring ], or physical punishment just for trying to communicate or be affectionate with the person who is supposed to be their trusted caring companion...


Please, removed the word alpha from your mind, it is not applicable, bin it, write it on a piece of paper and burn it, anything but let that woman or her minions ever ever ever apply it to a dog, they have`nt got a clue what the word means so better to dismiss it from the vocabulary than have it so utterly blatantly misused by their sort

Glad to hear it After all you have a dog to be part of your family, your companion, and for you to be their companion through life, not to have a dog which has to be a silent robotic ornament to shove in a corner of a room and only switch on like a remote controlled toy when its convenient

A properly fitted comfortable harness, [ of the right type ], positive interaction and fun training - and handlers not tensing up at the site of another dog or just at the thought of being pulled etc etc - would do the same thing

Though I suspect its possibly a case of the dog feeling unnerved at change of `the norm`
Do you want a dog to be clingy because he`s worried about life ?
Or to be close to you because you are the best thing in the dogs world so that there is nowhere else the dog would rather be than by your side because you are fun to be with, safe to be with, and can create a confident air between you and your dog for the surroundings wherever you may be ?

Only you can decide that :smt001