[MrsBoats]

Hi all,

Before I get on to the business of this post, just a little follow up to the Pit Bull incident a couple of weeks ago. So far, I haven't had any issues with Sam and returning dog aggression. We've met a whole load of dogs since then and haven't had one bad experience since then! We even got to meet and make friends with an Irish Wolfhound! That was the first dog that has ever made Sam look like a little pee wee!


But anyway, on to what I was wondering about...

First thing: today, Sam was just NOT into doing any sort of obedience. Oh my god, trying to get him to heel was so painful for Sam. Head down, dragging feet, heeling a foot and a half behind me. He looked like I was taking him to get executed! With the come, he slowly moped over and plopped down in front of me. What should I do when Sam is like this? Just stop the obedience and wait until he is into it? That's what I did today. I have noticed that when my husband goes back to work, Sam mopes around the house and won't get off the couch. You have to literally drag him to his feet. Mr. Boats went to work today (he's in the Coast Guard so he's gone for a couple days at a time) and that could be why Sam was like that.

Second question: We graduated PetsMart advanced dog training a month ago and we wanted to continue Sam's obedience. We took Sam to a local dog training club for the first time last week. PetsMart is huge into positive reinforcement and we use a Gentle Leader. The trainer at the new place wasn't too familiar with the Gentle Leader and recommended we switch to a prong collar or a choke. I haven't used a prong on Sam in a year and a half now. Will this be a dramatic change for Sam switching from positive reinforcement to a prong choke? What could I do to make the switch easy for him? I did use the prong today when we tried to work. I wasn't sure if that made things worse with Sam's apathetic attitude.

I would like to eventually try our hand at competition obedience and our CGC and I know that Gentle Leaders aren't allowed for those.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated! :D

[ August 13, 2001: Message edited by: MrsBoats ]

[ August 16, 2001: Message edited by: Hawk ]