Quote:
Originally posted by cinde33
If I want him to go into a different room or into his kennel when he doesn't want to, I can't physically do it. Sometimes he won't even be lured.
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Some of the things that you described could go for my 2.5 yr old Buddy - mainly that you can't control your dog when you really need to. I started one-on-one obedience lessons earlier this month (the ONLY New Years Resolution I kept! :p ) and one thing the trainer told me really stood out - she said I was bribing Buddy rather than rewarding him, and that was not the best thing to do. (She knew I was doing it because Buddy wouldn't go into her house and I threw a treat in to bribe him to go in, he STILL wouldn't go - talk about not controlling your dog when you need to!!!) So now I am always thinking about REWARD, not BRIBE. Buddy gets a treat or a pet when he does the right thing, and only then.
I'm sorry to say that the trainer had a whole theory behind this and why bribing was not good, but I can't remember. She gave me so much information my head is still spinning.
Another thing, there is a reason that your dog gets out of control, I don't know what that is for you and your dog but for me and Buddy it is that he is fear-aggressive and doesn't know what he should do when we encounter certain dogs and people. He sometimes thinks he is supposed to react and isn't comfortable with that so he gets aggressive (or something like that, again I'm paraphrasing the trainer.) What I have to learn to do is teach Buddy alternate behaviors and fall-back positions and to look to ME for how to react instead of freaking out. Easier said than done, that is why I have another one-on-one with the trainer this Saturday!
Good luck!