Dutch Shepherd Forum

well.........maybe except the trainers who should know this. But reading this and really GETTING it will solve so many problems.

It is a link to a great article on teaching in the proper order and when you get the order wrong, training will go wrong. The dog will get blamed. Humans need to look at themselves when the animal does not do what the human is asking, and look at " did I ask properly" "does the animal know what I am asking?"

http://www.collared-scholar.com/order-m ... r-success/

Good article!

I disagree a bit about not using obedience to address aggression. The company I work for expects “sit no matter what”. The rule is the same for dog aggressive dogs, regardless of whether there is a dog walking three feet behind them. We start with simple stuff (order DOES matter), start with positive reward systems and minimal distraction, teach them the word sit, gradually increase simple distractions like distance and time, once those are reliable, introduce dogs at a distance, and so on. In my experience, strict obedience to command “sit means sit no matter what” is the most reliable way to address behavioural issues. Every time that dog does as you ask and learns nothing bad happens, you gain their trust. They will start to do it for you, not just because you’ve reinforced yourself time and again but because they trust that your way works best for them too.