Help Needed! leash training/ E collar ?

[hero4u]

Hello everyone. My almost 2 year old male ebd can be so stubborn. I probably should have started with a trainer when he was a lot younger but Buddy had a lot of medical problems and it seemed I was always spending $$ and at that time I couldnt really afford a trainer for him. Well he has a trainer now. We have done around 6 lessons here. This man has references from various vets in the area although I really never checked them out. Buddy has progressed and can now sit. stay. down. come ect but when we are on our walks where we live all his training goes right out the window when he see's another dog or person while we are outside. I told the trainer and said look. I do not care as much about him waiting at the front door for 5 mins before I let him walk inside. Or maintaining a down position until I tell him ok. I want him to listen to me but Buddy is a very social animal and loves everyone and every dog and he wants to meet and greet everyone. I know that is a good thing but when its time to go or if I am in a hurry it can be fustrating. This man has me using a basic choker chain. ( I know I know) theyre frowned on. Well After I told my trainer I just want to focus on Buddy listening to me in public. on our walks. He said ok well lets start meeting at the dog park . We met there a few days ago and he made Buddy sit every time Buddy wanted to play or there were these dogs there that had a squarrel tree'ed and when we were like 8 feet from them he made me ,make Buddy just sit. The thing about the choke chain is I know how to give a correction a quick snap to alert Buddy of unwanted behavior ect but here on our walks Buddy will dig his 4 feet in ( like a mule) and I have to lift his whole front of his body off the ground to get him to either come with me or not go in the grass and sniff and I am worried about injuring him. I wrote my vet who briefly wrote back and said sometimes Choke chains are sometimes a nesesary evil or something along those lines. I am so fustrated. I really cannot afford a speciality trainer or to send him away to Cesar Milans dog wisperer show but I am seriously thinking about an E collar. The last thing I want to do is injure my baby but I cannot play tug of war with a choke chain. He is very strong and at times vomits from the pressure around his throat. I am almost to the point of saying ok Buddy YOU WIN. Be unruly. but I just wanted to know if anyone has used an E collar in training. ? Thanks everyone.

 

[MeekosMummy]

Have you tried a harness with Buddy? You can have the same sort of control pulling him back etc but without it chocking them or potentially injuring them. It also has the control over the chest rather than the throat.

I find a harness so much better and im more in control. Meeko is very much the same as buddy likes to meet everyone and everything and he gets sooo excited ive tried making him sit calm etc but he just cant contain his excitement he will sit for about 5 seconds then go OTT. I am at the moment trying a different approach where I keep tugging the leash gently and keep talking to meeks when I see a person or something ahead and instead of him stoppin I just keep him distracted by gentle tugs and keep sayin things like cmon meeks keep walkin good boy keep goin etc so hes more focused on me than the person and walk past them then I praise him like a crazy person after he walks past gibe him a good fuss and tell him how much of a good boy he is (ive tried giving a treat too but hes not interested when hes outside). Its not an amazin life changing technique but its slowly working. He now walks past people 9 times out of 10. Its just ignoring dogs I have to work on next xx

 

[hero4u]

Thanks Meekos. I see 70 people have read my thread and I get one reply? Thanks People!

 

[Manydogs]

Perhaps if you tried a Herm Springer prong collar, it may work better for you. You use the same release technique, as with the choker, but it is a stronger feel. Bullies are tough and "bull headed" at times. It is not mean, if used in the proper way, but it might get his attention better. Now they even make them with covers on the prongs. There are no dog parks here, and no where to walk dogs-they have a fenced yard. But I KNOW if I took mine in public, they would act the same because they love people and dogs and even cats(darn cats!) My dogs wear harnesses, but they still can pull pretty strongly with a harness-it just doesn't pull on their throat. Some are against the prong but if properly used, it can be a good thing, and if it is properly fitted. I had a German Shepherd with a brain disorder, and that is the only collar that I had control with for her.

 

[2BullyMama]

I have used it and without it, Banks may have been in a very different place. I get from your post that Buddy is not aggressive or mean... He is just a puppy and wants to play.

In order for Buddy to listen to you... You need to get him to do the basics on your command, it is a building process of trust and leadership. You may think sitting at the door and not moving trill you tell him isn't what he needs or you want, but It is needed... It is the basic building block of them listening to us.

the e-collar is a great tool, and a necessary evil that I would use again and would ALWAYS choose over a chock collar, but my opinion only. The collar will require more training for you than Buddy as you. Ust learn his body language and when to hit that button just at the right time for it to be effective. Is this trainer willing to tech you the collar?

 

[luvmybully]

I have my Tucker, who is 10 months old in training and the trainer used a easy walk halter on him, it lays low on their shoulder so they can't pull or run on their walks. It has helped me a lot when we go for our walks, so much moire enjoyable!

 

[Marine91]

[MENTION=5372]hero4u[/MENTION] please be patient as there are a lot of people here that read threads that may not be comfortable giving advice to others or they don't have experience with the issue or question being asked.

With that said my Harlea is still a work in progress because she is still a pup but what has worked best for us it using a harness. When we first started she would pull non stop and want to go in every direction but the one that I wanted to travel in. We were working with a puppy trainer at the time and when Harlea would start pulling in a direction I didn't want her to go or towards another dog she would have me say no pull while gently pulling Harlea back towards me and then not move for a few moments before starting again repeating the process each time she started to pull.

At first it seemed like she wasn't getting the hint but after a few weeks of working on it she has gotten a lot better. We would practice a few short times a day in and around the house and would got to the pet store at least once a week. We recently progressed to going to our local dog park and even though it is a leash off park we keep her on the leash to work with her in a hectic environment. She still gets excited when she sees other dogs or people but she doesn't pull very often anymore and if she does I just say no pull and she stops and flops to the ground until I tell her it is ok. While this may or may not work for you it might be worth a shot.

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[ddnene]

Personally I would never use a choke collar or snap collar on a bully, it can have dire consequences. I have no experience w/the E collar, but have used harnesses on my bulldogs & boxer w/great results.


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[bullmama]

If he is throwing up sometimes from the choke collar, I would not use it. It may take a lot more time and trust to get him to truly listen.

As for the 70 views, that includes guests of the site, and we have hundreds of guests on at all times, if your post is missed which can happen, you can always it up too

 

[MeekosMummy]

It might take a while for replies too depending on the time of day it is. The majority of users on here and people that run the forum still have other jobs and home life commitments along with this website. as I am from UK i have a different time zone so can reply at different hours to the others. Also im home week days due to having a young child so have plenty of spare time lol. Xx

 

[Jonel]

Sherman is the same way. Just over excited around people and pets. He'll turn all pink, and nearly knock me off my feet. I have all but given up on him staying relaxed when we see people or dogs. I can't even take him to the Petsmart. He pulls to see the shoppers so so much. He is great in every other way. Hoping that he chills as he gets older. We use a harness because I think the way he pulls, that a choke collar would do just that...choke him. Good luck!

 

[Manydogs]

Wait a minute-maybe I am misunderstanding. Are you talking about using an Electronic Collar?? To ZAP him?

 

[cefe13]

I would never use an e collar (I take it you mean an electric collar?) nor a prong (well, I actually think both methods are against the law where I live). Instead, I too recommend a harness as it more gentle on the dog's throat, but still efficient. Training seems to be key here, and unless Buddy is aggressive or you cannot handle him, you probably don't need a specialist trainer. Active training must be better than to force him into obedience by using something that will hurt him? Read some books on dog training and turn every walk into a training session, focussing on the stuff he needs to know. Reward good behaviour and end your outings with play.

 

[hero4u]

Thanks everyone and YES I mean an electronic collar and not to just zap him but to train him to listen. ( Correct and get his attention) There are many kinds of electronic collars. Some vibrate. some spray something called citronilla ( I take it something that isnt enjoyable) and some do use electronic stimulation. I took the choker off of Buddy and will not use it again. He would vomit on occasion and I felt it was doing more harm than good. I put his martingale back on and I am still up in the air as to going to a prong collar or to an e collar but after reading several articals I believe the prong collar is more humane than the choker. I also think that the e collar might give the best result but because of cost will wait until the last resource before buying one,.. Buddy is a very social animal who loves meeting and greeting everyone and I am hoping with more help from this trainer and with time and as Buddy gets a bit older he will be less interested in outside stimulation and walk better with me. He understands NO or BAD and learns fast. He wanted to get up on this end table I have in the living room so he could look outside thru the sliders and see everything down out back. I live on the fifth floor of a condo and there is a huge back yard area with walks and people with their dogs ect and after telling him NO BUDDY maybe 2 times he knows not to get up on that table ( his nails scrath the top) so it isnt like he is a stupid animal. He is very bright. I guess with consistency and repetition he will learn but in the process I can become fustrated. Thanks everyone,

 

[2BullyMama]

He is very bright. I guess with consistency and repetition he will learn but in the process I can become fustrated.

it is a long and frustrating road, but worth every minute when you see the great results!

Good luck and please keep us posted