My experience has been (owning large breed dogs with a bad rap) that some people just don't like dogs. There's nothing I can do to "prove" anything that will change their mind about my dogs or dogs in general. Expecially when there are babies in the equation, generally the parents would like to enjoy themselves without having to have eyes in the back of their head, constantly keeping the child away from the dogs. When people just drop in I don't make a huge effort to "move"

I didn't want this thread to turn into a "SchH = e-collars" thread, but for anyone who is more interested in SchH training in general (this is not about e-collars), this is a really great thread on the GSD board. These are some really great breeders, trainers, and helpers that have been surrounded by working dogs for decades. They are talking specifically about SchH and how in order to maintain the true breed test there *must* be "balance" - balance in the drives used, balanced

Good question. A prong collar can acutally be -R or +P, same with an e-collar. Let's say I have one of these on my dog and he is wandering off so I recall him. If I give him a second or so to respond and then nick the e-collar or pop the prong because he didn't obey, that's a positive punishment (punishing the dog for not responding)...I applied a punishment because the dog did not do what I wanted. Now say in the same scenario, I give the recall command and immediately start giving quick

IMO the whole "herding behavior" think is not even relevant and I never understand what is meat by that. "Herding behaviors" are really just a conglomorate of other drives with some control work and training thrown into the mix. Circling dogs, biting at hocks...that's not herding behavior that's a dog charging another dog and biting it plain and simple. I have dogs that have actually worked on sheep...one would *never* behave this way toward another dog despite her excellent

[quote user="tiffy"] I have a herder and the point of "herding" is to move the intended target where they want. There should never be biting involved! [/quote] This is the problem with making blanket statements about "herding behavior". In Germany, the GSD that do tending DO have to bite in order to move livestock and also train in protection and perform courage tests that involve attacks on a human (stealing the sheep). The dogs create a moving fence around 300-1200

[quote user="BEVOLASVEGAS"] I'm afraid that when the woman started lecturing on herding behaviors, I would have lost it & attempted to beat the hell-o out of her. That's just me though. [/quote] No kidding! Her dog was not under her control, it charged and bit another dog, period. Gets my blood boiling. DH was charged by a dog with Nikon the other day, and Nikon is very dog aggressive when a strange dog gets up in his face. I said lucky I wasn't there or I would have had

[quote user="spiritdogs"] Sorry for your loss, Kenya. Good long lifespan for a GSD, and a better way to go than some I could think of. May her daughter be as fortunate to live a long life, and have an easy end. That's what I would wish for my own dogs, too, and everyone else's on this board. [/quote] I really hope so! Her father lived to be 14. Dastra was going deaf, but I was with her just a few weeks ago and she was up and about (as much as a 15 year old dog can be in a house

Personally, I belive that how quickly a dog "recovers" from a handler mistake/miscommunication/tough correction is mostly determined by the temperament of the dog. That said, the training method would also take into account the temperament of the dog, so hopefully the handler can reliably predict how a dog will react to any reward or punishment and that a mistake would not be enough to ruin or shut down the dog. I've made "mistakes" with Kenya where I've vocalized my frustration

Kenya is somewhat like this. I have crated her on and off, way more often not, but when I do it's no big deal and it doesn't matter if the crate is in the car, the house, someone else's house, a dog show...she just goes in and lies down. I think she really likes to "den" (when I don't crate her at home she makes a den under my big desk) and feels very safe and secure in the crate, especially if it's covered.

I am tired and blistered but got a lot done today! I've been doing chores for 12 hours. I washed all my curtains, upholstery, towels, and dog bedding, I cleaned all the window sills and blinds, wiped out light fixtures, dusted, vacuumed, sorted through bills and papers, I think I'm on my 6th load of laundry, totally cleaned out and vacuumed my van (had to take dog kennels out and put seats back in), raked the property again (DH helped with this), hung all the clean curtains, did some general