I read a blog called "Doxie News". The post today was titled "The Right Attitude". I thought it was great!! If you'd like to take a look at it, the link is:
http://doxienews.com/2009/01/07/the-right-attitude/
Janet
I forgot to mention there is also a "Live Dachshund Puppy Cam" at this site.
I just read this and had to read it twice. I thought it was important enough to copy here for discussion.
The Right Attitude
Posted on January 7th, 2009 at 2:28 pm by matt
Today I want to talk about dog owner attitudes, and how to have the appropriate attitude for your pet. Having a good attitude is key to bringing goodness and happiness into your lives.
The attitude Cesar Millan promotes is, “Be the pack leader.” He blames bad behavior on dog parents who are too soft and have unwittingly let their dog be the one in charge. To fix this, he says, you must take back control and let your dog know who’s boss.
“Be the pack leader” is basing your whole relationship with your dog on a power struggle between the two of you. It’s adversarial, not cooperative. This attitude scares people into thinking they need to show their dog who’s boss. It promotes many otherwise kind people to take and unkind tone to, and sometimes an unkind hand to their dogs. Worse, it gives unkind people an excuse.
There’s something attractive to us about watching Cesar Millan run around showing those dogs who’s boss. That dog that peed on your carpet? Show him who’s boss! That dog that doesn’t sit when you ask? Show him who’s boss! In fact, for anything your dog does that you don’t like, even if it’s your fault, show him who’s boss! Tsssst! Tsssssssst!
Does this sound healthy to you?
Here’s the thing, when you learn to be a good dog parent, your dog will know who’s boss. You have all the advantages and he thinks you’re really cool. You are (usually) bigger. You have these wonderful arms and fingers to do stuff with. You can open and bring the food. You can open doors. In fact, you seem pretty much in control of everything, and he’s well aware of it.
Some owners ignore their dogs, don’t feed them, don’t walk them, and don’t play with them. In this case the dog may be living it’s own life. And if this person now wants to be part of his life, well, this dog has a schedule. He’s used to something totally different. So what should this person do? Stop ignoring, start feeding, start walking, and start playing. Make it fun and give it time. Unfortunately those owners rarely change.
Fortunately if you’ve read this far, you are probably not one of those owners. Your dog doesn’t think he’s the “pack leader”. So don’t worry about it. If you feel nervous, trainers recommend feeding your dog once or twice a day for 15 minutes instead of leaving the food out. That will only be good for your dog. If you don’t play with your dog much, just be sure to have a little play session a couple of times a day. He just wants to be around you, so let him be near you.
You don’t need this negative attitude that you have something to prove to your dog. If your dog pees inside, you’re not a good potty trainer, yet. If your dog doesn’t sit, then you’re not a good sit trainer, yet. Both of these things are easily done, but they just take time and learning.
So put away the cans of coins, stop tsssst-ing to your dog, sit down, relax, and gather your thoughts. The first thing you can do is stop being mean to your dog. When you see him doing something you like, or peeing outside, say, “good dog!” Be really happy when he does something good, or even when he’s just not doing something bad. Do this all day every day.
Now that’s an attitude change, from “bad dog” to “good dog”. It’s going to feel weird, but once you get used to it, you’re going to love it!
If your dog pees inside all day and you don’t know how to stop it, just ignore it. There are three facts that you’re going to have to accept here. 1. Your dog pees inside. 2. You have no idea how to fix it. 3. Punishing him will not fix it and may make it worse.
So let it go, and praise your dog for the good things he does. I’ve been hinting at the right attitude to have. It’s to love your dog, to give your dog plenty of opportunity to succeed, and to praise your dog for any and all success. Potty training, sitting, rolling over, everything will be accomplished through this attitude. Am I saying that one sentence is all there is? Yes. For a normal dog owner like you, definitely yes!
And now is the time for learning how to apply this attitude. There are positive ways to potty train your dog. Teaching your dog to sit, down, and wait? Super easy!
We’re going to explore a lot of these ideas in the future, but I’ll tell you what you can do now. Find a dog training class for you and your dog that uses positive methods such as luring (call them and ask.) Go and have fun. It may just change your life, it changed mine.
Here is my response:
I don’t agree with your idea at all. You are forgetting that dogs, as a species, function in a hierarchy. A dog immediately seeks to determine his status in any pack.
I have four dachshunds. Whenever one has been away from the other three for any length of time, upon returning he is sniffed by his pack mates. They need to determine: “O.K., you’re back. Are you sick or injured? Has your status in our pack changed? Meet any cuties? Get any action? Get any treats?”
Allowing a dog to urinate in your house without setting rules, boundaries and limitations is unacceptable. Period.
It is not a relationship of adversary, it is a relationship of hierarchy. It allows a calm assertive human to interact with a calm submissive dog.
But now it's 2 a.m. I have to go night-night. What do you think??
Auntie Karen :sleepy2:
I think you miss the point. I also live with 4 dachshunds, in addition to 2 American Pit Bull Terriers (5 male dogs + one female). My smallest dog is 8 pounds, the largest is 60. No one pees in the house, and we have no fights between the dogs. I have never "alpha rolled" anyone to achieve the peace and harmony, nor do I use physical punishment or intimidation to achieve the results. I respect each dogs individuality, their strengths, weaknesses, and quirks (plenty of quirks in this group). If they have a dominance/status thing going on it is very fluid, and the transitions are peaceful and unnoticible.
I use positive training. My goal is to capture the behaviors I like by rewarding them with whatever that dog likes, which might be food, but in many cases it is not. I do have formal sessions with some of the dogs, some of the time, and use a clicker + luring + treats. I have taken the APBTs to obedience classes, one has earned his CGC (canine good citizenship) and is currently taking an agility class, the other has not yet completed her basic obedience class. I guess the only punishment I use, and this is technically negative reinforcement because I remove something the dog likes. One of the APBT can become a little rambunctious in the house. When that happens I take her by the collar and escort her to her crate for a time out of about 1 minute. She doesn't like being aways from me or the group, so she usually comes back a much calmer dog, if not we repeat the timeout. No "alpha rolls", no yelling, no intimidation.
The other thing I do is control the resources. I control the food, I control access to the outside, I control the toys ( OK, not the toys they are in a big basket available to everyone, but if you are not being nice with your friends with the toys I take you to time out). Every dog has a "place" they have to be before I feed them. They all sit nice, and wait for their turn to receive their food. Granted I get the food out fast and don't make them sit long, but it is not total chaos, and they know the food comes from me, and does not rain from heaven. I have no problems at feeding time with 6 dogs eating in the same room - some of them very food oriented. Again all created without intimidation. I also like to sit on the floor with treats and have them all sit around me. I say their name then give them a treat. They wait for their name, and take their treat. They don't mob me, they don't try to take each other's treat, they wait politely. (I also use some management techniques, i.e., never leave big dogs and little dogs alone, don't leave out valuable resources that can cause conflict, don't leave steaks on the table unattended - big dogs are tall enough to reach, and little dogs are clever enough to get)
I am an Animal Control Officer, and I see so many dogs come into the shelter who are so "submissive", when in fact they are simply afraid of being hurt. Punishment hurts. It might not hurt so much physically, because dogs are pretty tough. But it sure can hurt emotionally. I know I always perfered the teacher who used praise and encouragement for my feeble attempts at learning, rather than the one who yelled at me every time I made a mistake. I would rather look for the "good" behavior and reward it thereby increasing the frequency of what I want the dog to do, rather than to be punishing of the "bad" behavior. In fact to a dog it is just behavior, neither good, nor bad - and a dog does what ever behavior works to get him what he wants. Why not set him up to repeat the good stuff by having it result in what he wants?
Respectfully,
Janet
I feel the methods you use depend on the dog. Not all dogs respond to the same methods. That's why we have thousands of books on dog training. The key is finding something that works well for you and your dog and sticking with it. We don't all have to agree on how to train our dogs, as long as we do a good job at it. If its not working and your dog is becoming a danger to themselves or others it is your job to figure out how to remedy it immediately.
Ultimately, it is up to each owner to decide for themselves what works best for their dog(s). Only you as the owner, know what it takes to get your dog to respond. Examples: 1.Porky has always responded well to praise, but also responds well when I put a gentle hand on him and command him to "sit" when he is misbehaving.
2.However, Bandit, who has a awful history of abuse, Would freak if I tried that with him. He needs calming gentle tones and when he's doing something wrong, it usually just takes silent cues (gestures) to get him to stop or alter his behavior.
I am by no means stating that my methods are "fool-proof" or that you should try them. I'm simply pointing out that what works for you and your dog might not work for others. Ultimately, who cares if I like or don't like your method of training. The true test is....Is it working? Is your dog happy and sound mentally? Are you making sure all the needs of the dog are met? Are you happy with your dogs behavior? Those are the questions you need to ask yourself and then decide how you personally want to handle it if you see areas that need changed.
Instead of spending our time debating over which method is best, focus on finding a method that works for you and your dog.
Amorette
P.S. I'm not trying to offend anyone here, just stating my opinion. You are free to disagree.
Beryl, here, from Montana, with Little Paddi Penni!
Wow! I must say, I am impressed with these different, but interesting responses!
I agree, that kindness and a soft voice, will get you farther, on training.
I haven't taken classes, which I should, but my son, my friends, and I, have well behaved Doxies, through love, time, and attention.
This seems to be one house dog breed, which believe they are our shadow, and therefor expect to be buddies, whenever they are near! (Or just outside, or going somewhere) .
All these Doxies, have totally different personalities, and they seem to have to be trained differently.
And, I love every one I've met, so far! My only problem, is getting Paddi to stay with me, when we go anywhere, she plays like she can't hear me call, and goes on her merry way!!
Paddi is aggressive, to play, with all the others, but never mean. She loves Schnauzers, and a Chihuahua, because play with her, but she keeps trying to convince others, what fun is!
The snow is finally melting, so Paddi is able to play in it, longer! For a while, it was almost to cold, to go out and too high to be fun.
Be happy!
The more you learn on dog behavior,obedience, you will be a better Mom/or Dad to the Fur Kids positive training seems to work the best.Yes I trained my first dog using the Lackland Air Force training manual lived in San Antonio TX at the time all they did back then is the Yank/crank method. Over the years went to classes,read allot of books,talk to others learn all you can. Do only what you feel comfortable doing with your dog if you do not like it do not do it just do the best you can everyone makes mistakes always try to do better if you can. All dogs can be different some soft some tough you may try different things with different dog just do what works you and your dog.Happy Learning
Papbouv