Old school technique.....:(

[laney]

Thankyou Pam , I was just being oversensitive then ? Sorry just would hate to think I'm not doing right by my boys Lx

[sams mum]

Originally Posted by Jon

haha.. I have next wednesday off and I've got a behaviourist coming round for a few hours to work with me, I want to get Jackson and the cat (KC) to accept each other, more of an issue for the cat to be honest. She's getting better and watches him from the safety of the stairs.. then the next bit is really the barking at strangers. I don't particually want him to stop completely just stop on command... occaisionally he will but more often than not he will carry on... Want to try to cut it out now before he gets too big and scarey to non GSD people...

yes. the barking is a pain.. he doesnt bark when out at people or dogs but will if he on a lead and another dog barks first. his barking is more in the house. our house in straight onto the pavement so people walk within an inch of the window.. often this sets him off and my silly calls fall on deaf ears.. then i will remove him and put him on his 'sofa' with a stay!!

Another thing to remember is how much dogs learn by body language, not just verbal commands. Ash mentioned his dad & Kai and I can relate to that. Not that I have a dog of that standard (if only!) but the connection of the dog and owner means you don't need to be OTT with correction, when a look or a hand signal is all they need.

The classic one for me is when my OH takes the dogs out they will pull him and generally misbehave a bit. When I take them they don't.

[Caryll]

Originally Posted by wildmoor

a quick grab of the scruff and telling no or enough at that age is preferable to the amount of peeps who have been on here over the years that end up with an out of control juvenile that is constantly biting/grabbing at people/kids and then either turn into an out of control adult or rehomed because the owner cant cope, it is no worse than the dam would do if the pup was still with her

Grab the scruff, yes. Pin down? I think you're asking for trouble (not you, personally!). A pup's dam doesn't normally pin it down as such - she'll grab the scruff, even sometimes roll it over, but she doesn't pin it down. To my mind, all this does is frighten the pup & make it struggle against you, which is totally the opposite reaction I'd want!

Originally Posted by laney

Thankyou Pam , I was just being oversensitive then ? Sorry just would hate to think I'm not doing right by my boys Lx

I wouldn't say oversensitive - you want to do right by your boys, that's only natural! As said before, 'negative' is just a word, so that you can differentiate the different types of reinforcement. It's punishment that can often cause the problems.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by sams mum

yes. the barking is a pain.. he doesnt bark when out at people or dogs but will if he on a lead and another dog barks first. his barking is more in the house. our house in straight onto the pavement so people walk within an inch of the window.. often this sets him off and my silly calls fall on deaf ears.. then i will remove him and put him on his 'sofa' with a stay!!

my problem is that when i do go to remove him either to the garden or another room he will hop backwards and try to initiate a chase game... he's such a little so and so... love him to bits... hahaha

[sams mum]

Originally Posted by Jon

my problem is that when i do go to remove him either to the garden or another room he will hop backwards and try to initiate a chase game... he's such a little so and so... love him to bits... hahaha

hee hee, little sods.. bit like when i was at school wearing hoopy earings and Deputy Head Mr Burford saw me in the corridor and called me (he was always warning me aout my 'parrott hoops'.) i just ran, with him giving chase down the corridor, my well behaved friend debbie looking on in horror.. i can relate to out pups

[Jon]

Originally Posted by sams mum

hee hee, little sods.. bit like when i was at school wearing hoopy earings and Deputy Head Mr Burford saw me in the corridor and called me (he was always warning me aout my 'parrott hoops'.) i just ran, with him giving chase down the corridor, my well behave friend debbie looking on in horror.. i can relate to out pups

That is exactly it though... if he had a human likeness it would be the boy with curly hair from Outnumbered.. Why Outnumbered's junior rebel is the ultimate kids' hero | Television & radio | The Guardian

[Caryll]

Originally Posted by sams mum

hee hee, little sods.. bit like when i was at school wearing hoopy earings and Deputy Head Mr Burford saw me in the corridor and called me (he was always warning me aout my 'parrott hoops'.) i just ran, with him giving chase down the corridor, my well behaved friend debbie looking on in horror.. i can relate to out pups

[Jude]

Originally Posted by Caryll

Grab the scruff, yes. Pin down? I think you're asking for trouble (not you, personally!). A pup's dam doesn't normally pin it down as such - she'll grab the scruff, even sometimes roll it over, but she doesn't pin it down. To my mind, all this does is frighten the pup & make it struggle against you, which is totally the opposite reaction I'd want!

.

Sorry Caryll but I would disagree with this. Every bitch that we have bred from has scruffed and pinnedher pups when their behaviour has gone beyond what she deemed acceptable. The pups have been firmly held down until they stopped struggling and submitted, which has been followed by submissive wagging/licking behaviour on the part of the pup and a gentle wag/kiss from the bitch.

[wildmoor]

Originally Posted by Jude

Sorry Caryll but I would disagree with this. Every bitch that we have bred from has scruffed and pinnedher pups when their behaviour has gone beyond what she deemed acceptable. The pups have been firmly held down until they stopped struggling and submitted, which has been followed by submissive wagging/licking behaviour on the part of the pup and a gentle wag/kiss from the bitch.

My adult male will also do this with out of control juveniles that push their luck or unsocialised adults - next time they meet then all it takes is for subtle body language such as stance and tail raising for the other dog to know what is acceptable or not

I always use this with my pups to teach bite inhibition - aslong as the pup isnt from weak tempered lines it works (not that I would buy one from windy lines )