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You are here: Home / Archives for punishment

punishment

When to seek help with your dog

German Shepherd looking at camera

German Shepherds are amazing dogs, and typically biddable (making them easy to train) and smart (making them quick to learn). However, this doesn’t mean your dog fits the mold, or even if she does, that you’ll always have a smooth relationship.

Most folks who get a German Shepherd either know of or used to have a dog that was absolutely perfect — never made a mess in the house, didn’t shed, never jumped up, never barked inappropriately, never lunged at people or other dogs, never chewed the furniture, always laid quietly in another room during dinner, always paid its taxes on time, never forgot to bring home the milk, etc.

Not all of us are as blessed. Sometimes, a dog comes into our lives who has perfected a different art: making our existence miserable!

Here are a few signs to indicate that your dog’s behavior may require professional intervention:

Your dog is actively threatening to harm or has harmed a person.
As much as dogs will be dogs, this is the land of people — and sometimes litigious ones. Besides not wanting anyone to be hurt, it’s important to get a handle on your dog’s aggressive behavior, because sometimes an aggressive display (barking, lunging, jumping at a person’s face, etc.) can be misinterpreted. In fact, any “biting incident” involving a dog, even a dog with no prior history of aggression, and even if the bite did not break the skin can be grounds for euthanasia in this country, as the case of Rolo demonstrates.

Your dog has threatened or harmed livestock, cats or other dogs. Again, besides the potential for euthanasia (or worse, if a neighbor or livestock owner has vengeance in mind), these kinds of dog problems aren’t simple to fix. Unless there’s a sibling rivalry issue between two dogs, this type of behavior is likely rooted in predation. Lots of well-meaning folks follow the advice of friends, “trainers,” or relatives, and punish the dog in an attempt to “correct” predatory actions. But predatory behavior is unlikely to be wholly suppressed with positive punishment, no matter how creative. And painful and/or threatening treatment (including yelling and leash-popping) of a dog who dislikes other dogs can exponentially worsen the problem.

You’re feeling helpless about, hopeless about or afraid of your dog’s behavior.
If you’re dog is soiling his crate every day, or tearing up the house, or refusing to budge from the couch or bed when asked, ask yourself whether it might be time to call for professional help. Although animal behavior consultation can be expensive, it is a far smaller price to pay than chancing the dog’s life — which is likely to be the outcome when you decide not only can you not handle the behavior, but life would be easier without the dog. A well-known fact is that dogs are relinquished to shelters for behavior problems more than any other reason. Don’t let your dog be one of them.

For help finding a professional dog trainer or animal behavior consultant near you, visit the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants at iaabc.org, or the Association of Pet Dog Trainers at apdt.com.

Filed Under: Training & Behavior Tagged With: aggression, barking, behavior, bite, care, dog, dog training, dogs, german shepherds, GSD, help, lawsuit, litigation, obedience, professional, punishment, shepherd, trainer

There’s Money In Dogs… Well, Sort Of

Let’s talk currency: Dog currency.

Dog currency is different from people currency. Dog currency is all about roast beef, interesting/gross smells, interesting/gross tastes, brain-hijacking sights (people, other dogs, cats, will-i-have-a-coronary-barking-at-this-squirrel) and the like.

Your German Shepherd is no dummy; far from it. German Shepherds may be better than some other breeds at tuning into your wants and needs, but don’t be fooled — they’re still operating on the monetary system of What’s Important To Dogs.

What this means is that you must find ways to operate on the foreign exchange rate! The simplest way to do this is to find out what your dog really, really likes. What’s your dog’s equivalent of hitting the lottery? Frisbee? His tennis ball? A soft liver treat? Boiled chicken?

Once you have this figured out, you’re ready to deal. Create a short list of 5-10 things your dog really likes. These things don’t all have to be food. Does your dog dance around when you get out his leash? Then add walks to your list. Is he crazed by the sight of his tug toy? Bingo! Once you’ve made your list (it’s OK if you make it in your head), begin to think of some polite, mannerly behaviors you’d like to encourage in your dog.

Maybe you’d like…

  • To remain upright as your dog plows through the door to go out.
  • To throw the ball without your dog grabbing your hand.
  • Your guests to enter the house, sans mugging.

In each of these scenarios, we’re going to do a little planning ahead. First, ask yourself what you would like to happen instead of the current behavior. Too often, owners just say they want the dog to “stop doing” whatever it is they don’t like. That’s people currency. Your German Shepherd, brilliant though he may be, deals in dog currency. So having a picture of the behavior we want instead of the behavior we don’t want is the first step.

Next, ask, What is it my dog wants? Usually this is pretty easy to figure out (answers to the above: To go outside, To possess the ball, and To be close to the guests).

Now we have a simple formula we can apply to help us deal in dog currency.

(Behavior I don’t want) = (Nothing dog wants), but (Behavior I do want) = (What dog wants)

So, for example:

(Dog crowds and pushes as you go to the door) = (Door remains closed), but (Dog sits politely) = (You reach to open door)

And another:

(Dog jumps on guests when they come in) = (Guests ignore dog, who is now on a leash), but (Dog keeps four feet on the floor when guests come in ) = (Guests talk to, pet or toss treats to dog)

Pretty cool, huh? Happily, we know something our German Shepherds don’t: hot dogs are cheap!

Filed Under: Training & Behavior Tagged With: commands, distractions, positive reinforcement, punishment, rewards, Training & Behavior

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