calliecritturs
Posted : 7/17/2010 11:54:33 PM
punkchica321
When he does this I make a deep grunting sort of noise and say 'no' in a stern tone before telling him to sit. Which doesn't always work so I will show him a treat and usually that does the trick and he listens.
But you don't want him to ONLY listen to you when you have food in your hand -- that's not obedience -- that's a bribe.
It's *not* just your voice -- you truly can give off mixed signals if you ONLY use your voice. Remember, dogs communicate with other dogs and they never *say* a word. They read each other by smell and they read each other by visual cues -- like how tense the skin/muscles are, ear position, tail position ...
Altho my Grandfather could wriggle his ears it wasn't horribly effective as a dog training tool and I'm not even gonna "go there" about wagging your ... er ....
But you CAN show tension in your body and give Simba the cue that you are absolutely expecting to be listened to. it's habit more than anything ... but it will back up your words better than anything.
Don't misunderstand -- I'm not talking "agression" -- I'm simply saying this will make Simba "hear" you better.
Think of that one teacher you 've had in school that EVERYONE listened to -- the kids didn't disrespect this teacher. Now think back to their voice and how they meant every word. YOu could tell when they really wanted something done. It was not just in their words -- it was in their tone.
Another suggestion -- next time instead of a ball, take a Kong outside. Yep -- like you'd stuff with something in his crate?
They are RUBBER and they bounce like heck -- BUT ... because of that "snowman" (sorta 3 balls on top of each other) shape -- they will bounce COMPLETELY unreliably. They can't predict where it will go and it can be a WHOLE lot of fun to bounce a Kong around in the yard.
(edited because I can't spell tonight)