nfowler
Posted : 9/1/2006 8:49:26 AM
Nicely stated, JessiesGirl. Thanks for bringing a calm and wise perspective to this.
With my own two dogs--one understands what I'm saying far more than the other one does. After trying this and that, I can tell the clicker is the way to go with him. He can tell right away that what he's doing is right. And he likes the Hands Off approach, too. I'll continue to work on my voice inflections while we're both learning.
With my female--she does not like to do things more than about 3 times in a row. Different trainers tell me different things about that--she's dominant, bratty, sneaky, smart, easily bored, etc. (I've had 3 trainers for her, poor thing, as I've been searching for the "right mix.)
I do think that she is easily bored and just fails time and time after doing something 3-6 times. That's her limit and because I know that, that's what we work within. She's a good girl who's passed intermediate training and has even been in a Rally event.
Three times it is, then. The key is in knowing yourself and knowing your dog. I like giving praise and using words far more than I like yanking dogs around. That's not me, and it shows, too. I have to do what I know I'm good at.
It's like the couple of years I piddled away studying biology when I knew that literature was my passion and it was "me." Once I switched over, things sailed for me.
Bottom line: any training is better than none at all.