Southern by Choice's Teaching Moments- Indoor LGD! Badger

[samssimonsays]

I agree with Southern, one minute is a LOOONG time. When you know your dogs, you will know "when" to step in in my opinion. You know their signals and you are in tune with them.

With our GP, I raise rabbits, we made sure he was around them every second he could be. Even then, they were in the barn or cages so having gotten him in the Minnesota winter I tried to get a rabbit outside with him but it was too cold and wet with snow, deep snow that year yuck! And once the snow melted and I did get one out in the yard with him he got over excited and came barreling across the yard, hit the rabbit and sent him tumbling. I put the dog into a submissive hold immediately and when he quit fighting me, we had a lot of dominance issues with our Pyr, we laid the rabbit on top of him. And for a minute he just laid there. After that, he was never rough with a rabbit in the yard again. He knew the difference between our rabbits and wild ones and the poor thing was probably super confused as we had a gray squirrel that was part of the wildlife rehab center living with us that he was gentle with as well. I had many people tell me to put an old animal with them that I no longer want because they will kill their first charge.... I solely believe that if they are trained and they learn by us teaching and guiding them it is possible to avoid such a thing. All it took was a shock collar to scold our collie when she would chase the goats when we first got them. We needed to get her attention because she was so fixated on them and we couldn't reach her. One time and she learned it was unacceptable.

 

[Blue Sky]

None of my roosters have tail feathers lol. all alive however.

 

[Beekissed]

The pup is learning like lightning and I couldn't be more pleased with his behavior and progress! I keep thanking God for His grace in that matter, because I really needed an easy dog at this time in my life...I'm too busy right now to really work on him...I'll be able to do that more in a couple of weeks, so the fact that he can be out with Jake during the day and is learning how we live is a HUGE blessing!

He has learned very quickly that he doesn't get out of his pen by jumping and barking and lunging against the gate. When I walk up to let him out now, he sits and waits. Also only took two days of feeding him with Jake for him to learn that he has to sit calmly and wait or he doesn't get food. Only took a day for him to realize that I don't want him mouthing Aliza, my 19 mo. grandchild...today he approached her calmly and when she waved him away, he ducked, moved away and didn't come back to the object of play. Just went over a little ways and laid down. All other times he approached her it was calmly and he didn't use his mouth, just his nose.

I haven't seen him loping towards the chickens today, the chickens have acted calmly around him so I can tell he hasn't been harassing them when my back is turned and he has stayed up in Jake's territory all day...when he attempts to follow me back to the house, I just tell him to "go back"...and he does!

I am VERY impressed with this young pup's capacity to learn...almost as quick as Jake. I really am starting to love this little guy.

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

Aww! That's wonderful!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Ben continues to make progress and surprise us with his ability to learn, how docile and sweet he is about being corrected and how quickly he learns things by watching and example.

He is out all day now unattended around the chickens and hasn't been chasing them. As he ages he may grow more playful and energetic in that regard and want to burn off excess energy by chasing or even may develop some hunting type behavior towards them. I'll be watching for opportunities to correct these actions and will still be penning him while we are away from home until I can trust him completely.

For now I've been teaching him about entering the coop(or any building) only when invited, to wait patiently for food and also to be comfortable having food taken away from him by humans. Still working on consistent "come" and "sit" and will add "down" when I'm ready to work with him as a routine each morning and evening. He's already learned "off" and is not putting his paws up on us any longer. The hard part is getting visitors to not derail his training on this...why do people feel like it's okay to invite puppies to put their paws up on their legs and laps?

He's learning to return to his pen without protest and to wait without yelping to be let out of the pen each morning. Some nights he gets to stay out of the pen to patrol with Jake...he's always exhausted the next day after working at night, so I'm alternating these nights until he gets used to it. I loved it that Jake is teaching him just what is worthy of a bark and what is not....one thing I don't want is for him to bark at everything that moves.

He continues to walk right behind my right foot when I walk and does so when on a leash as well, which is like a miracle to me. It's like he's come to me already partially trained, which is wonderful....that pack walk has always been a challenge for me to teach young dogs. He's also already recognized~out of all the humans coming and going~ who leads the pack here, which is pretty intuitive for such a young pup. That little, soulful puppy face looking at me all the time, just waiting for approval...well...that's just the cutest thing! I give him MUCH affection for good behavior, as it seems to be the only thing he works towards. He's not food motivated at all.

His appetite and energy levels have improved, he's eating better and I've not seen one puppy pile in the yard yet, so he's going potty where I want him to....so far I'm tickled pink about this pup.

 

[goatgurl]

I'm so glad he is working out well. just remember he is a baby and will go thru so many stages before he is really the super dog you want. not just teenage people but teenage dogs can be a true pia. sounds like you have it under control. consistency and patience are the keys.

 

[bonbean01]

So happy that things are going well!!! I had times when I thought our girl Keera would never be a LGD, but just my big white pet. She gave me trials and frustrations and I kept at it and at it and at it, then changed course....she turned a year in July and something finally clicked for her...but it took that long and I considered a shock collar on a few occasions, but didn't get one...and today I am so terribly happy that finally she is a for real LGD I think some dogs are easier than others, but I also think it was my inexperience adding to it....Southern has been awesome with sharing her expertise

If your Ben has some relapses to crazy puppy...don't despair...sounds like he has the right stuff

 

[Beekissed]

I expect he'll finally hit the age where his prey drive kicks into gear and I may have trouble around the chickens....I'm hoping this early exposure will be key in helping him see them as part of the farm scenery instead of squeaky toys.

My older dog has an extremely high prey drive and has many kills to his name but never saw the chickens or sheep as prey and I'm hoping that was due to his early exposure and training on them. He's even friends with the deer in the yard and I'm hoping this pup develops that attitude as well. So far he is...we have a young deer eating apples next to the coop as I type this...he has been there off and on all morning and the pup hasn't even looked at him when he walks past. I'm liking that he's mimicking the older dog in this.

This evening he gets his first real training in loading up in the car, staying in the car until I say he can dismount, and being around other dogs and people who give mixed, excited signals. He'll be on the leash at all times so I can give him corrections in areas I notice he needs them. I want his focus to stay on me while we are out and about.

Today he got another lesson in entering the chicken coop...only took two corrections this time before he sat calmly and waited for me to come out. He did great!

 

[Beekissed]

Ben has been behaving like a dream, especially around the chickens. He also is learning quickly(two corrections only!) about not getting on the porch, even when we are all up there talking and having fun. He can come up the ramp but may not enter the porch...that's just one of Mom's rules. No dogs on the porch unless specifically invited...and even then it's a true rarity. She just doesn't like dog hair, mud, dirt, filth(her words), etc. on her porches.

He's learning to heel during the walk, hand signals for sitting/staying, to not use his mouth on people, to "leave it" when we take something from him, and to stay out from under foot when there is a center of working(i.e., splitting and transporting wood)....all of these things he is learning well and quickly. This is not a stubborn puppy at all...very sweet and serious dog to train. I'll admit it....I'm in love.

 

[Southern by choice]

So I had hoped to give lots of tips but as you all know I have been absent for other reasons. Lots of "dog" stuff lately... have a few things to share but don't have a lot of time .

This post is about TRUSTING your dog!


Yesterday was just beautiful out and I decided I wanted to just go out and love on my babies. Measured and weighed them. Still 110-115 and 30” tall (32 with hair lol). I have been busy doing so many other things that I haven't really just gone out and loved on the pups/dogs for a few days... it has just been a "Hi guys" and a quick pat on the head when I am feeding.

"Not Leo" (Not Leo is one of the 9 month Anatolian/Pyrenees Pups- yes that is his silly name) wasn't with the pack, I looked around thinking where is that dog? I look over at the tree cluster by the L shape section of the field and I see him laying there but chest upright head held high... watching. I called him several times... he would not come.

This is an important lesson for newbies!
I cannot stress this enough.... TRUST the dog. Not Leo loves his people and by this time 3 of us were in the field loving on the dogs... he stayed put. I kept my eye on him... he remained alert and watching – looking here there and all around. I KNOW there is a reason and I am waiting to see if he is doing what I think he is doing .

After about 20 minutes or so I told the dogs “all-right enough” momma needs to go love on her goats! I head toward the other end of the field and the dogs went about their business.

ONLY THEN did Not Leo get up and come say hi.

Here is why... Not Leo remained “on duty” because all the other dogs were “occupied” he stayed focused on his job. Once the pups were all back on duty then he left his post.

I share this because even though I promote basic skills taught at 16 weeks never overtrain your LGD . This was not "disobedience" as you would look at a pet breed as. This is THE nature of the LGD breeds. They need to make decisions based on the herd, to be trusted to do what they think they need to do.

By demanding that he "come" when he was called and even retrieving him, in this scenario, would send mixed messages.
It would be against his nature, against what is ultimately the goal of his being- a guardian. This stresses the dog and an unskilled owner can cause the dog to start to lose all respect. When that happens the dog will become defiant. When the dog loses respect for it's master the master generally will try to hunker down and demand it. This can turn into an ugly situation.

Some time ago one of our Pyr pups owners had called and had learned this lesson as they had forced the dog from her field to go for a walk. The dog put up a fuss not wanting to leave the field- first clue should have been that the dog who loves a walk fought about coming out. Long story short the dog kept pulling and tugging and wanting to get back to it's field- What the owner didn't know that the dog did was there was something closeby and on the outer perimeter. After she was placed back in her field she went running- there had been a stray dog on the very back fenceline.

Allowing your dog to become the great dog they are destined to be means allowing them to make decisions early... they will start making decisions by 12 weeks... allowing them to develop their autonomy, explore, make decisions, correct for only major issues (such as poultry chasing/killing and jumping up, food aggression) but keeping their confidence high and not having too many "no's".

Not Leo is the most interesting and complex dog I have seen. Everyday I am more surprised and impressed by this dog. I may do a "Not Leo" post in the future.