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Originally Posted by kaiatbh  Thanks so much, everyone. I guess I'm just very overwhelmed and need to relax. We had a dog many years ago who we had to rehome. We got him as an adult and he was severely dominant and aggressive. He bit my sister badly, so we absolutely had no choice but to rehome him (me and my sister were very young at the time). So, because of this bad experience, I am paranoid. When I read up on Cesar's philosophy, he makes it seem like even a very young puppy should obey you or you're in for trouble. He goes on about dominance, energy level, etc. And he makes it clear that how you act around your puppy and how you choose to train your puppy is crucial to your puppy's development and could make him or break him. This naturally scared me. I just want to make sure I do everything right. And despite all of the wonderful replies, I am still confused. Should I do away with the whole dominance thing (feeding him after I eat, not letting him enter a room before me, etc.)? I thought being the alpha would make him respect me, and therefore not bite me unless invited to do so through play. Everyone seems to be reminding me that Yoni is a baby. Well, I know that... but Cesar says it's dangerous when people use that excuse for a dog behaving badly.
By the way, I'm using a clicker when I train him. That's how I taught him to sit and stand. Should I use the clicker when I'm correcting him and he listens? Like, if he's attacking me and I get him to stop, should I click and give him a treat? |
To respond to this specifically: I think Cesar is very old school, and too concerned with "dominance". That being said, the stuff you are doing now is great. It fits into another training theory, Nothing In Life Is Free (NILF). You are treaching your dog that if he wants something from you, he can get it with good behavior. So sure, keep up the Sit training.
If you introduce your pup to an adult dog, you may see the adult give your puppy rough corrections. This is alpha behavior, and is generally effective in teaching your puppy good manners and respect for his elders. However, these types of corrections that work for dogs are not as effective for people. We don't speak fluent dog. Overly dominant, physical actions can cause your puppy to fear you, and that will work against the foundation you are laying now.
Clicker training should only be use to mark good behavior, and it should generally be used in conjunction with a command. So if your pup bites you, you could say, "Off!", and if he gets off, click and treat him. Just one thing to consider, you may set up a behavior chain here - he tries to trigger you to say "Off!" so he can get a treat, and the trigger is jumping on you. Remember, training is a two way street.
Good luck! Keep us posted on how it goes.