Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly  Oh, trust me, she will come if you entice her with warm, boiled chicken or a chew bone or squeaky toy or whatever she loves and you do it as suggested and do it with enthusiasm, consistently, leadership and lots of loving patience. Trust me, dogs aren't that different - all it takes is someone they trust to work regularly and patiently with them over and over until they get it. And they do eventually get it and start to work and learn unless there is a problem. And you know what? The problem is almost always with the teacher. It sounds as if you have lost or never had your dog's complete trust from perhaps being a little scary to her, aren't patient enough, or it could be you don't represent an authority figure to her or don't have a lot of skills handling dogs. I recall a few threads from you in the past asking for help trying to teach or control her and good advice was given then. Sounds as if none of it worked that well for you but unless your dog is ill or has a learning disability, the problem is with the teacher and not the doggie. Wait - wait - don't feel bad - a lot of people can't train or handle dogs well!!! They either love them too much to be very firm or they are unsure themselves, may be a little too hard on the dog and expect too much - there can be many reasons why a dog can't learn from someone. Trust me - the majority of people are like that and that's probably why so many dogs are taken to Animal Shelters. You can call shelters and talk to works and misbehavior and lack of housebreaking are probably the biggest reasons people really give up their dogs. They may say they are moving or give some other excuse but the real reason - dog misbehavior/lack of housebreaking. They can't housebreak or teach them how to behave and the dog bites, barks all the time, jumps up on everybody that walks close to it, dirties the house and guards its food - things like that. Dogs like that can even get dangerous around the children. Lots and lots of folks like that that simply don't know how to train. And if you are one of those and your dog won't listen to you, for whatever reason, it is better to face it now and be done with trying to train your girl without some serious professional help.
That being the case, you will want to use a dog trainer who comes highly recommended for being able to teach people how to handle their dogs first and foremost and who can patiently sit down with you and step by step show you what to do, the right level of authority and enthusiasm and yet when to be matter-of-fact. There are likely no other answers for you unless you to find a good trainer who loves to teach people how to teach their own dogs and keep it up. I sure wish I lived close by you as I could show you how to work with and train your dog in such a way she would respond and enjoy the whole process.
A good trainer who has trained all kinds of dogs, even the toughest of tough cases, will get results with your dog and show you how to do that, too. You can likely find someone who is well-versed in dog-training and, more important, people training, who can come and show you exactly what to do and how to become a teacher and how to "read" your own dog as they change their moods, etc.. You might not find someone the first time or even the second but keep looking and you can likely find someone to help you out. Best of luck to you. |