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Originally Posted by Maximo  I agree, although keep in mind you are advanced in training. For someone completely new, a good book is helpful.
I couldn't find the video you referred too. Where is it on the page? |
Oh, I'm really not. Never took a course or anything - just grew up with dogs, fostered dogs and had my own pets and learned what worked to make a happy pet dog. And all training methods work, really. There are free obedience and crate training articles online that are just as effective as any expert dog trainers' books I've read and I have read dozens. Can't recall one thing that stood out from any one of them as anything special other than the worrisome or cruel things some methods teach to show a dog he didn't get it right. I love books, don't get me wrong, but I had the impression jadabug is already a fine trainer and probably knows everything she needs to already.
I'm sure not against reading all you can about dog training and behavior - it's a wonderful reinforcer of the things we knew and forgot but the claims so many books make that there are special techniques or special insights have never panned out and I've read so many. Even went back and bought really old used training books to read - that was mostly a shock at some of the older methods involving negative reinforcement! Also, I always love reading the stories the training books tell on the side and am probably going to get this one day for myself one day if it's more than just a short manual.
But the more you read and work with dogs, the more I guess you realize that any method that is positive, repetitive and persistent that rewards the dog for getting it right and teaches you how to set, keep boundaries while learning how to enrich his life and keep it really challenging for him is going to work well. No one has to have any special talents.
Still, none of the things Hillary Milne described about Yorkie misbehavior is exclusive to that breed but dogs in general so I wonder why she seems to stress that they are different and so must we be in how we interact or train them.