You want to bust a trash-diving and deer-chasing dog off behavior it’s had free reign to do its entire life?
Be prepared to crank up the collar.
Be prepared to crank up the collar.
No, you do not have to be cruel or mean, but most likely you are going to have to do a little more than "tap on its shoulder" the first few times, and you are going to have to be 100 percent consistent and have it on a long line as well.
Expect a lot of confusion the first 20 times you give a real correction. Put a long line on that dog so you can gently pull it in the right direction after it gets a mild zap for doing what’s been uncorrected for so long.
Keep the dog hungry and toss a cookie every once in a while when it walks away from self-rewarding bad behavior. Fade off the rewards, but never fade off the punishment for doing wrong. In time, the punishment may be little more than a very small tap — a reminder of an old punishment and a new way of doing business.
But right now? You’re probably going to have to put a small sting in that correction.
Let’s be clear: this is not puppy training for uncoded tricks. This is putting a quick stop to long-standing, dangerous, and socially destructive self-rewarding behavior.
You’re not going to change self-rewarding bullshit in an old dog with cookies and toy tugs alone.
Rewards do not not stop bad behavior -- they get you more of it.
Someone has been training this dog to engage in bad behavior for a very long time, by either ignoring it, rewarding it, or being very inconsistent and soft when it comes to consequences.
You are here to stop that bad behavior. Now. Today.
Sure you can "shoot the dog," but I’m an old softy and I say let’s try discomfort before death. Maybe if the old dog “feels the heat “ with a tapping e-collar and a long line, it'll “see the light”.
And remember: If it’s not working yet, just increase the collar level until the mild discomfort of "Edison Medicine" begins to break through the dog’s natural narcissism, ADD, OCD, and self-seeking.
Self-will run riot tends to stop when corrective taps are applied and only good behavior is rewarded.
Be consistent.
Don’t talk a lot — don’t argue.
An electric fence does not explain — it teaches by well-timed and always consistent consequences.
Changing long-standing, dangerous, and socially destructive self-rewarding behavior in an old dog is different than teaching a puppy how to do a trick.
Be consistent.
Don’t talk a lot — don’t argue.
An electric fence does not explain — it teaches by well-timed and always consistent consequences.
Changing long-standing, dangerous, and socially destructive self-rewarding behavior in an old dog is different than teaching a puppy how to do a trick.
And yes, even a mild correction is going to be seen as “painful" and "scary" to an old dog set in its trash-diving and chicken-stealing ways.
That’s the point.
That’s how change works.
No one ever stopped self-rewarding behavior when they were having a "good day".
Bring the "pain" and you bring the change.
And how much “pain” are we talking about? Oh, it might be dramatic; you might have to actually put the e-collar on… vibrate! 😀 🤷♂️
1 comment:
A friend had a bird dog that would run though the flowers chasing butterflies, ignoring all off lead field commands. A frustrating distracted dog it was. He is a good dog trainer and had to resort to some Edison Medicine. First time he put the collar on, the dog, he put it on a fairly high level. The dog was turned into the field, leaping and bounding around at everything, except scenting and looking for quail in the field. He turned on the correction. The dog did a somersault in the field and came straight back to him. He found it so satisfying to see that dog act like it was a bolt from the dog God(s). Never had to use it that strongly again. The buzz was enough.
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