Anyone know anything about training dogs?

[KillerGremlin]

I grew up with choke chains and lots of shaping by aggressive punishment. Now as an adult I realize these methods suck (and the Veterinary Association or whatever their organization is called is backing me up). It's called positive training or something along those lines. Sorry, I tend to screen out hippy-lingo.

Anyway, since this forum is full of people with IQs slightly higher than the rest of the Internet, I'd like to ask if any of you have any training experience or tips or books or whatever regarding dogs. :D

I plan on getting one someday, if you were wondering.

[Angrist]

Last weekend I've been reading a bit in a book of my sister, by Cesar Millan. He really has some good ideas on how to deal with dogs. He's also on... Animal Planet or one of those channels.

You are the leader of the pack. If you manage to establish that, things will be so much easier. Don't let your dog jump up to you, because that's a sign of dominance. You decide when you want to give him attention, because you're the leader.

Other than that, I don't really know much. Look up Cesar Millan.

[KillerGremlin]

Cesar Millan is an entertaining TV Personality, but the vet people seem outspoken against him. Specifically, there is mounds of serious research done by actual researchers (people with PhDs) which suggests that the whole pack thing is not true. With that in mind, who knows how effective the dominance approach really is?

This is where I am kind of conflicted though. I have been looking at reading some books by a few behavioral psychologists, namely Ian Dunbar, who is a Veterinarian and has a degree in Animal Behavior from Berkley. Unlike Cesar Millan, Dr. Ian Dunbar's work is actually rooted in science. I like the stuff he says about 95%, but I think there are occasions where "having control" or "being dominant" over your dog could be beneficial to your dog.

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I plan on reading up on this stuff more, but I still want to caution you by noting that Cesar Millan is controversial at best in the world of dog training.

[Angrist]

OK, I just heard about the guy 6 days ago. I won't break that news to my sister until she's finished her book. She seems to be enjoying it. :p

[Storm Eagle]

I grew up with choke chains and lots of shaping by aggressive punishment. Now as an adult I realize these methods suck (and the Veterinary Association or whatever their organization is called is backing me up). It's called positive training or something along those lines. Sorry, I tend to screen out hippy-lingo.

Anyway, since this forum is full of people with IQs slightly higher than the rest of the Internet, I'd like to ask if any of you have any training experience or tips or books or whatever regarding dogs. :D

I plan on getting one someday, if you were wondering.
That's rather cool of you to say, how this forum is full of smart people compared to other places on the internet.

Anyway, another person you could probably check out is Warren Eckstein. He's an animal behaviorist. He's not really so big on the pack leader mentality though. I'm a huge animal person, so I listen to his radio talk show here on Saturdays whenever I can. People seem to think he has good advice, so I thought I'd suggest him since Cesar Millian has been mentioned.

[Professor S]

My neighbor had an unruly dog who drug her around and always behaved aggressively. Quite literally, I got the dog behaving well in about five minutes using Caesar's pack techniques. Science or not, it works and is very humane. No choke chains necessary or punishment necessary, just leadership and confidence.

[Seth]

I agree with the establishing dominance way of creating a functional owner-pet relationship. It's just been my personal experience with countless dogs that when an owner is firm about their 'rules' then the dog understands not to be a little devil. I want to get a dog, hone the responsible side...but when I do it definitely is going to involve a lot of work on my part to train it properly. I want my dog to bark when appropriate, and behave on command.

Speaking of chokechains, what about physically disciplining children? I'm not completely convinced either way, but I think it will be difficult to raise a child who 'knows' that they can get away with bratness. There was a cbc radio interview with a lady from Sweden who says that since spanking laws, children have been taught by the school and elsewhere to tell an 'authority' if their parents have spanked them. --parents are subject to jail time and whatnot. Seems like a crazy amount of leverage for a 1st grader to have....assuming that spanking is this archaic and stunting form of discipline...
When a kid is soooo young, but not too young to know they're doing something bad, I think a spanking isn't totally out of the picture. It's tough though because there's so much physical abuse against children.

What are your thoughts on pitbulls? My buddy on van island had a pure breed(small!) and it was the nicest dog ever. Pitbull ownership has been an issue in Ontario for the last few years. Not sure about dog ownership laws in the states, regarding 'fighting breeds'. I've also wondered about whether I should get two puppies at once or raise one dog through maturity first. ?

[Storm Eagle]

I agree with the establishing dominance way of creating a functional owner-pet relationship. It's just been my personal experience with countless dogs that when an owner is firm about their 'rules' then the dog understands not to be a little devil. I want to get a dog, hone the responsible side...but when I do it definitely is going to involve a lot of work on my part to train it properly. I want my dog to bark when appropriate, and behave on command.

Speaking of chokechains, what about physically disciplining children? I'm not completely convinced either way, but I think it will be difficult to raise a child who 'knows' that they can get away with bratness. There was a cbc radio interview with a lady from Sweden who says that since spanking laws, children have been taught by the school and elsewhere to tell an 'authority' if their parents have spanked them. --parents are subject to jail time and whatnot. Seems like a crazy amount of leverage for a 1st grader to have....assuming that spanking is this archaic and stunting form of discipline...
When a kid is soooo young, but not too young to know they're doing something bad, I think a spanking isn't totally out of the picture. It's tough though because there's so much physical abuse against children.

What are your thoughts on pitbulls? My buddy on van island had a pure breed(small!) and it was the nicest dog ever. Pitbull ownership has been an issue in Ontario for the last few years. Not sure about dog ownership laws in the states, regarding 'fighting breeds'. I've also wondered about whether I should get two puppies at once or raise one dog through maturity first. ?

Dog trainers like Cesar Millan may stress the pack leader methods, but I'm sure not even he'd approve of choke-chains.

I just now realized that Victoria Stillwell hasn't been mentioned. She has a show on training and rehabilitating dogs too.