Prong collar question

[olive_gretski]

Are prong collars and clicker training counterproductive? Can I use a prong collar and still get all of the benefits of positive reinforcement?

Background: I have a 75-pound, 4.5 year old German Shepherd named Darla. She came into my life about a year ago after my dad passed away. My parents had her for about 1.5 years before then and I can't

Comments

[cottonmanifesto]

sounds to me like you're expecting too much too soon if darla is too aroused to respond to the click. you need to start counter-conditioning at a level at which darla's able to respond. if that is 500 feet away from another dog, then so be it.

why would you pull her away? you can just as easily turn her with your hip/leg.

[olive_gretski]

I haven't mastered getting in front of her to body block her yet. When I try it, I feel like she's getting too close to the other dogs, and pulling has been the quickest way to get away. I do stand in front of her once she is calming down.

I'm definitely going too fast. I thought I was rewarding good behavior by letting her get closer, but that's not the case.

[cottonmanifesto]

pulling automatically makes tension on the leash. body blocks redirect her AND block her view of whatever stimulus is causing the reaction.

she doesn't want to get closer, why would that be rewarding?

[olive_gretski]

She does want to get closer! I used to think that she wanted to play but she just didn't know the proper dog language to get that message to the other dogs. She has had good encounter with dogs in the past. A couple of times though, she nipped, but never made contact. And once, she bit her own lip in the process. We have been trying to teach her that good behavior lets her get closer, but I think we need to go a couple of steps back to other dogs = good things and slowly work back up to contact.

I'd like to get a video of her behavior because I'm not 100% sure she's afraid or if she's just frustrated and doing what we've unintentionally been reinforcing for the last year.

[cottonmanifesto]

lol, my dog is fearful and defensive and i'm sure she'd LOVE to get closer to other dogs so that she could kick their asses - the best defense is a good offense! :) she'd really much rather run away though, so we've had really good success with that.

if darla likes running, then you could put that on cue "LET'S GO!!"

contact is the last step in this whole process. check out http://www.peaceablepaws.com/classes.php?type=workshop - they have a reactive dog workshop which is kind of pricey but would probably be worth it but you could definitely call them and see if they know of any weekly classes of that type in your area.

[olive_gretski]

It's so frustrating! How can she play with my cats and act like a maniac around other dogs? We have been running with her to get away and it works. She's in much better shape than me now!

I am looking into this trainer: http://www.positivedogs.com/index.html because it is so convenient to me. We can't schedule it immediately though - all of our pets have been under extensive vet care this year, so money is tight.

Seriously though, thanks for all of the suggestions.

[cottonmanifesto]

well, say you have a significant other - they could probably come up behind you and squeeze your chest and while you might be surprised, your reaction would be mild compared to a situation with a stranger coming up and doing the same thing.

my dog is FINE with the two dogs that she's used to.

[crysania4]

I always love your comparisons. LOL

[cottonmanifesto]

gets the point across, doesn't it? ;)

[crysania4]

Of course it does! They're awesome comparisons and they just crack me up.

[ichbinkelsey]

Mine is like that too! When she was scared of dogs, she straaaaaaaained to get to them, just so she could get close enough to tell them off.