Yet another "Help me pick a training program" thread

[Wayne Nutt]

Lardy collar conditions dogs in the continuous mode. But like Howard said, it is a very short burn, like "one thousand and one" for the duration. He might do a 1 1/2 in extreme cases. He warns against holding it down continuously until compliance is achieved, like for3-8 seconds. After that Lardy switches to the momentary mode for force to the pile, etc.

What Evan said is mostly true about the conditioning of dogs to here in other programs. However, Lardy advocates and early here conditioning if the dog is a wild child and doesn't want to return promptly. Of the last few dogs I have trained I did an early here conditioning for: Rowdy, Major and Briley. But didn't for: Hank, Scout and Cabbie Lou. I would guess that I am about 50/50 on this process.
Hope this helps.

[Randy Bohn]

No matter what program you decide to use it's better and easier to find someone to help you who knows what they're doing, reading your dog is crucial no matter what avenue you choose. Tapes and dvds can get you in trouble and you won't know how to dig yourself out of your hole. Buy them all, watch them all BUT past experience is priceless...Randy

[Rushcreek]

New to the site and I"m currently training my first pup. My pup is turning 14 weeks tomorow. I've taught him the basic Sit, stay, come based off of the book "Water Dog" but he has really started bucking me recently acting like he has never heard these commands in his life, this for about a week now. I'm seeing a need to start on one of these training schedules simply because I'm discouraged and not sure where to turn. Great info here - hopefully I'm not too late on it!?

[blind ambition]

Rome wasn't built in a day, don't expect a 14 week old puppy to be solid on even one command all the time or in a changed environment in such a short space of time...let alone be solid on three commands.
Repetition, repetition, then repeat again, then start over again in a new location, then teach with patience some more.

[Chris Atkinson]

New to the site and I"m currently training my first pup. My pup is turning 14 weeks tomorow. I've taught him the basic Sit, stay, come based off of the book "Water Dog" but he has really started bucking me recently acting like he has never heard these commands in his life, this for about a week now. I'm seeing a need to start on one of these training schedules simply because I'm discouraged and not sure where to turn. Great info here - hopefully I'm not too late on it!?

You're not too late at all, but you're at a good point right now to reflect on what you've been doing.

There's a saying that I like sometimes for dog training. "If you keep doing what you've been doing, you're going to keep getting what you've been getting."

Old Richard Wolters was a neat man and lots of folks have trained some nice meat dogs using his books. (He actually wanted to call his book "Game Dog" "Meat Dog" but the publisher rejected it and made him change to a 2nd choice) But Richard's material is dated and there's some stuff that today, I won't do the way he advises.

If you are writing that your 14 week old is bucking you, because he's not doing 3 basic obedience commands offlead, then put him back on the lead. If he's doing it because he's distracted by new places, other dogs, and all sorts of other distractions, that's normal.

Expecting a 14 week old to be good at obedience commands is kind of like a parent expecting their toddler to be more responsible backing the BMW out of the garage. It's an unrealistic expectation for such an immature age.

[Gun_Dog2002]

Buy the video, hire someone to explain it.

/Paul

[john fallon]

Howard, has brought up something that many folks new to using the e-collar may not realize. For those that are using a tri-tronics collar and im sure that the other brands specs are about the same. A "nick" with the momentary button lasts for just under a second and a "long nick"(or burn as you will hear it refered to) with continous button averages about 8 seconds. Many trainers use the continous button holding the button down until they get the response they desire so any length from 0.5 to 8 seconds of stimulation can be given.

Which program advocates an eight second burn under any training scenario?

One thousand one, One thousand Two , One thousand Three , One thousand Four , One thousand Five . One thousand Six, One thousand Seven , One thousand Eight.......


john

[Rushcreek]

Thanks guys, I suspected that to be true but it can be hard to gauge by going off of book alone. Looking forward to the spring here in Ohio so I can hook up with a club to see how other folks are doing this.

[creighton58]

Just wanted to chime in and say this thread and many others have been great for me to read over the past few weeks. Finally signed up today! Planning on following smartwork program but have been viewing and reading others as well. We will be picking up the pup April 20th and I couldn't be more excited, and a little nervous, to start training my first pup. Thanks for everything you guys contribute to this great site! Big thanks to Matt Gasaway and Josh Ward for referring me here and all the advice thus far as well.

[Evan]

Just wanted to chime in and say this thread and many others have been great for me to read over the past few weeks. Finally signed up today! Planning on following smartwork program but have been viewing and reading others as well. We will be picking up the pup April 20th and I couldn't be more excited, and a little nervous, to start training my first pup. Thanks for everything you guys contribute to this great site! Big thanks to Matt Gasaway and Josh Ward for referring me here and all the advice thus far as well.

Congratulations on your new pup! Puppy time is always special. Let me know anytime I can be of help.

Evan