I can't really see myself doing that.
The way you train has to be suited to what kind of person you are and the circumstances you live in.
Not least the kind of dog you have and what your expectations are for that dog.
I always tell people to make a short list of what they want the dog to do when ordered to do so, and then work from that.
No reason to teach them a lot of stuff that has no actual use.......play dead, be a dead Nazi, roll over etc.
That shouldn't be taken to mean that I wasn't a great fan of Skidboot.
Amazing dog and amazing trainer, they were born for each other.
A lot of the stuff I do, simply wouldn't work if I wasn't a natural alpha male or if I had kids.
I don't train dogs, I train wolves. That is how I look at it.
Have read a lot about wolves and wolf psychology over the years.
I try to look at the way a wolf pack functions, and see my dogs and myself as pack members.
So I do a LOT of stuff that dog trainers warn you against doing.
" Never play fighting games with males of the big, powerful breeds"
Bullshit!
I do that all the time. I simply make sure I win each and every time.
We can all have a good time pulling at an old towel, seeing who is the strongest.
With me being old and the size of dogs I have, it surely ain't me.
So if I'm about to lose, I simply say:" Enough. Give it to me!"
Easy as that. Old Alpha male wins again. Not by physical strenght, but by force of personality.
" Never feed your dog at the table, or they'll end up begging all the time for food"
Bullshit!
I feed my dogs at the table,because packs eat together, that helps strenghtening the whole pack feeling.
But when I say, " No more, good bye!" the doggies know it is time to leave an woe be upon the one who doesn't.
That is something you can't do when you have kids.
They'll side with the dogs and try to slip them morsels.
I never give an order and don't see it through.
If I say " Lay down and stay" we'll work at it till it is done, I never quit.
Personal record on how well that one works is 4 hours.
Got tangled into a Police K-9 training in the woods, laid the dogs down, so they wouldn't interfere and picked them up 4 hours later, when the cops were done.
Impressed the hell out of the local K-9 unit, which is always a good thing.
I had a problem with that order and my Giant Schnauzer/Alsatian mix, Jack.
He simply refused to do it, too humiliating for mentally strong dog like him.
So he would end up painting himself into a corner from where he couldn't get out, just trying to avoid doing it , and the whole exercise would go to hell.
I talked it over with a buddy, who is a really good trainer ( Using a completely different system, on completely different dogs) and finally simply stopped trying to get him to do it for 4-5 months, untill he had forgotten about feeling humiliated.
Then I started up again, with a lot of " good dog!" and now after 2 years it works.
Gary pretty much said it.
They have to do stuff, because they want to please me.
Make old Alpha male happy and all sorts of good shit happens.
For a long while there was a trend in training, that you should assert your Alpha status by denying the dogs anything, never let them walk through a door before you, assert yourself physically etc.
Bullshit!
A good Alpha male in a wolf pack is one who has a forceful personality and makes good things happen for the pack.
Today a Norwegian wood turner arrived to pick up a load of good turning blanks.
We traded for 20 pds of dried Norwegian codfish, which is almost impossible to get here and is just the best dog candy.
Dogs and I opened that box together and they had a piece each.
I feed them according to rank, so old Sam got the first piece, Thais the second and the overgrown pup, Jack, the third.
Notice how they each politely wait for their turn, even if this is totally outstandingly good food, instead of acting like a bunch of Japanese entering a subway train.
Do you think they feel they have a great alpha male today?
We have a lot of fun together, but I'm always in charge.
A well functioning pack.
That is really all it is about.
