Andre von der NexxJenn 9-11 months Obedience - Page 6

enable editor not working for me.

Apple , I want to make sure that you know : I sent to you a series of PMs ..

Hired Dog
all my dogs did become familiar with me from puppy stage, thus i never really needed to use the food to establish dog's hierarchical
dependency on me. also never thought crossed my mind, to make my dog to feel inferior or stupid. contrary i always liked and
encouraged dog's independence, smartness, ability to solve issues but leader role must be only mine.

b.t.w. dog's independence is a trait i miss very much. present day dogs (incl. my last one) i see as lacking that trait, way too dependent
on handler's guidance/input.

anyway, if i had conflicts, they all did came from attempt to challenge for leadership, which is normal events during dog's growing process
and typically been resolved before dog reaches 2 y.o. age.
i agree that food dependency works well to enforce dog's acceptance of new handler but even so, at border 4 month were allocated
for new handler to work in team with old handler for purpose that dog not only accept but gradually started to unconditionally obey
new handler. cruel/painful methods for this wasn't used.

apple
did try to post pic and edit button doesn't work for me either.

Valk, some independence is great, but, the final word is mine. I do not like dogs that are so independent that they dont care about the handler. Having said that, the dog must be able to show some initiative in certain areas, hence, the 49% for the dog and the 51% for me, always in control.

Conflicts can and do come up when the dog become a "teenager", depending on the dog's genetic temperament, but, they are usually resolved rather quick.
I really hate the transfer of dog between handlers, I mean, I really hate it. The military here has that policy, one dog may have 6 different handlers by the time it retires. When the handler transfers out of that base, the dog stays and a new handler takes over.

Food is a source that life depends on and even those macho, tough dogs come to realize that if they want to eat, they need to cut the BS out. Of course, when you start with a puppy, those issues are moot.
I am not big on using pain to train Valk. Yes, I did come up during a time when harsh corrections were all everyone used, but, over the years I have become a balanced trainer and I have found that I can get more out of the dog that way.

Valk,
The use of food doesn't have anything to do with establishing a dog's hierarchical dependence on the handler. If that were the case, simply feeding your dog a meal would do the same thing. The use of food allows a dog to solve problems independently. He has to figure out the correct behavior before he gets the food. Saying today's dogs are too handler dependent is like saying a child is too dependent on his teacher because the teacher has to teach the child how to read. Once a child learns how to read, he can become very independent. Same with a dog learning how to learn and learning certain behaviors. Handler dependence is not related to the use of food or toys and is most likely a genetic trait. It is not food dependency. I started my dog out with food and rarely use it except for very brief sessions ( about two minutes) before I go to work. I don't think you understand the value of operant learning and have an old school mentality that you are the master and the dog is the servant. Using food or a toy doesn't mean you are "asking " a dog to do something for you. You are teaching the dog certain behaviors.