Sky, seven months old now! - Page 3

Deb & Cee
For you two Beautiful Girls a full reprieve, and i understand what you say
Steve1

Too funny Cee.  We must be a lot alike!  I tell you, Echo is so very strong.  When we do protection work now we either back tie her or let someone else hold her.  They kept scolding me saying "be a tree, stand still!" I finally had enough of that and told them to play tree and handed her off.  I don't get that comment anymore.  They realize she can pull anyone of them off of their feet in a heartbeat.  She loves it all but if she sees the flirt pole with the scrap of leather on the end she is crazy!  That is her toy by golly and she is going to get it!  They have to keep it out of sight when working her on the sleeve, her prey drive is that strong.

Thanks for the reprieve Steve!   I need all I can get! LOL

Lovely pup, but I echo the sentiments about the prong.

Spend time getting his attention on you, rather than relying on 'power steering'

Hurray no jail time, yes Deb we are very similiar. If I am working Jami on just a harness she also needs a back tie or a very strong person to hold her too. Rania I am so sorry I did not say something about Sky he is stunning :) very nice pup. You know how old ladies are when you start talking about prongs , leathers and prey drive.
Always,
Cee

I don't consider myself old but I too have to use a prong when out w/my 8mo. male.  He is very strong and I'm 120lbs.
And if he sees a squirrel then he doesn't care!

I should add though that if I give him a light correction and say "here"  then he does come right back..  Attention not always on me however.  Still looking for that squirrel!  What can I do about that?

practice, practice, practice, it is more like desensitising and re-focus on you. I brought her training ball on a string along and made OB training out of the situation. I  believe in motivation and fun comes from you and not the squirrel. My trainer helped me with all of this.

Always,
Cee

Raina--please go here & order these manuals.  It will make your life easier & make Sky a happy dog.

synalia.com/manuals-products/

The first rule to remember is that a young Dog cannot stay focused for a long period of time, Start with no more than up to  five minutes attention, afterwards up to no more than ten minutes and inbetween if the dog likes the Ball break the routine and play for a minute then put the ball away, this will bring up and the focus of the Dog but keep it short and interesting afterwards Playtime, Keep the leash loose at all times if the Dog goes ahead and the instant the leash goes tight a firm correction, do not wait that extra second for the dog to come back to you, keep one step ahead of it at all times then it will begin to realize the lead must not go tight otherwise it gets a correction, when it stays loose reward him with a treat every time he looks up
if you are at a sit and you want to move off give the command but if the dog does not look up then wait until it does look up do not speak or urge it to look at you it must do it on its own once it does a treat, soon it will know that when it looks at you it will get a reward
Now if you let the dog loose to play keep a line on it without a loop on the end so if it does not come back to you when called you can catch hold of the line but do not chase the dog move backwards away from it as if you are leaving then it will come close enough for you to catch hold of the line
 If the dog does not come back when called and you catch the line do not punish the dog for not coming straight back for it will think that it will be punished for coming back, catch the line speak and get it to sit and say good Boy and a Pat then move off, No dog will do as you want until it understands the commands and that is not done in two minutes, it takes a little patience and time 
Steve1

Rania,
I also LOVE this website. I am learning so much here and there are some great people on here that I have the pleasure of corresponding with regularly.
I was only able to help with collar placement because my training director showed me the proper way to put it on and use it.

I am 35 and also around the 115-120 pound range (depending on if I eat an entire bag of Lindor truffles for dinner-I love being a grown up LOL) 
I started my male late in Schutzhund and I'm paying for it now. He is going to be 3 in the spring and he is tiny about 63 pounds, but strong and very fast. I have to use a prong on him because even though I thought I was the boss, when I started training with him I found out quite the opposite. I had babied him and pampered him without realizing it, and he takes full advantage of me. Also since I am not in the best shape, my corrections were not strong enough, and they were more nagging than effective. Since I have such a hard time with him, my husband recently took over his training and he responds much faster.

I wish you the very best with Sky and I'm looking forward to hearing more about him.

Stacy