Posted by Hogbender on July 20, 2009, 9:52 am
66.90.201.33
I thought I might share a little more about her pup.
I did test his drives that first meeting. I like to know where the dog it at with every sort of stimulation. He looked at the flirt pole but did not have the confidence to leave her side. A Prey Trainer would have washed him out on the spot. That was when she told me that he had been to four homes in his 12 months and one day on the planet. Because of in insecurities, he would not leave her side for anything. He was locking up out of fear, and refused to look me in the eye.
I got down on all fours to appear less threatening and let him settle. Then I pushed him a bit. Not physically, but emotionally I called him a Punk Ass Bi#ch. I informed him of all of the vile things I was going to do to him. He may not have balls any more but he was not going to take that lying down. He gave me a very hesitant booger bark and the tiniest of growls. I rolled away emitting fear, saying "praise praise praise praise praise praise praise praise your damn dog". When she gave me her extremely poor interpretation of praise for her dog, I stood up to give her a modicum of cussing. She had emitted all the emotion of a Q-Tip. She did not notice that her dog had already raised his head and tail up more than ever before, and he told me that I needed to just step back, with a dandy little alert. She being not as smart as her dog, just now realized a difference, and her praise still sucked but improved.
Now that his confidence level is up enough to work, I push in a different way. I tell him that I am going to do very bad things to Mom. He gets really nasty about that.
Her praise still sucks, but she sure sees the difference it makes in her dog! As she improves, so will his confidence level, until they are an unbeatable team. How far he goes is up to her ability to share her intentions for him, with him. Any stable working dog is willing to die meeting the expectations of their stable handler if the confidence, the bond, and the understanding are in place. The only exception I know for this rule is pain. Once sufficient pain is introduced, the dog will quit you. The required amount of pain seems genetically dependent. With some breeds, you take what you get. That level can be built up in some other breeds. Some breeds can take it from birth!
I will be the first to admit that some breeds are now too stupid to ever fully understand. The AKC will breed them with just enough brain cells to breathe.
Some dogs would take so long that it just ain't worth it. Those dogs have generally been crashed too hard, or too many times. They could also be breeds that are not bred to work with you, rather for you.
Some Handlers could not raise a stable dog if their life depended on it.
With some dogs, that would mean a quick death because they will never have enough ass to grow into the attitude.
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