# Doesn't like other dogs on sight



## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Hi conni,
A Golden Retriever expert I am not. I'm a learner on this board. However it seems to me that your Golden simply needs training. For instance, instead of distracting him, perhaps you should make it clear to him that you object to his actions. I suppose I'd just give a yank on the chain and give him a sharp no. Then catch the time he is well behaved and praise the heck out of him. I'm sure others have effective training ideas. I think it will take time, but if you are consistant in letting him know that his behavior is wrong, he'll figure it out.

I bet he has been trained to behave at the dog classes. But on your walks he's out of that element and follows a different set of rules.

Good luck!!!!
Lucky's Mom


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## Conni (Nov 10, 2005)

*Thank you Lucky's mum*

Thank you Lucky's mum
I think you are right about just having been trained to be good at the training classes, as he seems to know that this is a working place no matter which dog class we visit(we visit three different ones). I have tried to tell him that growling at other dogs is unacceptable and I have tried to yank him back with a sharp no but he gets himself in such a state that he is quite hard to control,he is a rather big male. Are there any other suggestions?
Thank you.
Conni


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I weigh 88 pounds and don't quite reach 5 foot. I guess I might check in on replies to this post for future referance.


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## Conni (Nov 10, 2005)

Hi Lucky's Mum
Thank You For Your Swift Replies Yes I Need Some Help Too As He Had Me Over Once Or Twice When He Really Gets Going .distracting Him Does Work And Maybe I Am Asking Miracles, Maybe I Am Too Impatient Because He Is A Lovely Dog And I Want To Show Him Off At His Best Which He Is Not Showing When He Sees Another Dog.take Care Conni


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Well Connie, I bet you've never seen The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographics channel. We recently changed our satellite programming and now I can watch all the episodes (Tivo'ed)... I've quickly become a devoted fan to this show and have noticed there is a underlying theme to solving all dog problems according to Ceasar Millan (the Dog Whisperer). So I think I know what Ceasar would say to you...

You need to let your dog know who is in control... first put the collar up high on the dog's neck (just behind the ears) and never let your dog walk in front of you... always keep him on the side of you (head even with your leg or just slightly behind)... and don't jerk the lead backwards but rather in the up direction. Also you must catch your dog at the very first show of any excitment and not allow him to escalate before you react... Ceasar will detect a simple eye movement of the dog as he first tries to make eye contact with the other dog and right then Ceasar reacts swiftly with a leash correction. He makes it all look so simple... and he is actually able to bring about dramatic changes in a dog's behavior within minutes and sometimes within even seconds! Oh and I almost forgot... you must always walk with confidence... head up, shoulders back, brisk pace and a relaxed body posture.

Hey, I'm just telling you what Ceasar would say...


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Hello Monomer,
My 13 week pup veiws my husband as "alpha" and walks perfectly with him. With me its a constant yank and drag. So I'll get him a collar...I've been using a choke chain as that is what I had when I got him....and start showing some "alpha" body language. 

I do have a question. Lucky is easy to get in line when he moves ahead. But he'll plant his butt down when he decides he want to go ever so slow to sniff and slurp stuff from the ground. He really fights me there. He'll actually plant his feet, set his butt to the ground and balks like a mule.

So does Ceaser have a good technique for that? Or does the lifting up on the high collar do the trick there as well? It would take a pretty good yank to get him going. And then, when Lucky is REALLY fighting me, he's actually laid down and rolled on his back which is an even harder position to get control.

Sure wish I got that channel. I've been whining about getting a book to get me in line and I think I'll just get that today.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

After reading your post again, I bet the trick is to not let it get to the balking point in the first place. And when he's on his back...I imagine the power strugle has really been past the point of return.


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Lucky's mom said:


> ...My 13 week pup views my husband as "alpha" and walks perfectly with him. With me its a constant yank and drag...
> ...But he'll plant his butt down when he decides he wants to go ever so slow to sniff and slurp stuff from the ground. He really fights me there. He'll actually plant his feet, set his butt to the ground and balks like a mule...
> ...And then, when Lucky is REALLY fighting me, he's actually laid down and rolled on his back which is an even harder position to get control...


All of Ceasar's clients' dogs are much older... like almost a year or more. When Sidney (our Golden) was only about 8-weeks old, we started leash walking him. He behaved exactly as you've described, wildly throwing himself on the ground and even rolling over to keep from going along with the 'program'. What I did was hold the leash taught and waited (a long time) until Sidney finally got up and moved in my direction to relieve the tension on the leash... I immediately started to praise and coax him toward me. When he stopped, I again took the slack out of the leash and waited... We leash-walked this way for about 10-minutes before ending the session and we would practice this 5 -7 times a day. In a couple of days Sidney was leash walking properly and could easily be coaxed along with just a little tension on the leash. At this point we could now leave the backyard and go for walks to the end of the street and back and eventually around the block by the time he was 9-weeks old. By 10-weeks of age we actually started walking to town and back (1/2-mile).



Lucky's mom said:


> ...So does Ceaser have a good technique for that? Or does the lifting up on the high collar do the trick there as well?...


I'm sure Ceasar would approve of the way we did it with Sidney, except he probably wouldn't advise the part about praising and coaxing. And I'm sure he would advise keeping the collar high on the puppy's neck (which I didn't do because I simply didn't know any better).



Lucky's mom said:


> ...I've been whining about getting a book to get me in line and I think I'll just get that today.


Careful, there is more than one Dog Whisperer. There is a book entitled The Dog Whisperer by some bald-headed guy who also has a DVD out. I read a little of his book (just in the bookstore) and watched the DVD (rented from Netflix) and wasn't too impressed... his 'stuff' was okay and he seemed like a real nice guy but he wasn't really entertaining. So when I kept hearing about The Dog Whisperer TV series on the National Geographics channel, I just assumed it was the same guy... and I thought it a little strange that people were impressed and entertained by it. Then when I actually saw my first episode, I was like... who IS this little Mexican dude? But after watching 2 episodes I was really intrigue and definitely entertained by this guy. Soon after I became a real fan... and now that I've seen a bunch of these episodes, I think I finally 'get it'. Its one of those things where you think you already know it all but after seeing many iterations of essentially the same techniques and philosophy applied with slight variations added to fit the circumstances, you suddenly have an epiphany and you now understand the 'spirit' of the techniques and the guiding philosophy. Bottomline here is... Ceasar is a lot better than the other guy... just my own personal opinion.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I appreciate your advice. All I need is a sound, commensense book that helps me keep on track and motivated to keep the training in focus. Especially while he's a puppy. I had a small paper back years ago that was very helpful, and gave me confidence in what I was doing... but maybe the dog ate it....I haven't a clue where it is. It was great for the two other dogs we had. Basically it helped us kept our dogs in good control and they were good companions. Those were outside dogs, Lucky is inside...and will need more. I'm sure I will find something in the bookstore this weekend.


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Lucky's mom said:


> ...I had a small paper back years ago that was very helpful, and gave me confidence in what I was doing... but maybe the dog ate it....I haven't a clue where it is...


That's funny you should say that... when our last dog (an American Eskimo) was a puppy, he chewed up a dog book as I slept late one Saturday morning... the book's title? The Intelligence of Dogs! (BTW, this was the hardcover version.)

Whatever book you do decide on, I might suggest it be Golden specific or at least positive methods oriented. Goldens are a goofy breed and very, very slow to mature... methods described in some training manuals (the New Skete bunch for instance) are too rough and demanding for this soft, fun-loving and mouthy breed. Don't expect super obedience from such a young Golden (other dogs mature much faster and so fit the expections set forth in those 'all-breed' type training manuals), time and patience are key with this breed... that's something Sidney has taught us.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

monomer said:


> Don't expect super obedience from such a young Golden (other dogs mature much faster and so fit the expections set forth in those 'all-breed' type training manuals), time and patience are key with this breed... that's something Sidney has taught us.


Yeah.....sometimes I wonder about little Lucky's self-control. He's harder for me then a collie/shepard pup and another mutt pup that I worked with in the past. After a session of training those puppies seemed to catch on and go with the program pretty quick. Lucky has a "memory problem" and is easily distracted. Plus, with the other dogs I had pre-teen and teens and now I have a 4 and 6 year old which tends to keep him more distracted. *My walking is much much better. Much better!!!!!!!!*Thanks for that advice. He hasn't done the lay down and play dead thing as I'm much more on top of it. The lift up instead of pull back is very good.


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Glad to hear things are going well... Ceasar would be proud.


Lucky's mom said:


> Yeah.....sometimes I wonder about little Lucky's self-control...


Yes, you are very attuned to your dog... Sidney essentially lack the capacity for any mental self-control until he was about 14-weeks old. And after conversing with numerous other Golden puppy owners I came to the conclusion that this was not just Sidney... over a half-dozen GR puppy owners also pegged either week 14 or 15 as the on-set of biting control, etc. In fact the obedience instructor (he used to train Seeing Eye dogs for the blind) for Sidney's first obedience class would not have a Golden in class that was not at least a year old. At first I thought he was nutz but by the time Sidney turned a year old and enrolled into his first Obedience class I understood the wisdom of our instructor's ways. Today at a year and a half old Sidney is now fully trainable to anything and is quite obedient... many people think he is really smart... just a year ago he was way too silly and goofy and appeared to be a bit retarded... too easily distracted by everything. But really all it took was patience and the passing of time.


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## MegB (Jul 19, 2005)

When is "The Dog Whisperer" on? It definitely sounds worth watching.


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Check here for schedules. There appears to be a marathon of Dog Whisperer episodes this Thursday from 1:00pm to 7:00pm Michigan time (Eastern Standard Time). There are usually two different episodes that air back-to-back from 10am til 11am on Wed, Thr, Fri and Sun. Also check out this for some good info on Ceasar's methods. Its interesting to 'cruise' around on Ceasar's site using the second set of tabs. And here is Ceasar's own website.


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

We just love the dog whisperer.He has a lot of great advice and seems to be at ease with dogs.
Did anyone see on the Animal Planet channel,the show on The North Shore Animal league ? We've been there,they do a GREAT job for all the animals they get.
Monomer thanks for the info,I'm gonna setup one of the DVR's to record as much of him as possible.
Shane


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