Comments for Honey the Great Dane http://bighoneydog.com drooling, dancing and a few adventures in between... Tue, 22 May 2012 14:58:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Comment on Catch-Up Questions #2: The truth about “choke chains”… by Small Town Big Dog http://bighoneydog.com/2012/05/choke-chains/#comment-33490 Small Town Big Dog Tue, 22 May 2012 14:58:37 +0000 http://bighoneydog.com/?p=12875#comment-33490 Jacky - I too have been using a halti and have had some great success with the moments when Maxine lunges forward. We have been in what I call "doggie rehab" and have been intensely working on her adolescent issues. Instead of one walk a day we have been going on 3-4 shorter but more intense walks going to all the places we will have some confrontations. We also have more training sessions with the clicker and have a more structured day. I have found that I almost don't use (still wear but don't rely on) the halti when on a walk. I have used some techniques found on Dog Star Daily and have found intense praise has worked wonders for us (good videos on this site). This is a great resource and good descriptions of behaviors and issues. When approaching a "scary" situation I praise like crazy in my happy voice and the second she starts to lunge or bark I speak loud to her to show her my disapproval. The instant she stops the behavior I go back and praise her like crazy. We stopped using treats because she won't eat them when nervous and treat her at the end of the walk by letting her be crazy dog off leash (way better than food to her). She is now lunging less and choosing to stay by my side instead. We started having success when giving her a loose leash at an interaction instead of tightening up on it. This seems like the wrong thing to do at the time but giving her this freedom has decreased the tension she is picking up from me by tightening the leash. If she does choose to lunge the halti keeps her from getting far and after a few times like this she just prefers to not lunge. I will still make her use the halti until I feel like I can fully trust her but am finding that I don't have to rely on it very much. Maybe its just boosting my confidence and she is picking up on that? As for meeting other doggies we are 100% fine if off leash. We go to regular doggie daycare and have many situation where we get to meet new doggies. This has never been an issue for us as I have heavily socialized her when she was a puppy and continued this throughout her life. We just needed more "on leash" experiences with other doggies (note to self - do this with next dog). I have found the importance in training not just for manners but as a way to build our relationship together. I have always been a dog person but am surprised at how much more a relationship can be built with training and the development of respect and trust for each other. I have never had such a bond with any animal and have found it to be very rewarding. I now am starting to see the thing that restrains Maxine is not a halti, check chain, harness, or leash but her respect for me and her trust that I will keep her safe. Jacky -- I too have been using a halti and have had some great success with the moments when Maxine lunges forward. We have been in what I call “doggie rehab” and have been intensely working on her adolescent issues. Instead of one walk a day we have been going on 3-4 shorter but more intense walks going to all the places we will have some confrontations. We also have more training sessions with the clicker and have a more structured day.

I have found that I almost don’t use (still wear but don’t rely on) the halti when on a walk. I have used some techniques found on Dog Star Daily and have found intense praise has worked wonders for us (good videos on this site). This is a great resource and good descriptions of behaviors and issues.

When approaching a “scary” situation I praise like crazy in my happy voice and the second she starts to lunge or bark I speak loud to her to show her my disapproval. The instant she stops the behavior I go back and praise her like crazy. We stopped using treats because she won’t eat them when nervous and treat her at the end of the walk by letting her be crazy dog off leash (way better than food to her).

She is now lunging less and choosing to stay by my side instead. We started having success when giving her a loose leash at an interaction instead of tightening up on it. This seems like the wrong thing to do at the time but giving her this freedom has decreased the tension she is picking up from me by tightening the leash. If she does choose to lunge the halti keeps her from getting far and after a few times like this she just prefers to not lunge. I will still make her use the halti until I feel like I can fully trust her but am finding that I don’t have to rely on it very much. Maybe its just boosting my confidence and she is picking up on that?

As for meeting other doggies we are 100% fine if off leash. We go to regular doggie daycare and have many situation where we get to meet new doggies. This has never been an issue for us as I have heavily socialized her when she was a puppy and continued this throughout her life. We just needed more “on leash” experiences with other doggies (note to self -- do this with next dog).

I have found the importance in training not just for manners but as a way to build our relationship together. I have always been a dog person but am surprised at how much more a relationship can be built with training and the development of respect and trust for each other. I have never had such a bond with any animal and have found it to be very rewarding. I now am starting to see the thing that restrains Maxine is not a halti, check chain, harness, or leash but her respect for me and her trust that I will keep her safe.

]]> Comment on Catch-Up Questions #2: The truth about “choke chains”… by Jacky http://bighoneydog.com/2012/05/choke-chains/#comment-33489 Jacky Tue, 22 May 2012 12:05:50 +0000 http://bighoneydog.com/?p=12875#comment-33489 Zena also lunges at barking dogs when walking the neighborhood. I use a head collar (Halti) when doing such walks as she is much stronger than I am (and I'm no wimp). One of the things I had to learn is to trust the collar - thus not try to send signals. Then I tried to distract her BEFORE we approached a problem gate/fence ... but that did not work too well. She'd do the action, get the treat and LUNGE. Then I started just standing still. Waiting until her heckles smoothed over again, then treated. This seems to be our approach (for now). At first I did not do this because I did not want to prolong the disturbance, but Hey, if they allow their dogs to go crazy, I can use it to train mine! She also gets treats if she sort of (she is excited but does not misbehave) ignores the whole screaming debacle behind the fence. She is wonderful with other dogs if introduced slowly, properly and supervised, strangely enough she prefers introductions on her turf (our garden). Must admit I am not a 'dedicated' trainer of my dogs but accidentally started when adopting a problem boy and have learned a LOT since then. All my previous dogs were very obedient (with some lapses), happy, healthy dogs without formal training, just common sense and fairness and LOTS of LOVE. We discovered the effectiveness of the choke/check collar high behind the ears ourselves - no dog trainers in our lives then and have shared that with many large breed humans being dragged past out house. I also believe that if something does not work (even if it did previously) you should change your method. Zena also lunges at barking dogs when walking the neighborhood. I use a head collar (Halti) when doing such walks as she is much stronger than I am (and I’m no wimp). One of the things I had to learn is to trust the collar -- thus not try to send signals.
Then I tried to distract her BEFORE we approached a problem gate/fence … but that did not work too well. She’d do the action, get the treat and LUNGE.
Then I started just standing still. Waiting until her heckles smoothed over again, then treated. This seems to be our approach (for now).
At first I did not do this because I did not want to prolong the disturbance, but Hey, if they allow their dogs to go crazy, I can use it to train mine! She also gets treats if she sort of (she is excited but does not misbehave) ignores the whole screaming debacle behind the fence.
She is wonderful with other dogs if introduced slowly, properly and supervised, strangely enough she prefers introductions on her turf (our garden).
Must admit I am not a ‘dedicated’ trainer of my dogs but accidentally started when adopting a problem boy and have learned a LOT since then. All my previous dogs were very obedient (with some lapses), happy, healthy dogs without formal training, just common sense and fairness and LOTS of LOVE. We discovered the effectiveness of the choke/check collar high behind the ears ourselves -- no dog trainers in our lives then and have shared that with many large breed humans being dragged past out house. I also believe that if something does not work (even if it did previously) you should change your method.

]]> Comment on A FUN catch-up: Bed-Thief Revisited, Visitor from Brisbane & the Sydney Writers’ Festival by melinda http://bighoneydog.com/2012/05/commentmoderation-bedthief-seven-swf/#comment-33485 melinda Mon, 21 May 2012 22:50:08 +0000 http://bighoneydog.com/?p=12881#comment-33485 Thank you for the compliment, I was so worried that I was going to be mistaken for a stalker. I'm sure whatever your heart decides will flow through with a wonderful book. I personally would be thrilled with a coffee table book filled with your photos and clever narrative to a biographical of Hsin-Yi. You can reflect serious and humorous events effectively. Thank you for the compliment, I was so worried that I was going to be mistaken for a stalker.
I’m sure whatever your heart decides will flow through with a wonderful book. I personally would be thrilled with a coffee table book filled with your photos and clever narrative to a biographical of Hsin-Yi.
You can reflect serious and humorous events effectively.

]]> Comment on A FUN catch-up: Bed-Thief Revisited, Visitor from Brisbane & the Sydney Writers’ Festival by Lassiter Chase & Benjamin http://bighoneydog.com/2012/05/commentmoderation-bedthief-seven-swf/#comment-33484 Lassiter Chase & Benjamin Mon, 21 May 2012 12:17:23 +0000 http://bighoneydog.com/?p=12881#comment-33484 Lovin that black leopard print coat there Honey! You look pawsome! Lovin that black leopard print coat there Honey! You look pawsome!

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