Returning Rescue - The right thing to do? (sorry long post)

What a bright pup he must be if someone was able to teach him those different behaviours in such a short time. You will have to do lots with him from now on to keep that brain occupied.
 
Yes i think it must be the collie. he is very quick to learn new things. he was housetrained in just 2 days, only had one accident and that was the first day of having him. he now picks up his lead and brings it to me when he wants to go out. unfortunately this does mean he picks up bad habits very quickly too.
 
A friend does competition agility and hopefully we can start doing some training too. not too much since he is still young but enough to keep him occupied
 
glad you have got to the bottom of it. have to agree with the others though, what a ridiculous thing to teach a dog. could she not have taught him to give a paw like normal dogs!
I am just over the bridge so not too far from you.
hope you feel better about things now.
 
Glad you got an answer! He sounds like a dog that might take well to clicker training - it's a good way to capture the behaviours you want while keeping things calm. If he's prone to getting excitable, you might find it useful. There are guides on how to start this online, although your best bet if possible would be to find someone local that uses this method and have a lesson with them. When we do clicker training we do it as a one to one, as you need to be sure the client gets their timing right.
 
Firstly, well done you on taking this dog on - wherever he comes from seems unimportant to me :) So glad that you're getting good info on him to help you retrain him. I took on a 'rescue' dog 18 months ago, he was nervous/aggressive and it took at least 9 months for him to settle but he was about 3 years old. The best of luck with this extremely lucky dog after an appalling start in life and do let us know how you get on, I'm sure Cayla in particular can give you good advice. btw Cayla if you read this, I'm sorry to read you've given up your rescue :(:(
 
With clicker training, if you try it, just be careful he doesn't start offering up behaviours (sounds like he is doing this already) and choose his own behaviours - ignore the bad and reward the good led my own very smart, very hectic-type dog to self-reward and I had to bring in compulsion when he was a bit older. I haven't broken him and he is doing really well now he knows there are things he is allowed to do and things he is absolutely not allowed to do.

He's also trained to bark on command, target and hold items on command, but has never, ever targeted me or anyone else, the cues and signals have to be very clear and it was taught over a process of weeks and months and he had a good genetic basis, it was an incredibly stupid thing for a someone to try and teach a stray dog.

The dog might have had an appalling start in life, but that shouldn't mean he is allowed to do what he wants for the rest of his life.

I can't reall see any GSD whatsoever in the dog either, if it is Johnny.
 
CaveCanem said:
With clicker training, if you try it, just be careful he doesn't start offering up behaviours (sounds like he is doing this already) and choose his own behaviours - ignore the bad and reward the good led my own very smart, very hectic-type dog to self-reward and I had to bring in compulsion when he was a bit older. I haven't broken him and he is doing really well now he knows there are things he is allowed to do and things he is absolutely not allowed to do.

He's also trained to bark on command, target and hold items on command, but has never, ever targeted me or anyone else, the cues and signals have to be very clear and it was taught over a process of weeks and months and he had a good genetic basis, it was an incredibly stupid thing for a someone to try and teach a stray dog.

The dog might have had an appalling start in life, but that shouldn't mean he is allowed to do what he wants for the rest of his life.

I can't reall see any GSD whatsoever in the dog either, if it is Johnny.
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You are allowed to use the word 'no' even if you also own a clicker, y'know;) They don't make you take a sacred oath when you buy it to never ever use any form of positive punishment...
 
It depends on the dog, it depends on what the word 'no' means to the dog, how the handler reinforces what it is to be told 'no', it depends on what value and reward the dog places on certain behaviours. If the OP is a novice to clicker training, there is a lot she can get wrong.
There have been cases on here of people going to clicker training and not even being taught how to introduce or load it properly.
If he's already 'ahead' of her there's a danger he will 'work' her, trying to activate the jackpot, rather than the other way around so there's no harm in encouraging her to keep her eyes open.

JMO though :)
 
MurphysMinder said:
Having seen his photo, I am even more intrigued that the rescue say they "know" he is GSDx, because I can't really see it.
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He has changed colour significantly since he was a pup, the lady has sent me photos which show him with what i'd call typical gsd markings, around the eyes, paws, muzzle etc. id say he was brown and light tan, now hes like a red setter. (he also has a curly tail which ive no idea where that comes from lol) when he puts his ears up to look at something he does look like a small gsd.
 
CaveCanem said:
It depends on the dog, it depends on what the word 'no' means to the dog, how the handler reinforces what it is to be told 'no', it depends on what value and reward the dog places on certain behaviours. If the OP is a novice to clicker training, there is a lot she can get wrong.
There have been cases on here of people going to clicker training and not even being taught how to introduce or load it properly.
If he's already 'ahead' of her there's a danger he will 'work' her, trying to activate the jackpot, rather than the other way around so there's no harm in encouraging her to keep her eyes open.

JMO though :)
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Thank you for this, i have never tried clicker training but have heard good things about it and i understand what you mean about him offering up behaviours. He is super smart and its alittle scary how quick he picks things up.

This is actually the same way i work with my horses, reprimand the dangerous (not violently but enough so they no this is NOT allowed) ignore the bad, praise the effort and super praise when they get it right. I figured yesterday that if i can deal with almost a half tonne of horse flying at me i can damn well deal with a 9kg pup. (made me feel abit more confident when i thought of it that way)

The trainer i had spoke to is also full for one to one sessions but has told me to check at the vets and also the scottish KC (i didnt realise there was a different site) so back to hunting about.
 
That's what I meant by a kick up the arse, I had the same epiphany, I can control a cob in a snaffle, I can bloody well stop my little dog towing me up a track! You just have to get your game head on.

What you're talking about is essentially negative then immediately positive, which I think suits a lot of the harder-headed/super-smart types, so clear message that the behaviour is incorrect, clear reward for stopping the incorrect behaviour and clear reward for executing the right behaviour.
 
Thank you CaveCanem, sorry for my earlier post that was abit b*tchy, i think i was super panicked and having a stressful day, sorry to take it out on you all when you's are just trying to help with little background and not meeting the dog in question.
 
Leam1307 said:
He has changed colour significantly since he was a pup, the lady has sent me photos which show him with what i'd call typical gsd markings, around the eyes, paws, muzzle etc. id say he was brown and light tan, now hes like a red setter. (he also has a curly tail which ive no idea where that comes from lol) when he puts his ears up to look at something he does look like a small gsd.
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I was more curious because you said the rescue knew he was part GSD, or are they just guessing because of his markings. GSDs actually go lighter rather than darker as they get older (unless they are sables), so you would see more tan on him now not less.
 
Hmm i never knew that, im not sure how they thought he was a gsd x he certainly looked it though as a pup, saying that i dont think ive ever seen a full red gsd, husky, collie or lab that colour so im not sure. i dont have any pics of the other litter mates so i dont know what they looked like. i know a few breeds which come with the tan markings but he doesnt look like he has any of those.

Its abit of a guessing game really, not that im bothered, i didnt ask what breed he was until we turned up to collect him. i figured they wouldnt know.
 
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