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Post by Summer Magic on Mar 20, 2006 19:41:10 GMT -5
Hello
Just thought I'd tell you what we have been up to lately. Magic has been pretty good lately. She will get up and wander around when the phone rings but she doesn't attack anymore. Seems she knows she's muzzled and can't hurt anyone. She has started jumping on us when someone is at the door but can't bite when she's muzzled. I've been grabbing the leash and putting her forcefully in a down position with my hand on the back of her neck. She has peeped when I do this after she has jumped on me. She then will stay in that position until I tell her she can get up. I have an E collar for her but am afraid I'll escallate her frenzy if I use it. It has settings from 1-10 for intensity. Can you give me some insite on whether it will be beneficial to use the muzzle and the E collar togetherfor correcting this unwanted behavior? I've read the articles here about the use of the E collar but it doesn't have information about her specific problem. We have been doing the free lance heel work every day and I am also beginning to teach free lance dance steps with her. She catches on really fast and I have her weaving through my legs and doing a circle by following my hand with a treat in it.
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Post by amyjo on Mar 21, 2006 9:40:52 GMT -5
Okay, I am not an e-collar expert and I don't play one one TV. But I did use one successfully with my "reactive" Aussie... So I'll tell you what I think and see what the others think.
With a reactive dog it is important to head off the poor behavior before escalation...otherwise you end up in pissing match with the dog ie: door bell, bad behavior, correction, more bad behavior, harder correction etc... I think you already know this, as you stated you are afraid to add to the frenzy with the e-collar.
The way to avoid this is to train regularly with the e-collar on basic obedience. AWAY from the phone and the doorbell.
Use what it called avoidence training. Once your dog knows a command and you are SURE she knows it then begin to use the nick stimulation on the lowest level after each command.
So for example say "sit" and press the stim button a split second later. Your dog should begin to work harder and faster to "beat" the stim. This is all done on the lowest possible setting to avoid reactivity and keep it more like a game. This is NOT punishment or correction and good "sits" should always be rewarded keeping it positive. (If this doesn't seem to be working, check your timing and consider moving up a notch on the e-collar, remember you want the lowest level that will achieve results, it will be more like a little tingle to the dog NOT a shock).
By practicing in this way AWAY from her triggers you will build habitual, automatic responses to your commands and you will eventually see more consisitency in the presence of her triggers. Once your dog is rock solid on all her command you can begin to phase out the automatic stim.
Hope this made sense and is helpful.
Amy
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