An update on Hector's training

[Hector]

I am happy to say I have stopped using a prong collar on Hector and do not plan to go back on it. I realized that my techniques and communication with Hector needed improvement. We are only using a comfort flex martingale collar and a double handle leash. I have been using the loose leash walking methods I read on Sophia Yin's site and have made huge progress on our walks. Zak George videos on youtube also provided a lot information and techniques to try. The walks are fun for both of us and he really doesn't mind having to pay more attention to me. He does not react to people on our walks and every time I see him focused on something or start to pull ahead, I give him the command "turn" and turn and then turn again towards my original destination and that usually snaps him out of his distraction. I am slowly working on reactivity on the leash when he sees another dog hit their fence line. It is very difficult to control him when that happens as he becomes excited and highly distracted. I've been stuffing him with evangers wet dog food for every step he takes with me or every look he takes on a non-reactive dog in their own yard. If he gets too focused, we'll back up and turn and do it again from a different angle.

Another exercise we've been doing is this human interaction thing. Yes, he might be a fila, but I see him as a dog that needs more socialization than a normal dog needs. Today is the second time visiting a vet place down a couple of streets and I am so glad that the people that work there are not idiots and actually understand dogs. It's funny how Hector will obey commands given by the receptionist who's not even looking at him. He'll do all the commands and take the food and then it's like I'll do the tricks, but I still hate you lol. They can tell that he's just nervous and not aggressive and I really appreciate them for allowing us to go in there whenever we want because I really don't trust anyone around here to understand how to act around him. I finally got to know how much he weighs after his last vet exam 9 months ago. He is 122 lbs and hopefully no more than 150lbs lol.

 

[musicdeb]

Good news about the walking and the "turn" exercise. I'll have to try that with Titan.

Is Hector full blooded Fila? You are very brave to take him out around other dogs and people.

 

[Hector]

Good news about the walking and the "turn" exercise. I'll have to try that with Titan.

Is Hector full blooded Fila? You are very brave to take him out around other dogs and people.

He is registered with FCPR, Federacion Canofila of Puerto Rico. He is fila, but full blooded or mix..I really am no expert. I watch him really closely, once he picks up his pace on a scent on something or he sees people ahead of us or another dog on the other side of the street, I turn. Then we turn back and he gets back into heel position and go our original path. If he gets ahead again, turn again, this time walk the other way more steps. We do waits at crosswalks. I will not move unless he sits and sometimes we will go right after he offers sit or we wait until I say ok.

His dad is one of the very few filas that passed the temperament test. His mom was allowed free roaming when we arrived. I can say I know Hector well enough to know his limits. He may be nervous around people, but that's not going to mean I'm going to lock him up in my house. In my opinion, that will do more harm than good, potentially making him a fear aggressive dog in the future and one I would not be able to handle. I believe he can learn to be confident and calm around people and that would make us both happier. I know it will take lots of work and chicken meat and good days and bad days, but I will not stop.

 

[musicdeb]

Roger that, Linda!

 

[DennasMom]

Great job!!!

One thing that a trainer told us that struck home - going back to the "focus" or "look at me" command... was that you want your dog to see the other dog (or stranger), acknowledge it, then Look at You for direction. So letting them look and make the decision to not act, but look at you is a whole chicken reward event!! (especially for a fila... from what I read here! lol.)

Awesome!!

 

[Hector]

Great job!!!

One thing that a trainer told us that struck home - going back to the "focus" or "look at me" command... was that you want your dog to see the other dog (or stranger), acknowledge it, then Look at You for direction. So letting them look and make the decision to not act, but look at you is a whole chicken reward event!! (especially for a fila... from what I read here! lol.)

Awesome!!

Thank you. I use a lot of meat treats because he has yeast problems so when I use something like wet dog food, it becomes party time every time! I totally agree on the focus look. For now I'm starting low at his level and hopefully be able to use that look at me without kneeling or hunching lol. Gotta get in his face or else he acts like I can't hear you lalalala. Sometimes he gives me the what the hell are you doing look, but I'll take that any day. This look at me thing is really harder than I thought.

 

[Hector]

Okay the other day our walk was not very good. He was highly distracted and was kind of a wild child. Halfway through, I finally got him to pay attention to me. I finally am starting to figure out this dog training thing. At first I was using corrections too much and not enough motivation and then I was using too much of the rewarding and not enough of the corrections.

This is what happened when this whole dog training thing finally clicked in my head.

He was already distracted and became even more distracted when he saw kids jumping on the trampoline. I had to physically yank him to move on our way. On our way back I'm thinking here we go again. Same reaction and he seemed excited and confused by all the movement and noise, basically freaking out and started to bark. I couldn't get him to listen. I said turn and he was pulling on the end of the leash towards the kids. I corrected him and he obeyed. We turned around towards them, he was a little distracted still, so I corrected him even harder after he didn't listen and to my surprised he laid down and relaxed instead of being stressed, panicked and confused. I stuffed him with a bunch of wet food. Then we were able to remain calm and walk by without incident.

He has some nerve issues and I think a correction snaps him out of a derpy state. I'm kind of glad that I'm finally starting to get a feel for that middle ground, only took 10 months.

 

[Hector]

Today's walk was excellent!! I decided to use a retractable (I know...), but I wanted him to have a bit of freedom. I tied a big knot at the 2 foot mark. He did not care to venture and stayed in heel most of the walk. I don't know if he thought the clicking from hitting the brakes was a sign of a correction coming and wanted none of that lol. He's a very sensitive boy. He showed a lot self control and listened very well and no corrections. We encountered unruly dogs going nuts in a car (we walked by twice, I decided to run past the last time in case it would be too much). We walked past people walking their dog, people sitting down and talking to us, standing around, followed a dude, and even had a crazy drunk yelling at us from a distance. I stopped numerous times randomly and he'll notice before 5ft end of lead and come back and sit. He's doing so well I'm not sure if training the "go sniff" will backfire. I might just do it to add to his vocabulary.

 

[Hector]

Today we went for a quick walk in between storms. We were fine till the end when I walked by this old lady's house in the corner down the road. She always lets her boston terrier old ass female run freely when she's doing yard work. Today I walked by and saw that her garage door was open and her dog came running out. At that time, it was pouring down rain. We walked past fast enough hoping the rain would stop her from following us. It's raining so hard that Hector didn't notice and she freaking follows until she can get a satisfactory whiff of Hector's jewels. I told Hector to sit and he was probably thinking wtf you want me to sit right now for I just want to go home!! I told her to go away, go home and she like growled at me as she was turning away lmao. At that time, Hector notices and freaks out and wants to see her, but nope - the human is too fast and we were already on the move.

I felt like screaming "COME GET YOUR DOG!" but I didn't want to freak my dog out.

Anyway my point being, I don't really give a shit if you're a nice old lady living down the road from me, IF YOU REALLY CARED ABOUT YOU DOG, THEN KEEP YOUR DAMNED DOG CONFINED OR ON A LEASH because I'm never in the mood for a face plant!!! (I'm screaming out loud in my head - rant over)

 

[Hector]

I've been pretty happy about his recall at home. This is the typical scenario.

[video=youtube_share;IiGB_qPJ-Qg]http://youtu.be/IiGB_qPJ-Qg[/video]

 

[Hector]

[video=youtube_share;EqqO_V8yuF0]http://youtu.be/EqqO_V8yuF0[/video]

 

[cinnamon roll]

Way to go Hector. Congrats mommy nice training.

It looked like he was tracking. Does he always sniff the ground when he is walking?

 

[Hector]

Way to go Hector. Congrats mommy nice training.

It looked like he was tracking. Does he always sniff the ground when he is walking?

Thanks CR, yes he loves going on that trail and he loves to track. He was hot on a scent when we were walking back and he kept being stopped when he hit the end of the flexi when I couldn't keep up lol.

 

[cinnamon roll]

He sure is awesome.

 

[Hector]

For those of you that follow Hector and his issues, I have to say today he proved me wrong with some of my doubts. In the beginning, the trainer said he had weak nerves and truth be told he did. When he first came home, he growled at every little sound and was on edge all the time. The first time I took him on a walk which was about 4-5 months he nearly pulled me to the ground growling and lunging at another person on the street. I worked hard with him taking him out and using positive reinforcement and taught him a bunch of cues and he proved to be very easy to work with. Then I started to take him to the vet to expose him to the environment. He was very nervous and never was able to relax himself. Then one day, at probably 14 months, we were exiting the vet's through the door and he was startled by a lady coming towards the building and mind you she wasn't even close to us and he freaked and totally lost it and lunged. I was able to control him and pulled him away and told him to down right away. He responded and recovered quickly which was a good thing, but it was a bad thing because he reacted that way.

So today we were walking around town and being xmas eve there's basically no one around. We were walking close to a building and when we turned a corner, we nearly ran into an old man. I was startled and I gave Hector a jerk backwards out of gut reaction. To my surprise he sat and watched the man calmly with his ears up, but mouth open. The man gave me a "shit his pants" look and he stared at us like a deer in the headlights for a second and said that's a big dog. I was very proud of Hector of how he held it together and how he trusted me. I think he's growing up and I think he can be a fine dog. I think he deserves a chicken pot pie .

After we came home, I tortured him with my ghetto weight setup hahaha. I just wanted to test him. Yeah, that's how I reward my dogs:lolbangtable:and yes my yard is beyond help lol.

[video=youtube_share;7LVkKIPAZn0]http://youtu.be/7LVkKIPAZn0[/video]

 

[cinnamon roll]

WAY TO GO HECTOR AND MOMMY!!! So proud of you both.

Stop torturing that boy!!! I hear him squeaking at you. MEAN MOM.

 

[Hector]

WAY TO GO HECTOR AND MOMMY!!! So proud of you both.

Stop torturing that boy!!! I hear him squeaking at you. MEAN MOM.

Thank you. I have to toughen him up, he's crying all the time! I need to teach him a lesson.

 

[ParentsofVegas]

He is a good looking boy. And congrats on awesome progress.

 

[Hector]

He is a good looking boy. And congrats on awesome progress.

Thanks! It's nice when something positive happens. It gives me hope.

 

[musicdeb]

Good job Linda and Hector! Hector is looking good!