Dog thread .... join up and post about mans best friend here!

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Well... I guess this will be the only Forum I post about my dog, Coondog. The other two Forums I visit, S&W Forums and KimberTalk, have both banned my dog's name with profanity filters.

[Stickman]

Well... I guess this will be the only Forum I post about my dog, Coondog. The other two Forums I visit, S&W Forums and KimberTalk, have both banned my dog's name with profanity filters.

Cute pup! I don't think I have heard anyone use "Coon" as a serious racial term in over 20 years. "Coon hunting" is very well known to be Racoon hunting, or as I tend to look at it, "pest eradication". When people go hunting the terms Croc, Hippo, and Gator are used instead of the full longer versions.

Before this turns into a cultural rant, I'll just state I have zero problems with it, but at some point forum updates may include filters the board owner and myself have no control over.

[MAUSER202]

New pup, he is no 6 months old. Hope he is half 5he hunter his aunt is.

[Stickman]

New pup, he is no 6 months old. Hope he is half 5he hunter his aunt is.

Wonderful capture. Three of my mud monkeys are laying in the room with me filthy and having playful fun.

[Stickman]

Awesome little dog. What do you think about vibrating dog collars for training?

In my experience, a collar should be able to make noise, vibrate, and shock.

That being said, the shock feature is NOT for taking anger out on the dog, but there are times where it can be needed. I'll give a few examples. First was a large GSD/ Great Dane mix who just looked like a large tall GSD with ears that wouldn't stand all the way up. He was a perfect dog in just about every way. At 3 months old (when we got him), loud noises didn't bother or scare him even if right next to him. The first time we lit and threw fireworks he tried to attack them. His issue was a massively high prey drive. If he saw a wild animal, he was after it. If you called him and he heard you, he would stop at a full speed run. Most of the time I don't think he heard or processed anything but the prey. Using the noise and vibration modes had zero effect, and only the shock mode would work, and then he happily came back.

To give another example, this same dog went through a double pane window when deer came up to our back door. I mean through both windows, and how that dog didn't get cut apart is a mystery only the good Lord can answer.

Later on, we picked up our little black female GSD. She is at my side most of the time, but she is another one with a prey drive that is off the charts. Much as the above, she only responds to the shock when she is in full blown attack mode. What is impressive is that in attack work with a person I can call her out.

The shock mode is not all that bad from a people point of view. Among other things, I am a use of force instructor. That includes that Taser Electronic Control Tool. I've been tased over a dozen times, and its not that big of a deal. The dog collar is much much less. Many people have read about my nephews, their martial arts, BJJ, hard training and survival training and other fun stuff. Those boys play hard, and I do mean hard. I told them they each had to take a hit from the collar so they would have an understanding of what was involved. Before you know it, they have it turned to max and are zapping each other laughing and having a great time. It hurts, but it is such a quick jolt that its done and over while you are still processing it.

Yesterday a friend was pulling a stump using his tractor pretty close to the back porch. One of our large GSD loves our friend, and was howling and barking for 20 minutes or so, which he knows is unacceptable behavior. When told to stop, he would not. I put the collar on him, and he stopped the howling. When he started the barking he got the vibration along with a loud firm "no". We were outside for another 45 minutes or so and while he made a little noise, it was not barking or howling.

To sum it all up, there are dogs that will strongly need a training collar. The idea is to use the collar as a training aid. Do not use it as punishment. If you don't understand the difference, there are larger issues at play and I would recommend taking the dog to a trainer or school before you start collar work.

Great question, thanks!

[DG23]

In my experience, a collar should be able to make noise, vibrate, and shock.

Guessing none of your dogs are titled in anything?

From the USCA rulebook:

15. After the official start of the trial and during the trial, corrective devices may not be used on or within sight of the trial venue (the venue is considered to be all trial fields to include tracking fields, competitor parking or any area within the spectator's sight of the event venue). (i.e.,corrective devices are choke,pinch,electric collars,heeling sticks,etc.) Abuse of these methods my lead to disqualification and / or BOI Charges.

They would laugh you out of there pretty quick if you showed up with any of that sort of stuff on your fido...


Just for the record here - I am not opposed to limited use of things such as pinch collars, shock collars, etc. but I DO believe their use should be limited and one should work to train their way away from their dog 'needing' them to be able to respond accordingly.

The reason why they are not permitted in any sort of competitions or trials is pretty simple - If the dog can't perform without that sort of collar then the dog is not really trained.

[Stickman]

Guessing none of your dogs are titled in anything?

YADPP

[RonaldOO]

Here is Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog. I plan to get a puppy this summer. This breed seems to suit me best

[Adrenaline_6]

My American Bulldog's highlight of her day when I get home. She loves playing with that rope. She's snapped the nylon strap that attaches to the rope 3 times already.



My male Dobe hassling her. He loves to instigate and get her riled up.

[Dutch110]

My first Rott was a stubborn SOB. But I knew that going in. I took him to a trainer who specialized in German dogs (Schutzhund work in particular) and worked with him for almost a year. He knew every command and hand signal. The problem was he was a punk and decided HE would decide when he felt like obeying. For instance, doing a rolling sit or down command from a heal. He would stop but not execute the command. He would read my inside shoulder and as soon as I turned and was in the process of gathering the lead (giving slack) he would hook the lead with his front paw, put it in his mouth, and go into a play bow for a game of tug of war. It was hard to not laugh at the little fokker. So one day, after many weeks of this, Don (trainer) says hang on. Goes in and comes back out with a prong collar. He says "I really hate using these in general but we need a correction he will respect." Sure enough, 15 minutes with that collar on and that dog was on POINT. Executing commands with extreme enthusiasm. We both laughed because it was like we had a different dog on our hands. He had always shown signs of being capable of this kind of performance but, like I said, he was a punk. Pack order was never in question. I was alpha. But he was the quintessential 14 year old kid who decided he could take on his old man and push the boundaries. I never had to use the prong collar with him after that day but it was always on hand. That was 25 years ago.

A few months ago my father in law adopted a retired SCH3 regional champion GSD. She spends a lot of time at our house and has bonded with our daughter. She is slowly learning how to DOG as her life up to this point was all business. She uses an electronic collar. It is rarely needed but for those times when you need to break her target lock it works to get her attention and break her focus. She likes to kill squirrels. We don't like to clean up the mess but we applaud her vigilance in keeping the yard free of domestic terrorists. So it gets used to disrupt her prey drive when appropriate.

There has been a parade of both GSDs and Rotts through our door from that first one, 25 years ago, to this current fur missile. All of them have had different personalities, temperaments and idiosyncrasies. They key has always been to understand each dog and figure out what works and doesn't work for that dog. While working towards the same end goal; a well adjusted and happy dog that knows its place in the pack and what is expected of it.