Make Your Dog Training Fantasies Come True
By: John Wick
You are in charge! It’s your turn to be boss. That’s because you are the one who has been doing your homework. You’ve prepared your dog, and you’ve prepared yourself with information, tactics, and planning. Now you’re ready to start pushing the button to teach your dog better manners and gently help it learn right from wrong concerning the top one or two things on your wish list to change.
There may be one important requirement you’ve forgotten to cover. It is that regardless of what you’re going to do with your E-collar and your dog, you need to calmly and carefully explain your plans to your family and friends who will be around this dog from now on! Enlist their help, understanding, cooperation, and insist they follow your lead or they simply cannot interact with your dog for the next couple of months.
For instance, let’s say Fido is bad about chasing cars. He needs to get broke of this bad habit or the habit may end up sending Fido to the vet office and racking up a huge bill; or maybe to his grave pushing up daisies. It can’t go on. ’Sides, the neighbors are tired of it. You’ve noticed they’ve started to dislike Fido and maybe aren’t quite as friendly towards you as they used to be. You’re ready to do this. You don’t yet know that it will be much easier than you think. But I can assure you that if you enlist the help and understanding of friends and family, it’s gonna be a piece of cake.
You’re prepared and you’re going to be watching. Every time Fido gives chase, you’re going to give him a little zap. Each time he misbehaves, the zap will be slightly larger and longer. You’re going to let Fido set the pace. In other words, you’re going to be as gentle as you can but also escalate the deterrent as long as Fido chooses to continue, and also after you thought you had his mind permanently changed but then realize he’s still thinking about it and occasionally loses his self discipline and goes back at it. In every one of those situations, Fido CANNOT get away with misbehavior you’re working on at the time! You must be extremely consistent and lay a lesson on him EVERY SINGLE TIME HE MISBEHAVES! No exceptions!!
Here’s the problem. Some of your family members may think it’s cute how Fido runs out there barking and biting at those tires as they zip down the street. Or they may think it’s kind of cruel to zap Fido for doing what he thinks is right or fun. Remember, it’s your turn to be boss. If you’re in charge of Fido’s behavior, you must insist that anyone who lets Fido free to chase cars MUST, ABSOLUTELY MUST have the E-collar properly attached to Fido and have the transmitter in hand and ready to deal out discipline if needed. If you diligently zap Fido four times in a week and then your wife lets him get away with chasing a car one time while you’re at work, you’re not only back at square one, you’re in worse shape than that. Now Fido knows that even though he gets zapped sometimes, he gets his fun sometimes too. The training process is now going to take much longer and the outcome be much less certain.
Any family or friends who will not solemnly agree to abide by your wishes on this issue simply cannot have any dealings with Fido that could undermine your training program and plans. Even though some of these folks may be resistant in the beginning, usually with enough helpful explanation you can teach them that it’s much better for Fido to get a little zap now and then as opposed to two broken legs or tire marks on his mashed head. Even if Fido is so fleet and agile that those are not likely happenings, one of these days one of those vehicles may swerve to try to intentionally hit him, or maybe that road will have a skim of ice on it and Fido will slip at just the wrong instant. The result won’t be pretty. Besides, it’s just bad manners for a dog to act that way in a community unless it’s on your own property and you and your family find that behavior okay or maybe even helpful in a security sense. Other than that, this isn’t a good habit for any dog.
This was just one example I picked to explain how important it is to get family and friends understanding and onboard with any training project you’re doing that they could have any impact on.
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