[Omri Salem]

gonna get my first working puppy soon,
for now im working 1 year with explosive dogs and gonna buy malinois puppy next month (got my boss help for pick up a great one)
i just try to take alot of infos from ppl, to make a great working dog
so would be great to hear new ideas from ppl here!
here is 2 things you can help me guys
first one is how to make your dog indifference to animals
second one is tricks to increase his game created
+
you also can share tips from personal experience about working dog puppys whatever u like to share with me

 

[Nancy Jocoy]

I had a friend with farm animals and we spent time often just sitting in the chicken and goat pen with a hungry puppy with treats and toys until they became part of the background. Same thing around her other animals.

We started offlead walks in the woods from about 10 weeks when the pup is not so interested in getting to far from you. I would always have a more interesting toy if we saw a critter and turn his attention to me.

Not sure if that is the right how but I got one who is very reliable around farm animals

 

[ron ligtenberg]

For me its using his food for training in the early stage of the pup.
Like let him work for his food.( search for a key that you reward with his food for example)
As soon the pup understands that working is the "door "to his food he wil forget About his enviorment were you let him( or her) work.
The prey drive I only build up for later and don't really use it for teaching in an early stage.

If done correctly you can have a pup that searches everywhere without paying much attension to animals , humans, or just the enviorment.

Good luck.

 

[Sarah Platts]

Do you have other pets in your home? If so, then lay the ground work early that there is not molestation of the cat or other dogs. If you can raise the pup with other animals it can help. For the most part, I started doing search problems in areas that had livestock or animals. I corrected for stalking behavior on the stock.

 

[rick smith]

unless i'm missing something, this thread doesn't seem to jive with the first thread you posted and you never responded to the questions that other experienced WDF memebers asked you

what's going on now ?

most people i know that i would listen to have a system that is applied equally across the board no matter what they are teaching their dog
.... to include "indifference to animals"

what training system are you using ?

how have you dealt with this issue with other dogs ?
are you looking for new imaginative ways or do you just not know where to start ?

 

[Omri Salem]

@rick
Im just looking for new imaginative ways on the animlas part,
I know how to start and got my own way but always wanna hear things from experienced people. for me experience is the most importent thing on our job.
about the increasing game part, I do not trust myself even though I have things I saw and know from other people, so it's just for make the right decision.

@Sarah Platts, got alot of dogs, cats i can use em for this.


for your other post its dosent matther really but if i didnt answer or sth
its probly becuase i solve the problem or i got my answer
have a nice day and thanks for posts guys!

 

[rick smith]

was referring to this Q :
"Are you certified and operational?"

yes/no and what type of "bomb detection" are you doing ?

what happened to the other gsd you had and why is this new dog now your first dog, etc ?
- that's what didn't make sense to me

the best threads i've seen are the ones where the communication flows in both directions

 

[rick smith]

if advice you received from the WDF helps you solve a problem it is courteous to give credit to the person who gave you the advice

if you found it elsewhere, please pass it along for the benefit of others

of course i also considered that you fixed your problem and moved on ....

 

[Omri Salem]

the dogs i was talking about its my work dogs not my own
now i gonna make my own from zero the dogs i use (still use both of em) I just had to keep them up in the right level but they was trained befor i meet them. anyways its not for this thread- I'm sorry and ill let you know if the problems solved next time

 

[rick smith]

it is rare to have a dog that is indifferent to other animals. i don't think i've ever seen one. it doesn't mean it is a problem if it isn't "indifferent".

of course it depends a LOT on the basic temperament of the dog. have you already observed this pup around other animals ?

re: "got alot of dogs and cats"....etc
- that may seem logical but it often won't work

i have worked with MANY problem dogs that were NOT indifferent to other animals, but many of these WERE mostly indifferent to the animals that the dog lived with.
- i think your new pup will be the same way so don't be surprised if you need to desensitize the pup to animals it doesn't know and has never seen

of COURSE you need to get your new dog NON reactive to the animals in your household first, but if you think that will transfer to other animals OUTSIDE of your house and in the environment you will be working the dog in .... you might be a bit naive

the method Nancy suggested is a possible option
- where do you live ? near a farm you can use ? in a city ? wild animals nearby ? fenced in yard ? open area ? apartment ?
- it also has a LOT to do with how you train focus. what system do you use now to do that ?
- describe your environment and it is easier to get suggestions on how to use it effectively in your training; provided you already have a solid training system in place

will this be a detection dog or your personal pet ?

 

[John Ly]

imo biggest step to indifference is just exposure. see something once i'm curious about it. see something 100 times and i dont care as much.

add to that while being exposed to animals if YOU/the training is more fun than the animal then the dog will focus on you. seen it 100 times and its not as fun as my owner? im gonna ignore it and focus on the fun stuff.

though true indifference i would say is an obedience exercise. put a cat in front of a dog and that dog is going to look. its genetic! just like put a hot women in front of a guy and that guy is definitely looking.

 

[rick smith]

John
are you summarizing a training system of desensitizing thru multiple exposures ?

- i don't see it

but i do know if i see a hottie a hundred times a week it will not make me indifferent to the sight of the hottie //lol//
- actually i'd escalate the passive "eye candy" part and start interacting if at all possible //lol//
- does it work different for a canine ?

 

[John Ly]

i just posted what works for me rick. and seems to work for other people on this thread too.

let me put the hot girl scenario a better way. if i'm playing basketball and a hot girl walks by for the first time i might glance or even stop playing. if that same girl walks by for the 100th time i might keep on playing. she didnt wave to me the first time so she isnt on the 100th time. she isnt as fun as playing basketball so im going to keep on playing. but thats just me. you might stop playing and get hard every time? =)

what works for you? i see you've asked a bunch of questions on this thread but havent offered any training advice whatsoever.

 

[Howard Knauf]

You can only do what you can do, right? I have dogs, cats, pigeons, ducks, snakes and the occasional wildlife at my house. I also take my dog to the local humane society where there are a few dozen feral cats along with Raccoons and Opossums that eat the cat food. Dog may look at the critters but does not react to them. Feral cats are great at reading body language of potential predators and they have actually approached my dog while he's in the down position. The other night one walked up to, and sat within 5 feet of him. All he wanted to do was get away from the thing. Good enough for me.

 

[rick smith]

John, for what it's worth, i've worked dogs with feral cats a LOT because they know me and my house dog. used them a huge amount as training aids and posted details about how i did it in previous threads

the main reason i haven't listed a bunch of things i would do is because i want the OP to get involved. it's his thread and he was asking
- if he doesn't participate, the thread just becomes a bunch of side threads
- i want to know the system someone uses before i try to suggest mine, and if they don't have a system it will be clear when they respond
- that's why i'm not engaging with you

i don't know if he is talking about training EDD"s or pets but i simply tried to point out that the animals he lives with will probably not prevent a problem with reactiveness to other animals his dog will encounter

i don't even know if he is trying to fix a problem or prevent one from occurring in the future

i am not much of a big picture guy .... i would rather focus on the details and the steps to get somewhere i want to go with a dog

 

[rick smith]

John
for what it's worth i also like Lou Castle's method for dealing with crittering; especially if you use Ecollars

it's precise but takes patience and i think it requires a helper, which is hard for me since i usually work solo.

i have tried it tho....just haven't followed all the steps
but from what i saw it works great

what happened to the OP ???

 

[Bob Scott]

When I was with SAR we used caged squirrels, raccoons, rats, road kill, packages of meat, etc anything we could get hold of.

I like to proof this stuff off of a track until the dog "gets it". Other's do it on the track. It's a choice.

Some dogs could be more work but, IMO, the dogs that were more "natural" on a track were less likely to be distracted. As talked about in another post I believe some tracking, trailing, etc is self reward to a lot of good dogs.

When I took my SCH III one of the other dogs ran her track and there were a few wild goose bones on the track. For a second or two it was as if the dog was trying to decide if this was a scent article but continued on through it to finish the track.

 

[Catherine Gervin]

for reasons that are probably obvious to those who know more than i, my dog is really awesome about heeding the "No Kitties" command. she might give a little chase until it's uttered, but then she comes right back into fuss and i make a big fuss and we move on. we have a cat--a gigantic fat, ancient, has-a-bad-hind-leg, virtually defenseless cat and she had to learn that rule right when she came home at 4 months. the avoidance or ignoring of other dogs though? nothing doing. she will keep a downstay in their presence now, but she is fully hackled and growls furiously the entire time they are within site. do other people find this kind of variable interest occurs with their better-trained-than-my-dog dogs? i mean, could raccoons just be irresistible but sheep are neither here nor there? do dogs apply a case by case basis approach or do you just train one command, one "leave it" and proof it?

 

[Omri Salem]

I see it a bit more complicated than i thought :-|
ill try to use your tips guys but the most thing i take from here is
to try fucos him on work then he will ignore the others thing but for make that i need to become the work really good thing for him,
and thats make me focus you guys on the other question i post here!
what your ways to increase the game created of the dog?
i will start with food everytime he catch the right explosives he will get hes daily meal then ill change the food for kong/etc
@rick hes gonna detection dog