Phil Thien
06-26-2011, 3:39 PM
The purpose of this thread is to exchange dog raising/training philosophies.
Roy [Rogers], my approx. 12 week old beagledor (half beagle, half Labrador) is doing terrific.
I have fed all my dogs table scraps. From chicken to steak to beans to whatever. YES, I give them their regular diet of dry dog food. But I supplement with scraps from the table.
I have two teenage daughters, and their schedules often change at the last minute. If one of them calls and says she is eating at a friend's home (for example), we often have leftover chicken (or whatever) that I will dice up and use for training.
I'd rather use little pieces of chicken or beef than dog treats because I'm concerned with the amount of salts and other chemicals in dog treats. I'm not so concerned with filling his little stomach with chicken, though.
Do you guys feed table scraps?
I've been working on the sit/stay/come/down/stop eating my shoes commands at this point. He's still young, but doing pretty well. I can see the stubbornness of the beagle, for sure. But he is getting it.
My previous dog (Rudy the black lab) had quite a vocabulary and could even handle commands like "go hide." He'd find a spot where he couldn't see me, assuming I couldn't see him. If I could see his tale or something, I'd say "I still see you" and he'd find a better spot. Smart dog.
I'm looking forward to 16 weeks, when Roy can have his rabies shot and then go to the dog parks. He has lots of energy, and we're going on 3-4 walks a day (approx. 3-5 miles in all). But he would love to run and play with other dogs. And they just opened a dog park across the street from work (which is only 2 blocks from home).
How much do you guys walk your dogs?
I haven't figured out how to sharpen him yet. What would be the optimum bevel? Is honing required? What about the wire edge?
He starts the night in his kennel. He sleeps from about 8pm on, and at about 10pm will just walk into his kennel and flop. When he wakes up at about 4:30am, I take him outside, let him do his business, and then take him to the bedroom where he sleeps next to my bed.
You guys use kennels? I never did until previous dog. I only used it for about a year. Once dog could be trusted in the house, he had free run. Roy will probably be smaller so I might be able to keep his kennel, if he gets very attached to it.
Training-wise, I had a friend that years ago told me to assert my dominance with staring contests. When the dog catches my eye, I stare back at the dog until it looks away. If it takes more than a few seconds, I calmly say something like "are you looking at me?" That is usually all it has taken to get the dog to break eye contact.
It takes a while. Male dogs don't give up easily. But it has usually worked well, including on Roy.
Anyone else have any good training tips? I have a friend that encourages clicker training, but (I know this will sound weird), I don't want that kind of relationship with the dog. Boy, this is weird, but I want the dog to grow to be more of an independent thinker, not constantly trying to get my approval and a click.
For instance, I was walking him yesterday on his retractable lead and a lady says "he will never learn to heal that way." Well, he is young, has lots of energy, is curious, and full of life. I don't want him to heal yet. I want him to run around and have fun.
My previous dogs all healed when I wanted them to, but I typically let them run around like lunatics unless I saw people coming the opposite direction or something. They bascially ran from one tree to the next, marking if necessary.
If I saw an old person approaching (for example), I'd have them heal and often they'd just heal all my themselves, knowing the command was coming.
I've started taking him to work with me. He has been spending a half day, then one of my daughters comes and gets him for a walk and something to eat. Starting Wednesday he will be there all day as my family is out of town for a few days. I'll take him for a walk myself at noon. A long walk to work, a long walk a lunch, a long walk home, and a long walk after dinner. Good for me, too.
Anything I'm forgetting? Tell me about your dog, and your training methods.
Roy [Rogers], my approx. 12 week old beagledor (half beagle, half Labrador) is doing terrific.
I have fed all my dogs table scraps. From chicken to steak to beans to whatever. YES, I give them their regular diet of dry dog food. But I supplement with scraps from the table.
I have two teenage daughters, and their schedules often change at the last minute. If one of them calls and says she is eating at a friend's home (for example), we often have leftover chicken (or whatever) that I will dice up and use for training.
I'd rather use little pieces of chicken or beef than dog treats because I'm concerned with the amount of salts and other chemicals in dog treats. I'm not so concerned with filling his little stomach with chicken, though.
Do you guys feed table scraps?
I've been working on the sit/stay/come/down/stop eating my shoes commands at this point. He's still young, but doing pretty well. I can see the stubbornness of the beagle, for sure. But he is getting it.
My previous dog (Rudy the black lab) had quite a vocabulary and could even handle commands like "go hide." He'd find a spot where he couldn't see me, assuming I couldn't see him. If I could see his tale or something, I'd say "I still see you" and he'd find a better spot. Smart dog.
I'm looking forward to 16 weeks, when Roy can have his rabies shot and then go to the dog parks. He has lots of energy, and we're going on 3-4 walks a day (approx. 3-5 miles in all). But he would love to run and play with other dogs. And they just opened a dog park across the street from work (which is only 2 blocks from home).
How much do you guys walk your dogs?
I haven't figured out how to sharpen him yet. What would be the optimum bevel? Is honing required? What about the wire edge?
He starts the night in his kennel. He sleeps from about 8pm on, and at about 10pm will just walk into his kennel and flop. When he wakes up at about 4:30am, I take him outside, let him do his business, and then take him to the bedroom where he sleeps next to my bed.
You guys use kennels? I never did until previous dog. I only used it for about a year. Once dog could be trusted in the house, he had free run. Roy will probably be smaller so I might be able to keep his kennel, if he gets very attached to it.
Training-wise, I had a friend that years ago told me to assert my dominance with staring contests. When the dog catches my eye, I stare back at the dog until it looks away. If it takes more than a few seconds, I calmly say something like "are you looking at me?" That is usually all it has taken to get the dog to break eye contact.
It takes a while. Male dogs don't give up easily. But it has usually worked well, including on Roy.
Anyone else have any good training tips? I have a friend that encourages clicker training, but (I know this will sound weird), I don't want that kind of relationship with the dog. Boy, this is weird, but I want the dog to grow to be more of an independent thinker, not constantly trying to get my approval and a click.
For instance, I was walking him yesterday on his retractable lead and a lady says "he will never learn to heal that way." Well, he is young, has lots of energy, is curious, and full of life. I don't want him to heal yet. I want him to run around and have fun.
My previous dogs all healed when I wanted them to, but I typically let them run around like lunatics unless I saw people coming the opposite direction or something. They bascially ran from one tree to the next, marking if necessary.
If I saw an old person approaching (for example), I'd have them heal and often they'd just heal all my themselves, knowing the command was coming.
I've started taking him to work with me. He has been spending a half day, then one of my daughters comes and gets him for a walk and something to eat. Starting Wednesday he will be there all day as my family is out of town for a few days. I'll take him for a walk myself at noon. A long walk to work, a long walk a lunch, a long walk home, and a long walk after dinner. Good for me, too.
Anything I'm forgetting? Tell me about your dog, and your training methods.