Hey all. A while back I had posted here requesting some advice regarding my deaf ACD puppy and his increasingly aggressive behavior with us both in and out of the house. I just wanted to post a quick update of how he is doing and what we have done with him!
In my previous post (sorry, I deleted it so can't link it), I stated we had been using an e collar and prong at the advice of our trainer. We noticed that our dog was clearly displaying discomfort and that we thought the aggression was stemming from these training methods. Our trainer insisted we just had to buckle down and be even more harsh, which we didnt feel right about in the first place. When we did what she recommended, the situation just continued to get worse and I could tell it was going to lead us to a very dangerous and unsafe situation for both us and our dog.
So we did the only thing we could think of: we fired our trainer and removed all negative re-enforcement training from our arsenal. We put him back on a harness only, started paying attention to his triggers and needs more carefully, and started fully instituting positive-only training and interactions.
I AM SO GLAD WE LISTENED TO OUR GUT.
Within days he did almost a complete 180. Happier, more relaxed. Listening better than ever. Less biting, less acting out. Better walks, better interactions, better relationship with our dog. By the end of the second week (and making sure we were on the right track with our new positive only trainer), he is practically a brand new dog. He loves to play with us, we can hold him, kiss him, snuggle him and he listens 90% of the time. When he does get into those overwhelmed moods (our old trainer told us he was just misbehaving, when in reality he was overwhelmed and over threshold), we simply redirect with a toy or a different more calming activity. It's been almost a month now and his personality has fully blossomed and we have even been able to walk him with our other dog (which we were unable to do previously). I am so glad we listened to ourselves and what our dog was telling us rather than the poor advice from the trainer we thought we could trust.
Of course we still have hard days, moments where he doesn't listen or he is more difficult to manage. But instead of forcing him to do things, we can listen to what he is telling us, what HE needs, and give that to him and it has made a world of difference. I still feel guilty for going against what I knew was right in the first place and putting him under so much stress. We damaged the trust that he had in us, but we are now slowly building it back and I am so happy. I just wanted to share some positive progress with you all and say thank you again to anyone who shared advice.
In my previous post (sorry, I deleted it so can't link it), I stated we had been using an e collar and prong at the advice of our trainer. We noticed that our dog was clearly displaying discomfort and that we thought the aggression was stemming from these training methods. Our trainer insisted we just had to buckle down and be even more harsh, which we didnt feel right about in the first place. When we did what she recommended, the situation just continued to get worse and I could tell it was going to lead us to a very dangerous and unsafe situation for both us and our dog.
So we did the only thing we could think of: we fired our trainer and removed all negative re-enforcement training from our arsenal. We put him back on a harness only, started paying attention to his triggers and needs more carefully, and started fully instituting positive-only training and interactions.
I AM SO GLAD WE LISTENED TO OUR GUT.
Within days he did almost a complete 180. Happier, more relaxed. Listening better than ever. Less biting, less acting out. Better walks, better interactions, better relationship with our dog. By the end of the second week (and making sure we were on the right track with our new positive only trainer), he is practically a brand new dog. He loves to play with us, we can hold him, kiss him, snuggle him and he listens 90% of the time. When he does get into those overwhelmed moods (our old trainer told us he was just misbehaving, when in reality he was overwhelmed and over threshold), we simply redirect with a toy or a different more calming activity. It's been almost a month now and his personality has fully blossomed and we have even been able to walk him with our other dog (which we were unable to do previously). I am so glad we listened to ourselves and what our dog was telling us rather than the poor advice from the trainer we thought we could trust.
Of course we still have hard days, moments where he doesn't listen or he is more difficult to manage. But instead of forcing him to do things, we can listen to what he is telling us, what HE needs, and give that to him and it has made a world of difference. I still feel guilty for going against what I knew was right in the first place and putting him under so much stress. We damaged the trust that he had in us, but we are now slowly building it back and I am so happy. I just wanted to share some positive progress with you all and say thank you again to anyone who shared advice.
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