I have been reading some postings on behavorial issues on this forum. & someone with food aggression issues, mentioned that the trainer is using Dog Whisperer methods in an effort to correct these serious issues. Another member responded that this method was old school & should not be used.
My puppy is only just four months old & does not appear to have food guarding problems, but was wondering when this might begin to display itself, if he was going to develop this? What signs should I be watching out for! So that I can catch it very early on if he is going to go through this? At the moment, I feed Loki in the kitchen with our papillon walking about, & the papillon will often go up & nose around Loki's bowl while Loki is eating, & he does not appear bothered. I do not feed the papillon his meals when the puppy is in the same room. I give Jontay his meals either in the hall, where he is used to being fed to prevent the cats from trying to steal his food ......he would stand back & let them! I always give Loki a couple of special treat pieces of food, seconds before I take Jontay into the hall with his food & close the door between them. I have been doing this since Loki joined us nine weeks ago & there has never been a problem. Then Jontay comes back into the kitchen when he has finished & I allow Loki to lick Jontay's bowl ....Loki has already just had his own meal, but he really hangs out to do this, & I cannot see any harm in it ...Jontay's bowl is always empty, but Loki still likes to lick around it. So no issues with food, apart from Loki gobbling down his own treats & then whirling around to try & get Jontay's, which I don't allow, but I guess this is normal pup behaviour & he is getting much better now.
Going back to the Dog Whisperer techniques ....are these the same as Alpha Dog training? I use an English Certified Behavorialist trainer ...we travel forty minutes by car, each way, as have heard she is very good ....she has a training school & does this full time, with doggy daycare as well ....also does agility etc. She gets us to use treats to teach our pups/dogs & she never punishes, so I guess this would be the same as the clicker training I do with Loki at home ...positive reinforcement. However, she tells people off (me included) for talking to their pups/dogs ....she calls anything other than giving direct commands, 'white noise' & says puppies/dogs only need to be talked to when giving a command, otherwise it just confuses them. I like to chat to my pets, so this is proving quite hard for me, I must say! I realise that during training sessions, one should just give commands, so as the puppy can clearly understand. But surely I should be able to talk to my puppy in those times when we are not training? She does encourage us to give praise 'good boy/girl' but if she hears anyone just chatting .....eg I might be saying to Loki something like 'Well aren't you having a lovely time, playing in the water' ....& she will look firmly at me & tell off for making 'white noise'. Has anyone come across this before? Talking to my pets comes as natural as breathing to me. Also, she says we must never allow our dogs to go out a door before us ....we must always initiate games & always end the game. We must never allow our dogs to walk away from us to end a game ...we must walk away from them before the game is finished. We must never allow our puppy to win a game of tug. And if they bring the ball for a game of fetch, we should ignore them, but a minute later we can pick up the ball & initiate a game. A couple of weeks ago, she taught us how to place the puppy's bowl of food on the floor at meal times, but then block him from getting to the bowl by moving around it, as he moves around to get at his food. She says the puppy must learn that he can only have his food when we invite it to do so. Also told us to take the bowl away from the puppy as he was eating his meal, then make him sit until we were ready to give it back. I really could not see why I needed to do this, so I have not been doing it. Should I be doing it?
My puppy is only just four months old & does not appear to have food guarding problems, but was wondering when this might begin to display itself, if he was going to develop this? What signs should I be watching out for! So that I can catch it very early on if he is going to go through this? At the moment, I feed Loki in the kitchen with our papillon walking about, & the papillon will often go up & nose around Loki's bowl while Loki is eating, & he does not appear bothered. I do not feed the papillon his meals when the puppy is in the same room. I give Jontay his meals either in the hall, where he is used to being fed to prevent the cats from trying to steal his food ......he would stand back & let them! I always give Loki a couple of special treat pieces of food, seconds before I take Jontay into the hall with his food & close the door between them. I have been doing this since Loki joined us nine weeks ago & there has never been a problem. Then Jontay comes back into the kitchen when he has finished & I allow Loki to lick Jontay's bowl ....Loki has already just had his own meal, but he really hangs out to do this, & I cannot see any harm in it ...Jontay's bowl is always empty, but Loki still likes to lick around it. So no issues with food, apart from Loki gobbling down his own treats & then whirling around to try & get Jontay's, which I don't allow, but I guess this is normal pup behaviour & he is getting much better now.
Going back to the Dog Whisperer techniques ....are these the same as Alpha Dog training? I use an English Certified Behavorialist trainer ...we travel forty minutes by car, each way, as have heard she is very good ....she has a training school & does this full time, with doggy daycare as well ....also does agility etc. She gets us to use treats to teach our pups/dogs & she never punishes, so I guess this would be the same as the clicker training I do with Loki at home ...positive reinforcement. However, she tells people off (me included) for talking to their pups/dogs ....she calls anything other than giving direct commands, 'white noise' & says puppies/dogs only need to be talked to when giving a command, otherwise it just confuses them. I like to chat to my pets, so this is proving quite hard for me, I must say! I realise that during training sessions, one should just give commands, so as the puppy can clearly understand. But surely I should be able to talk to my puppy in those times when we are not training? She does encourage us to give praise 'good boy/girl' but if she hears anyone just chatting .....eg I might be saying to Loki something like 'Well aren't you having a lovely time, playing in the water' ....& she will look firmly at me & tell off for making 'white noise'. Has anyone come across this before? Talking to my pets comes as natural as breathing to me. Also, she says we must never allow our dogs to go out a door before us ....we must always initiate games & always end the game. We must never allow our dogs to walk away from us to end a game ...we must walk away from them before the game is finished. We must never allow our puppy to win a game of tug. And if they bring the ball for a game of fetch, we should ignore them, but a minute later we can pick up the ball & initiate a game. A couple of weeks ago, she taught us how to place the puppy's bowl of food on the floor at meal times, but then block him from getting to the bowl by moving around it, as he moves around to get at his food. She says the puppy must learn that he can only have his food when we invite it to do so. Also told us to take the bowl away from the puppy as he was eating his meal, then make him sit until we were ready to give it back. I really could not see why I needed to do this, so I have not been doing it. Should I be doing it?