Gundog Training Forum

Judy wrote:Maybe a parent - child relationship is OK but only if you are the right kind of parent!

Yeah, fair enough!

I look on the training relationship as two actors, playing out an ever changing scene, in the arena of training, not only are they the actors, but also writers and directors of the script.

All the world's a stage, and all the men, women and dogs merely players

Deep man, deep. !

The dogs are merely players but I write the script! Well, mostly.

Just call me Shakespeare...

Judy wrote:The dogs are merely players but I write the script! Well, mostly.

Just call me Shakespeare...

That where I am going wrong, I'm just the Roadie

Judy wrote:The dogs are merely players but I write the script! Well, mostly.

Just call me Shakespeare...

It's the bit that's left after you subtract the mostly that I find interesting.

Did I get the punctuation wrong?

Must be the Well ?
A reservoir of life ,to be used when the thirst of knowledge is required

I grew up listening to the whole "alpha male" theory of dog training but never fully agreed with it, esp under the circumstances of dogs living with and working for humans, i just didnt think the theory transferred over, plus i just dont think dogs are stupid - they know we're not dogs. I think getting the attention, interest and loyalty of a dog works the exact same as getting people to listen, it's all about self-confidence, and it's something you cant fake with a dog. I've always struggled with getting a dog to walk on a loose leash, but it's something i've got bad memories of from when i was a kid walking our lab so i'm probably pretty uptight when leash walking, but not when doing recall (which i've always had decent success with). The times that i have had sucess with leash walking is when there has been potential for danger, so maybe i've just been more assertive in my body language because i knew that dog just absolutely had to do what i wanted, no faffing about.