Originally posted by speck
Howdy!
I've got a Rhodesian Ridgeback cross. (What with? Not sure. Her brothers and sisters looked like black and white border collies with ridges. She looks like a GSD/Ridgeback cross.) She's my first dog, and ... well, Rhodies are a handfull from everything I'd heard, but I think I've managed to do pretty well with her. She's 15 months old and I've had her for about a year. Before that, she was living with my ex-girlfriend until I could move to a place that allowed dogs and had a yard; my ex-girlfriend rescued her at 4-5 weeks. First off, bravo! I love it when someone takes in a rescue dog
My current girlfriend is a positive training fan and is entering vet school this year with thoughts of becoming a behaviorist. She's had great success using positive training with her hound/dane cross... the dog is 3 years old, was abused for years (veterinary testing dog... blah!) and is afraid of everything. He whacked his tail against a cabinet in my house tonight and scared himself silly. 75 lbs of scaredy-cat! But he's doing so much better than he was before, and she's teaching him all kinds of entertaining tricks. The girlfriend wishes that I'd be 'nicer' when training my dog because sometimes I use an 'escalation of force' technique that makes her uncomfortable. She also thinks that my dog should be allowed to be a puppy sometimes, and to not have to listen and calm down every single time I give her a command. The former I can kind of agree with (but haven't had much success with), the latter I completely and absolutely disagree with. Now, I'm not going to say that she is wrong. Positive training methods work great, for SOME dogs. When dealing with low self-esteem non-aggressive dogs, all positive training can work wonders. Positive methods work great for naturally calm and submissive dog too. But, when you get into dealing with aggressive, nervous behaviors, or naturally dominant dogs (which, compared with the total number of dogs in the world, naturally dominant dogs are very few. Most dogs are born followers), you need to take the leader roll and you have to be it 24/7, no exceptions.
At 15 months your dog is past the puppy stage of development and is nearing the end of the juvenile stage. So basically, it's time to start thinking of your dog as an adult. There is nothing wrong with letting your dog just be a dog, but it has to be on your terms.
As far as "force" is concerned. A firm yet light touch is always the best way to go. Now, I won't follow Cesar Millan down every road he takes, but if you need to see the proper way to correct the dog, study him. Collar high on the neck and a very quick tug up is all you should need. A correction is not meant to punish or hurt the dog(this is what your girlfriend thinks btw) but it is meant to *snap* the dog out of it's current state of mind and redirect it's attention to you.
Rhodies are strong breeds and require a strong owner. Hell, they were and still are used by big game hunters in Africa. You have a dog that is breed to face down lions. Danes were also meant to be hunters, but from what I understand, since they have a longer history as house pets, breeders have been able to breed in more of a gentle nature. With Ridgebacks, you're still dealing with a true hunter, that can also hurt someone. Your GF needs to understand that. Also, if she has a problem with "discipline" in the dog world, have her observe a mother with her puppies. This is were you see natural correction in action. The mother doesn't get angry, neither should you btw, or "yell" at her pups. She uses eye contact, energy and if need be a light, but firm touch.
You are right about obeying you at all times. Since you have a strong breed dog, you have to take the leader position, no questions, no exceptions. It is your duty to ensure that. If left unchecked it can become a safety issue for your dog, you, your girlfriend, other dogs and the general public.
Back over to my dog. She's frighteningly intelligent. We were playing with a friend's dog (Jack Russel) and a laser pointer ... and he was going crazy. After he was pooped, we tried it on her. She swatted the red dot a few times, looked up at me when we started to laugh, saw the red dot and my hand moving at the same time, and *completely* lost interest. She knows objects are 3d. While my friends dogs are still trying to get the ball that rolled under the TV stand from the front, she goes around the side and swats it towards her. When at the dog park, which is circular and rather small, she knows that dogs running the fence will come back to her eventually if she just waits. So when chasing a dog, she will stop when there's other dogs chasing it, let the dog keep running, and then come back from the other side and do a head-on takedown while her target's looking back over it's shoulders at it's pursuers.
I love her to death, and wouldn't have her any other way! The problem with such a smart dog, of course, is that she makes a *decision* about whether or not she wants to listen.
To me, that's so awesome. That's the thing about Rhodies, they were breed to get the job done and expend as little energy as possible. From what I understand and have read, during a hunt they would work in "shifts" keeping a lion at bay until the hunter arrived.
Now, with that said, we can't let her breed be an excuse for bad bahavior. All dogs are pack animals and recognize the leader/follower relationship. You need to become a strong and stable leader.