I have a 6 month old German Shepherd named Thor. Having read your book, I applied your techniques to him and he responded very quickly, to my surprise!
He is quite good at a sit-stay and down-stay now, which is very, very useful. I do have one problem that I couldn't fix with him though.
Here are the circumstances and the problem:
Thor lives outside in a dog kennel/pen thing, I walk him every day and play ball with him and always make sure he has food and water, I brush him and I spend a lot of time with him. But whenever I leave him, he sits and whines for half an hour! He just won't be quiet! And if I go back out to make him stop, as soon as he sees me, he's quiet... but as soon as I leave, he starts whining and barking again, so I just ignore him, but it has gotten to be such a problem that the neighbors have started to complain about it. I don't make a big deal out of leaving him or anything. I just say 'Bye Thor' and leave.
Can you help?
Christina Hathaway
Dear Christina:
Welcome to the wonderful world of German Shepherd ownership.
Here's what you can try:
1. Wait until he really starts whining and barking loudly. Then use the Bridging technique as described in the book (No, NO, No) and go back and correct him with the collar. Leave the pinch collar on, but keep the tab with you. Hook the tab on the collar, correct the dog, then take the tab off and walk away. Please note that you'll also want to later practice putting the tab on the dog, feeding him a cookie, then taking the tab off, so that the dog does not come to associate wearing a tab with a correction.
2. If Tip #1 doesn't work, pick a time when your neighbors are away. Ignore the dog. Wait until he finally settles down and is quiet... then wait another 2 minutes. Go back to the dog and let him out. Your goal is to teach the dog that being quiet will get him what he wants.
3. Simply ignore him. Eventually he will learn that this behavior does not product the results he desires, but it may take a couple of weeks. Also, increase his daily exercise regimen, substantially. You may also experiment with changing his dog food.
Different things work for different dogs when it comes to this behavior. Unfortunately, there is no quick cure-all.
