And what are your most useful tips to make sure they will be friendly with other dogs?
Someone I knew has a dog that runs around the block and comes back by themselves, and will not listen to the owner calling them back. I do not want that.
I’ve been to a country where I saw no dogs on leashes. Some dogs following owners lazily and slowly riding their motorcycles when the human didn’t feel like walking, but had to walk their dogs anyways. I want whatever assertive and respectful communication these owners and dogs have.
Don’t, always use a leash, reduces risks
I’m sure theres a plethora of dog training tutorials online nowadays. Aa for the being friendly with other dogs I think you just need to socialize them while they’re young.
Yeah but I’m overwhelmed by the number of them. I’m trying to narrow down my searches.
And since I’ve been abused, I fear coming across abusive methods without me realizing they’re abusive. It’s like thinking about having a child but fearing you’ll fuck them up when you extremely don’t want to. I know it may just be a fear, but it still scares me.
Do you think a dog park, or a hiking path with lots of dogs, is too intense for a little puppy? If you’re a lonely human how do you find dogs for them to socialize with?
Taking them to group training classes is a good idea. You will learn how to train them while also teaching them how to behave around other dogs. If you’ve never trained a dog before, it is likely worth the money for a few classes. It’s a good place for socialization which is more controlled then just turning them loose around other dogs who may be poorly trained.
In general, just be consistent, direct and stern. Don’t let them develop bad habits and ignore your instructions. Patience is key. Dogs can be stubborn, so you gotta be more stubborn.
Yeah in the past I definitely enabled a dog to drag me everywhere. I thought it was normal until the trip to a country without a single leashed dog in sight. I’m not sure how to not enable that.
If you have some money for classes, it will be easier. Then practice at home every day, and while out walking. If they get ahead of you/pull, make them stop and sit/lay down next to you. Then continue on. This may be walking one step at a time until they get the idea btw. Lots of patience is needed. Be consistent, with words, tone, and expectations (Edit: and hand gestures too)
Train them to heel at a young age and reinforce the command consistently and routinely. Dog is smart and will understand that certain behaviors are in its interest but only if it receives that message from you with uniform consistency. This is particularly the case for negative reinforcement; positive reinforcement can be less immediately effective but it does not have to be as ruthless on your part to work at all. Once listening to your “no” becomes optional, any behavior becomes similarly optional. When it comes to making sure it’s friendly with other dogs: some dogs are just conflict-prone and should be kept from approaching strange dogs: this is done by simply never allowing it to stray more than a set distance from you (easier trained the younger the animal). If it likes other dogs and isn’t aggressive with them you can train it to not run after other dogs by allowing it friendly contact with dogs but only within the allowable distance. This training should be on a leash; once the dog understands what is allowable and what is not you can start having him off lease.
Train it to come to you when you call no matter what else it is doing, train this HARD, and do it while you take walks. Just do it randomly during the walk. Basic training of calling its name and giving it a treat when it comes is the first step and you just escalate from there.
Thats how I did it with my nom’s dog. And we dont need the leash now. We still use it whenever we are anywhere near a road or cars for safety, but she’ll come back even if theres a cool critter, another dog or a new smell and I say her name, so when she’s on trails or in the forest she’s leashless. If you remember to call her every time she gets a bit too far and enforce the discipline she’ll naturally keep the correct distance, and won’t wander off.But it took daily training on basically just stopping whatever she’s doing when told and to come when called. And unless those two things are reflexive I wouldnt go without a leash. During training if at any point she failed to do it when it was casually reinforced I would take her outside and make a training session out of it, and we did it for a month, and since then it still needs to be reinforced. Its not actually that hard.
Man I miss that dog.
Man I miss that dog.
They sound like the bestest dog.
