This message is from: GAIL RUSSELL <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hi Peter,
Your dog problem will not be easily solved. The dog is of a herding breed that has been bred to nip at the heels of animals. On top of that, the dog has developed a habit of doing this already. However, I do think you may be able to stop it by smart use of proven training methods. My suggestions are: 1) Go to the Clicker Solutions page (URL may be www.clickersolutions.com) and immerse yourself in training theory. ALSO, immediately buy Karen Pryor's "Don't Shoot the Dog and read it, cover to cover...and really learn about how people, dogs, chickens, horses learn. Join a dog clicker training e-mail list and ask for help there. Be sure to read the information regarding the efficacy of "punishments." Try to get help on working on "positively reinforcing" an "incompatible behavior." (Example, whenever the dog sees a horse, it sits down and looks at the handler, thereby earning a click, and the reward that follows it. This should work much better than jerking on the collar after the dog has started to go after the horses.) 2) Keep the dog away from the horses all the time (even when on a leash...unless you are actively working on stopping the behavior) Until this is solved the dog must not have even one more opportunity to even think about nipping at the heels of the horses. Every time this happens, the habit is more deeply ingrained (not to mention the danger to you and your horse). Penning up the dog *after* it lunges at the horses comes too late to be an effective punishment. (AND punishment does not work very well anyway.) There may be some kind of aversive that MIGHT help.....but I am not sure what it would be. Maybe an electric shock or some kind of bitter tasting pad on the horse's back legs?? There may also be other, better Interent sites on problem solving dog behavior....but the one above is what I know of offhand. (OH....you might try something like the "English Shepherd" or Border Collie or Blue Heeler websites and e-mail lists. The rescue organizations for these breeds know a LOT about dealing with this kind of problem behavior. I learned about clicker training from the English Shepherd e-mail list when people talked about rescuing problem individuals of the breed...who were doing just this kind of thing.) The good news is that you have a very smart dog that could do a lot with all that energy and intensity and will be a great family dog. Maybe even be a fantastic agility dog, or flyball team dog. All you have to do is figure out how to redirect all that energy and smarts. Hope this helps! Gail Gail Russell Forestville CA [EMAIL PROTECTED]
