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Tips on training an uncontrollable Airedale

By Mitchell Stewart, K9 trainer, email: k9_fan@msn.com

Equipment: a lead, leather is preferable, a long line, an e-collar, and/or a pinch collar.

Take the dog on very structured walks; even they are just around your block or even in your backyard. I want you to walk say 10 steps and then stop, and require her to stop and sit. I want you to walk 10-or 20 steps and then turn (to the right; dog should be on your left) and re-trace your steps (quickly). Think of this as a game of Follow the Leader; you're the leader, and the dog plays follow the leader.

So, walk, stop, walk, about turn, walk, right turn, walk, stop, walk left turn (turn sharply and if your left knee makes contact with the dog's head, it's ok - keep walking). Vary your speeds: walk slow, walk fast, walk normal. The entire object of this exercise is to start requiring the dog to focus on you. Make the dog stay with you (this is where you will have to use the lead to pop her into compliance). Talk to the dog, praise her, but don't let up; she must honor the walk.

1. Even with an e-collar, you will need a regular lead or even a long line. Unlike with regular leash training, the lead or the long line would be used as a guide rather than as the training or correction device.

2. Structured walks are not walks in the normal sense. In a structured walk, you do a lot of stops, sits, and changes of direction. The idea in a structured walk is two-fold: force the dog's attention on you, and tire the dog's brain. If you are doing a lot of stops, starts, changes of directions, the dog has to focus more tightly on you. Take her on very structured walks, even if they are just around your block or even in your backyard. I take 10 steps and then stop, and require her to stop and sit, then I want you to walk 10 or 20 steps and then turn (to the right; dog should be on your left) and re-trace your steps (quickly). Think of this as a game of follow the Leader; you're the Leader, and the dog must follow, and follow promptly. Talk to her all the time (trainers, or at least my trainers, call it “chittering” - some call it “baby talk”. But, the point is to talk soothingly, encouragingly, and constantly even as you play Follow the Leader.

So, walk, stop, walk, about turn, walk, right turn, walk, stop, walk left turn (turn sharply and if your left knee makes contact with the dogs head, it’s ok - keep walking). Vary your speeds: walk slow, walk fast, walk normal.

The entire object of this exercise is to start requiring the dog to focus on you. Make the dog stay with you (this is where you will have to use the lead to pop her into compliance). Talk to the dog, praise her, but don’t let up; she must honor the walk.

3. School the dog without distractions for a week or two - in the backyard or in a relatively dog-free space. The initial objective is to get the dog to focus on you or more precisely on where you are and what you are doing.

4. The e-collar is an attention-getting device, but it is not a miracle device. In traditional leash training with distractions we would “correct” the dog with a pop of the lead (i.e. pop and relax - the objective always being to have a “loose” lead).

With the collar, we set the stimulus to the lowest point at which the dog notices it but is not unnecessarily uncomfortable. This point varies both the dog’s experience (sometimes inexperienced dogs are extremely sensitive just because it’s new but with time tend to ignore the initial low level; in other cases, experienced dogs “know” what the stimulus means and therefore get along on a very low level). The lead or long line is used to guide the dog, and to prevent it from going “out of bounds”, but it is not used for corrections; all the corrections and “talking” is done through the collar and with voice.

One significant difference is that in lead training, we give a command once (e.g. “sit”) and make dramatic but infrequent “pop corrections”. With the collar, we will make repetitive commands (e.g. “sit, sit, sit”) while tapping the collars send unit with every voice command. A major mistake that inexperienced users of the e-collar make is to tap the send unit once. The stimulus with the Nic function is about 1/500th of a second. The idea of the collar is not so much correction as conversation; we speak in voice and also with the collar - the collar then calls attention to the voice command and reinforces it.

5. If the dog, after structured walks and some controlled distraction training continues to be wild and even aggressive with other dogs, you may, temporarily at least, want to fall back on traditional correction methods. I think, however, you will want to exhaust the possibilities of the collar first. I advise this not because traditional leash training is ineffective but because e-collar training takes far less effort for you and the dog.

6. I use the Dogtra 200ncp which runs between $170 and $200. No Limitations has new collar out that runs about $210. The Pet Safe collar is a bit less expensive at $130, and may be just as effective. I use the Dogtra in part because that is what our trainers recommended at the time, and in part because the stimulus curve seemed a bit more even. My guess is that any of these collars will suit you in the short run; the technique and method you employ is far more important.

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