On 23/08/2018 15:29, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 23 Aug 2018 14:38:27 +0100, "www.GymRatZ.co.uk"
wrote:

On 23/08/2018 12:46, wrote:

However, beyond a certain point, the dog becomes essentially irredeemable as
you pretty much can't teach old dogs new tricks, and in particular you can't
unteach them their current ones.

their ways can be changed, but only if you remove them from the problem human or teach the problem human some sense. Generally neither of those happens.

Wholeheartedly agree. People are always the issue. Always expecting dogs
to act and understand "human" It's humans that need to act and become
"dog" The amount of people that think just because someone's owned a
dog should read "been owned by a dog" in the past makes then an
authority on dogs... and stupid people that see size of dog as the issue
letting small dogs get away with dominant, possessive, aggressive
behaviour because they don't see it for what it actually is.

Dangerous dogs can be safe IF handled correctly. An example is police attack dogs, trained to attack people but don't kill people or attack the officers.

My mate had a GSD that failed Police training because it couldn't clear
the highest obstacle. It had had it's teeth filed to give them flat
tops but the surprise that they found out by accident was when someone
pulled out a toy gun and the dog jumped and grabbed the gun. Did it
every time without fail.

All dogs can be re-calibrated given the correct leader unless they have
underlying medical issues, people on the other hand let emotion get in
the way thereby creating a pathetic, weak and feeble pack member that
Dog will instinctively need to take over the role as "pack leader"
generally without any leadership qualities that would be learnt from
early pack life.


+1

I only had to look at our dogs for them to 'get' my mood or desired
intention and trained them so with reward and understanding.

That said, dogs do differ and some are more trainable than others (for
the same level of input).

My whippet terrier would sit instantly just if I got her attention and
raised a finger and would jump from the floor into my arms with a
equally simple instruction. She was rarely on the lead, would walk to
heel or run free if you told her (but would always stay within ear or
eye shot).

She would hang in the air from a 'puller' but never bit anyone (only
cats that were in her garden). ;-)

She was what we called a 'with you' dog. It didn't matter what you
were doing (or the weather) she would want to be with you doing it
(where possible / practical).

Just what a companion animal is all about of course. ;-)


When I had dogs one of the first things I liked to train them to do was
walk at heel, sit and stay. I could then take the dog on my paper round
without having to use a lead.


--
Adam