Is this training right for Toby?

[terribletoby]

Hello all, I am new here (just posted a hello in intro's). I have a six year old Jack Russel/Patterdale terrier cross who is a Terrier with a capital T. I have had him for 10 months and he was a rescue dog but with no 'negative' background. He is generally a wonderful dog, but has started to develop some issues with agression towards other dogs.

I have been lurking for about six months, but I was persuaded to try other training methods for my boy. I tried positive reinforcement, then Alpha position (Cesar style). I dont want to confuse the poor boy, so I'm looking for advice as to whether natural training might be worth a try.

Toby is generally very high energy, but he has daily running walk in the AM and evening walk along with fetch in the garden. what doesn't make sense to me is that he will happily meet dogs and be friendly at the start of his run/walk, but tends to get unfriendly and agitated at the end of the walk. I'm guessing his physical energy is drained but not his emotional. He loves tug of war, but I have stopped doing that as other advice says to do this.

Does this sound like he might be a good candidate for Natural Dog Training? Any comments greatly received :-)

[Dan]

I'm a beginner, but I know tugging is part of the program. It is a way to release energy in a healthy way. I would recommend Neil's DVDs. Good luck!

[Sang]

Terrier eh? Oh yeah, he will DEFINITELY benefit from NDT. It's like NDT was made for terriers.

[Sang]

Originally Posted by terribletoby

what doesn't make sense to me is that he will happily meet dogs and be friendly at the start of his run/walk, but tends to get unfriendly and agitated at the end of the walk. I'm guessing his physical energy is drained but not his emotional. He loves tug of war, but I have stopped doing that as other advice says to do this.)

You're right. He's not getting to drain his emotional energy. So the runs and walks are actually loading him up emotionally, building his charge, so he has to release it. So he uses the other dogs as a way to do it.

If he'll play tug with you, do that with him, and of course let him win. Also, see if he'll play tug with you while you're out on your walks. That will help him ground all that incoherent energy he's feeling when he's out and about.

And before I forget, welcome to the forums!

[Chris]

NDT will most definitely help your Terrier. I have a reactive German Shepherd and for 2.5 yrs we did everything we could to physically exhaust this dog and all he got was fitter and faster than us

Started NDT and wow, a couple of games of tug, some pushing and 90% of his overloaded energy gone! Now I have no worries if we miss a walk, a game of tug and he's a happy dog.

I noticed a change in Ty within weeks of doing NDT, it's worth a go and heaps of wonderful folks here to help you along.

[terribletoby]

Thanks for comments everyone- I have only had a few days, but I have been getting started with Toby. I haven't tried the pushing yet, but just getting going on the tug of war. It is strange how things can change a dog, he used to love tug and would hold on so tight, but since we have stopped playing it with him (following the usual advice for dominant dogs) he is now less sure of the game. I have had to work quite hard to get him to tug which is a real change. So I will get going with this and update with progress.

As for tugging on walks- I tried this yesterday when he had barked at another dog and he loved it- responded much better than at home. Of course I couldn't break him out of it to continue the walk! I will try this again today and over the next few days.

thanks again everyone.

[donnieo]

you'll find that once he's willing to push for food, his tug will become stronger.