Hi,
We have a German Shepherd cross Husky called Joey who is 4years old has been with us over a year and was rescued from a shelter where he had been all his life . He is very chilled out, doesn't pull, bark he was very timid when we got him, didn't know how to run or play in a year he is a changed dog. We have recently (2 weeks) rescued another dog called Tilly she is a german shepherd cross rough collie about 5 years old, she has been done and is a little more highly strung than Joey.
They both met on neautrel ground and hit it off straight away playing and running around (Joey is selective on the dogs he gets on with) we tried him with several different dogs and he chose Tilly.
Since having Tilly home she does have a few training issues we are working on. She barks when left in the garden whenever anyone / thing comes near. (i work from home so have been able to monitor it) We are using the hand around the mouth "no" command for two days now so it's too early to tell if it's working. She also pulls on the lead so we are using the stop, pull, "no" technique you advise in your book.
Two issues that both of them have is recall. For the first few days we kept Tilly on the lead. We were told her recall was good so after this time let her off. She didn't go very far from us for the first week and were thinking excellent and then she started pushing the boundries and Joey was following her until the point where it would take us 10min/ 15mins to get them both back and they ignored our command (especially if there was something to chase.!!!!). We now have them on a lead and are awaiting two 6m leads to train them on.......do you have any good training techniques using the leads?
We are using the Alpha techniqies because at the moment Tilly acts like she is the Alpha, she always try to run through the door first, paws, and pushes your hand to stroke her...we ignore this and alwways get through the door and eat first. With Joey being our first dog (our baby) it's hard seeing him pushed away from us by Tilly or being fed last...can you confirm that we are doing the right thing? They had a fight where Tilly got a little cut on her face as did Joey and i think pack status was settled although im not 100%.....i jst want to ensure we are doing what we should be..
Another problem we have is barking at other dogs whilst on the lead, i nearly got pulled over by them last night when two dogs walked by. I tried to walk away from them but it was two late, i tried to get the dogs to sit but they didn't listen? Joey has always been a little funny whilst on the lead but paired with Tilly he is alot worse.!
Thanks for your help in advance - Kirsty
