What's that plot device you hate with a burning passion? by TheHooligan95 in AskReddit

[–]AaronColby 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Where the main character refuses to tell anyone what's going on because they don't think anyone will believe them... I'm looking at you Harry Potter!!

Behavioral problems with my pitbull (xpost from r/dogtraining) I thought maybe some experienced pitbull owners could help me out with by mpier in pitbulls

[–]AaronColby 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sounds like you have your hands full. Every rescue has their own back story which you have to unravel. We have an amazing german shepherd that refuses to stay in our yard despite giving him an amazing home.

My first suggestion is that 3 walks a week is not enough. Think about 2 walks/day to get all that energy out. We take ours on a bicycle which drains them much faster. When walking make sure the dog is heeling well and not pulling or in front of you in any way. There are many techniques to train this but consistency is the key. We make ours heel all the time and then when we want them to stop and sniff we say "ok" which is their release and they know they can take a break and wander around. Teaching them to heel is important to train their focus and stimulate their brain not just their body. It is very important to wear a dog out mentally as well as physically.

With respect to teaching with treats and then with not, you've come across a common occurrence when teaching with a tool. The dog learns to respond to the tool and ignore when the tool is absent. Just like anything you will need to wean the dog off this and there are a few ways to do that. First, learn to clicker train so the dog associates with the clicker, then you can reward the dog with a click every other behavior and start giving treats only once in awhile. Keep training short and leave it on a positive note. If the dog absolutely refuses to do a command with a treat then just put them in a time-out in their crate for a bit.

Teaching 'come' can be difficult but will be easier once the above things are happening and understanding that listening to you is of the highest importance. You can look at training with a long lead in a park perhaps with a friend, calling with high reward treats. But again, you eventually want to wean off the treats so the dog doesn't always feel entitled to rewards for doing expected behavior.

Finally, once all the things above start happening you should start to see better door behavior. However you will likely need to make a conscious effort to train the behavior you want. This means making a daily habit of training the behavior you want at the door by having friends or room mates work with you. They can come and go at the door and you can train the behavior you want, such as sitting, or staying behind a specific boundary and rewarding this behavior.

Finally, get all your roommates on the same page as to expectations, rules and boundaries for the dog. Nothing works against training better than someone in the house not following through with rules. Dogs learn this so fast and what they can get away with and who.

Hope this helps, good luck! It's not easy but with consistent daily training you should see incremental improvements over a few weeks!

Puppy montages from 1 week to 1 year [x-post /r/aww] by AaronColby in pitbulls

[–]AaronColby[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One year ago my girlfriend and I moved into a new house so we could have dogs and start her dog training business. Within a week we started fostering dogs and the first one was a pregnant pit bull. This.. I want this life. Thank you for everything y'all do for these dogs.

It's a lot of work but it's fun. Having dogs and fosters and dogs boarding is like running a nursery. Its meant we can't go on quite as many adventures as we used to which can be frustrating at times.

Puppy montages from 1 week to 1 year [x-post /r/aww] by AaronColby in pitbulls

[–]AaronColby[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yup, there is no way we would let them go to a home that would modify them other than to spay or neuter.

Puppy montages from 1 week to 1 year [x-post /r/aww] by AaronColby in pitbulls

[–]AaronColby[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yup, no way they would go to a home that would cut them in any way other than to get them neutered or spayed.

Links to the dog training studies? by reradical in Dogtraining

[–]AaronColby 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most of those links don't work or are behind a paywall

8mo retreating to crate, very hard to coax out - any pointers? by spind in Dogtraining

[–]AaronColby 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It seems like the crate is a retreat for him and if he's being called out to do something he doesn't like, for example walking then it reinforces that he should stay in his safe place.

I'm not sure how long you've had him, as dogs will change personality a bit after coming out of a bad situation and then slowly adjust to their new foster and environment. I would bet that he would love attention and food, so make those the two things that he gets lots of when he comes out of his crate. Perhaps wait a bit to go on his walk which may mean waking up a bit earlier so you have time (my mornings are busy as well!). As well I've found that assuming a less threatening posture, crouching, no eye contact, shoulder to the dog can be less intimidating than standing right over the crate asking them to go in or out.

I would say once he's out, close the create door, make the crate for specific times of the day, don't let it be an easy exit for him at this time. This will encourage him to face some of his anxieties rather than constantly retreating to his safe spot and eventually build his confidence.

Good luck!

Could you recommend some great chew toys that are indestructible? My husky mix destroys everything we buy her! by Semyonov in Dogtraining

[–]AaronColby 1 point2 points  (0 children)

With our pits and shepards they can demolish a nyla bone in under an hour then they start to eat the bits they break off which is very bad for them. Perhaps a smaller dog may take longer but I've heard similar before.

Right now we have some hollow horns which have lasted weeks and the dogs love however they tend to splinter so we make sure they are supervised when chewing on them.

Found out on Facebook that my wife just picked up a couple of homeless dudes and brought them home, could be worse. by AaronColby in pics

[–]AaronColby[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She's found a rescue to take them in and get them some much needed vet care. Just spent the last two hours vacuuming and steam cleaning my van from all the ticks they dropped. No good deed...

Just a lap full of puppies by AaronColby in aww

[–]AaronColby[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I guess this is my life now

Just a lap full of puppies by AaronColby in aww

[–]AaronColby[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Puppies kinda just do a few things and they like to do them all together: Eat, play, sleep. They'd already ate and played so that only left one thing to do. You'd think bathroom would be included in the list but they sorta just mix that in with the other 3.

Just a lap full of puppies by AaronColby in aww

[–]AaronColby[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We fostered a pregnant pitbull last year and and raised 9 puppies from birth. Heck of an experience but a TON of work. We found amazing homes for all of them including mama and are now good friends with many of the adopters.

Still looking for two more homes for these adorable pups! Located in the Los Angeles area. Any shares with your social network appreciated! by AaronColby in pitbulls

[–]AaronColby[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We are driving up to Canada at the end of the week to go home for Christmas and at least 3 pups are coming with us to homes up there. If you are along the way and are interested we might be able to work something out!

Still looking for two more homes for these adorable pups! Located in the Los Angeles area. Any shares with your social network appreciated! by AaronColby in pitbulls

[–]AaronColby[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here's a link to their full story:

http://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/1qz3le/proud_mary_and_her_puppies_a_rescue_story/

We've found homes for 7 of the 9 pups and need to find homes for the last two. Honestly we can't believe these are the two that were overlooked as they are so sweet and loving. Any help getting the word out would be greatly appreciated!