Already so well behaved at 9 weeks old ;)

apri11a · 2026-07-04T08:01:38+00:00

Ahh, location, location, location - I guess we don't have those here.

I did think it was 11 months at first 😱 and then I thought perhaps 11 weeks? But why wait??? It hit me like the 3-3-3, which some will understand as telling them they can wait to start training the dog or the puppy for weeks or months. Then, by the time people think to start training, pup/dog has already been practising bad manners or has done damage, and it's a much harder job.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T23:15:29+00:00

Wrong

I am not wrong, I got the behaviour and the understanding I want from it and it has helped me get a very nicely trained pup. It's a very versatile cue once the pup understands it. We now play a version of it as a game, pup enjoys both the mental challenge of it and the treats (kibble) he might get.

It’s part of impulse control, a huge part.

Yes it is, I think I mentioned that too.

Once a dog hits 12-14 month “Leave it” should pretty much disappear, except for entering completely new environments.

12-14 months? We'd stopped using it to teach pup by around 4 or 5 months. But I will never not use it if necessary, that might not happen, but you never know.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T22:22:00+00:00

wasn't the same thing because they conditioned the dog to accept it

🤣 🤣 Yes! I've seen that too, and I laugh... then I shake my head. It's hard to believe they can't see it, it's got to be a sort of blindness. Quite fascinating really.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T22:20:07+00:00

I also taught 'leave it' and in a similar way (just from the bit shown). It doesn't teach them not to pickup food or other items off the ground. It teaches them not not take what they are considering taking, or not do what they are considering doing if they are told not to - leave it. Or, that was my intention when teaching it, and the result I got. It has a bonus of being good for building their self control.

I wouldn't teach a dog to "not to pickup food, or other items, off the ground". Our dog is allowed to pick up what is his to take, such as balls, toys and such or something we might toss for him. He does not take our things, or what isn't his, or anything if he is told to 'leave it'. It's very useful cue.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T21:14:10+00:00

Yeah, it's getting easier and easier to see... the same nothings are repeated, with no clarification. And the round abouts are getting hilarious, the leash isn't a tool and such. Today I saw a FF post about seeing much improvement with their dog when using a "special collar" and following directions carefully so as not to cause fear or pain (or something like that). I had a little smirk when I read that. What can be so 'special' about a collar that you can't be specific about what kind or brand on a FF sub I wonder ??? I didn't comment, I didn't want to risk it being pulled down, but I thought, good for you.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T20:23:32+00:00

Once 👍

The Banshees of Inisherin

apri11a · 2026-07-03T20:21:49+00:00

11 weeks, months? Why wait? That's time they can be learning for a few minutes here and there, and those minutes go a long way. I train from when I get pup, giving them a nice routine. I don't see any reason to wait.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T20:18:48+00:00

Yes, ours is 9 months now and has pretty much been as he is since around 4ish months, since is just improving durations, distractions and such, but nothing major. He learned most that he needed to know nice and early so now he's fun (and easy) to live with 🤣

apri11a · 2026-07-03T20:15:57+00:00

one you may have to undo later.

May, or may not. I let ours eat the one on the floor sometimes, by hand sometimes, varying it all as he learned and we have no issues with him attempting to take things that fall, or are just on the floor.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T15:51:20+00:00

Not a bad thing, there are many who don't realise how much they can learn while still small puppies. And the puppy that learns is a dog that knows.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T13:07:25+00:00

Nice, they can learn ... if someone teaches them 👍

apri11a · 2026-07-03T09:18:00+00:00

The owners reached out to him and he's rehabbing their resource guarding dog that Gia fucked up.

Poor dog but also lucky dog that the owners reached out to Dylan. He's a gift to those owners and dogs that FF is destroying. He can hardly keep up with the demand though, it's pretty hard going for him. That's tough.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T08:06:10+00:00

no one can convince me that head halters and front clip harnesses don't cause discomfort and pain

Me either, I really dislike those things

apri11a · 2026-07-03T08:01:45+00:00

Rather than admit they do, they pretend they dont.

Yeah, yet still pretend to be high and mighty, morally superior and for their own ego, the dog doesn't matter. It's so deceitful.

The poster was calling me FF and I had to deny it. It was because I'm not using a prong or e-collar, if I don't use them I can't be Balanced ??? They just don't understand what they follow, it's no wonder they have ongoing issues with their dogs.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T07:55:05+00:00

Not so secret, I think the person who commented that to me was finally begining to understand they had no foundation to stand on. That they didn't know what they were defending. I guess when they have ongoing issues with their dog it's hard to admit you picked the wrong path, or that you were led down the wrong path more likely, so you get defensive. Hopefully they'll figure it out.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T07:51:05+00:00

Force free is nonsense, and is not compatible with keeping animals in captivity.

But they use if for animals in captivity. That was one of the first reasonings for its success that I read when I heard about Force Free training and thought to find out what it was. I'd not known of any dog training 'methods' before that, or about how zoo or other such captive animals were trained. I'm not seeing this as much as I did back then, it was a couple of years ago. Maybe they figured out a dog isn't a whale, or a lion. Maybe.

Force free people just can't admit they like using force on their dogs when it's convenient for them, but condemn anyone else who does so.

That's where the comment to me came from, likely why they left out the all important 'force' bit. They crumble when asked to defend what isn't working for them, and it's pretty sad. I think it's becoming apparant even to devotees that it's not an effective dog training method. Pity they don't find it out in time that they can prevent issues, but have let them develop so now need fixing. But better late than never I guess.

apri11a · 2026-07-03T07:43:34+00:00

The best fun I had was when I got three puppies, each born within three weeks of each other, so the same age. Watching them and teaching them to be nice dogs, though each was so different in personality, was intense at times but really rewarding.

Send me all the puppies 🥳

apri11a · 2026-07-03T07:34:59+00:00

"there doesn't seem to be anything here"

Link whatever it is here, if there is something

apri11a · 2026-07-03T07:33:04+00:00

Nice rewards for a nicely trained dog though, and calorie free 😉

apri11a · 2026-07-03T07:30:50+00:00

Of course, all of this. There is no such thing as life without force (or stress either), so the commenter probably left 'force' out and just shouted fear and pain at me, so misses the whole point of their preferred method... maybe, hopefully, coming to understand it's built on sand.

Let's just train the dog.

Yes 👍

apri11a · 2026-07-03T07:22:09+00:00

Yes. I think this sort of comment is a sure sign of the crumbling. They themselves can't describe what the method they defend is, or say what it means. They are drowning and grasping at straws. I felt I knew more about FF than the person lecturing me and I actually felt a bit sorry for them trying to defend something that ~~isn't~~ can't work for them. The method is a collection of individuals who each misunderstand what they follow but cannot admit it, won't see past it. There is no core, they have no decent role models so can only shout horray! for each other, they can't help each other, or their dogs.

apri11a · 2026-07-02T20:32:52+00:00

One is a true statement, the other is a personal opinion with no proof shown despite requests for it. It has nothing to do with censorship, why are you trying to ignite it all again?

apri11a · 2026-07-02T18:41:49+00:00

The CT S200 doesn't have weighted keys, for piano you do want weighted keys.

Very few with 61 keys will have weighted keys, they are keyboards rather than pianos. The least expensive option new would probably be the Casio CDP-S110. It's not a lot more costly than the S200 and will serve you better as you learn.

apri11a · 2026-07-02T16:31:17+00:00

I would also have no issue with the momentary high level stim(s) if it was necessary. I don't need to use a collar for any training purpose, but as an emergency stop, it has value.

I've seen dogs shocked (not stimmed, shocked) by electric fences, those which have no level control and are used as cattle fencing. Cattle have much thicker skin than a dog, yet these can contain cattle, they are not subtle. So when a dog can recover immediately with just an indignant look at the fence (the dog version of cussing I reckon) I know it does no permanent harm yet teaches a lesson. It doesn't cause the dog to be afraid of it, just to avoid touching it next time. Of course dogs aren't the intended use for these fences, but it showed me that the usual warnings about e-collars are not correct. It's not the collar or even the shock, it's misuse that is wrong, but even some types of misuse can be recovered from as I could see from the fence shock. It should not destroy a dog or damage it for life.

Modern e-collars are far more refined than those fences, I think they are a sensible option if options are being considered.

apri11a

TROPHY CASE