Will She Forgive Us??

[sclevenger]

she was never afraid of the clicker until yesterday, and then getting hit in the nose with it changed things. Will she be afraid of it forever now?

[mellie]

Probably...at least for a while. Just give it a rest cause it doesn't seem to be workin for you right now. I am not a big clicker fan- I find the noise annoying and you always need to have the clicker with you. I prefer having treats in all of my jacket and jean pockets instead . Maybe try introducing a few weeks from now.

[Mignarda]

I'm working on my first Sheltie pup now; our last dog was half Sheltie, and yes, by all accounts they're a very sensitive breed. A couple of weeks ago I "scooted" Dickens out of the kitchen when I was cooking, waving my hands toward the door and saying "scoot!" in a somewhat loud voice. Ever since, all I need to do is say "scoot" in any tone of voice, soft or loud, and he's gone. The poor thing wants desperately to do what's right, and can't stand being chided, much less spoken to in a harsh voice. But of course discipline has to be maintained, so scolding is unavoidable. When I do have to scold him I let him suffer the effects of it for a few seconds, then go to him and make it up with some soothing words, just to show him that his little world isn't collapsing. He gets over the scolding, but remembers the offense, which is what you're looking for after all.

He is quite a card, though. When he thinks you're upset with him he runs over to the door and starts ringing his jingle bells to be let out, then acts surprised that it isn't working!

[*Caro]

I don't think they 'don't forgive' per se, its more a matter of them shutting down. They don't want to make you angry so they avoid whatever they think could do that.

I agree, put the clicker away, forget the training for a few days and just have fun with her. We all yell at our dogs at some time, and they still love us and forgive us. Clock this one up to a lesson learnt - no training when she isn't in the right frame of mind. And it sounds like it's completely out of character for you to do that and dogs seem to be able to sleep things off and forgive and forget readily when it's something that's not happening all the time.

[sclevenger]

Thanks for all the advice! We haven't done any training. She seems to be coming around, jumping around like a crazy dog again!

So when do you think we can start over again, even if its without the clicker?

[bi-blacks]

I would wait another week to start again. Shelties have good memories in my experience. I know you said she wasn't keen on treats but wondered if you tried pieces of wiener or some type of meat to start training again. When our girl was a pup the only thing that enticed her at training sessions were pieces of meat usually pork, now at 5 she eats most any treat. Have lots of patience and good luck.

[scottanddeb]

Shelties "are" an incredibly sensitive breed in my experience.

We've got 4 shelties -while they all love their treats -two of the respond more to praise when training -two of them respond better to treats.

she'll forgive you with time & patience.

[sclevenger]

Thank you to everyones advice. We are giving it a week with lots of love an praise for everything. We are going to pick up some hotdogs and see when the times comes if that entices her to learn lol.