dawns2shelties
Forums Sage
Congrats!! on your new addition. I agree with Chris, plenty of love and alot of patience to start. Bless you for taking her into your life.
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New member from Central IL
- Thread starter Nancy S
- Start date
I was feeling a little guilty for not starting Bela's more formal training sooner until I read Chris's post.
Bela is such a "soft" dog that I just haven't been comfortable enough to do any training with her. I was waiting until she developed a little more confidence.
Of course, house rules are enforced, but really, Bela doesn't have any bad habits to speak of. No chewing, no barking, no breaking house training. DH says she's almost TOO well-mannered.
So now I feel better about only having worked on house manners and relationship building.
Bela is such a "soft" dog that I just haven't been comfortable enough to do any training with her. I was waiting until she developed a little more confidence.
Of course, house rules are enforced, but really, Bela doesn't have any bad habits to speak of. No chewing, no barking, no breaking house training. DH says she's almost TOO well-mannered.
So now I feel better about only having worked on house manners and relationship building.
Appreciate the input!!
Hi guys, thanks so much for all the advise. I feel like I'm 'getting there' in regard to Sadie's bad habits, such as lunging at cars on walks, and running to the window to investigate any and every noise. I've been reading about how smart the Sheltie breed is, and Sadie is proofing that to be very true. She seems to be catching on to the things that I will not allow. She is soooo much better on her walks, when a car, or whatever, approaches I make her sit and look at me and tell her 'no'. So, most of the time that works, but it's still a work in progress. Any suggestions? Even her running to the window is getting better as well. Another problem I'm trying to address is her 'taking issue' w/company when they get up to move around. I would love to hear from anyone else who might have had this same experience. My over all goal w/this sweet little thing, is too help her learn to relax, calm down and enjoy life. I know that's a pretty broad statement, and there's a lot of work to get her there. She's only been w/me 7 weeks, and I'm grateful for any little improvement. I'm feel so lucky to have found such experience and knowledge all in one place, and look forward to any and all input. Thanks in advance!!
Hi guys, thanks so much for all the advise. I feel like I'm 'getting there' in regard to Sadie's bad habits, such as lunging at cars on walks, and running to the window to investigate any and every noise. I've been reading about how smart the Sheltie breed is, and Sadie is proofing that to be very true. She seems to be catching on to the things that I will not allow. She is soooo much better on her walks, when a car, or whatever, approaches I make her sit and look at me and tell her 'no'. So, most of the time that works, but it's still a work in progress. Any suggestions? Even her running to the window is getting better as well. Another problem I'm trying to address is her 'taking issue' w/company when they get up to move around. I would love to hear from anyone else who might have had this same experience. My over all goal w/this sweet little thing, is too help her learn to relax, calm down and enjoy life. I know that's a pretty broad statement, and there's a lot of work to get her there. She's only been w/me 7 weeks, and I'm grateful for any little improvement. I'm feel so lucky to have found such experience and knowledge all in one place, and look forward to any and all input. Thanks in advance!!
Changing what you can, and living with the rest.
Although there are many on the forums who could respond to this, I think I will give it a try. Shelties are a herding breed. They are hairy and barky, intense and alert, and always super sensitive to their environments and their people. It is in their genes - and that we simply cannot change. Having said that - we can have a grand time brushing/grooming them and making that a time for positive interaction - we can teach them to bark less under certain conditions and help them focus on things they don't need to bark about - once a sheltie is focused on "whatever" it is going to be a challenge to guide them to focus on something else, but it can be done - when a sheltie decides it loves you, you are going to gets lots of doggie affection - when a "danger" noise, smell or sight occurs you are going to hear about it in no uncertain terms, and you can modify that in ways with which you are comfortable. I like to think about it not so much in terms of changing behavior, but rather shaping behavior. I believe that is not just word play. Also, maturity has a lot to do with behavior. My Jake was all of the above when he was two, but by the time he was eight he had mellowed to the point where one might think he was a different dog. The simple fact is that he had learned how to control himself -with our help - and no longer had the need to "demonstrate". He didn't lose behaviors, he just managed them better. To use your example of Sadie getting upset when people seated in a room get up and move around. To her, when her "sheep" are all seated and quiet, she has done her job. When they get up and move around she needs to get them "back to their place". What you need to do is to help her find some other way to "control her sheep" that the "sheep" can live with. Your time with her, even at seven months, is still short. Time and patience, along with a little good doggie psychology, will win the day. Yours aye, Will
Although there are many on the forums who could respond to this, I think I will give it a try. Shelties are a herding breed. They are hairy and barky, intense and alert, and always super sensitive to their environments and their people. It is in their genes - and that we simply cannot change. Having said that - we can have a grand time brushing/grooming them and making that a time for positive interaction - we can teach them to bark less under certain conditions and help them focus on things they don't need to bark about - once a sheltie is focused on "whatever" it is going to be a challenge to guide them to focus on something else, but it can be done - when a sheltie decides it loves you, you are going to gets lots of doggie affection - when a "danger" noise, smell or sight occurs you are going to hear about it in no uncertain terms, and you can modify that in ways with which you are comfortable. I like to think about it not so much in terms of changing behavior, but rather shaping behavior. I believe that is not just word play. Also, maturity has a lot to do with behavior. My Jake was all of the above when he was two, but by the time he was eight he had mellowed to the point where one might think he was a different dog. The simple fact is that he had learned how to control himself -with our help - and no longer had the need to "demonstrate". He didn't lose behaviors, he just managed them better. To use your example of Sadie getting upset when people seated in a room get up and move around. To her, when her "sheep" are all seated and quiet, she has done her job. When they get up and move around she needs to get them "back to their place". What you need to do is to help her find some other way to "control her sheep" that the "sheep" can live with. Your time with her, even at seven months, is still short. Time and patience, along with a little good doggie psychology, will win the day. Yours aye, Will