luna may;5534 said:
Kesem responds wonderfully to commands- most of the time. But the little percent of inobedience in her almost always runs free when she sneaks out of the front door- or if she sees a cat. Then the little switch in her head flips from 'Innocent Pet Mode' to 'Ecstasic Hunter Mode',
Heheh, this means you have a very normal dog!!
I'm not sure what to do about it, because she responds OK at home and in the yard, and I obviously can't train her outside with the cars...
You can do two things at the same time: (a) management - adopting daily practices that prevent her from having the opportunity to run out the door, e.g. making a habit of putting her behind a baby gate before opening the door or having her on leash before opening the door, or making a little gated area outside the door. (b) Training the dog to not dash out the door, to sit and wait until permission to go through the doorway. I think this is harder to do
As for her obeying perfectly in the house but not once she sees something exciting to chase - again very normal, especially for dogs with high prey drive. the only way for her training to transfer to that new frustrating situation, is to gradually simulate that type of distraction during training sessions. So she gets used to obeying you around distractions when you are in control of the outcome, i.e. when you can prevent her from running out the door should she fail a command. I would recommend practicing her recall around toys that she likes to chase. Start with a toy she's not that interested in, or a ball that is moving slowly, and practicing recalling her from that. Then when she will do that consistently from practice, then make it more tempting by using a more interesting toy or having the toy move faster. Eventually you can work up to having the dog running full speed after a toy and then immediately turning around on a dime when you call.
And I also don't have the heart to teach her strict, you-must-obey commands. She makes the most pitifull expresion, and I feel so sorry for her for trying to force her to do things, that I can't steel my self to just do it.
Any suggestions?
hehe, talk about pitiful. When we arrive at the dog park my big nut wants to dash in, he's over the top excited. But our rule is, he must sit and wait until I release him. Oh, the indignation!! How cruel that he must sit and wait for a full 10 seconds before being allowed to go into the dog park and play! I tell him to sit, and he whines, cries, yips, howls....and then he plonks his butt down into a sit-stay. I open the gate but tell him to wait. Again he looks up at me, quivering with anticipation and yipping loudly nonstop, but still holding his stay....finally I give him the release word and he bursts into the dog park. if you didn't see him and just heard his vocalizations you would think he was being abused and forced to work in a sweat shop!
so here I have the same philosophy as Collie Man. It is possible to be strict about obedience (as in, always insisting that commands are obeyed promptly as long as they are fair commands) without being harsh or forceful. Collie Man says Ellie looks timid and has a "they beat me" expression - my dog is simply a cry-baby and drama queen "oh how DARE they make me sit and wait before playtime!! The indignation! The outrage! But oh well here goes...."
