I am active on another positive training forum, but am new to this one. I thought I'd see what else was out there. Sorry in advance that this is a longer-than-average intro post.
I am a crossover trainer. When my ex insisted we get a puppy over a year and a half ago, I'd always loved dogs, but had no clue how to train one. I allowed myself to be fear-mongered into using dominance methods, and that will always haunt me as a choice I made. "Your dog will take over if you don't put it in its place. What if it bites someone and has to be put down? You could kill your dog by being soft." Little did I know at the time, though it's thoroughly obvious now, that the dominance methods were what could kill a dog by creating aggression.
Tuva was a mix of some sort of Nordic spitz with chow and ACD. Needless to say, as a sensitive, intelligent and independent mix, she did not take well to forceful training. Midway through her puppyhood, I became increasingly certain that what I was doing was not only ineffective but morally wrong. Tuva was a mouthy, destructive, noisy mess of a puppy right up til I stopped trying to dominate her and started earning her trust back.
She ran out of a dog park and was hit by a car on Nov. 5th. She went instantly while chasing a far-off squirrel, so I know she was happy to the end. I miss her deeply every day. I also feel deep gratitude every day that by the time she went, we were communicating, and I was able to see how intelligent, sweet, and loving she really was. So, I consider that switching over to scientific, loving training saved us both. By the time she died she could, among other things, weave-walk with me and crawl forward on her belly on command. This formerly destructive pup also had free reign of the house with no problems for the last two months of her life. When she had that pre-zoom glint in her eye, I was able to soothe her with calming signals 90% of the time. She was delightful on walks (as opposed to trying to tear my pant leg and nipping my arm) and we overcame a fear of small children through counter-conditioning, so that by the time she died she was willingly snuggling with toddlers and letting them pull her fur. Through the stress and chaos of her first months, all I really needed was to stop struggling against her and *LISTEN*. It still wouldn't have been easy, as puppies aren't easy, but it would have been a lot more pleasant all around.
In the two months since she died, I've started working with the overly rambunctious, stressed dogs (mostly bull terrier mixes) at the local no-kill shelter. One of my favorite things is introducing dogs to shaping, because they so often just light up; also, the behaviors they learn through shaping, they are more likely to generalize to a new home. I think I only saw the depth of Tuva's intelligence when I started shaping with her, and she taught me how much fun it can be. I'm also applying for dogwalking agencies and would like to find a training school in the next year, and get started towards my CPDT license. Tuva is, and will always be, my inspiration in working with dogs, so I needed to tell her story first.
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