@kayceegreer4418
I call my very homegrown way of training dogs Mamadogging. My Philosophy is, with children and animals, not to let them get an inch in the wrong direction from the way you want them to tread. Thnk helicopter mom until they know how to think for themselves and do well with it. Believe me, I give my dogs plenty of chances to make right decisions. I love to see their minds turning and choosing the right Behavior. No treats because Mamadogs don't give treats. You get used to giving dogs treats what happens one of these times you don't have treats and they decide they're not going to [fill in the blank] because you didn't give him a treat the last time you told him to do something? They may not even give praise from Mamadog, but pups get the closeness of attention from family camaraderie, close fellowship without being corrected or subdued. It's a privilege to be close to the others and to mill around with them, to play, or nap. To be anything but a total outcast is a good thing. That is their reward because that is normal. Anything else is not. A dog's main aim is acting right so they don't get corrected or outcast after the first time it happens. Well let me correct that because puppies and dogs in general don't aim for anything really it's just natural do you want to be a part of the social order. Pups are of course impulsive and they need to learn, and they do, over time and repetition. Then they have an aim not to be cast out, because they have learned to think for themselves after so many Corrections it becomes them. Their inherent social pack thinking is first place now. To belong is ever-present. At the forefront of everything they do. They are a part of something and everybody does their part. And that is why I like to have a pack. Unless people inadvertently praise their dog at the wrong time or give in to impulsive behaviors of puppies thereby inadvertently reinforcing that negative behavior they just don't realize it is something that needs to be nipped in the bud. Don't disregard that statement because I'm sure you have been aware of a bud becoming a full flower practically overnight if you've ever grown a garden or planted a rose bush. When it comes time for that bud to flower out , whew ! Yep we're talking the teenager stage of a dog's life. . . And a whole lot of bad behaviors, attitude, torn up things....but I digress. We bond by me spending time on the floor with them, naps with them there, because I don't want them on my furniture. I don't want them to learn to leap-- with dirty paws on the furniture -- without me being able to stop them. I just say don't ever let it begin, so I don't pick them up , I get down low with them to hold them in my lap-- in between times I am capturing behaviors and calling the command -- in my own words, not proper training words because I don't want anyone else telling my dogs what to do. Besides all of the above stated things, I share food with my dogs and spit it out from my mouth as if I'm a mama dog regurgitating for the pups because there's not a human around to do things their way. This is yet again another thing that bonds a pup to Mamadog. The result is that my dog's never stray more than 6 ft from me and are protective as a pack and is watchful over each other and even correct one another if they catch them at something. Since I always tried to have puppies from the youngest age this is fairly easy but I have rehabilitated a very abused pup that was very feral and defensive in nature. It was a rough three years but she finally trusted and she was the third Soul Dog i had. Most people only get one in their lifetime. I've had 3. This way of training always raises very responsive dogs that I don't have to tell what to do every minute they just have learned their manners and they know how to read situations because I've given them chances to learn to think and to do right and I do lavish them when they are just sitting there doing nothing and being good and they learned that's the way to be is mannerly and sitting and waiting or laying down to wait bring me to go or move or tell them if I want them to do something.. My Second Sole dog was a white Boxer who was so very astute with instinct, intuition, and intelligence. The only thing I had to do to train her was positive reinforcement when she was being still if I ever growled at her or said ah-ah, she meant it just as much as I did and corrected herself. The only bad thing I ever had to correct her on is that she always wanted to get in my lap but I did rescue her when she was 6 months old she knew how to sit but she had a very bad habit of wanting to be a lap dog and I feel sure she was allowed up on the furniture wherever she lived but then I suspect she got cast out to the backyard because she got tall and clumsy with those big feet of hers. As Boxers do, when they're not bonded, she jumped the fence and skedaddled. If you have never seen a dog ooze, you just haven't seen a Boxer trying to worm her way up into your lap! That oily con woman gave me the eyes while slowly decreasing, centimeter by centimeter, the distance to the center of my lap. Darn it because she was such a good girl in so many ways and we never having to correct her when there was company or when we were out of leash I allowed it every once in awhile. But only on my say-so. She had to stop and be a good girl and leave it alone until I said she could come up. Of course there had to be some distractions and a command or two to help her forget that nonsense and then when I went back to sit down I would call her up. And that was her reward for ceasing the insidious begging. It was the hardest time I ever had saying no to a dog and ignoring those eyes because we had a very special connection. We had a lot of Soulful eye contact. A lot of late-night talks leaning on each other - even in the snow-covered backyard, where they say a German breed dog with short hair cannot live. She did three hot Summers and three cold Winters there because when I rescued her I couldn't afford pet deposit and I was likely to get thrown out if she was caught there. She rarely stayed in her dog house she pulled her blanket out of it and laid it on the snow and laid on it waiting for me to come. This was our bond. I'm sure she went in the dog house sometime to rest and recuperate but my mom said she was out even in the rain and sleet and she had seen her wake up from a nap and shake off the snow that had landed on her
@6kat103