HOWEDY SpecialK,
"SpecialK" <specialk26 RemoveThis @cox.net> wrote in message
news:8cdzb.26525$9O5.5277@fed1read06...
>
> "Ilan Kerman" <iakst2 RemoveThis @yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:B96zb.5814$H91.117555@news.itd.umich.edu...
> > Hello,
> >
> > We've recently had a friend of ours and her dog stay with us.
> >
> > -Ilan Kerman
> >
> >
> Hello
>
> I have a westie.she is 3 years old now I got her when she was
> 10 months old at the pound.
You mean you took in a dog someWON else threw HOWET
cause they couldn't control IT.
> she was already spayed and only costed me $200.
To save the dog from the needle...
> she was crazy but now since she is 3years old and she has
> settled down a bit.I have put her through 2 Obedience classes
> and she still doesnt listen very well.
All behavior problems are caused by mishandling.
> Everything is a game to her and I worked with her like crazy.
Perhaps you shoulda worked with her SMART, instead of CRAZY?
> I am still working with her.
Your dog is hyperactive cause of mishandling.
> she is totally house trained though. very good about going
outside.
Most seriHOWES temperament and behavior problem
dogs have impeccable HOWEsbreakin habits.
> She doesnt shed at all however she is white so she gets alot of
baths.
>
> The only thing I dont like about her/the breed is she/they are
not Loyal at all.
Oh? That's on accHOWENT of your TRAINING that DIDN'T WORK.
> she has gotten out the front door 3 times and I was so
> afraid I would never see her again..
Takes MINUTES to train a dog not to bolt through doors.
> she is the type that would run and never look back..
That's typical of HOWER dog lover's dogs. That's a direct
result of MISHANDLING.
> I have made sure she has tags and some kind of ID on her collar.
The Puppy Wizard's dogs never wear collars or tags.
> Oh and she never got over the chasing cats..
Takes MINUTES to train a dog to get along with and LOVE kats.
> we dont have our cats anymore because she wouldnt leave them
alone.
That's SHAMEFUL. You should get your hard earned dough
back from the FRAUDS who taught you to abuse your critters.
> They now live with my parents in Minnesota.
At least you didn't MURDER them.
> Don't get me wrong
RIGHT. You're only doin what you was taught.
> I love my dog very much and she is my best friend,
INDEED? She's just not loyal, is that correct?
> But I wouldnt have another westie.
All your dogs will behave likeWIZE if you continue to
mishandle them as you've been taught by your pet
professionals.
> you are welcome to visit her web site.
> http://members.cox.net/azbreezy/
The Puppy Wizard doesn't have time to look at cute pics.
> Kristy
You want to improve your situation or would you rather
cry in your beer abHOWET it?
You'll get all the INFORMATION you need in your FREE
copy of The Puppy Wizard's FREE WWW Wits' End Dog
Training Method Manual.
The Puppy Wizard. <} ; ~ ) >
Wednesday, June 12, 2002 9:50 AM
Starr's Story
To whom it may concern,
My name is Crystal Arcidy and I am the proud owner of a
beautiful 3 year old white German Shepherd named Starr.
I am writing to inform you of a training method that is
truly amazing. Starr is by nature very cautious and
fearful and because of this and my not knowing how
to handle it she became environmentally shy as well.
Before Starr came into my life I never would have
believed that a dog could be the way she was
unless it had been badly abused or trained to be
aggressive.
Now I'm finding out more and more that there are lots
of dogs with serious behavior problems who were never
abused, but mishandled.
Before I tell you about my experience with Jerry Howe,
Doggy Do Right, and the Wits End Dog Training Technique
I would like to relate to you Starr's story so you'll have a
better understanding as to what I was dealing with:
Starr was three months old when I brought her home from
a local pet shop. A few days later a friend came by to see
her and that was when I first saw that Starr was by no
means friendly.
She was so shy she tried to pull away and hide. I was told
that dogs go through a "fear stage" and thought that was all
I was dealing with. But after a week or two Starr began barking
protectively at guests and neighbors from inside the house.
The only way I could stop the barking, and later howling, was
if I picked her up and held her.
Outside Starr's behavior was not protective it was horribly
fearful. It got to the point that when I would ask, "You want
to go outside?" Starr would run the other way and dodge me
so I would make her go.
She went out only to relieve herself and then she'd dash back
to the house. I could not take her for walks and she wouldn't
even sit on my back deck without crying.
Starr was afraid of other dogs, people, cars, loud noises, open
spaces....everything. I was sure that she had the potential of
becoming a fear biter and that worried me.
I spoke with an amateur dog trainer who said that shepherd's
are sometimes fearful as puppies, especially females, and
that training and socializing would help. She said I could bring
Starr to the vet and just sit with her so she could watch the
other dogs. But Starr was a nervous wreck in the vets.
She would get in a corner and shake terribly. It didn't seem
like it was helping at all with my dog's anxiety and I asked
the vet what to do to get her over her fears.The doctor
recommended a trainer/behaviorist and we called and set
up a meeting. And so I took Starr to her first trainer at six
months old.
She was terrified. The trainer assured me that he could
'get her through' her fears. He explained to me how training
would lessen Starr's anxiety and build confidence.
Because Starr was so timid he wanted to start out with
clicker training. He said it was the best form of training for
shy dogs.
He instructed me to get a thin three foot stick to be the focus,
the object being Starr would learn to follow the stick. Every
time she touched it with her nose she got a click and a treat.
After I got Starr home it only took about a minute for Starr to
get the idea. But these results were restricted to inside my
house.
When I took Starr outside or to her lessons she was just
too nervous to care about eating. The reward was not worth it.
All Starr wanted was to get back to the house, where she
felt safe. When the trainer realized that Starr was too
uncomfortable at his place he suggested we meet and
work at my house.
It was then that he saw that Starr was not going to
progress using the clicker training. [Forcing food into
her mouth didn't make her want to eat it] So he reverted
to conventional methods.
We started using a flat collar but with all the pulling Starr
would do the trainer quickly advised me to purchase a choke
chain. I did so and he showed me how to use it. I was very
hesitant but he assured me that I could not hurt the dog.
We continued working in an area Starr was pretty
comfortable in, then proceeded out to the street. Starr was
very scared and would bolt, whine, shake horribly and grind
her teeth. All of which got corrected by a quick, sharp jerk on
the chain and a firm "No!"
Of course now I know that these firm corrections were just
creating more anxiety for my dog. But at the time it seemed
to make sense.
After seeing how afraid Starr actually was on the street the
trainer told me to get some Serene-um, an herbal product
that would calm her down. It took the edge off her fear, but
I had to give her beyond the dosage recommended for her
weight. The trainer said that was fine. He also told me that
putting her on adult food would help. That way she wouldn't
have as much energy that was just being turned into nervous
energy and making her worse. I changed her food and he
later recommended senior food. I decided against that.
The trainer told me not to speak reassuringly when Starr
was scared because she would think she was being praised
for being afraid, that I wanted that behavior. He told me never
to praise her for barking because it would encourage aggression.
When Starr would bark at the neighbors dog aggressively
I was to force her into a submissive down, the Alpha Rollover,
which I was never able to maneuver.
I told the trainer that Starr was still uncontrollable even with
the choker. Her fear seemed more important than the pain
she experienced from the collar. He suggested getting her
a Gentle Leader. Its worn around the dog's head. I'm sure
you're familiar with the product. This gave me more control
over her bolting but when she got spooked by something
she would pull away and reared up like a wild horse.
It was very difficult to get her to calm down even a little after
she had gone to this extreme. I later found out that I was
misdirected on how to use the Gentle Leader.
After about seven months of this Starr had made very little
progress. She knew all the commands and would do them
perfect when calm, but the fear and anxiety were still there
and still very much in control of her.
The trainer thought she was all right and told me he was
happy with the results. At that point I was hardly listening to
anything he said. I knew he was trying to help but I also knew
that Starr was beyond him and I had already set up a meeting
with another trainer, one that came highly recommended.
The second trainer referred to her place as doggy boot camp
and said that kind of discipline and structure is what dogs,
especially dogs like Starr, really needed. She was a breeder
of German Shepherds and several of her dogs were used in
movies and as therapy and protection dogs.
She told me that Starr needed to get away from me, her
'security blanket' and learn to be on her own. She told me
that when I got Starr back she would be a totally different dog.
I left Starr for eleven days with this trainer. When I went to
pick her up I was informed that Starr had been hiding for the
first three days of her stay. But the trainer was happy with
her progress.
When Starr was brought out I was told to ignore her until
the trainer said it was okay and even then I couldn't pet
her or kneel down to see her. [I still don't know why.] My
formerly 65 lb. German Shepherd looked like a Greyhound
she was so thin.
But she did look much more confident. Her face seemed
relaxed, but her tail was tucked up under her. When I asked
about that the trainer said it was nothing. She said her tail
was not suppose to curl up the way it did. I was then informed
that I needed to buy a pinch collar and leather leash.
Starr was too strong and determined in her pulling for me to
get by with just the choker. [ This trainer laughed at the Gentle
Leader and said it was not a training tool.]
The trainer showed me how to use the collar and I flinched as
she did and Starr let out a sharp cry.
The trainer noticed my reaction and insisted that she wasn't
hurting my dog, saying that I have to stop treating Starr like a
'piece of china', saying that she was a strong dog and needed
to be told who was boss.
I accepted what she said and she proceeded to teach me
all that she had taught Starr. She used the word 'Here' instead
of 'Come' saying that it sounded nicer to the dog and more
inviting. I was told that its best if when called Starr comes
right up close, attaining physical contact.
Everything seemed to be going well, though I wouldn't have
said she seemed like a different dog, until the trainer left to
get Starr's old collar for me. When she returned Starr lunged
and barked aggressively.
It took me completely by surprise. I did not know why she
was acting so aggressive. The trainer took the leash and
gave Starr a strong reproof for that and explained to me
that some dogs [big nasty ones, she said] acted like that
when the owners came to get them because they were
afraid, on seeing the trainer, that she would take them
away from their owners again.
This trainer also instructed me to 'punish' Starr by ignoring
her for a half hour or so after she had been corrected for
something very bad or if she did not do good working for
me one day. She said that dogs remember when they do
bad and that she'd learn to try harder to please me.
So I took my skinny little shepherd home and for two months
worked with her everyday exactly as I was told. Starr's
anxiety was still profound and she still was not happy to
go for a walk or to stay outside.
She was more confident, but only in areas of aggression,
territorialism, and being possessive of me. [She did not like
it when my cat came into my room.] I called the trainer to ask
about barking collars and she told me which one to buy.
After I got it she showed me how to use it saying it must be
tight. She said it would help with Starr's aggression as well as
the barking. And for a while it was much quieter in my house.
I did not like the way the collar sometimes made Starr cry
and I really didn't like how if my two dogs were real close
the other dog's bark would sometimes set it off. But it was
only temporary, I thought. I always checked for irritation on
my dog's neck but one day when I took the collar off I saw
that Starr had sores on her throat.
I kept the collar off until it was completely healed and then
used it only when I felt I had to, and only on the lowest setting.
It wasn't long before I put it away and never used it again.
I made arrangements to bring Starr back to her second
trainer to work together and in exchange I would help taking
care of the other dogs -cleaning and feeding and such- but
it never worked out and I am so glad it didn't!
My next attempt to find help was after I read a pamphlet on
Ttouch. I thought, finally, this will help! I spoke to the Ttouch
practitioner and set up an appointment. She came to the
house and evaluated Starr.
She told me it would most likely take many sessions to
get Starr over her issues. The first thing she had me do
was change from the pinch collar to a flat collar the
second thing she had me do was put a T-shirt on my dog.
She likened the feel of shirt to getting a hug. Starr did seem to
calm down when she was wearing the T-shirt. Looking back
I realize that although Starr was calm she was far from happy
and relaxed.
I wanted to work outside, thinking it would be easier on
my dog since she got so upset when people came into
the house. But the Ttouch lady insisted we work inside
the house, saying that she had to get used to people
coming inside.
I went along with what she said, but after the aggression
brought out by the second trainer and the pinch collar
Starr was very difficult to handle.
Next the Ttouch person showed me a few different touches
to do on Starr. She demonstrated the touches on a large
stuffed animal I had because she couldn't get close to
Starr let alone to actually touch her.
She said that dogs keep all their stress in their tail and I
was instructed to do Ttouch on her tail. She showed me
what she called an ear slide that would help with car-
sickness and it worked.
Then she talked a lot about calming signals, yawning,
sighing etc.... Starr was uncomfortable with this strange
way of petting and cried a lot, but the lady informed me
that was normal.
The touches are designed to change the cellular memory and
Starr knew that this was not petting. It was a 'conscious touch'.
The weirdest thing was an effort to make Starr aware of her
body. She demonstrated on the stuffed animal [she was still
unable to touch Starr] how to wrap ACE bandages around
the animal's body so that as they moved they would feel it and
be aware of themselves. And then there was the hair elastics
around my dog's feet to give her a better awareness of her feet
because Starr was nervous walking on hard,smooth floors.
To address the problem I was having with Starr pulling on the
leash the Ttouch person instructed me to take the middle of
my six foot leash in my left hand and bring it up above
Starr's left shoulder, then place the length of the leash real
low across her chest and bring the handle up above her
right shoulder and hold it in my right hand.
The plan was to keep her front legs from being able to move
fast enough to pull. But Starr easily backed out of this
arrangement and took off, bolting to the end of the lead.
I told the lady what was happening and she recommended
a harness.
After Starr was wrapped in bandages, wearing a T-shirt, a
muzzle and a harness we took her out-side.
Starr was not happy. I was not happy. But the Ttouch person
said it would help so we did it. After a month of this I gave up
on Ttouch and went back to the pinch collar with which I had
at least some control.
I asked a friend to help simply by coming over and trying to
make friends with my dog. I kept a muzzle on Starr most of
the time and eventually my friend got to pet her, though Starr
was not comfortable with it.
My friend suggested that I give Starr Passion Flower and I tried
it.
*(An EXCELLENT sleep aid... jh.)
At this point I had already tried a number of different herbs
and herbal mixtures that were especially for dogs.
The herbs didn't make enough of a difference and I thought
about putting her on Prozac or something like it. I decided
against it because of fears of side affects and was back
where I started, except worse because Starr was now
showing signs of aggression after working with that second
trainer.
I found another dog training place this one claimed to be
the 'Disney World for dogs'. I went down to talk to the
people there before putting Starr through it. One of the
trainers there told me that if my dog was over two years
old and still the way she was then she'd be like that forever.
I was extremely discouraged by that, but I wouldn't allow
myself to believe it was true. Needless to say Starr never
went to those trainers.
Ever since I realized that Starr was not a normal dog I've
been searching for a way to help her get over her fears.
It became the most important thing to me. I was sure that I
would find answers and I knew I couldn't give up. I knew I
couldn't live with her the way she was and I knew I couldn't
give her away so I just continued searching.
I read training and behavior books one after the other.
Some were very discouraging in what they had to say
about shyness in dogs. The last book I bought was
called "Help For Your Shy Dog" and it gave an example
of a dog in recovery from fear and anxiety and it had
taken the owner/trainer five years to get to that point!
And the dog was still a work in progress!
When I first decided to try Mr. Howe's machine I was
hopeful if not confident. I did not want to speak to him
at first because I did not want to hear what I heard from
the other trainers. I did not want to trust another trainer
only to be disappointed in the end.
I found Doggy Do Right on-line at a friend's house, got
the information and decided to give it a try. I noticed
within a few days, if that long, that Starr was calmer
when the machine was on. Things would happen that
would normally upset her and she'd give one or two
barks and then give up.
When I saw her acting calm I'd look over at the machine
and every time, at first, it was on. After a little while of
using the machine along with the training technique
I'd check to see that the reason for her self-controlled
barking was that Doggy Do Right was on and I was
amazed to see that it wasn't.
I was like, "Wow, she's being so good and the thing
isn't even on!" The tiny part of my crazy dog that had
some self-control, or some semblance of ease, was
growing stronger.
The training and the machine were allowing Starr to
realize that not everything in the world is going to kill her.
As far as the training technique, it's gentle, fast, and
completely positive.
Mr. Howe's approach to training is so different from any
other form of training that even after reading his training
manual I had to call and speak with him in order to really
understand his method and the reasoning behind it and
how to apply it with particular situations with Starr.
I had many questions and misconceptions because
of all the other training information I got and he took
time to explain everything.
He told me that all Starr's behavioral problems were
connected and that properly handling each one would
help the others. All the little things that I was ignoring
because, in comparison to Starr's main problems, they
seemed irrelevant I started working on, each thing she
worked through helped to deal with the next.
Mr. Howe was very helpful and after putting a flat collar
back on my dog and working with her a few weeks I
saw a change in her general attitude. I was glad that
I was not to use a food treat with this system, knowing
that if food was the incentive it wasn't going to work for
my dog.
Starr was much happier and relaxed without the pinch
collar and her barking was much more controllable.
Starr, however was too difficult for me to handle and I
was not proficient at this new form of training and I
ended up taking her to meet Mr. Howe and he worked
with her.
I was surprised that Jerry was able to pet my dog let
alone work with her the first day. For one week he
had her and the change in Starr was incredible!
She was happy and relaxed. She was willing to work
and she was much more comfortable being around
cars and people.
We met on three occasions during that week to work
together and I learned so much.
The first time we got together to work Starr was much
more content and happy. By the end of the session
Starr was willing to go with Jerry in his car.
This impressed me because of what happened when
Starr thought the second trainer she had was going to
take her away from her family.
But she was comfortable with Jerry and the reason
for that was the way he treated her. I was amazed
while, on the last occasion that we worked together,
people walked by my dog without upsetting her.
I was expecting her to bolt away but she didn't. She
was calm and confident as they passed, which, for her,
was a huge change.
The Wits' End Dog Training method is based on
distraction and praise. It focuses more on the thought
process than a dog following commands.
The dog psychology Jerry has figured out and built
his method around is amazing.
I learned from him how to handle the leash in a way
so as to keep my dog calm. He explained that because
of all Starr's past experience with training she was always
afraid of being corrected.
Tension on the leash is what caused her to spook so
I now keep the leash nice and slack.
He taught me how and when to praise in order to
encourage thought and instill confidence and trust.
His technique using the sound distraction and
exuberant praise gave me the answer to the endless
barking and the cat-chasing and all without stressing
out my hyper-sensitive dog.
Starr is a much happier dog and she has so much
more confidence in herself and in me as her handler.
I will never use any other form of dog training on any
dog I ever own/train.
Mr. Howe's approach to dog training has ended up
saving many mislabeled "bad dogs," turning them
into great pets and working dogs.
I am recommending this and only this form of training
to anyone with dogs no matter what it is they want to
accomplish with their dogs.
As you now know I have tried everything I could find
to help my extremely nervous, but wonderful dog and
this is the only thing that has really made a difference
in Starr's behavior and her general attitude.
As a dog lover and the owner of a so-called "lost
cause dog" I feel I must share with you my experiences
and advocate this system.
There is nothing better for disturbed dogs and no
better way of preventing bad behavior then positive,
gentle training. I will recommend nothing else and
never again will I use any other form of training,
discipline and behavior modification.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Crystal Arcidy
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