Dog Training

When we got Roxy, I knew that things would be different than they were with Chico, that is obvious.

I got Chico when he was just a baby. Roxy had quite literally just turned two years old when she came to us. I got to raise Chico with the manners and expectation that I had of him. Little miss Roxy did not have the manners I would expect a 2-year-old dog to have and she was under the impression that she could do whatever she wanted to do.

I had no idea how to start with training her to know what we expect of her. I started on my own with treats and was seeing particularly reliable results inside and some progress out back. But if I took her out-front with the leash, or something got her attention out back, there was no way to get her attention for her to focus on me and what I wanted her to do.

I had spoken with some co-workers about her behavior and one of them suggested an e-collar. I did a little research, and from the few YouTube videos I found on these collars, I ordered one from Amazon. I thought it would be easy peasy to operate. When it came in the mail, I was very excited, when I opened the box and started reading the instructions on, I realized that it would be very easy for her to get hurt, or for her hurt me if I used this thing wrong.

In my last post about Roxy, I had mentioned that we were going to try to go to a behaviorist and a trainer, we decided to put the behaviorist on hold for a bit an just do training for now.

James and I had already found a training company that we really liked. I had talked to the owner about Roxy not long after we got her. I called them and set up our first appointment. They give you an e-collar when go to your first session, but since I already had one and it was the same one they use, they took the price of the collar off what I paid for our training sessions.

We have been to 2 sessions so far, with two left to go. Let me go ahead and tell you that the difference I see in how Roxy acts is amazing. She listens and obeys. Even with things we haven’t gone over in sessions.

In sessions we have learned Come/sit, and Place. We learned come and sit together because sit is at the end of the come command. She Comes to me and then she sits next to me. That way she can’t do a walk by and then be like, “ok I came, see ya’”!
What’s cool is sometimes I don’t have to tell her to sit, she just does it.

At our last session, we learned the command for “place”. This command is used when you want your dog to sit or lay on something that not the ground. We used raised beds at the training session, I had been using the walls of the pool outside or a chair in the house, (which by the way, is not something I really recommend teaching your pup).

I had been wanting to get a raised bed for outside, but after that session, I ordered two, from Chewy. One for outside and one for the living room, so I don’t have to drag her pillow back and forth from the bedroom all the time.

At the next session, we are learning heel. I’m super excited for the next session. Like I said earlier, Roxy had no idea how to walk on a leash, she had never really been put on a leash before. And because of where we live to go anywhere besides the back yard she has to be on a leash, because of leash laws. Y’ALL….
this dog. . . she nearly pulled my arm off. I was told to use the collar to correct the pulling by our trainer. Roxy is so very smart. It doesn’t take much correction for her to understand.

Let me back up for a minute, on previous outdoor walks she would bark and pull or lunge at anything moved outside, as if to let everything know that she is not one to be messed with.

Having seen so much of a change in Roxy’s behavior, I took her out front on her leash with the e-collar. I just walked her back and forth in front of the house. There are always people walking in our neighborhood, I knew it would be a matter of time before someone came by and I could test her sit command. Y’all! She didn’t bark or pull/lunge. I told her to sit, she sat, and watched the people walk by as she waited for me to release her from the command. It’s like she was a different dog. I was so incredibly happy with that, I nearly cried.

The new raised beds where delivered today, some assembly required. I managed to get one of them put together before I had to leave for work. I got the chance to get her to place on it a couple of times before I left.

When James got home from work today, there were more packages on the front porch. I received the following messages from him:

-She does do well at place on the raised bed

-She sat there while I brought the boxes in and moved around the living room for a bit. 

-Said break and off she came. 

So much change in a little bit of time, I will always recommend going to a trainer if you need help with your dog after this experience. We are going to Off Leash K9 Training, they have locations all over the country. Look at their website to find a location near you.

Stay tuned for more Roxy updates!!