Fellow dog people,
I was EXTREMELY put off by Jerry Howe's posts at first, with all the
name-calling and HOWES everywhere, and yet he took the time to post
long, detailed answers, and if I scrolled past the angry verbiage, he
sounded intelligent, very caring and understanding about dogs, and
earnest in his desire to help in a constructive way. He just felt so
angry and frustrated that people were using poor methods in their dog
training, methods that made the dog miserable, who then made his OWNER
miserable. Then, the misguided (though well-meaning) dog owner/trainer
would PASS ON the wrong info.
Finally I went to Jerry's online manual, and began reading it
carefully, and it made me feel a sense of all my doggy problems
blowing away in the wind, using methods that are not cruel, or sugary,
but sensible, and not difficult or dangerous, or the kind of thing
that makes you feel horrible doing them. He suggested that a barking
dog is trying to warn his owner of an intruder,or of danger, and so
punishing the dog only confuses and upsets him. "TEll him,"Good boy".
He said that it would stop the barking sooner. We have a dachshund at
home who barks a LOT, never at nothing, but at people at the door and
loud noises. At my instigation, we PRAISED him when he barked, and it
was almost comical! He stopped immediately, and his eyes were warm,
and he was practically GRINNING with pleasure! We've been saying "good
boy" for barking, and he's barked MUCH less, and seems a much more
content animal.
I'm gonna finish the manual, and use its methods for ALL our dogs, and
earnestly recommend that you do the same! It's FREE, and yet
priceless!
Sincerely,
Cindy Yost