Hello all,
First time posting here so ill do a quick intro. I grew up with dogs (German shepherds), however never trained one.
14 months ago, I got my first dog (American Staffy). Boy oh boy I was in for a surprise. I had no clue what i was doing. 14 months later, I have moved from basic pet obedience to a very keen interest in dog sports (Schutzhund) and learning about dogs drives.
So for the past 10 months approximately, I have been attempting to culminate knowledge from resources such as Leerburg (only Michael Ellis' stuff) and other articles on the internet. Thus far, I'm all self taught, which means I have some decent gaps in knowledge.
I marker train with my dog, using 'ready' to start training, 'yes' as my reward marker, 'good' as my duration marker, 'wrong' as a no-reward marker and 'we're done' as my end of training marker.
I guess you could say I have my boy up to a decent level of obedience. He has good life skills and he can perform drop-stays, sit-stays and work around distraction.
HOWEVER......Due to my lack of experience, I have not gotten the most out of him and i know he is capable of more, and I owe it to him to do better.
When he was a young pup 8-16 weeks, at the time, i thought he was a little monster...looking back, it appears to have been a great deal of prey drive. He would chase/bite anything that moved and clamp down so hard, you couldn't open his grip. Even the slightest move of my finger, he would try and take it off haha. So what does any ignorant person to dog training do? Squash this drive, by continually correcting him.....
Is it too late now to bring that drive back out? considering I imprinted him wrong? He sometimes enjoys a game of tug. Ive tried to implement Michael ELLIS's system of tug and it has improved his interest, but not enough for it to be a functional reward.
Also, I get a feeling i can bring out more food drive in him. What are some basic methods to increase his food drive? I've heard a 1 day fast and thereafter only feed his meals (kangaroo mince) in short sharp training/play sessions until there is an increase in drive.
Any help you guys could provide would be great. I definitely owe it my boy to bring out the best in him.
Kind Regards,
Dan
