Charley's Mom
Active member
We had a free visit from a trainer in our area but didn't realize until he was in our home that this company uses electronic collars. To use a poor word it really was a shock to our family (husband and daughter) and took awhile to recover. It was not what we expected.
Anyway, he put the collar on Charley, explaining that the collars are not the old "electric shock collars" that they used to be but more like a vibration like when a phone cell vibrates in your pocket.
He pressed the remote as Charley went to jump up onto where my daughter was sitting. The trainer said "Down". Charley looked around and got down. He had his tail between his legs, his ears down and his eyes had that sunken, fearful look.
For some reason he went over to the trainer and sat between his 2 legs for the entire time that he gave his sales pitch to us. Charley is friendly to anyone and everyone but that is what he does when he is afraid or does not feel like things are familiar. He has done it with me when I've put his leash on him and I walk out the back door instead of the front. We go out the front door for "fun" things : car rides, walks. The back door with a leash is unusual because he usually is allowed out without a leash so if I've tried to have him go potty outside in the rainy weather on a leash he does that thing where he goes between my legs and looks up at me like "What's going on Mom?"
So now that I've been on this website I've read so much about collars and the personality of Cavaliers and my instinct tells me that electronic collars and my Charley do not go together. I guess this is a very long story just to get it out of my system just to ask what type of training is good for a Cavalier?
I've bought several books, read several different things on different websites and have gotten so confused that I feel like when I was a mother of my infant daughter and my head is cluttered with what the "right way to go" is! My husband keeps telling me we have to be consistent and I know that but I can't decide what method or methodology to be consistent in!
When we first got Charley and I watched the Dog Whisperer on TV I thought for sure that was the way to go. Now I think the totally opposite. It scares me what I could have done. I bought a DVD that I found on the internet and when I started watching it I realized within the first couple of minutes that the person who made it was going to make my Cavalier fat because of the amount of food she was encouraging me to give Charley to praise him for when he does things well.
Has anyone ever felt this confused? I've never raised a dog before! Sometimes I just feel like I just have to stop researching everything and take a break from it because it has become so all encompassing in my life. But I can't do that!!!! :?
Anyway, he put the collar on Charley, explaining that the collars are not the old "electric shock collars" that they used to be but more like a vibration like when a phone cell vibrates in your pocket.
He pressed the remote as Charley went to jump up onto where my daughter was sitting. The trainer said "Down". Charley looked around and got down. He had his tail between his legs, his ears down and his eyes had that sunken, fearful look.
For some reason he went over to the trainer and sat between his 2 legs for the entire time that he gave his sales pitch to us. Charley is friendly to anyone and everyone but that is what he does when he is afraid or does not feel like things are familiar. He has done it with me when I've put his leash on him and I walk out the back door instead of the front. We go out the front door for "fun" things : car rides, walks. The back door with a leash is unusual because he usually is allowed out without a leash so if I've tried to have him go potty outside in the rainy weather on a leash he does that thing where he goes between my legs and looks up at me like "What's going on Mom?"
So now that I've been on this website I've read so much about collars and the personality of Cavaliers and my instinct tells me that electronic collars and my Charley do not go together. I guess this is a very long story just to get it out of my system just to ask what type of training is good for a Cavalier?
I've bought several books, read several different things on different websites and have gotten so confused that I feel like when I was a mother of my infant daughter and my head is cluttered with what the "right way to go" is! My husband keeps telling me we have to be consistent and I know that but I can't decide what method or methodology to be consistent in!
When we first got Charley and I watched the Dog Whisperer on TV I thought for sure that was the way to go. Now I think the totally opposite. It scares me what I could have done. I bought a DVD that I found on the internet and when I started watching it I realized within the first couple of minutes that the person who made it was going to make my Cavalier fat because of the amount of food she was encouraging me to give Charley to praise him for when he does things well.
Has anyone ever felt this confused? I've never raised a dog before! Sometimes I just feel like I just have to stop researching everything and take a break from it because it has become so all encompassing in my life. But I can't do that!!!! :?