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Training Management and Leadership!

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Training Management and Leadership and how "I" got there! And how I learned that being really good at the first two "does not" automatically equate to the third!

Boxers are my first luv and my Struddell was the light of my world! Boxers are for the record "not" an easy dog to train! A professional trainer of K9's once said "I can train three GSD's in the time it takers to train one Boxer!":)

Pros don't have time to fool around with "Goofy!" They need to turn around a dog fast! I spent many hours trying to find a single (American Line) k9 Boxer in the US! I had a line on "one" but further research found that dog retired!

So I turned to the GSD forum K9 section and asked there and found one! It was sort of a mixed success! Boxer..yes...but it was not an American line it was a Euro! They are bigger and less "Goofy" I guess?? Never met one so I don't know?? Euros are used as K9's in uh Europe all the time so no mystery there! Still not a lot of them...but it counts!

At any rate that Boxer "was" (he passed last year) Cliff vom Grand Kevin. The point of that for me was finding a working K9 Boxer so mixed results there. After all they are "working dogs" today by and large there job in the US is being a family pet and at that they excel!!!

But back on point the "secret" to training a Boxer is that it takes a certain"touch." I train "tool" free, to me a tool is a filter between you and your dog! So no halt's or Gentle leaders or Prongs or E collars!

A "slip leash collar, your dog and you are all that is required, Train your dog, without a "tool/filter" and you will pay more attention to your dog! "know your dog."that's how you can get there! You will give the same command you've given time and time again with...mixed results but one day you will see the "wheels spin" and in that instant...they get it and from that point on..it's a piece of cake!

Had I been using a "tool" with Struddell I might have missed that moment?? So with her I learned I don't need tools. And the next 8 years it was all about life with my Boxer...pretty much home free!

So life was with my dogs was pretty easy and I "assumed" I was a good leader! :) I had training and management down pat but leadership...yeah not so much!!!:cry2:

How I learned that I lacked enough "leadership skills" came in the form of a Working Line Over Size (116lb) GSD with High Rank Drive (Pack Issues) and (to be developed???) Human Aggression aka Rocky! That's how I, learned the difference between Management and Leadership!

With such a beast, if you get your job half way right...he won't turn on you or members of his family....but everybody else is fair game! Me and my other Dominate male Gunther (Bull/Mastiff/APBT/Lab) found this out the hard way after living with Rocky for 7 months without issue!

All of this is important so that you understand, that my GSD is where I learned what "leadership" means!

This dog was turned around and made safe by me with the help of "Who Pets my Puppy or Dog" so...if you want the short cut, you can check out Leerburgh and find that essay there! :)

If you want the long "course" and "wordy" explanations why that worked and why "I" think that's what you should do..stick around here! :)

I don't do Click and Treat, I don't use the term Alfa or Positive Only, I don't use Choke chains or Hard corrections!

Before I got Struddell, I had a Boxer/Pitt mix Stewie, he was a brilliant dog, who I sadly lost in an automobile incident,when I put him in a position for which he was 'untrained!" That was in Sept of 2001 and I still regret that to this day! But going forward I vowed that would never happen to a dog I had care of!

But in his short life Stewie taught "me" that a "SIT" and a "Sit" are not the same thing! One day on a walk, I was tired and turned to Stewie and said "SIT," he looked at me like he was going to cry and sat down! I was stunned! After that I realized that with dogs, your voice and infliction's are also a tool and it is a tool that needs to also be used properly! Struddell and Rocky benefited from that lesson!

I started this here:

http://www.boxerforums.com/general-boxer-forum/171298-someone-kicked-my-dog.html

These links... the first is my list of my standard "Dog Park" warnings:
http://www.boxerforums.com/1728673-post37.html

This is from one of the leading experts in the dog world
http://www.boxerforums.com/1729257-post38.html

For my purposes.. I'll 'assume" No dog Parks"...don't make problems for your self you have to "fix!"

But if you do and have a "Bad Day"...well I'll get to "my dog is reactive on leash" further down the road :)
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P.S. Sorry abt the obnoxious size of my pic, lol. If I were on here more I'd figure out how to change it!
I got no problem! As I said Ronni looks like my girl! But you can try:
TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

Copy and past the forum link, every now and then, I get one photo it won't resize but usually it works fine.

Like this:


I luv that one! :)
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I always meant to add the part that will follow but got off on a tangent, so sorry all. :(

So pretty much tens of thousands of words, later I am back on it! And it turns out that it is a good thing I waited! I found more info.

One of the most important elements of the topic of this thread is to "build a bond of trust between you and your dog." I thought I had one with "Rocky" but in truth "nope" it was not there!

Most likely I had his respect??? He never came "up leash on me" so I'll assume so. But he did not trust me, no Bond of trust between us. And without that when, "issues" arise dogs are much more difficult to deal with.

I have to "speculate" that this situation came about "because" I had three dogs and because I had easy access to open space. Exercise was easy and if you have a Boxer leading the way, dogs can get plenty of exercise trying to keep up! :)

But what I did not realize was that I had not built the "Bond" with "Rocky" I spent very little time "Walking" one on one with him. Lack of doing that ... was ultimately, to have "Blow Back!"

I actually did "finally" build that "Bond" entirely by "accident" "because" of his Human Aggression "issues." To fix him I had to expose him to people, and to do that I had to "Walk my dog." I used a muzzle on him for a bit and that helped both he and I relax.

"We" learned what to expect from each other! And that was the "missing" element in our relationship! You don't have to have a difficult dog for "walks" to be beneficial to you and your dog, a dog does not need "you" to "exercise" if you have the space. But a dog does need you to walk. :)

That is the secret of "Leadership."

I found my solution here and all I took away was "well if I keep people out of his "then he can't bite anyone ...good enough! All I did to solve my problems was "walk my dog." Show him what I want as tend to say.

Well yeah and a muzzle briefly. But that was "situation specific. :)

Leerburg | Who Pets Your Puppy or Dog

And today I found this:

Building a Relationship with Your Dog is the Key to Success!

Seems I had stumbled onto "something" ... who knew?? :)

And for those that don't know how it turned out and why I am so sold on "Who Pets ...." this happened:
German Shepherd Dog Forums - View Single Post - What would my dog do?
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Hmm ... yet another thread I need to update. After many years of well giving advise and searching for an understanding of what and how I had done with my formerly, H/A OS Wl GSD. I solved his people issues seemingly ... without much effort on my part?? He never once got a single correction for any untoward "aggression towards a single person!" A PO only approach as it were. I made good choices for him ... "No sorry, you can't pet my dog!" And I did this ... :

It took me "literally" about eight years to actually understate ... what I'd already done! Sometimes KISS, is hard to comprehend but ... it is a thing! And the secret to my success just to be clear ... was, I walked my dog. :)
Not the exact post I was looking for but I know you have look for other police "working boxer" Seems there are 2 news one.
https://www.facebook.com/laxso/photos/a.202423373150748.48958.187157274677358/1702962483096822/?type=3&theater
Not the exact post I was looking for but I know you have look for other police "working boxer" Seems there are 2 news one.
https://www.facebook.com/laxso/photos/a.202423373150748.48958.187157274677358/1702962483096822/?type=3&theater
LOL ... two more?? Well we are not really setting the LE K9, world on fire ... but credit where credit is due! :)

I don't know whee La Cross County is??? But I'm gonna guess back East??? Course I'm in NV so everywhere is "back East." :)

There seems to be a very distinct regional component to working K9 Boxers??? They all (the few) seem to be back East, what's up with that??? And they all seem to be Euro's???

I messed up I suppose?? Many,many,many years ago when I started my hunt for LE K9 Boxers, I was looking for American Line Boxers doing that job. And I had found "ONE!" But upon further pursuit ... I found that dog had been retired???

So I abandoned, that pursuit, my bad and from there I found Cliff. And from there I found Boxers Von Bachbett and from there the working LE K9 Boxers all seem to be (Euro) and a regional thing??? None seem to be out West ... still???

My Struddell (100%) all American was either quite exceptional or I'm that good??? And in as much as she was only my 4th dog, and I'd changed nothing I did ... it could not have been me?? And she flat out ... no BS, Luv'd people! She had no Idea ... what that "Aloof" at first ... was about???

She left me ill, equipped to deal with my first WL GSD??? He liked uh "NO One!" I had to work like a "Dog" no pun intend to get "Rocky" (Over Size Working line GSD" to "Aloof" instead of outright hostility! Rocky was :"always" in place when company came over! He was a lifetime of "awareness!" Struddell ... not so much! She just never did that Aloof" thing period to any degree? People were the next best thing to "baked bread!"

That's what I expect from my Boxers. But time changes and in NV, I see more Euro /American Boxers?? And they are a bit different?? They at least "briefly" do the "Aloof" ... thing because you know ... I don't know you?? But they seem to get over it quite quickly, then they are "what I expect from a Boxer??"

My GSD ...never did that?? It was months if not years before I trusted him to be left alone with "two people!" And my wife ... let her engage freely with her daughter because she felt I was to "anal" after a few years! Worked out fine. :)

Her daughter lived out of state so he only saw her infrequently ... in my defense. At any rate ... in my defense ... I'm not looking for a WL GSD Experience" in a Boxer suit????

I "expect" my next Boxer to like people, unless they prove they are not to be trusted???? And for the record ... I'm gonna add the "brachycephalic thing???" LOL ... yesss, I know what they say. :)

But in the real world ... my Struddell with her skinny build and longer narrow muzzle ... could chase Jack Rabbits all day long in the high heat of the NV Desert, I never gave it a second thought???

Personally ... I believe there is something there in heat tolerance, that the American Lines could add?? But I'm not into the LE K9 or Sport Dog or Breeder world?? I'm just a pet person but I know what I want. And happy unbridled "Goofiness" seem to be key for me??? :clap:

So the full Euro's as pet's, (it's a legit job in my view) I just don't know???
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I adopted an 8 month old Boxer mix yesterday (I suspect she has a touch of Beagle in her, but she qualifies as a Boxer for sure, per the research I've done about the breed). I read and book marked the post about potty training. She isn't completely potty trained, lots of accidents, but I think she is well on her way. She does "go" outside. I give her tons of praise and a treat when she does. I take her out immediately after eating. I think I'm posting this to ease my own anxiety by sharing, more than anything. It's just a matter of time and consistency. I keep reminding myself that the anxiety I'm feeling is normal. Everything will be okay. Sometimes she gets scared of going in and out of my building, which complicates the issue (I shared about that in another post), but if I'm gentle with her, and we are going in and out several times a day, she will become less timid about it, I hope. She's a rescue. I think she has some trauma in her past. I have too, LOL, so we're a good match.
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You are doing the right thing with her just be patient she doesn’t know. Routine is your best friend dog training. Try to take her back to the same place each time say “go potty” and make over her a lot when she does just takes time
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