“Mama dogs have very accurate control of the force and placement of their bites. This is why mama dogs do not accidentally hurt their puppies when they hold, carry, or correct them.

In fact, all dogs have accurate control of the force and placement of their bite. When a dog is young, he learns from his mother and litter-mates not to bite too hard on each other while playing and interacting. That is why puppies should not be separated from their mothers and siblings until they are at least 8 weeks old. Otherwise, they will miss out on this very important lesson.”

https://shibashake.com/dog/just-like-a-mama-dog-biting-on-her-puppys-neck/

I’ve been raising my puppy (8 moths old) on aversive training techniques and I can see a significant distrust he has in me. He has his moments where he will listen to me and appear to like my attention. Though, some times when I walk too quickly towards him or make a quick movement he’ll tuck in his tail and hunch over scared. Then, he will sometimes show his teeth or growl at me when I proceed to pick him up or try and put him up (time-out). I’ve been trying out reward training and he has learned a few tricks like sit, paw, down, etc. Though, he’s still scared of me. Also, he will come to me for a reward and then dart off to someone else who isn’t even calling him.

Have I damaged my relationship with my puppy? I just want him to be a good dog and I read your post about caring about what other people thought than your dogs feelings and I feel that was my error. I was so caught up in trying to get him to be a model dog and ignored how he felt.

I am not a fan of shock collars. Here is why.

The dog training area is not regulated well (if at all), so it can be a challenge to find a good trainer.
More on what I did while looking for a trainer.

There is also a lot of conflicting information out there on dog behavior, so I had a really difficult time sorting through stuff in the beginning.
More on where I go to get information on dog training and dog behavior.

From what I see (now) on the internet, they are a franchise operation – training people in 21 days to train dogs with a shock collar – including puppies! There are awful reports about them using collars on both groins and necks, turning them up much too high. My dog came away from this short demonstration afraid and with an inflamed, red neck. She did not eat for 2 days – I ended up taking her to the vet.

My vet was shocked at the use of this collar on the very fist visit.

What do you think?

Thanks for your feedback!

Kate

In this article on dog discipline, I talk about the dangers of pain-based aversive techniques, and how I teach my dogs to follow house rules.

Here is an article on how I trained my Husky puppy. I talk about how I use “yes” and “no”, how I tie the words to consequences, and how I stop undesirable behaviors.

When I first got my Shiba Inu, I started with aversive methods. It did not go well with Sephy, and ultimately, made him very sensitive to handling, lose trust in me, and develop even more behavioral issues. Here is more on the risks of aversive training.

Here is what I do to potty train my dogs.

A bit more on how dogs learn.

I am a first-time shiba inu owner preparing for my puppy’s arrival in a few weeks. I’ve been researching a lot and am up to the obedience training part of my reading. I’ve read that not many people recommend using aversive training as it may develop some aggression problems in the future.

So now I am a bit confused at how I might teach my puppy “no”, and to not repeat his mistakes (without having to use a spray bottle or a collar tug). I’ve read that shiba inus are generally independent and am afraid that a simple “no gesture” and ignoring him for a few minutes may not work. Wouldn’t my puppy just shrug it off and go about his own way?

In the future case where I may catch him in the act of peeing where he is not supposed to, how can i make him realize that that is a mistake without getting physical? While reward training is great for a dog that does what you want it to, how would it work to reinforce the “no” command?

(Apologies for the loaded question!)

Here are a list of Cesar Millan’s positive dog training techniques, a list of Millan’s aversive based techniques, and the risks involved.