James
Thank you as well for taking the time to help me
out. That is very valuable information . I think you have saved me some trouble.
I am disappointed that I could not open and see the pictures you attached to the
email rats! I am glad you said that was a poor dog on the home page as I was
afraid of offending someone but that is one ugly picture. Terri
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 3:30 AM
Subject: Re: Look who's on the home
page
Look
who's on the home page
Reply
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From: sallisbury |
Hello Terri, My experience
working with the Thai Ridgeback seems very much like what youre
describing. I find they can be rather moody regardless of age,
sex, etc. I find it often relates to what there needs are at the
time or whats going on in the environment at the time. it could
be too cold, too hot, dog is tired, or excited, needs to relieve
itself, etc...it could be any myriad of things but for whatever
reason the dog is not so interested in me and what I want to
happen at that moment. Kinda like a cat, eh? In regard to
corrections you could call them sensitive, but I call them
reactive. Ive been trained in a more traditional method
incorporating positive reinforcement along with corrections.
However I do not think the traditional physical leash pop
corrections are always appropriate for all breeds, and the Thai
Ridgeback(along with other primitives) is one of them. the Thai
ridgeback in the wrong mood/state of mind will often object to
such corrections. In these circumstances I would opt to use
something like a squirt bottle or shake can to disrupt the
unwanted behavior. These types of corrections are less likely to
bring out any dominance issues and allow us to convey to the dog
that something it did was not acceptable without a
confrontation. If you do happen to get into a confrontation
over a correction i would advise you not to just stop the
session. that would only teach the dog that it only needs to
snarl and/or scream at you to get out of the task at hand.
Instead push through but modify your approach to minimize the
dogs objections/reaction. taking a step back to give the dog
some easy successes is a good idea as well before aiming for
some quick easy wins with whatever caused the problem in the
first place. We always try to end on a good note but if thats
not happening just put her away and start again later. I
find that at first many of the TR do not show much prey
drive(not really into the toys) especially if there are food
rewards around. They can be motivated with toys but i needed to
ditch the food rewards for awhile and tighten up on the amount
of freedom the dogs had. starting them with a toy on a string
also really helped to build drive in them. Once youve got her
into the toy, trading for food treats can help to minimize
possessive tendencies. Ive attached some pics for you. This
was her first day on the agility equipment. The other pics are
just us hanging out and the dog being quite the social
sweatheart (so long as nobody asks much of her). Keep in
mind they arent all like this (dominant, independent, pushy,
challenging/questioning, etc.), though as a generalization i
wouldnt disagree. I do have another female that comes across as
quite biddable. she has a very different personality though her
temperament is much the same. From my experience the other
breeds you mention are all high drive dogs: much easier to
motivate and focus. Those dogs love working where the TR is more
"freedom loving". Its something I try to keep in mind when
working with them.
Who is that dog on the homepage? I
dont know but I think its a pretty sad example/representative of
a Thai Ridgeback.
Feel free to email me. Id like to hear
more of your
experiences.
James
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