# Training mistakes we've made



## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

I'm curious to know what other people would say about mistakes they have made while training their dogs. Certainly we've all messed up and sometimes the results are funny, like how Rosa will play bow to me after she poops since when she was potty training I would make it a big party when she went outside properly. Cute, but not at bedtime when she needs to think about settling down.

One bad habit I cannot seem to break myself of is saying either of my dogs names in an angry tone of voice when they misbehave. Like "NIKO, off the couch!!!"  I know you can wreck their name by doing that.

Anyone else care to share?


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## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

When my pup was little I used praise him for alerting and barking at our neighbors coming on our property. It was much tougher to brake that routine when the time came to bring our new born daughter home. Fun times.


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## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

MISTAKES???? What are those? LOL!!!


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## chicagojosh (Jun 22, 2010)

we got our puppy in FEB. we got lazy for the 3 am, bone chlling cold potty break, and would let him go on the back porch (pee). needless to say, that was a mistake, and luckily we corrected our mistake (laziness) very quickly, so he know's that grass is the only acceptable potty place now


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## angierose (Apr 20, 2009)

The worst mistake I've made so far is not controlling my own temper while training. We were tracking and she wouldn't respond to my "leave it" about some junk in the grass, so I used a very angry tone. She shut down completely and lost interest in tracking for weeks. Still feel bad, but I fixed it by basically starting tracking training over again. We won't be ready for TD until winter now, but at least I learned a lesson and she recovered.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

My biggest mistake with Uschi was that I spent most of the time playing than training. I had lost our 12 yr old shepherd and finally got up the nerve to get a new puppy and was so in puppy love that I played too much- she soon saw me as a litter mate. Puppy class helped establish a training routine but I could have avoided a lot of biting, jumping, etc if I had done it from the start. But she was just so bloody cute!


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## JudynRich (Apr 16, 2010)

Not training separately. Mia can tandem train, but Bella can't...therefore Bella is WAY behind.


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## cshepherd9 (Feb 11, 2010)

My biggest mistake was letting her totally bond to my older dog when she was little to the point where Dallas was her sole source of "play". I was so worried about Dallas liking the new pup that when they got along initially I didn't think about any issues down the road. It really hasn't been a huge problem and I am glad the 2 dogs get along but it became an issue with training her last winter in the house. She was so focused on what Dallas was doing that she would ignore me. When she got a little older I was able to take her to classes and give us one on one time and I would separate them during the day while I am gone so she could get used to being alone.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Over the years there have been many "mistakes" the worst was when my husband & I got our 1st GSD, Cheyenne, about 17 years ago. We used a trainer whose methods where cruel. When Cheyenne growled at my husband for trying to take a bone, the trainer had us hang him by his neck. I'll never forgive myself for that, of course we never did that again after the trainer showed us. 
Now all of my dogs allow me or my husband to take bones/toys out of thier mouth, never had to hang any of them.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Yikes! I think your biggest mistake was not hanging that trainer!!


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I'm really blessed that Hondo is a pretty forgiving pup. The biggest mistake I still make during training is the ability to start/stop on the correct foot when heeling. I bumble it up and confuse the snot out of him. It isn't so much the action of beginning/stopping on the incorrect foot - it's me attempting to correct it before Hondo notices it. I look like a ballerina who's had her shoes tied together. :wild:


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## Uniballer (Mar 12, 2002)

More than a dog's age ago, I had a young Troll v.d. Boesen Nachbarschaft son on the (left arm) sleeve, and wanted to pressure him a little to make the grip harder. So I grabbed a handful of fur from his left side with my right hand. Unfortunately, that pissed him off enough to switch arms and I wasn't quick enough that day. That is the only dog bite I ever had to get stitches for...


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Uniballer said:


> More than a dog's age ago, I had a young Troll v.d. Boesen Nachbarschaft son on the (left arm) sleeve, and wanted to pressure him a little to make the grip harder. So I grabbed a handful of fur from his left side with my right hand. Unfortunately, that pissed him off enough to switch arms and I wasn't quick enough that day. That is the only dog bite I ever had to get stitches for...


 
I take it he had a pretty hard grip then.....


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## Uniballer (Mar 12, 2002)

Lilie said:


> I take it he had a pretty hard grip then.....


Hard enough. Then again, my arm is a lot softer than the sleeve.


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

Let Diabla play with sticks and with everyone. When we lived in the desert we were lucky if we found a stick, so it was not an issue, now in Patagonia surrendered my woods she os obsessive about them and can be pesky with people pushing them to play with sticks. She has a good recall, but if she finds a willing play partner she becomes suddenly deaf and that is what gets me angry.


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

My biggest mistake is always yelling. I'm almost cured, but it happens sometimes and I immediately stop, take a breath, and start over


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Stosh said:


> Yikes! I think your biggest mistake was not hanging that trainer!!


You got that right. 
We took in a female GSD from him as a companion for Cheyenne. After 2 weeks I had to bring her back, she was terrified of my husband. Gee I wonder why. Unfortunately as they say "If I knew then what I know now" the poor girl may have had a chance with us. But I didn't know how to get her beyond the damage the trainer did.


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