SearchKoehler's Method
Saw a post from awhile back on Koehler and wanted to post this .
Let me start out and say that I'm not a professional dog trainer , dog wisperer , dog physic nor have I stayed at a Holiday inn express . These are just my opinions .
I have been using Koehler's methods for almost thirty years with great success on many different dogs and breeds . The obedience section in his book , Koehler's Method of Guard Dog training , is what I use and is somewhat different than in his book ,Koehler's Method of Obedience , not by much though .
Some , if not most , now say that this method is old , barbaric and out dated , I have read " the model T of dog training " . There are now methods to reward a dog for everything done right yet no consequence for whats done wrong . I notice professional trainers telling their clients to "ask" the dog to sit . I do not "ask" my dog for anything , I command her . To ask is to give a choice . She has no opinion in whether she wants to sit and stay or run in front a dump truck . I know that sit and stay is the best chioce for her . Now the correction she will get from the dump truck is much more severe than the correction I will give at the end of her leash yet she will learn not to chase the dump truck either way . Just that Koehler's way we can learn something else . As for the dog being emotionally scarred for life , I have found that to be untrue if not unjust . My dog will very happily put her head into the training collar without hesitation and with exuberance . I have experienced the same with all my dogs using this method .
Dogs have been dogs for tens of thousands of years not changing much since , mostly just the way they look . People on the other hand tend to be really touchy feely lately . I understand that "Fluffy" is your baby and I feel the same for Jewel but under those longing eyes and wiggelly puppy like body , she is still a dog looking to be lead .
At least read up on koehler and if you want to use his method , read the whole book before trying this method . If done correctly you will have a happy and most importantly an obedient dog that you will be sure that when you give a command he/she WILL obey .
As always , just my 2 cents worth
Thank you Lady Kate for the " well said , well written "
You are correct that we can tailor make our training programs to fit our dogs and our needs . There also needs to be a solid base on which can be established a foundation of learning that the dog will understand . I am not saying that Koehler is the only way , just works well for me now as in the past and I don't think that new is always better . For me it is a great foundation to expand from . In koehler's book , his obedience program takes 16 weeks . I have tailored it to 32 weeks as that works well for my dogs .
With Jewel , I have done what I call puppy 101 . Crate training , house breaking , don't eat the sofa . She knows how to sit , stay , off , no , stop , come , an open door is not an invitation to run amok , she even knows where to put her umpa-lumpas . She is better trained now than most dogs that have been to training classes . Not knocking training classes . I will pay to go to a class just for the social aspect . This week I started Jewel at square one with Koehler's obedience . Seven months old now . 31 weeks from now I'll have her in the middle of New Orleans on Canal St off lead and working . When she can do that , I've done my job .
I guess what hooked me on Koehler , besides the results , was what I read ( not verbatim ) ... [when you have a dog that is aggresion trained , you have to be able to turn him off as well as on]... , the off-on thing works really well when a dog spots a squirrel , cat other dog and jets away at the speed of light heading towards a busy street and all you have to HOLLER is "down" and your dog hits the ground with enough force to set off the richter scales , turns her head and looks at YOU , dog off . Also it is so cool to have , more times than not , the only dog in a public place that listens when given ONE command . Hangs at your side off lead no matter what the distaction when on heal and to see your dog watching your every move .
I'm suprised this forum doesn't have more traffic .
Well I'm ranting again
I too am surprised that there are not more people on this forum, but I LOVE the fact that it's small and personal. We get to know one another and our dogs and the posts are valuable and worth keeping and or printing out.
Other forums that I've investigated are cliquey, gossipy and so large, one tends to get lost in the minutia. ( I STILL cannot work spell check)
The common bond is that we all love our dobermans and find them to be the BEST breed ever!
Sofia has never been formally trained.. She is so good MOST of the time, I never seemed to feel it was important.. but just lately she's been leaving her yard to chase down the hated hare. She's found an escape route and thinks it's okay to do the Marine Corps belly crawl under ( Semper Fi!) then run for the bushes and or fields.. she comes back ( yeah she does all prancy-dancy-look what I've done!) but the Baja is fraught with danger, cactus, rattle snakes, wild cats, jagged rocks, drunks on golf carts..and when she gets 'rabbit head' I know she's not aware of anything but the prey.
I will make it my goal to start her on a more stringent "leave it" 'no" "come" etc.. thanks for the recommendation.. I will definitley look into it!!
Our trainer also likes the koehler method and has used it on his Mastiff that has some aggression issues and he said it has done wonders for his dog. He suggested we try it as well and after we get situated in the new place and our schedule is back to normal we will probably look into it as well.
I haven't read Koehler, but will research for sure! I agree with you Señora Kate! This breed is so smart, perceptive that they seem to have the routines down well enough to keep us on tract, it's like they are born trained! Just make it through the willful stages and teething and then you'll have the very best of companions. I should know better than to be writing this, maybe it doesn't count if you just don't say it out loud :0
the koehler method? wil research on that also.
Photo Gallery
SofiaPet Profiles
Well said and well written.. With anything, I feel we can incorporate our own 'tailor made" program.. Use the tecniques shown, try the different methods, but you know your dog best and what she will or won't learn from. And that's the bottom line.. KevinK stated ( or was it you?) that a well trained dobe is a happy dobe and I totally agree!!
Good luck and please keep us posted..
( and P.S. Holiday Inn's are not all they're cracked up to be) LOL