[Ed]

I would start small and have him do some of her obedience training. When he is doing it, he would praise her during training almost as she can no no wrong, no corrections when he is training her, just ignore the bad behavior. Accept bad form, you can fix it later. A lot of patience. Very short sessions, may be a minute long. I do not think it is uncommon to have ecollar corrections to be miss-associated with places/people instead of behavior. I’m sure there is a good explanation for that.

[Riggan]

Good suggestions by Ed. In addition, I would give her a place to be while you are eating. Some place where she can be part of the family during this time but not annoying. Lance has a cot in our living room (we have an open floor plan with living room / dining room connected). You can teach her a “Go to your place” command, or you can have it next to a heavy sofa or something that you can use to tether her to so she can’t approach the table. Once she learns to go to this place and stay there, you can start using this new command if she tries to come to the table. Then, if she does not respond to her “Go to your place” command, you can give a correction (although I would probably avoid the use of the e-collar for this for now, and just use a verbal or leash pop correction).

[Lois]

Riggan, thank you for your reply and suggestions. I hate to say this but my screw up is definitely keeping her away from the dinner table while we are eating.

I have an elevated bed for her in the living room which she uses – when we are in there with her. She is very protective of us and always nearby. Now at dinnertime she is staying in her spot on our kitchen tile floor while we eat. I’m fine with that and I have been giving her something to chew on to keep her occupied. She is slowly forgiving my husband for MY screw up.

I let her run off leash on our morning desert walks here in Arizona but have been controlling her with the e-collar when needed. Though not often since she really listens to my commands there. In the house it’s like she thinks she is the same as us. We love her dearly but I know that is not the mindset she should have. Today I only used the vibration (in desert) and that was enough to get her attention back. I hate having that collar on her in the house but maybe I should rethink that.

It has been triple digit hot here for way too long and I haven’t had her on leash at all. I’m thinking I should do some leash work in our un-airconditioned garage or in the house for a while.

Thanks again for your input.

Lois

[SANTI]

Hi Lois.

I also have an e-collar but I’ve just used it on my dog a couple of times and in vibration mode.

I truly believe they’re awesome tools but I don’t feel all that prepared to use it properly yet, because if the timing is bad you can screw it really bad. Everytime I’m having lunch I try to have my dog somewhere else, but if I decide let her in I don’t allow her to approach unless I ask her to do it. I use to lead her to a determined spot and feed her there, Everytime she approaches I say NO and lead her again to her place and feed her again there. After some repetitions she gets that if she wants to eat must remain in her spot. But it takes time and patience to enforce this behavior.

I hope I could have helped you.

[Lois]

Thank you for your reply. I will definitely try your suggestions.

She has forgiven but not forgotten. I wish I could get her to use a soft bed or something but she prefers the cool tile. It’s hot outside but our home is really cool- just her preference. She does like her crate, which is upstairs, huge, and in our bedroom. Not a choice during the day. She does have an elevated bed she uses when she is with us in the living room.

I am only using the vibration on her collar. She is responding ok. Thanks again. Lois