Reddit reviews Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs

I would like to recommend a couple of books.
The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell. She has a PhD in behaviorism and has worked with a lot of aggressive dogs but she only uses positive reinforcement. Her book talks a lot about the difference between primates and canids (aka dogs) and how those differences create misunderstandings.

Bones Would Rain from the Sky by Suzanne Clothier. Suzanne has tons of experience with all kinds of animals. Her book focuses a lot on what it means to have a trusting, healthy relationship with dogs and I guarantee it will change the way you see your dog.

I also have a reactive border collie. You are on the right track with the hamburger treats while walking, but you need to not get your dog over threshold to the point where she can't focus on you or the treats any more. And more exercise is never a bad thing for a border collie, mental and physical.

Good luck!

You should head over to /r/dogtraining for some great info. They endorse positive reinforcement training and should be able to point you in the right direction.

Also, please DO NOT use dominance training. It's been disproved and is not very effective, especially in Vs. It could make the matter worse since the dog will then feel MORE threatened.

I had an issue with my Weim guarding food which we've worked through. Although resource guarding is not the same as sleep aggression, I'd still recommend the book Bones Would Rain From The Sky.

After my pity party post last week I started reading [this book] (https://www.amazon.com/Bones-Would-Rain-Sky-Relationships/dp/044669634X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485359559&sr=1-1&keywords=bones+would+rain+from+the+sky) and am trying to change my mindset a bit. I reminded myself that I sought out a herding bred so I could treat dog training and ownership like a hobby. The training I have to do is a just different from what I pictured. I also took the plunge and signed up for some Fenzi classes! I settled on a class called 'Toys - Developing Cooperation and Play' and 'Engagement.' There was a class available for managing reactive dogs but I wanted to switch things up because my entire life already revolves around managing a reactive dog lol. The classes start next week and I'm so excited.


This might be a fluke but I think Mowgli is reacting significantly less to small dogs. Yesterday a King Charles spaniel passed us in the park while we were playing frisbee and he barely glanced at it. There's also a new frenchie puppy on our block (squeee!!!) and Mowgli's seen it a couple times but only looks mildly interested. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself by typing that out.

http://www.amazon.com/Bones-Would-Rain-Sky-Relationships/dp/044669634X

I wasn't working at the time, so I spent a good couple hours (or more) with her a day when she was a puppy. It sounds like you did something similar, that's great! I feel you about getting discouraged, I had many days, for months, where I thought nothing was improving. I read tons of training books and took a bunch of classes and even hired a couple trainers. Of all that, my favorite pieces of advice was that the bond you form with your dog is more important than any training. Basically, you can work on training at any age, but it will go much faster and will be more enjoyable for both of you if you have a strong bond with your dog. I think spending a lot of time with her as a puppy is an amazing way to build the foundation of that bond.

Something I struggled with (and still do) in dog training is the slow incremental increase required. When you say she ignored you when you were outside, that just means you moved up to "difficulty level 10" too fast. If you can add a bunch of steps in between, increasing the distractions while doing the name game, that's supposed to prep them for the Big Outdoors where it's harder for them to focus. Edit: here's an article that I like about recall!

Our girl only has mediocre recall at the park, so I'm still working on building that up. I like to use the command "watch me" for eye contact while we're on walks to help her get used to focusing on and checking in with me. What kind of training do you like? I do a mixture of clicker training and Suzanne Clothier's teaching methods (she's the one who talks about connection and forming a bond). Her book Bones Would Rain from the Sky is a good read about that. I just really love her work, it helped me feel hopeful when I was most discouraged about raising our puppy.