Sniper

That was the same thing I thought of too when reading. Based on all the different types of food tried, it sounds like the problem is more involved than food. A full lab panel will help determine what's going on.

Another HUGE problem is social media, and all the connections with it. Plus violent video games. There have been firearms available for centuries, why have these "soft target" shootings increased so much the last 10 years. We've had young males in the country for multiple centuries, why are so many young men snapping and killing people more frequently. There are major social, personal responsibility, broken family issues that need to be looked at. Banning AR-15 "assault weapons of war" isn't the answer.

I agree, this is the problem that must be addressed. There were MULTIPLE Red flags that this dude had issues. There was a report today that the LEO's were called to his house over 30 times for different incidences. Add in that, all his social media posts, being expelled from school and the fact that so many people he knew said he was a loose cannon. MORE gun laws won't fix this. Approximately 1 out of 6 people are on some sort of medication for psyc issues. Putting a question on the 4473 regarding this will keep people who are mentally OK from owning firearms. My opinion is, since with many of these past shooters there were Red Flags, is to hold people around them an accessories to the crime. We always hear after the fact, "well, we all knew XYZ had issues, so his killing people doesn't surprise us". If people knew that they can also be held accountable for not reporting someone who shows definite issues, this is the only way to get a handle on these shooters. In a country of 320 million people, you can legislate away "crazy". It has to be "See something, Say something".

yep, many past killers were.

Try this link, I have Ad Blocker turned on and can watch the replay video: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kroft-talks-guns-and-concealed-carry-reciprocity-act/ Or, try this one for the show: https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-showdown-over-the-concealed-carry-reciprocity-act This is the actual show replay, about 13 minutes. The Overtime video is there too, in the side panel, approx. 6 minutes. https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/kroft-talks-guns-and-concealed-carry-reciprocity The 60 Minutes Overtime video, where they did a little bit more and went out on the streets of NYC. It's on Youtube:

I watched the show too. Two take-aways that I think the congressman and president of USCCA didn't press Steve Kroft on, and could of nailed him on are the following: 1) We can protect ourselves and families INSIDE our homes but can't CCW and protect ourselves and family OUTSIDE our homes? Are our lives worth less when we leave our houses and go out then when we are home? 2) The 2nd Amendment says "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed", so where is it written that says we shall not be infringed INSIDE our homes, but we CAN be infringed OUTSIDE our homes? Maybe it was said, and CBS edited those portions out. We don't know. I'm sure CBS edited out parts that would hurt their narrative. So, CBS and Kroft tried to use the "Big City" smokescreen as the reason to keep NR from being legalized. I also watched the video clip on the 60 minutes web site where Croft and the Pres of USCCA actual went out on the streets of NYC and Kroft asked him (since he wasn't carrying) if he felt safe. The last thing the Pres said to Kroft was, "even though CCW is illegal in NYC, I can guarantee there were people walking past us carrying weapons, you just don't know who they are".

Nothing for nothing, but I'm taking my pup to Petsmart for training classes. Some would consider that amature hour, but I really didn't go there to learn how to train a dog. I went there to expose my pup to all the adventures of the store. Much of the training takes place in the aisles of the store. It's a great place to socialize the dog, with all the dogs and owners in class, then add in all the distraction with other shoppers and dogs, all the noise, all the store workers, and shelves of products. Try getting your dog to concentrate on what you want him to do while walking down the food aisle or toy aisle, or when a shopper and dog pass by. Something to consider.

Just looked at that web site. interesting, the trainer has prong collars on the dogs she's training.

Ha ha, at least she'll know mom's a good food source I actually believe in total treat/reward training in the early stages of training to consistently get the dog to pay attention and respond. You're in a little different situation, having a older dog, but the concepts are the same. I've been having a discussion with my trainer about the regular use of treats, as I can also see the dog will get use to receiving them, and once the treat is removed, the dog can possibly stop responding. I switch back and forth, sometimes using treats, other times using a lot of praise. I know in the long run, I can always give praise, but I might not have treats available, so I'm trying to weed my pup off of expecting the treat. Actually, the next test session for the next certification, treats aren't allowed, so we're working/practicing as much as possible without them. There are times when he just looks at me and I can read his mind as he says "you bast*rd, where's my treat". Ha ha, and my response, so sorry, that's why I'm in charge here.

Where are you taking him for that training? I've been trying to decide what direction to go with my pup after he gets this next certification. SAR was one area I was looking at. Once he gets that training, what are you planning on doing with him with it?

I agree, before putting it on a dog, the handler needs to know what it feels like at all stimulation levels. Also, the handler needs a "plan" on how it will be implemented. Many collars have different notifications, some beep, some vibrate before a stimulation is given. The goal is to only go to stimulation very rarely, and rely on the tone or vibration as a "reminder" to the dog. This is why I've said that basic repetitive training is more important, so the dog knows what you want him to do, using a tool like a E-collar as a last resort. One clarification, if a dog has long fur, he won't feel the stimulation, the hair acts as an insulator, so saying it will be "less painful" is incorrect. He won't feel anything. Many collars come with different probes short and long, and they get changed based on the hair level. The probes have to be in firm contact with the skin. Sometimes, with long hair dogs, the hair has to be clipped or shaved at the location of the probes to make skin contact.

I mentioned that earlier, when I bought the first e-collar, it was because I wanted to take a short cut, and not train my dog the correct way. Live and learn, I now see, in hindsight, it's not the correct method, but a quick, less effort way to control a dog. I agree, it's a specialized tool that needs to be applied to training the right way. It has to be fit the correct way, and the stimulation levels have to be correct. The dog needs to know beforehand what's expected of him, and the e-collar is used when he doesn't meet the expectation. Unfortunately, most people just buy them, slap it on the dog, and shock away until the dog finally does what they want. That's a HORRIBLE way and lazy way to train a dog. We live in the "Instant Society" where people want instant and quick results on everything. Training a dog isn't a "instant" process.

Great advice with the sit! Using the treat to point over her head forces her back into the sitting direction. This is also where adding hand signals into the training comes into play. But, like I said above, all family members have to be doing this cue EXACTLY the same way to get the desired result. Position of the dog, the approach, the verbal cue, the hand movement, all have to be carbon copies by all family member. If every one has their own system and style, it will just confuse the dog, and will take longer to master. Oh, and time, yep, it will take plenty of practice and time. But it will work in the end.

Ha ha, yep, I can relate. We go to Advanced class once a week, working towards his next certification, and I also try to burn off some energy with my pup before we go to class, to keep him calm. Once the class is over, he just crashes and burns and won't move for the rest of the night. But the next day, it's balls to wall all over again.

Really great point. When training a dog, most people don't understand the psychological side of training. We assume the dog understands things the way WE do. The problem is, he's a dog, and understands things HIS way. The key to training is to approach it how a DOG understands daily activities and cues, not how HUMANS understand them. Dogs also learn based on repetition and constant refreshing, and this repetition has to be exactly the same way EVERY time. Dogs have extremely short attention spans, so consistency and repetition on cues is extremely important.

That sounds like her previous owner wasn't nice to her. It's going to take some time for her to trust you and reduce her fear level. What is the actual reason why she was available to adopt? I didn't see that in your original post. That is definitely a (lack of) a training and socialization issue with her previous owner. It sounds like she wasn't walked and exposed to many other dogs and people. That response can be fixed with training and focus. It will take some time. You should try keeping treats/rewards with you on the walk to get her to focus on you when she gets distracted. Sounds like she didn't get much exposure to walking outside. I'm guessing you have a flat standard collar on her. I would NOT go to the choker collar at this point. You definitely don't want her pulling out of the collar, put putting her into a choke collar without understanding why, she'll just jump and pull on it, which will put a lot of unnecessary force on her trachea and possibly hurt her. The best choice in this situation walking her outside would be the prong collar (and make sure you get the original German version, not a knock-off), but like I said previously, you absolutely need to use it and fit it correctly on her. This issue you're having is a 100% (lack of) training issue, and she needs to be re-taught the correct way to walk and interact with people and other dogs. If you don't want to train with a prong collar at this time, another choice would be the Martingale slip collar. It's not as dangerous a choke collar, but not as corrective as a prong collar. Kinda midway, it will give a correction when pulled, but if fitted correctly, won't injure her trachea like a choke. That sounds like she sees you as true Alpha, but still isn't sure where mom fits in. Mom might need to be more "forceful" and show more dominance. That can happen with females. My wife has a little bit of an issue sometimes with my pup, since he knows I'm the Alpha but tries to cheat with her. If wifey ramps up her "profile", mr. pup realizes she means business. Another HUGE point, since you're working through these new commands with her. Everyone needs to follow the procedure EXACTLY the same every time when trying to get her to sit, stay, down, etc. I can't stress that enough. You all need to use the EXACT SAME verbal commands, the same hand signal, the same positioning, the same treat, etc. Each time a member of the family asks her to follow a cue, that cue has to be a carbon copy, no matter who's doing it. This eliminates confusion, and she is confused enough from her past home. Great point, and that's exactly the issue. She's not sure what's going on, so it's going to take time, patience, training, and love to get her to where you want her. This ISN'T going to be solved in a week or two. You recognize it, so there is definite hope, it's going to take time. I've even got a little bent out of shape with my 8 month old pup, feeling that he's not progressing as fast as I want. Wifey had to reel me back in to remind me he's still a puppy and to chill a little. I've been in that situation too, but this is you showing the Alpha side, which is exactly what you have to do. She has to understand bad behavior has consequences. You ALWAYS have to be the Alpha and be prepared to ramp up the correction to what ever level it takes. Problems start when bad behavior is allowed to continue, even once.

I saw a few mentions about E-collars in the thread, so I'll touch on my feelings on them. I used one on my last Lab, as there were a few "issues" I couldn't get her to respond to. The collar did end up working, but the process wasn't all that nice. We would use it in certain situations (like when loose out front of the house) to keep her "attention". Actually, I only had to use the stimulation part very rarely. The collar would start beeping a few seconds before the stimulation, and after a few seconds, then the stimulation would come. She learned that as soon as she heard the beep, she would immediately respond, so no shock. In hindsight, the reason I went to the E-collar was because I WAS LAZY, and didn't spend the time to teach and train her. Once again, 95% of dog behavior issues are because of the owner/handler. I was trying to go the "quick" route instead of spending the correct time to teach her. That was MY fault, not hers. I have a brand new E-collar sitting here for my new pup, but as of right now, refuse to use it. I was once again, going to try and take the "easy way" out, instead of working with him. For right now, it stays in the box. If he's not doing what I want him to do, it's MY fault for not leading him the correct direction. Not to say it won't come out later, but for right now, I'm not recommending it for anyone. I'm going to go the time, patience and teaching route first, I think that will have the longest lasting effect, instead of taking the quick route. Also I know, sometimes, some stubborn dogs need a little extra "persuasion", so an E-collar can be a good added tool in the tool box, if used and applied correctly. I know some personal professional trainers use E-collars, but I believe that's because they have limited training time, so they are trying to maximize and get the quickest response for the short time they have with the dog.

The trainer teaches the behaviors over and over, once she learns the behaviors, it usually pretty easy for anyone else to get her to respond to them. He'll show you the exact method. I'm taking my pup to class, then coming back and teaching my family how to apply the cues to get him to follow and listen. It can be done, once she totally understands the cues. Regarding hand signals, I'm 100% in agreement in combining hand signals with verbal commands. I actually did that indirectly with my last Lab, and it got to the point that I never gave her verbal commands, just hand signals. But, you still need to use verbal commands, as other family members will use them. In the current training with my pup, I'm definitely using hand signals in the training, by 4 months, he was responding to sit and down using them. I absolutely suggest to do both, verbal and hand signals.

Jumping into this thread, as I'm going though a similar situation training my 8 month old Labrador Retriever. This actually is my 3rd Lab, but I'm handling training completely different. I'm in an advanced class now and have been doing tremendous research and planning to make sure I lead this pup the right direction. At 8 months, he's further along with cues and behaviors than my last Lab was at 3 years old, and she was a great dog. 1) The owner/handler has to ALWAYS be the Alpha, ALWAYS, and the dog has to know that. The majority of dog obedience issues are caused by the owners. A dog will only learn (or NOT learn) what the owner teaches it or what the owner allows it to do. Being that the dog is two years old, it's had a lot of time to build up bad habits. The good thing, a dog is always able to learn something new. My suggestion is to go heavy with the treat/reward system to re-train the dog. It's going to take some time, which will mean dedication to the task, and will have to be implemented multiple times a day. EVERY TIME you want the dig to do a task (sit, lay down, come, walking, socializing, etc.) should be done with treats/rewards until she starts to respond to each command instantly. It sounds like you're going to have to reprogram her and get her to focus on the requests of the Alpha. I'll repeat, this is going to take time and dedication to work with and train her. You'll have to decide if you can put the time in or refer it off to a trainer. Regarding the jumping and pulling when walking, my Lab (due to being a puppy) is (or I should say WAS) a puller and jumper. I have a box full of different collars, harnesses, leaders that I've tried to correct this issue. I finally decided to go with a prong collar (which looks medieval), and it solved that pulling and jumping issue. I at first didn't want to go that route, thinking that I would hurt him, but after tons of research and reading and watching videos, I learned the correct way to use it. There is an exact way to fit and use the prong collar, I can't express that enough, plus learning the psychology on how to apply the correction. Using a prong collar the wrong way, is worse than not using one. Your girl sounds like she will need some help in the walking, socialization and jumping area. This collar can help.