Here is a playlist with ALL of Moira's episodes in order: ruclips.net/p/PLMssKIjsDxXloC9yXGfTrFSqdYMmx2jEO Thank you for being here!! Leave a comment and let us know what you think about this series, and give us your suggestions for future videos!! 🤩
Hi Zak. I’m pretty sure this comment will get lost but this series has been so helpful. Two weeks ago I adopted a 10 month old rescue dog. He’s heaps of energy and has some of the same habits Moira(excessive barking and biting). I’ve been working with him every day and these videos are keeping me going. I feel like I’m journeying with you we also have our ups and downs.Thank you so much!
It’s actually really helpful to see how you handle things that don’t go well. Otherwise we don’t know how to react when our dogs act out. You are so calm and patient
Same here - I brought home an 8mo old cattle dog rescue and he is exactly like Moira. Puppy behaviors and in a nearly full-grown dog. It's really helped to see how a trainer would address the very same issues we are dealing with.
Ditto here. I am not giving up on my rescue dog though she is quite the biter. I learn to anticipate when she needs to play--jealous of my phone, bites my arms and ankles, etc. NEVER GIVE UP! good for you for rescuing a shelter dog!❤
The ducks/birds weren’t fleeing which would activate Moira’s prey drive instincts. Obedience alone will not stop a dog from controlling it’s instinctive conditioned response to triggers. Self rewarding behaviors will override obedience without the implementation of behavior modification strategies to bring unwanted behavior to extinction. There is plenty of space in this video with distractions very far away and he still has trouble as his training standard is very low and no behavior modification strategies are applied. These results will not work in the real world, sadly risking Moira’s rehoming not being successful. When the dog gets adopted and owners encounter a reactive dog on a leash or a squirrel runs in this dogs path activating her true prey drive, I guarantee Moira will lose it and act on her self rewarding instinctive behavior. A good trainer will proof a dog within feet of it’s trigger with high standard obedience ignoring the triggers completely no matter what the triggers do. That is what a trained dog looks like
I have so much respect for the fact that you are openly willing to show when things don't go to plan, instead of conveniently editing them out, I just love your transparency. You're doing a great job, i love this series. :)
Agree! I make a similar mistake to this occasionally - not always intentionally (sometimes the dogs sneak up on me) and it's really helpful to see how a trainer deals with it, regroups and tries again.
@@StaticResurreXion Amateur dog owner? Get out of it. No dog training programme runs perfectly, especially with new dogs. It would be amateur thinking that it would be smooth sailing from start to finish. And yes, I have respect for the transparency, for showing more than just the successes, because it is realistic.
She's really doing so well and Rome wasn't built in a day. What you are doing is invaluable. By teaching us how to manage these situations, by being open and honest with us, you are really helping us become better dog owners. I know she has been a challenge but she has made great progress. ❤
She is NOT doing "well". This dog is stressed to high hell and has some moments of "following food". This is not obedience nor is this dog anywhere close to trained.
I rescued a dog-reactive pitbull that would have otherwise been put to sleep. That dog, and the one today are the same, but also so incredibly different. Was it an easy road? Absolutely not. It took years for it to be truly under control, and there are still bad days once in a blue moon. But I'm proud to say that in a decade, a dog everyone convinced me was a biter has never bitten another dog. Even when he got attacked once, he just ran to me instead of retaliating. This video made me cry because I have never seen anyone represent those tough moments without making it about correction. I always believed that those moments are not for teaching. That you just have to stay calm and even to help your dog trust in your control of the situation. In my situation, my dog was reactive out of fear. So you wait for the moments to be constructive to do any major training. Thank you for making me feel so seen.
What did Zak do well at the end? He REMAINED CALM. I was expecting a much worse outburst based on the description. Did she get over excited? Yeah, but if he had started getting upset, would have escalated further. I actually think he did a pretty good job not allowing the situation to get further amped up.
@@StaticResurreXion lmao we clearly didn't watch the same video. He remained firm voiced, not yelling, and even tried to use calming and soothing tones to deescalate. He held the leash firmly and even grabbed the harness briefly for better control to ensure she didn't bolt and hurt him, herself, or anyone nearby. She was pulling against him, but he never once jerked her back toward him, simply held firm and tried to give her a chance to respond to him on her own and stop the behavior. The moment it was clear she wouldn't, he removed her from the trigger as quickly as he could without harming himself or the dog despite her going nuts and trying to wrap up in the leash. It was textbook.
@@StaticResurreXion punishment by definition is negative. He never punished her. He used a soothing voice and removed her from the situation once he had control of her. Was he supposed to just let go and say hey go have fun pup! It looks textbook to me. No yelling, no yanking, no hitting, no punishment of any kind was to be seen. Keeping a firm hold on a lead is not a punishment, it's keeping control of the animal to prevent harm to itself or others. Using a command of no or come is not punishment, it's direction on how he wishes her to behave to prevent harm to herself or others. You're completely out to lunch. Please describe in detail how YOU would have handled the situation before you go criticizing others.
@@StaticResurreXion check out this video of his. He condemns pain and torture as training tools: e-collars, shock mats, prong collars, etc but has never spoken against (at least not in the dozens of hid videos I've watched) gentle corrections like "no" or initially physically helping the animal into the desired position (learning a sit or roll over) or even keeping a short and firm leash to better maintain control of a dog who is acting out. I think we're both stuck on the semantics of positive/negative reinforcement vs positive/negative punishment. ruclips.net/video/-Lu--5Yv22A/видео.html&ab_channel=ZakGeorge%E2%80%99sDogTrainingRevolution He's firmly against training by brute force (negative punishment), not against using something like ignoring a jumping dog until she settles (negative reinforcement) to teach that calm behavior is then rewarded. Teach dogs what behavior is undesirable by removing positive attention, rather than applying negative attention. The neutral space between the two extremes can be used very well if you know what you're doing. That's one thing Zak capitalizes on regularly. He advocates TRAINING being positive experiences, but he was no longer training Moira at the time he was removing her from the situation. When a situation arises and the dog is no longer teachable in that moment, the training session is over and removing them from the situation in the safest way possible, as quickly as possible is vital. That's what we saw in this video. It was no longer training, it was pure de-escalation, and he still did it without the use of a shock collar, a choke chain, or repeatedly yanking hard on the leash while screaming at the dog.
@@laner.845 he does use force though (positive punishment). For training it helps to think of positive/negative in mathematical terms rather than their emotional definition. Positive punishment = adding something aversive to the dog to correct an unwanted behavior. Negative punishment = subtracting something desirable from the dog as the correction (a toy, attention, etc). Positive reinforcement = adding something the dog wants to encourage a desired behavior (ex: a treat). Anyway, he uses a leash pop to get her to sit in this very video (positive punishment). Watch closely when he says she offers a voluntary sit and you’ll see it, it’s subtle but it’s there. He also does it in other videos where he forgets to edit it out or thinks it’s small enough not to notice. He also hit Inertia on the nose right after she tried to bite his wife. It wasn’t hard at all, but it was still a positive punishment. He advocates for one thing but does another in practice. If he acknowledged it and just said look, I got frustrated and did this, or it was a knee jerk reaction- we *all* have moments like that. We’re not robots, humans react without thinking sometimes. But he doesn’t address it, and when comments do bring it up it’s defended because he did it gently. The amount of force isn’t the point though, the point is that force is being applied and he pretends it’s not. If he’s going to do it he should at least be open and do it correctly. Anyway I went wayyy off on a tangent here and totally didn’t mean to lol. Just a slow shift at work with too much time on my hands. Hope this didn’t come off aggressive or preachy because that wasn’t my intention!
I'm not exaggerating when I say this has been the single most important dog training video I have ever seen. I've watched dozens of successful reactive dog interacting with/being around other dogs and, while they are great for teaching methods and strategies (at least the ones that don't recommend causing your pet pain or discomfort to get them to act how you want them to) this is what I really needed to see. All the videos that seem to show almost immediate success can actually be really demoralising and make you feel like a failure. Seeing Moira behave exactly like my dog does sometimes and knowing that you won't give up really gives me the resiliance and confidence to keep working with my pup. Thank you, Zak.
Have you checked out his "The Dog Training Experience" playlist with his dog Inertia? I'm watching that series right now. Will probably refer to it when I get my pup.
Zak, I know you weren’t happy with the last part of the video, but honestly, I’m SO thankful that you put it in! My rescue GSD would act exactly the same when I first got her. It’s nice to know that others have the same issues. We learn from this more than from all of the well behaved dogs! I appreciate you!
Outbursts are what some of us deal with all the time. Seeing how you deal with the situation is the training for us and our dogs. It really is training the owner and then the owner can train the dog! Thank you for reality training!
Thank you for making these real world videos. These are issues that us mere mortals encounter with our dogs. It really helps and is encouraging to see you deal with it, how you react to it, and what to do differently next time.
It’s great to see a trainer show their mistakes and take accountability. Whilst I am not a positive reinforcement trainer and instead fall into the balanced trainer category, I still find these videos interesting. No, I don’t dislike purely positive trainers but I do believe that sometimes trainers, training philosophies override what is best for the dog in front of them. One method does not work for every single dog. I was originally training my Border Collie service dog in training with positive reinforcement and her dog reactivity did not improve with that method so I switched to balanced methods where I applied both reinforcement and correction in which she drastically improved and is now the happiest she’s ever been with the help of training tools which she no longer needs.
I too am a trainer and I agree with what you're saying. I also have an adaptive way of training. Most times positive reinforcement works great. But sometimes there has to be consequences for the unwanted behavior. With that being said his first and biggest mistake is putting her in a 4 point harness. That type of harness just encourage stronger pulling. Then was allowing her to fixate. She needs constant redirection the moment she turns away. Lastly rewarding for incomplete commands. Example when she didn't lie down all the way because she was distracted he said "I'll take that" and gave her a treat. This is not a dog he should be training using only positive reinforcement and expecting her to completely obey in just a few weeks.
@@bumblebees8732 to me, this dog also seems to be reflecting that she’s often confused with what people are asking of her which seems to be a common running theme with high drive dogs with pre-existing behavioural issues that are trained with positive reinforcement. The dog will do the positive behaviour to get the food but because there is no consequence for the negative behaviour, they believe that, that is also an okay behaviour to display because as soon as they stop the behaviour, they are still being rewarded.
@@jaydashnine Typically for a correction, (which depends on the dog but this is the most common method I use), I give a sharp and firm “no” or make an abrupt noise, paired with a quick leash pop/correction to snap the dog out of a certain mindset. This very clearly communicates to the dog that I do not like the behaviour that they are displaying without any form of confusion. I then offer praise and reward when the dog does something that I like. Constantly praising a dog for good behaviour but not communicating to them what is considered bad behaviour can leave a dog very confused and cause them to become frustrated.
Moira’s outburst is definitely something I’m struggling with my dog. She’s great at home but as soon as she hears or sees other dogs it’s chaos.. looking forward to seeing how I can help her in those situations
What I do with my dog is to carry treats with me and try to get him acclimated to being around other dogs by staying a distance away where he is interested but not beyond his threshold, then mark when he sees a dog and doesn’t react, give him a treat, and let him just get used to it. It’s a very slow process replacing the fear he has with good experiences like treats or play around other dogs.
@@benjaminkrake4211 thank you! That problem has really been destroying my motivation to own a dog at all, because we live in a very urban environment with a lot of dogs and distractions, so hopefully the trainer is going to be competent enough
As Benjamin Krake said, carry high value treats (like hot dogs, chicken, freeze-dried liver, etc) with you when you know you're going to be in a situation where your dog may react. Try to avoid those situations if you can unless you're training, but sometimes life happens and you're confronted with a situation you couldn't anticipate. Carry treats, try to stay calm (if you get upset, it will only cause the behavior to get worse), and try to remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible and get your dog back under threshold. Don't intentionally put your dog over threshold and then try to "teach" them something. Their brain is not going to "learn" anything at that point. And I loved Zak letting Moira look at the ducks and then getting her attention back on him. I will do that with a dog intentionally--say "look at that" and point to the "thing" the dog reacts to and then get the dog to look back at me and praise and treat and give toys if the dog remains calm. But that's a little later when the dog is staying under threshold pretty reliably. Just start out way away from the other dogs so that she doesn't react and create chaos. It may be a football field away or it may be so far away the Great Dane looks about the size of an ant. No matter how far away you have to be, try to stay under threshold so your dog doesn't react. And don't be in a hurry. Move at your dog's pace--not yours.
Honestly Zak, I was kinda scared that your videos of training Moira was gonna be an easy breeze and I’d feel bad about how hard it has been to train my reactive dog for weeks and weeks. Now, I don’t want you to suffer either! I just like that this series has been very realistic. thank you.
Zak..this is why we all have great respect for you because you are honest and show us not only the good but also the not so good. Thank you for being you Zak 🌟
Upstate Canine Academy completely changed my relationship with my dog. I have a 1yr old HIGHLY REACTIVE gsd... I followed all of Zaks videos right when I got him at 8 weeks... HE TURNED INTO A FREAKING BRAT and reactivity escalated quickly. Cars, people, dogs everything. And he would get mad at me show his teeth, try and bite when I would try and clean his ears, paws, etc... This type of training did not work for my dog, it can work for some but like I said my pup quickly got bratty. THANK GOD I found Tom Davis (Upstate Canine Academy). I corrected my dog 1x for trying to bite me, he never did it again. I can now walk my dog around cars and he may get a little anxious but no longer reacts. Still working on people and dogs but for the first time in a year I was able to let a neighbor pet him on our walk. If your dealing with reactivity I highly suggest watching some of Tom's videos, I wouldn't have been able to keep my dog if I didn't find him.
German Shepherds are big dogs and bred for characteristics that can make them a huge challenge for people that have easily raised and trained other dog breeds.
Most people don't have the time, patience and strength for working dogs BRED to have the very same characteristics that make them reactive, powerful, focused and able to ignore training methods that work well on other breeds. We just need something to put us in the picture during training so they listen and learn. Not because we are constantly having to correct, but because we gave a few PROPER corrections that were clear and understood, we are now able to communicate because they are cued in WITH us on our training journey.
Absolutely love that you owned up to a mistake and showed your viewers the truly honest and genuine experience that we all face. So much respect for you!
At least you were able to hold her. That's what I see as a big barrier for some of us with larger-breed dogs; not having them go completely over threshold and ending up getting hurt ourselves. Holding a large dog back takes strength and older joints and ligaments can be injured.
After making really good progress on his reactivity around other dogs, my little rescue had a slip up barking and lunging at another dog on his walk this evening. It's encouraging to come home to see a professional discussing having a bit of an off day too. Helps keep things in perspective 🙂
Thank you for keeping it real!! love that you shows us what normal training is and how we work through this. If I hadn't kept on working through all my mistakes with my pup- I would of gotten rid of him and the poor thing would of been another puppy in the shelter. But we just continue working 'cause 1. I chose to have a dog 2. he is an adorable goof ball.
I used a tug toy for the longest time as an outlet to expell my gsd very excited energy/distraction, while we walked by other dogs. It took a while but we can now walk by other dogs toy free without excited outbursts. Some might disagree using a toy but at the time she didn't care for treats. With the amount of time he has with Moira she is doing phenomenal. I love this series! With the right experienced owner she will be a great well behaved girl in no time.
The Reality Dog Training Series puts it all in perspective for those of us who are just ordinary dog owners seeking to train our dogs. A lot of times dog trainers can come off as obnoxious and overbearing because they are trainers and make it look so easy and even effortless even when we know this is all they do...as their profession. Finally, Zak George in THIS series, comes down to our level where we struggle with so many circumstances and feel failure in our training efforts especially if you have a reactive dog (big or small) This is why this series is so well received. Zak is us!
I'm so glad I found your channel! I've recently adopted a rescue (few months ago ) and your channel has been an endless resource for our new miss understood pooch Ive been following along with this series , watching previous ones and listening to your audio book now to further my knowledge (Guide to a well trained dog) Thankyou!!! I've already seen a lot of improvements in my new bff Perseverance and patience are KEY
Zak, please be assured your training techniques, together with positive strides forward and steps backwards are both needed for people to learn to be the best teachers they can be with their dogs. I am absorbing everything I can from you with videos and your books before I get my first puppy in mid July. My puppy will be a Cavalier King Charles and I am certain training (basics and agility) will not be at the level of our well loved Moira. Your unrelentless determination to rehabilitate her is humbling and Moira’s benefits are priceless to her and her forever home family. You are special!
I appreciate that you share the progress and the set backs. I often find videos that show how training should look and come out feeling like I failed my dog when the training does not go as planned. Showing your real progress helps me be more accepting of the highs and the lows in my personal dog training journey! Thank you!
thanks for showing this - I remember an incident that I had like this with my dog when he was 8 months old and I felt like such a failure. He turned into the best dog ever eventually (though sadly he passed away a couple of years ago) but I've always felt that he ended up training me in many ways! That incident has stayed with me and I have felt a lot of shame at my incompetence so it's a big relief to see that it happens as well to far better dog trainers than me so maybe I can stop feeling so bad about it!
I appreciate a trainer that can own up to their mistakes and properly identify what went wrong. It’s actually pretty encouraging because of how realistic it is and shows us that training has its ups and downs and not to get discouraged.
@@StaticResurreXion I think you miss understood what I was saying. I never said yeah fuck up and keep messing up how awesome. I respect a person who can admit to messing up and make it a learning experience on what not to do because then it’s showing me what not to do and honestly I’d be scared of a person who couldn’t see the error of their ways because it means their blind and lacking in responsibility. Now if I had a trainer and saw them continuously mess up and keep fucking up id question what’s wrong with them and the session would end. If I had a trainer and they made small mistake and then turned it into a learning experience of how they messed up, why they shouldn’t of, and how to fix I would listen to learn so that I won’t make the same mistake and if I did then I’d know how to correct the issue because of how I was taught to handle the situation.
This was so refreshing to see a REAL LIFE reaction from dogs. My dog is similar when it comes to other dogs and it is such a defeating feeling that we are alone in this struggle, but this proves even the best dog trainers can struggle. It is HARD. Thank you so much zac for being honest and willing to share these moments with us. So many trainers would not!
Seeing mistakes is honestly one of the best ways to avoid them. Honestly, you've made great strides with her. My older dog can be reactive but it depends on the other dog which makes it unpredictable. She's a bit too eager to make new "friends". Squirrels on the other hand...... I've literally tried everything & although she's vastly improved over the years.....she will always react to a squirrel. This includes in our own back yard where a family of squirrels have lived for generations. It doesn't help this particular family of squirrels knows she won't hurt them & play tag with her.
I know that there will always be people ready to jump in and bash you for every decision you make when training dogs and act like they know better, but I'm glad you keep in the mistakes as well as the successes. It's clear that despite setbacks like this, Moira is making a ton of progress overall.
Reactivity is challenging and takes time. Keep going zak. In all my years in dog behaviour. I applaud you for showing the reality of what training is like with challenging dogs. Keep up the invaluable work you do 👍😎🐕
I find it so very helpful that you do show us things that you have tried that didn't actually turn out well, and how to rectify it so we can move forward with our training without wasting valuable time and energy on feeling guilty or frustrated with ourselves. Thank you Zak!!
This is an amazing series. Still watching. It's absolutely GREAT that you point out the small wins (some microscopic) that most dog owners will miss and to continue to reward and encourage your dog to the point that she eventually completes the request cleanly. Dog training is NOT a one step, two step and boom! the dog is now trained. I think that's where a lot of dog owners misunderstand; this series is incredible on how you constantly have to pivot to the circumstances, change tactics and learn how to read your dog. Also what is incredibly helpful is how you give us a rough timeline~like letting us know that it will take almost a year to completely wean off the treats and that many behaviors will take your dog 2 years to reliably follow through through most circumstances. Thank you! Thank you!
Because of these videos, my dog no longer tries to eat bicyclists. She is even learning to ignore them. It's a daily task that we work on, but if i didn't use this method i would still be frustrated and she would be miserable.
Oh Zak...you have no idea how much I feel all of this lesson right with you. I eagerly await what you do next...as I find myself in exactly your position at the moment. Thank you for providing us with the honest experience of training a highly distractable dog.
I think Moira might need reinforcement after every behavior that's asked for in such a distracting environment, rather than doing a string of behaviors and then receiving a treat or praise. I think the hardest part here is that Zac is trying to explain stuff as he's training. When he does that, you can tell he pretty quickly becomes less interesting than the birds and Moira's attention starts to wander. I would be interested to see a session where Zac completely focuses on training the dog and adds a voice over for the explanation, rather than explaining in the moment. He's usually really good about being more interesting than the environment, but Moira is definitely pushing new boundaries! She's a challenging dog for sure! Zac is doing really good with her!
Agreed! There are also a few moments where he uses a marker word such as "yes" or "good" and then asks for another behavior or talks to the camera instead of rewarding, and you can see her start to get confused and check out. Really high intensity, high "drive" dogs like this tend to need a lot of clarity about what's expected of them and when reinforcement is coming. He's doing really well with her and it's easy to forget all these "rules" until you have a dog who really needs clarity!
ive also commented something similar on a previous video, so im glad im not the only one who noticed. it seems really confusing for the dog when hes explaining something and uses a command. i cant understand WHY he thought she was ready for the dog park and duck migration when she couldnt even handle dogs passing their fence or walking past a bird without lunging. it feels like the series is more made for the viewers than it is for moira :(
She made so much progress! It’s completely understandable that you thought she might do good close to the dog park. You’re such a great team, I really love these series.
Thank you for acknowledging your mistakes when working with a high-prey-drive lunging dog. We have a dog very similar that we adopted from a shelter. A highly intelligent lovely dog, that has one fault, lunging at other dogs. It is training demonstrations like this one that encourages us dog owners to carry on and be patient in our dog training. No dog is perfect, embrace their flaws, keep trying to show them the better way to react, don’t give up on a great dog. Thanks Zak!!!
Zak and Bree, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I recommend your youtube channel to everyone with a dog! For anyone with a pup who is interested in learning how to connect with and train their dog, it does not get better than this. You and your videos are the real deal - Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise thru this venue. You are improving the quality of life for pups and their two-leggers
Another trainer that is amazing is Upstate Canine Academy here on RUclips! You should check him out! He is one of the best when it comes to learning dog behavior and how to communicate with your dog in the right way to create a good relationship between you and the dog. And he makes it really easy to understand how it works and how to do it!
I have been binging this series. I adopted an over the top reactive dog 4.5 years. He attacked baby stroller wheels at parks, bikes, traffic, lunged at other dogs. He could smell a dog in the area before seeing it and lose his mind! He is extremely strong like this girl and pulled me into a frozen lake because he wanted a duck! Proofing dog reactivity takes more than 2 weeks. I have my dog under control up to 5 to 10ft depending on other dogs body language. It's taken me years. I hope new dog owners don't get discouraged believing that it's possible to "fix" leash reactivity in a short time. It's a lot of hard work. On that note Zak is doing a great job with her. She is transforming into a great dog!
Thank you so much for these videos! I have been watching them nightly. We have a almost 3yr old German Shepard that we got at a difficult time in our lives so training wasn't done properly. He knows basic commands like sit, down, paw, and stay but needs so much work after he recovers from surgery for a twisted stomach. I feel bad about not training him while he was younger but with these videos I now know what I can do for him to live his best life from now on and get him out and about in the world! Thank you so much!!
It's a journey of learning constantly for the dog and the trainer, even dogs with similar behaviours have different personalities and every situation is different. I think it's really helpful to see where even professional trainers make mistakes. You remained calm, explained what happened and I think you are doing so well with this series. Great work Zak! Thanks for all your hard work and for sharing despite your concerns of any controversy.
Thank you for being so transparent and making this great content accessible to everyone! I've had my dog (husky) for over three years now, and I have made the biggest progress with him in the few last months, after discovering your channel and by following your advices and techniques. I love my dog very much and being able to communicate with him and train him with results (even the smallest ones) is the pinacle of happiness for me! Thanks again
I adopted a rescue around the same time you started these videos with Moira and my dog has pretty much all the same issues as her. It has been so helpful watching these and I appreciate so much your transparency. Seeing your struggles and your calmness in dealing with them helps me find my inner strength and hope when it comes to working with my dog. Thank you so much.
Thank you for finally taking a high engergy dog, i also have a high energy dog and she had similar problems like her, it really helps to see how you're handling these situations when she's going over threshold
Zak, I am loving this series!!!! Don't sweat the mistakes/set backs. You're doing amazing and she's doing so well! Keep em coming! My son (9yrs old) and I look forward to all your videos
It may be your biggest mistake with Moira, but for me it gives me hope because my dog is exactly the same way. So being able to see a dog with similar reactivity I can actually watch what you're doing and apply it to my girl. Seeing that any dog even one with a trainer, reacting like this makes me feel as if I'm not a complete failure with my girl. Keep at it!
Hey Zak, thanks for sharing these training videos. I’m learning so much and implementing your techniques with my almost two years old Icelandic sheepdog who has some reactive behaviors. He still lunges and barks at cars, deer, squirrels pretty intensely on walks, interestingly, he behaves more calmly with my husband! But, since I started to understand his threshold, I’m getting better results from the training with him, so thanks so much!!
I realize the end segment at the dog park was an overly optimistic calculation about Moira on your part, however, I am so glad you showed this! It happens, especially to those of us less learned in dog training!! It's important to see how you deal with these situations and doubly important to hear your detailed comments on why it happened, and how to respond. Thanks!
I really like to see mistakes and how to overcome them as well as the successful moments. I like to realize I am not perfect and feel more at ease when others show they are not perfect either. This sort of video just propels me to keep being persistent in training.
After making really good progress on his reactivity around other dogs, my little rescue had a slip up barking and lunging at another dog on his walk this evening
This is my favorite video series ever. I love that's it shows what it's really like training a reactive dog, very helpful since my dog acts exactly like Moira when he sees other dogs.
As someone who has a dog like with dog reactivity similar to this, I appreciate seeing this. Seeing a perfect training session is helpful but doesn’t help me deal with the ones like this and how to recover from it.
This series is by far the best, most-relevant, real-world-case and step-by-step-guide series that has provided me a ray of hope to right my wrongs. THANK YOU!!! Most videos I watched until now started from scratch, training a puppy, or were disjoint ones. So I could never "get started". Also, I am a year too late. I didn't do my research or preparations at all before adopting a puppy. Fast-forward 14 months, my dog is pulling the leash, chasing pigeons, lunging at other dogs (and people out of excitement to play), knows nothing but "sit"... basically everything Moira does here except play biting. I was starting to feel hopeless. This series saved me. It has given me hope that I can turn this around. Not just hope, I see RESULTS. I was able to do the basic sit, stay, come when called training at home in 1 day! Sit, stay, look at me, down, up n stand in 3 days. Ffffrringgggin genius, Zack!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤️
It's very easy to get just a little too close during training and send the dog over threshold. As Zak did, just manage the situation, try to get your dog back under threshold (by putting distance between yourself and the thing the dog is reacting to) and then going backwards a little in the training--start further back than where you were before the mistake. I sometimes think I let dogs get bored and don't move fast enough. But my motto is go slower than I think I need to and then slow down. And you learn valuable lessons from the dog--two steps was too much, so next time just do half a step. All in all, Moira is doing really, really well. I'm impressed with how quickly Zak is getting results!
Phewww!! Now I don't feel so bad about my own training... Errors! This makes me happy to see I'm actually doing a pretty good job with my GSD. Thanks Zak for keeping it real! You've been so helpful!!
This video in all it's truth & honest is exactly why I follow! I am working through this exact reactivity to dogs with my Shepherd mix. I appreciate the reality of training & methods to help me. Keep being truthful- is so helpful!
Thanks Zak! I have a German Sheppard (6mo) and he's slowly starting to behave a bit like that. He's perfect at home, on the pedestrian walk ways, but once we go to a park where there is more space, ducks, dogs and people playing volleyball he's really into his adventure mood. Getting his attention is crucial and these videos are PERFECTLY on time for his growth :)
Moira was really showing how far she has come since you started training. Although there birds (lots and lots of birds), Moira was able to heel, fetch, sit down, stay, etc. with all the distractions around her in an unfamiliar location. You released so much energy with all of the times she obediently fetched the toy. You were doing everything you have been teaching us about training a puppy. There had to something different about that dog. Was she in heat? Did she smell different in some way from others dogs? Moira was still some distance from the other dog, and you quickly pulled her away, creating even more distance. There was a fence behind you so you couldn’t get further away quicker. Don’t give up. Moira has made so much progress in such a small amount of time. (For proof, watch the first video with Moira.) With more training, she will become even better. 😊❤️ I’ve been watching your videos since I got my own puppy 6 months ago when she was 8 weeks old. Following your methods for training, she can sit, shake “hands,” lie down, look at me, leave it, fetch, and occasionally crawl. She is not nearly as trained as Moira although I have been working with her for months, whereas, you have been working with Moira for just days. I have not been very successful with stay, and I have lots of trouble with distractions just walking in my own neighborhood, which we do 2-3 times a day. People on bikes, people walking, golf carts, other dogs, squirrels, and cars are her main distractions-all things that are moving. I haven’t given up and hopefully, one day, I can break through to get her to focus on me, maybe with the help of my neighbors who are walking, riding bikes, have dogs, cars, and golf carts. I’ll keep watching and re-watching your videos until I can get my 14 pound cockapoo, Molly, where I want her to be with her training. Thanks for all of the advice and don’t stop producing your videos with Bree and various dogs. ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much for sharing this with us! I’m currently training my anxious pup using positive reinforcement and I feel so discouraged when we have days like this. It’s so helpful to learn how to manage these situations. Thank you!!!
Really liked seeing this. This has actually helped me understand when I have made mistakes and actually deal with them. Other training always shows perfection, which actually makes training harder as you have no reference to reality. So, so good to watch and learn from this.
Thank you so much for this series, your work anf for showing also the mistakes. I apreciate it very much (you could've easily just not include it in the video). Love the way you work and your sincerity!
We've been working on our 5-month-old's reactivity toward other dogs. She's a mini aussie, so reactive in general, but really with dogs was the worst. We had several instances where we went to a dog park (the outside of it) and owners would come out of the park with their dogs on leash, ask to approach, and when we said no, they still did it and completely put her over threshold. Couldn't stop barking, was extremely tense, etc. We've all been there. You made a video recently where you said it can be a lot of two steps forward, one steps back, and you have to really focus on the amount of positive experiences you're having and you'll see more. That really helped us and she has been making STRIDES the past few weeks. Moira is lucky to have such an awesome trainer.
This was an incredibly helpful lesson. 1. our dog also gets the zoomies but it happens spontaneously and I am never really sure what to do- you confirmed that my letting him enjoy the moment is important. 2. Your "mistake" is where I am as well and I get discouraged but I can see that all of this is just more patience...or as a friend would say, "create peace, deal with it in the morning"....Thanks
Thank you for sharing the ending where Moira lost control. I (sorry to say) had to laugh because it looks just like my Lucy! Good to know it’s not just me 😂. Lucy and I keep working- the tip you gave with working on acclimating by watching out a window has been helpful. Now every time Lucy sees a dog going down the street she frantically runs to me and the fridge (where the best treats are kept) alerting me of the situation then goes and plops in front of the window waiting for her treat! Love the tips and watching Moira blossom🥰.
I do appreciate you showing us this! That's why this series is so important for us who are trying to be good handlers for our reactive dogs. My rescue Zeldas outbursts are twice as bad as Moiras - when we get too close or she has had staggered triggers, or she sees one of a handful dogs she can't stand. In the beginning i got scared, worried and angry which only made it worse of course. Both Zelda and I reacted to these situations in a primal way. Now I'm trying to teach myself how to behave like you do in this clip when moving her away from the source. Hopefully that will teach her to follow my lead. Many thanks for showing us that even an experienced dog trainer can misjudge a little and have a conversation with yourself about what just happened. Me and hundreds of owners in Reactive dog forums share with one another how failed we feel, how sad we are for not being able to see our dogs relaxed, how worried we are for each training session. We support each other instead of criticizing and that makes the world of difference. Thank you Zac!!
I still like to see when training doesn't go to plan, because it teaches us how to manage a really difficult situation. Ie stay in control, let it pass, don't escalate it and stay calm yourself.
This was really helpful...non-trainers are pretty likely to make this kind of mistake more than once, and it shows us how to recover from it without freaking out or thinking we ruined everything. Also, Moira did awesome earlier in the session between flying birds and flying (crashing) drones. This episode was a great example of how patient we need to be and how well patience pays off. Despite the outburst at the end, Moira is still much improved after only a week of work.
Thank you for sharing all your knowledge I am a dog trainer myself and I am always trying to learn more so I love watching your videos. Also as I am sure you know but others may not, when training anywhere other than home its good to have an extra exit path if not multiple just in case. We all make mistakes and pushing a little too far when they are doing so well is a very very easy mistake to make, I am sure we have all done it before!
So from one trainer to another, I have a question. Putting a dog through that intensive of a training regimin isn't necessarily a bad thing.. but it presents a very interesting problem... what happens when someone who isn't nearly as involved with training as you are adopts her? Shes developing a strong work ethic and bond with you. Personally, I think if anyone who adopts her isnt equally as attentive, it could be insanely detrimental to her development. Your thoughts?
![Do you know how many people are going to troll me over this? [Reality Dog Training EP 9]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VHSxUc-QRls/mqdefault.jpg)
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Here is a playlist with ALL of Moira's episodes in order: ruclips.net/p/PLMssKIjsDxXloC9yXGfTrFSqdYMmx2jEO
Thank you for being here!! Leave a comment and let us know what you think about this series, and give us your suggestions for future videos!! 🤩
Hi Zak. I’m pretty sure this comment will get lost but this series has been so helpful. Two weeks ago I adopted a 10 month old rescue dog. He’s heaps of energy and has some of the same habits Moira(excessive barking and biting). I’ve been working with him every day and these videos are keeping me going. I feel like I’m journeying with you we also have our ups and downs.Thank you so much!
It’s actually really helpful to see how you handle things that don’t go well. Otherwise we don’t know how to react when our dogs act out. You are so calm and patient
Oh yea definitely I'm going through the same thing with my 9 month old Jack Russel Terrior, but I also want a big dog too
Same here - I brought home an 8mo old cattle dog rescue and he is exactly like Moira. Puppy behaviors and in a nearly full-grown dog. It's really helped to see how a trainer would address the very same issues we are dealing with.
Ditto here. I am not giving up on my rescue dog though she is quite the biter. I learn to anticipate when she needs to play--jealous of my phone, bites my arms and ankles, etc. NEVER GIVE UP! good for you for rescuing a shelter dog!❤
reading the title i was expecting Moira tearing apart a duck
LMFAO
😭
Yea lol
The ducks/birds weren’t fleeing which would activate Moira’s prey drive instincts. Obedience alone will not stop a dog from controlling it’s instinctive conditioned response to triggers. Self rewarding behaviors will override obedience without the implementation of behavior modification strategies to bring unwanted behavior to extinction. There is plenty of space in this video with distractions very far away and he still has trouble as his training standard is very low and no behavior modification strategies are applied. These results will not work in the real world, sadly risking Moira’s rehoming not being successful. When the dog gets adopted and owners encounter a reactive dog on a leash or a squirrel runs in this dogs path activating her true prey drive, I guarantee Moira will lose it and act on her self rewarding instinctive behavior. A good trainer will proof a dog within feet of it’s trigger with high standard obedience ignoring the triggers completely no matter what the triggers do. That is what a trained dog looks like
😂not exactly that but something along that line 😅
Fair play for showing mistakes, this is how dog owners learn 😊 Thank you Zac
it’s been a whole month and he still can’t walk the dog smh
Seriously, I need the next steps now Zak. How do I fix this with my 6-month-old Newf?
@@maplewang105 how about you watch the video before making stupid comments? It’s literally DAY 9 SMH
@@vcritchv If you want to teach your dog to heel/ focus on you try watching “Upstate Canine Academy” on youtube
@@StaticResurreXion literally everybody is going to make a mistake every once in a while, hes not a robot
I have so much respect for the fact that you are openly willing to show when things don't go to plan, instead of conveniently editing them out, I just love your transparency. You're doing a great job, i love this series. :)
Agree! I make a similar mistake to this occasionally - not always intentionally (sometimes the dogs sneak up on me) and it's really helpful to see how a trainer deals with it, regroups and tries again.
💯
@@mtspp5801 Absolutely! It's really helpful to see how a trainer deals with a situation when things don't go to plan, and then how to turn it around.
@@StaticResurreXion Amateur dog owner? Get out of it. No dog training programme runs perfectly, especially with new dogs. It would be amateur thinking that it would be smooth sailing from start to finish. And yes, I have respect for the transparency, for showing more than just the successes, because it is realistic.
She's really doing so well and Rome wasn't built in a day. What you are doing is invaluable. By teaching us how to manage these situations, by being open and honest with us, you are really helping us become better dog owners. I know she has been a challenge but she has made great progress. ❤
❤️❤️❤️
No.
Yes.
@@Artiscetic nine fooey
She is NOT doing "well". This dog is stressed to high hell and has some moments of "following food". This is not obedience nor is this dog anywhere close to trained.
I rescued a dog-reactive pitbull that would have otherwise been put to sleep. That dog, and the one today are the same, but also so incredibly different. Was it an easy road? Absolutely not. It took years for it to be truly under control, and there are still bad days once in a blue moon. But I'm proud to say that in a decade, a dog everyone convinced me was a biter has never bitten another dog. Even when he got attacked once, he just ran to me instead of retaliating.
This video made me cry because I have never seen anyone represent those tough moments without making it about correction. I always believed that those moments are not for teaching. That you just have to stay calm and even to help your dog trust in your control of the situation. In my situation, my dog was reactive out of fear. So you wait for the moments to be constructive to do any major training.
Thank you for making me feel so seen.
What did Zak do well at the end? He REMAINED CALM. I was expecting a much worse outburst based on the description. Did she get over excited? Yeah, but if he had started getting upset, would have escalated further. I actually think he did a pretty good job not allowing the situation to get further amped up.
A calm trainer is a good trainer, even in a bad situation.
@@StaticResurreXion lmao we clearly didn't watch the same video. He remained firm voiced, not yelling, and even tried to use calming and soothing tones to deescalate. He held the leash firmly and even grabbed the harness briefly for better control to ensure she didn't bolt and hurt him, herself, or anyone nearby. She was pulling against him, but he never once jerked her back toward him, simply held firm and tried to give her a chance to respond to him on her own and stop the behavior. The moment it was clear she wouldn't, he removed her from the trigger as quickly as he could without harming himself or the dog despite her going nuts and trying to wrap up in the leash. It was textbook.
@@StaticResurreXion punishment by definition is negative. He never punished her. He used a soothing voice and removed her from the situation once he had control of her. Was he supposed to just let go and say hey go have fun pup!
It looks textbook to me. No yelling, no yanking, no hitting, no punishment of any kind was to be seen. Keeping a firm hold on a lead is not a punishment, it's keeping control of the animal to prevent harm to itself or others. Using a command of no or come is not punishment, it's direction on how he wishes her to behave to prevent harm to herself or others. You're completely out to lunch.
Please describe in detail how YOU would have handled the situation before you go criticizing others.
@@StaticResurreXion check out this video of his. He condemns pain and torture as training tools: e-collars, shock mats, prong collars, etc but has never spoken against (at least not in the dozens of hid videos I've watched) gentle corrections like "no" or initially physically helping the animal into the desired position (learning a sit or roll over) or even keeping a short and firm leash to better maintain control of a dog who is acting out. I think we're both stuck on the semantics of positive/negative reinforcement vs positive/negative punishment.
ruclips.net/video/-Lu--5Yv22A/видео.html&ab_channel=ZakGeorge%E2%80%99sDogTrainingRevolution
He's firmly against training by brute force (negative punishment), not against using something like ignoring a jumping dog until she settles (negative reinforcement) to teach that calm behavior is then rewarded. Teach dogs what behavior is undesirable by removing positive attention, rather than applying negative attention. The neutral space between the two extremes can be used very well if you know what you're doing. That's one thing Zak capitalizes on regularly. He advocates TRAINING being positive experiences, but he was no longer training Moira at the time he was removing her from the situation. When a situation arises and the dog is no longer teachable in that moment, the training session is over and removing them from the situation in the safest way possible, as quickly as possible is vital. That's what we saw in this video. It was no longer training, it was pure de-escalation, and he still did it without the use of a shock collar, a choke chain, or repeatedly yanking hard on the leash while screaming at the dog.
@@laner.845 he does use force though (positive punishment). For training it helps to think of positive/negative in mathematical terms rather than their emotional definition. Positive punishment = adding something aversive to the dog to correct an unwanted behavior. Negative punishment = subtracting something desirable from the dog as the correction (a toy, attention, etc). Positive reinforcement = adding something the dog wants to encourage a desired behavior (ex: a treat).
Anyway, he uses a leash pop to get her to sit in this very video (positive punishment). Watch closely when he says she offers a voluntary sit and you’ll see it, it’s subtle but it’s there. He also does it in other videos where he forgets to edit it out or thinks it’s small enough not to notice. He also hit Inertia on the nose right after she tried to bite his wife. It wasn’t hard at all, but it was still a positive punishment.
He advocates for one thing but does another in practice. If he acknowledged it and just said look, I got frustrated and did this, or it was a knee jerk reaction- we *all* have moments like that. We’re not robots, humans react without thinking sometimes. But he doesn’t address it, and when comments do bring it up it’s defended because he did it gently. The amount of force isn’t the point though, the point is that force is being applied and he pretends it’s not. If he’s going to do it he should at least be open and do it correctly.
Anyway I went wayyy off on a tangent here and totally didn’t mean to lol. Just a slow shift at work with too much time on my hands. Hope this didn’t come off aggressive or preachy because that wasn’t my intention!
I'm not exaggerating when I say this has been the single most important dog training video I have ever seen. I've watched dozens of successful reactive dog interacting with/being around other dogs and, while they are great for teaching methods and strategies (at least the ones that don't recommend causing your pet pain or discomfort to get them to act how you want them to) this is what I really needed to see. All the videos that seem to show almost immediate success can actually be really demoralising and make you feel like a failure. Seeing Moira behave exactly like my dog does sometimes and knowing that you won't give up really gives me the resiliance and confidence to keep working with my pup. Thank you, Zak.
Zak you win the award for patience! I'm getting my puppy soon and I can only pray I will be as patient as you are with yours!
Have you checked out his "The Dog Training Experience" playlist with his dog Inertia? I'm watching that series right now. Will probably refer to it when I get my pup.
@@Cruzan9 Yes! I'm halfway through it right now, trying to condition myself to be a good dog mom 😂
@@catherinec.1728 Good for you. Good luck!
I’ve been watching Zak for years he’s amazing 😻
Zak, I know you weren’t happy with the last part of the video, but honestly, I’m SO thankful that you put it in! My rescue GSD would act exactly the same when I first got her. It’s nice to know that others have the same issues. We learn from this more than from all of the well behaved dogs! I appreciate you!
Outbursts are what some of us deal with all the time. Seeing how you deal with the situation is the training for us and our dogs. It really is training the owner and then the owner can train the dog! Thank you for reality training!
Thank you for making these real world videos. These are issues that us mere mortals encounter with our dogs. It really helps and is encouraging to see you deal with it, how you react to it, and what to do differently next time.
It’s great to see a trainer show their mistakes and take accountability. Whilst I am not a positive reinforcement trainer and instead fall into the balanced trainer category, I still find these videos interesting. No, I don’t dislike purely positive trainers but I do believe that sometimes trainers, training philosophies override what is best for the dog in front of them. One method does not work for every single dog. I was originally training my Border Collie service dog in training with positive reinforcement and her dog reactivity did not improve with that method so I switched to balanced methods where I applied both reinforcement and correction in which she drastically improved and is now the happiest she’s ever been with the help of training tools which she no longer needs.
I too am a trainer and I agree with what you're saying. I also have an adaptive way of training. Most times positive reinforcement works great. But sometimes there has to be consequences for the unwanted behavior.
With that being said his first and biggest mistake is putting her in a 4 point harness. That type of harness just encourage stronger pulling. Then was allowing her to fixate. She needs constant redirection the moment she turns away. Lastly rewarding for incomplete commands. Example when she didn't lie down all the way because she was distracted he said "I'll take that" and gave her a treat.
This is not a dog he should be training using only positive reinforcement and expecting her to completely obey in just a few weeks.
@@bumblebees8732 to me, this dog also seems to be reflecting that she’s often confused with what people are asking of her which seems to be a common running theme with high drive dogs with pre-existing behavioural issues that are trained with positive reinforcement. The dog will do the positive behaviour to get the food but because there is no consequence for the negative behaviour, they believe that, that is also an okay behaviour to display because as soon as they stop the behaviour, they are still being rewarded.
@@justaperson4214 can you share some examples of what you do for correction?
@@jaydashnine Typically for a correction, (which depends on the dog but this is the most common method I use), I give a sharp and firm “no” or make an abrupt noise, paired with a quick leash pop/correction to snap the dog out of a certain mindset. This very clearly communicates to the dog that I do not like the behaviour that they are displaying without any form of confusion. I then offer praise and reward when the dog does something that I like. Constantly praising a dog for good behaviour but not communicating to them what is considered bad behaviour can leave a dog very confused and cause them to become frustrated.
Moira’s outburst is definitely something I’m struggling with my dog. She’s great at home but as soon as she hears or sees other dogs it’s chaos.. looking forward to seeing how I can help her in those situations
What I do with my dog is to carry treats with me and try to get him acclimated to being around other dogs by staying a distance away where he is interested but not beyond his threshold, then mark when he sees a dog and doesn’t react, give him a treat, and let him just get used to it. It’s a very slow process replacing the fear he has with good experiences like treats or play around other dogs.
Yeahh, I'm seeing a dog trainer next week to deal with that issue about my dog, too
@@lottaek1202 I wish you good luck! Behavioral adjustment is not easy and progress is slow, but consistency is key.
@@benjaminkrake4211 thank you! That problem has really been destroying my motivation to own a dog at all, because we live in a very urban environment with a lot of dogs and distractions, so hopefully the trainer is going to be competent enough
As Benjamin Krake said, carry high value treats (like hot dogs, chicken, freeze-dried liver, etc) with you when you know you're going to be in a situation where your dog may react. Try to avoid those situations if you can unless you're training, but sometimes life happens and you're confronted with a situation you couldn't anticipate. Carry treats, try to stay calm (if you get upset, it will only cause the behavior to get worse), and try to remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible and get your dog back under threshold. Don't intentionally put your dog over threshold and then try to "teach" them something. Their brain is not going to "learn" anything at that point. And I loved Zak letting Moira look at the ducks and then getting her attention back on him. I will do that with a dog intentionally--say "look at that" and point to the "thing" the dog reacts to and then get the dog to look back at me and praise and treat and give toys if the dog remains calm. But that's a little later when the dog is staying under threshold pretty reliably. Just start out way away from the other dogs so that she doesn't react and create chaos. It may be a football field away or it may be so far away the Great Dane looks about the size of an ant. No matter how far away you have to be, try to stay under threshold so your dog doesn't react. And don't be in a hurry. Move at your dog's pace--not yours.
Honestly Zak, I was kinda scared that your videos of training Moira was gonna be an easy breeze and I’d feel bad about how hard it has been to train my reactive dog for weeks and weeks. Now, I don’t want you to suffer either! I just like that this series has been very realistic. thank you.
Zak..this is why we all have great respect for you because you are honest and show us not only the good but also the not so good. Thank you for being you Zak 🌟
Upstate Canine Academy completely changed my relationship with my dog. I have a 1yr old HIGHLY REACTIVE gsd... I followed all of Zaks videos right when I got him at 8 weeks... HE TURNED INTO A FREAKING BRAT and reactivity escalated quickly. Cars, people, dogs everything. And he would get mad at me show his teeth, try and bite when I would try and clean his ears, paws, etc... This type of training did not work for my dog, it can work for some but like I said my pup quickly got bratty.
THANK GOD I found Tom Davis (Upstate Canine Academy). I corrected my dog 1x for trying to bite me, he never did it again. I can now walk my dog around cars and he may get a little anxious but no longer reacts. Still working on people and dogs but for the first time in a year I was able to let a neighbor pet him on our walk. If your dealing with reactivity I highly suggest watching some of Tom's videos, I wouldn't have been able to keep my dog if I didn't find him.
So happy to hear that upstate changed your life and maybe saved your dogs life as well!!!! Balanced training is incredible!!!!
German Shepherds are big dogs and bred for characteristics that can make them a huge challenge for people that have easily raised and trained other dog breeds.
@@samanthagoodman7444 yes thank you so much!! Me and osho are so grateful I learned some balance and leadership skills😊🐕
@@Maggieroselee 100%. I never understood the term "working dog" until I actually had one! It's a whole different ballpark
Most people don't have the time, patience and strength for working dogs BRED to have the very same characteristics that make them reactive, powerful, focused and able to ignore training methods that work well on other breeds. We just need something to put us in the picture during training so they listen and learn. Not because we are constantly having to correct, but because we gave a few PROPER corrections that were clear and understood, we are now able to communicate because they are cued in WITH us on our training journey.
Absolutely love that you owned up to a mistake and showed your viewers the truly honest and genuine experience that we all face. So much respect for you!
At least you were able to hold her. That's what I see as a big barrier for some of us with larger-breed dogs; not having them go completely over threshold and ending up getting hurt ourselves. Holding a large dog back takes strength and older joints and ligaments can be injured.
After making really good progress on his reactivity around other dogs, my little rescue had a slip up barking and lunging at another dog on his walk this evening. It's encouraging to come home to see a professional discussing having a bit of an off day too. Helps keep things in perspective 🙂
You got this don’t worry!
Sweet dog you got!
Thank you for keeping it real!! love that you shows us what normal training is and how we work through this. If I hadn't kept on working through all my mistakes with my pup- I would of gotten rid of him and the poor thing would of been another puppy in the shelter. But we just continue working 'cause 1. I chose to have a dog 2. he is an adorable goof ball.
And you love him. And you're a wonderful person for it.
I used a tug toy for the longest time as an outlet to expell my gsd very excited energy/distraction, while we walked by other dogs. It took a while but we can now walk by other dogs toy free without excited outbursts. Some might disagree using a toy but at the time she didn't care for treats. With the amount of time he has with Moira she is doing phenomenal. I love this series! With the right experienced owner she will be a great well behaved girl in no time.
The Reality Dog Training Series puts it all in perspective for those of us who are just ordinary dog owners seeking to train our dogs. A lot of times dog trainers can come off as obnoxious and overbearing because they are trainers and make it look so easy and even effortless even when we know this is all they do...as their profession. Finally, Zak George in THIS series, comes down to our level where we struggle with so many circumstances and feel failure in our training efforts especially if you have a reactive dog (big or small) This is why this series is so well received. Zak is us!
Yeah, Zak sucks just as bad as a dog trainer as any person owning a dog for the first time. HOORAY.
@@DaveDEF82 PAAHAHHAA I was gonna say that but you beat me to it!
Thanks for including this, you won’t see all trainers include these kinds of back steps. Really feels reassuring
Thank you 🙌❤️
I'm so glad I found your channel!
I've recently adopted a rescue (few months ago ) and your channel has been an endless resource for our new miss understood pooch
Ive been following along with this series , watching previous ones and listening to your audio book now to further my knowledge
(Guide to a well trained dog)
Thankyou!!! I've already seen a lot of improvements in my new bff
Perseverance and patience are KEY
Zak, please be assured your training techniques, together with positive strides forward and steps backwards are both needed for people to learn to be the best teachers they can be with their dogs. I am absorbing everything I can from you with videos and your books before I get my first puppy in mid July. My puppy will be a Cavalier King Charles and I am certain training (basics and agility) will not be at the level of our well loved Moira. Your unrelentless determination to rehabilitate her is humbling and Moira’s benefits are priceless to her and her forever home family. You are special!
I appreciate that you share the progress and the set backs. I often find videos that show how training should look and come out feeling like I failed my dog when the training does not go as planned. Showing your real progress helps me be more accepting of the highs and the lows in my personal dog training journey! Thank you!
thanks for showing this - I remember an incident that I had like this with my dog when he was 8 months old and I felt like such a failure. He turned into the best dog ever eventually (though sadly he passed away a couple of years ago) but I've always felt that he ended up training me in many ways! That incident has stayed with me and I have felt a lot of shame at my incompetence so it's a big relief to see that it happens as well to far better dog trainers than me so maybe I can stop feeling so bad about it!
I appreciate a trainer that can own up to their mistakes and properly identify what went wrong. It’s actually pretty encouraging because of how realistic it is and shows us that training has its ups and downs and not to get discouraged.
@@StaticResurreXion I think you miss understood what I was saying. I never said yeah fuck up and keep messing up how awesome. I respect a person who can admit to messing up and make it a learning experience on what not to do because then it’s showing me what not to do and honestly I’d be scared of a person who couldn’t see the error of their ways because it means their blind and lacking in responsibility. Now if I had a trainer and saw them continuously mess up and keep fucking up id question what’s wrong with them and the session would end. If I had a trainer and they made small mistake and then turned it into a learning experience of how they messed up, why they shouldn’t of, and how to fix I would listen to learn so that I won’t make the same mistake and if I did then I’d know how to correct the issue because of how I was taught to handle the situation.
@@StaticResurreXion and what makes you a real trainer? Any qualifications to back up your bold statements?
This was so refreshing to see a REAL LIFE reaction from dogs. My dog is similar when it comes to other dogs and it is such a defeating feeling that we are alone in this struggle, but this proves even the best dog trainers can struggle. It is HARD. Thank you so much zac for being honest and willing to share these moments with us. So many trainers would not!
Seeing mistakes is honestly one of the best ways to avoid them. Honestly, you've made great strides with her. My older dog can be reactive but it depends on the other dog which makes it unpredictable. She's a bit too eager to make new "friends". Squirrels on the other hand...... I've literally tried everything & although she's vastly improved over the years.....she will always react to a squirrel. This includes in our own back yard where a family of squirrels have lived for generations. It doesn't help this particular family of squirrels knows she won't hurt them & play tag with her.
I know that there will always be people ready to jump in and bash you for every decision you make when training dogs and act like they know better, but I'm glad you keep in the mistakes as well as the successes. It's clear that despite setbacks like this, Moira is making a ton of progress overall.
Reactivity is challenging and takes time. Keep going zak. In all my years in dog behaviour. I applaud you for showing the reality of what training is like with challenging dogs. Keep up the invaluable work you do 👍😎🐕
I find it so very helpful that you do show us things that you have tried that didn't actually turn out well, and how to rectify it so we can move forward with our training without wasting valuable time and energy on feeling guilty or frustrated with ourselves. Thank you Zak!!
This is an amazing series. Still watching. It's absolutely GREAT that you point out the small wins (some microscopic) that most dog owners will miss and to continue to reward and encourage your dog to the point that she eventually completes the request cleanly. Dog training is NOT a one step, two step and boom! the dog is now trained. I think that's where a lot of dog owners misunderstand; this series is incredible on how you constantly have to pivot to the circumstances, change tactics and learn how to read your dog. Also what is incredibly helpful is how you give us a rough timeline~like letting us know that it will take almost a year to completely wean off the treats and that many behaviors will take your dog 2 years to reliably follow through through most circumstances. Thank you! Thank you!
Because of these videos, my dog no longer tries to eat bicyclists. She is even learning to ignore them. It's a daily task that we work on, but if i didn't use this method i would still be frustrated and she would be miserable.
Oh Zak...you have no idea how much I feel all of this lesson right with you. I eagerly await what you do next...as I find myself in exactly your position at the moment. Thank you for providing us with the honest experience of training a highly distractable dog.
I think Moira might need reinforcement after every behavior that's asked for in such a distracting environment, rather than doing a string of behaviors and then receiving a treat or praise. I think the hardest part here is that Zac is trying to explain stuff as he's training. When he does that, you can tell he pretty quickly becomes less interesting than the birds and Moira's attention starts to wander. I would be interested to see a session where Zac completely focuses on training the dog and adds a voice over for the explanation, rather than explaining in the moment. He's usually really good about being more interesting than the environment, but Moira is definitely pushing new boundaries! She's a challenging dog for sure! Zac is doing really good with her!
Agreed! There are also a few moments where he uses a marker word such as "yes" or "good" and then asks for another behavior or talks to the camera instead of rewarding, and you can see her start to get confused and check out. Really high intensity, high "drive" dogs like this tend to need a lot of clarity about what's expected of them and when reinforcement is coming. He's doing really well with her and it's easy to forget all these "rules" until you have a dog who really needs clarity!
ive also commented something similar on a previous video, so im glad im not the only one who noticed. it seems really confusing for the dog when hes explaining something and uses a command. i cant understand WHY he thought she was ready for the dog park and duck migration when she couldnt even handle dogs passing their fence or walking past a bird without lunging. it feels like the series is more made for the viewers than it is for moira :(
She made so much progress! It’s completely understandable that you thought she might do good close to the dog park. You’re such a great team, I really love these series.
Thank you for acknowledging your mistakes when working with a high-prey-drive lunging dog. We have a dog very similar that we adopted from a shelter. A highly intelligent lovely dog, that has one fault, lunging at other dogs. It is training demonstrations like this one that encourages us dog owners to carry on and be patient in our dog training. No dog is perfect, embrace their flaws, keep trying to show them the better way to react, don’t give up on a great dog. Thanks Zak!!!
Zak and Bree, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I recommend your youtube channel to everyone with a dog! For anyone with a pup who is interested in learning how to connect with and train their dog, it does not get better than this. You and your videos are the real deal - Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise thru this venue. You are improving the quality of life for pups and their two-leggers
Go Zak go! I have been binge watching all your videos in preparation for a new puppy I will be getting this year. We believe in you!
Another trainer that is amazing is Upstate Canine Academy here on RUclips! You should check him out! He is one of the best when it comes to learning dog behavior and how to communicate with your dog in the right way to create a good relationship between you and the dog. And he makes it really easy to understand how it works and how to do it!
I love your voluntary display of beautiful shoes! Most enjoyable collection I’ve ever seen...
I have been binging this series. I adopted an over the top reactive dog 4.5 years. He attacked baby stroller wheels at parks, bikes, traffic, lunged at other dogs. He could smell a dog in the area before seeing it and lose his mind! He is extremely strong like this girl and pulled me into a frozen lake because he wanted a duck! Proofing dog reactivity takes more than 2 weeks. I have my dog under control up to 5 to 10ft depending on other dogs body language. It's taken me years. I hope new dog owners don't get discouraged believing that it's possible to "fix" leash reactivity in a short time. It's a lot of hard work. On that note Zak is doing a great job with her. She is transforming into a great dog!
Thank you so much for these videos! I have been watching them nightly. We have a almost 3yr old German Shepard that we got at a difficult time in our lives so training wasn't done properly. He knows basic commands like sit, down, paw, and stay but needs so much work after he recovers from surgery for a twisted stomach. I feel bad about not training him while he was younger but with these videos I now know what I can do for him to live his best life from now on and get him out and about in the world! Thank you so much!!
It's a journey of learning constantly for the dog and the trainer, even dogs with similar behaviours have different personalities and every situation is different. I think it's really helpful to see where even professional trainers make mistakes. You remained calm, explained what happened and I think you are doing so well with this series. Great work Zak! Thanks for all your hard work and for sharing despite your concerns of any controversy.
Thank you for being so transparent and making this great content accessible to everyone! I've had my dog (husky) for over three years now, and I have made the biggest progress with him in the few last months, after discovering your channel and by following your advices and techniques. I love my dog very much and being able to communicate with him and train him with results (even the smallest ones) is the pinacle of happiness for me! Thanks again
Your determination to help this dog is inspiring!
I adopted a rescue around the same time you started these videos with Moira and my dog has pretty much all the same issues as her. It has been so helpful watching these and I appreciate so much your transparency. Seeing your struggles and your calmness in dealing with them helps me find my inner strength and hope when it comes to working with my dog. Thank you so much.
Thanks for sharing the ups and downs. Helps with how real training is.
Wonderful videos and really helpful , And thanks for all your help and i will look forward for more videos🙂
I just got your book a couple of days ago! It's very informative and well done!
Thank you for finally taking a high engergy dog, i also have a high energy dog and she had similar problems like her, it really helps to see how you're handling these situations when she's going over threshold
Zak, I am loving this series!!!! Don't sweat the mistakes/set backs. You're doing amazing and she's doing so well! Keep em coming! My son (9yrs old) and I look forward to all your videos
It may be your biggest mistake with Moira, but for me it gives me hope because my dog is exactly the same way. So being able to see a dog with similar reactivity I can actually watch what you're doing and apply it to my girl. Seeing that any dog even one with a trainer, reacting like this makes me feel as if I'm not a complete failure with my girl. Keep at it!
Go watch Upstate Canine Academy! He's the best when it comes to reactivity!
@@juliamagnusson8670 yes! Positive only doesn't always help when it comes to reactivity.
@@juliamagnusson8670 I love Upstate Canine Academy! I appreciate Zak's positive approach, but balanced training makes more sense in some cases.
Yeah, you are just as much of a failure as Zak. ;-)
@@juliamagnusson8670 Good joke.
Miora "over threshold" is my dog on a good day. Fedex delivered a package this morning, my dog went gonzo lol
Hey Zak, thanks for sharing these training videos. I’m learning so much and implementing your techniques with my almost two years old Icelandic sheepdog who has some reactive behaviors. He still lunges and barks at cars, deer, squirrels pretty intensely on walks, interestingly, he behaves more calmly with my husband! But, since I started to understand his threshold, I’m getting better results from the training with him, so thanks so much!!
Thank you for showing that it’s not always easy! Your work is appreciated
I realize the end segment at the dog park was an overly optimistic calculation about Moira on your part, however, I am so glad you showed this! It happens, especially to those of us less learned in dog training!! It's important to see how you deal with these situations and doubly important to hear your detailed comments on why it happened, and how to respond. Thanks!
Finally!!! I love this series...maybe a little tooo muchh ❤❤Thank youu!!!
😆 SAME though!
Stollen comment.
Zak is an honest person, who is calm and patient. He is the best person to train dogs and their owners.
I really like to see mistakes and how to overcome them as well as the successful moments. I like to realize I am not perfect and feel more at ease when others show they are not perfect either. This sort of video just propels me to keep being persistent in training.
After making really good progress on his reactivity around other dogs, my little rescue had a slip up barking and lunging at another dog on his walk this evening
Thanks for being honest and showing us the mistakes. We can all learn from those!
This is my favorite video series ever. I love that's it shows what it's really like training a reactive dog, very helpful since my dog acts exactly like Moira when he sees other dogs.
Been there done that! Thx for showing and demonstrating REALITY❣️ 🐾
As someone who has a dog like with dog reactivity similar to this, I appreciate seeing this. Seeing a perfect training session is helpful but doesn’t help me deal with the ones like this and how to recover from it.
This series is by far the best, most-relevant, real-world-case and step-by-step-guide series that has provided me a ray of hope to right my wrongs. THANK YOU!!!
Most videos I watched until now started from scratch, training a puppy, or were disjoint ones. So I could never "get started".
Also, I am a year too late. I didn't do my research or preparations at all before adopting a puppy. Fast-forward 14 months, my dog is pulling the leash, chasing pigeons, lunging at other dogs (and people out of excitement to play), knows nothing but "sit"... basically everything Moira does here except play biting.
I was starting to feel hopeless. This series saved me. It has given me hope that I can turn this around. Not just hope, I see RESULTS. I was able to do the basic sit, stay, come when called training at home in 1 day! Sit, stay, look at me, down, up n stand in 3 days. Ffffrringgggin genius, Zack!!!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤️
Now this is reality dog training! Learned so much from this episode:)
🤩🙌🔥 thank you
It's very easy to get just a little too close during training and send the dog over threshold. As Zak did, just manage the situation, try to get your dog back under threshold (by putting distance between yourself and the thing the dog is reacting to) and then going backwards a little in the training--start further back than where you were before the mistake. I sometimes think I let dogs get bored and don't move fast enough. But my motto is go slower than I think I need to and then slow down. And you learn valuable lessons from the dog--two steps was too much, so next time just do half a step. All in all, Moira is doing really, really well. I'm impressed with how quickly Zak is getting results!
Phewww!! Now I don't feel so bad about my own training... Errors! This makes me happy to see I'm actually doing a pretty good job with my GSD. Thanks Zak for keeping it real! You've been so helpful!!
What a great video! It's nice to see how you handle situations like this.
This video in all it's truth & honest is exactly why I follow! I am working through this exact reactivity to dogs with my Shepherd mix. I appreciate the reality of training & methods to help me. Keep being truthful- is so helpful!
Wow big improvement from day one!! You are such a good dog can't wait till you find your forever home!
Zak, you are doing a wonderful job in this video and mistakes are apart of that wonderful job. Now I'm off to watch the next video :)
Thanks Zak! I have a German Sheppard (6mo) and he's slowly starting to behave a bit like that. He's perfect at home, on the pedestrian walk ways, but once we go to a park where there is more space, ducks, dogs and people playing volleyball he's really into his adventure mood. Getting his attention is crucial and these videos are PERFECTLY on time for his growth :)
Ahhhhh I'm so excited to watch this... I love watching your series and your method of training !! Best trainer 🐶💞
Thank you so much for showing reality.
Tysm... I’ve been watching ur series even before I got my dog(lhatese)
YOU GOT IN AN AD IM SO PROUD OF YOU ZAC!!
Moira was really showing how far she has come since you started training. Although there birds (lots and lots of birds), Moira was able to heel, fetch, sit down, stay, etc. with all the distractions around her in an unfamiliar location. You released so much energy with all of the times she obediently fetched the toy. You were doing everything you have been teaching us about training a puppy. There had to something different about that dog. Was she in heat? Did she smell different in some way from others dogs? Moira was still some distance from the other dog, and you quickly pulled her away, creating even more distance. There was a fence behind you so you couldn’t get further away quicker.
Don’t give up. Moira has made so much progress in such a small amount of time. (For proof, watch the first video with Moira.) With more training, she will become even better. 😊❤️
I’ve been watching your videos since I got my own puppy 6 months ago when she was 8 weeks old. Following your methods for training, she can sit, shake “hands,” lie down, look at me, leave it, fetch, and occasionally crawl. She is not nearly as trained as Moira although I have been working with her for months, whereas, you have been working with Moira for just days. I have not been very successful with stay, and I have lots of trouble with distractions just walking in my own neighborhood, which we do 2-3 times a day. People on bikes, people walking, golf carts, other dogs, squirrels, and cars are her main distractions-all things that are moving. I haven’t given up and hopefully, one day, I can break through to get her to focus on me, maybe with the help of my neighbors who are walking, riding bikes, have dogs, cars, and golf carts.
I’ll keep watching and re-watching your videos until I can get my 14 pound cockapoo, Molly, where I want her to be with her training. Thanks for all of the advice and don’t stop producing your videos with Bree and various dogs. ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much for sharing this with us! I’m currently training my anxious pup using positive reinforcement and I feel so discouraged when we have days like this. It’s so helpful to learn how to manage these situations. Thank you!!!
Really liked seeing this. This has actually helped me understand when I have made mistakes and actually deal with them. Other training always shows perfection, which actually makes training harder as you have no reference to reality. So, so good to watch and learn from this.
Hi Zak, I adapted a 6 week old puppy about 7 months ago and this serious has helped me so much Training him.
Great video, great lesson. Thank you Zak and Moira.
Thank you so much for this series, your work anf for showing also the mistakes. I apreciate it very much (you could've easily just not include it in the video). Love the way you work and your sincerity!
We've been working on our 5-month-old's reactivity toward other dogs. She's a mini aussie, so reactive in general, but really with dogs was the worst. We had several instances where we went to a dog park (the outside of it) and owners would come out of the park with their dogs on leash, ask to approach, and when we said no, they still did it and completely put her over threshold. Couldn't stop barking, was extremely tense, etc.
We've all been there. You made a video recently where you said it can be a lot of two steps forward, one steps back, and you have to really focus on the amount of positive experiences you're having and you'll see more. That really helped us and she has been making STRIDES the past few weeks.
Moira is lucky to have such an awesome trainer.
This was an incredibly helpful lesson. 1. our dog also gets the zoomies but it happens spontaneously and I am never really sure what to do- you confirmed that my letting him enjoy the moment is important. 2. Your "mistake" is where I am as well and I get discouraged but I can see that all of this is just more patience...or as a friend would say, "create peace, deal with it in the morning"....Thanks
At 11:02 why did you use a leash jerk to get her to sit and then claim that it was a voluntary sit?
Saw that and said the exact same thing.
Thank you for sharing the ending where Moira lost control. I (sorry to say) had to laugh because it looks just like my Lucy! Good to know it’s not just me 😂. Lucy and I keep working- the tip you gave with working on acclimating by watching out a window has been helpful. Now every time Lucy sees a dog going down the street she frantically runs to me and the fridge (where the best treats are kept) alerting me of the situation then goes and plops in front of the window waiting for her treat! Love the tips and watching Moira blossom🥰.
I do appreciate you showing us this! That's why this series is so important for us who are trying to be good handlers for our reactive dogs. My rescue Zeldas outbursts are twice as bad as Moiras - when we get too close or she has had staggered triggers, or she sees one of a handful dogs she can't stand. In the beginning i got scared, worried and angry which only made it worse of course. Both Zelda and I reacted to these situations in a primal way. Now I'm trying to teach myself how to behave like you do in this clip when moving her away from the source. Hopefully that will teach her to follow my lead.
Many thanks for showing us that even an experienced dog trainer can misjudge a little and have a conversation with yourself about what just happened. Me and hundreds of owners in Reactive dog forums share with one another how failed we feel, how sad we are for not being able to see our dogs relaxed, how worried we are for each training session. We support each other instead of criticizing and that makes the world of difference.
Thank you Zac!!
I still like to see when training doesn't go to plan, because it teaches us how to manage a really difficult situation. Ie stay in control, let it pass, don't escalate it and stay calm yourself.
This was really helpful...non-trainers are pretty likely to make this kind of mistake more than once, and it shows us how to recover from it without freaking out or thinking we ruined everything.
Also, Moira did awesome earlier in the session between flying birds and flying (crashing) drones. This episode was a great example of how patient we need to be and how well patience pays off. Despite the outburst at the end, Moira is still much improved after only a week of work.
Zak you are a miracle worker! You are my inspiration with my puppy!
Appreciated you showing her reaction at the end. Those things happen even to best trainers . thanks for the video
Thank you for sharing all your knowledge I am a dog trainer myself and I am always trying to learn more so I love watching your videos. Also as I am sure you know but others may not, when training anywhere other than home its good to have an extra exit path if not multiple just in case. We all make mistakes and pushing a little too far when they are doing so well is a very very easy mistake to make, I am sure we have all done it before!
Zak' can you make a video of things you use while training outdoors at a park. Types of leash, pouch, or anything else.
So from one trainer to another, I have a question. Putting a dog through that intensive of a training regimin isn't necessarily a bad thing.. but it presents a very interesting problem... what happens when someone who isn't nearly as involved with training as you are adopts her? Shes developing a strong work ethic and bond with you. Personally, I think if anyone who adopts her isnt equally as attentive, it could be insanely detrimental to her development. Your thoughts?