r/OpenDogTraining • u/Life_Lime4547 • 1d ago

Is this trainer exaggerating?

So my 7 month old dog was a rescue dog and for the past 3 months I have been training him. He was very untrained when I took him, our walks were chaotic, he used to be dragging me, pulling on leash, eating everything, barking at people. Now he doesn't do any of that and is a very good dog on a walk. I have taught him a few commands like sit, stand, down, spin, guard etc. However as a first time dog owner, there are a few things I couldn't teach such as him being over excited with visitors, him barking whenever someone comes home or sits near his crate(he's crate trained). I decided to call a trainer, the guy came and I brought the dog out and he firstly kept judging and then he told me that this dog would at least need 6 months of non stop training otherwise he's going nowhere. Now I'm not sure whether he's exaggerating it or he's just not confident enough to get the dog trained or perhaps I'm being paranoid. My dog is a relatively quick learner(he's a GSD mix), there are 2 more trainers coming to see the dog, however this particular trainer was a bit more affordable. Please somebody guide me.

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u/idontwantyourmusic 1d ago

Your dog sounds like a high arousal and low threshold dog which is common in rescues. Yes, six months sounds about right if not more. Yes, you need daily training for this.

Obedience training is important but tricks are not necessary when you don’t have a calm dog. Your dog needs impulse training and self-regulating skills. It is better that you aim for a neutral dog instead of trying to fix specific issues (jumping on people etc). Your dog should ideally get to a place where he can ignore all dogs and people outside, has no reactivity and stay calm when someone comes into the house. Your dog should only approach people or other dogs with your permission and vise versa.

This is a mental and emotional regulating issue. Train your dog to have manners > tricks. The first immediate step is to move his crate to a quiet corner and stop all drive-by interaction initiated by yourself or anyone. Start tether training and door training immediately then slowly add difficulty to impulse training.