Reacting to the Biggest Controversies of my Last Series 

Oh I'm highly against that. Moira is a complicated dog and there is a good chance that her new owner won't be making progress in a pace that is fit for youtube. I'll bet that no matther how she does (and I'm sure she will do as much as she is capable of), the youtube comments will be very harsh on her. Lovely idea in theory, unfortunately the internet won't cooperate too well =/

Check out her Instagram. Moira was diagnosed with heart worms and is on the last leg of treatment. As such she wasn’t allowed to do anything that would elevate her heart rate. Her new mom is dedicated to continuing her training once she is medically cleared and is happy to have Zaks videos as a guide.

@@LRmama2019 what’s her instagram?

@@jollyranchers9348 @moirarosethegsd

@@LRmama2019 oh no!!! She was a perfect dog!!!!! I hope she recovers soon! If the owner doesn’t want her, I will take her in a heart beat! 💕

That is one of the problems with using positive punishment. We spend all our time giving the dog "corrections" and yelling no that we can't be bothered to teach our dog what to do instead--how we want to dog to react in a certain circumstance and what will earn that dog something "good" (a yummy treat, your attention, a got pat, a game of chase or tug-of-war). Imagine that you are learning how to do something--say knit. The only feedback you get is somebody yelling "NO!!!!!" at you and pinching you, choking your, or shocking you when you make a mistake. They never give you any instruction on how to do it correctly. They only scream at you and hurt you when you do something wrong. Imagine how frustrating that would be and how much you'd hate knitting. Same with teaching them a dog. Show them what is the RIGHT thing to do, what to do INSTEAD. Don't just scream at them and hurt them for making a mistake. With punishment, the dog doesn't learn what to do instead and when the punishment is decreased (or taken away), the old behavior reappears--because the dog still doesn't know how to do it "right".

He’s a total fraud

@@janhankins911 I believe, in the case of reactivity, even with positive reinforcement only training, consistent upkeep is absolutely necessary for desensitization training.

@@panzertooE-CollartrainingPAGER To whom are you referring?

@@janhankins911 That was actually my experience with knitting when I was young. I’ve hated knitting since then and have never shown an interest in ever trying it again. You’re absolutely right, we all need guidance in how to do things right instead of only being told that we’re doing something wrong.

Always seen good things on youtube, his tiktok videos get so much hate. Everyone on tiktok seem to think prongcollar is the only way to train your dog.

@@GivesYouHelI A person really would have to be incredibly stupid to think that you teach by hurting. No doubt if teachers treated their offspring like that in School these ignorant people would be kicking up holy hell but they think its ok to hurt dogs. Abysmal people who really should be prosecuted in my opinion.

@@cbcdesign001 - I agree - I suspect these idiots are the same types who go up the school and lump the teacher because their little Johnny (who has come home crying because teacher looked at him funny) NEVER does anything wrong - or gets less than an A in tests. TikTok appears to be mainly filled with morons who think because they can make a vertical video lasting a few seconds they are somehow more intelligent than Einstein, Newton, etc., (add in whoever you like - they know better than all of them)

So right. It really takes time and repetition.

Yes, and we set out on our training program and then discover it isn't working and we have to go back and change our approach. Sometimes it just needs a small tweak, other times we have to do a major overhaul. But that's all part of training a dog. And you don't always see that in You Tube videos where the trainer "never" makes a mistakes or has to go back and revisit their training strategy. As advertised, this was "real world" dog training with all it's repetition, mistakes, and warts.

Yeah, I have had my dog for a year and it feels like there’s more setbacks than wins sometimes. Had family over and I assumed (dumbly) that she would be fine despite being very reactive and fear aggressive. She learned to like them after 2 weeks. But it was hard to realize what a mistake I made at first that set her back to bad habits. It helps to see professional own up to similar setbacks.

Simba (2 month Malinois) literally listens to basic commands the first 3 days is it possible yes (but was really stressful )

@@javier2221 I think that it is an intelligence issue.

@@javier2221 I think that it is an intelligence issue.

I know right? For a very intelligent, high energy, reactive dog like this try a year or possibly a lifetime depending on age and background.

Ppl watching too much Caesar Milan hahhaa

Stick to your guns no matter how people who don't know better pan you about it.

It really is a bonding experience! I became so close with my cattle dog, training her in the first few months with what I learned from Zak, that we adopted a second cattle dog and now have a third rescue dog. Our bond is amazing. Each their own amazing personality, and growing ever closer as we continue to train them. It’s so rewarding and so much fun! Not to say it’s easy all the time...our cattle dogs are reactive to various things, but we have learned so much about how to help them (and us). All that to say, you will have incredible communication and such a loving bond with your dog!

I use a prong but it's definitely not going to magically train your dog and if used need to be done right. Not fair to use on a puppy or a dog that doesn't know commands correctly. I only use a prong to break the fixation my dog does when seeing other dogs and get the focus back on me but I don't need it anymore his dog aggression is soo much better. But he had severe dog aggression worse then moria as I've trained big dogs on harnesses that had moria level of dog reactivity Prongs are deffently not needed and just spending time with your dog and putting it in different situations so it gets used to everything will give you a great dog plus have some rules of course. Only socialize your dog with people and dog's you trust so your dog doesn't develope fear of things.

Thanks Arlyn!!! 🤗

@Zak George or @Arlyn Sigeti. I was wondering about why isn’t he using the front clip of the harness in this series. I know that long term it isn’t the best since it modifies how the dog walks and can be problematic. But I was wondering why isn’t it a good option in the short term, until she is a bit less reactive. My girls is improving slowly with reactivity but I don’t dare to have her on the back clip because if she pulls she is very strong and I can’t barely control her.

By the way. Does Zak have a platform where you can read his comments or comment about his videos besides RU-vid? I see that he has a Reddit but it seems quite dead.

@@anvime739 I can’t speak for Zak, but for me, when I teach leash walking, the harness should be irrelevant. The dog is rewarded for choosing to walk at my side. Any tension on the leash means I stop movement until the dog makes the appropriate choice. Collar, harness, whatever, doesn’t really matter, only the dog making the choice to be in the right place with no tension on the leash. I like that particular harness because it does not restrict movement and doesn’t put pressure on my dog’s neck if there is any leash tension. I use both the front or back clip, depending on the dog. With reactive dogs, I use both.

@@ArlynSigeti Thanks. I do the same and she barely pulls but once my gurl sees another dog she goes bananas (we are working on it and improving a lot). So it scares me to not us the front clip because i cant control her. But my trainer told me that it was bad and should never do it

@Cheryl Parker - when I grew up it was common to use choke collars on dogs but all I remember is seeing dogs going down the road pulling like hell and choking themselves. I tried one on my dog Sybil (a GSD cross) years back in the 80's and it never worked. Then I tried walking in front of her - placing my leg in front of her whenever she stepped too far ahead of me (aka some old lady who had a dog training TV programme) - didn't work. Eventually, I taught her to walk by my side off the lead - when I rode my horse she would stay at the horse's side and respond to my use of a schooling whip (just as a guider - never as punishment) and we would canter along together - Sybil at my side. She had ears just like Moira's - I still miss her even though I've had several dogs since Sybil.

Respectfully , it took him 2-3 years to get inertia to do something my friend with a Belgian did in 6 months 🗿 (with very little dog experience) (even the. Inertia is a horrendously trained dog)

Good for you to avoid prong collars! Now you can show all those folks what you can do with positive reinforcement.

@@janhankins911 Out of curiosity, how many reactive dogs have you trained successfully with your positive only (rainbows and sunshine) approach...? By your reply, my guess is zero! Even the best dog trainers in the world will acknowledge that even the best trained dogs will misbehave at some point. A pet parent with a reactive dog can not afford the luxury of living with your delusional perspective. Reactive dogs aren't interested in treats and praise while they are loading up for an outburst. Do you know how many dogs are given up or put down for correctable behaviors using a "balanced" approach to dog training? Five million dogs are put down every year in the U.S. alone. Please keep your warped and deluded encouragement to yourself where it can't misguide others.

@@dmichalak007 Please don't presume. I've trained a number of reactive RESCUE dogs (GREAT DANES and IRISH WOLFHOUNDS) using rainbows and sunshine.

@@dmichalak007 I never said a dog trained with positive reinforcement "always" behaves.

@@dmichalak007 positive trainers know that mistakes happen and that's why they work hard to desensitize dogs to the things they're reacting to. Usually dogs who react are scared and "correcting" their fear doesn't really help.

I also want to add that your approach was an eye-opener for me. After two months of obedience school with my adopted dog, I felt a bit hopeless as her behavior was actually getting worse. It was not until I found your videos that I understood how I can help her overcome the challenges she faced on her walks. Thank you!

Nosebands are the answer not harnesses

@@louiseanderson4625 Big no.

A harness is constructed such that it distributes the pressure around the body. In physics Force = pressure/area. So, if you increase the area you reduce the force. Harnesses are great for making sure dogs don't choke themselves. That and additional traning, of course, but of course that takes time.

hahaha!! right? they must be the prong crowd...

That's the problem. Most people do not want to invest time in training.

I was surprised to hear that as well!

It’s probably not the correction itself but just bad training.

I believe that should be "normal"--people using science and reasoning to explain themselves and why they did what they did.

He actually causes them a lot of anxiety by flooding these dogs in the sake of “progress.” A positive trainer who actually has experience w reactivity would have gone slower to start and had much more progress than him. Check out Goxxly or Kikopup for better trainers!

Very good explanations!

Proved successful every time.

Hi, fellow "elder"! I'm with you, been around dogs for about 40 years--you have 5 years on me, but I got a "late" start (mid 20's). I started out with a lot of people 40 years ago when I thought the only way to train a dog was with a choke collar (or prong or even electronic collar). Happily, we KNOW better today! Once I learned there was a better way, I was all on board! I've switched and I've NEVER looked back (and never will). I just wish I'd known about positive training at the beginning of my experience with dogs.

I learned that all working with your dog is good and it helps them to pay attention to you. So when they see another dog those other times they spent with you helps you to distract them and eliminate their reactivity. That’s what I understand. It’s what I’ve seen with our formerly highly reactive dog.

You certainly hit the nail on the head here. You can't really "fix" the problem if there's any underlying issue--like fear or anxiety. All the "training" in the world won't work if you fail to address the fear or anxiety. And the same goes for "medical differentials". No behavior person worth their salt with see a cat that's peeing outside the litter box without that cat FIRST being cleared for MEDICAL reasons for peeing outside the litter box (like a urinary tract infection, kidney stones, FLUTID, etc). No behavior modification in the world is going to work if the issue is medical. No training is going to be truly effective if you haven't addressed any underlying issues (like fear or anxiety) first.

@@janhankins911 same goes for bred in traits and instincts. Some reactive dog's aren't afraid or anxious. Like some American pit bull terriers they have a high prey drive a through the roof prey drive so decreasing the reactivity is as far as it goes. Like when walking the dog and a cat darts past at like 40ft the dog might not react all that much. Because of alot of work that's been done with the dog and him knowing that he's on the leash. He knows that he won't get the cat but as we change the scenario and move the cat closer eventually the is going to react every time. Or let's say a person and the dog are in a field the. Person is at the 10 yard line the dog is at the 30 yard line and a cat comes walking or running by at the 50 yard line. Now with Positive only training the dog is going to chase the cat every time. What can be done Positively that is going to override the prey drive? Now the real problem is that this high prey drive isn't usually directed at cats it can be bikes,skate boards, cars and all other types of animals. This breed the American pit bull terrier is commonly used for hunting hogs so the prey drive is combined with a lot of determination. This makes it different from other breeds with a high prey drive like Malinois. With the Malinois it's the prey drive in them that trainers use when they train them for the work they do. They harness the prey drive and can switch it on and off and these dogs are very good at this but we don't see them latching on too 150lb mean hogs that fight back. With Malinois the ability to switch the prey drive on and off is because they don't have as much determination as the American pit bull terrier does. When training a Malinois there's a fine line on the pressure that can be applied too much and they shut down and will become fearful. When the Malinois goes in for the bite they have no fear because they always win in their training. American pit bull terriers have a much higher breaking point and it's because of the determination they have more pressure can be applied before they shut down. They could get roughed up bad by a Hog and they will get up and do it again the Malinois won't. This is where Positive only training fails with a dog that has that high of prey drive and determination if they think they can catch whatever it is they want to go after they are going to go after it every time. If you are out hunting hogs how do you stop the dog from chasing deer or anything besides hogs? That's the same way you will get a recall in the field scenario. American pitbull terriers were used for dog fighting for more than 75 years so dog aggression is prevalent in the breed And it can be just like the prey drive. They aren't lunging at other dog's out of fear or anxiety they are doing it because. More than 75 years of selective breeding is driving the behavior. Scientifically explained how you would get a dog like this to be tolerant of strange dog's or a off leash dog that runs up on you and the dog or how you can take the dog to the dog park or leave it in the back yard at your cousin house with his two dogs on Thanksgiving. Positively My experience with dog's like this tells me it won't happen. And the best that can happen is a lower level of reactivity. The dog might not lunge at a dog that's on the other side of the street. But if the dog from next door sticks its head through the fence it's off with his head. It's

🐕‍🦺

For me, it was helpful to see that even "professional" dog trainers (and I certainly don't consider myself a professional dog trainer; just someone who has had a lot of experiencing working with "unmanageable" dogs and someone who does a lot of reading about dog training) have issues and make mistakes. They, too, have to sometimes tweak their training. Makes me feel a lot less "stupid" (and a lot more willing to continue trying to help dogs).

@@janhankins911 I totally agree!

@Austin Lee are you a dog trainer and you have faced the same problems as I did? Also just stating your opinion without giving a reason for what you beleave is pointless.

@@darkessvslightnina1616 believe* Also, please consider checking your comment for grammar mistakes. ^^

@@xygei8775 When English will be my first language I will start to care about them...

Um, I must disagree. If you want to stop a dog FAST, try a head halter (not a "collar"). Second, why are you allowing the dog close enough to lunge at something or someone. That should NOT be part of training. What collars are used at "bitting training"? I don't know what "bitting training" is. Is that training your dog to bite? Why are you training a dog to bite in the first place? Collars can make a dog release another dog. Okay, first of all, I don't believe that's true. Second of all, why are you allowing one dog to latch on to another dog? That shouldn't be part of training. Sometimes dogs do attack other dogs--yes, that happens. But I've NEVER seen ANYONE suggest that you separate these dogs by grabbing the collars. NEVER. And you're right that dogs can become aggressive when we use aversive training techniques so you've just shot down your own argument.

@@janhankins911 LOL so we are joking or what? Head halters does not actually train your dog to stop pulling. Get them off and your dog will return to what it did before so it is as good as prong collars. You want to tell me that you do not know that things can go wrong when you are walking a dog and your dog may not like a person? Why to be so close to someone? The simplest answer is that if you live at a city you do not have a choice. How to seperat dogs with collars and why you do not know that? Well there are techniques that most of trainers will not tell you. If you are actually interested search it. I did not told you to make bite work I told you to use the collar they use and bite work, does not make your dog aggressive quite the opposite if you know what you are doing. Having your dog lunge at a person or another animal is not part of training but it is part of the reality and you have to be prepared for it, because your lovely friendly dog may attack to another for several reasons and you will not be able to seperat them and you may be forced to take action, if you are using a harness there is no way to prevent it, if you do not have water with you and your dog does not has a collar then your dog may kill the other dog.

Training is a lot of work and it isn't always fun and games (although we should try to make it fun!). It's work. But it pays off. And ask me about the WORK of training. I'm having my first experience training an itty-bitty (after training Danes and Wolfhounds) and I think I spend all my time training bending, squatting, stooping, and sitting on the floor and sometimes my back lets me know about it. Never had to do that with Danes and Wolfhounds!

Keep up the good work.

100%