She CAN control herself and knows I don't want her to pull, but doesn't see the need to listen to me.
A couple of concepts to keep in mind:
"pushover" and "pos. R" aren't synonomous.
It isn't about whether she
"knows" something or not. "Knows" is irrelevant. (hard concept to grasp, I know) To
know...to know what YOU want her to do, to know a skill and refuse to do it out of "stubborness" is not what's going on. No, you're right she doesn't see a need to listen to you. She's an animal. Subborness infers that the subject is thinking about what YOU want, what might be in your mind, knows and is blatantly refusing...an immoral thing to do, right? Dogs don't think like that. That's way too complex. Scientists don't think dogs even have a sense of self (there are some tests that are thought to be pre requisits to having a sense of self) so to be cognitive of what could be going round in your mind, they'd have to be aware and logically work out that since they have something going round in
their mind, the other guy must also feel and think like they do. Dogs may have
some rudimentary form of empathy, but the complex nature of our level of empathy with all the thought process that go with it are most likely way beyond a dog's comprehension.
All that washes right over them. It's much more simple. Dogs do what motivates them the most. Period. If it helps them to survive or meets basic requirements of receiving a primary reinforcer, something that is in line with or represents survival, they'll do it. It goes no further.
People commonly make this mistake: The dog gives some correct responses, maybe even quite a few...seems to "know" the "right" thing to do. But then the dog does not give a correct response and they say similar things to what you're saying, "He knows. He's being stubborn, is blowing me off or is not listening or my favorite one of Cesar Milan's, he's being
dominant and trying to be the alpha of your pack."
There are many variables that go into a dog's mastering of a skill. He may not have even done the behavior correctly above coincidence those times before. He may have been in the guessing stage. Until the dog has had a history of
ample reinforcement and practice, he will not be reliable on a skill. My dog pulled for a long time, was significantly older than yours before he mastered that skill.
If there is a chance that something better might be happening in her environment, she is going to be apt to focus on other things besides what
you think she knows and should be complying with. It takes PRACTICE....a significant HISTORY of reinforcement for a particular behavior for that behavior to become reliable. She is very young still and you haven't been doing this for long at all. Along with this practice, it requires prevention of engaging in behavior you don't want. The more she practices the unwanted, fun behavior, the more likely she will repeat that unwanted, fun behavior. You have to find what
does motivate her and/or intercept BEFORE she "gets away from you." You need to set up the environment, what's going on around her so that it has a higher liklihood of helping her to succeed. It needs to become more engrained that walking without pulling is a MUCH, MUCH better way to go, it works better to go forward on the walk if there's no pulling. Not only does she get to go....but she gets a rapid delivery of highly tasty treats on a very hungry tummy. Pulling doesn't work. It isn't even much worth pulling in a very boring place where there isn't anything exciting to do anyhow. Meanwhile, this nice walking is getting reinforced over and over, getting engrained.
See? Practice, practice, practice. Age and maturity, setting the dog up for success. Creating a situation whereby she WILL be motivated; a hungry stomach, a tastier treat or something else she loves. Does she want to go, go, go? No forward movement if there is one second of tension on the leash. Consistency. And TIME. LOL.
But it does sound like you're really making some giant head way in lots of ways. You're right, extra smart dogs usually get bored easily with a lot of repitition so it helps to skip around a little bit and throw in some play time inbetween practicing things. I know you know. But some of the things you say make me think that still.....you want things to happen more quickly. Training doesn't happen all at once. It's a life time process.
Suppression, causing a dog to avoid pain or intimidation can make behavior stop very quickly, like on the dog whisperer tv show. That isn't training or rehabilitating. It's shutting a dog down so that he stops, not only the target behvaior, but all behavior. He just stops behaving. Period. (frequently however, some of those behaviors resurface later) This is why it is dangerous to toy with a lot of punishment or physical/emotional aversives. This is why savvy people here were not happy with the trainers you've come across who want to train like a drill seargent and use choke collars or other pain to achieve a toned down dog. I know you're totally against that and can see you're so on the right track. But I just wanted to try to drive home the difference. If you get impatient or frustrated that your pup isn't displaying reliable responses to cues, you might be tempted to follow a trainer like that, albeit probably to a lesser degree, I'm sure. That would be a mistake. Permissiveness though, absolutely isn't good training. But the opposite of permissiveness isn't compulsion. You need to have just a few tools of good, sound behavior modification to achieve the results and to keep you from feeling like you have to "clamp down." Do lots of reading and try some of the things you read. Practice.
