Clicking for Peace of Mind

I desperately wanted a dog and I finally got on when I was 14...a working-stock Border Collie puppy of 6 weeks.  I had a puppy--one that followed me everywhere, slept at my feet, was cute as any other, chewed like a pirhana, and once slightly older developed habits such as leaping at trees growling and snapping at them, trying to chase cars pulling like a maniac on the leash and soon shying away from people, which then developed into growling and lunging.  I was obviously over my head and my family was as clueless as I.  I walked him, took him to the dog park and played fetch with him endlessly, taught him leave it, sit, down, stay, shake, be cute, back up, and a number of other commands but he was by no means a well-behaved citizen.  The level at which he became over-stimulated was extremely low and he had difficulty calming himself after becoming reactive.  Yelling at him, grabbing him and pulling him around not only made me hate myself more than I hated him at times but out of control and just plain sad that our relationship was so terrible. 

 After beginning clicker training a few years ago (he is now six) he now stops an unwanted activity with just a whispered "hey" and a frown, has impeccable house manners, can successfully pay attention in situation that he would have been over the top in a few years ago, and finally our relationship has blossomed from a love-hate one to solely love.  His repertoire of tricks impresses even the unwilling dog person.  We are still working on getting comfortable around people but he walks calmly by people on walks and has made a few human friends with careful work which my family couldn't be more thrilled about. 

I think the most important lesson I've learned from clicker training is that my behavior is the most important.  The quieter I am, the more he listens.  The better I feel about myself (or pretend to feel about myself by standing up straight, etc.) the less he is reactive because he knows I'm there for leadership.  Ignoring mistakes or even loud, aggressive, obnoxious, etc. behavior as a rule is comforting not only to the person but the dog and I've finally found some peace and so has Skye.  Thank you.

 Clicker training makes communication so very easy its like breathing.