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Fraction posted:So yeah if you have a fearful dog how do you answer the 'does it bite' question?
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Jun 18, 2012 15:03
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Fraction posted:If its someone she's likely to react very badly to (child, man, hat wearing etc) I can usually say no. But a lot of people ask, does your dog bite - and the answer to that is no. I'm wonderin though if I should start saying yes.
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Jun 18, 2012 15:12
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Fraction posted:How do you, if you own a reactive dog, get over an inability to say 'no you can't touch my dog'? I have mild anxiety about 'disappointing' people and I often have quite a hard time saying no to someone who wants to say hello to Lola, if they are older than me - kind of not wanting to come off as disrespectful or impolite to them. You're looking at this from the wrong point of view. Instead of worrying about disappointing random strangers, worry about 'disappointing' Lola. As a reactive dog owner, it is your responsibility to 1) show Lola that she can trust you and that you will keep her safe (so she doesn't need to react because you're handling it) and 2) to keep her safe by being her advocate in situations like this and all others! Whether or not she bites is not the relevant question and people who ask it are dumb. The relevant question is, can we do this (the interaction) in a way that Lola will be comfortable with? If no, then you tell the other person no. Lie about her biting if you want or, if you don't want to lie, then just say no and mean it. Other people will get over it. If you think Lola will benefit from the interaction, then don't be afraid to boss people around! Tell them exactly what you want them to do to make it a good experience for Lola. I would also recommend looking into the Be Still cue from Brenda's Get Connected book. I think it's really good for approaches and interactions as a cue that tells the dog exactly what is going to happen now and what's expected of them. So do what's best for Lola. You're all she's got to show her that the world is not actually the scary place she thinks it is.  As a side note, I tell people that Psyche bites when off-leash dogs come running up to us (she never actually has bitten another dog) and I've found that this doesn't actually make people hurry or give a drat. Maybe they'll care more about their own fingers, but if you don't want to lie, then I wouldn't bother. Just say no and mean it. Kiri koli fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Jun 18, 2012 |
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Jun 18, 2012 15:26
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Kiri koli posted:You're looking at this from the wrong point of view. Instead of worrying about disappointing random strangers, worry about 'disappointing' Lola. As a reactive dog owner, it is your responsibility to 1) show Lola that she can trust you and that you will keep her safe (so she doesn't need to react because you're handling it) and 2) to keep her safe by being her advocate in situations like this and all others! Thanks for the post I will definitely try to consider that more in future. I don't think me being anxious about disappointing people is going to help Lola's anxiety either!I guess something I should think about is that it might never be okay for Lola to greet people without them going through particular procedures; and if that's the case then I need to be okay with that. It's hard having a very human-social dog and a very anxious dog. I'll have to get Aloff's book. They tend to run expensive, but I borrowed her Aggression in Dogs one from the library and it was good, so maybe I should take the plunge and get it. ETA just bought both Aggression in Dogs and Get Connected. It's a little weird because if it's dogs, I'm fine with saying no. People often 'assure' me that their dog is friendly when it comes running up, whilst I'm either trying to move Lola to one side or pick her up out of the way, and I have no problem telling them that she bites, even though she never has bitten a dog (she's nipped one once but thats it). Rixatrix posted:I usually say "I don't think so, but he doesn't like strangers" and people usually get the point. With kids I just tell them not to touch Rho because it's easier for them to understand. I will try something like this in the future. I've just mainly been using 'she's shy' or 'she's a scaredy cat' to try and soften it before and well it doesn't work. Fraction fucked around with this message at 15:56 on Jun 18, 2012 |
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Jun 18, 2012 15:45
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Fraction posted:How do you, if you own a reactive dog, get over an inability to say 'no you can't touch my dog'? I have mild anxiety about 'disappointing' people and I often have quite a hard time saying no to someone who wants to say hello to Lola, if they are older than me - kind of not wanting to come off as disrespectful or impolite to them. I usually answer the 'Can I pet your dog?' conversation with "No, it stresses him out." As for the bite question, I usually say that I don't know - most people back off when he starts barking. Fraction posted:I will try something like this in the future. I've just mainly been using 'she's shy' or 'she's a scaredy cat' to try and soften it before and well it doesn't work. Clearly if the dog's just shy or scared it's because other people were approaching ALL WRONG and the precious puppy would never be scared of little old me! If you think about how we deal with fear and shyness in kids, for example, there's a large contingent who think it's OK to just throw them into a situation and expect that they'll get over it. If it's framed as a known preference, we don't have that expectation - it's well accepted that flooding won't change your likes and dislikes. Engineer Lenk fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Jun 18, 2012 |
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Jun 18, 2012 15:59
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Depending on how the situation feels for me, I'll say something like, "she's a little shy, but she can do a trick for you" then I have Cohen do a beg, or a paw, or a spin - something easy and fun for the dog. This is normally a crowd pleaser. Or I say that you can't pet, but maybe you can provide a treat. For more reactive dogs, it might not be possible. But by doing this, Megatron (the dog who hates people, most of all little girls) now sees everyone as walking treat dispensers, and her reactive episodes are few and far between.
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Jun 18, 2012 16:02
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a life less posted:Or I say that you can't pet, but maybe you can provide a treat. For more reactive dogs, it might not be possible. But by doing this, Megatron (the dog who hates people, most of all little girls) now sees everyone as walking treat dispensers, and her reactive episodes are few and far between. I tried doing this with Lola when she first started showing fearful behaviour toward some people, but people would often give a treat and then reach in immediately to stroke her, and she quickly became more wary of accepting food from strangers. Engineer Lenk posted:As for the bite question, I usually say that I don't know - most people back off when he starts barking. Lola doesn't really bark at people that much anymore, that's the problem. It was simpler when she was more reactive, in that way - people would be less inclined to even ask if she was eyeing them and keeping her distance. Now she's more relaxed about walking through town/close to strangers, but she still doesn't want to greet people.
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Jun 18, 2012 16:07
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I just say, "No, she doesn't like strangers" and people tend to be satisfied with that. Shelby isn't as bad as she used to be, sometimes if someone comes right up to us, she gets in a half hearted lunge and a scary sounding bark and just leaves it at that. She is actualy perfectly fine around strangers that pay her no attention.
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Jun 18, 2012 19:18
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I have seen small fabric "signs" that can be attached to a service dog's leash that say something like DO NOT DISTRACT/WORKING DOG. Perhaps you could get one that simply says DO NOT PET and then you'd have your wishes already in print. People would see that even before they approach you, and while it won't be 100% effective, it'll give you something to point to and make you feel supported.
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Jun 18, 2012 19:30
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four lean hounds posted:I have seen small fabric "signs" that can be attached to a service dog's leash that say something like DO NOT DISTRACT/WORKING DOG. Perhaps you could get one that simply says DO NOT PET and then you'd have your wishes already in print. People would see that even before they approach you, and while it won't be 100% effective, it'll give you something to point to and make you feel supported. I actually have a leash that does a great job of keeping people at bay when we go out in town, the red leash reading CAUTION on here. It's more red in real life, and the writing is very bold. I've not had anyone approach to ask to stroke Lola whenever she's had it on. It definitely makes me feel more confident about walking her in crowded areas, and that makes her more confident too.
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Jun 18, 2012 21:20
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We don't have excessive barking indoors, but it appears as though we are going to go back to next to nothing shortly. Naru has decided that TyTy is a grown up dog and has to behave accordingly. She, to put it nicely, laid down the law once and since then has shown me an ability to silence the BC by just growling a bit. Naru's training methods aren't the least bit positive, but as long as this is all that is needed, I'm fine with her setting this boundary. I however will set the other boundaries just like before.
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Jun 19, 2012 10:15
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Should I be making sure that I don't let Stella walk ahead of me through doors or up and down stairs or whatever or is that just dominance theory?
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Jun 21, 2012 19:24
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prom candy posted:Should I be making sure that I don't let Stella walk ahead of me through doors or up and down stairs or whatever or is that just dominance theory? Is it a good idea to ask your dogs to wait at you at the top of a flight of stairs and not push past you and through an open door? Yes. It's safer that way. I ask for Cohen to wait at the top of stairs if she's on leash, and I've taught her not to automatically assume she can go through every open door she sees and out onto the street. Will doing that automatically show your dogs you're boss? Nope.
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Jun 21, 2012 19:31
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I kind of want to see one of these people that never lets their dog walk in front of them. It must be the most awkward, clumsy sight. Psyche takes stairs three at a time (up or down) and so I always cue her to go ahead of me on stairs so I don't have a fuzzy bullet take me out from behind. We also have the stupid door setup where the front door swings one way and the screen door swings the other, so trying to hold one open and close the other is hard enough without me needing to go first. So I ask her to sit and then give her the okay to go outside ahead of me when I'm ready. I'm fairly certain this doesn't make her respect me less.  There is value is teaching your dog to keep her toes even or behind yours on walks (as part of a nice heel position) if you have problems with pulling or surging ahead to do naughty things.
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Jun 21, 2012 20:09
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Kiri koli posted:I kind of want to see one of these people that never lets their dog walk in front of them. It must be the most awkward, clumsy sight.
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Jun 21, 2012 20:21
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Fair enough. I was more thinking of the type of owner that doesn't know/care about training or providing structure for the dog and just reads on the internet that letting their dog walk in front of them will lead the dog to
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Jun 21, 2012 23:17
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I need help. Lots and lots of help. I've read up on positive reinforcement and crate training and I'm still a little lost. I'm dealing with separation anxiety, I think. The dog in question is Toby. A 13 year old miniature dachshund. He's completely deaf and our Veterinarian says he's 50-75% blind and his vision will continue to deteriorate due to cataracts. A little background in case it's important: He was my husbands childhood dog (he got him when he was 12) so he doesn't have a whole lot of training. He wasn't fixed til he was 2 so he learned to mark everything in the house (there was a couple of male dogs in the house; none fixed). When he was about 8 my husband moved in with me and I lived in an apartment with a bunch of people. My husband worked early mornings, I worked evenings so there was only an overlap of about 2 hours and usually my roommates hung out with him. Then I quit my job and moved home for a few months and either I was always around or my family was along with other dogs. After moving out again and to a new state it was just me and him. My husband was gone a lot (he's military) so I really didn't mind Toby always being around. Usually he'd just sit next to me and sleep. Before he went deaf, as long as he could hear me somewhere in the house, he didn't follow me at all. As his hearing started to go I noticed he followed me a bit more. Around that time we got another dog and Toby wanted nothing to do with her at all. He still doesn't. But this is when he started marking in the house. Usually Mady's (the other dog) bed, toys, blanket. But then when I started leaving he started marking everything. At first it was my husbands boots/shoes, clothing (he'd get up on beds to do it), etc. If I had a friend come over he'd mark their purses or their overnight bags. He never marked one thing of mine. I never thought of this as separation anxiety. I thought he was just angry we left him. Then we got orders overseas and there's a quarantine policy and rather than have them kenneled here for 120 days, we opted to let them stay with my parents and do an in-home quarantine. We found out about all this about a year in advance and I started crate training him right away to get him used to his kennel for flying, but by this time he was 100% deaf and mostly blind and it never went over too well. My other dog was crate trained as a puppy, so no issues there. My dad was eventually able to get him to go in and lay down, but he had to be prompted or have treats put in. He never just went in there to hang out like our other dog would do in her crate. So, we get him here (Guam) and it is absolutely horrible. If I walk upstairs, walk out on the front porch, walk my other dog, or otherwise leave his sight and he can't sniff me out.. He howls and wails like he's being beaten. The first time it happened I had just walked out to check the mail and I got about 6 houses down and heard him and ran back thinking he was hurt.. Nope! Sitting at the door howling. And it doesn't matter how often I take him out or if he goes out 2 minutes before I walk out the door, he pees all over the place. 2-3 places sometimes. Sometimes it's right in front of the door where I'll see it right away.. Sometimes it's in a closet in the laundry room or under the dining room table where I won't see it for a couple of days. I don't know what to do. I tried one of those belly bands, he wiggled out of it and pee'd all over it. I crated him once (lured him in with a frozen kong), but my neighbors across the street called me while we were out saying they could hear him and he had been going for over an hour straight. I tried just confining him to a room full of treats, toys and a kong filled with peanut butter and we got another call from another neighbor. I'm worried I'll get a noise complaint as we're in townhouse style houses and share walls with other people. Enough noise complaints and we could be kicked out of housing. He's been to the vet, been checked for urinary problems, had a complete blood panel done when he had a dental and the vet deemed him in very good shape for his age. There are no pet behaviorists here nor any reputable trainers (okay, there's one and he does both, but he believes in talking to the dogs in their own language. IE barking and growling at them to communicate and I haven't heard one good thing about him from anyone who has used him). I don't know how well training would go because 1, he's deaf.. 2, he's too blind for sign language, anyways. I've done everything I can. I don't make a big deal out of leaving, I don't make a big deal when I come home. He gets a lot of time out in the yard and a good walk, but he tuckers out pretty quick because of the heat/humidity here. He gets a kong everyday and I either put his dinner in it, or frozen peanut butter, or stuff it with different things he needs to work for. I'm kind of at my wits end though. I feel like I can't leave my house because of his howling and I hate coming home to pee everywhere, anyways. It's moderately easy right now as my husbands deployed, but he'll be home in a few weeks and I'd love to be able to go to dinner and a movie or spend a few hours at the beach without worrying. Does anyone have any ideas? Is crate training helpful in this situation or should I ask the vet for some kind of medicine for him? edit: He also licks his paws obsessively. When I catch him doing it, I distract him. But there are wet spots all over my couch if I leave him for any length of time and he does it all through out the night, I guess as a soothing thing? The Heartless fucked around with this message at 09:44 on Jun 22, 2012 |
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Jun 22, 2012 09:29
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I'm reposting this from the small questions thread on the advice of Kerfuffle.TheModernAmerican posted:My dad got a black lab two years ago. She's a great dog, a little dumb but otherwise a lot of fun to have around. The big problem with her is that she is afraid of everything. In our 900 square foot house she refuses to go into half of it. If I open my door loudly she'll jump 6 feet in the air. I have absolutely no idea how I could train this behavior because she won't even step in a puddle and she'd need to do it when she's thirsty, not when we tell her to. But I guess that's why I'm asking this question.
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Jun 22, 2012 13:38
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The Heartless posted:SA issues http://www.amazon.com/Ill-Home-Soon-Separation-Anxiety/dp/1891767054/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340372567&sr=8-1&keywords=i%27ll+be+home+soon Have you read this yet? If not, start here. I think you've accurately diagnosed the issue, and he's likely pretty anxious about the new environment in addition to losing you. I'd also recommend that you check out Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt. Specifically, I think the relaxation protocols in there would help a lot. Something like mat work will help him to learn to relax and calm down. The paw licking is what's called a displacement behavior and is a sign that the dog is anxious. It's an obsessive compulsive habit that has a bio-feedback element to relieve stress. TheModernAmerican posted:water issues It's possible that you're missing what she's afraid of. I'd try a few things to test this -- sometimes dogs don't like wobbly bowls, raised bowls or shiny bowls, so you might play with this to make sure, but based on your description of what you've tried, I'll assume it's the water itself. This behavior should eliminate itself through classic desensitization -- the water will never react to her. And as dumb/brilliant as retriever breeds can be (I have one too), I'm skeptical that the dog will refuse to drink when she really is in need of water -- that's a biological imperative. If it were me, I would put down water only during normal hours (restrict it during her 4AM session), and carefully monitor how much you're putting in and how much she's drinking. Eventually she's going to get thirsty and she's going to drink. As this continues to happen over a period of days or weeks, my expectation is that she'd stop worrying about it so much. You can probably help this along by having some good treats ready if you catch her drinking. Don't disturb her until she's finished, as she's already outside of her comfort zone, but then you can machine-gun some treats into her mouth for a few seconds and try to leave an impression.
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Jun 22, 2012 14:55
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My old trainer said to get her dog to drink water at events she uses hot dog bits thrown into a deep bowl of water. The dog tries to get the hot dog and gets some water too.
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Jun 22, 2012 17:22
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I'm a dogsitter, and this morning I got a call from a woman asking me to watch an Anatolian Shepherd mix she and her husband just adopted, approx. 1-2 years old. She admitted she could have thought the adoption through a little better since in a week's time she'll be going on vacation for a week, and she might be a little over her head training wise. She had dogs as a child, but her parents trained them, not her. She said he weighs 95 lbs and pulls on walks, barks, plays a little rough, but I'm used to large breed dogs/puppies and those are pretty typical problems. Then she starts describing how the dog has been guarding their house and acts very threatening to visitors. Growling, aggressive barking, hackles raised, and she's afraid the dog might bite someone. I don't know much about Anatolian Shepherds, but I remember the maremma sheepdog thread and I was just crossing my fingers and hoping this wasn't a livestock guarding breed, and they definitely are. I raised Seeing Eye puppies for six years, and I was a dog trainer at a Petco for a year, but I don't have any experience with livestock guarding breeds. She asked if I could work with the dog for the week I'm there, and I can probably help with pulling and rough play but I don't know what to do about the guarding behavior. I probably can't do much if I'm just staying there for a week, but I'd at least like to help it not get worse. I also don't know if the dog will accept me staying there for a week, and I'd rather not get bit on a dogsitting job. She seemed interested in maybe having me give her obedience lessons when they come back, but I think that would be better left to someone with experience with livestock guarding breeds. Any advice for me, or that I can pass along to them?
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Jun 22, 2012 22:02
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tse1618 posted:I'm a dogsitter, and this morning I got a call from a woman asking me to watch an Anatolian Shepherd mix she and her husband just adopted, approx. 1-2 years old. She admitted she could have thought the adoption through a little better since in a week's time she'll be going on vacation for a week, and she might be a little over her head training wise. She had dogs as a child, but her parents trained them, not her. She said he weighs 95 lbs and pulls on walks, barks, plays a little rough, but I'm used to large breed dogs/puppies and those are pretty typical problems. If they are afraid that the dog is going to bite someone, then they need to see a behaviorist or a trainer with a behavior background. I would definitely not take the job and it is irresponsible of them to ask you to. Laws vary from state-to-state, but if the dog bites you, they will most likely be in a world of legal trouble, not to mention you could be seriously injured. If they need to leave, there exist kennels where the dog is put in an enclosure with shelter and space to run around and you can arrange it so that no one needs to directly interact with the dog. The dog is fed through a fence and so doesn't need to be handled. They should look for one of these.
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Jun 22, 2012 22:49
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Kiri koli posted:If they are afraid that the dog is going to bite someone, then they need to see a behaviorist or a trainer with a behavior background. I would definitely not take the job and it is irresponsible of them to ask you to. Laws vary from state-to-state, but if the dog bites you, they will most likely be in a world of legal trouble, not to mention you could be seriously injured. Unfortunately I'm unemployed and my student loans start becoming due next month, so I agreed to meet the dog on Sunday and see how bad the guarding behavior is. I won't take the job if I'm seriously afraid he'll bite me, but I'd like to at least meet him and see it myself. They said so far it's just threatening behavior, he calms down after about 10 minutes, and he's well socialized and friendly with people and dogs he meets outside the house. I'm hoping they're reading it worse than it is since neither of them has had a dog in a long time, but I'll have to see. My mother is a vet tech and they're bringing the dog in tomorrow, so she'll get a read on him too (albeit outside their house) before I meet him.
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Jun 23, 2012 02:53
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tse1618 posted:Unfortunately I'm unemployed and my student loans start becoming due next month, so I agreed to meet the dog on Sunday and see how bad the guarding behavior is. I won't take the job if I'm seriously afraid he'll bite me, but I'd like to at least meet him and see it myself. They said so far it's just threatening behavior, he calms down after about 10 minutes, and he's well socialized and friendly with people and dogs he meets outside the house. I'm hoping they're reading it worse than it is since neither of them has had a dog in a long time, but I'll have to see. My mother is a vet tech and they're bringing the dog in tomorrow, so she'll get a read on him too (albeit outside their house) before I meet him. This dog is out of your league if you're used to dogs bred for assistance. I strongly suggest that you put your own and the animal's well-being and safety over your financial interests right now and do not attempt work with this dog until they have seen a boarded veterinary behaviorist or other person with very advanced training in behavior and have a clear protocol for working with the dog. It may "just" be "threatening" behavior, but um, dogs don't really make empty threats generally. You push a "threatening" dog and it's going to enforce that threat eventually. Topoisomerase fucked around with this message at 08:18 on Jun 24, 2012 |
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Jun 24, 2012 08:15
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Topoisomerase posted:This dog is out of your league if you're used to dogs bred for assistance. I strongly suggest that you put your own and the animal's well-being and safety over your financial interests right now and do not attempt work with this dog until they have seen a boarded veterinary behaviorist or other person with very advanced training in behavior and have a clear protocol for working with the dog. It may "just" be "threatening" behavior, but um, dogs don't really make empty threats generally. You push a "threatening" dog and it's going to enforce that threat eventually. I met the dog today and he was completely fine. Barked at me when I came up to the house, but then he sniffed me, wagged his tail and let me pet him and give him chunks of hot dog. I stayed for about half an hour, and he was friendly the whole time. I don't know if he didn't like the other people he met or what, but I didn't see any guarding or aggressive behavior at all.
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Jun 24, 2012 23:09
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tse1618 posted:I met the dog today and he was completely fine. Barked at me when I came up to the house, but then he sniffed me, wagged his tail and let me pet him and give him chunks of hot dog. I stayed for about half an hour, and he was friendly the whole time. I don't know if he didn't like the other people he met or what, but I didn't see any guarding or aggressive behavior at all. Its also possible his owners are nervous about this dog and are either seeing things that aren't there or are being overly cautious. I'd try to see how he reacts if you come over when he's on him own/ his family isn't home.
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Jun 24, 2012 23:26
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wtftastic posted:Its also possible his owners are nervous about this dog and are either seeing things that aren't there or are being overly cautious. I'd try to see how he reacts if you come over when he's on him own/ his family isn't home. Yeah, I'd do that for sure, so you don't end up taking the job and then going over there for the first time without the owners being home only to not be let into the house by the dog. LGDs can be something..
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Jun 25, 2012 03:19
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Thank god for this thread. It's been awhile since I've trained a puppy from scratch and everything I knew was very much in line with the traditional methodology of training that my parents did for our family dogs...establishing who's alpha, multiple reprimanding for the same incident etc. Yesterday our 6 month old rescue Shepard/Lab mutt started submissive peeing after I came home and confronted her over tearing her bed apart (just a loud series of NO and pointing..). We've had her for a week and she proved she was housebroken, so it was definitely submissive behavior. I felt loving terrible - never had a dog be super timid of me. Then the rest of the evening she was acting super aggressive toward me and running back and forth instead of doing her training with me. This week I'm going to change directions and work on upping the positive reinforcement and variable treat distribution for training. Going to get her a good crate and work on making it her "safe" place for crate training - my parents never "crated" our dogs, only "penned" them. I was a bit deceived by her "good" first week because she did fine without it, but now I'm going to definitely get one. So I guess I'm getting trained as much as she is from now on 
Tiny Faye fucked around with this message at 12:55 on Jun 27, 2012 |
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Jun 27, 2012 12:53
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How can I get Quaffle to start focusing more on where I am pointing rather than on my finger which is doing the pointing? Even if I'm pointing at something he really likes (food, a bug), even if I put my finger ON the object, most of the time he follows my finger itself instead. I'd love to be able to point at a nearby spot/object and have him go to it to interact with it but he doesn't seem to understand what pointing means. He's a husky mix (mixed with something equally independent, apparently) so doesn't live and die to follow commands anyway, but he is at all times very, very focused on me and where I am. Not on what I am telling him to do, but where I am. He makes eye contact and holds it for long periods of time. He doesn't seem to think that what I am actually doing has any bearing on him whatsoever, so long as he can watch me. Which leads to him staring at my finger rather than at what I am indicating with said finger. Using a toy probably won't work well because he doesn't really care about toys. I've tried getting really excited over toys, tried all sorts of different toys, and had him play with other dogs who were playing with toys and none of it works. When I throw a ball he usually doesn't even turn his head to follow it (or if he does, he immediately turns back to look at me). When the other dogs at the dog park chased after a ball he went zooming after them but didn't seem to understand why they were running or why they stopped (the ball had stopped rolling) and looked around for a person to pet him rather than at the ball like the other dogs. Is this focus on people rather than on objects typical of primitive breeds, or is he just special? I sort of suspect the other breed in his mix is an Anatolian Shepherd due to his general appearance and that he acts a lot like the Great Pyrenees that my great grandparents had when I was little, so is this maybe typical behavior for a livestock guardian breed? What can I do to get him to understand that I am pointing AT something that he really likes, rather than sticking my finger out for him to lick?
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Jun 27, 2012 17:03
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Aravenna posted:Is this focus on people rather than on objects typical of primitive breeds, or is he just special? I sort of suspect the other breed in his mix is an Anatolian Shepherd due to his general appearance and that he acts a lot like the Great Pyrenees that my great grandparents had when I was little, so is this maybe typical behavior for a livestock guardian breed? I wouldn't be surprised if this is a primitive breed thing. My Eskie also typically doesn't give a poo poo about toys and just watches me. We've been slowly building on the 20 minute periods where she gets into playing with toys because of pent-up energy and trying to get her to care more, but it's been slow going. I don't have any great advice because I haven't done this in a systematic way, but we've done two things that seem to have helped her figure out what pointing means. The first is we played tag with two people, where she would be called over to do a hand touch and then have to race back to the other person. Eventually I added a cue ("Go get it!" with a sweeping point hand signal) so now she gets to run over to another person. I also use a sweeping point to get her to move through doors or upstairs or to walk ahead of me when she's in my way, which kind of followed naturally. The second is that I taught her fetch by getting some food and starting out soooo slow. Since she isn't motivated by toys except when she wants to be, I started out by literally "throwing" the toy down on the ground in front of me and then shaping her toward it, then to nose it, then to eventually pick it up (and immediately drop it because she's stupid and won't hold things in her mouth). Then I started adding distance. She got the hang of that, but still doesn't give a poo poo about the toy, so often will run to it and then forget to bring it back because she just wants food. So I started adding the same 'Go get it!' cue to send her back for it. Anyway, hopefully someone else has a better suggestion, but you can try those games and see where you get. I'm still working on getting it reliable in other contexts and now that I think about it, my way is really sloppy, but it works in an every day sort of way.
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Jun 27, 2012 17:42
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I went through a life less' loose leash walking mega-post but have a question on harnesses for dachshunds. Our dog pulls hard regularly and we are having a difficult time correcting this. We spoke with the trainer at class last night and said we could try the easy-walk harness but that it likely would not work very well or be safe for a dachshund since short legged barrel chested dogs can just walk out of it. I did some looking online and talking to other people they agree, either the easy walk has to be adjusted so tight it irritates the skin or they can walk out of it. I have been told not to use a head harness with her as well for safety reasons. Does anyone have equipment suggestions here or do we need to just work on it with harness that attaches to the leash in the back like we currently use?
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Jun 28, 2012 13:24
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nesbit37 posted:I went through a life less' loose leash walking mega-post but have a question on harnesses for dachshunds. Our dog pulls hard regularly and we are having a difficult time correcting this. We spoke with the trainer at class last night and said we could try the easy-walk harness but that it likely would not work very well or be safe for a dachshund since short legged barrel chested dogs can just walk out of it. I did some looking online and talking to other people they agree, either the easy walk has to be adjusted so tight it irritates the skin or they can walk out of it. I have been told not to use a head harness with her as well for safety reasons. Do you really even need to bother with a harness at all for small dogs like dachsunds? I could understand it if they're at risk for slipping the color at regular tightness, but I figured weiner dogs would be ok. We were originally going to get an ez walker for our pup but decided getting a harness at all until she gets too big for us to handle the occasional pull.
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Jun 28, 2012 13:52
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Our vet, and several others, said a harness is a must for them. It is too easy to collapse their trachea if they pull with a regular collar.
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Jun 28, 2012 14:10
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nesbit37 posted:Does anyone have equipment suggestions here or do we need to just work on it with harness that attaches to the leash in the back like we currently use? I would recommend just continuing to use the regular harness, then. A head collar might work for a different breed, but I've heard too many stories of long-backed breeds having their neck snap from using a gentle leader or halti style head harness. Just carry on reinforcing the "walk beside me" behavior, and definitely work that Premack as much as you can!
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Jun 28, 2012 18:11
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I'm wondering if anyone has any exercises to build drive in a dog. We're doing our search and rescue training and he's just a bit overwhelmed in the busy training environment. We're focusing in part on simple desensitization and socialization so that the trainings aren't a big deal, but more experienced trainers on the team have encouraged us to build up his drive as much as possible. He has a very strong prey drive but right now the other dogs are just so exciting that if one starts coming back when we're working him, he just blows us off and goes to visit. I'm doing a few exercises but some of you guys in PI think of the most creative things so I figured I'd check here to see if anyone has some fun suggestions. Kiri koli posted:I kind of want to see one of these people that never lets their dog walk in front of them. It must be the most awkward, clumsy sight. My ex-husband was a big believer in that. He pulled it off okay, but it seemed like every time we changed the pack at all (we had a few dogs that were permanent residents but lots of fosters and strays coming and going) he had to spend a week or two reestablishing it. Even the old guys who knew what they were supposed to do would take advantage of the confusion of the new dog and run out ahead of him. On the other hand, I didn't care what order we traveled in as long as no one was being rude, and I wound up getting all but one of the dogs in the divorce because they listened to me better and attached themselves to me instead of him.  I like to think it was at least in part because they found his insistence on being in the lead all the time as obnoxious as I did.
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Jun 30, 2012 02:30
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Stella's leash behaviour is starting to get better, and my attitude about it has gotten better since I realized that because her previous family never walked her we're basically dealing with a 60 pound puppy when it came to the leash, but she still goes full total idiot if she sees another dog. I've been letting her meet the other dogs (when the owners say it's okay) and it's usually just some friendly rear end sniffing, but once she gets into "I saw a dog" state she forgets everything and starts pulling, running back and forth, whining, etc, even after the dog is gone, and even if she got to meet the dog. What do you guys recommend to bring her back to a more relaxed state? Also, she pulled off the trick where you put a treat on her nose, tell her to wait, and then have her catch it in the air today. On the one hand I feel dumb because I've taught her that and roll over even though she doesn't know stay but on the other hand I love that trick.
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Jun 30, 2012 05:29
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2tomorrow posted:I'm wondering if anyone has any exercises to build drive in a dog. We're doing our search and rescue training and he's just a bit overwhelmed in the busy training environment. We're focusing in part on simple desensitization and socialization so that the trainings aren't a big deal, but more experienced trainers on the team have encouraged us to build up his drive as much as possible. He has a very strong prey drive but right now the other dogs are just so exciting that if one starts coming back when we're working him, he just blows us off and goes to visit.
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Jun 30, 2012 09:16
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2tomorrow posted:I'm wondering if anyone has any exercises to build drive in a dog. We're doing our search and rescue training and he's just a bit overwhelmed in the busy training environment. We're focusing in part on simple desensitization and socialization so that the trainings aren't a big deal, but more experienced trainers on the team have encouraged us to build up his drive as much as possible. He has a very strong prey drive but right now the other dogs are just so exciting that if one starts coming back when we're working him, he just blows us off and goes to visit. What sort of reward are you offering for successfully performing the behaviour? One way to approach it is to build more value for the reward through games. Is it a ball? A tug toy? This post can get you started on building toy drive: http://www.clickerdogs.com/createamotivatingtoy.htm Associate searching for his goal with raucous play sessions, and keep repetitions hugely fun and SHORT. You want to always leave him asking for more, not getting bored and wandering away. Restrained recalls can be good general drive builders (have someone hold him and then run away). prom candy posted:Stella's leash behaviour is starting to get better, and my attitude about it has gotten better since I realized that because her previous family never walked her we're basically dealing with a 60 pound puppy when it came to the leash, but she still goes full total idiot if she sees another dog. I've been letting her meet the other dogs (when the owners say it's okay) and it's usually just some friendly rear end sniffing, but once she gets into "I saw a dog" state she forgets everything and starts pulling, running back and forth, whining, etc, even after the dog is gone, and even if she got to meet the dog. I would start cuing simple behaviours after she's greeted a dog, and rewarding thoroughly for compliance. Just simple sits and downs can do wonders to getting her brains back in her skull, and food tends to relax dogs a bit while training. And she's all amped up because the environment was so rewarding and fun to her, so I would turn on the happy fun voice and really engage with her while she's still on her "omg i met a dog" high.
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Jun 30, 2012 15:19
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I kind of feel like a poo poo owner right now. Some of you know Shadow is quite thunder/firework-phobic, but I've done very little in the way of D&CC-ing him.  He has a Thundershirt and Rescue Remedy, which help calm him, but he's still obviously a bit on edge the whole time. Overall he has improved since I brought him to live with me - he would bloody himself tearing down doors to get inside at my mom's house. As long as he's inside, he doesn't get destructive or anything, just lays where he feels most secure and trembles, and of course follows me everywhere I go.He doesn't have a crate because he has never once been a problem uncrated, but I thought about getting him one of those pop-up crates to make into a cozy, safe place for him when it's thundering or there are fireworks. My problem is this: I don't really know HOW to go about D&CC-ing him. He doesn't respond in the slightest to "fake" thunder/firework noises from my computer or TV. I don't see how the specialized CDs could be any different, but are they...? Any ideas on how to go about this? I hate seeing my dog terrified.
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Jul 1, 2012 04:45
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Is there absolutely anything he'll eat during thunderstorms/fireworks? If he doesn't react to the CD, I'd imagine you'd have to do all of your conditioning during the storm/fireworks. If he was originally an outside dog, it's very possible that being outside and the panic to get inside have combined to make him even more afraid. I'm in a loosely similiar position with my old dog. She just paces and trembles, but she will not eat a drat thing. I just manage by making a dark room (I usually go up into my bedroom), shutting curtains and windows and doors and having a snuggle party with her.
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Jul 1, 2012 08:45
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