MMD3 posted:

thanks!

any crate training resources that you could suggest reading up on? would love to know if we should start crating at night as soon as we get her or slowly work up to overnight. Also, should the crate be in our bedroom or outside of it?

a life less posted:

I really like Susan Garrett's Crate Games. I know there's a DVD -- not sure if there's any official literature on it. It's technically geared towards sport dogs, but I think there's loads of practical applications for it. It does a good job fostering love for the crate as well as teaches great impulse control.

I would crate overnight at first, with breaks every few hours to potty (it sucks, I know). I like the crate being in my bedroom, at least to start. When I first got my dog, I spent a few nights sleeping in front of her crate so I could stick my hand in to comfort her when she whined. It worked well for me. However, in some dogs it may intensify whining, so feel it out yourself.

HatandBanana posted:

I've tried everything I can think of and it's to the point that I am at my wit's end and concerned for my dog's safety. I love my dog. She's smart, we've trained a lot of fun stuff using clicker training, but she's a bolter. Any chance she can get off leash, she will just run away down the block. When she's in "bolt" mode, she will not respond to any commands, will not respond to treats or toys, and won't even respond if I try and make it a "game" and run the other way, it is like she gets focused and in the zone on something and cannot even hear me. She knows come and responds near flawlessly in the house off-lead. I have tried putting her on a long lead outside or in the park and she will also respond to come then, even with distractions. I know she knows the command, but it's like she knows when she's tethered and will respond, and she seems to know when she is untethered and outside becomes wild and free dog and stops responding to any kind of command, any reinforcement/treat (even her favorite), anything but her own agenda really. She doesn't behave this way on our walks and doesn't really pull. She's really great as long as she is contained in an area or on-lead. Same goes for in our backyard. When she has a fence around her, but is offlead, she will respond to "Come on, come in the house." She seems to know the difference there, too.

So, I figured if I couldn't trust her off-lead, I would teach her to wait at the door. I thought we had this down. She was performing it pretty well the whole time we were moving in to our new house and had the door open a lot. But today, I came in and instead of greeting me, when I came in the front door, I felt something soft hit my leg. I didn't even have the door wide open. By the time I realized what happened a half-second later, she was already down the street. She was almost hit by 3 different cars. She is way too fast for me to catch her on my own. I finally reached her and was able to snatch her up down the block when some old lady's stupid chiweenie poo poo crossed the street and bit the hell out of my leg and my dog came over to greet him.

Another thing I've tried to train on advice of the trainer is "look" at me and then a treat. This works very well... except off-lead.

I've taken her to many training classes and she seems to respond admirably there, but it never translates off-leash in open areas.

We go on walks to a park just down the road, she plays in the backyard, so it's not as if she never goes outside. I only work part-time so she gets plenty of love during the day...

I don't even know where to begin training this. I can't trust her off-lead out front, even, as you can see, for a second.. out back off-lead she responds fine.

She had the same issue with barking, that we have since pretty much corrected. She wouldn't respond to treats or toys or the SHUSH command we practiced. It's almost like I had to "snap" her out of it by gently spritzing her to get her attention, then giving her the command, and THEN a shitload of treats for responding (can full of pennies was ignored). Now she just barks a couple of times, I touch her on the shoulder and she looks back to me and waits, and I give her something good (no more spraying is really needed anymore).

I guess what I am trying to say is that it seems like in these situations my dog gets in these intensely focused states of mind with her own goal and tunes the entire world out until she achieves it. Like tunnel vision. This is GREAT when we are training because she becomes intensely focused on learning something new and getting that treat and ignores any distractions. But it is awful when she has her own agenda and I become a distraction to be tuned out. She doesn't even seem to notice cars... she tunes them out as well and seems to walk or run right out in front of them like they aren't even there. It almost takes a physical sensation to snap her out of it and make her realize she should be listening and paying attention.

So.. please, any advice would be helpful. I've tried everything I can think of and I am really scared she will get out one day and either not come back or be hit by a car.

I am willing to try anything at this point, but I am not really sure where to start. Thanks PI!

Plus, it would be really nice to be able to take her places off leash. She is a really great dog otherwise and I always thought she'd make an excellent flyball dog... but I just can't trust her right now. :/

a life less posted:

What type of dog? How old? What does she find most motivating? Exploration? Sniffing? Start trying to incorporate more creative reinforcement for good behaviour so your dog understands that you are a channel to things she loves, not a barrier.

Mr Furious posted:

Have you tried the Look At That game or any mat work?
I have posts on both in this thread and there should be links in the OP.
My experience is that asking for focus to combat distractions is a recipe for failure. If you haven't tried these, I would recommend you read those posts and post again with questions or if you think you need more help. If you have tried these, I'd like to hear more about precisely how you set the exercise up and when and how it failed.

HatandBanana posted:

Engineer Lenk posted:

If there's someplace near you that does a Control Unleashed-based class, I would recommend it. I think box work would be most useful for your purposes, but you need a lot of fences and distractions to put the exercise together well.

You can also alter the lead a bit for in-between levels of practice - something like a long strand of light cord that she drags. Leash isn't in your hand, and no pressure is on it unless she's running amok (step on it).

MrFurious posted:

LAT and mat work are different from what you describe although they can look very similar to the casual observer. Both are covered in Control Unleashed, which has already been recommended to you twice. I'd strongly recommend that you go over the posts linked in the OP for them and read the book, then check back if you're confused about how to proceed.

HatandBanana posted:

I just moved from out-of-state to Salt Lake City, UT. I had a great training center in Arkansas that I worked with Abby at, but now that I am here I am looking for a new good training center. Are any of you SLC goons that can give me a recommendation? It's been years since I've lived in the state

HatandBanana posted:

(I'm on my bed like you told me, 3 of my paws are on the bed so it counts! Oh alright, if you insist that I lay down, then I will hang my head off the bed, it's STILL down, isn't it? But I still get to have something off the bed! Sit? Okay, but I am going to hover my butt just off the ground. Come? Okay, but I am going the LONG way around.) She seems to need a lot of mental stimulation. She's been a challenge to raise, and most people wouldn't like that, but I've really kind of enjoyed having a dog who does things her own way and thinks for herself, rather than a blindly obedient dog (am I weird or what?). She keeps me on my toes and she's a lot of fun. However, off-leash "come" is something that is important to her safety and it's the one rule I'd want her to follow without question.

Demon_Corsair posted:

New fun problem. How do I stop him from opening the fridge? He doesn't take anything, he just opens it and walks away.

The catch? He only does it when no one is around.

Progression Please posted:

I have a 2 year old, female Great Dane. She is sweet and energetic and well-behaved for the most part, but her problem is becoming really riled-up and "primal" with my sister's dog when we go to the dog park. She sees my sister's dog almost as a cat, and will chase after, bark and put her mouth around the dog's neck (not with force, but still obviously unacceptable). This is a problem because my sister's dog doesn't want to play with mine like that, it wants to go off and do its own thing. We are trying to spray our dog with vinegar and shout when she is going after my sisters', but the vinegar is usually out of range. Vocal shouts sometimes work, but not always.

I think in this situation a more effective approach is needed. I feel a shock collar, only used when she is not listening to my voice/ mouthing my sister's dog, could be a solution and hopefully the shock could be associated with pursing my sister's dog. My wife disagrees and believes this method is cruel (which I understand). Are there any recommendations on what course of action to take? I think a shock is a safer alternative to a dog that isn't listening in that situation.

wtftastic posted:

No one here is going to tell you a shock collar is an acceptable way to solve this problem, sorry.

There are a lot more humane and effective ways to deal with the problem. First of all, you need to stop your dog from engaging in the behavior. When she gets too riled up, she needs to be leashed and removed from the situation. Shouting/ Vinegar might just get her more riled up and a shock collar might give your dog a negative association with the dog she's playing with, and lead to her being afraid of the other dog. She has no idea why she's getting zapped, just that the other dog is there and then BAM! You basically need to gently control her level of excitement and engagement with the other dog.

Have you considered not forcing the two of them to interact? Its possible that their play styles aren't compatible.

MrFurious posted:

There's a mechanics problem with what you've suggested here. I wouldn't try to leash up in the middle of those bad manners because at worst you risk a redirection bite, and at best your dog will quickly learn to run away from you to avoid being leashed and the end of his excitement. Instead I'd have the bad manners dog drag a leash during play (try to structure the situation so that it's just the two dogs so there isn't a safety hazard). Then when your sister's dog starts giving avoidance signals, go stand on the leash. You've created a dynamic tether. The other dog can now exit without being harassed and your dog will be forced to start to recognize those signals and what they mean. You're going to experience a lot of barrier frustration first though. Some dogs handle this better than others, so give this a try and report back.

But as stated, a shock collar is never an acceptable solution for problem behavior.

drat Bananas posted:

My dog is getting increasingly aggressive toward delivery men (UPS, FedEx) and I have no idea why. He is just fine with other humans, on walks, at the dog park, loving loves house visitors - barks his head off at the door when he can't see them, but warms up once they come inside. He used to be "normal" to delivery men - normal barking, "hey there's a guy at the door!" barking. I don't know what has changed it. The only thing that has changed in his life recently is that I now stay home all day instead of him being home alone for ~8 hours. He's been to the vet numerous times in the last couple months (unrelated).

He knows the sound of the delivery truck engine and flips his poo poo when he hears it to go snarl and bark obsessively at the front window. We only get packages occasionally, so they don't actually come knock very often, mostly just drive by. Today instead of just leaving the package there on the porch, the FedEx man stood at the door waiting for me to open it. I had to push my snarling insane dog back with one arm in order to open the door, and he bit my arm. Hard enough to rip open the skin at my elbow crease, and bleed. He was frantically trying to get past me. If he got past me, I'm very scared what would have happened.

From everything I've learned about training, I need to make positive associations with whatever is setting him off. But delivery trucks aren't really something you can summon to "work with", and they come at different times every day. My dog hears them before I do (if I do at all). This is in addition to the intensity of the problem, indicating a longer working-with time. I know I need to hire a behaviorist, but I just don't know what to expect. What exactly do they do? How do I find one worth anything, especially worth anything in something dangerous like this?

Immediate plan: Don't open the door, let them leave it at the apartment office
Long-term plan: ???

Almost 4 year old beagle, adopted 2 years ago. Successfully trained out of pretty severe separation anxiety, finally, so he is at least trainable... after a year and a half... :-/

drat Bananas posted:

I need help. I know this is NOT good, and I'm in tears typing it.

My dog is getting increasingly aggressive toward delivery men (UPS, FedEx) and I have no idea why. He is just fine with other humans, on walks, at the dog park, loving loves house visitors - barks his head off at the door when he can't see them, but warms up once they come inside. He used to be "normal" to delivery men - normal barking, "hey there's a guy at the door!" barking. I don't know what has changed it. The only thing that has changed in his life recently is that I now stay home all day instead of him being home alone for ~8 hours. He's been to the vet numerous times in the last couple months (unrelated).

He knows the sound of the delivery truck engine and flips his poo poo when he hears it to go snarl and bark obsessively at the front window. We only get packages occasionally, so they don't actually come knock very often, mostly just drive by. Today instead of just leaving the package there on the porch, the FedEx man stood at the door waiting for me to open it. I had to push my snarling insane dog back with one arm in order to open the door, and he bit my arm. Hard enough to rip open the skin at my elbow crease, and bleed. He was frantically trying to get past me. If he got past me, I'm very scared what would have happened.

From everything I've learned about training, I need to make positive associations with whatever is setting him off. But delivery trucks aren't really something you can summon to "work with", and they come at different times every day. My dog hears them before I do (if I do at all). This is in addition to the intensity of the problem, indicating a longer working-with time. I know I need to hire a behaviorist, but I just don't know what to expect. What exactly do they do? How do I find one worth anything, especially worth anything in something dangerous like this?

Immediate plan: Don't open the door, let them leave it at the apartment office
Long-term plan: ???

Almost 4 year old beagle, adopted 2 years ago. Successfully trained out of pretty severe separation anxiety, finally, so he is at least trainable... after a year and a half... :-/

Dogdoo 8 posted:

How do I extinguish behavior that I'm trying to teach, but only at certain times? I'm trying to get Beartato to wave and roll over, but I don't have a command assigned to either yet. Now a lot of the time when I tell him to sit, he does it but will sometimes paw at the air and every time he goes into a down he rolls over. I had this problem earlier and stopped trying to get him to wave/beg/sit pretty/whatever so I could get a good sit, but now I'd like to teach him to do more.

Dogdoo 8 posted:

How do I extinguish behavior that I'm trying to teach, but only at certain times? I'm trying to get Beartato to wave and roll over, but I don't have a command assigned to either yet. Now a lot of the time when I tell him to sit, he does it but will sometimes paw at the air and every time he goes into a down he rolls over. I had this problem earlier and stopped trying to get him to wave/beg/sit pretty/whatever so I could get a good sit, but now I'd like to teach him to do more.

Engineer Lenk posted:

On a different roll over note, Ru seems to have generalized roll over to include some sort of crazy break dancing move (his butt rolls over, the rest of him kind of spins?). I think this is pretty funny and would like to catch it on its own cue. Should I capture it first, then clean up roll over? Is the only downside taking longer to clean up the cue?

Kiri koli posted:

Does he understand down as separate from roll over, aka did you teach him down before and he knew it, but now has added the roll over? If he knows down, then I would just never reward him for doing the roll over because that's not what you asked. Reset and ask again. If he still doesn't get it, put him next to a piece of furniture so he can't roll over. Since he's offering the roll over, I would go ahead and add a cue now too.

Lots of dogs like to stubbornly offer the behaviors they like best or that have recently gotten them lots of treats, so don't let them get away with it if you ask for something different. If a dog is offering you a fully formed behavior (like a complete roll over), then it's time to put it on cue and only reward when you ask for it.

Direwolf posted:

Any suggestions? I don't know if I should just put them together and see what happens, or if that short a time period is feasible for them to learn to tolerate each other or get along, or if I should just keep them segregated going forward.

Engineer Lenk posted:

This exercise with the calmer lab:

Let your dog loose in a room / behind a gate.
Bring the lab in on leash.
Click/treat for them reorienting to you and ignoring your dog. Call them in a happy voice if you can't get them unstuck, but you're trying to make this automatic. The lesson you want them to take away is that you are more reinforcing than messing with the other dog.
Monitor and call away from any signs of play.

Eventually you should be able to drop the leash and still have the lab orient to you rather than your dog (ideally this would be your parents as well if you can get them involved). Toss your dog a treat once in a while for being a good sport. Then see if you can get dual dog behaviors: ask both dogs to sit and reward both dogs.

Eventually you'll know that you can remove the barriers and they'll operate okay under supervision. I wouldn't leave them to sort it out - that will be very stressful on your dog and could well leave her more reactive.

For the smaller lab, before you get to the exercise above, you should work on a more formal 'look at that' and block off the door so that they can't practice yelling at each other. I would probably start outside, with both dogs on leash, lab leading out maybe 50 feet ahead of your sheltie. Click/treat each dog for looking at the other one, working up to parallel walking about 10' apart. Don't let them meet, and if either dog starts barking reward the other heavily, increase distance a bit and try again.

Your primary focus in this situation is to keep the labs from instigating anything. If you can teach them that your dog is not a new and interesting source of amusement, everyone will coexist peacefully. I don't think you'll make it to a point where everyone is trustworthy without supervision by August, but I think you do stand a good chance of being able to sit down in one room with your family without incident.

Damo posted:

I'm sorry if this is asked every other page, I'll admit I don't visit PI or this thread often enough.

Anyone have some training tips for breaking my 2½ year old beagle mutt into being safe and obedient off leash? I'm only planning on doing it sparingly and in safer situations such as a sparsely populated park away from streets, or a hiking trail and other things like that. I'd like to be able to get my dog trained and behaving well enough to, say, play catch with me, just follow me around, or sit around with me, -- without having to worry about him darting off, barking at animals or people or running into the middle of the street or some poo poo.

He does have a bit of a problem with trying to lead me during walks, dart off at interesting stuff, and bark aggressively (but never actually biting or anything) at dogs/cats and certain people, usually only on his normal walking route. In other (mostly) closed environments he is fairly obedient, responsive and gets along with new people of all ages fine, along with other dogs. Maybe he is territorial on his walks? Anyway, I mention it because it is evidence that worries me about letting him off leash.

I tried it out on Sunday a bit. I let him off the leash for about 15 seconds 3 different times. Each time he kind of roamed around at a medium pace excitedly sniffing and looking around for stuff to check out, and a few times he headed in the direction of other people, but he stopped when prompted, and always came back when called within a couple of tries having no qualms about letting me leash him again. In my judgement he did OK. But it was a small almost empty park, without any other animals or commotion to truly test him.

Anyway, that's my situation. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

MrFurious posted:

notsoape is probably our resident beagle expert, but she actually breeds hunting stock, so maybe we can get her to post some breed specifics. Although I love them, we don't see a lot of them in classes or adoptions up here, so my experience is limited.

I can help with the recall training advice, however. So while you may feel that Sunday was a good trial run, as a trainer, I would say that you broke one of the cardinal rules -- you said the command multiple times. I live in Boulder and we actually have a city program where dogs can roam with you unleashed, provided that you have passed a test and received a yellow dog tag. In order to do this, you have to demonstrate that your dog will respond readily to your oral commands the first time, right away. If an officer or park ranger sees otherwise they can and will fine you.

So, to start, there are some posts linked in the OP for improving and refining an off-leash recall, but I would say that you need to work on some recall fundamentals first.
The rules are as follows:

• We say the C-O-M-E word (or whatever your recall cue is) once and only once, period. We use this word only when we are confident the dog will respond.
  
• Coming when called must be a positive experience. That means we don't use the C word to start a bath (if we don't like baths), we don't use it to leash up and leave the dog park, and we definitely don't scold our dog after he comes because we just called him away from doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.
  
• Use very, very high value treats when training recalls to make it a super positive experience. Bring out the big guns for this - baby food, rotisserie chicken, bacon, tunafish. Especially since you have a beagle, the stinkier, the better, most likely.
  

Typically we train recalls as a chained behavior, and we build from the name game to hand targets to default sits. What that means is that our desired recall starts with a "Rover, come!" and our dog whips around, tears rear end to us and plops down into a sit and waits for a collar grab or a release cue. I'm going to gloss over some of this unless you want more details and focus on how you can really get your dog coming the first time you call.

Grab the big guns we talked about above, whatever really motivates your dog. Toss a low value treat across to the other side of the room, then give your recall cue. Hopefully your dog comes right away. If your dog dog does not come, remember that you are not allowed to repeat the cue. Your dog's recall cue is not "COME... COME ROVER... COME HERE", so don't practice like it is. If he's not heading your way, then start making noise. Pat the ground or your legs, make kissing noises, or start running away from him and make it a game of chase. If this occurs, you're asking for more than he can give you yet, so make it MUCH easier next time and work your way back out slowly. When your dog does come to you, regardless of what you had to do to get him there, make sure that you reward heavily. When we first start using the C word, we try to make a point of rewarding for 30 straight seconds. We do a recall from a couple of feet away and then we methodically feed tiny treats one at a time for thirty straight seconds.

Start with this and post again if anything seems unclear or you're having trouble.