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So we have a dog that is 1.5 years old and still very puppy-like (lots of energy, loves to rough-house, etc). We just got a four month old puppy and want to make sure their playtime together is good, and that the puppy learns how to play with other dogs well. We are worried our older dog is teaching our new puppy bad play habits. She isn't the best player with other dogs - we have to keep a close eye on her at the dog park and intervene before things get out of hand. She tends to become over-energized, and mouthy/vocal eventually (if we don't step in) escalates into a fight. Now, she is being very good with the puppy and we aren't worried about fighting between those two. But we are worried about the amount of mouthing/nipping/biting involved. The puppy is doing plenty of nipping/biting and, since our older dog likes to play that way anyway, she encourages it and mouths/nips right back. Basically, I know puppies do the nipping thing (and older dogs tolerate it to an extent)...but I want to make sure my poorly-mannered older dog doesn't teach the puppy bad things. Should we be stepping in keeping mouthing/biting/nipping to a minimum? Let them do their thing? We aren't really sure what to do.
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Jun 20, 2013 15:14
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I'm not sure if this should go here or in the reactive dog thread. I'll move it there if it's more suited. I have contacted a trainer that works with reactive dogs but she hasn't gotten back to me about a consultation. She's the only trainer within 5 hours who will work specifically on reactivity. My 10 month old Aussie had a bad experience with kids when she was around 4 months old. My partner took her to a friend's house and his children cornered her because he wasn't watching. She's never really been the same since. I can manage her around people and children in public appropriately with redirecting and avoidance but the main problem is in the home. When someone comes inside she will circle them barking until they sit down. Then continue to bark at them if they move at all. We have had some success in having them throw treats to her. After several visits she will allow them to move around the house with minimal gruffs. She does put her hackles up when this occurs. She will also redirect onto my other dog during these times. Grabbing her back legs and sometimes shaking them. This occurs at any novel stimuli. I've managed the latter by physically separating them with my body but it's difficult when I'm not sure when she's going to react. She gets one agility practice a week with one other dog (no issues). She's at the dog park 3-4 times per week with minimal issues. She's walked at least once a day plus thinking toys. Is there anything else I can be doing? They play together all the time but she is having outbursts frequently. I don't want her to be uncomfortable all the time. I even bought a thunder shirt for her that has definately been helpful.
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Jun 20, 2013 17:45
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Fat Lazy Unicorn posted:
I'm going to copy/paste my post from the Reactive Dog thread since I think it could apply here too. a life less posted:Slow down and don't panic. Both my dogs do agility, performances etc, and both are reactive and both need to be managed to varying degrees. Right now you need to build trust with this dog, then a working relationship, and then you can start looking at sports and all sorts of amazing fun stuff. As stated, reactivity may never completely go away, but it can be managed so well that no one would ever know your dog has insecurity issues. It gets to be pretty easy too, once the initial learning curve is conquered. polyfractal posted:So we have a dog that is 1.5 years old and still very puppy-like (lots of energy, loves to rough-house, etc). We just got a four month old puppy and want to make sure their playtime together is good, and that the puppy learns how to play with other dogs well. I would just separate as you have been at the park if play gets too over the top. Encourage brief, fun training sessions in between play sessions between the dogs. As in, the dogs are playing, you call them away from each other, you ask for some fast paced fun behaviours like spins, downs, targets, etc, reward thoroughly, then release back to play. It should make calling them away from each other easier in the future. Ikantski posted:I can't believe I've been following this thread for two years already. Every 6 months or so, something happens that makes me feel greatly indebted to a life less for starting it, thank you so much! If I hadn't found this thread a few days before getting my puppy, I would have stuck to the Cesar Milan puppy book with the TSST and the dominance and all that. Yay happy training story! That's great! I've been following your posts over the past year or so (wow, time flies) and it sounds like you're doing marvelously. It's so great to see you opting to do things a little differently than they're normally done in the gun dog community! 
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Jun 20, 2013 18:47
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Fat Lazy Unicorn posted:Is there anything else I can be doing? They play together all the time but she is having outbursts frequently. I don't want her to be uncomfortable all the time. I even bought a thunder shirt for her that has definately been helpful. Can you predict when she's going to go after your other dog - by body language or anything? I'd develop a pattern of calling away, treating, then settling her on a mat or in a crate with a kong or chewy for 10 minutes. As for guests, don't let her run amok and practice the bad behavior. Do a quick on-leash intro to the guests with enough treats to keep her quiet, then settle her in a separate room for management while you visit. When the on-leash intro becomes easy, give the treats to the guests to drop (but keep her on-leash). Encourage your guests to wander around a bit and drop treats. When she's getting through that scenario with a loose leash and no vocalization, drop the leash. Any misbehavior she gets removed from the situation posthaste. All my experience is with older dogs. Your dog is right around the second fear period, so management and keeping her from practicing bad behavior becomes more important, I think.
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Jun 20, 2013 18:49
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a life less posted:I would just separate as you have been at the park if play gets too over the top. Encourage brief, fun training sessions in between play sessions between the dogs. As in, the dogs are playing, you call them away from each other, you ask for some fast paced fun behaviours like spins, downs, targets, etc, reward thoroughly, then release back to play. It should make calling them away from each other easier in the future. Awesome, we'll do this. Thanks! Edit: Funny, related story. Our older dog is not overly friendly to new dogs in her territory. We did all the usual "meet and sniff somewhere neutral" stuff, then walked home together. Our older dog was still very, very aggressive towards the new dog. So, for the first three hours together, we kept them separated by a baby-fence and shoveled food down the older dog's throat. Peanut butter, cheese cubes, bread, scraps of meat. Everything yummy ever made. Make eye contact with the puppy? Treat. Puppy moved? Treat. Hackles start to rise because OMG SCARY PUPPY? Distract with a command and treat. Treat treat treat so many treats. Eventually they could look at each other without incident, then sniffing, then walking around together, then finally playing. Today they are like best friends as if they had never known otherwise. Funnily enough, we noticed that the older dog begins drooling whenever she stands near the puppy. Here's to you, Pavlov and classical conditioning 
polyfractal fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Jun 20, 2013 |
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Jun 20, 2013 19:59
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polyfractal posted:Awesome, we'll do this. Thanks! We should bookmark this post for all the skeptics.
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Jun 20, 2013 20:27
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polyfractal posted:Awesome, we'll do this. Thanks! What an awesome training success story (and example of conditioning)! When I was working on getting Bailey not to lunge at cars, I would stand in front of him and ask for a sit. He now will look at me, offer eye contact, and sit when a car approaches (and he's not too excited), so its really neat how conditioning works.
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Jun 21, 2013 13:39
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Thanks for reposting that a life less. It helped to read it again. It can be really stressful to have her react during agility sessions ( dogs aren't supposed to come in, the sessions are staggered but they still do). Just reading the reactive dog thread is making me feel better. Engineer Lenk posted:Can you predict when she's going to go after your other dog - by body language or anything? I'd develop a pattern of calling away, treating, then settling her on a mat or in a crate with a kong or chewy for 10 minutes. Thanks so much for this! I didn't even think to put her on leash. I'll work with that and try to get her crate habits repaired (might work with a mat instead since that foundation isn't tainted). It's hard to predict mostly because what she redirects from changes. The easy ones like going outside, getting leashes on or immediately after leaving their crates I'm managing okay with separating and treating when she's calm. She'll also react if my other dog gets excited. I'll try to be more focused on her and see if I can uncover a possible trigger there. We actually had a really good dog park day where she only barked at one person who tried to pet her even though I asked them not to. So small victories!
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Jun 21, 2013 18:55
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polyfractal posted:Funnily enough, we noticed that the older dog begins drooling whenever she stands near the puppy. Here's to you, Pavlov and classical conditioning I love your story. This is so cool 
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Jun 21, 2013 23:11
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wtftastic posted:What an awesome training success story (and example of conditioning)! When I was working on getting Bailey not to lunge at cars, I would stand in front of him and ask for a sit. He now will look at me, offer eye contact, and sit when a car approaches (and he's not too excited), so its really neat how conditioning works. adventure in the sandbox posted:I love your story. This is so cool Thanks! Honestly, my girlfriend and I were expecting several days of hell before the two dogs could even be in the same room together. We were both shocked at how quickly the older dog stopped being aggressive due to the conditioning. It was neat to watch, and hilarious to see her drooling the whole next day. Conditioning is really rewarding when it clicks
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Jun 22, 2013 22:16
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About the electric fence I asked about on the last page. It looks like there isn't really any solution which would be under 300 bucks (we have about 200 feet of fence), and I won't be here more than 2 more months, so I guess I will have to crate and watch her. Today I was lifting weights and out of the corner of my eye I saw a blur in the neighbor's yard. She has now progressed to escaping when I am home! I guess the new rule is she can't leave our sight anymore. It is a bummer but at least she does OK in the crate thanks to the training I put in prior to it being necessary. Also, thankfully she so far has never even tried to go past the neighbor's yard and always comes back, usually on her own before we know she is gone. I think I understand how she ended up in the shelter in the first place. She is a drat Houdini. If I did an electric or coyote roller addition, it would be my third fence alteration since I got her.
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Jun 22, 2013 22:52
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Ribsauce posted:...I guess I will have to crate and watch her.
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Jun 23, 2013 03:59
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You don't mean leave her on that while I am at work do you? I am pretty sure that is illegal plus the heat is unsafe anyway. I am pretty sure you don't mean for me to leave her on it unsupervised though. If you mean use that for while I am home I guess that is an option . I take her for long walks in the morning and at night plus hang out in the backyard some while she runs around so that is probably enough. Honestly, I just don't think she would like being attached to that thing for any period of time. What I have done since her breakout is still leave her free with Buddy (other dog) to go in and out but I do watch when she is out. If she breaks towards the fence I will get outside quick enough to correct her. Luckily for me she has no interest in actually getting away, the times she jumps it she just stays on the other side even though she can go anywhere she pleases. I think she just jumps it to show off to be honest. As soon as I make like I am going inside she comes flying back over.
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Jun 23, 2013 18:07
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Ribsauce posted:You don't mean leave her on that while I am at work do you? I am pretty sure that is illegal plus the heat is unsafe anyway. I am pretty sure you don't mean for me to leave her on it unsupervised though. If you mean use that for while I am home I guess that is an option . I take her for long walks in the morning and at night plus hang out in the backyard some while she runs around so that is probably enough. Honestly, I just don't think she would like being attached to that thing for any period of time. And no. I didn't mean while you are at work, although a good setup, in a safe neighborhood (or in the countryside with no dangerous wildlife (for instance wolves...)) and in a reasonable climate is definitely a superior option to crating indoors imho. Of course my opinion is influenced by our laws and regulations, which explicitly prohibit crating unless it is required to treat certain medical issues. If a dog is tethered outdoors, it must be over a year old and needs to have access to 430 square feet. Shelter from the elements (a dog house) has to be within reach and there are to be no trees etc. around which the dog could wrap its tether. Not all dogs appreciate tethering outdoors on a trolley, but it is an option, which some dogs certainly enjoy more than staying indoors for instance. The amount of pics I've seen of US dogs that are chained to their dog houses has/had me believing that secure tethering outdoors is fine by the law. But yes I meant she could spend some time outdoors while you are at home on a trolley. Of course the setup, the weather (I'm sorry I didn't look up your climate, but trusted you to be able to evaluate it yourself...) and her preference would stipulate how long such periods could be.
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Jun 23, 2013 19:36
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I think our dog Andrew (9 year old yellow lab--we adopted him this past April) has anxiety issues. We can't leave him alone in the house un-crated or he will destroy things and poop everywhere. Doesn't matter if he took his normal dump of the day 5 minutes prior, we'll leave him un-crated in the house and only be gone 5 minutes and will come home to (usually multiple) piles of poop on the floor. He also occasionally pees in his crate, regardless of if he has just gone out to pee. He is okay outside of his crate as long as me or my wife are home and awake. My wife leaves for work a few hours before I usually get up, and she has to crate him before she leaves, otherwise he will poop in the floor. If only one of us is home and awake he is fine. He's also very obsessive about water. Take him for a walk, he tries to drink every mud puddle. He checks every toilet and if the lid is left open he chugs the entire bowl. He tries to drink water from the shower. When you give him a bath, he drinks the bath water. We literally can't keep his bowl full, as soon as it's filled up he drinks the entire thing. Refill it and it's gone in a matter of minutes. His random peeing-in-crate episodes seem to be regardless of how much water he has or has not had. He also seems to pant almost constantly, more heavily if he knows or thinks someone is getting ready to leave. The vet had us try Clomapramine pills for a month and it didn't seem to help anything. We're running out of ideas and are starting to run out of patience.
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Jun 25, 2013 02:41
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Training question, When teaching a dog a command in a session 1 lets say Sit, would you ever mark/click for another behavior that you DO want but aren't training? The dog does a down instead of a sit, but you do want the dog to learn down too eventually. Save it for session 2 or okay whilst teaching sit? If not, how soon can you move onto another command? Dog doesnt have Sit down 100% but pretty good, okay to work on Down and alternate? What spurred the question is that I'm seeing some people train dogs by using Marker+command while training.. so when teaching Sit, they do "Good sit!" + praise while good is the marker word. If they see the dog do a Down randomly or even asked to, its "Good down!" + praise. Is this a good idea or just really confusing to a dog?
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Jun 25, 2013 05:00
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It's confusing to the dog. That's not to say that I don't do it sometimes, but my dog definitely gets confused. The more structured your training sessions are and the more well thought out they are the better it is for the dog. Now, dogs are smart and may be able to work out what you want (especially with the simpler stuff) but I'd not suggest acknowledging a down if you're working on sit. However, I think people work on behaviours for far too long with their dogs. It's okay to work 3 reps of sit and then shift to working on down for 60 seconds. Just keep your training sessions controlled and thoughtful. Basically, while a dog is learning new behaviour you want to get it under stimulus control relatively quickly. This can get muddy and unclear if you're rewarding for sits and downs in the early stages of learning.
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Jun 25, 2013 12:23
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Maniaman posted:I think our dog Andrew (9 year old yellow lab--we adopted him this past April) has anxiety issues. We can't leave him alone in the house un-crated or he will destroy things and poop everywhere. Doesn't matter if he took his normal dump of the day 5 minutes prior, we'll leave him un-crated in the house and only be gone 5 minutes and will come home to (usually multiple) piles of poop on the floor. He also occasionally pees in his crate, regardless of if he has just gone out to pee. Nobody on PI is going to be able to help you with this online. My recommendation is that you seek out a real veterinary behaviorist. There are links to find one near you in the OP of the puppy thread. It's good that your vet considered medication, but medication alone is not a solution. It should almost always be paired with a behavior modification and training regime to address the root issue. The medication is typically used to bring your dog's threshold level down so that you can work on the behavior. After some level of progress, the medication is no longer necessary. There are a lot of other medications to try even if the Clomapramine wasn't effective, as well, so you still have lots of options. At the very least, you need to find a trainer who can help you set up a regimen and work in conjunction with your vet if you can't find or afford a veterinary behaviorist. Again, links for both of these are in the OP of the puppy thread. For the water issue, make sure you're managing it and not letting him self reinforce. Keep the toilet seat down, avoid puddles, etc.
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Jun 25, 2013 15:17
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Maniaman posted:I think our dog Andrew (9 year old yellow lab--we adopted him this past April) has anxiety issues. We can't leave him alone in the house un-crated or he will destroy things and poop everywhere. Doesn't matter if he took his normal dump of the day 5 minutes prior, we'll leave him un-crated in the house and only be gone 5 minutes and will come home to (usually multiple) piles of poop on the floor. He also occasionally pees in his crate, regardless of if he has just gone out to pee. Excessive peeing, drinking, and panting can be signs of a medical issue. I know those symptoms, along with excessive hunger and hair loss, are common signs for Cushings disease, particularly in older dogs (not saying your dog has Cushing, I'm not a vet, just an owner of a possible Cushings dog). So I would go back and talk to your vet about possible medical reasons for this behavior. Do you know the dog's history? Has the dog shown signs of anxiety before and when did the excessive drinking start? A veterinary behavior, of course, would be able to help your dog from both the behavior and the medical side.
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Jun 25, 2013 15:38
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Running into a frustrating issue with our newer dog. Both dogs go out through the doggy door fine to go potty when we're around. (They go outside into basically an ex-pen with a fake-grass potty patch out there since one of them hates going on concrete, and both generally go on the patch). However for the last week or so if we leave them out to their own devices, Penelope will poop and pee inside, just next to the doggy door. How can I go about fixing this? Extra praise/treats when she does it on her own when we're around?
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Jun 26, 2013 01:59
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This question's a bit complicated- two days ago we got hit by a massive storm with little to no warning. We have healthy, adult trees uprooted all over the place, all at different angles, and the neighbor in back of us says she saw debris spinning around in the back yard, which according to our local meterologists/news stations was entirely straight line winds. The only real warning I had was the dog barking 5-10 minutes before the storm hit. The only other time he's barked at storms was for a few minutes before a storm hit that got our roof destroyed. The weather sirens didn't go off at any point in time, our weather alert radio didn't go off at any point during the storm, and I was hiding in the laundry room with the dog during the storm while daytime talkshows were playing. Seriously, I had no goddamn clue until a giant gust of wind slammed against the house. That alert barking is amazing and I feel much safer for having it. I need him to be comfortable running down to the basement once that happens though. I managed to lure him close enough to grab him because there was luckily some cooked bacon nearby this time, but I'd like to train him that big storm = downstairs. I don't want to be running for the basement every time a storm hits though. Is there a good way to work with this specifically or should I just work on an emergency recall/get him more used to that area?
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Jun 26, 2013 10:54
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Splat posted:Running into a frustrating issue with our newer dog. Both dogs go out through the doggy door fine to go potty when we're around. (They go outside into basically an ex-pen with a fake-grass potty patch out there since one of them hates going on concrete, and both generally go on the patch). However for the last week or so if we leave them out to their own devices, Penelope will poop and pee inside, just next to the doggy door. How can I go about fixing this? Extra praise/treats when she does it on her own when we're around? I'd tackle it just like standard housetraining. Crate when you're out so your dog doesn't repeat bad habits and provide plenty of opportunities to potty appropriately when you're home. You can use treats for successful elimination, but they're secondary to management, in my opinion. It's all about creating habits. You can also play some games involving the doggy door. Rapid fire entrances/exits that you can mark/reward. You can also hide food around the yard and send the dog out the doggy door to get to it. Or you can play retrieving games by placing an object outside and sending your dog to retrieve it via its door. You can have loads of fun with hidden retrieving games. Dogdoo 8 posted:This question's a bit complicated- two days ago we got hit by a massive storm with little to no warning. We have healthy, adult trees uprooted all over the place, all at different angles, and the neighbor in back of us says she saw debris spinning around in the back yard, which according to our local meterologists/news stations was entirely straight line winds. The only real warning I had was the dog barking 5-10 minutes before the storm hit. The only other time he's barked at storms was for a few minutes before a storm hit that got our roof destroyed. The weather sirens didn't go off at any point in time, our weather alert radio didn't go off at any point during the storm, and I was hiding in the laundry room with the dog during the storm while daytime talkshows were playing. Seriously, I had no goddamn clue until a giant gust of wind slammed against the house. I don't think you need to bother with storm = into the basement. I would just work on your recall and get him used to hanging out in that area, as you suggested. You could set up a bed or a mat and play variations on crate games to work through any sort of hesitation he may have.
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Jun 26, 2013 13:17
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So I've decided to retrain my dog to not sleep in my bed with me anymore. I've had a dog sleep on my bed since I was five. When my first dog (Felix. We'll use names for clarity) died four years ago, my second dog (Archie, who came into the family as a stray when I was 14) started sleeping with me, where previously he had always been with my parents. I guess because I missed Felix a whole lot and so did he but it's come with the unfortunate side effect that Archie has huge separation anxiety solely for me and no one else in my family. He absolutely cannot be without me, e.g. he'll wait outside the bathroom door every single time I go in there and otherwise whimper and look miserable when I'm away. I'm 22 and I just feel like I'm getting a bit too old for it. He's getting on a bit too but he shows no real signs of coming close to his final hour. Don't get me wrong, I love the boy and I want him to be happy and healthy and live as long as possible but as soon as I've washed my sheets they're dirty within the day because of fur and the odd bump popping and leaking unidentified fluids. I'm not quite sure how to treat the separation anxiety itself, but the no bed rule seems like a good start. Anyway, I had a quick glance around the internet. My impression is that the best way is to get him his own bed to sleep on. If he tries to get on my bed, say something like 'off' and reward him with a 'good boy' and/or a small treat when he sits down on his bed. Ought I to keep the bed in my room and if so what should I do to prevent him from getting up on my bed during the night? I'm a fairly heavy sleeper and he's small so I never notice when he does. Octy fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Jun 27, 2013 |
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Jun 27, 2013 23:01
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So most of the older PI crowd will remember Cosmo & Sagan. Sagan had reactivity issues and she's mostly a lot better. But out of loving no where Cosmo has developed a problem. The other day we're at my in-laws house and my wife's little sister has a new puppy, maybe 4-6 months old. Cosmo bit the gently caress out of the dog and we figured it was because there was food out on a table about head-high to the dogs. So we took all food away and all was fine. But we came back a week or so later and were just hanging out at their pool and for no apparent reason Cosmo bit the gently caress out of the dog again. Then tonight we're at the local baseball diamond where our neighbors and anyone local with dogs let their dogs run around when school's out. Some neighbors came by and played, and Cosmo was fine until some 6 month old Golden Doodle cutie pie rolled up, and Cosmo bit the poo poo out of him. So we put Cosmo back on his leash and he didn't get to play for the rest of the session. We all walked back to our homes, which are all on the same city block, and we're lingering outside talking, and not really paying attention to the dogs but they're all on leashes standing in a circle, when again, out of the blue, Cosmo bites the gently caress out of the 6mo pup. It looked like he might've gotten his eye cause the dog wouldn't open it's left eye... I didn't really know how to respond to Cosmo doing this because it's never happened to me before, so I yelled No! and held him close and gave him a stern look/finger pointing. Obviously I told the dog's mom to take it to the vet and let us know what's up and we'll pay for anything if there is anything wrong and all that jazz... but what the gently caress? What could be causing Cosmo to act out like this? I can only remember one other time when Cosmo bit a dog and it was when my friend brought his new puppy to my house, and both dogs were on either side of me trying to get lovings and Cosmo lunged over me to bite the gently caress out of my friend's puppy. So how do I train Cosmo to stop biting puppies out of the blue?
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Jun 28, 2013 03:14
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You might wanna take Cosmo to the vet to rule out any medical issues. You think Sagan's reactivity could have rubbed off on him any? Telling him "no!" and holding him or giving him stern looks is only going to make him feel worse and cement it in his head "I knew that puppy was trouble, every time it comes around I get punished!" I would probably keep him out of any situation where he can bite someone's dog until you figure this out. It's impossible to say what's going on without seeing everything in person, and someone else here may have some way better advice for you. Chances are he's not "biting out of the blue." Do you remember exactly what his behavior was before he bit the other dogs? Any yawning, lip licking, freezing, staring? Are you guys still in Covington? You might wanna call in a really good trainer/behaviorist on this one.
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Jun 28, 2013 04:52
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Yea, I just didn't know how to react when it happened, that was the instinct. Sometimes Cosmo will stare the dog down before he bites, but sometimes he'll have that same look and just start licking dogs... Yea we're still in CVG, I guess we'll look at trainers, he's going to the vet soon anyway so we'll have to bring this up for sure.
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Jun 28, 2013 13:19
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So I can take Cash to work (and he is here with me today for a groomer appointment down the street), but he barks at almost anyone that walks through our office door. I usually call him over and treat to distract, but I want to make sure I'm doing it right? There are times though when it happens too quickly for me to distract him. Is there a really good way to handle reactive barking? I'm in an open office plan so it can be quite distracting. I'm kicking myself for not bringing a busy toy because he is probably bored as well, but i'll just go get one at lunch today.
cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 16:39
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cheese eats mouse posted:So I can take Cash to work (and he is here with me today for a groomer appointment down the street), but he barks at almost anyone that walks through our office door. I usually call him over and treat to distract, but I want to make sure I'm doing it right? There are times though when it happens too quickly for me to distract him. Is there a really good way to handle reactive barking? I'm in an open office plan so it can be quite distracting. I'm kicking myself for not bringing a busy toy because he is probably bored as well. The fast solution is to give him a kong or something that will keep him busy for a long period of time so that he just desensitizes to people coming and going. You can also play Look At That! with people walking by the office if you are in a high traffic area. If this isn't something that happens often though, it will take a while unless you setup a training situation.
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Jun 28, 2013 16:42
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So, Ticco's doing pretty well at staying in his crate for a few minutes (door open), but if I try giving him a long-lasting treat he brings it out to wherever I am to eat it beside me. How can I best get him to keep at it in the crate? If I bring it back to the crate it just turns into a "Ah ha! I brought it back out!" game.
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Jun 29, 2013 03:14
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Fat Dio posted:So, Ticco's doing pretty well at staying in his crate for a few minutes (door open), but if I try giving him a long-lasting treat he brings it out to wherever I am to eat it beside me. How can I best get him to keep at it in the crate? If I bring it back to the crate it just turns into a "Ah ha! I brought it back out!" game. I think I just kept a close eye on Ru, took the treat away and put it back in the crate immediately after he crossed the threshold. If he brought it back out three times it went away for a while. Since he actually wanted to gnaw on it he picked up on staying put pretty quickly. I would always pair it with the phrase 'take it to your crate' and now he'll take things in there on that command.
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Jun 29, 2013 06:22
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So, ever since I moved back home, Dexter has decided he REALLY loves breakfast and will whinewhinewhine starting at like 5:30-6:30 and will not stop for anything. Once we go downstairs and I feed him/medicate him/let him out, he normally runs back to the stairs to go back to bed. I have tried giving him a chewy upstairs to distract him, giving him a window to look out of, feeding him a late mini meal right before bed, tiring him out the night before, just taking him potty and bringing him back up, and even tried ignoring him (and I am ashamed that I have also tried yelling when nothing else worked. I am tired guys  ). Most of the time I have to give in because I need to get it over with and go back to bed to get enough sleep for work. I finally got a day off and decided to completely ignore him and hopefully break him of the habit, but he whined nonstop for 3 loving hours with no signs of slowing down. Then my parents went on vacation for a week and he did not whine at all ever. So this whining thing definitely happens when he hears my mom downstairs with the other dogs. Note: I figured out that his anxiety and nibbling behavior is triggered by not being able to see the outside world or whats going on. When I was off at college, I lived in a basement apartment where he had no windows to look out of in my room and then when i had the living room windows open, he would barkbark at everyone so i kept them closed. Anytime my roommate did something or had someone over and he was in my room with the door closed, he would be an anxious mess. He also would freak out at any noise outside. Now back home he has all the windows and a back yard to run around in and buddies, so he can actually do his neurotic self-appointed job of Being Aware Of Everything and nibbles WAY less than before. So back to the problem, today I tried ignoring him again but he was up on the bed nibbling and started frantically chewing/nibbling at himself. This is getting way worse than just a whinewhine problem and I simultaneously feel bad for him and want to pick him up and shake him screaming WHYYYYYY. Anyone have any ideas of what I can do to change this whole mess, or am I stuck waking up early to feed my dog and then go back to sleep for the rest of his life?
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Jun 30, 2013 12:06
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Are some dogs just impossible to crate train? It hasn't been long enough for me to call quits, but I just can't get Cash to step inside without being scared. If I put the treats in mouth reach he just picks them up and eats them outside the crate. Same story with food. He'll stick his head in but bring the food out to eat it.
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Jul 1, 2013 01:18
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What about taking the crate tray out and shaping/playing some crate games just with that? Or if that's not enough, play it on a mat and after he's having lots of fun and is comfortable, move the mat to the crate tray, and eventually the tray back into the crate. Cryingscarf, I'm not sure what to tell you. I'd just try to ignore the whining as best you can. It'll clearly take some time before it goes away. Sorry, but it sounds like a nasty, annoying, deeply ingrained habit.
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Jul 1, 2013 01:39
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Good idea I think that's what scares him the most is the plastic on the crate.
cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Jul 1, 2013 |
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Jul 1, 2013 01:45
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Arrrrghhhhhhhh! Okay, we have a 4, nearly 5-year-old cocker spaniel. We got him at the shelter about a year and a half ago, and by and large he's a good dog--at least he has been--until the last month when he's just decided that he's going to start making GBS threads all over the house for no apparent reason. Up to recently he's always been good about waiting til we go out for a walk to do his business. Like all dogs, he's had an accident or two, but recently it seems like he's just being a bastard. We will literally take a walk for 20+ minutes around the neighborhood and he'll maybe poo a tiny bit once (like smaller than a hershey kiss), and then 10 minutes after we get home I'll find a MONSTER DUMP in the hallway. Nothing in his routine has changed. Same food, same water, same work schedule for both of us, etc. And the thing is, it's not like he isn't going out. We try to take him out 3-5 times a day--sometimes more on the weekends. I don't think he's sick or has any kind of medical condition because he seems otherwise happy, healthy, and his poo looks the same both in consistency and color. How do I "re-train" my dog to stop making GBS threads whenever he pleases and wait a little longer til we go out? He's done it before, I'm sure he can do it again!
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Jul 1, 2013 03:45
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Xarthor posted:I don't think he's sick or has any kind of medical condition because he seems otherwise happy, healthy, and his poo looks the same both in consistency and color. It is pretty simple. Treat him as if he is a puppy being housebroken for the first time. The whole shebang. Scheduled potty breaks, crate when you aren't around and tether when you are around. Also, treat and praise like crazy when he does go potty outside. Though, I wouldn't necessarily rule out medical reasons just because he seems okay. At least keep it in mind if training doesn't make a difference, because sudden change in bathroom habits alone can be a worrisome sign.
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Jul 1, 2013 03:56
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Cryingscarf have you tried just having him downstairs instead of your room? Sounds like he doesn't want to be left out of things happening when your mom is awake. Either that or you're just going have to wait him out.
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Jul 1, 2013 15:51
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cheese eats mouse posted:Cryingscarf have you tried just having him downstairs instead of your room? Sounds like he doesn't want to be left out of things happening when your mom is awake. Either that or you're just going have to wait him out. He's not at the point where he can be trusted loose alone and as well intentioned as my mom is, she gives him too much freedom than I'd like. So letting him loose to be with my mom in the morning is a last resort when I desperately need sleep. Today was a weird fluke and he actually came back to bed after whining a little so maybe things are starting to change? (Yeah right...)
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Jul 1, 2013 23:33
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Eh dogs can be moody shits. :p So Cash just doesn't like the plastic bottom to the crate. The sinking sensation when it flattens from his weight freaks him out. Took it out and had an easier training session. I tested my hypothesis once and he wouldn't budge. Dammit dog now what?
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Jul 2, 2013 03:33
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| # ? May 15, 2024 15:45 |
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So, this morning I was actually awake before he started whining but stayed in bed. No one went downstairs or made any noise and he went from laying on the bed calmly to launching himself off the bed toward the door whining. It was bizarre. So I tried keeping some treats in my nightstand and that worked for about 40 minutes and then he started scream-whining. My solution? I couldn't find his thundershirt but I found a normal shirt and it deactivated him long enough to let me get 3 more hours of sleep. 
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Jul 2, 2013 15:21
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