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Ikantski posted:Maybe a shock collar with some gentle corrections would help teach your puppy to calm down. A shock collar? Seriously? That's terrible. I don't know gently caress-all about pets apparently, but I'm not electrocuting them to keep them in line. Ikantski posted:I'm not sure that the puppy is excited to see you. That's a bit of a low blow.. TShields fucked around with this message at 21:41 on Jul 23, 2013 |
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Jul 23, 2013 21:38
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Those suggestions may not have been entirely serious 
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Jul 23, 2013 21:43
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No, not seriously. All of those things are bad advice that you will find all over the internet. That's why you should listen to the advice you get here without dismissing it immediately. It's good. The people here are good to their animals and know what they're talking about.TShields posted:That's a bit of a low blow.. Well, okay. I'm sure he's excited to see you but not for the right reasons. Put yourself in his shoes. Imagine you have a tiny bladder. Now imagine you have to stay in a comfortable but small bed for 9 hours. The first few hours aren't bad but then you realize you've got to pee. You know if you pee in here, you're going to be sitting in it for the rest of the day. So you hold it as hard as you can for another 7 hours. It's painful to hold it that long, holding it in is all you can think about. Then, finally, the person who lets you relieve that pain shows up. You're excited but it's kind of a messed up relationship if you ask me.
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Jul 23, 2013 21:56
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TShields posted:Granted, but not every solution works for every household, and you can't get pissy when I decide an option won't work for me. I don't leash him when I take him out, and I really don't plan to start. We have a fenced in back yard specifically for the dogs. He knows enough to walk down the stairs, pee, and come back- or run around and play if he's in the mood. If I open the crate and put a leash on him, I'll go from having a screaming puppy jumping around when I get home to having a screaming puppy jumping around with a leash on him. The thing is, she gave advice, you dismissed it out of hand. The foundations she is trying to get you to lay are for a life-long working relationship with your dog. The reason the leash is suggested is so that you can just leash him, walk him outside, let him potty, and otherwise ignore him until he calms down. His reward for calming down? Attention, getting to play, etc. The key is you want to control the situation until he's calm, then reward that calmness. It will carry on through your lifetime of owning the dog. They need to have an offswitch, and need to know how to use it.
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Jul 23, 2013 22:10
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I'm looking for some advice. I've read the FAQ and searched online but I haven't really found a good answer. Some background: My girlfriend's family recently got a new puppy. She was 6 weeks old when they got her and she just turned 11 weeks today. She's half Aussie and the other half is a mix of Boxer, German Shepherd and Pitbull according to the family they got the pup from. So far the puppy has been doing great with house training and crate training and she's even beginning to pick up on what "sit" means. She's starting to bite a lot more now than when they first got her but we've been redirecting her towards toys instead of our hands/faces. My girlfriend's family also has a 14 year old Border collie/spaniel mix who is very spoiled and has not been socialized with other dogs that much. Initially, we were concerned that there might be an issue introducing a new dog into the household with the way the older dog behaves towards other dogs but for the first two to three weeks there wasn't much of an issue. The older dog just continued to do her thing and the puppy would mainly interact with my girlfriend and I. Within the last two weeks the puppy has given the older dog a lot more attention. The older dog usually just lays on the couch and relaxes. The puppy now seems to notice her more and wants to interact with her. She's not yet able to get up onto the couch so she stands on her hind legs in from of the older dog and does the boxer thing with her front paws. This will illicit a bark from the older dog but that just seems to excite the puppy even more (her tail is wagging like crazy usually) and she just keeps pawing at the older dog. Within a short time my girlfriend generally has to step in between the two and correct the puppy. Now most of the time when the puppy is doing this she doesn't listen to the correction and tries to bite my girlfriend and keeps trying to get at the other dog. On a couple of occasions I've had to physically carry the puppy into a separate room and let her calm down (her heart is racing usually). Sometimes this works and everyone is settled down, other times she just goes back into the same behavior. We're not sure what we should be doing to teach the puppy to stop being a rude rear end in a top hat. We haven't let this behavior go on long enough to see if the older dog will eventually take matters into her own "paws" and tell the puppy to back off. This behavior upsets everyone in the house because my girlfriend and her family are concerned that the older dog might get injured from the pup. Any advice? Anyway here's a picture of the pup! She's a sweetheart most of the time 
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Jul 23, 2013 22:23
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lazerwolf posted:I'm looking for some advice. I think letting the older dog give corrections is a better strategy than the girlfriend giving corrections - though if the older dog has a bad history with other dogs neither is good. Have the puppy drag a leash and remove her from the excitement to a boring room without manhandling. If you can distract her onto toys, food, or something other than the older dog before she works herself up, all the better. Puppy class will help you out here, maybe in conjunction with finding a well-socialized older dog that can be trusted to respond proportionally and teach your dog how to get along with other dogs.
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Jul 23, 2013 22:35
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TShields, please keep in mind that some of us who are giving you advice generally get paid for dispensing said advice, so when you say that compliance is gonna be low, we stop giving a poo poo about trying to help, because why should we? You're not paying us for that advice and you're saying you're not gonna take it, so I guess good luck with your problem.
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Jul 23, 2013 22:43
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I'm sorry but I will never understand people who come here asking for advice about dealing with a problem and then just say "nope, won't do [thing that will help solve the problem] because currently I do [thing that does not help solve the problem]..." to every single thing people offer and then become really defensive when people get frustrated with them. TShields you need more help than this forum can realistically give you, if you need some solution that is 100% tailored to the exact hours of every single day that you can devote to solving dog-related problems. You need to have a trainer or someone come to your house and talk to you. This costs money. I'm sure that will be your excuse as to why you can't do it. Or there will be a different one. I don't know what you want to hear here...
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Jul 24, 2013 03:00
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So I called the trainer Skizzles has put me in touch with, but she never got back to me so I'll try again tomorrow. I think I need a professional for this though to deal with Condie's resource guarding. Things have settled way more now that Honey and Condie are doing dog things together and I've kept toys put away and have supervised play time. This morning I was doing a short play session with Honey in another room and Condie was watching me play with Honey behind the baby gate and Condie started demand barking I guess? I live in a shotgun style house so there's no way to block any sight of each other during play time. Watching her body language it was trending towards aggressive so I stopped after the bark, plus it spooked Honey anyway.  I need to add after I stopped playing with Honey I played a game of fetch with Condie.Later today though I didn't think bringing home our groceries would set anything off, but there was some aggression by Condie towards Honey while everyone sniffing out the bags. I was reading today about some positive training for this and my plan was to put Condie behind a baby gate in one room with all her toys and lead Honey near the room while my boyfriend treats Condie. Thing is the dogs are so food motivated that any attention to toys is lost in favor of hot dogs. Should I use a lesser value reward? I've only had Honey for a week so I think I need to teach a strong leave it first for her own safety. Wish I could just tell Condie that Honey just wants to play with her. Ah dogs. cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 03:18
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Topoisomerase posted:I'm sorry but I will never understand people who come here asking for advice about dealing with a problem and then just say "nope, won't do [thing that will help solve the problem] because currently I do [thing that does not help solve the problem]..." to every single thing people offer and then become really defensive when people get frustrated with them. I just wish he'd get probated. Why come into the training advice thread, ask for advice, get several nice, well reasoned replies, which he ignores and then continues to poo poo up the thread with more OH I KNOW I DIDNT LISTEN AT ALL BUT SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS I NEED HELP. TShields, Get a loving dog walker and go to a dog training class and stop being a stubborn dipshit.
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Jul 24, 2013 03:46
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wtftastic posted:I just wish he'd get probated. Why come into the training advice thread, ask for advice, get several nice, well reasoned replies, which he ignores and then continues to poo poo up the thread with more OH I KNOW I DIDNT LISTEN AT ALL BUT SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS I NEED HELP. That dude sounds like a lost cause so I pretty much stopped replying to him. Bummer for that dog.
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Jul 24, 2013 12:07
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MrFurious posted:Hopefully one of the vets can weigh in here, but I would think as long as you're not out there during mosquito primetime you're probably pretty safe as long as you get him on the heartworm meds within a week or so. The heartworm preventatives are almost universally well tolerated (barring genetic mutations) and generally safe to use in a puppy of 4 months. As far as mosquitos, it's definitely location dependent. You've also got to consider that they can pretty easily get into your house. Where I'm at, I recommend year round coverage (even if only indoors), whereas in other locations some people may say you can stop for a few months in the winter. It does take some time for the larva to mature past the point of heartworm preventative effectiveness, and that ranges from 1-2 months from time of infection.
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Jul 24, 2013 17:21
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I have a 7-week old golden retriever puppy and she is generally very good. However, sometimes after around 15 minutes or so of play, she becomes ultra hyper and starts running around like she's insane. If she gets close to me or my wife, she'll growl and bite at our clothes/feet. Does this mean she's becoming restless and it's time to put her in her crate for a nap, or is this when we should calmly walk out of the room and ignore her? I've tried holding her and gently rubbing her chest to calm her down, but this doesn't seem to help.
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Jul 26, 2013 18:51
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Gus Sawchuk posted:I have a 7-week old golden retriever puppy and she is generally very good. However, sometimes after around 15 minutes or so of play, she becomes ultra hyper and starts running around like she's insane. If she gets close to me or my wife, she'll growl and bite at our clothes/feet. Does this mean she's becoming restless and it's time to put her in her crate for a nap, or is this when we should calmly walk out of the room and ignore her? I've tried holding her and gently rubbing her chest to calm her down, but this doesn't seem to help. That's called the Zoomies. It's up to you to determine what's acceptable behavior. If it were me, racing around the room and vocalizing is fine. My dog, also a golden, still gets the zoomies at over 3 years old, and when they're bad she'll chase her tail and growl ferociously. Personally, the line is any kind of mouthing with pressure. When that happens, the fun stops. This could be a little tricky to implement. If you can just get up and leave without turning it into another game, that's great. If you can't, try having her drag a leash, then when she starts to redirect onto one of you, get up and leave while the other holds the leash so she can't follow. This will get better as she ages, because it's all about arousal states, but you don't want to let her practice bad behavior, and it sounds like you're getting some pretty assertive mouthing. Good luck! Edit: You can also reduce the occurrence of Zoomies with more exercise. Be careful with this though because she's so young (you really shouldn't have her until she's 8+ weeks), and you have the pathogen risk which has been discussed to death in this thread (just scroll up for more details), so keep the play limited to indoors and very safe areas (no other animal traffic). MrFurious fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jul 26, 2013 |
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Jul 26, 2013 21:19
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At what age can you begin running with a puppy? He's a Doberman/most likely Mastiff mix. Currently 3 months old at about 25ish lbs.
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Jul 27, 2013 02:29
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Goonicus posted:At what age can you begin running with a puppy? He's a Doberman/most likely Mastiff mix. Currently 3 months old at about 25ish lbs. At 12 weeks, not at all. I wouldn't actually *run* with a dog until at least a year, and with a dog that big I'd wait longer. Until then, I try to keep puppies off of concrete as much as I can and go at their pace. After that, I'll run them, off concrete, until 18 months and will then run then on concrete. That's just me.
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Jul 27, 2013 02:44
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Superconsndar posted:At 12 weeks, not at all. I wouldn't actually *run* with a dog until at least a year, and with a dog that big I'd wait longer. Until then, I try to keep puppies off of concrete as much as I can and go at their pace. After that, I'll run them, off concrete, until 18 months and will then run then on concrete. That's just me. Running off concrete isn't much of an option. I'm willing to wait until 18-24 months or whatever is accepted.
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Jul 27, 2013 02:59
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Goonicus posted:Running off concrete isn't much of an option. I'm willing to wait until 18-24 months or whatever is accepted.
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Jul 27, 2013 10:04
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Rixatrix posted:If you can't avoid hard surfaces, definitely wait until the dog is at least 18 months. If you can, ask for advice from someone with experience with mastiffs/dobies. If you can find one, a good, reputable breeder should be sympathetic to questions like that even if the dog isn't pure bred. If I were you, I'd also want to have the dog's hips and elbows checked before starting. It's a heavy set breed mix and you're planning on repetitive exercise on hard surfaces, which is a strain even for healthy joints on a lighter built dog. I'll def. bring it up to the vet and see if a breeder would be willing to answer. Thanks!
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Jul 27, 2013 13:34
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Hello, all. I'm looking for some advice on the idea of starting a multi-dog home. I've read the OP but the section on multi-dog homes was a bit short and didn't have what I was looking for. I'm currently a senior in college working on my undergrad and looking to get married in a few months, and I've been thinking of starting a multi-dog home a few years down the road. This probably seems like a long time out to plan, but I tend to plan my pets years in advance so I can plan to be in the right spot to own one when I actually do get it. I'm planning on having 3 dogs total if possible. At the point I'm considering, if all goes well I should be working on a master's degree or PhD, and I plan on using one (or possibly more) of the summers getting a puppy/puppies so I can devote all of my time to training them properly. So far I've gotten mixed advice on multi dog homes. Lots of sites I've looked at say "DON'T DO IT EVER IT'S AWFUL" but it seems like these places are trying to keep people from getting in over their heads. I'm fully aware that raising more than one puppy at a time is extremely difficult, as I lived in a multi-dog home from the time I was 5 to the time I moved out of my parents' house for college at 19. I know to make sure they don't bond too much with each other, keeping them separated at times, to socialize them correctly, and all that jazz. I plan to thoroughly educate myself on the subject for a long time in advance before making a final decision and to make sure I'm in an appropriate living condition/time in my life to get a dog. I plan to use my summer months to focus all of my time and energy on the dog and I'm doing my best to make sure that I will be 100% prepared by the time this rolls around. My question is: is a multi-dog house in any way a good idea? Are there benefits, or is it just an all-around terrible concept? If I do decide to get three dogs, could I get three all at once, two at once and then introduce a third later, or is it necessary for sanity's sake and proper upbringing to space each one out? What is the best path to take when considering this option? A second set of questions and some info: I'm a long distance runner looking for fairly energetic dogs that I can run with, as well as dogs that are good with children in case those crop up at some point in the next 15 years (hint: it's likely). My current ideas are dogs like the English Springer Spaniel, Australian Shepherd, German Shorthaired Pointer, and the classic Labrador Retriever. I actually really like properly bred and socialized Rottweilers and German Shepherds, but I don't know if those are good choices for a first attempt at a multi-dog home (or small children), so I wasn't planning on getting either of those. I also will have cats (which I have more experience with than dogs), and I'm looking to socialize the dogs and cats with each other so that I'm not living in a house with constant spitting and hissing and hiding under furniture. Are there any breeds (40-50 or older, as I'm not a fan of small dogs) that you might recommend? Have I described a recipe for disaster and should just abandon all hopes now? Are there any problems with the dog breeds I've mentioned already? Any advice you guys can give I'd appreciate hearing! I'm open to any and all ideas from you guys!
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Jul 27, 2013 22:11
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Zandorv posted:Hello, all. I'm looking for some advice on the idea of starting a multi-dog home. I've read the OP but the section on multi-dog homes was a bit short and didn't have what I was looking for. If I were you, I'd probably go this route: Year 1: middle-aged (4-7 year old) high-energy dog from the shelter. Take your time to find a good match in terms of being good with cats, good with kids, structurally OK to run. Year 2: puppy of your preferred breed. Year ~7: new puppy This way you never end up with three geriatric dogs at the same time, everyone has some time to settle into the household, and you won't end up with littermate syndrome. You do end up with a two-dog household for an extended period of time, but I've been told the jump from 2 to 3 isn't very large (I have two + occasional foster). If you prefer adopting adult dogs over dealing with puppies, you can get a range of ages in shorter order, but I'd still probably only go with one new animal per year, so that you can get your training up to speed. Out of all the breeds you mentioned, I think the Lab really stands out as a great option - the others may be a little hotter and aren't usually as bombproof around kids (and tolerant of cats). The non-retrievers will all have harder mouths (Aussies in particular, though they're not as bad as cattledogs), and most of the GSPs I've met are spazzy like Weimaraners. Since you aren't afraid of the Aussie coat, a Golden Retriever would be the other common energetic family dog recommendation. Engineer Lenk fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Jul 27, 2013 |
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Jul 27, 2013 23:29
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Thanks for the advice! That sounds like a good route. While I'm pretty familiar with breeders (all the dogs I've ever had were from breeders), I'm not so experienced with shelter dogs. With dogs like Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, and German Shepherds, I want to start with a puppy and as a rule refuse to get from shelters (or breeders without good papers), but in general I have no issues getting older dogs and generally appreciate skipping the puppy phase. However, I've really no idea how to go through a good vetting process, especially for an older dog. Aside from what's in the OP, what should I look for as far as shelters and adult dogs go?
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Jul 27, 2013 23:51
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I really suggest just planning for one dog or puppy and seeing how your finances and lifestyle look before actually planning anything else at all. We WAY underbudgeted for our dog's needs, and while it didn't damage us financially, it could have if we had had less disposable income/savings. Don't jump the gun on anything, because you may end up with a dog you love who just can't tolerate being around other dogs. It happens.
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Jul 28, 2013 03:56
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I need some advice please. Yesterday we got an 8 week old border terrier dog who we introduced very well to our resident 2 year old border terrier bitch Eccles. Eccles behaviour towards him is pretty much very positive, absolutely none of the warning behaviours as started in the op, she wags her tail and lies down with him and they play wrestling in a slow and subdued manner. The problem is Eccles has no off switch for play and gets wound up to excitement level 11 whenever the pup does an excitable play bow, a yip or a mini zoomie. Eccles will bark, leap about and expect full on adult play and the poor pup gets over whelmed and tries to back off whilst Eccles goes into terrier bark and shove mode. Not good! I'm wondering what is the best way to break things up and break the bad play cycle without causing jealous feelings to develope in our older resident dog. I've been either picking up the pup to end playtime (however I worry Eccles will see this as favouritism by me giving attention to the pup over her) or I've been calling Eccles over to do a trick and rewarding her with a treat, sort of like a distraction. Trouble with this is Eccles will do the trick, take the treat then go right back to being a barky roughhouser. At the moment we have no private pen/crate for the pup. I am driving out today to buy one as soon as the shops open, he really needs a non Eccles place he can rest and I think this will help a lot with the problem, but any advice is still greatly appreciated on managing my older dog so she won't feel ousted or jealous. Or am I over thinking this way too mch? I have a tendency to worry myself to death over small poo poo. Also, our new pup drinks a lot. I mean, a lot! Would it be ok to lift up the water bowl for him last thing at night so he doesnt go piss cazy in the night or would that be cruel?
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Jul 28, 2013 06:44
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Dr Scoofles posted:Also, our new pup drinks a lot. I mean, a lot! Would it be ok to lift up the water bowl for him last thing at night so he doesnt go piss cazy in the night or would that be cruel? Can't really comment on the rest but our 3 month old puppy doesn't get any water after 10pm(when we put her to bed). This has been helping us curb her night time wake ups (have her at 5 hour intervals now). She seems to be fine, always happy to see us and doesn't run right to her dish at 3 am when we take her out. She just calmly get's back into her cage. In the morning we take her out then right back in for water, hugs and food. Seems to be working.
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Jul 28, 2013 15:02
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I remove the water from the gated bathroom where we keep him when we put him to bed. I don't think 5-8 hours in a climate controlled environment of which much of it should be in a sleep state is cruel. Seems like it limits the number of times in the middle of night he needs to go out, and the possibility of going in his den.
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Jul 28, 2013 15:12
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Zandorv posted:Multi-dog Stuff #1 - Take the budget and financial implications in the OP seriously. They may seem outrageous but they're not. The way all of those costs stack up is astonishing. #2 - Be realistic about your schedule. Three months to train a puppy is a little short, and they aren't really ready to be left alone for 8 hours a day at that point, so I definitely recommend an adult dog first unless someone can be home during the day. People can make puppies work, but those same people are usually posting in this thread freaking out about housetraining issues. Dr Scoofles posted:I need some advice please. Yesterday we got an 8 week old border terrier dog who we introduced very well to our resident 2 year old border terrier bitch Eccles. Eccles behaviour towards him is pretty much very positive, absolutely none of the warning behaviours as started in the op, she wags her tail and lies down with him and they play wrestling in a slow and subdued manner. The problem is Eccles has no off switch for play and gets wound up to excitement level 11 whenever the pup does an excitable play bow, a yip or a mini zoomie. Eccles will bark, leap about and expect full on adult play and the poor pup gets over whelmed and tries to back off whilst Eccles goes into terrier bark and shove mode. Not good! Have Eccles drag the leash. I don't recommend picking up the puppy, this is going to frustrate Eccles and you're giving her an excellent opportunity to take it out on you or the puppy. When the puppy is giving signals that she needs a break, use the leash to rein Eccles in (gentle, but firm) and remove her from play. If she can't calm down within sight of the puppy, take her to another room for a few minutes to let her calm down a little bit and don't re-engage until she is. Help her practice what those signs mean.
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Jul 29, 2013 15:55
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Walking question: last week we adopted a 22 week old rat terrier mix. He got neutered and his last parvo vaccine on the day we picked him up so we were advised to really only take him out to eliminate and to wait at least a week before any real walk. Prior to us he was living in a foster home with three other dogs and was doing very well and generally was a mellow dude. Since we live in a condo next to a busy street we've also been escorting him on a leash to our grassy area behind the complex and he generally he's been good at following our lead taking care of business and then coming straight back. Tonight though we took him for his first walk around the block (in what can best be described as a residential urban area) through the neighborhood and past a couple parks. During the walk he barked at and postured like a tough guy at every person and especially dog we encountered. He did have his first vet visit today (during which he nipped at the vet tech who was doing his fecal exam), so he may have been a little on edge already, but I was wondering if there's any reason to be concerned about this behavior or if it's something he'll grow out of as he gets used to the idea of seeing new people and dogs while going on walks around the neighborhood and spending time in the puppy kindergarten we're starting next weekend.
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Jul 30, 2013 03:33
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I understand you're probably stressed right now, but try a week's worth of walks before you start worrying about his behavior. He won't even be acting like his true personality until 3-4 weeks have gone by. I would assume he's probably pretty stressed and just reacting to everything like it's DEFCON 5 right now. Also if this is the first walk in a week he may be pretty full of pent-up energy.
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Jul 30, 2013 05:25
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coyo7e posted:I understand you're probably stressed right now, but try a week's worth of walks before you start worrying about his behavior. He won't even be acting like his true personality until 3-4 weeks have gone by. I would assume he's probably pretty stressed and just reacting to everything like it's DEFCON 5 right now. Also if this is the first walk in a week he may be pretty full of pent-up energy. That makes sense, I figured that was probably the case but the reassurance helps.
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Jul 30, 2013 05:41
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I've had my dog for six weeks, and she goes DEFCON 5 when another dog barks at her from across the street. Possibly even without barking, but a whole lot of dogs loooooove to bark at her. I really wish I had a treat pouch, because I always forget to bring any with on walks. 
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Jul 30, 2013 05:48
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MrFurious posted:Have Eccles drag the leash. I don't recommend picking up the puppy, this is going to frustrate Eccles and you're giving her an excellent opportunity to take it out on you or the puppy. When the puppy is giving signals that she needs a break, use the leash to rein Eccles in (gentle, but firm) and remove her from play. If she can't calm down within sight of the puppy, take her to another room for a few minutes to let her calm down a little bit and don't re-engage until she is. Help her practice what those signs mean. I think I had it wrong the whole time about the severity of the aggression. I got a book I saw recommended elsewhere in PI (maybe earlier in this thread) called Canine Body Language by Brenda Aloff. It helped me a lot to be able to understand the things that are going on between the two dogs. Before I would see teeth and hear growling and think "dog fight nooo" and become super anxious about the puppy. When they play Eccles is growling and snapping thin air and to me looking like the devil but her body language is all loose and bouncy, hear ears are flopping all over, shes never tense are never holds eye contact and she frequently bobs down and rolls over to invite more play. Rufus gives way if she gets him pinned down before getting right back into the game. It still sounds and looks like a death match though, which is what was scaring me. We're still heeding your advice and gave Eccles a cool off last night that really helped to bring the temperature down and when play resumed it was less frantic and they could play for longer because it wasn't getting too stupid. Thank you for your advice. Last night Rufus had had enough and kept trying to lay down to sleep and Eccles kept trying to invite him to play, growling, dropping toys in front of him, rolling on her back and basically doing everything in her power to lure him into a wrestle. Rufus relented a few times before finally giving her a clear message by getting up and taking himself out of the play area to sleep. Eccles, grudgingly, flopped down next to him and slept too. Really encouraging to see, I really hope they can build a good friendship. Ohh also, I popped out of the room yesterday to do the washing up and when I came back Rufus has taken himself off into his crate and fallen fast asleep, yeaah! 
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Jul 30, 2013 08:27
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Lead Pipe Cinch posted:Walking question: last week we adopted a 22 week old rat terrier mix. He got neutered and his last parvo vaccine on the day we picked him up so we were advised to really only take him out to eliminate and to wait at least a week before any real walk. Prior to us he was living in a foster home with three other dogs and was doing very well and generally was a mellow dude. Since we live in a condo next to a busy street we've also been escorting him on a leash to our grassy area behind the complex and he generally he's been good at following our lead taking care of business and then coming straight back. Honestly, considering the breed I would not be surprised if this behaviour continued and intensified into adulthood. He'll probably always feel a bit unsure in new situations, and if I were in your position I'd start trying to address it if only because it's a good skill to have as a trainer, and it's annoying to deal with a dog like that. The number one novice mistake I see repeated constantly is forcing the dog to interact when it doesn't want to. The dog feels like it has to take matters into its own hands and scare people/other dogs off. Read this article: http://www.clickertraining.com/node/3953 Consider picking up this book: http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=dtb799
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Jul 30, 2013 12:26
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PI ladies and gentlemen, My slightly over 3 month doberman/mastiff mix is doing great. The biggest problem I have right now is in the fact that if I don't 'taxi' him outside to do his business he'll often pee in the stairwell while walking down (2 flights). I think I'm just looking for reassurance but he'll realize sooner or later that if he just holds it for literally 30 more seconds he'll be relieved outside right? We reward with a treat both when he does 1 and 2 outside. I don't get upset when he goes on the stairs, but I'm not sure how to let him know that it's not alright. It tends to be only the times when he hasn't gone in awhile, like the first time of the morning. This is normal puppy behavior I'm sure, but tips would be welcome as he's going to be a big dog and my girlfriend won't be able to taxi him down the stairs for much longer.
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Jul 30, 2013 16:41
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Goonicus posted:PI ladies and gentlemen, Proper house breaking is all about creating habits and preferences in the dog. It's great that he's holding it while he's in your apartment. The stairwell seems like fair game because it's not part of the den. Firstly, keep carrying him out so he gets into the habit of going outside on grass. The preference for relieving himself on grass will come once the habit has formed. One thing that sometimes works is to spend more time in the "not-den" area. I often recommend this for people who are having trouble with a dog who'll relieve itself in a not-often-used room. Spend some time chilling out or playing in there. Do some training games. Make the dog view this space as part of its den where good things happen. This may be tough in a large area like a stairwell, which is why management comes before training in this situation. And, of course, make sure any accidents are cleaned well so there's no lingering smell of pee encouraging him to view it as a bathroom. E: Also, when taking him down the stairs, stay engaged with him. If the dog is busy paying attention to you it's less likely to zone out and focus on his full bladder.
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Jul 30, 2013 18:36
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a life less posted:And, of course, make sure any accidents are cleaned well so there's no lingering smell of pee encouraging him to view it as a bathroom. Good tips, thanks. I do have the spray that's enzyme based to totally remove scents etc which I use on the pee after I've sopped it up with paper towels. When I take him down the stairs I try to get him moving quickly so he's not tempted to stop and squat. I'll continue to pick up up for the stairs and maybe try once every 2 weeks to see when it takes. Thanks again.
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Jul 30, 2013 19:34
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Dr Scoofles posted:I got a book I saw recommended elsewhere in PI (maybe earlier in this thread) called Canine Body Language by Brenda Aloff. This was probably me, and I would like every dog owner or person who likes dogs to have this book.
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Jul 30, 2013 20:19
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Link for the lazy: http://www.amazon.com/Canine-Body-Language-Photographic-Interpreting/dp/1929242352
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Jul 30, 2013 21:00
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Picked up my pup's tug rope today and found little spatters of blood on it. Dog doesn't seem to be in any pain, had a look in his mouth and saw nothing amiss - is this just a normal part of teething? Secondly, an odd question - is there any way to 'induce' pooing? After a few days he seems to be getting that outside is for peeing (save for when he gets too excited indoors) but pooing is another matter. Took him on a twenty minute walk today, then stood with him out in the yard knowing he needed a poo for another twenty. Nothing. Took him in, immediately he ran into the corner and tried to poo. I know he needs to poo, he knows he needs to, but he doesn't want to go outside. Is there a way I can make him go so I can reward him and teach him outside is best? Thanks again for all your advice.
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Jul 31, 2013 13:38
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Eau de MacGowan posted:Picked up my pup's tug rope today and found little spatters of blood on it. Dog doesn't seem to be in any pain, had a look in his mouth and saw nothing amiss - is this just a normal part of teething? I found that running/fast walking through a field triggers my pup to drop trow. If I had to guess catching it outside a few times to treat and praise will greatly reduce indoor droppings. Last night at 3AM we took her out to pee. At about 3:20 she was doing short intermittent barks. I took her back out and she pooped then went to sleep so it seems to be working for me. Take this with a grain of salt, this is our first puppy and she's only 3 months old.
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Jul 31, 2013 13:53
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