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MoCookies posted:I haven't seen any PIers recommend a prong/pinch collar recently (instead of a head halter). Is this out of vogue? They're not the solution for every dog problem, but I know they can be very effective when used appropriately. Halters scare me because I can easily see how a dog who gets frantic or tangled could easily injure their neck. I use a prong collar on my dog although I'd like to eventually get it off of him. He's a hound/American Bulldog mix and is an extremely hard puller. With the prong collar I can allow him to "self-correct" as necessary and he does much better. Homer is so food motivated that he will produce a constant stream of drool when he knows I have treats, but he also has pretty poor impulse control. He feels the same way about his prong collar - when he sees me going for it or hears it jingling he comes to me and sits nicely while I put it on. A weighted backpack has helped too. I slowly worked him up to about 20 pounds (he weighs 85 pounds) and he's pretty much decided that there is nowhere he really wants to go at a faster rate of speed then I am going. He stands nicely for his backpack too. He knows that when the collar and backpack come out, we're going walking or going in the car.
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Jun 13, 2011 03:30
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cryingscarf posted:I did not have a chance to really read through this thread, but I did skim the last couple of pages and didn't find anything... It sounds like you're on the right track -- that's just what I would do. I think I made the mistake of letting my dog play too roughly when she was younger. Now she plays way too roughly for most dogs, and can intimidate and bully them. I think I would have been better off if I gave more time outs if play ever started getting remotely out of control. I would recommend using a tether station (a leash tied to something immobile) as a time-out spot when Dexter gets crazy. It's a bit faster than picking him up and putting him in the bathroom. I would also try to preempt the crazy barking fits. If he's getting obviously riled up, separate the dogs, call him away, and do some fun obedience work with him to calm him down a touch.
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Jun 13, 2011 22:09
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cryingscarf posted:...adventures of Dexter the Irritating... Sounds like the same young dog/older dog situation I had. Darla would nag our 13 year old schnauzer pretty constantly trying to get her to play, barking, nipping, all sorts of annoying poo poo - I started to hand feed the two of them together, one bit of kibble at a time, while Darla was calm, and just separating them when she was not, although not in a punishing fashion (either waist leashed to me or behind a closed door with me). That solved the great majority of it, but honestly I think adopting another young dog that was a great playmate match for her cured the remainder, and the two young dogs now play with each other all the time and leave the older dog in peace. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure the 80/20 rule applies here as much as it does anywhere - that last 20% would have been a lot harder to mend with regular training.
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Jun 13, 2011 22:59
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So, we're back again about Brock our mix-puppy. You guys helped last time (he had the kidney issue). So, he used to do great in his crate at night. He would sleep all night and go out first thing in the morning. But he's howling/whining when he wants to get out. This has NEVER helped him. We have ignored it and ignored it and ignored it until we thought we would explode with rage. I have tried corrective noises. The problem is, this is his "outside" tell. It's pretty much his EVERYTHING tell, but specifically outside. I make him "speak" before going outside. I hoped this would translate to the crate as well. But no. He whines. And it's obnoxious and loud and irritating. I can't ignore him forever (and believe me I've tried)...but at some point, I HAVE to let him outside because I'm leaving for work/errands/etc. I know some of it's really bad right now because he just got neutered and his dewclaws removed and can't be out of the crate for much (he's way too rambunctious), but I'm afraid that his inability to make it through the night anymore is going to make me go postal. We took him for a walk last night (long enough that he needed breaks for his feet) in the hopes he would sleep through the night. We let him out 8 hours before we have to get up. Six hours later, he's screaming. I know he can hold it longer. I KNOW he can. He's done it. He used to do it every night for up to 9-10 hours! We ALWAYS let the dogs out first thing after filling their water bowl. I'm at a loss as to how to stop the scream-whine that he does for huge amounts of time. The more we ignore it, the more it escalates to the point he is throwing temper tantrums in his crate hard enough to bounce the crate around.
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Jun 16, 2011 15:27
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Elixibren posted:So, we're back again about Brock our mix-puppy. You guys helped last time (he had the kidney issue). 1. Let me out? 2. Can you hear me? I'd like out?? 3. HEY HUMAN!!! I want out please!! 4. HEY FUCKER! YEAH YOU! LET ME OUT THIS INSTANT! 5. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! 6. *sigh* guess I'm not getting out  Keep on keepin on and he should figure it out. Additionally, try new ways to build positive associations with his crate, like yummy treats, a treat-ball full of kibble, and a long lasting chew that gets all squishy and nasty as they chew it - they love that poo poo. I'm in the same boat as you, except our freakouts are when we leave the house. At night he just whimpers for a minute and gets over it. I guess I'd prefer that to the other way around 
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Jun 16, 2011 15:45
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drat Bananas posted:I think what you're experiencing is what's been referred to as an "extinction burst" - the dog escalates his freakouts up to a point where he gives up, approximately like so: Haha, except we're not getting number 6. Not even after an hour. And we pretty much start at about 4. :P And with his cone of shame on, we're limited on what we can give him now. But he likes his crate. We played "crate games" with him, and he always gets a treat when he goes in (just more creative now since he's coned). But we'll keep on. I'm just at my wits end with this dog. He's just not food motivated (during training sessions I have to wait 3-4 minutes between commands while he plays with his treat), but he won't work at all for toys. He will only occasionally work for affection. Luckily he's great at SAR work and LOVES his job there. Can't wait til he heals up so we can start going back to training. He's an odd one, I admit. And I needed the challenge I guess. As a dog trainer, I've never encountered a situation I couldn't troubleshoot on my own. Until our piss-beast howler monkey dog. :P
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Jun 16, 2011 16:51
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Elixibren posted:Haha, except we're not getting number 6. Not even after an hour. And we pretty much start at about 4. :P And with his cone of shame on, we're limited on what we can give him now. But he likes his crate. We played "crate games" with him, and he always gets a treat when he goes in (just more creative now since he's coned). Hey there, apparently you have my dog  Lola would be quiet in the crate for as long as it took her to finish whatever I put in with her (or as soon as she bored of the kong etc) and then she would whine. That would happen for a few seconds, and then she started screaming. What I found working was to praise for quiet - and tell her in no uncertain terms ('nope') that whining was unacceptable. Cutting her off at whining prevented her from escalating to screams, and she will now stay quietly in the crate (and go in of her own free will, which she never did before). We are still working up to her being quiet while I'm out of the room, since she panics and whines a little, but thats getting much better now. I should note that I use 'nope' to give her a chance to redirect herself. It's very calm and quiet, and I immediately praise for the behaviour I want after (anything but stressing out). I'm leery of saying 'go do this', but just thought I'd share - this is what works for us.
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Jun 16, 2011 17:57
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Elixibren posted:So, he used to do great in his crate at night. He would sleep all night and go out first thing in the morning. But he's howling/whining when he wants to get out. This has NEVER helped him. We have ignored it and ignored it and ignored it until we thought we would explode with rage. I have tried corrective noises. The problem is, this is his "outside" tell. It's pretty much his EVERYTHING tell, but specifically outside. Err... maybe he's genuinely unhappy about being in the crate. Dogs don't really "fake it", if they show fear signs it's because they're afraid. Your dog sounds pretty seriously unhappy to me, way beyond what mine do while crated. The recent surgeries might be a factor, maybe pain or maybe just lingering fear and anxiety - you like to think that your vet treats your animals kindly but they don't always. e: Consider talking to a vet about anti-anxiety medication? Flesh Forge fucked around with this message at 09:04 on Jun 17, 2011 |
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Jun 17, 2011 08:57
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I've read up to about page 20, but apologies if this has already been covered. My bf and I have three rats in a sturdy, elevated cage (Critter Nation 161). While volunteer dog walking I had the pleasure of taking out what was listed as a grand basset griffon vendéen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Basset_Griffon_Vend%C3%A9en), possible mix. They're pretty rare, though, so I guess he could have just been a very good impostor. Anyway, while out walking him, he did exhibit a bit of a prey drive, however, he didn't totally get tunnel vision over them (as so many dogs do...). He would run to the end of his leash, but pretty quickly come back and focus on me again. Were we to get this dog (although it seems unlikely right now), how easily could he be trained to be tolerant of the rats? One of the reasons my guy is hesitant is he thinks that "the dog will bark at the rats all day and the rats will get stressed out and the dog will get stressed out and there will be so much barking". But he was raised with completely untrained yorkies, so he's a bit biased. Frankly, it seems to me like it would be pretty easy to get him to ignore the rats through positive reinforcement training. Thoughts?
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Jun 18, 2011 01:17
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It's been a few weeks later, and Brixie the chihuahua has settled down nicely, which I think has eliminated many of the problems-humping, peeing inside, I was having with her. (Increasing her exercise has helped immensely too.) We're still working on begging, but tethering her to our table and feeding her there at the same time is decreasing that. It's made my life a little less stressful. My boyfriend and I are still having problems though. One old one, and one new one. We're still having some crate issues where she won't go in at all unless we put her there. I think this is compounded by the fact that we've been using it as....punishment?....when she barks or begs or is generally a pain in the neck. This will stop today, though. I have a perfectly serviceable bathroom that is dogproofed. I've watched the crate games videos, and I think I'm at that point well before it. Brixie doesn't seem to get the game of shaping. She doesn't seem to understand a look will get her a click-treat, or a foot step will get a click-treat. Brixie does get click=treat, I think. She just does not seem to have the patience for shaping the crate. Aside from the fact, she wants nothing to do with her crate. Do I just go super-slow from the beginning to try and fix my mistake of poisoning the crate? We'll only put her in there if we can't supervise her, like when we're at work. I have raw bones (with some meat on them) that can be a crate-only treat, and I don't mind making a kong with an edible treat and some wet food on a more regular basis. Our new issue, which really isn't a new issue but has escalated quickly very recently, has been barking at strangers. Brixie seems to be a one-or-two person dog, which is okay in my book. What's not okay is her behavior of growling at barking at strangers, who include our roommates and my boyfriend's mom. It's really really embarassing, and really stressful because I've told all of these people that no, I won't be -that- kind of owner and Brixie -that- kind of small dog. And here she is, acting like an arm pirhana when people come through our door. To further complicate matters, she seems to do it less when she's near/being held by my boyfriend than me. Is she resource guarding me? I've tried treating when people come in, I've tried having them treat her when they come in (not recently, I'm afraid she's going to hurt someone by nipping, though I might be reading body language wrong), she's still barky at people who live here and are here on a regular basis. Earlier today I put her leash on, and whenever she barked, or did any more than a little whuf-I-know-there's-something-here-noise, I put her (with a little much fuss as I can muster and control from other people) in the aforementioned bathroom for 2 minutes--is this too much for a 1 yr chihuahua?-- and then let her out. More barking got her put in for another two minutes. I think she got it after four or five repetitions, because when my roommate came out again, she just did her little whuf and stared, but did not bark. I praised her a lot, though no food cuz I didn't have any immediately with me. Am I using negative punishment correctly? I think it was effective because she likes being with her people, because she had her tail down and she stuck like glue with me for a little while after. And if she continues the stare-but-no-barking for a while, how do I proceed to make her at the very least ignore strangers? Do I proceed further than that? And what do I tell people? Aside from, "sorry, I'm working on it?" How can my roommates/boyfriend's mom/other people help me help Brixie?  Another wall of text. I'm sorry for asking so many newbie questions--Brixie is my first dog ever and there's a whole lot of difference between reading about stuff, and actually doing it. Here, have another picture. It's hard to get awesome pictures because she stops whatever she's doing that's awesome right as I get the camera out. So we have to settle for okay pictures. She's hanging out on the back of our couch, and she had just been watching the world go by. She likes it there. 
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Jun 18, 2011 01:52
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Meniscus posted:Our new issue, which really isn't a new issue but has escalated quickly very recently, has been barking at strangers. Brixie seems to be a one-or-two person dog, which is okay in my book. What's not okay is her behavior of growling at barking at strangers, who include our roommates and my boyfriend's mom. It's really really embarassing, and really stressful because I've told all of these people that no, I won't be -that- kind of owner and Brixie -that- kind of small dog. And here she is, acting like an arm pirhana when people come through our door. To further complicate matters, she seems to do it less when she's near/being held by my boyfriend than me. Is she resource guarding me? If I recall correctly from a similar episode of It's Me or the Dog, Victoria had the lady and her dog sitting on the bed near the dog's kennel (which had a zipper flap on top for easier access). Every time the dog started the protective behavior when someone came near, she would get put into her kennel with the flap zipped shut. Rinse, repeat, so that every time she was being protective, she was taken away from her favorite person, thus learning to knock it off. And of course treat for good behavior when someone else is near, from both of you. But you say she hates her crate, so... what I think would also work is simply getting up, walking away, and ignoring her every time she started getting protective when others came near. Anyone feel free to add to/correct this.
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Jun 18, 2011 03:12
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Invalid Octopus posted:I've read up to about page 20, but apologies if this has already been covered. My bf and I have three rats in a sturdy, elevated cage (Critter Nation 161). While volunteer dog walking I had the pleasure of taking out what was listed as a grand basset griffon vendéen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Basset_Griffon_Vend%C3%A9en), possible mix. They're pretty rare, though, so I guess he could have just been a very good impostor. Anyway, while out walking him, he did exhibit a bit of a prey drive, however, he didn't totally get tunnel vision over them (as so many dogs do...). He would run to the end of his leash, but pretty quickly come back and focus on me again. Were we to get this dog (although it seems unlikely right now), how easily could he be trained to be tolerant of the rats? One of the reasons my guy is hesitant is he thinks that "the dog will bark at the rats all day and the rats will get stressed out and the dog will get stressed out and there will be so much barking". But he was raised with completely untrained yorkies, so he's a bit biased. Frankly, it seems to me like it would be pretty easy to get him to ignore the rats through positive reinforcement training. Thoughts? Have you checked out the Puppy thread recently? Someone asked a similarish question -- here's a link. Essentially, yeah, I think you could teach a dog to ignore a prey animal, assuming that proper precautions are taken during introductions, and you're super careful about management I think you could be alright. You want to reward for ignoring the animals, and remove all reinforcement the dog gets from paying attention to them (like looking at them). Some animals are more prone to prey drive than others. You can probably cut down on the risk by going through a breeder not breeding for hunting (duh) -- but I think a lot of it comes down to the individual behaviour of the animal. Accidents do happen though, and I'm always the type of person who says that we're better safe than sorry. Meniscus posted:It's been a few weeks later, and Brixie the chihuahua has settled down nicely, which I think has eliminated many of the problems-humping, peeing inside, I was having with her. (Increasing her exercise has helped immensely too.) We're still working on begging, but tethering her to our table and feeding her there at the same time is decreasing that. It's made my life a little less stressful. Yep. Sounds like a case of poisoned crate. You say that you use it only when you're leaving her unsupervised, but you may be able to make the crate a more casual thing by putting her away while you're just milling around at home. But your first problem is reintroducing the crate. It really sounds like you're going about it the right way, but are experiencing some slow progression due to the aforementioned poisoning, and, quite honestly, I've not met many Chihuahuas who naturally pick up on shaping. It may take her a little while longer to understand the concept. So to back track a bit, you could start introducing her to shaping in a less stressful environment (ie, away from the crate). Maybe try a game like 100 Things To Do With a Box. Bring out a foreign object and a simple goal behaviour in mind, and begin shaping solely with your clicker and strategic treat placement. It's a super low-stress, high reward type of game that can probably start to encourage your dog to offer new behaviours. A lot of dogs who are used to being placed or lured try to wait out the "brain work" part of the exercise. Try to keep it positive and simple, and resist the urge to show your dog the answer. Keep up your work with reintroducing the crate as a positive-only place, and use your tether station or bathroom as a time out area. Now for your stranger issues. Honestly, they'd be a hell of a lot easier to train if you had a solid positive association with the crate. For non-crate related ideas, I would start with not picking her up. I don't know if she's resource guarding you per se (she might be...) but I think she's feeling intimidated due to her small stature, and when you pick her up she's gaining size and feels more confident acting out since she feels like your presence is backing her up. Keep on dropping treats when strangers come to visit. You want to help build the strangers = food association. It can take a while for this association to be built. My money is also on her barking because she'e excited, and Chis are naturally compelled to vocalize when aroused. I think your use of negative punishment is good, but I think you could use a two-pronged attack. I like the negative punishment since it can decrease arousal level, which as a result can decrease barking. But I would also work on rewarding good behaviour more proactively. For instance when I'm working with my boyfriend's Chi and she perks her ears up at a noise outside and doesn't make a sound (or she whufs quietly) I reward the crap out of her. I reward her when she doesn't bolt to the door. Sometimes I'll gently hold her collar to decrease arousal too. I know you said you praised her greatly when she finally made the right choice, but my guess is that you can be more proactive in your training. Most people tend to be too reactionary. Also, be prepared to "wear" kibble and other tasty treats at all times. Stash food cups around the apartment so you always have a food reward at your fingertips. It keeps your dog from getting too food obsessed, and she understands that she can be rewarded at any time with good behaviour. When the dog is acting up I would simply encourage your guests to ignore her, and assure them you're working on it, yeah. Once you get her more comfortable with her crate I would start relying on it a lot to control excitement and anxiety when people enter. Start with what I'll call the doorbell game. The "doorbell" in this game can be the literal doorbell, or any excitement-creating stimulus. A doorbell can signify excitement and anxiety. Doorbell rings, people activate and start moving around, there's a stranger behind the door, OMFG EXCITEMENT OVERLOAD. What you can do is change the doorbell's association from excitement and strangers to to run to the crate for amazing rewards. The way I was taught this was to set up for the doorbell to ring once every two minutes (set someone up outside with an egg timer, a lawn chair and a book). The doorbell rings, you give the "crate up" cue, and reward with steak. The person outside Does Not Come In. Over the course of half an hour you'll get lots more repetitions of doorbell = steak than doorbell = exciting. Eventually you can make the doorbell the signal to crate up. With the dog being secure in her crate enjoying some time consuming high value treats she'll be less inclined to bark, and you're also creating positive associations with visitors. You could also go with Skizzles' plan of covering the crate for bad behaviour. There is no one right answer to your problem. Just work to keeping your expectations clear to the dog, and stay consistent. I feel like I rambled out this answer (I'm exhausted!), so if something isn't clear please don't hesitate to ask.
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Jun 18, 2011 04:55
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Wow good advice, that is something we may try with Krieger. Its been about 2 full weeks (this is our third weekend with Krieger) and she is shaping into a pretty good dog. We have two issues that I don't really know how to train out of her: #1 - While walking during dawn or dusk or when the light is low she barks and growls at everything. People, other dogs, fountains she can't see, strange noises, etc. As near as I can figure it is a little bit of her protective behavior kicking in to threats she can't fully explore or put her mind around. When this happens she typically does a low growl and a bark and sometimes a mowhawk of hair raises on her back. Sometimes I will ask whoever is out if we can approach and let the dog check them out, but I can't so that with every person we happen to walk by when it is dark. This morning we went to the busiest walking park we know and I walked her about 2 miles while joggers and other dogs were racing by. At the beginning she was barky / growling until we got on the actual walking track where she became just curious. I need some way to curb this behavior as a growling German Shephard mix does not inspire confidence in other people / dog owners. On the bright side I have seen zero signs of actual aggression towards people or other animals. She does great with strangers when she can get close and get a sniff in, but anything more then 10 feet and she can be a barking, growling terror. Any tips or thoughts? 2) Mouthing / Play biting - This is getting much better but has been slow going. Whenever teeth hits skin we will help or make a loud noise and stand up and turn around with our arms crossed. Sometimes we may leave the room for 10-45 seconds. Are there any games I could play that would help us curb this behavior faster? Additionally she doesn't get super excited about playing treat games. I would like to do a lot of stuff but she just doesn't get all that excited about food or anything really. Maybe I just need to do a clicker sessions with steak or something to really bring the link between training and good things happening. Are there any training games that people have seen really work with German Shephards, they have to be trainable I just haven't figured out what really makes her tick. Bonus Pic - Wet Dog 
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Jun 18, 2011 18:32
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Chachikoala posted:#1 - While walking during dawn or dusk or when the light is low she barks and growls at everything. People, other dogs, fountains she can't see, strange noises, etc. As near as I can figure it is a little bit of her protective behavior kicking in to threats she can't fully explore or put her mind around. When this happens she typically does a low growl and a bark and sometimes a mowhawk of hair raises on her back. Sometimes I will ask whoever is out if we can approach and let the dog check them out, but I can't so that with every person we happen to walk by when it is dark. For some dogs, it helps if you acknowledge that they're barking at something. A chipper, "Okay! Thanks Krieger!" and then moving along unconcerned would be how I would handle this. I doubt letting her approach and sniff strangers is helping anything; if you're acting like the strangers and strange dogs are no big deal, she'll pick up on that. If you're tensing up (even slightly) when you get close to something you think she might react badly to, she'll be picking up on that and will be far more likely to do so. Your body language to your dog matters an awful lot for stuff like this. quote:2) Mouthing / Play biting - This is getting much better but has been slow going. Whenever teeth hits skin we will help or make a loud noise and stand up and turn around with our arms crossed. Sometimes we may leave the room for 10-45 seconds. Are there any games I could play that would help us curb this behavior faster? This is a good practice - nipping stops playtime. It's important to also make sure that you're never making your hands (or feet or clothes) the focus of play; always have a toy for the dog to direct their mouthing towards. If you're roughhousing with the dog, using your hands, the dog's natural playful reaction will be to use their mouth the way you use your hands. Dogs do this with each other too - I call this game "bitey-face" at my house. Dogs learn through play with their littermates and with each other, just how much force is appropriate for playtime and what's verboten. So keep setting your boundaries for what you want, and make sure that the dog has something to bite on that's not you.  quote:Additionally she doesn't get super excited about playing treat games. I would like to do a lot of stuff but she just doesn't get all that excited about food or anything really. Maybe I just need to do a clicker sessions with steak or something to really bring the link between training and good things happening. Are there any training games that people have seen really work with German Shephards, they have to be trainable I just haven't figured out what really makes her tick. It's definitely key to figure out what motivates your dog. If you're trying treats for food motivation, time your training sessions for when the dog is likely to be good and hungry. I've had good luck with using chunks of Natural Balance food rolls, frozen Bil-Jac, hot dog slivers, and liver treats. My Border Collie is mostly motivated by work/play; she'll do almost anything for you if you'll just throw her drat tennis ball afterwards. What sort of activities have you been trying to train? Some dogs get bored really quickly with repetition, or get frustrated and will quit trying if they can't figure out what it is you want.
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Jun 18, 2011 19:56
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MoCookies posted:I doubt letting her approach and sniff strangers is helping anything; if you're acting like the strangers and strange dogs are no big deal, she'll pick up on that. Darla also usually barks at strangers when we're walking on leash, but if I talk with the person she pretty much always stops right away. Even if it's a simple "Hi, my dog is barking at you huh, I bet that's annoying." + "Yeah that sure is a loud little dog you have there."
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Jun 18, 2011 20:05
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I apologize if this has been brought up before, but how can I work on getting Shadow to do commands from a distance? For him, if he's 5+ feet from me, he thinks EVERY command is a recall. If he's like 15 feet away and I tell him to sit, he thinks he has to come up to me. Now, I'm delighted he has great recall... but obviously it's a little off. My first guess is that I really need to improve his 'stay' command and go from there?
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Jun 18, 2011 20:32
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Skizzles posted:I apologize if this has been brought up before, but how can I work on getting Shadow to do commands from a distance? For him, if he's 5+ feet from me, he thinks EVERY command is a recall. If he's like 15 feet away and I tell him to sit, he thinks he has to come up to me. Now, I'm delighted he has great recall... but obviously it's a little off. My first guess is that I really need to improve his 'stay' command and go from there? Start inside, with something easy - sit or down. Start by cuing right next to him (so you are like an inch away), then move back an inch or so and cue/reward. If he moves forward to follow you, I would just lean or move into him slightly, just pushing him back. Keep taking tiny half-steps back until he can do it perfectly for one behaviour, and then start another. When he knows 2-3 cues from the other side of the room, start bringing in distractions. The problem with improving his stay (to use stay) is that you don't want, in order to get him to for example lie down outside 20m away, to have to shout 'stay! down!'
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Jun 19, 2011 11:28
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Chachikoala posted:Wow good advice, that is something we may try with Krieger. It's pretty common for dogs to be more alert and reactive when there's low-to-no light. My girl is the same way. The behaviour I want is for her to ignore the scary distractions and focus on me instead. Seconding Mo Cookies' advice on being aware of your body language and doing your best to remain relaxed and chipper. Work on keeping focus around distractions, and possibly playing the Look At That (LAT) game. LAT is great since asking a dog to focus on you when they're worried about something they can't see can intensify anxiety. Being able to cast a few quick glimpses at the distraction then back at you can go a long way to reducing anxiety while creating a desirable behaviour (looking at you). Here's a brief article describing the game. It's also been discussed quite a bit in this thread before. I wouldn't bother introducing Krieger to whatever is scaring her. I think you risk creating a behaviour chain where she'll act up if she wants to greet a strange dog. In my mind, leash time is MY time, and off leash time is the dog's. When the dog's on leash I want her paying attention to me and getting her reinforcement through me. Regarding the play biting, stopping play is the #1 best approach. I read an article by Ian Dunbar (the go-to puppy advice guy) that suggested that squealing doesn't work as well as we'd like -- he says he sees puppies decide that their brand new human shaped squeaky toy is too much fun. So calmly stopping play, and possibly implementing a time out for overly aroused dogs is ideal. How do you feed her? Scheduled meals? (Please don't say free feeding.) You can try hand feeding all her daily allotment of kibble by hand as rewards for good behaviour. Keep experimenting with different types of food (pizza, steak, garlic chicken from the deli...) to see if you can find something that really lights her fire. (My dog went nuts for a bit of pancake this morning.) Keep training sessions short, fun, and productive. Training should never, ever ever be a chore. What about toys? Does she tug? Tug is a fantastic reward for some dogs. What about squeakie balls? Ask for a few behaviours then reward with an awesome game. Other rewards to consider: sniffing a fire hydrant, greeting another dog, the back yard, getting up on the couch... The more time you spend training her the more of a bond you'll develop with her. Training is about communication -- you learn how to communicate with her, and she with you. Skizzles posted:I apologize if this has been brought up before, but how can I work on getting Shadow to do commands from a distance? For him, if he's 5+ feet from me, he thinks EVERY command is a recall. If he's like 15 feet away and I tell him to sit, he thinks he has to come up to me. Now, I'm delighted he has great recall... but obviously it's a little off. My first guess is that I really need to improve his 'stay' command and go from there? I've always taught distance work by using a mat. Teach Shadow to do a behaviour on a mat, then very very slowly start adding more distance. Don't skimp on the amount of time you make mat-behaviours valuable, and keep your expectations clear. Does he need all 4 paws on the mat? or just one? etc. I'm actually starting to phase out "stay" with Cohen. In my mind, a sit is a sit/stay, a stand is a stand/stay and a down is a down/stay. So while teaching your dog to stay is a great way to build self control, I wouldn't say that teaching a solid stay is mandatory for self control. If you work with a mat, the stay should be implicit since you'll be rewarding him if he stays on the mat, and you won't if he leaves it. Pro-tip: if you decide to do as I have and use an "implicit stay" always make sure you're releasing after a behaviour. If you don't, well, your implied stay will quickly fall apart. This is where your "okay" or your "break" cue comes in handy. Edit: I forgot about the second step. Once you have mat behaviours really solid (he'll lay down on it from across the room, or outside) you can start phasing out the mat. Maybe start building up a towel as your new mat. (Start from the beginning when you're introducing a new "mat" so he figures out doing behaviours on the towel is valuable too.) Then you can start folding the towel smaller and smaller, or introducing him to other, smaller mats. Eventually you should be able to phase it out entirely and still keep the distance obedience. Now that I've written all that I remembered that a friend of mine put together a video which presents it pretty similarly to how I teach it. So maybe this will be more clear: http://www.youtube.com/user/discdogshayne#p/u/41/RQ43Pqf9Kqs a life less fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Jun 19, 2011 |
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Jun 19, 2011 17:40
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Awesome, thanks. He does pretty well with 'wait' which is when he has to stop if he gets ahead of me on a walk or if he needs to wait for permission to do something, so maybe I won't bother with 'stay' so much anymore (kinda silly to try teaching him both in retrospect). I taught him 'touch' last night which he picked up in mere seconds.  I really wish I'd found PI and gotten more into training sooner. Teaching him to stay on a mat is going to be an interesting challenge.edit: vvv Got it.
Skizzles fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Jun 19, 2011 |
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Jun 19, 2011 17:54
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Skizzles posted:Awesome, thanks. He does pretty well with 'wait' which is when he has to stop if he gets ahead of me on a walk or if he needs to wait for permission to do something, so maybe I won't bother with 'stay' so much anymore (kinda silly to try teaching him both in retrospect). I taught him 'touch' last night which he picked up in mere seconds. Ack. I was trying to sneak my edit in before you saw the post. So, uhm, read my edit.
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Jun 19, 2011 18:03
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a life less posted:How do you feed her? Scheduled meals? (Please don't say free feeding.) You can try hand feeding all her daily allotment of kibble by hand as rewards for good behaviour. Keep experimenting with different types of food (pizza, steak, garlic chicken from the deli...) to see if you can find something that really lights her fire. (My dog went nuts for a bit of pancake this morning.) Keep training sessions short, fun, and productive. Training should never, ever ever be a chore. Thanks for the link, we will start implementing that quickly. We feed her twice per day, once around lunch and once around dinner time. My GF and I discussed it and think maybe we will move towards 1 feeding a day at dinner time. That way we can train while she is hungry. She loves playing tug. we have a special tug rope that we play with and keep it out of reach unless it is time to play (I always win as well). Maybe we can do short leash sessions today and help move some of that behavior along.
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Jun 19, 2011 19:19
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Flesh Forge posted:Err... maybe he's genuinely unhappy about being in the crate. Dogs don't really "fake it", if they show fear signs it's because they're afraid. Your dog sounds pretty seriously unhappy to me, way beyond what mine do while crated. The recent surgeries might be a factor, maybe pain or maybe just lingering fear and anxiety - you like to think that your vet treats your animals kindly but they don't always. Turns out it was my fault. I had to re-bandage one of his legs, and I did it too tight. Once I fixed it, he slept through the night again. So, we're thinking it was definitely uncomfortable/pain. I feel horrible that I bandaged his leg too tight. He got his sutures out today, so no more bandages and he's already a much "free-er" dog. Thanks for the ideas and thought. He didn't whine at ALL last night. It was an amazing night's sleep!
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Jun 20, 2011 17:24
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Chachikoala posted:She loves playing tug. we have a special tug rope that we play with and keep it out of reach unless it is time to play (I always win as well). Maybe we can do short leash sessions today and help move some of that behavior along. You really don't need to 'win' when playing tug. In fact, I often find with dogs I've played tug with that letting them win (mix it up - sometimes you snatch it away and laugh at them and dangle it and amp it up, sometimes you loosen your grip so they can get it, and sometimes you cue a 'drop') makes them much more excited to play tug again next time. Always end on a positive note, too, when she still wants to play.
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Jun 20, 2011 17:30
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Fraction posted:You really don't need to 'win' when playing tug. Yeah I read that in many places as well when I was getting started, I think it's an offshoot of "dominance theory". Letting the dog actually have the toy is a great reward sometimes. Elixibren posted:He got his sutures out today, ... Glad that had a happy ending
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Jun 20, 2011 18:12
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Hey, alifeless. I just wanted to chime in and say thanks for the wooden spoon trick. We had been feeding PB to Koji before, but usually on large butter knives or regular spoons, and I think we were missing out on the stickiness of the PB to the wood of the spoon. This morning we got minimal, non-frantic pawing at the doors and he flinched and backed up a little instead of running off when the toaster went off this morning. Progress! We still toss him out on the balcony during long regular cooking, especially if I'm by myself, but it's going somewhere! I'm a little curious how he'll do since we're leaving for vacation in a few weeks and he'll either be with friends or my in-laws for two weeks, so I'm hoping maybe it's just our apartment that's poisoned.
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Jun 21, 2011 14:44
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 Hey training nerds! Susan Garrett is offering a free webinar tomorrow (Thursday, June 23rd) about basic dog training and how to quickly improve your relationship with your dog. Read more about it here, and find the link to sign up at the bottom of her post.
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Jun 22, 2011 15:13
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a life less posted:
Oooh cool, signed up. Not a training nerd, but enjoy learning how to work with mah dawg effectively. Training brag: Roger is now completely reliable to "stay" with no hesitation when he's leashed up and I open the door for walks! Yay, smart boy!
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Jun 22, 2011 17:25
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a life less posted:
awesome, thank you! this will totally come in handy for us, as we just got a puppy a couple days ago. He's finally seeming relaxed in our house and I found some treats he likes (he doesn't like liver treats, does like the vegan treats- guess he's like me! haha) so I think I can start trying to teach him sit properly. yay!
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Jun 23, 2011 13:46
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Long post ahead, sorry! So I am in the process of training Marlo's recall. He's actually really good, he'll come back to me immediately 85% of the time just when I say his name. I don't ever really use his recall command, except when he's already full sprint back to me. Once or twice he's gotten distracted by something right before getting to me (and stopped just short), but for the most part he gets visibly more excited when I use the command and comes back and sits. I've read the articles and posts in the OP, and some stuff online, and I have also signed up for an intermediate obedience class that starts in a couple weeks. The method I'm using is the one in Pat Millers "Positive Dog Training." I am also scared I am doing 85% good, but that no amount of continuing on my path will get to 100%. So I have a couple questions. Since I didn't want a poisoned cue, I used a whistle as the command. It's kind of the fantastic mister fox whistle without the clicks. My worry is that it will sound different to him each time I make it, and that he won't ever get the strong association with it. What are people's opinions on that? He'll turn around and come back when running after dogs, and running after people, but the biggest distraction to him, and the thing that will make him lag behind when I call his name is smelling stuff. It's not even going to smell stuff, if he starts running towards something I know he'll get caught up in I call him back and him comes, it's once he gets a scent in his head he'll become engrossed by it. He'll eventually run to me, but it'll take him a while, and I have to make all types of clicking and sucking noises with my mouth to get him to look at me and realize the gravy train is leaving. I was thinking I'd have him on a long leash and let him get distracted by smells and use a tug or something to get him moving towards me, then click and treat. The other thing I was thinking about doing is teaching him the "off-course" command in Pat Millers book (basically teaching him off outside). Does that sound adequate, any other suggestions? Since my post was so long, here's a video of him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THRGYoI39qc
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Jun 23, 2011 15:11
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My puppy Toph is now four months old. She is doing okay on house training, she usually goes a few days in between accidents (currently we are at a week without any). Anyways, I taught her how to ring sleigh bells to go outside but she's started to ring them almost constantly and I'm exhausted trying to make sure she goes outside every time that the bells ring. Most of the time she doesn't need to do anything. I've tried to take the bells off of the door when I know she's doesn't have to go, but she pokes the door like trying to ring the bells. I try to take her on walks in the evening and exercise her regularly, but I live in a townhouse, so leaving her outside to play isn't an option. What can I do to get her to ring the bells less often?
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Jun 23, 2011 15:21
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a life less posted:
Oh my goddddd why do I have to be working today during all the open hours Would someone like to be an absolute angel and post a summary afterwards?
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Jun 23, 2011 17:46
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Newbsylberry posted:Since I didn't want a poisoned cue, I used a whistle as the command. It's kind of the fantastic mister fox whistle without the clicks. My worry is that it will sound different to him each time I make it, and that he won't ever get the strong association with it. What are people's opinions on that? Basically the only way to get your recall to 100% (okay, 99% since dogs aren't robots) is to never let them fail. Simple, but it's a pain in the rear end. I've heard that a behaviour can have a 10% failure rate and still be well maintained, but anything above that and you're risking losing its reliability. The most difficult part of training a dog to a high standard is that you need to be extremely consistent in your communication of your expectations to your dog. You want to give them a chance to choose to listen to you (because again they're not robots, and you need to respect that), but you also want to set it up so making the wrong choice isn't nearly as appealing as making the right choice. That's what separates the typical house pet from a highly trained animal. So basically, I would manage him via a long line. Use it as a failsafe, so he never has the opportunity to get any reinforcement from blowing you off. Then make a special note of what it was that distracted him and do some successful repetitions (either close by or from a distance) around that distraction to proof it. I would also be very careful about when you call your dog. If you try calling him and he's in the middle of a crazy play session, the odds of him blowing you off are good. If he's just kind of hanging around, maybe looking over his shoulder to watch where you are, recall and throw a party. Whistles are fine to recall to. I think dogs are intelligent enough to understand what a whistle means, and you don't have to worry about how it might vary from use to use. I don't understand what you mean by "off course". My understanding is that an agility dog may run off course due to distractions and arousal level being insufficient, but I don't quite understand how you're using it in this case. Can you elaborate? NarwhalParty posted:My puppy Toph is now four months old. She is doing okay on house training, she usually goes a few days in between accidents (currently we are at a week without any). Anyways, I taught her how to ring sleigh bells to go outside but she's started to ring them almost constantly and I'm exhausted trying to make sure she goes outside every time that the bells ring. Most of the time she doesn't need to do anything. I've tried to take the bells off of the door when I know she's doesn't have to go, but she pokes the door like trying to ring the bells. I try to take her on walks in the evening and exercise her regularly, but I live in a townhouse, so leaving her outside to play isn't an option. What can I do to get her to ring the bells less often? That's the major draw back to using bells. Basically I would keep the visits outside very short and businesslike. Don't allow for any exploring. If you pup relieves herself then have a party and maybe allow some exploring, but if she doesn't within the first 30-60 seconds I would pack up and go back inside. Keep potty breaks and actual walks separate if you can. I've not used bells, so if anyone has a better idea I'm all ears.
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Jun 23, 2011 19:52
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ButWhatIf posted:Oh my goddddd why do I have to be working today during all the open hours I'm watching it now and taking notes, I'll post after. They got hit by lighting and are having tons of technical difficulties, so it's taking foreverrrrrr!
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Jun 23, 2011 19:55
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"Anybody who's frozen just ... type in chat that you're frozen"
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Jun 23, 2011 20:07
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Ikantski posted:"Anybody who's frozen just ... type in chat that you're frozen" haha yeah I don't think she understands the internets! I'm really interested in learning about socialization though because I hear soooo many conflicting things on that one. Also when/how to start agility because I think it would be really fun to try that with Orbit and I just found out there's a public park near me with an open agility course!
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Jun 23, 2011 20:09
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Well, on the Susan Garret webinar, I hope someone got what she said about Value for RZ, because my computer skipped throughout that section and I don't even know what she's talking about!
Rhymes With Clue fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Jun 23, 2011 |
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Jun 23, 2011 20:31
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Rhymes With Clue posted:Well, on the Susan Garret webinar, I hope someone got what she said about Value for RZ, because my skipped throughout that section and I don't even know what she's talking about! yeah it skipped the socialization part for me after it froze and that's what I wanted to know about the most! gahh. I think she said she'll post the whole thing online later for people to watch. I hope so!
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Jun 23, 2011 20:34
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Editing out the meat in this post, since I ended up including it at the end of my post below.
a life less fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Jun 23, 2011 |
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Jun 23, 2011 20:57
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awesome, thanks! this is all I got due to the freeeeeezzzinnnnggg quote:agenda:
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Jun 23, 2011 21:03
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The video was awfully choppy for me too. It looks like I got most of it though. My guess is that the 8 o'clock seminar will run much more smoothly. Susan Garrett’s Puppy Peaks posted:15h30, Thursday June 23rd, 2011 The reinforcement zone is one of the first things Susan trains in her dogs. Every dog has a reinforcement zone (RZ), the place where it will seek to find reinforcement (duh). The RZ may change depending on who the dog is with and what environment its in. The RZ naturally develops in front of you since ever since your dog was a puppy you were likely delivering food and attention right there. A RZ at your side will help develop your dog’s drive to want to walk at your side (thus making loose leash walking much easier), but it also will help develop an agility dog that wants to dig in and turn tighter to get to its RZ at your side. You essentially create a RZ by paying the dog whenever they're in the position you want. Here's a video of Garrett demonstrating her 6 month old puppy's knowledge of the reinforcement zone with some nice heeling. She hasn't formally taught a heel, or even focus. They naturally develop as the RZ is reinforced. Heeling, 6 month old puppy. a life less fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Jun 23, 2011 |
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Jun 23, 2011 21:25
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