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This is probably kind of weird, but can I teach my dog to howl on command? He's quite willing to howl when he hears a siren or when he hears another dog howling. I don't mind encouraging him to howl, but I'm dependent on a siren. I've captured some behaviors by clicking when he does them, but I don't think this will work with howling because I generally click when he does the action I wanted, and he then stops and looks for the treat. So if I click when he's howling, he will stop howling. He knows "speak." But that's one bark and then a treat. A good howl will be a little more sustained.
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Dec 29, 2011 03:39
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^ This might get him to howl: http://youtu.be/ZG1eqd8T5-I It works for my dog.
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Dec 29, 2011 04:45
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Rhymes With Clue posted:This is probably kind of weird, but can I teach my dog to howl on command? When I need to capture a held behavior like this, I typically start praising but I delay the click once she understands what position she's supposed to be in. For example, I shaped a behavior to calm her down with family because she kept trying to harass the other dogs. I put her into a down and as soon as her chin touched the floor I would click and treat. As she started to understand this, I would praise as soon as her chin touched the floor, but I would wait a couple of seconds to click. Stretch out that delay and eventually she picked it up. Whole thing took about an hour and a half for me. I think you should be able to do something similar.
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Dec 29, 2011 15:29
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One more update! Tonight was basically the culmination of all the socialization I've been teaching Corbin. He was ~fabulous~. There were a lot of people, animals, and distractions today (including food!) but a gentle tug of the leash got him immediately refocused. He still cringed away from strangers, but didn't whine or put his tail between his legs. He seemed more "wary" than "scared shitless" which counts as improvement I think! One more thing I wanted to ask: When he sees a dog, his tail and ears go up. He immediately gets focused on them and it takes a lot more effort to get his attention. I haven't seen aggression, but his stance worries me - it's the kind of frozen stance I'm used to seeing right before a dog snaps at another, but I never have gotten close enough to see if it's aggression or just extreme curiosity. Thoughts?
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Jan 1, 2012 01:15
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Bear Rape posted:One more update! Tonight was basically the culmination of all the socialization I've been teaching Corbin. He was ~fabulous~. Congratulations on all of your success! The tail/ears up thing indicates excitement - it's tough to say whether the excitement will result in friendly encounters or a reactivity display given what you describe. I think a less focused & more easy going approach is indicative of healthier dog/dog interaction. The difficulty breaking his focus indicates that you could work more on attention around extreme distractions. Keep working on what you have been doing - the more you work on focus/good behaviour around distractions the easier it'll become. Basically your goal should be for him to pass by another dog while keeping his focus on you, and be worry free. Greeting other dogs should be way down on your priority list, especially considering his body language. I think you're right to be somewhat cautious of it. It's New Years Eve, and I've got a glass of wine on the go, so if any of this isn't clear please let me know and I'll try to address it a bit better later. 
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Jan 1, 2012 01:21
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Haha, I understood your post well enough. I'm still not keen on dog greeting yet just because it seems all my neighbors have really in-your-face small dogs, which I know for sure he really dislikes, though I'm not sure if it's dog aggression or more of a "get out of my face tiny obnoxious thing". I have a friend that has some really well-behaved Goldens, so I'll probably be doing socialization with those a bit from now. I'm not too worried for the time being because no one really wants to get their dogs close to mine to begin with because he looks "mean" (or so I've been told). I'm happy with the progress so far, but there's always improvements to be done! I'm also getting him used to being around kids and infants with the help of a neighbor because I'm pregnant right now. I don't really think there will be an issue (he's never been fearful or reactive towards kids, but he does shy away sometimes) but it's best to make sure. Thanks again for all the advice. 
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Jan 1, 2012 01:36
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Bear Rape posted:Haha, I understood your post well enough. I'm still not keen on dog greeting yet just because it seems all my neighbors have really in-your-face small dogs, which I know for sure he really dislikes, though I'm not sure if it's dog aggression or more of a "get out of my face tiny obnoxious thing". Dogs communicate to each other through a set of doggie signals that indicate things like 'hi, I want to meet you!' or 'please leave me alone'. Sometimes dogs don't learn how to give the signals clearly. So if your dog is signalling to the in-your-face dogs that they are making him nervous and they don't get it because either he doesn't know the signals well or they don't, then he will begin to resort to other, more overt signals. Ultimately if nothing else works or he's cornered, he will start to use 'aggressive' signals, like snapping or biting. So I think it's better not to think of it as 'my dog is dog aggressive or not'*, but as a spectrum of responses to anxiety with a threshold where, over that threshold, your dog will resort to aggressive responses. Dog aggression can definitely be learned if the dog is placed in situations where he is overly anxious and he sees that his methods are working, i.e. the other dogs go away when he jumps or barks or snaps or whatever (either voluntarily or because their owners take them away while he's reacting). It sounds like your socialization is going well. Keep it up, but I agree with a life less that direct interactions should be held off. Try things like parallel walking with other dogs or approaching each other in big arcs. Start at a large distance where your dog can focus on you while walking and is somewhat relaxed. Reward like crazy and then slowly decrease the distance. *Of course, dogs can be breed for dog aggression as well, but that's a separate issue, I think? I forget what kind of dog you have.
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Jan 1, 2012 17:28
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My dog is an American Bulldog/lab mix as far as I know. I have tried approaching other dogs before, but I'm just worried with the way he acts. Tight lipped, not paying attention to me at all, pulling to go towards them, and staring. He doesn't bark, but I'm not sure if that worries me more or not. Ugghh I don't know for sure, but all the signs I see really make me think "aggressive", at least from what I've seen with other dogs I've had. It's definitely not nervousness, though. I think that's what worries me? Like I know he's nervous around people, loud noises, and larger dogs, but with small dogs I don't see any nervousness at all. It's 100% "I want to go over there to that thing". I hadn't really noticed it before because where I lived when I first started his socialization was a lot of big dogs and no small ones. It may not even be dog aggression so much as prey drive maybe? I know he goes after cats, squirrels, and other small animals so maybe he's thinking "look at that delicious squirrel" or something? I'unno.  I'm thinking of bringing him to some sort of behaviorist to see what's the underlying issue there, but I'm not sure how much that'd cost.
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Jan 1, 2012 17:53
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Bear Rape posted:I'm thinking of bringing him to some sort of behaviorist to see what's the underlying issue there, but I'm not sure how much that'd cost.  Someone said the magic word!A veterinary behaviorist can be $300 to $400+ for an evaluation and training plan depending on your area, and many include several months of followup with that initial cost. I personally find it to be totally worth is but I understand that it's a lot more than many people want to pay for a vet visit. An applied animal behaviorist or a trainer who specializes in evaluating behavioral problems may be a cheaper option if you can find a good one in your area. Feel free to post your general area if you need help looking for one! It definitely sounds like not a friendly greeting. Have you seen him interact with dogs offleash? You may want to check out the book Fight! or Fiesty Fido while you look into professional assistance. I personally wouldn't allow a dog acting like that to interact closely with other dogs until I had a handle on what his reaction is going to be.
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Jan 1, 2012 18:07
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I wouldn't be so quick to write off nervousness/anxiety, particularly because he displays it in other situations. Anxiety doesn't have to manifest itself in the obvious way we think it should, with "nervous" behaviors like jumpiness or trying to get away or being shy or whatever. My dog is highly reactive toward other dogs and her behavior, history, and temperament indicate that it is definitely the result of anxiety (so much so that she is medicated for anxiety). What does she do when she sees another dog? First thing she does is go tight-lipped, posture rigid, hard stare, ears up and won't respond to me at all. From there, she starts lunging toward the other dog, barking and eventually snapping and biting at things near her (like her leash). If you saw it, you would say 'woah, she really wants to attack that dog!'. But then I would tell you that she has never attacked another dog, even though she has been approached by many off-leash dogs and had the opportunity. She just learned that posturing like that gets scary things to leave. Dogs often also behave differently toward dogs that are smaller or larger or fluffier or whatever. If your dog is nervous around big dogs, I imagine he is also nervous around little ones, he just developed a different response to them. So anyway, don't discount anxiety. Prey drive is also a possibility. A behaviorist is a good idea. Veterinary behaviorists are the best, though they are very pricy. If you absolutely can't afford that route, try looking for a positive methods trainer in your area with behavioral certifications or experience.
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Jan 1, 2012 18:14
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Wow that is a lot I live in Greenville, SC though, if that helps with the locating and whatnot. I've only seen him interact up close with bigger dogs. He's usually tolerable and sometimes he gets really playful, but I've never seen aggression/nervousness there. He still wants to walk up to them, but it's more of a wagging tail/let's be friends body tone, from what I can see. I'm still not that confident to have him in a group of dogs his size, or to interact with certain large/medium dogs (he's nervous around APBTs and Staffies, for instance, but fine around most other large and medium dogs). The only dog I've seen him interact extensively with was the Australian Shepherd mix we used to own. He was okay with her but preferred to keep to himself even though they could interact whenever thanks to the way the yard was set up. But yeah I think I'd rather find out what's up even if it costs a pretty penny before actually bringing him near a small dog to find out. E: thanks for the insight as well, Kiri. I think I'm going the professional route since I can't reliably judge it myself. Hardwood Floor fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Jan 1, 2012 |
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Jan 1, 2012 18:23
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Bear Rape posted:Wow that is a lot Good job recognizing when you need help, a lot of owners just assume their dog is dominant, alpha roll them whenever they see a dog, and move on with their lives. Corbin is lucky to have you. Here is a vet in your area (I think) that does behavioral evaluations that would probably be a good place to start. At very least they should be able to point you to a good trainer in your area. It seems like you have a lot of dominance based, "dog whisperers" around so be careful and ask a lot of questions before agreeing to any training program. I won't go to any trainer that doesn't let me sit in on a class and see their methods first.
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Jan 1, 2012 18:46
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^^^Dr. Lynn Bowden consults through Tail Lights Dogs as well. Also that link has the cutest kitten a the bottom. My trainer is certified through the International Association for Animal Behavior Consultants, among other things. Their website says that there are two certified trainers within 25 miles of you: Tail Lights Dogs and Whole Dog Training and Behavior Consulting. Both do behavior consultations and will set up behavioral modification lessons, though I'm much more impressed with the former. Obviously you can only tell so much from a website, so make sure you ask about their methods and make sure they are based in positive reinforcement. Kiri koli fucked around with this message at 18:53 on Jan 1, 2012 |
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Jan 1, 2012 18:48
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I really appreciate all the help! I'm going to call both either tomorrow or Tuesday to see if I can set something up and ask about their methods. Thanks again guys!
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Jan 1, 2012 19:25
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Hurley has been doing great! He has been listening to my Wife more often, and has been getting a lot of socialization with other dogs on the bike path. He does pretty drat good for a 10 month old puppy. He likes to jump up on the bigger ones to try to play, and gets very excited, but eventually calms down and acts normal. What really helped his focus is for us to be calmer with him. Making sure we don't raise our voices and give him very calm and clear commands has helped tons. Is there anything else I should make sure I'm doing at this age? We're going to start some training/social classes in March. edit: also, oh god the zoomies. Like clockwork, between 7-8pm, he zooms around the house, tries to eat all tissues forever, and slobbers all over us. After 8pm, he calms down for his nightly snuggle fest. :3
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Jan 2, 2012 02:57
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Victoria Stilwell, on Word of Mouth, discussed training with Michael Rosen, and in particular the parallels between raising kids and training dogs. I wonder if the discussion is because of the recent BBC controversy with Jordan Shelley. Go Stilwell She gets so very excited."I want my dog to become a healthy, happy adult, which is what I want my child to become." ETA that some of the people on there are dumb, as people often can be Fraction fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Jan 4, 2012 |
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Jan 4, 2012 15:16
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My parents raise their dog exactly like they raised my sister and I  (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Jan 4, 2012 23:36
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Major and I had our last behaviorist visit before we graduate to yearly checkups last week. We were finally able to go to the office instead of needing a home visit!  Due to the weather the trip there took about 2 hours but Major never did more than whine and even that he did for less than 15 minutes total for the whole ride. At the office Major was polite with everyone and was able to settle while his doctor and I discussed his progress then ambled around the room and showed off his nose-touch skills to an intern and the vet tech (who were very impressed ).The behaviorist was so, so happy with his progress which made me really proud of my big guy. I was worried that I had been using meds as a crutch because he really needs his clonidine before car rides still but she really emphasized that all his progress was because of my hard work and that I was going a great job with him. The behaviorist is really good at using positive reinforcement with the owners as well as the pets. It turns out Major isn't even on the max doses of any of his meds and his doc doesn't have any problem with him staying on them as long as he needs to. This coming year the behaviorist wants us to work on Major's dog skills. They brought out "George" the fake black lab and Maj was pretty reactive to it even at a distance but seemed to understand dog calming signals and was good at composing himself and turning his attention back to me when George wasn't moving or doing rude things like staring at him. Major lived with a group of dogs before I adopted him and gets along fine with smaller, female dogs so I'm hoping with a good year of hard work he'll be more tolerant of rude male dogs. Or at least tone down the crazed screaming. The vet tech has cleared me to come to any of the group classes she is teaching even with his reactivity because she thinks that I'm fine managing him and I know what we need to work on around other dogs. She even invited me to come to their private "click-ins" specifically for pro/semi-pro trainers to discuss new research and training methods so I think I'll be taking Major to that once a month and the public client "click-ins" once a month to work on "Look at That" with dogs in a controlled setting until I can afford to take regular classes again. I'm going to miss talking to the vet behaviorist all the time because she's awesome but I'm so proud of my doggie for not needing intensive help anymore. The hundreds of dollars and months spent pulling in and out of my driveway every single day are totally worth it to be that one step closer to Major being the awesome dog I know he can be. vv When things thaw out we're going to do so much hiking! And when I'm done paying off his 5 vet visits from December I'm getting him a fancy leather collar and a tag that says "King of the Road" vv Instant Jellyfish fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Jan 5, 2012 |
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Jan 5, 2012 04:14
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Yay, I'm so happy for you and Major! It's so great that the behaviorist worked out and that all your hard work paid off.  It's always great to hear a success story, makes me hopeful. I'm currently trying to get my trainer to set up some semi-private lessons with us and another reactive dog or two. She's a great trainer, but she's terrible at business and scheduling. I hope we can work something out though, we've been doing so well working one-on-one for Psyche's people skills. You should drive Major to a new park or something to celebrate.
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Jan 5, 2012 04:35
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My 1 year old husky/chow "penny" is a jerk to other dogs. She really want to go see them and play. The problem is when she actually does get to another dog she jumps all over them and bites at their neck. She's not trying to fight because my friend with a boxer that is bigger than her let's them play and she's not hurting the boxer. She just plays way to rough. When we're on a walk and she see's another dog she knows that she get's a treat every time she checks in with me. That's been my current plan of attack. Anything else we can work on? Would going to a dog park and staying on leash outside the fence be a good idea so that she can see a lot of dogs? Walking her around the outside of the park. Is there any etiquette to say I can't have her on leash inside the park? She can be calm with my mom's 20 pound cocker spaniel/poodle who is half her size as long as there is a gate or door between them. Once they are next to each other with no barrier they start playing really rough so I don't let them together off leash.
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Jan 5, 2012 07:17
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Instant Jellyfish, congrats on your awesome progress with Major! You have every reason to be proud of him and yourself.Instant Jellyfish posted:They brought out "George" the fake black lab and Maj was pretty reactive to it even at a distance but seemed to understand dog calming signals and was good at composing himself and turning his attention back to me when George wasn't moving or doing rude things like staring at him. I've been similarly puzzled over the fake-hand-in-food-bowl test I've seen in some shelter temperament test Youtubes I've watched. I could well imagine a toy-driven and completely friendly and not resource-guard-y dog grab the "hand" and start playing, since it really is just a plastic thing on a stick. Of course a dog with bad resource guarding issues would react first and investigate later, but I still wonder how many dogs just don't take the thing seriously at all.
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Jan 5, 2012 16:46
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Rixatrix posted:Can you tell me a bit more about this? How are the dogs not able to tell "George" isn't real? How do they make George display calming/threatening signals? My dogs are mostly able to tell life size statues and the like from the real thing and if the non-dog is above the wind, they don't usually respond at all, so I'm wondering what makes George more special. Does he smell like a dog or move like a real dog? George was a very realistic sized and shaped stuffed dog and it spends a lot of time with dogs so it smells pretty doggy, but the behaviorist said that many dogs behave differently for George than for real dogs. They had an assistant moving him so he could "stare" and wag stiffly with a high tail, then fake sniff the ground and have a low wag. It's not an exact science and it was mostly just to get a vague idea of how Major would react. They knew he primarily reacts to movement so they wanted to see if they could get an idea of his reaction with fake dog movement. Its a lot harder to get a real dog to behave exactly how you want in a situation and a lot more risky if the dog they are testing a severely reactive dog. Major is kind of dumb so he was willing to believe it was a real dog but your dogs may be way smarter totally get the difference between real and fake animals. I've seen many dogs try to illicit attention from fake people/animals before so its not uncommon. George certainly isn't a perfect test but its good enough for some rudimentary evaluation. I have strong feelings about the reliability of those hand tests because dogs' lives are on the line but I'm heading out the door and will have to comment on that later.
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Jan 5, 2012 17:14
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Instant Jellyfish posted:I've seen many dogs try to illicit attention from fake people/animals before so its not uncommon. George certainly isn't a perfect test but its good enough for some rudimentary evaluation. I'd love to hear your opinion on the hand test thing when you have the time.
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Jan 5, 2012 18:55
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Rixatrix posted:I guess what "helps" with reactive dogs is they don't stop to analyze the situation for very long, but react without thinking. I think this is true for some dogs, some dogs are just fooled, and for some dogs it depends on what particular motions you make the stuffed dog do. I've seen my trainer use the stuffed dog to approach reactive dogs from behind and get in their space like another dog might and also follow them around. She doesn't pull it out too often, so I imagine it's more for specific situations/dogs. We've tried using it twice on Psyche. The first time, the stuffed dog was sitting still with blinking Christmas lights on it and making some sort of sound. This got some dogs going and for these dogs, we do similar exercises where we just simulate chaos by having people stomp around with power tools going and throwing poo poo around. Psyche doesn't really care about any of this and approached the dog fine that time. The second time though, she was already riled and the assistant was bouncing the stuffed dog up and down and then she couldn't handle it. I'm not sure if she was fooled or it was just too much motion (with a person involved too). She is very motion sensitive. Of course, she also decided to bark at a statue of a man we have on campus once for ten minutes, ignoring all the real people walking by, so maybe she's just dumb. ------ We had our first decent blow up today in our private sessions. Psyche has been doing so good that we were running out of things to try (without just pushing it to something extreme) and we got sloppy. The trainer did a full bend over to reach for something on the ground while Psyche's back was turned from four feet away and Psyche was startled, jumped, and growled. First time we've had a decent growl from her in these sessions, so I'm still pretty happy. We were previously doing muzzled approach and retreats and Psyche was cool as a cucumber walking up the trainer for some peanut butter and then walking away again. So now we just need to really proof her reaction to reaching. We've been working on it every session and she's doing great allowing things to be reached for and picked up and moved, but it's hard to cover every single type of reaching in every circumstance both when the dog is and isn't paying attention. Oy. Psyche also let the trainer get in and our of her car and go in and out our door (with knocking!) with just the tiniest of whines. I was shocked by how well that went.
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Jan 5, 2012 19:48
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I adopted two rescue dogs 2 weeks ago, Bowser and Daisy. I've been taking them on daily walks, and they always poop and pee somewhere randomly on the walk, but I've been trying to get them used to going in the backyard. Our fence isn't complete so I take them back there on leashes. Bowser will pee no problem, but Daisy never has. As of the moment, she has not peed in over 24 hours yet when I take her out she just sits and looks at me. If I try to walk her, she is extremely resistant and always tried to head back to the house. I've tried standing still for over 20 minutes and walking her in circles for 20 minutes. I have treats ready to go if she ever does her business but she just refuses. I really don't know what to do, but I certainly can't take her on a long walk every time she needs to pee, especially right before bedtime. Any advice?
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Jan 5, 2012 20:38
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I'm having trouble with Feldman. So I watched that video by kikopup about loose leash walking. The thing is, when I put the leash on him, he just stands like a rock and won't loving move. If I slap my thigh and such, he'll take one or two steps, then stop again.
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Jan 5, 2012 21:28
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Rixatrix posted:Yeah, I've seen my own dogs do it too, but mostly from a distance and with a mirror when they were little puppies and saw one for the first time. I remember Pi once got confused about a wooden dog statue that's placed outside our local pet store, but he got over it pretty quickly. I'm not so much thinking George couldn't work (dogs are pretty dumb) but if it works for all dogs or for long enough for it to be useful. I guess what "helps" with reactive dogs is they don't stop to analyze the situation for very long, but react without thinking. I know of a dog that was so DA that it attacked a metal statue of a dog severely enough to cause 5 broken teeth. 
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Jan 5, 2012 21:45
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dantheman650 posted:I adopted two rescue dogs 2 weeks ago, Bowser and Daisy. I've been taking them on daily walks, and they always poop and pee somewhere randomly on the walk, but I've been trying to get them used to going in the backyard. Our fence isn't complete so I take them back there on leashes. Bowser will pee no problem, but Daisy never has. As of the moment, she has not peed in over 24 hours yet when I take her out she just sits and looks at me. If I try to walk her, she is extremely resistant and always tried to head back to the house. I've tried standing still for over 20 minutes and walking her in circles for 20 minutes. I have treats ready to go if she ever does her business but she just refuses. I really don't know what to do, but I certainly can't take her on a long walk every time she needs to pee, especially right before bedtime. Are you teaching them a specific cue just before they toilet? (I use 'go pee' mostly.) If not, try that. Has Daisy not peed at all because she hasn't been walked? It seems some dogs require exercise to get their bowels and bladder going; if you haven't already you could try playing some rousing tug or fetch in the yard to get her moving. Since she's only been with you for two weeks, it's possible her previous owners only had her toilet whilst on walks. It's hard for dogs to break habits, but keep at it. In the meantime, make sure she's going on walks often enough that she isn't holding it in for too long (which, iirc, can cause problems). Bash Ironfist posted:I'm having trouble with Feldman. So I watched that video by kikopup about loose leash walking. The thing is, when I put the leash on him, he just stands like a rock and won't loving move. If I slap my thigh and such, he'll take one or two steps, then stop again. Have you tried getting super excited about it yourself (aw yeah we're going for walkiessss, let's go for walkies!!) or luring him with food or a favourite toy to get him moving? Before you teach loose leash walking, you need him to actually be walking. You could also try getting him into the mindset of following you around the house, by periodically rewarding him for it. Mix it up and have him drag a leash around when he's inside, and sometimes pick the leash up and hold it yourself, etc, so that he gets the idea.
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Jan 6, 2012 01:12
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Fraction posted:Are you teaching them a specific cue just before they toilet? (I use 'go pee' mostly.) If not, try that. Yeah, I do the excited thing. He gives no fucks. Also he follows me and my mom around constantly when we let him walk around the house.
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Jan 6, 2012 01:30
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Bash Ironfist posted:Yeah, I do the excited thing. He gives no fucks. Also he follows me and my mom around constantly when we let him walk around the house. So when does he stop walking? When the leash goes on, when he's outside, crossing the threshold, what? Will he follow a lure (toy/food)? Have you tried having him drag a leash around if the leash itself is the problem?
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Jan 6, 2012 01:38
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Fraction posted:So when does he stop walking? When the leash goes on, when he's outside, crossing the threshold, what? Well, basically he stops when I put the leash on. I'm going to try the food/toy lure, that's a good idea. It's strange because he used to start walking as soon as I put the leash on. I guess I got used to him doing that. I will start over, and make sure everything is SUPER exciting from now on. edit: Oh, and randomly when we're outside. Like he'll walk towards the gate, then stop and stand still.
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Jan 6, 2012 01:44
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Puppies are not born with leash skills. The majority of puppies are terrified or outraged at leashes to begin with. Some will spin round in circles trying to get the thing off, some will freeze up in fear, some will try to chew the thing to bits. This is perfectly normal. The best thing is to start slow. Your puppy hasn't even finished its shots yet; it is a baby. First, you get the puppy used to wearing a collar. Then, while you are carefully supervising, put a short leash or piece of string on the collar and let the puppy run around for a little while with it trailing. Praise it out the rear end, click and treat if that's what you're into, and keep the training session incredibly short and sweet (like, a couple of minutes at most). After a few days, maybe pick up the leash and put some gentle pressure on it a couple of times. Praise the puppy and be completely positive even if it is standing still and shaking or flopping to the ground as you describe. Do NOT try to drag it or show that you are frustrated in any way. You want the leash to be a wholly POSITIVE experience. Do not worry about loose leash skills at this stage; your dog is a baby. With short, positive sessions a couple of times a day most puppies will begin to realise that the leash is no big deal. Puppies do not need 'walks' as such at this age; in fact, since the pup does not have its shots it should not be going to places other dogs frequent (the street, the park) anyway. I'm assuming you have a fenced yard? If so, there is no reason for you to insist on the dog being on a leash for any length of time right now. Dog's a baby and you are expecting way too much of it way too fast.
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Jan 6, 2012 01:45
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Bash Ironfist posted:Well, basically he stops when I put the leash on. I'm going to try the food/toy lure, that's a good idea. It's strange because he used to start walking as soon as I put the leash on. I guess I got used to him doing that. I will start over, and make sure everything is SUPER exciting from now on. It's possible that you went a little too far with the LLW to begin with, and just confused him with it. Go back to basics, as notsoape has outlined. Just to re-iterate that if he hasn't had all his shots, don't walk him outside where dogs (who may not have had any shots) are likely to have been. But, for when you do start walking him properly when he's had all the shots, try getting him to jog a few steps forward/encourage him to pull/etc when it looks like he's about to stop. You'll want a pretty constant flow of treats too, and when you first start taking him out keep the walks short and sweet.
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Jan 6, 2012 01:51
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notsoape posted:Puppies are not born with leash skills. The majority of puppies are terrified or outraged at leashes to begin with. Some will spin round in circles trying to get the thing off, some will freeze up in fear, some will try to chew the thing to bits. This is perfectly normal. The best thing is to start slow. Your puppy hasn't even finished its shots yet; it is a baby. Yeah, you're right. I am expecting too much right now. I will do better from this point on! We don't have a fenced in yard, we live in an apartment building. So we do have to take him outside to pee/poop, but we come right back in.
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Jan 6, 2012 01:52
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Bash Ironfist posted:Yeah, you're right. I am expecting too much right now. I will do better from this point on! We don't have a fenced in yard, we live in an apartment building. So we do have to take him outside to pee/poop, but we come right back in. That makes things a little more complicated, for sure. Does he get upset by the leash at the pee/poop outings, or is it just when you ask him to walk? Luring is a great technique with puppies who put the brakes on when asked to walk. Get the stinkiest, most delicious treat you can find (cooked meat is good), hold it at nose level and walk forward a couple of steps. The dog will most likely follow the treat and forget all about the Scary Leash. Keep it at a couple of steps to begin with, give him the treat and praise forever. Kudos for being a good sport and accepting of critiques, by the way
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Jan 6, 2012 02:01
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Update from a month ago: I haven't really been able to get through to my parents what is going wrong with Odin (Saying these people on the internet say to do this doesn't exactly hold a lot of weight here). He has days where he is perfect (very rare) and all the bad things are quickly forgotten, but then he goes right back at it again. They yell at him and scold him, but don't really seem interested in actually solving the problem. It seems like they want to find a way to just live with it rather than fix it. I finally decided to just buy the Pat Miller book myself and give it to them to read. Hopefully that will get the ball rolling.
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Jan 6, 2012 02:02
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notsoape posted:That makes things a little more complicated, for sure. Does he get upset by the leash at the pee/poop outings, or is it just when you ask him to walk? Well, I just want to be a good dog owner! And everyone in PI has been a TON of help, so yell at me if I do dumb poo poo, man.  I haven't really fed him human food, because of his giardia, but I have been giving him some boiled chicken and rice to try to help. So maybe I can use the chicken.
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Jan 6, 2012 02:42
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I have a dog that steals food, even out of hands. He knows that if he's caught in the process he'll get told off and will slink away, but he can be quite sneaky about it. Most importantly, he will take food out of my 3 year old's hand if she's not paying attention (which is often). I was wondering if I could get some advice on how to train this behaviour out of him.
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Jan 6, 2012 03:51
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Fraction posted:Are you teaching them a specific cue just before they toilet? (I use 'go pee' mostly.) If not, try that. The problem with using a specific cue is that I've never gotten her to go pee, so my cues are meaningless so far. I am repeatedly saying "Go potty" though. She just looks at me like I'm crazy. I ended up walking them in the afternoon and of course she peed. I have tried running her in the backyard but she doesn't want to and will resist my attempts to get her to move. I will continue to walk her frequently and keep trying to take her out to the back to pee. It's a bit frustrating but I suppose as long as there aren't any house accidents it's not so bad.
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Jan 6, 2012 04:06
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dantheman650 posted:The problem with using a specific cue is that I've never gotten her to go pee, so my cues are meaningless so far. I am repeatedly saying "Go potty" though. She just looks at me like I'm crazy. The thing with the cue is that it needs to be given immediately before the dog does the act. So if you're just chanting 'go potty go potty go potty' she'll have no idea what you are babbling about. You need to say 'go potty' JUST as she squats, and then slowly increase the time between cue and squat. Make sure you give her a treat after too for being a good dog. MaliciousOnion posted:I have a dog that steals food, even out of hands. He knows that if he's caught in the process he'll get told off and will slink away, but he can be quite sneaky about it. Most importantly, he will take food out of my 3 year old's hand if she's not paying attention (which is often). I was wondering if I could get some advice on how to train this behaviour out of him. Crate or tether the dog while people eat so he can't steal food? Telling him off is useless here because he's self rewarding from taking the food.
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Jan 6, 2012 11:06
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