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Instant Jellyfish posted:Helpful! Thanks! I will be purchasing that book now. And working on all of those things. Maybe he can stay at my parents once in a while while we work on it so it doesn't exacerbate the situation in the midst of trying to train him.
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Jan 2, 2011 02:40
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a life less posted:The thought of your two Cavs with muzzles on makes me laugh. I take issue with mandatory muzzling of dogs in public places -- it seems so much more likely to harm than help. But anyways... Unfortunately it's a policy on the boat. It's only been a recent development in the last 18 months. I think there were a few issues with it being a confined space and a couple of snappy dogs. The rule is: Muzzle, crate/carrier (if they're small) or, for the more dedicated, those dog pram things. I saw a fellow get on today from one of the other islands, he had bags in his hands and a little.. something.. I'll say Chihuahua/Min Pin.. laying across his shoulders (behind his neck) as he walked on. It moved to his lap once he was sitting. Thanks for your advice, I'll have to herd them down an aisle of dining room chairs every so often. Failing that, perhaps I'll have to rig up a donkey/carrot type muzzle attachment..
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Jan 2, 2011 13:57
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impossimole posted:I’m looking for some advice regarding my dog and his sad, pathetic separation anxiety. I’m going to apologize now for all the Instant Jellyfish gave you some great advice. Separation anxiety is really tough to deal with since it happens when you're absent and therefore unable to really "be there" through the process. Pet Island goon Cassiope recently adopted a dog who had serious separation anxiety issues. I'm not sure if she checks this thread. If she doesn't pop up here, maybe you can drop her a PM for some advice. I know she had to brick up the bottom of the wire crate she used (effectively rendering it immobile) and had to either zip-tie or carabiner shut the crate door. Here are some ways to make your dog more comfortable with the crate. This is a link to part one of a series of exercises based on Susan Garrett's crate games. Susan Garrett is a big time agility gal (as well as standard trainer) and her dogs really need to adore their crates, so I think she has a solid method. Next, here is a link is to Kikopup's Using Clicker Training to Teach Your Dog to be Left Alone. I don't think this video really goes in depth enough for your situation, but I think it does a good job at breaking down the separation training into short simple steps. I would also work on building up your dog's confidence about being left alone. Will he sleep in another room without you there? If so, that's great. If not, maybe you can work on that. Give bones and chews to keep his attention and then leave the room, etc.
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Jan 2, 2011 16:14
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but I wanted to have all the bases covered.
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a life less posted:So, the training goes something like this: We were playing Psyche's favorite game this morning (monkey in the middle) and when she got tired, she took the toy we were throwing around and just laid down and held it in her paws to chew on it. So I went over and took it from her and put it on her back. She tried to get it back without getting up and ended up rolling over.  It was adorable.
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Jan 2, 2011 16:40
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a life less posted:I used to have a video up on youtube on how to teach your dog to roll over, but I think I took it down a while ago. The video helps explain the basic movement, but hopefully I'll not confuse you too much by just typing. Thanks, this should be pretty helpful in getting her to learn more tricks. So for the sounds of things I'll put roll over on hold and go for following the lure right now. I did discover something she likes though - dinner rolls. I had them last night and gave her a little piece of one (after making her shake, of course) and she loving loved it and came over and kept trying to shake with me to get some more  I figure small pieces torn off can't be too bad for her just for training, right? Just plain, no butter, warmed up a little, with a rolled up piece about half the size of my first knuckle.quote:So, the training goes something like this: Very helpful! After I get her following lures I'll start it like this. When she lays down she usually sits in sphinx in her front and slumps her back legs over so it shouldn't be too terribly hard to get her to keep on moving over. quote:Good luck teaching your tricks! I love trick training, and so does my dog. My doggie likes it too 
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Jan 2, 2011 17:01
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a life less posted:
Thank you! I will start doing some of the basic crate (re)introductions RIGHT NOW  Pickles doesn't know that there is some turkey hot dog and string cheese in his future.The only thing I worry about with the crate are that the latches have small pieces of metal that poke inwards. We may modify that with a grinder so that they are not a risk if he does rub against the door (which is how he escaped before/scratched up his nose). As far as his confidence goes, he will sleep in another room if he falls asleep and I leave. If he wakes up, it's really a coin toss of whether or not he wants to find out where I or boyfriend went to. At that point I'm not sure if he's just too tired/lazy to care, or he is confident that we are just in the other room or upstairs. There have been a few instances where we have gone up to bed and left him in the living room. It took him about half an hour to come upstairs. So I do have some hope there. If he is wide awake though, he is usually coming to see what I'm doing. He has gotten MUCH better about being glued to our sides. He doesn't always follow us from room to room anymore, and now if he does he will usually go back to his chair or his bed and lay down after he is convinced that I am not leaving through a door/jumping out a window/getting food out of the fridge. Again, he used to be worse but I think he's started to understand that other room does not = gone forever. He still checks in from time to time though, possibly to see if I'm going to the dog treat shelf. It's really when we leave and there is no one there at all that he goes berserk and panics. Today, I sent off an email to the trainer/behaviorist at the local SPCA that we took obedience classes at to see if she does home sessions or can recommend someone who does. I liked her though, she did a lot of Nothing in life is Free, though we never touched on clickers in the class. Thanks again for advice, I'll try all of this out.
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Jan 2, 2011 18:10
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That thing I sent posted:Thanks, this should be pretty helpful in getting her to learn more tricks. So for the sounds of things I'll put roll over on hold and go for following the lure right now. I did discover something she likes though - dinner rolls. I had them last night and gave her a little piece of one (after making her shake, of course) and she loving loved it and came over and kept trying to shake with me to get some more http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEYd9FKwrjI I found the video in the dark recesses of my hard drive. It's kind of hard to see since Cohen already knew the trick when I recorded it, but you can see her following the lure, then dropping her shoulder, then finally rolling over. Once the shoulder is dropped it's a matter of having it make more sense to the dog to just keep following it onto his or her back instead of getting up. In this video I have the lure a bit too far away for beginners, and it's probably moving too quickly, so you'd want to lessen the distance and slow it down while teaching it. I'll use just about anything for reward treats. The roll, in moderation, shouldn't be too bad. Some dogs have wheat sensitivities though, so it won't work for all dogs.
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Jan 2, 2011 19:06
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Pickles went into his crate willingly! Though the target training we had him learn set him back a few minutes during the session. He would look at me and then touch random objects with his nose. Including the crate. And a receipt on the floor across the room (he ran to that one, like aha! I found the thing! No? Awww.) And the blanket shoved in the back of the crate- but I tried not to treat on that considering I didn't want to teach him to put two paws in and stretch out to nose a blanket. So I spread the blanket out and he eventually put all four paws in, then would stand, and then sit  For a forty minute session I wasn't expecting much. We didn't progress to closing the crate door. The first time I tried that he immediately got up and left the crate. So I started over for a bit with just going in and sitting, then treating him just when I would touch the door, so he would get comfortable with that. But he DID sit and lay and stay (for a reasonable time, I didn't want to push it). And with the door open he would stay in the crate and let me walk into the kitchen (only five feet away, but out of sight). But I am out of hot dog now. After I cleaned up the dog drool and hot dog smell from my hands we did another brief five minute session with some banana yogurt cookies. He flipped out more about them then the hot dog. Silly dog. I'll be continuing this when it is time for his dinner!
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Jan 2, 2011 19:20
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impossimole posted:
That's awesome news! Remember, go nice and slow. The slower you go the stronger your foundation is going to be, and the more it's going to help in the long run. I might recommend you make your sessions shorter (5-10 mins), and go back a step the moment Pickles appears uncomfortable (ideally, you'll never see any signs of discomfort). It's very tempting to rush it, but celebrate your tiny milestones and prepare to work on crate games for a few weeks at least.
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Jan 2, 2011 19:32
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a life less posted:That's awesome news! This makes a lot of sense. I considered that I was overdoing it, but he never really showed the typical signs of stress, but I'm willing to believe that those signs I was looking for are when he's pushed to his limit. He would just up and get out of the crate if I made any motion to shut the door. Which I only tried once, and stopped when I saw that he reacted negatively to that. A majority of it was just him repeating going in and sitting, I tried not to press any thing too far. I will definitely make the dinner session a short 5er, and then just feed him whats left of the bowl in the (open) crate. From now on I'll keep the sessions limited to ten minutes though. Thanks! Edit: Not for now, but down the road- as the point is to make him comfortable enough to want to hang out in the crate, is there anything I should do or say to prevent him from leaving it in the middle of a training session? I let him leave freely without saying anything because I didn't want there to be anything negative about this first session, and he had no problem going back into the crate seconds later to get more delicious hot dog. His stay command is good, should I just cement that further and get it perfect and apply it here? impossimole fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Jan 2, 2011 |
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Jan 2, 2011 19:49
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impossimole posted:Edit: Not for now, but down the road- as the point is to make him comfortable enough to want to hang out in the crate, is there anything I should do or say to prevent him from leaving it in the middle of a training session? I let him leave freely without saying anything because I didn't want there to be anything negative about this first session, and he had no problem going back into the crate seconds later to get more delicious hot dog. His stay command is good, should I just cement that further and get it perfect and apply it here? Eventually the "stay" should be implicit. I tend to use commands that essentially say "do that until I release you" and I use "okay" as my release word. So, down means lay down until I say okay or I cue another command like stand or come. So, I would eventually (not yet) start using a command like "crate up" or "go to bed" or whatever and then releasing him with an "okay". It's wise to train your dog not to barge out of the crate whether the door's open or not. When I did this with my dog I would stand in front of the crate until my dog was calm, open the door slowly, and if she made a move to get up I would close it again. If she stayed sitting there I would release her and reward with treats or play. [Ninja edit: I think it's relatively obvious, but don't go forcing a stay by closing the door with your dog -- not until he becomes much more comfortable with the whole routine.] The implicit stay is a more advanced behaviour. Right now I'd just work on making the crate a super awesome place to be, and encouraging him to be comfortable on his own. Do short drills where you leave the house and return almost immediately. Go through the motions of putting on your shoes and coat without actually leaving. You're just working to desensitize your dog so he doesn't get anxious before you've even left.
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Jan 2, 2011 20:30
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I have a pee problem. My boyfriend and I got a Borzoi as a gift from my parents around Thanksgiving. He's 1 year old and had little to no training other than some house training and standard manners like "don't jump because you're the size of a full grown person." I have trained and rehabilitated many dogs before in my life, but always from fixing problems like shyness and socialization. I've never had to deal with the opposite end of the spectrum. We have another dog who is 7 years old. He's half Borzoi and is very calm, cool, and well the most perfect dog ever since we worked with him. Here's the problem. The new dog, Hyperion, is great for my boyfriend. No accidents in the house at all. However, when I'm home the dog will pee on anything and everything. I will take Hype outside and he'll pee immediately for me. I'll think things are great and then I'll come inside and 10 minutes or 2 hours later he'll pee on the couch or in the bed. And it's not just on our furniture, it's in his crate too. If I go out in the middle of the day and crate him I'll always find him sleeping in a big puddle of piss when I get home. He has no shame! Mind you, this does not happen if the boyfriend isn't working and we leave him together. Just me. Only me. As far as training him in general goes, I have been doing a bit of clicker training but I have gotten very frustrated. I give him treats when he uses the bathroom outside still, but I haven't even been able to so much as teach him "sit." It's been like 5-6 weeks and I try every day. The boyfriend doesn't try to train at all though. He was into it for like the first week and then stopped. And also Hype is getting a lot better with our cats, as I think he's learned his lesson from the multiple scratches on his big nose. Any advice appreciated, as it's clear me training him not to go in the house is not the issue here. Oh, and he's not fixed yet. We're scheduling to have it done this month. I thought it might be some sort of marking thing trying to get dominance from our older dog, but why does he only do this when I'm home? 
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Jan 2, 2011 22:57
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vstheworld posted:why does he only do this when I'm home? Dogs pee when they're scared or unsure how the situation will play out. He's nervous around you, and is peeing so you'll leave him alone.
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Jan 3, 2011 04:19
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Emasculatrix posted:Dogs pee when they're scared or unsure how the situation will play out. He's nervous around you, and is peeing so you'll leave him alone. This is not necessarily true. I do more training with our dog than my husband as well as giving her more attention in general. She behaves a LOT better for him, being calm and laying around for him when he's ignoring her. When I ignore her, she does everything in her power to get my attention and it's worse when he's not home. When we first got her and we were still figuring out all her signs, she had a few accidents in the apartment. Most of the time they were around me. One time I went to the bathroom and she peed just outside because I closed the door. So yes, the dog might be nervous, but he doesn't necessarily want to be left alone. In fact, I would start keeping the dog under constant supervision, tethering the dog to your belt if you have to so he can't go off somewhere and pee. For the crate, first, you need to be using a special cleaner like Nature's Miracle to get rid of the smell that marks the spot as a place the dog should pee. Then I would ask if the crate is too big, but if the dog doesn't mind laying in the pee, that's a problem I'm not sure how to deal with. Maybe move the crate somewhere new and start crate training over again, leaving for short times and feeding inside the crate and such. If you post more about your training techniques, we may be able to help with that as well. Don't be afraid to try different things. The same techniques don't work for every dog. To get my dog to stop demanding my attention by jumping on me and barking, I tried ignoring, I tried time-outs, I tried shaking a can and it turned out that that time-outs/the can helped with barking when she was hyper but for jumping/attention begging, I just had to immediate tell her Off and heavily reinforce sitting quietly for attention and it's finally getting better. So you need to try new things to find what works. Kiri koli fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Jan 3, 2011 |
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Jan 3, 2011 04:55
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Emasculatrix posted:Dogs pee when they're scared or unsure how the situation will play out. He's nervous around you, and is peeing so you'll leave him alone. I don't think this is true because he always does it when I'm out of the room. Say I leave and go to the kitchen or I run to the bathroom myself. I rarely ever catch him doing it since it's always when I'm gone for a split second. Also I really don't think he's nervous around me because he's a super cuddle bug and pretty defensive if other dogs approach me (we're working on that). I was wondering if it had something to do with training. My training methods are the standard click/reward for command. I don't do any classic training as I know sighthounds aren't really good with that. The only times I've lost my cool were the two times he peed on the couch. I know it was wrong but god it's like rage took over.  I am starting to question my method when I found out his history though. He was an only puppy and raised with another litter of Bull Mastiffs. How I got a Borzoi that acts and howls like a Mastiff is beyond me. I don't know ANYTHING about mastiffs. Oy  As far as the crate goes, it's as big as I could get and it is still a little small for him. He's fine laying down but he definitely bumps his back when he stands up. He is a super tall dog at over 3'.
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Jan 3, 2011 05:58
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a life less posted:Instant Jellyfish gave you some great advice. Separation anxiety is really tough to deal with since it happens when you're absent and therefore unable to really "be there" through the process. I do check this thread! I was just way too busy over the holidays so I'm a bit late. When we got Moxie she had some serious separation anxiety. She destroyed her crate, scratched up her nose pretty bad, broke through a window unit a/c to get outside, etc. The advice everyone has already given you is awesome and it definitely sounds like you're on the right track now. What I'd reiterate is that you can never slack off on the training. I'm guilty of slacking but I'm working on that. What we're doing now is every day for fifteen minutes (not necessarily 15 minutes straight, you can break it up into 5 minute blocks) is working on lay down and stay as I get progressively closer to the door. We've done a lot of crate work and she does like her crate. It is the ONLY place she ever gets a peanut butter kong. I'll have her lay down in the crate with the door open and stay. Then I take a step away, step back, treat. 20 times. then 2 steps away, step back, treat. then 3...etc. etc. We're almost to the point where I can walk into the living room (my place is tiny, she can still see me there) and towards the door before she gets out of her crate to follow me. Ideally I'm going to have her stay in her crate lying down while I walk away, out the front door, close the door, wait a few minutes, and come back in. I'm leaving the crate door open for all of it so I know if she stayed in of her own volition or not. Keep in mind to take it very slowly. I plan on spending a week building up each few steps I take away from the crate. Sometimes during the day when she is not watching me I'll hide an awesome treat in her crate. She discovers it on her own later and it's like the crate magically makes delicious things appear all on it's own! We also used to sit behind the crate with the door open and give her treats through the bars when she would walk in on her own. Good luck!
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Jan 3, 2011 18:33
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Cassiope posted:
I totally had this idea last night and am picking up some new BONUS TREAATS on my way home tonight, to be used only for magical appearances. The only thing is seeing if we can get the point that he wants to chew bones/kongs in the crate. Presently he just madly runs about the house with it in his mouth and hunkers down on a chair. Can't fit that chair in the crate. He loves laying on his dog bed/beating the crap out of it. Do you think putting that into his crate will make any more positive things happen? It is small enough to fit into the crate I think. Worse that happens is he drags it out of the crate BECAUSE THAT DOESN'T GO IN THERE, GUYS. As an aside, when we were doing crate drills before dinner, I must have inadvertently tensed up when he was getting up to leave his crate after sitting quietly for too long or something. Pickles saw and instead of just walking out of his crate he pretended to just streeeeeetch and oh, oops, I'm out of the crate. Imagine that!
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Jan 3, 2011 19:57
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Have I set back potty training? Puppy (10 weeks) was doing very well. No accidents in the house, lots of praise and treats for going outside. Then the weather turned really, really cold. I didn't think he should be out too long, with just his puppy coat, and I'm kind of a wuss about cold weather myself. So when it's one degree below zero (that's Fahrenheit, don't even want to think about what it is in Celsius), I went ahead and praised him for going on the patio. Technically, it's still outside. We'd really rather he didn't go there. But frankly, I was about ready to just let him pee on the downstairs carpet, it was so freaking cold. Or go buy some puppy pads and put them in the garage. Weather has warmed up (well, just above freezing) and now he thinks the patio is the only place to go. He is happy to frolic through the yard, though. So I have been treating/praising for getting out onto the grass, and not treating but not punishing for the patio. We have cleared snow off of part of the lawn (boy, what a spoiled puppy), but the idea seems to occur to him mainly when he's on the patio. Now what?
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Jan 3, 2011 21:47
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Rhymes With Clue posted:Have I set back potty training? Put puppy on a leash and walk him to/around the spot where you want him to go. The patio probably smells like pee, which is encouraging him to go there. It'll wash away eventually, I would imagine.
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Jan 4, 2011 00:45
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Kiri koli posted:Put puppy on a leash and walk him to/around the spot where you want him to go. The patio probably smells like pee, which is encouraging him to go there. It'll wash away eventually, I would imagine. It'd probably be more helpful to wash it with some Nature's Miracle. I would just wait out your dog. Keep bringing him back to the spot where you want him to go as often as you can, and keep him tethered to you or under your direct supervision so he doesn't wander off to relieve himself indoors. I'm not wanting to single out Rhymes with Cake, but this is an excellent example of why making the easier choice often doesn't turn out to be the best choice in the long run. Shortcuts can come back to bite us in the rear end, especially while dog training. You get back almost exactly how much you put into it.
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Jan 4, 2011 00:56
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a life less posted:It'd probably be more helpful to wash it with some Nature's Miracle. I was going to suggest this, but I couldn't wrap my head around the logistics of washing a whole patio in near freezing conditions. But it's a good idea, especially because once that smell is gone, you can establish a new pee area and the dog will catch on that much quicker. I sympathize with the cold thing. I thought I'd never get used to walking my dog in below freezing weather at 8 in the morning, but we don't have a yard and so I just got a warm jacket and sucked it up. Now I'm actually starting to enjoy it. The puppy's enthusiasm helps. If you and your puppy are cold, get some warmer gear (and a little wrap for puppy!) and think about how much those negative wind chills will make you appreciate those balmy 30 degree days.
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Jan 4, 2011 02:02
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Kiri koli posted:Put puppy on a leash and walk him to/around the spot where you want him to go. The patio probably smells like pee, which is encouraging him to go there. It'll wash away eventually, I would imagine. Would this work for my 7-8 month old puppy who has taken to pooping on the patio?
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Jan 4, 2011 03:06
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Ridonkulous posted:Would this work for my 7-8 month old puppy who has taken to pooping on the patio? I don't see why not. I've never tried training this because I live in an apartment, but if I wanted to teach my dog to use a certain part of the yard, I would take her out on a leash to the same spot everyday, teach her a potty command, and then make sure she did her business before playing in the rest of the yard. Most dogs are habitual, so as long as the area is big enough (and clean enough), they should stick to it. If they've previously been using the whole yard, it might take longer to train until the smells had been washed away from the rest of the yard. You could try taking some of the poop from the patio and relocating it to the right spot (though you shouldn't need to leave the area dirty once the dog gets it). After my dog was going consistently on command in the right spot, I'd probably still go out with her, but let her loose and then slowly work my way inside. Also, it's probably still a good idea to take your dog for walks and give the potty command in other situations so they know that it's okay to go outside the yard...just not in the part of the yard that isn't the designated area. Of course, praise and treats will help this process along.
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Jan 4, 2011 03:53
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Jan 5, 2011 02:00
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impossimole posted:Cute. Do you cover the crate ever? I think my dog feels better about her crate when it's covered, it's like her own little world away from the world. She's hyper-vigilant, so we play the radio or white noise for her when we're gone and with the crate covered, she's less worried about her surroundings while we're gone.
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Jan 5, 2011 02:20
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Kiri koli posted:Cute. I've thought about covering, but I'm not sure what to cover the crate with, really. Cloth or towels will get pulled in and shredded. Also, we aren't keeping him in the crate at this point, so I don't know how he will act yet once he's more comfortable in there for any period of time.
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Jan 5, 2011 02:32
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impossimole posted:I've thought about covering, but I'm not sure what to cover the crate with, really. Cloth or towels will get pulled in and shredded. Also, we aren't keeping him in the crate at this point, so I don't know how he will act yet once he's more comfortable in there for any period of time. They sell crate covers that are like giant pads that look like they couldn't get bunched up in between crate bars and chewed on. I've never tried them though, we just used a cheap, huge blanket from Target. It's big enough to pull taunt over the crate and it's light so it won't get hot in there. If you think you'll ever want to cover or use sounds, it'll probably be best to introduce it now instead of after you've started working on keeping him in the crate. I know my dog is calmed by noise and by blocking her view from things that might bother her, but then my dog is kind of crazy so...
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Jan 5, 2011 03:58
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How do I train my dog not to eat dead insects, dead leaves, and other dog poo poo off the ground?  On our walks she will stop maybe every 30 seconds for something, and when she is running around playing in the backyard she sniffs spot to spot and then goes for whatever she finds. I've spent some time with some good treats trying to click her right before she goes for the object, but she just takes the string of treats I give and then ALWAYS goes back for what she wants. It's like all those dead things are the most appealing sources of food in the world to her and there's nothing I could do to top that. I could probably find even more impressive treats, but is that the right way I should go about this? She is 6 years old and I just got her Sunday, so I'm going to ask her previous owners if this was normal behavior. Fortunately she's super trainable -- in the past three days I've taught her to loose leash walk, stay, go to bed, and sit when she sees her leash/wants to go out/wants to get pet. All because of PI! 
Smai fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Jan 5, 2011 |
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Jan 5, 2011 14:37
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A bit of an update. Its been almost a week since Major's visit with the vet behaviorist. He's been taking L-theanine twice daily and wearing his DAP collar non-stop since then. He's also been having relaxing time on a mat daily and I've started working on sitting with the car on for 4-5 minutes a day. It takes two weeks for the meds to take full effect but I'm seeing some slight changes in behavior already. He seems to able to recover from stressful events faster. After our 4 minute car practice today he came in and hopped up on the couch rather than chugging his entire bowl of water. Hooray! He also has been seeking out toys and playing on his own which he has never really done before. Outdoors he has been exploring further away and acting more independent and inside he has been sleeping in various places around the house instead of right on top of me. He's still like the world's whiniest shark, mostly in the mornings, and there are some times where I feel like I'm going to lose it if he circles the room one more time. I think that's become a pretty ingrained habit and teaching him to go to a specific place and stay there will help. Impulse control seems like it has take a big back slide lately despite increasingly strict NILIF. I'm not sure if it is related to the meds or if he's just feeling more confident or what. He's been rushing the windows to bark at passing horse carriages or the mail truck or the neighbor dog he suddenly hates, tackling me while zooming around the pasture, trying to drag me everywhere on leash and leaping to snatch things out of my hands, all things he hasn't done since the first month I got him. Yesterday he even split my lip open pawing me in the face trying to get me to play while I was trying to vacuum under a table. It will be interesting to see what he's like in the next week. I'm going back to baby impulse control and gentle play exercises so hopefully that will show some improvement. A 75 lb dog with a puppy brain is no fun at all. Smai I would go back to some really basic "leave it" practice like the "it's yer choice" game outlined here. Start with things inside that are easy to leave then build up to more exciting things in different places. Also when you are walking and trying to redirect onto a treat use it to lead your dog away from the item so its not right there being tempting when the treat is eaten. She's also a hound so snorfling out dead things is going to be super motivating, you might want to pick a super smelly treat like baked liver to really get her mind off of them. Instant Jellyfish fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jan 5, 2011 |
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Jan 5, 2011 21:16
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Anyone have a good idea of what super logical trick I can teach a dog named spock using the "live long and prosper" hand signal? I've already taught him to play dead when I point at him and say "bang bang", and he's super trainable, he knows all the normal sit/stay type of commands. I just think it would be hilariously geeky to do something with this.
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Jan 5, 2011 21:27
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Dremels have gone from 'yay! friend that takes our nails away! VRR VRR VRR!' to 'OH MY GOD I NEED TO poo poo MYSELF LITERALLY AND SCREAM IN TERROR WHEN YOU DREMEL MY NAILS' in two weeks' time. I have no idea why. It doesn't sound any different, it isn't a different dremel, it isn't a different sanding barrel, it isn't a different setting or a different room we do it in, noone's got any paw pain or anything like that. What in the gently caress. I pulled it out after the "OH MY GOD NO NO NO" and they ALL ran and hid. Anyone wanna take a guess what the gently caress? I've been using this thing forever. Balen's had his nails dremeled since he was a pup.
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Jan 6, 2011 07:35
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We've got two dogs. One's an older, very passive Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The other's a younger, very feisty Silky-x-Maltese Terrier. We're having problems with the terrier. He gets excited when we have visitors, and will squeal and bark like mad, which is annoying, but a problem we can deal with. However, if someone's knocking at our front door he'll get so worked up that he'll take it out on our spaniel... latch onto his ears and just keep shaking the poo poo out of him until we separate them. The dogs usually get along fine, it's just when visitors appear that he goes mental. I'm considering trialing a bark-shock collar (he's growling as he attacks the other dog), which is not something that I've ever wanted to use, but the other dog is seriously suffering... can anyone suggest any other training strategies to curb him of doing this? I've been looking at the counterconditioning info but I'm not sure how I'd apply it.
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Jan 7, 2011 00:48
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Piglips posted:I'm considering trialing a bark-shock collar (he's growling as he attacks the other dog), which is not something that I've ever wanted to use, but the other dog is seriously suffering... can anyone suggest any other training strategies to curb him of doing this? I've been looking at the counterconditioning info but I'm not sure how I'd apply it. Oh God, a shock collar is a really bad idea for this. Its just going to make the terrier more aggressive in this situation. The terrier is getting way too excited about the door and redirects it at the other dog. You need to desensitize the dog to the door knocking in a way that's safe for both dogs. The way I would approach this is to teach the dog to go to a bed or rug out of the way when he hears knocking on the door. Here's how to train "go to your mat". Once the dog knows how to go to the mat I would have one person knock on the door, then you lead the dog to the mat and give him oodles of treats for sitting there. The other person can then let themselves in while you continue to give treats. Have the cav safe in another room while you do this! With enough practice the dog will learn the knocking on the door means to go to the mat and chill for awesome treats. While you're working on this make sure to separate the dogs quickly when someone knocks when you aren't training to prevent the terrier from getting too amped up and redirecting onto your cav.
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Jan 7, 2011 02:12
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Instant Jellyfish has the right idea; a shock collar will simply do the opposite of help and make the dog even more agitated because OH MY GOD SOMETHING SHOCKED ME IT MUST BE YOUR FAULT. So basically, it will exacerbate the situation and make things worse. A shock collar is and always should be a last resort after you've tried absolutely everything else; it's a training tool, yes, but not a very good one, and should only be used by people who 100% know what they're doing (i.e trainers, not you or I). 'Go to your mat' is an excellent strategy to begin with. I'd train the terrier mix while the Cav is somewhere else (in another room or crated) so that you can focus solely on his issues. Also, re-read this thread to get a better idea of how to apply counterconditioning; it's been explained several times in beautiful detail by awesome posters.
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Jan 7, 2011 02:20
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Cool, thanks. Yeah I was unsure about the collar. I'll give the mat thing a go for a while. This terrier's actually quite lovely when he's not fired up, but he's a menace when he is. We took him to the vet for a haircut when he was only ~7-8 months old or so and they told me they never wanted to see him again.
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Jan 7, 2011 02:47
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Smai posted:How do I train my dog not to eat dead insects, dead leaves, and other dog poo poo off the ground? The "it's yer choice" is a really great way to lay the foundation you're looking for. Start work on a low-value food item on the floor and (following the steps in the video Instant Jellyfish linked) reward with a higher value food. Always always reward with a higher value reward. As for going back for what she wants after the string of rewards is over, that's pretty normal. Once she knows you're out of the good stuff she'd be silly not to try her luck with the smelly dead mouse back there. You can address this with two methods: first, keep her on a leash so she doesn't have the opportunity to repeat undesirable behaviour (duh) and second vary the rate of reinforcement so she's never quite sure if you're done. Keep offering rewards sporadically and doing your best to be super fun, happy and exciting to your dog. Hounds instinctively follow their noses everywhere, so this might be a behaviour you're always struggling with to a certain extent. My dog is a garbage can on legs, so I always have to watch her when we're around possible foodstuffs outside. Try to be proactive and predict where trouble spots are going to be so you can reward for focus and not give her the opportunity to lunge for the treats. ToastFaceKillah posted:Anyone have a good idea of what super logical trick I can teach a dog named spock using the "live long and prosper" hand signal? I've already taught him to play dead when I point at him and say "bang bang", and he's super trainable, he knows all the normal sit/stay type of commands. I just think it would be hilariously geeky to do something with this. Maybe a "beg" command? My dog looks rigid and awkward in a Spockish sort of way when she does it. Plus she even puts her one paw up in greeting.  Live long and prosper. I can try to explain how to teach it if you're interested. Not all dogs can pull off a beg since it takes core strength, but most can build it up. Fluffy Bunnies posted:What in the gently caress. I pulled it out after the "OH MY GOD NO NO NO" and they ALL ran and hid. Anyone wanna take a guess what the gently caress? I've been using this thing forever. Balen's had his nails dremeled since he was a pup. Your dogs have definitely fed off each other's discomfort with the dremel. Dogs, being dumb, will feed off each other's insecurities until they're all exhausted and shaking on the floor. I would probably go back to basic desensitization, but only with one dog at a time. Go into a room with a door and start from square one. My guess is that you shouldn't have too much trouble getting your dogs used to it again. What about clipping their nails? I'm not a fan of dremels myself since I feel like they take a while and are kind of noisy. I imagine you're probably worried about nicking the quick, so avoiding 'em is understandable. Piglips posted:I'm considering trialing a bark-shock collar (he's growling as he attacks the other dog), which is not something that I've ever wanted to use, but the other dog is seriously suffering... can anyone suggest any other training strategies to curb him of doing this? I've been looking at the counterconditioning info but I'm not sure how I'd apply it. A shock collar is a really bad idea, as others have pointed out. If you were to use one here you would be suppressing your dog's behaviour without actually teaching him what you actually want him to do when the doorbell rings. So, on top of basic desensitization, decide what you want him to do instead (grab a toy, go to his mat and sit, etc) and train that. Your dog doesn't know what you want of him. There are a million wrong answers, and normally only one or two right ones. So show him the right answer. Odds are he's probably instantly inoperant the moment the knocking starts, so instead of leaping right into counterconditioning him to the knock, try a step down first. Does he react when he hears rustling outside the door? From a distance? Try to find that sub-threshold level and get someone to help you work on getting him used to the whole process. But hey, even if he does react when there's a knock at the door and you're not prepared, just start popping treats into his mouth. Your goal is to have what was a previously scary and intimidating sound become something that indicates he's about to get fed something awesome. Also, in the mean time, ideally you want to manage his behaviour when you're not able to actively work on him. Maybe keep him separated from your other dog if you're expecting anyone to knock. ------------- Props to everyone who's offered advice in this thread. Without exception, it's really solid stuff. Keep it up folks!
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Jan 7, 2011 04:50
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a life less posted:
That would be great. I taught him the bang bang trick rather quickly, but he's a fan of belly rubs, and treats WITH belly rubs? Heck yes, he'll do that.
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Jan 7, 2011 05:32
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a life less posted:Your dogs have definitely fed off each other's discomfort with the dremel. Dogs, being dumb, will feed off each other's insecurities until they're all exhausted and shaking on the floor. Less that, more I can't seem to find one that holds up to nails that are great dane thick. I mean, Balen's are drat near the thickness of a mechanical pencil. Kaydee I could clip, sure. But Amy and Balen are incredibly difficult to clip. Back to square one, I guess. Grab someone, put'em in the bedroom, so many goddamned treats. Sigh. Thanks dude.
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Jan 7, 2011 09:54
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Need a sanity check and some advice here. Our golden retriever, Sadie, is now about 9 months old and excelling at most things (including, on occasion, being a tremendous rear end). Her agility/obedience/rally training is actually going very well, and given that this is our first foray into these activities, I'm very happy with our progress. We train with her at least once a day for 15 minutes or so, and my wife is home with her every day so she usually gets more than that, plus exercise, weather permitting. One of the things we're still struggling with is greeting other people. She gets very excited and jumps and mouths. We've been firmly commanding "OFF" as soon as she jumps and hauling her off if she doesn't immediately obey, and this IS getting better as she gets older. If it's not a brand new person, she does pretty well with a treat and a command to focus. We did this over the holidays when we wanted her out of the way when my parents' dogs went out -- a treat and a focus with eye contact for up to 2 minutes was not a problem. But a new person is exponentially more exciting than any treat we have, even her favorites. We've tried getting the other people she greets to do all the right things -- ignore and cross arms/stare at the sky until she sits and calms down, but that just doesn't work. The PEOPLE are the problem, even the ones in our training class and I've given up on them, so we're on our own here. So, my wife and I came up with a plan this weekend. We're going to try to desensitize her to people by setting up a couple of lawn chairs out in front of Petsmart for a few hours with her on a short leash. We may get a posterboard up too that says something to the effect of "I am trying to learn to meet people. If I get too excited, please keep walking." If she can sit and greet calmly without mouthing, we'll treat. She knows the kisses command, but when she's excited she hates following it, so we'll probably bring her bumper so she has something to stick in her mouth for the first bit. And I'll be there for the people that can't take a cue to shoo them off. Does this sound like it will work? Anyone have any advice or tweaks to recommend?
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Jan 7, 2011 15:20
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MrFurious posted:So, my wife and I came up with a plan this weekend. We're going to try to desensitize her to people by setting up a couple of lawn chairs out in front of Petsmart for a few hours with her on a short leash. We may get a posterboard up too that says something to the effect of "I am trying to learn to meet people. If I get too excited, please keep walking." I can tell you already that this won't work simply because people are completely loving stupid and will pet the dog regardless. ("OH SHE'S JUST BEING FRIENDLY") Especially if they have kids. (They want to pet the doggy why are you such awful people who won't let them pet the doggy?) Strangers are not reliable when it comes to dog training.
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Jan 8, 2011 02:27
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