My dog is smarter than your honor student: the Dog Training Thread

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > My dog is smarter than your honor student: the Dog Training Thread

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Is this the thread where I can gripe about my family? Just five minutes ago I was asking Apollo to sit and he didn't - just stared at me - and my dad went "SIT" from across the room.

:rant:

First of all, Apollo heard me! He was deciding if he wanted to sit or not!

Second of all, I AM THE ONE TRAINING HIM I DO NOT NEED YOUR RANDOM INTERJECTIONS.

Third of all, that probably confused or otherwise misled Apollo!

:sigh:

I'll talk to my Dad about this later - it's happened a few times before this and I need him to understand that repeating the command, but louder, doesn't help Apollo learn to do it when I ask for it. But I want to gripe about it, because man family is a pain in the butt. If only they'd respond to clicker training...

# ¿ Oct 5, 2017 00:04

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 10:51

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Xtanstic posted:

I've moved into an apartment in August and thought my dog adjusted well from living with my parents to my apt but today I just got a notice that there have been repeated complaints about him barking during the day. The dog is not much of a barker unless he's super excited because there's a strange new person (mailman). Usually when he gets barked at he just shrugs at other dogs. I need to fix this issue asap and I have no idea how loud he is because I'm not home.

I was told to turn on a radio so that he's used to human voices and looking back in the archives there seems to be credible evidence that it can help. I have no idea if this has been going on for weeks or if it was just one week where he went bonkers because I didn't walk him enough or he was super angry because there was constant movement in the halls because of Bell guys moving about.

My question is plan B backup plan. I know all about positive reinforcement and everything so I have no idea how humane or effective those automatic shock collars are:

https://www.amazon.ca/T-AIM-Guarant...=barking+collar

Anyone got opinions? I'm desperate here because I need a fast fix and I can't be home to fix it. I don't think giving him a Kong during the day is the solution because his trigger is 'stranger people near the door when I am not home'. He only barks sometimes when I'm at home and people walk in the hallway. He will react when someone knocks on my door.

My immediate reaction is, can you put a sign on your front door that says "DO NOT KNOCK I AM NOT HOME"? In case there are like, roving Mormon Missionaries trying to find out if you're there.

# ¿ Dec 6, 2017 23:24

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Do you guys have any tips on convincing a dog to focus? When we try to train Apollo we get a comedy routine: he realizes that he's getting treats for obeying, so he starts doing EVERYTHING. He sits, he lies down, he rolls over, he jumps up and down, he offers his paw, he offers his other paw, he offers BOTH paws....

And if I tell him to sit, he'll go "OKAY" and then do the rest of his routine. Or he'll lie down and whine. Or he'll figure it out and sit perfectly.

He's really smart, and will sit to have his leash put on and before mealtimes, but if it's for one treat, and then another, he just... stops listening. Help?

# ¿ Jan 10, 2018 23:21

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Do you guys have any advice on how to train a dog who doesn't like to have his nails clipped?

I've been working on getting him to put his paw into my hand when I ask for it, and that's working great - but trying to build him up to the hold command - i.e. holding his paw still when I bring the clipper to it (without actually clipping!) is, uh. Slow. And just now while working on it he refused to offer his paw at all. (Even though I'm offering treats for doing so!)

I know he hates getting them clipped, but... this really is the best way to do it, pal. Tricking you with a whole dinner while I clip one claw is not sustainable when you have that many claws.

Notes: I'm using a clicker, his treats are his dinner which he loves, and he's smart. At least, he's smart enough to figure out roll and bring quickly. The problem here is very much that he hates the clipper more than he loves his treats, but....mm. Should I use hotdog slices instead...?

# ¿ Jan 19, 2018 23:22

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

ImplicitAssembler posted:

Having 2 or even 3 people helps. That's what we did initially. One to hold the(standing) dog, one to feed a constant stream of treats and then one to cut the nails. Lots of encouragement, bonus treat stream on each cut, etc. We then got it down to 2 persons, then got her lying down and now it's a 1 person job. It did take about a year to get to that point.

Hmm. We'll try this with more treats (and more valuable ones, like hot dog slices) - the thing is, the last time we did this he basically wriggled his way free, and refused to let me even hold his paws. Like, it was an out and out distressing event for him.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2018 02:29

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

Is there no way to close the bedroom door?

# ¿ Apr 23, 2018 21:20

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

ObesePriest posted:

Not sure if this belongs in the general dog thread or this one but my gf and I adopted a Chihuahua mix from the shelter about 2 months ago. For the most part, he's a pretty good dog. We've taught him basic obedience and he listens fairly well and his overall behavior is improving except for one thing.

In the morning when we wake up he gets super excited and starts jumping up and biting our shirts and nipping at our slippers. We've tried ignoring the behavior and giving him attention once he stops. We've tried pre-emptively giving him treats or a loved toy before his feet leave the ground but he'll still nip at our slippers. We've tried issuing commands like sit which he does sit but once we start moving he'll resume the behavior. I guess maybe stay would work better.

I feel like his behavior hasn't improved at all no matter what we do. Nothing really seems to calm him down except time. I'm not sure if we are missing something or just need to be more consistent with one method or what.

I wake up earlier than my parents and Apollo is thrilled to greet them in the morning, complete with overexcited wiggles, jumps, and nips.

What's helped the most - as we did a battery similar to yours - was Mom just beelining for a chair, sitting, then giving Apollo undivided "good morning!!" attention. He can't jump, he gets petted and welcomed, and then he's polite for the rest of the morning. Fortunately my Mom loves doing this so I don't have to restrain him every morning - because oh man does Dad hate being jumped on.

In conclusion: would you be willing to give him 100% attention for half a minute, maybe a minute, including a belly rub? Overdosing him with the good stuff might help.

# ¿ May 28, 2018 10:42

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

ObesePriest posted:

Ohh hmm that makes sense. Gonna have to try that tomorrow. That would be better than him jumping like crazy on people. Gonna try to hit him with the attention before he does any of thw attention grabbers

I hope it works! My amateur theory as to why it works when the other behavioral corrections doesn't, is because the pupper is just so happy to see us in the morning that they literally cannot contain themselves.

# ¿ May 29, 2018 00:56

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# ¿ May 3, 2024 10:51

StrixNebulosa: Feb 14, 2012; You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

turing_test posted:

I’m preparing to get my first dog and I’m a little nervous as I’ve never owned a dog before. I’ve read the thread and purchased The Power of Positive Dog Training, but is there a priority list of behaviors to focus on somewhere? I know it’s important to not overwhelm the dog with too many things at once.

I’ve been contacting rescues and am looking for a small-ish older dog because I live in a 1BR apartment in a city. I like two dogs so far, both about 30lbs, one “shepard” mix that I assume will be higher energy and drive-y and one whippet mix that is described as a couch potato. Both rescues are foster-based and have coordinators who say they can help me find a good dog for my lifestyle.

I imagine my priorities should be:
1. Housebreaking
2. Crate training
3. Leave it to avoid resource guarding?
4. Leash manners?

I’m a bit lost here - any help would be much appreciated!

You want Sit, Stay, Down, and Drop (as in drop what's in your mouth) in there, but that order looks good with one exception: don't rush crate training. Do it wrong and the dog will refuse the crate and then you have to start from scratch and yeah.

Good luck! Remember that you are going to be with this dog for a long time and they'll need time to adjust to you, so don't try to do everything at once.

# ¿ Aug 24, 2018 03:04

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > My dog is smarter than your honor student: the Dog Training Thread