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I'm hardly an expert, but I HAVE had experience training a huge, mischievous 4 year old rott mix. 5 months is definitely not 'too old'--there's no such thing. Figure out what motivates him; my old girl was highly food motivated, and caught onto what I wanted very quickly when roast chicken was involved. I trained her in 20-minute intervals two or three times a day with really delicious, high-value treats, and taught her to respond to a voice command + hand signal. Eventually it reached a point to where only the hand signal was needed, or, occasionally, she just heard the tone of voice associated with a command and acted on that. If your dog is intelligent and likes treats, most basic puppy training manuals and such will probably be just fine as a starting point. Sit and Come are both the easiest to teach and the most important, IMHO, so give that a shot and see how your dog responds. If your dog ISN'T food motivated...well, let me know when you find something that works for you, because my current new pup has the same problem. I'm lucky that he's attention/praise seeking, but it's harder to get him to work with me without edible bribes. As for taking them out to the park: if you feel like you can physically restrain the younger dog if he decides to take off, or jump on another animal, then maybe you could give it a shot. Otherwise, you should probably figure out your limits when it comes to controlling him first. It can take months for animals to get used to each other, so as long as neither of them are super stressed by the other's presence, you don't need to rush it. Even then they might never be friends--I have absolutely had dogs that cohabited peacefully, but distinctly did not enjoy the other's company. Taking them out for a park walk or a hike is a good idea for bonding though, since any activity where they're together but not focused on each other is a solid low-pressure bonding opportunity. Have you given him toys? It sounds like he needs to blow off some steam. Kongs are GREAT if he's food motivated, and most dogs enjoy rope toys (tug games also give you a chance to practice 'release' commands). Good luck--getting a new dog is stressful even under ideal circumstances, and I wouldn't want to be accidentally suckered into it. Good on you for being responsible, though. TheAbominableSnow fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Nov 18, 2016 |
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Nov 18, 2016 17:56
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| # ¿ May 18, 2024 13:18 |
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