Need advice on dog training.....

[Chase77]

Need some advice on this badly. Saved a 10 month old boxer/shep from the pound. She is very much a puppy still with sporatic bursts of energy, playful biting, s***ting accidents etc. Got a couple of training vids but everything out there seems specific to younger dogs.

Issues I need to fix ASAP are:

Obedience/dominence - she listens if/when she wants to
Reprimanding - She has zero response to yelling or commands when bad
Playful biting - she's way too big to be doing this with hands
Jumping up - again, way too big and strong to be doing this
s***ting accidents - She was doing pretty good on her schedule for the first week and a half but seems to have forgotten everything in the past 4 days
Food aggression - Getting better but not sure she gets it

She's a super smart dog but is driving me out of my mind with her lack of focus/listening. Anyone have any suggestions on books or methods? We bought a kennel to help with the potty training but arent sure about how to correct her on the other things. We are trying to stay away from shock collars but cant think of anything else that could get her attention.....

Thanks,

Chase

 

[Colorado Boy-74-FJ40]

reward positive acts ignore negative acts. don't yell , spank, this will only scare and confuse the dog. My Schnauzer was terribly spirited and we were able to get through to him. Dogs are very smart and will catch on to positive reinforcement. Check in to basic dog training, I did so at Petco. 6 week class one hour each week. lots of work in between , now my baby is pretty well behaved. Don't give up. your dog will come around.

 

[greytandy]

A good stern "NO!" and reinforcing positive behavior. Works well for our greyhounds that come directly from the track and have never been in a house before. It's a big learning curve for them but they are eager to please. Females are more difficult to train as they tend to be dominant. Establish that you are the Alpha.

Potty training can be tough. At first you will need to take them out frequently and give them a lot of "GOOD GIRL!" and petting when she does her business outside. If you spot her in the act inside, yell "NO!" and immediately take her outside to finish. Follow up with praise. There's not a lot you can do if she's already done her business and you find it later.

Finally, if you see a marked change in her urinary habits, it could be the sign of something else, usually a urinary tract infection. Go to the vet if you suspect this. Dogs will pee a lot when they have a UTI.

Good luck!

 

[Team Zissou]

Most everything you are having problems with comes down to dominance issues. You need to assert yourself (in the dogs eyes) as the unquestioned pack leader. I recommend you read the article I'm linking you to. It was written by a dude who has trained working German Shephards for decades and helped me immensely when I got my akita. It should provide an answer (or one of his other articles will) for everything you need to know.

http://www.leerburg.com/groundwork.htm

 

[wob]

X2 on the dominance issue. You need to exercise the crap out of that dog, too. Sounds bored.

 

[-Spike-]

You need to lock her in a room in front of the TV and make her watch those training videos until she gets it right.

-Spike

 

[riverliver]

Watch the dog whisperer......then use a shock collar!

build a kennel. put the dog outside!

my dog wil never see the inside of my house................

 

[LoveTractor]

Everything I would suggest has been mentioned. You are the master. Let it be known with a stern voice.

Obedience/reprimanding go hand in hand. Get her on a choke chain and when you need her to listen, pop the chain and make sure she's looking at you. Take hold of her muzzle and make her look you in the eye. Eye contact is critical.

As far as the jumping up on you. Sternly knee the dog in the chest whenever it happens. They'll learn quick that it hurts to be kneed in the chest and stop jumping up on you.

Pooping in the house. A stern voice and I actually used an old coke can full of pennies with his head shoved in it(not "in" it, but close enough to know that that was the reason he was being scolded). Whenever he s*** or peed in the house, I'd reprimand and drag him over to it and start shaking the hell outta the can. It scared him and he learned quick.

And I don't agree with keeping a dog outside all the time. Then he/she will never feel part of the family. My dog is like my son and follows me and listens to me all the time. We are attached at the hip inside and outside the house. I rarely need a leash unless it's needed by law. Talk to your pup as a human and don't use stupid puppy voices. My boy is my bud and acts like it because I treat him like a bud.

 

[cary]

Read the Monks of New Skete "Art of Raising a Puppy." It goes into the phsycology of training dogs. It will give you the tools to deal with the dog in a productive manner. Also remember that every dog is an individual and what works for one doesn't work for another.

When my GSD was a puppy (up to about 1 year) we had some severe dominance and obedience issues. We flipped him on his back and held him there to assert dominance, we used pennies in a can to get him stop bad behavior, we tried bitter apple spray. Nothing worked very well. We finally did find what worked, a simple time out in the other room where he couldn't see us or be with us. He was so pack oriented, that he hated to be seperated. It took about 3 10 minute time outs to fix the behavior problems, after that, the threat of one would stop him.

Good luck.

 

[fyton2v]

www.leerburg.com. IMHO it's the best site for dog training on the net. The forums there are very useful to search through.

It sounds like your pup acts like a shepherd. My dog had all of those problems too.

Training a rambunctious pooch is seriously time consuming and frustrating. It's more about training YOU than the dog. You need to be consistent at all times otherwise you'll confuse the dog. Yelling doesn't work. It'll only train them to ignore you unless you yell.

 

[92LC_good2go]

Absolutely the following (some of which was already said):

Positive behavior = Immediate Reward (whatever she likes best - tasty tidbit treats or hugs & lovin)

Negative behavior = Time Out (preferably outside for a short while, coz you don't want her to start associating her crate with punishment)

Serious negative behavior (biting - even playfully, jumpingon you or anybody else) = STERN FIRM "NO!" with immediate repercussion.
Such repercussion, in increaing order of severity to the dog, 'till something works:
turn your back and ignore her
hold her down on all 4s in place (by collar)
short slap on nose with fingers held flat & rigid OR flicking your fingernails against the soft tip of her nose WHILE maintaining direct eye contact 'till dog breaks it (not you)
and, finally, only if you must -
wrestle her down, all the way down, kneeling beside or over her, and turn her over onto her back, forcing her if you must without injuring her, and pin her/hold her on her back, belly-up, all the while maintaining diorect eye contact 'till she looks away... and continue tohold her like that for another count to 12 or so after she looks away

Never force her to maintain eye contact once she tries to look away -- that's too brutal. Ans YOU must never be the 1st to break direct eye contact. Looking away = submission to dominant.


Dogs like this are hard work to train properly ... but, oonce properly trained (and maintained) they're a real pleasure to have around.


Obedience training (esp for dominant dogs) is ongoing; it never stops. They will always test you, and you must continually show our dominance. Or they will.


If properly trained, maintenance is easy. And not a daily affair.


Yelling accomplishes little (at best) and makes the dog's behavior worse (at worst). DOn't yell.
Speak in clear, firm, commanding, I-wont-take-no-guff-from-you tones of voice, and keep direct eye contact, whenever giving commands.
Save the happy-talk for the times shen your dog is behaving nicely and you're just playing... not appropraite for command-giving.

Also, always immediately reward proper behavior.





Now. Go. Do all that. Properly. Good boy.

 

[lockd-97]

I'm not a believer in "hitting," but a knee to the chest when dogs try to jump gets the point across after a few times. I've also had good luck with biters by literally shoving my hand in their mouth and making them choke a little. Good luck.

 

[LoveTractor]

I'm not a believer in "hitting," but a knee to the chest when dogs try to jump gets the point across after a few times. I've also had good luck with biters by literally shoving my hand in their mouth and making them choke a little. Good luck.

lockd-97 dittoed my knee to the chest tip and I'll ditto his hand down the throat maneuver. It works. Don't say anything harsh. Just start doing it. They'll get the idea that biting leads to an uncomfortable hand down the gullet and stop doing it.

 

[92LC_good2go]

Nor do I believe in in hitting or beating a dog!

Aside from unnecessary cruelty, it's just stupid, unsafe.



I have never had to resort to the hand-down-the-throat method other than the once or twice I was attacked by a dog that wasn't not mine.

A fist right down any dog's gullet will prevent biting; dog cannot actually bite if your fist is already down his throat. Punch straight down the gullet, and you've got the dog so he can't bite you.
(yes - it takes real nerve, but in that sort of instance, you really need that kind of raw nerve.)

 

[Chase77]

Lots of good info here guys. Seems she has the common shep problems...... Not for much longer I hope.

 

[Bob_Garrett]

A puppy obedience training class might be helpful. Not sure what the age limit for tthese are tho... Took my terrier to one when he was about 7 months. The obedience training was just basic stuff... sit, stay, come, etc. A lot of time was spent socializing the dogs with each other and with all the people. Each dog was taught to be tolerant of being touched and handled by strangers. Lots of positive reinforcement. The only punishment was a "time out" which consisted of isolating them in a small pen in one corner of the room for a few minutes.

 

[rockclmbr]

I've taken my pup through 3 classes of the dog training offered at Petsmart. It is only $100 for a 6-8 week class and she got plenty of training and socialization. Actually, it is the dog owner that gets most of the training during the first series, but it was well worth it.