Best products from r/Dogtraining
We found 371 comments on r/Dogtraining discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 1,031 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.
1. Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball, Large
- Large vinyl treat-dispensing toy entertains your dog for hours
- Soft, pliable textured vinyl surface made for easy gripping
- Insert treats, which fall out during playtime
- Easy to fill
- 5 inches in diameter
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2. Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs
- Used Book in Good Condition
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3. Perfect Puppy in 7 Days: How to Start Your Puppy Off Right
- Records and cover are still sealed and in their original condition.
- 2 LP release.
- Etched D-side.
- Includes mp3 download insert.
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5. Outward Hound Tail Teaser Dog Flirt Pole Toy, Play Wand
- DURABLE DOG TRAINING & PLAY WAND: The Tail Teaser dog wand is made of durable nylon cord that's also flexible enough to last you through hours of play time or training.
- INDOOR & OUTDOOR FUN: The Tail Teaser is a compact toy that you can bring with you to the park or use at home to keep your dog happy and physically in shape.
- PLUSH TOYS SQUEAK & RATTLE: This durable nylon dog lure wand comes with two faux fur plush toys that squeak and rattle to mimic the sound of prey and activate your dog's natural hunting instincts.
- PAIRS WITH ZIP & ZOOM AGILITY KITS: The Tail Teaser teasing pole is a perfect companion to the agility kits whether you're looking to teach your pup commands, tricks, or just have fun!
- PLAY IT SAFE: No toy is indestructible. Do not leave toys with unsupervised pets. Remove and replace toy if damaged.
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7. Our Pets Smarter Toys IQ Treat Ball - Colors Mary Vary - 4" (2130010792)
- MENTALLY STIMULATE YOUR DOG: These dog food & dog treat dispensing dog toys keep dogs mentally and physically stimulated while they play. Available in two sizes – 3 inches for smaller dogs (10# & UP-NOT FOR TOY DOG BREEDS) and 4 inches for larger dogs.
- CUSTOMIZABLE IQ TREAT BALL: Your furry pal gets smarter as they play with this interactive dog toy & dog puzzle dog ball, learning how to roll the dog ball to get healthy dog treats or kibble to fall out. Adjustable difficulty level option available.
- EASY TO USE AND CLEAN DOG PUZZLE DOG TOYS: Our interactive treat dispensing dog toys conveniently use your dog's favorite dry dog treats or kibble. Made from hard plastic that disassembles for easy cleaning. Rinse in warm soapy water and dry after use.
- INTERACTIVE DOG TOYS FOR PROLONGED PLAY: This dog treat dispensing ball is designed to limit the number of treats your dog gets while encouraging more extended playtime with their new favorite dog puzzle toys. Always supervise your pet while in use.
- SLOWER HEALTHIER FEEDING: Slower active eating with this dog treat dispensing ball & puppy puzzle toys encourages slower active eating making this a great alternative to slow feeder dog bowls, lick mats for dogs, and snuffle mat for dogs.
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9. Squishy Face Studio Flirt Pole V2 with Blue/Aqua Squeaker Fleece Lure - 36 inch Pole, 52 inch Cord - Durable Dog Toy for Fun Obedience Training & Exercise
- New and improved V2 developed using customer feedback from extremely popular original Flirt Pole
- Comes with durable braided Fleece Lure pre-attached
- Regular size flirt pole has a 36” pole section and 52” cord
- Can be used with dogs of any size
- Also works great as a training tool and provides the mental exercise dogs need
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10. When Pigs Fly!: Training Success with Impossible Dogs
Used Book in Good Condition
11. On Talking Terms With Dogs Calming Signals
- training field calm aggressive behavior
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12. Starmark Bob-A-Lot Interactive Pet Toy, Large
- Exercises and feeds your dog at the same time
- The Large bottom Chamber fits up to 3 cups of Food - enough for a full meal
- Adjustable openings at the top and bottom accommodate most types of dog Food and allow you to regulate the difficulty level
- Weighted anti-slip bottom makes the toy wobble erratically enticing your dog to play
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13. Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training the Crazy Dog from Over the Top to Under Control
- INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS: The Door Monkey works with standard 1-⅜” thick interior doors and standard rectangular door stop moulding. It does not fit some non standard doors and & door frames. Please review the image of the installation requirements before ordering.
- NO TOOLS OR TAPE REQUIRED: Our unique design allows the Door Monkey to be installed in seconds without the need for tools, tape or hardware. No tape means no damage to your door’s finish.
- NO ACCIDENTAL LOCK-INS: The Door Monkey is operable from both sides of the door so there is no chance of your child locking you in a room.
- VERSATILE DESIGN: The Door Monkey is not only an incredibly effective door lock, it also doubles as a pinch guard. The door is always secured in a partially cracked position, helping to prevent painful pinch injuries.
- WORKS WITH DOOR KNOBS & LEVER HANDLES: The Door Monkey simply clamps to the edge of your door in seconds and works with any style of door knob or lever handle. (It does not fit some nonstandard doors and & door frames. Please review the image of the installation requirements before ordering.)
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14. Nature's Miracle Urine Destroyer Formula Stain & Residue Eliminator, 32-Ounce Pour Bottle (P-5727)
Targeted bio-enzymatic formulaEliminates strong pet urine odors, yellow stains, and sticky residueFor use on carpets, floors, furniture, clothing, and moreGuaranteed to permanently eliminate stain and odorsPackagining may vary
15. Love Has No Age Limit-Welcoming an Adopted Dog into Your Home
- NOTE: This cable does not support Display Port
- Provides super fast data transfer via USB-C of up to 40 Gbps
- Ability to connect to Thunderbolt 3 Hosts and Peripherals
- 2 m length for convenience
- 20 V / 5 A charging output (100 W)
- Connectors are made of High Gloss Polycarbonate
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16. PetSafe Gentle Leader Head Collar with Training DVD, LARGE 60-130 LBS., BLACK
- VET RECOMMENDED AND TRAINER DESIGNED: This headcollar instinctively redirects your dog’s tendency to pull by placing gentle pressure on pain-free points and eliminating pressure on his throat
- TEACHES BETTER LEASH MANNERS: Gently and safely helps you control unwanted leash behaviors like pulling, lunging and jumping for even the most determined pullers
- NO MORE COUGHING AND CHOKING: A padded neoprene nose loop puts pressure on the back of the neck instead of your dog’s throat, which prevents choking and gagging
- ALLOWS FULL RANGE OF MOTION: Take greater control during your neighborhood strolls while still allowing your dog to bark, eat, drink and play fetch
- EASY TO FIT: Use the adjustable nose loop and quick-snap neck strap to properly fit the headcollar on your furry friend in minutes
- WORRY-FREE PURCHASE: Whether you accidentally purchase the wrong size or your dog mistakes his headcollar for a chew toy, our Customer Care Center is happy to assist with replacements or resizing
- QUALITY GUARANTEED: PetSafe brand has been a trusted global leader in pet behavior, containment and lifestyle innovations for nearly 30 years; we help pets and their people live happy together
- Won’t fit our furry friends with short snouts (like pugs or bulldogs)
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17. The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs
- Ballantine Books
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18. I'll be Home Soon: How to Prevent and Treat Separation Anxiety.
- Used Book in Good Condition
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20. Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training Crazy Dogs from Over the Top to Under Control
- Intel Celeron N2840 2.16 GHz Processor (1 MB Cache)
- 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM. NOTE: This product does not have a CD/DVD Drive.
- 500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
- 15.6-Inch Screen, Intel HD Graphics
- Windows 8.1 (not backwards compatible) with Bing, 7-hour battery life
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> I've done several training classes with him, but they were all focused on treat training. What I have now is a dog that will only listen to me if I have a treat for him.
This is more so an issue with not fading the treat/being too reliant on treats rather than USING treats. You can learn about the training process from beginning to end and fading treat dependency here (in particular, check out the Rate of Reinforcement article and this article from Karen Pryor on Fading a Lure).
>She says treat training doesn't usually work for a Mastiff and she wants to do corrective training.
EEehhhuuuuurrrr....be careful with that. I am not going to say positive reinforcement is the absolute only way to train an animal, full stop - but really be aware of what your trainer is suggesting, WHY, and the cause/effect of your actions. It is important that you TEACH a dog what you WANT from them, not just correct them when they 'guess' wrong. That is when frustration sets in.
>She told me to tug harder when he did that, so I did. He started to bite at the leash, then he even started to bite at me.
Remember what I just said before about frustration? This is it. Your dog knows what has worked in the past, but now the rules have changed and he is being punished for doing what he has always done and doesn't know what you actually WANT him to do - just that being slower than you hurts and you jerk him around a lot. What type of 'training collar' are you using? Here is an exercise to teach heel without corrections.
>She told me she expected it and it's a normal response to what he sees as a challenge for dominance.
Dominance theory has been discounted.. You are not a dog and your dog knows that - he is not trying to be an 'alpha' or 'dominate' the situation. As I said before, your dog is frustrated and confused that he keeps getting 'corrected' and doesn't know what to do. Imagine trying to teach a child how to read by only 'correcting' them but never telling them when they are right (you just let them 'continue' when they are right) - if they already know a skill REALLY well, that may be fine! But if they don't they are likely to get very frustrated and want to give up. Any trainer that dismisses aggression like that is a huge red flag.
I wouldn't keep working with this trainer. She WAS right about one thing, however - if you are spoiling the dog (free treats, lots of treats, no varied training methods, very easy or light expectations, little or no structure or rules), that is going to make a lot of things much more difficult.
I would recommend reading through our wiki and also picking up Don't Shoot the Dog and Culture Clash to get a look into dog physiology and motivation so you can have a better understanding about your relationship with your dog and how to leverage certain needs and wants for training.
In terms of "what do you do now":
If you feel like 'treat training' is not working out for you, focus more on the positive reinforcement aspects of it and less on "treat training". Work on teaching your dog WHAT you expect at gradually increasing levels of difficulty. When you are confident he knows his stuff THEN you can introduce more requirements/negative reinforcement. I am not talking choke chains or shock collars or pinching or anything along those lines - but more so that you expect your dog to do X before Y happens - no exceptions. If your dog KNOWS how to sit and KNOWS that he needs to sit at doors - give him 5 seconds to sit at the door to go on your walk or you dont go - go do something else for a few minutes and try again later. Raise your expectations as your dog's level of skill increases.
As a further example, when working on leash skills, maybe you let your dog walk where ever as long as the leash is loose to really nail down a proper walk. Then, when he is great at responding to leash pressure, require him to be at your left side or the walk stops - etc. You can be 'corrective' without being 'punishing' and without using a single treat (but treats are always good to strongly reinforce a new or shakey behavior).
Things like Martingales, head harnesses or front clip harnesses can be great tools for fine tuning or getting extra help (particularly with walking skills) but there is a time, place and method for using these things. Unlimited slip collars, shock collars or physically jerking, poking, pinching or otherwise antagonizing your dog are not the best ways to approach training - especially with shaky skill sets. You may find you need extra help from a training tool and that is FINE, but, again, be sure that you understand what you are subscribing to, the method/ideaology behind it, and how it can and does affect your dog.
Instead of 'training' think 'teaching' - There are a million ways to teach a child and not any ONE way is right for every single one. You may need to be more delicate and dish out piles of rewards for one child, and another child you may need to be more strict. You need to find that balance for your dog. But remember, there are very VERY few instances out there where it pays to teach by only being aggressive or only giving out rewards for every little conceivable thing (e.g: always relying on that choke chain to let pain/intimidation teach your dog or always using a food lure and giving out 'jackpots' and rivers of treats for skills your dog has practiced many times).
/r/dogtraining very strongly backs positive reinforcement. As someone who has used pretty much every method on the training spectrum I can say that for most dogs in most situations? A flavor of positive reinforcement is going to give you much better results then focusing on corrective or 'dominance' based training ideas. If you have questions about what positive reinforcement and how it is different from dominance based methods - check out the sidebar. There is a ton of great information on WHY we back the methods we do.
The dog's ability to cope with stresses, deal with new/unexpected things, and interact with new strangers/dogs as an adult depends on two primary things: genetics and socialization. There are some dogs that naturally tend toward the anxious, reactive, suspicious end of the spectrum. There are others that naturally tend toward the stable, friendly, unshakable end of the spectrum. Every dog should be socialized to make the best of the genetic foundation you start with.
Socialization is more than just exposure. Your puppy class may have even done more harm than good, if he spent the whole class afraid and overwhelmed every week. Socialization should be about exposing the dog/puppy to new things at controlled, manageable levels (so maybe starting at a distance or at a low volume, or starting with a single very calm decoy dog or single very calm dog-savvy adult that totally ignores your pup) and making the experience positive and fun, so he enjoys it. Work at the level the dog is okay with. It's also about setting up and helping him overcome little challenges, letting him "win" the situation to build confidence. It's okay for him to be a little nervous at first sometimes, but the situation should feel safe enough and be positive and rewarding enough that he recovers and wiggles within a few minutes. If he spends the entire time he's exposed to the new person/dog/whatever feeling afraid, that can simply teach him that that sort of person/dog/whatever is something to fear.
A starting high level plan at this point would be:
edits: clarity/wording, fixing scatterbrained thoughts.
Oh Lordy I have a ton...I'll try to categorize them...
Best for Puppies
These are all easy toys that dispense a lot of kibble with very little movement. Perfect for baby puppies or really low-confidence dogs. These can also be upgraded in difficulty later by stuffing them with wet food and freezing, or stuffing with a large, hard to extract treat (like a slice of lunchmeat).
Easy Rollers
These basically just dispense kibble by rolling. Not particularly complex, but good for the dog that prefers to solve puzzles by brute force.
Wobblers
These require a more finessed rolling motion to empty, so they're the next step up from just batting a toy around.
Complex Action Toys
These need movement in more than one direction (or very specific movement) to get kibble out of, which makes them pretty challenging.
Soothing, Low Energy Toys
Along with the stuff n' freeze toys, these are good for dogs on crate rest or who need some extra help relaxing before bed.
My dogs (and cats!) eat all their food out of puzzles so I am constantly on the lookout for new challenges! I'd be happy to provide more details on any of the toys I have, or buy and review any toys people have been wondering about :)
EDIT: btw this Jackson Galaxy Asteroid is my favorite cat puzzle toy. They really need to make one for dogs because it is kinda quirky with its bounciness and super quiet.
Your dog sounds so much like mine when he was the same age. It drove me nuts because we have a huge yard for him to run around, but when I'd let him out there he'd run for like 3 seconds and then lie down and chew on sticks. Then, when he got back in the house, he was still crazy.
Rodney was never super into toys, especially right at first. He didn't really understand how to play tug properly, and he didn't fetch (and he's a golden retriever! That's supposed to come pre-installed!). All he wanted to do was wrestle and roughhouse. Eventually, though, with enough persistence, we got him interested in fetching balls down the hall, and he LOVES tug now. It just took time for him to figure out what he liked and what the toys were for.
I bought a lot of toys for him at the beginning of his life. Spent a lot of money on them. Now I don't buy them anymore because the ones we have are holding up fine, and he likes them. His favorites are hol-ee roller, the dna toy, the IQ treat ball, big Chuck-it, and the orka ball.
The hol-ee roller and dna toy are awesome for fetch-and-tug. The only way we could get him to start fetching was to play tug with him when he brought the item back. He loves those two toys. The treat ball has been a lifesaver. We feed him his meals out of it, and it gives us some peace while we're eating as well as entertaining him. We recently got another similar toy called a snoop. This one is super awesome because it holds more food, and it's super quiet because it's made of squishy rubber, not hard plastic like the IQ ball. The orka ball is fun because it's so squishy and bouncy. He loves lacrosse balls because they're really bouncy, too. The orka is also cool because it's hollow, so you can stick treats in there. And the big Chuck-it ball has been great because he can grab onto really easy with the ridges, and I can kick a ball WAY further than I can throw it. The ball never gets lost because it's so big!
A tip to renew interest in the deer antler: boil it in chicken broth and let it dry out completely. This just gives it a new taste, and it worked when I did it for our dog.
A really good treat if you can find them is raw bones. Not the cooked ones they sell at pet stores, but uncooked bones you buy from a butcher. Ask at your local grocery store or butcher if they have bones for dogs, and if they don't know what you're talking about, ask if they have bones for making soup stock. Freeze the bones when you bring them home, and then give one to your pup! They're totally safe for dogs because unlike cooked ones, they won't splinter or break up dangerously. My dog used to spend forever licking out ever bit of marrow from the bones. They'll also clean your pup's teeth. :)
>I want to correct this mean streak
Your pup is resource guarding. I think one thing that humans have to understand is that dogs don't resource guard because they're trying to be "mean" or to upset you. Resource guarding actually makes a lot of sense because predators who don't protect what resources they have in the wild probably don't survive long enough to reproduce.
Now, the problem is that the behaviors your dog is displaying is often misunderstood by people, and I recommend that you might try doing some research on canine body language. A growl is just a dog communicating with you. That's it. He clearly values his chews more than he values food, which is why he does this with just his raw hides.
I'm not saying the resource guarding is acceptable behavior, per se, especially by human standards, but I think it's important that we dog owners understand it. And once you have a good grasp on why dogs do it, you can take steps toward effectively decreasing the growling or the barking in a way that makes your dog feel at ease.
In other words, you and your dog are on the same team here. He doesn't want you to feel uncomfortable by his behaviors anymore than you want to see them. It's entirely possible that you can work with your dog so that you get to a point where he doesn't feel the need to growl and bark at you when you get near his treat.
> If I took my child’s cake away and he punched me in the face, that wouldn’t be okay. So to me a dog growling when I get near him with a bone isn’t okay either.
What might help is defining what you want to accomplish. It sounds like you might want him to stop growling altogether when you come near him. Well, a good management solution is to not take away his chew. Only give him what you're comfortable with him consuming, and let him enjoy his treat in peace. I don't see a point in giving him something, only to take it away.
When your dog growls, he's telling you something. He can't communicate in human language, so he growls. Seems kinda scary to us, but it's just him saying, "I'm uncomfortable with you being so close. I'm afraid you're going to take away my prized possession." (And, trust me, this is much better than him not communicating and going straight to a bite, which is what I would equate to a child punching you in the face.)
And why might he say that? Is there a history of you taking away his chews? A dog that is confident that you're not here to take his favorite chew, that you're not a threat to him, won't display these sorts of resource guarding behaviors. The article by Dr. Patricia McConnell that u/shiplesp provided is something I've referenced in the past, and I find it very educational. I highly recommend it -- it will provide some exercises to help your dog change his frame of mind. He will begin to think that your approach is not to take away a valuable resource but to give him more wonderful things.
I also recommend Mine! by Jean Donaldson. It's a very short book that explains resource guarding in dogs in very simple terms and provides some step-by-step practical solutions.
Good luck!
Alright. Here's my 2 cents. Except it's probably gonna turn out to be 50 cents because I like to type, so bear with me.
Other tips, even though this is getting ridiculously long - Read! Educate yourself! Explore as many possible resources as you can to find what is right for you and your dog! Here are some good ones:
Damn. Sorry that is so long. If you somehow have any other questions after all that, I'd be glad to answer them. I have had many, many family dogs, currently share a beloved whiny baby German shepherd with my boyfriend, am pursuing a BS in animal behavior, and work at a positive reinforcement dog training facility. So I am a fountain of fun facts just waiting to be asked questions!
I suggest the main thing you need to do is to train your dog to sit as a way to say please. You want to reach the stage where she will automatically sit when she wants something you've got.
To train her, start by using tasty treats: microwaved chicken breast cut up into tiny pieces is cheap and easy, you can also keep something like cat kibble in your pocket. Learn how to use a treat as a lure: hold the treat tightly under your thumb, against the tips of your fingers, then put the treat at the dog's nose and move the treat very slightly away from her encouraging her to follow a couple of steps, and then release the treat. Next, train her to sit using a treat as a lure: the hand motion becomes the SIT hand signal (I use a signal that looks like doing up a zipper) and add the verbal cue 'sit'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksBLKi6lj1s
Practice in lots of short sessions throughout the day, and reward her well if she ever decides to sit spontaneously. This should only take a day or two for your dog to be able to sit without a lure, with just the hand gesture and the word SIT. From this point on, keep the treats hidden until she is sitting, and then reward her well - she should soon get the idea that sitting is a great idea, and will probably start to do it happily when there is nothing else exciting going on. Over time you can transition from treats to 'life rewards': ask her to sit before you give her anything she wants: a toy, throw of the ball, attention and pats, a walk, food, water, etc.
I recommend you get a couple of baby gates for the house: put one at the door to the kitchen, or wherever you prepare her food. This will protect you and will be a really useful training tool. Once the baby gate is installed, before you get out her food, use a treat to lure her to the other side of the gate. Shut the gate. Ask for a sit. Whenever she starts to bark, stop what you are doing, and ask for a sit. The first few times, you can reward the sit with a treat. After a few session she should get the idea that barking stops you from preparing her food! Ask for a sit, when she does say say GOOD and keep preparing the food. When the food is ready, put it down on the floor, ask for a sit (if she has trouble focusing on anything but the food bowl in front of her, you might need to be patient.... or even use a piece of chicken as a lure, just for the first time in this extra difficult situation), and then open the baby gate, at the same time as you release her with a word such as OK or FREE. After a few weeks of doing this you should find that she will automatically sit when she sees food being put down for her.
Another good time to practice this is when you come home and she's keen to say hi. If she is not crated while you are out, set up a baby gate so she can see you come in the door but can't reach you. When you are inside and have shut the door, ask her for a sit before you go and say hi.
If you keep practicing this in a range of different places (not just where there are baby gates!) you will probably be able to do away with the baby gates after a few months. You will also find that if you consistently ask her to sit before she gets something she wants you won't need to use the treats to reward the sit for very long!
Additional tips:
Good luck to you and the family!
Just a light cotton sheet or tablecloth will do for covering. If you can find it in a dark color, that would be great, but just not being able to see around her will help.
Sitting before you open the door is totally fine. Creating a routine is a great way to get her to love the crate, the more treats involved the better!
This is the treat ball I use which works great as long as your dog isn't much of a destroyer. Holds a fair amount of food. If you're not sure about the food bowl just putting in a large object or smaller upside down bowl inside the food dish can help in the meanwhile.
Outside as a family is great, I was just thinking of those time when you're worried about her peeing but would like to give her some time outside her crate unsupervised. I'm not too familiar with heat+breathing issues so you might consult your vet just to see what they recommend based on your climate and your pup.
I'm glad I could help! I just totally know how it is to feel frustrated with your dog. I'm glad she's peeing indoors less! May also just be her getting used to her new home :)
Best of luck!
Edit! Oh I forgot about the ear cleaning. Cheese whiz! Or similar consistency stuff, peanut butter works too but isn't as convenient. Smear a long thin line of it on the floor (or other easily wipeable surface). Like, a foot of it. You can even space it out a bit. While she's busy licking, you can mess with her ears. Picked this trick up from my vet and it works awesomely.
Oh that is hard one. I work on this with mine, but I think her prey drive is just too high for me to ever take her off-leash without worrying.
Look here for some basics on teaching recall. A long line is a great start. You want to find whatever motivates your dog best. High value treats, favorite toy, play. I'm going to copy/paste a previous response I did as to how I taught my chaser recall:
> With Syd, the best initial technique was the turn-and-run. I would call Syd to come and turn around and run in the opposite direction so that she ran after and chased me, then I rewarded further either with play or treats. Syd loves chasing! I then varied the rewards, switching between chase, play, and treats. I usually use treats now with only an occasional turn-and-run, and higher value treats for bigger distractions (dogs, squirrels, etc.). Recalling with distractions is still a work in progress.
A flirt pole can also be a useful tool in teaching your dog a good leave it. My dog loves to chase the flirt pole, but I taught her to only chase when I release her and to leave it when I say.
Generally, you want to start easy, reward really well, and gradually build up distractions.
Sorry I didn't get to this right away, OP. I knew it would get lengthy, so I wanted to wait until I had a chance to get to my computer.
First, just to clear up any (very common) misconceptions you might have, Dominance theory has been discounted and should not be used as a basis for making decisions about dog behaviour or training, so forget about being alpha in your pack (from the wiki.
The dog does not see you as competition. You're simply dealing with an untrained, high energy dog.
Now, before I give you any more advice, recognize that this is not your dog, so clear any training methods with your girlfriend first. Be supportive and NOT accusatory, and suggest taking a good positive reinforcement class with her. Hell, gift her a training class as a Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/whatever present, and go together.
>He exhibits a lot of bad behaviors that she does not correct, or will even defend
"Bad behaviors" is a relative term. What you may view as "bad," your girlfriend may view as no big deal. For example, my dog is horrible on leash. I've been training diligently for years, and he just cannot grasp the concept of walking on a leash without pulling. So, I gave up. If that's his worst behavior, then I'll let it go and just learn to manage it. For me, pulling on leash is not a "bad" behavior.
She's also likely getting defensive with everyone getting mad at her.
How much exercise and mental stimulation is the dog getting every day? My guess is, not nearly enough. Start there. Take the dog running/biking/hiking, get a flirt pole, take up a dog sport like nosework or agility (agility will require a basic obedience class first, but nosework you can start almost immediately in your own living room), feed out of puzzle toys or freeze meals into Kongs (ditch the dog bowl), and pick up clicker training and start working on obedience.
>He mostly only listens to her, but when his mind is set he listens to absolutely no one
This isn't uncommon, even with trained dogs. Training is a lifelong skill, and you can't just teach a command and be done with it. You have to train with different people, in different environments/situations, and make sure to reinforce good behaviors occasionally.
>He will dig in the trash, jump on the counters, eat any and all food he can find even if it makes him absolutely sick
This is more of a management issue than a training issue. The dog is being set up to fail. Digging in the trash and counter surfing are WAY more rewarding than any training you can do with the dog. It's fun and results in food. Garbage cans need to be put behind a closed door, and food cannot be left on the counters. Bonus points if you can block off the kitchen with a baby gate. Shoes and things need to be put away, as well as anything you don't want the dog to potentially view as a toy. You need to essentially puppy proof your home(s).
>he can't stand to be separated from her and exhibits severe separation anxiety
This isn't uncommon in gun dogs. Most are naturally very handler focused (to an extent), so it's hard for them to know what to do without their owner/handler. Here is our page on separation anxiety.
>he will listen for a few minutes and then just do whatever he wants after that
You're expecting a lot out of an untrained, underexercised dog. In fact, "a few minutes" is a fantastic stay duration, and you should actually view that as impressive. The dog has to learn how to work up to a stay of greater durations, and a dog should never be put in a position to break the stay. The stays you expect of this dog should never be a "permanent" stay (meaning, the dog should never be expected to stay until you get around to giving him attention again).
He's breaking the stay simply because he doesn't understand when he's allowed to move again. If you want him out of your way, you need to be giving him something else to do (this is where frozen kongs will be your best friend). Don't leave it up to him to maintain a long stay. Manage his environment so he has something better to do.
Also recognize that he's starved of attention and exercise. This is an underexercised dog, so he's going to be annoying and demanding as fuck until you can get him to the point where he is content to just go to sleep instead of waiting for you guys to entertain him.
>There have been multiple occasions where he has knocked her over or down stairs because he just excitedly shoves his way past her/us the split second she opens the house or car door, even if she tells him to sit and stay (he freaks out whenever he thinks she is going anywhere without him
He's bored as fuck, and is hoping like hell something exciting is about to happen. Again, daily exercise and mental stimulation will help here.
>and always ensures he is ahead of her wherever she goes
Forgive me if I'm just reading too far into this, but I didn't want to potentially pass over it. It's a very common misconception that a dog is trying to "dominate" us by "leading the way." This is entirely untrue. Dogs simply move way faster than we do, and the dog doesn't know where he should go, or what he should be doing instead. Again, its nothing more than a bored, excited dog.
>When she brings him to my (or anyone else's) house, he becomes an absolute terror where, even if he gets to sit right next to her, he eventually becomes restless and starts walking back and forth from her to the nearest exit
Dogs don't handle change well, and you're dealing with an overaroused, anxious, underexercised dog. He's WAY over threshold, and is literally unable to settle down.
>If I give him a command it's pretty obvious he knows what I want and then will do the opposite
He doesn't know what you want. He may have an idea, but dogs don't generalize well. That means a dog will not easily understand that "sit" applies wherever he is, from no matter who says it. You need to take the initiative to help train the dog in your house, and create a positive bond with this dog. Give him a reason to want to listen to you, and help him to understand what you expect of him.
The best dog training occurs when a dog is taught what to do, instead of what not to do. Set him up for success instead of just assuming he knows what he should be doing.
>Locking him in the car is her solution to this, every time. Apparently being locked in a tiny car is better than being inside a comfortable house
This is a very poor solution to a problem, but it likely allows the dog to calm down in a quiet, familiar space. Do not leave a dog unattended in a car, and do not allow this to become a bandaid. Again, and I'll repeat it as often as necessary, this dog needs more exercise every single day. High energy working breeds become neurotic if they're not exercised and given a job to do.
>it has grown to a point where he is challenging me, even in my own home
Obviously, by now you should understand this, but the dog is not challenging you. He's just untrained and underexercised.
>I've tried to come come up with solutions
What have your solutions been? You both need to crack down on the house training and train properly. Here is our housetraining page. In short, make sure the dog is 100% supervised, take him out frequently so he doesn't have a chance to decide to go indoors, reward heavily when he goes in the correct spot, and just calmly and quietly clean up messes.
>I'm stuck always being the "bad guy" who gets annoyed by the dog and ends up punishing him for his aweful behavior
Do. Not. Punish. Dogs don't understand punishment the same way we do. It's an entirely ineffective way to get your point across. In 99% of cases, if the dog has messed up, it's your fault, I promise you. If he pees in the house, why was he unsupervised? If he knocks over the garbage, why wasn't it behind a door? If he pulls on the leash, why haven't you trained him? If he's sprinting around the house, why hasn't he been exercised?
A dog can only behave as a dog. We're the ones with these arbitrary human rules, so we need to be the ones to help the dog succeed.
Needless to say, there's also a relationship issue here. If the dog is to be allowed in your house, your girlfriend needs to be responsible for him. But, as I said in the beginning, avoid accusing your girlfriend and make this a team effort. It's incredibly easy for someone to fall into this trap of "my dog is hopeless" which becomes "there's nothing wrong with my dog, STFU," believe me. If this is a long term, serious relationship, you need to be equally as involved. Here is our page on how to choose a trainer, and I would also be happy to send you a list of some trainers if you PM me your zip code. ALWAYS look for a positive reinforcement, force free trainer. And, for Dog's sake, thoroughly read through our wiki and sidebar. This dog is not hopeless by any means, and almost all of your training solutions can be found in the wiki.
I'm guessing the vet checked her for a urinary tract infection? If not, that would be the first thing you should do.
>The fact that she only pees inside when we are present tells me this is no accident, I think she might still be testing her boundaries
Probably not. It's pretty common for a dog to be house trained in their house, and have accidents in a new place. Dogs are often not good at generalizing; they're all houses to us, but to dogs, a new house can be a completely new situation.
>trainer says to only scold her if we witness the crime
That can lead to your dog not going to the bathroom in front of you anywhere (including outside). You should avoid scolding / making a big deal if she has an accident in the house.
>Vet told me to make her smell it, say “No” and point her to the place she’s supposed to go do it
That's outdated, ineffective advice. Punishment more than a minute or two after an unwanted behavior is very ineffective / useless and just confuses / scares your dog. I don't expect vets to know everything about dog behavior (unless they're advertising themselves as behaviorists), but they should know basic stuff like this. I would be very skeptical of behavior advice from this vet.
>the correct way
>she will not go in the garden if one of us isn’t with her
At least for now, you're going to have to go out with her so you can reward her right after she eliminates. I would guess that after she figures out the garden is where she's supposed to pee and that awesome things happen out there, the problem will go away.
>she sometimes pees on the carpet in the house, usually just a little… regularly on the same spot.
You need to clean that spot really, really well with an enzymatic cleaner like https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Miracle-Destroyer-Eliminator-P-5727/dp/B003I5VTRW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1472729937&sr=1-1&keywords=natures+miracle to make sure that the smell is completely gone. You might also want to try to physically block off the area (for now) so she can't pee there any more.
So I have a high energy dog as well. A little younger than yours (1.5 years) but very much of the same.
The key with dogs you just literally cannot tire out is to (A) mentally tire them out and to (B) teach them how to relax.
For mentally tiring out my dog, here are some things I've found that are fantastic:
Teaching your dog to relax - this I think is super key. We're trying this with our pup right now. I'm going through the method outlined in Fired Up, Frantic and Freaked Out. We've just started and I haven't been working on it terribly diligently, but I'm hoping this will work.
There are some other things that are good for this such as Karen Overall's Protocol for Relaxation that you may want to check out (this one is free here)
First of all congratulations on having a dog! Obviously you are a concerned owner and eager to learn and this is a great thing!
Everything you written about her being confused, refusing food, even not going up the stairs is probably due to the fact that she was taken out of her everyday environment. Allow a couple of days for her to get used to you and for you to get used to her. Read about training through positive reinforcement (use the clicker for best results). I strongly recommend reading Pat Miller's The Power of Positive Dog Training as it leads you through the process of teaching your new dog new commands from week to week. Before actually using the clicker, read about it or watch a must see playlist by kikopup.
The easiest way to train your dog is to use food as a reward and lure. Combined with a clicker to mark the exact moment when your dog did the right thing leads to great (and very fast) results!
And now to your specific questions and some other stuff I think is related and important:
Crate training should be done gradually and in a very positive way (refer to kikopup or the book I've mentioned). You will basically teach her to want to go there on her own as a safe place where she can take a time out and relax. If she hasn't been crated in her previous home, she might not take it to well. Be sure to leave the gate open and start working on closing the gate and leaving the room gradually. This means that in the beginning you reward her for going near the crate. Then throw a treat inside the crate. Then reward her for staying in the crate and so on. As with everything else in dog training it is better to put lower expectations on your dog so you "set your dog up for success".
Stairs: she maybe never encountered stairs. If the vet said she's healthy I'd say she just needs to get used to them. In case the stairs are "see through" (like these for example) many dogs won't go up them because they probably think they'll fall through them. As generally dogs don't like to be carried around, she won't get used to you carrying her up and down the stairs in the beginning. After a few days try luring her with treats (holding a treat in hand in front of her nose and slowly moving it forward) the instant she follows your hand - give her the treat. And then repeat for every step. You can also put treats on stairs to motivate her to come up. You'll have to see what works best.
Food/treats: you should see what is the recommended daily amount of food for your dog. Take one half of that and use it as treats and the other two quarters use as morning and evening meal. You should remember that treats shouldn't be an extra on top of dogs food for the day. In that way the dog will be food motivated and eager to please you in order to get the treat.
Establishing dominance. I'm not in favour of people downvoting a post whenever someone says "dominance". It is an old concept, but all of dog training up until recently was based on it so it is very normal that people who are not into dog training still think that this is the way to go. I'm sure you can read about the theory (sidebar) and why is it wrong. As long as you don't use any painful or intimidating methods and respect your dog's boundaries and body signals you can call it whatever you like (but preferably don't call it dominance so as not to confuse people :P ). If you don't want your dog sleeping in the bed with you - teach him where should she sleep. But if you're ok with the dog sleeping on the bed but you're afraid she will turn out into a dominant werewolf if you allow her - you have nothing to worry about.
Good luck!
The most common way, at least in my experience (please chime in with other ways/paths that you've taken) is exposure and mentoring.
Exposure is just work with as many dogs as you possible can. For me, I worked at a dog daycare/boarding/training/grooming place as a dog handler (officially Animal Care Technician but whatever.) I thought I knew a lot about dogs before going in. My close family had had several growing up, I'd helped raise for service puppy organizations, etc. I did not. I did not know nearly enough about dogs in general. There's nothing like being in a playroom with 30 dogs every day to rapidly teach you about dog body language, communication, habits, warning signs, the works. I worked there for a couple years and I was constantly learning. The biggest hurdle in getting to be a dog trainer is just exposure to lots and lots of different dogs, different breeds, different temperaments, different learning styles, different stimulus, different everything.
Next usually comes mentoring with an experienced trainer. I lucked out in that the trainer who started working at the daycare facility about year after I did was awesome. Totally positive and we clicked. We became really good friends fast. I officially mentored with her for just over a year. I happened to be in the right place at the right time, and I can't really speak on more arduous methods of finding a mentor.
Read. Find groups like this one and find their recommended literature. Training is important both in theory and practice. My first books were Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out, Ahimsa, and When Pigs Fly and they were the beginning of my positive-only approach as well as my drive to become a trainer. But there are tons and tons of books to really dive into.
Check out the sidebar for info on APDT, and look into getting your CPDT-KA. The training industry isn't really regulated, but this is kind of The Certification.
As far as career, both myself and my training mentor left that facility. We started our own training business together. She works that full time, though her SO has a nice cushy job to fall back on in times of famine, so the two of them do alright. While I might do alright working it fulltime, I am crazy stupid anxious about being totally on commission. I have another full time job (night shift manufacturing. Cog-in-a-machine type work, but it isn't mentally taxing leaving me mostly focused mentally on training. Also benefits are awesome.)
While starting your own business isn't common or uncommon, there's other routes too. You can work in a big box store (think petsmart, petco, etc) as a trainer. Though you'll see on this sub we kind of have a hesitant view on them. It's either hit or miss. You end up with an awesome trainer who is working there on the path to bigger and better things, or.... you don't. You could work at a facility like the dog daycare place I worked. From my experience pay is meh but not terrible. The biggest problem was ideology differences and goal differences (what's best for the dog vs what's best for the business.) Though I tend to have a negative bias about it so take that with a grain of salt. You could work at a training facility that brings together a bunch of trainers. You could work at a humane society. There's a lot of options, some commission, some hourly, some a mix. It all kind of depends on your experience, your connections, and honestly, your luck.
This... kind of rambles on a bit, but feel free to ask away! A lot of my career came just from being in the right place at the right time so I realize that's not much help, but I can try.
WALL OF TEXT INCOMING.
My GSD pupper is just about 7 months old. A few pieces of advice/warnings:
Never be harsh with your GSD. It is super true that you catch more flies with honey, and I believe that is especially true for this breed. We have always found with our pup that she responds much, much better to a soft correction than any sort of yelling or harsh voice.
Have fun! Puppies are delightful but also incredibly taxing!
And here are some pictures of the little devil, Malta.
It's great that you're planning ahead and trying to do everything right.
> I intend to train my puppy since day one,
For information on puppy training, you'll want to check out /r/Puppy101. They've got stuff in the sidebar that you'll want to read.
>cesar millan philosophie on nose
You can skip the Cesar Millan stuff. He is a television star, not a dog expert. See our wiki page about Cesar for more info. You would rather get great information from well-qualified dog trainers. Our sidebar will lead you to some great stuff.
>What should I do? I don't want the perfect dog (submissive yeah, but not a lab), but I want to well train him, but keep him happy and me happy.
Start by reading everything in our sidebar - we put some great links there for you! Our wiki has lots more information on dog training. You might want to read a few of the books in our book list. Or follow the link to kikopup's videos (see sidebar) and watch her techniques.
>He will have at least 2 times a day intense exercise, 1 morning: he will walk with me (I fatten a little, stop running, now I'm picking the pace) 3.5 km (mountain type of track) and in the future run with me, in the same track, the 2 time on a large space where he can run free of leash, the rest is only pee on the tree, nothing fancy and play in the house. 1 or 2 times a week beach or some rustic mountain or new park for him to explore (and me).
Be careful not to do too much while your puppy is young. His joints can't take a lot of exercise while he is a baby.
>I think this will be enough to keep him soften, but the house training (housebreaking) is the thing that I am more afraid of
The Manners and Everyday Life section of our wiki includes a house training page. Start there.
> P.S. What's the name of that book that talks about training bull terriers? Well famous and I think that I saw it recommended here a lot of times.
You might be thinking of When Pigs Fly!: Training Success with Impossible Dogs by Jane Killon.
Hope this helps!
Basically, never feed your dog out of a bowl again. Every meal is an opportunity for mental stimulation!
Use:
Frozen Kongs - these are super easy to prep in advance. I usually have 3-5 in the freezer at any given time.
Puzzle toys like these are good for treats: 1, 2, 3
These are good for kibble: 1, 2, 3
For training, an easy way to get started is to go through the 101 Dog Tricks book. It's 101 tricks/skills to teach them with step by step instructions. Super approachable, and the tricks range from simple stuff like sit and down to more advanced skills like leg weaves. Any of the Do More With Your Dog series is good. I think they have a puppy specific book as well.
If your dog likes learning new tricks or skills you might consider getting into a dog sport like agility or nosework or even obedience. They're fun and challenging for both you and your dog - plus it's a great way to strengthen your relationship in general.
I have a very high energy dog as well. He has separation anxiety and can be destructive when bored as well.
Crate training was hard and took more than 6 months but gives him a safe place while we are gone. He’s even gone into the kennel on his own one time when he saw me getting ready to leave!
Establishing a morning/daily routine also has helped a ton with that. That would also help with the house training!
As far as the energy goes, both mental stimulation and physical exercise are important. We take Benji to the dog park almost every day. If we don’t make it there, he gets a long (2-4mi) walk in the morning and evening. The exercise is good for me too! We got a martingale collar and that has helped a ton for the pulling! Highly recommend. We also got this toy which may help you as well- he loves it! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0042I5G2I/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_9ldRBbTG31S4F Mental stimulation can be new smells or behavior/clicker/treat training.
Good luck!
I have a very similar story with my American Bulldog. I got her at 9 months and she was very friendly with other dogs until I took her to another friends house with an aggressive boxer that kept trying to jump on her back and bite her neck. She hasn't really been the same since. She isn't aggressive towards other dogs, but rather fearful of other dogs which leads to nervousness when other dogs approach... which will eventually lead to lashing out at them if they get too close. I took her to a trainer who specialized in aggressive dogs... he didn't really tell me much except for the obvious(and charged me $150!).
So, I took it upon myself and read up a lot on the subject. I have been slowly getting her more comfortable being around other dogs. I would recommend reading Calming Signals first so you will at least know a little more about what your dog and other dogs' body language is saying.
I started by walking her a few times a week with another very calm and very polite dog (I think the right walking partner dog is very important). After a while she became very comfortable around the other dog and even became excited (the happy kind) when she would see him walking up. Eventually, they were able to be off leash in a backyard (I wouldn't recommend your own back yard initially as different territorial issues might arise). I also bring along her favorite treats on all our walks to 1) Reward her for good behavior and 2) to determine her level of nervousness (i.e. she refuses the treat = very nervous, she takes the treat but spits it out = somewhat nervous, takes the treat and eats it = calm).
Good luck.
You sound like you have a smaller version of my dog (70lbs).
STRANGERS: Does he have a crate? If not, get him one. If so, teach him to go to the crate when people come over, and go there anytime he's feeling stressed or overwhelmed. No one bothers him there, and no one approaches him there. Give him his space. You can close him in there for safety, or if he's OK (and/or my next suggestion here) leave it open for him to go in and out as he feels the need.
Have you tried muzzle training. Teaching him to wear a basket muzzle while people are over will give him the opportunity to move around them, take treats and get acclimated all while keeping your guests safe. The muzzle may also be useful for walks. KikoPup has an excellent video on teaching your dog to wear a muzzle. If done right your dog will enjoy putting on and wearing his muzzle. I know mine does, he has trouble staying still while a fasten it on because he's wagging his tail so hard.
WALKING: Do your best to take him for walks during the quieter parts of the day. After dark, early morning and early afternoons are usually good. If having a job seems to help him, put him to work. Teach him how to focus and pay attention to you at home, then start asking for it on walks, then pausing to ask for different "tricks" along the way. Keep him guessing as to what you're doing next. Don't be afraid to pull out the "big guns" when it comes to treats for high distraction and problem areas like walks. Is there any food he goes nuts for? And not just the commercial treats; lunch-meat, cheeses, green tripe, bacon. Try a bunch of things and see what really lights him up, reserve that item for walks. If he's big on toys you can also use a toy to reward for good behavior or distract him.
FOOD AGGRESSION: I can't recommend MINE! by Jean Donaldson enough. It's a wonderful resource, with easy to follow step by infinitesimal step to help your dog be more comfortable with you around his food. Also, if you have a crate (or go get one), you can feed him and give him his extended chewing items in the crate.
IN GENERAL: It sounds like you've been doing everything right. If you get really frustrated don't be afraid to ask for more help. Sometimes training and time aren't enough to help our dogs. Do not be afraid to work with a Veterinary Behaviorist (not a person who calls themselves a behaviorist, or your general practitioner vet). Medication can HELP. If you have a continuously anxious dog, even at a low level, can cause chronic health issues for them (and since you're stressed because he is, you too). If after speaking with a veterinary behaviorist, they think medication can help, don't wait, go for it. The help of a veterinary behaviorist and medication has helped my dog become a happy dog, who can actually go out in public as long as no one tries to grab him, and can snooze in his crate while we have guests over.
I'm not sure what you mean by negative reinforcement - in learning theory terms, that means stoping a bad thing (negative - taking away) to encourage them to do something again. I believe what you meant was positive punishment - doing a bad thing (positive - adding something) to discourage that behaviour in the future. You are right to stay away from physical reprimands (positive punishment) but I would still keep verbal corrections. NO is a very common word in our everyday lives though and they get desensitized to that fairly quickly, so I use NAH AH, or a gutteral EEEEIIIHHHH (rhymes with hay).
For training specific commands like sit, I'd recommend not adding a verbal cue until you have an 80% reliable response to a hand signal, otherwise, they may learn to associate the word with other things instead of the behaviour you want. The Power of Positive Dog Training is a very good book for describing detailed methods of positive training, it has a great 6 week program outlined for basic obedience training plus some fun tricks.
You can definitely train him to respond to his name better, either that one or a new one. Simply say the name, and give a treat when he looks at you in response. A clicker helps greatly in capturing the correct respone. And if he doesn't look at you right away, make yourself more interesting, baby talk, flap your arms, jump and squeal and scoot away, whatever gets his attention. You should also never say his name in anger, he needs to learn that his name means pay attention and good things will happen, not his name means punishment.
I would recommend picking up a copy of the book, Fired up, Frantic, and Freaked Out. It teaches a technique for dealing with reactive dogs, but is a technique that I think any dog owner should have up their sleeve.
The basic idea is that you have a 'security' blanket or item that the dog learns to relax on. Once you have the basic relaxation down you start to present sounds/items/actions that would otherwise put the dog on alert while the dog is relaxed on the mat. The idea is to teach the dog that they can make a choice not to freak out, and to stay relaxed.
I've been using this technique with my extremely reactive Basenji/Pit mix for the past two months. With my dog it is very slow progress, but with a dog that is otherwise well behaved and non-reactive I could imagine this taking only a few weeks to work. Eventually with this technique the dog should start responding to stimulus by relaxing rather than going on alert. In turn, by being relaxed he/she should be able to respond to command much more readily.
My advice? Crate train from the very start. It'll give your dog his own space and give you relief from those tiny teeth when you need it. :)
Puppies bite. A lot. Don't be disheartened by it.
Dogs like rewards. Check out positive rewards training like the kikopup channel listed in the sidebar. It'll save you a lot of frustration. I personally find this list of kikopup videos easier to navigate.
Dogs don't know how to walk on a leash until you give them direction. Don't expect him to walk next to you and not sniff everything in front of him. They don't know not to pull and sniff constantly. Teaching heel indoors before you ever need it outside is a lifesaver.
No pushing your dog's nose into an accidental pee. That teaches nothing and makes your dog think you're an unpredictable whacko.
Exercise, exercise, exercise! No forced leash running until he's fully grown, but until then, keep him from getting bored by getting him lots of play time. Training exercises require a lot of focus on his part, so that'll tucker him out too. Treat balls for feeding are super fun and herders seem to love them.
Be his best friend. The quality of his life depends entirely on you. No tying him to a tree out back and going on with life as if he doesn't exist.
Good luck with him. Add a pic to this thread once you get him so I can aww over him. :)
Not exactly a toy, but sometimes for meals I hide little piles of kibble around and let her sniff them out. Behind table legs, inside an old shoe she plays with, inside a box. She loves it.
She also likes her kong.
She loved the omega paw tricky treat ball when she had it ( http://www.amazon.com/Omega-Paw-Tricky-Treat-Large/dp/B0002DK26M ) but recently we left it outside and a lizard moved into it, so we need a new one. It's not hard, but it was definitely a favorite.
We made a toy (I'll try to post a picture later) that's a Gatorade bottle with a rod through it. We set it up so the rod is horizontal and she paws at the bottle, makes it spin on the rod, and gets fed.
Also, a toilet paper/paper towel roll with the ends taped up is super fun to shred.
She just got what's basically a generic pickle pocket and she hasn't quite figured it out yet, but if I put something nice and smelly in there it keeps her distracted for a while.
> was the treat something substantial that keeps her busy for the whole time you're gone, or just something regular like a dog treat ?
My pup has a slow feed bowl that looks something like this, so I used to put in some of the things that she would go crazy over, and would normally take her at least 5+ minutes to consume, like smearing a thin layer of peanut butter across all of the bowl surfaces. Be warned though, some dogs tend to have sensitive snouts and can rub their noses raw on the bowl, but my pup hasn't had that problem. You just need to find something that is truly a "high value" treat for your dog, and using it exclusively for that. My pup would go nuts over cheese, so I took a piece of old cheddar and smeared it like a crayon inside her bowl. She really liked that. Another option is a puzzle toy like this filled with something tasty (she could occupy herself for half an hour on that), or even a classic Kong with some liver flavoured spread.
> And when you say she wasn't allowed to eat the treat till you were gone - did she see you put it somewhere , how exactly does that work
That's correct! I would let her see me preparing a treat for her, and then I'd place it in her bowl so that she'd focus on waiting for the "go" command instead of building her anxiety at watching me get ready to leave (brushing my teeth, fixing my hair, tying my shoes, etc).
A quick bit of background - The first thing that I had trained her to do was to never snatch, pick up ,or take anything that I haven't specifically told her she can have - this meant toys, meals and treats. I would place treats in front of her, and she learned that she can't have it until I say so, even if I turn away or walk away. I was able to use this trait to keep her focused completely on waiting for the treats, so instead of pacing and whining that I was leaving, she would instead sit by her food bowl and wait for me while I got ready to leave. When I'd open the door and walk out, I'd give the release command "okay!" and she's make herself busy with her treat while I locked up and walked away.
I also reviewed the footage afterwards (from my home surveillance system) and after she finished her treats, she would sniff the door, whine once or twice, grumble a bit (because I'm gone), and then she'd go sleep on the couch all day.
> I wouldn't hire a dog walker due to the aggression with other animals and humans.
Not all dog walkers are equal! For example, I walk dogs and have ended up specializing in 'tough cases'. I walk one family of dogs at a time if they're well behaved together, but mostly I walk single dogs. I take my time getting to know them, do multiple visits with the owner present until the dog trusts me enough that I can leash them up, and then spend time building positive associations with the dog. When walking we actively work on reducing leash aggression and improving leash manners.
You might find someone like that near you who's willing to help out. It might cost more up front, but in the long run it could do a LOT for her problems. Even having someone come walk her mid day twice a week could mean a big improvement, especially if you take her out daily as well.
It does sound like you're dealing with separation anxiety - the not eating food when alone is a big clue - so having some sessions with a force free trainer could help there as well. I also really like this book for treating SA.
> We had baby gates at the kitchen for a while, but they got in the way of humans. He will stay out of the kitchen while people are watching, but noy while we are at work.
Can you just put up the baby gate while everyone's out of the house? There are also gates that have swinging entrances for humans to pass through. We banned our grey from the kitchen early on, finding that management is the easiest and most effective method. I know it's hard getting the kids to on board, but it's well worth the effort. Being food-driven is a strong part of the breed (though of course there are exceptions), and it's easier to manage deep-set breed traits like that rather than trying to work against them.
If boredom is an issue, what can you do to help alleviate that? Toys, puzzle treats, and snuffle mats can all help a food-driven hound stay occupied. We love freezing kibble and other treats in our dog's Kong.
Greys typically do tend to be harder to train because of their independent nature, not intelligence. I love Jane Killion's When Pigs Fly: Training Success with Impossible Dogs, as it helped a bunch with ours. You may never get to the same training level as other, more biddable dogs, but you can make progress.
Oh no, you got your puppy too early! In most places it's illegal to sell a puppy younger than 8 weeks old. Puppies learn a lot of valuable social lessons from their littermates and mother during that time, so you need to make up the difference yourself.
You need to start socializing him ASAP. Get him around fully vaccinated (and friendly) adult dogs so he can start to learn how to be a dog. Puppy playdates are worth their weight in gold, and it's perfectly safe as long as all attending puppies are up to date (not done, but on schedule) with vaccinations. Ask your vet and call around to local trainers to see what classes are available to you. I cannot stress this enough: if you do not properly and thoroughly socialize your puppy, he will grow up to have potentially severe behaviour and fear issues. This is doubly important for a GSD, as shepherds can be prone to anxiety or neurotic behaviour if poorly bred or poorly raised. You already know your dog is poorly bred, so make sure to stack the odds in your favour the next few months. Here is a checklist you can use to make sure he's being exposed to everything necessary.
Besides that very important point, your puppy will be capable of learning basic obedience (sit, down, stay, touch, drop it, leave it, things like that) as soon as you want. It'll take time and repetition for the lessons to sink in, and right now his attention span is very short. Keep training sessions to 5-10 minutes at most, and definitely use treats. What a lot of people do is forgo meals entirely and use the puppy's food as training treats throughout the day. It's a good thing for a puppy to earn his food. Look up the "nothing in life is free" training method and see if you like that approach.
If you want further reading, this book is excellent. Since your puppy is so young, you should keep expectations low. Be patient and consistent, and remember that puppies literally know nothing. They have to be taught everything, including how not to be a butthead.
For more resources and support, /r/puppy101 is a great community.
It's a bummer shelters are that way, but I understand why. Some no kill shelters will send a reactive dog to another shelter to do the dirty work.
I live with a very reactive dog. A friend without kids could manage it safely. Honestly it's not that hard, you just can never forget that it's lurking in there. My boy feels safe at home and is the sweetest dog. The only time it's an issue is when company comes over. There is always the one friend who wants to see him react or the one who thinks they're the dog whisper. I let friends know that they can never meet him or see him.
A behaviorist can be life changing. For your dog and you. They will also help you figure out what type of home he needs. Too many people with a reactive dog try to use a trainer because they're cheaper. A good trainer will tell you that they train, they don't evaluate behavior. Each dog has different reasons and need different solutions. What works for my dog, might be wrong for yours. A good behaviorist will figure it out.
Good luck.
Edit: You might want to look at this book. It's not a training book, but it helps teach you how to read your dog's body language. Always helpful for a reactive dog.
https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Terms-Dogs-Calming-Signals/dp/1929242360
Everyone so far has already recommended exercise, which I also recommend. Some people said mental exercise as well, which can wear her out and keep her busy. So, I'm throwing in food toys that make her work for her food (which I'm assuming you probably just pour kibble in a bowl) which can add some more exercise, both physical and mental. Kongs (which are actually not a personal favorite of mine) for when you leave are great. Freeze them and they are harder to get food from. I personally love IQ balls which are perfect spheres and make dogs more or less run around the house after the toy (my guys normally are panting after working to get all the food out). Here are some others since it is a good thing to switch it up and keep her thinking, not just use the same toy over and over (because that would be boring):
PetSafe Tug-A-Jug
PetSafe Egg thing
PetSafe Mushroom thing
Kong Satellite
Kong Wobbler
And in the event you are like "I'M POOR, I CANNOT AFFORD ALL OF THOSE." You can also get a 2 liter bottle and cut holes in it big enough for her to get food out of but not too easily. Also, the mushroom toy has pretty small holes so it isn't easy for bigger kibble (or dog treats), so you might forgo that one. Those are just the ones I own.
ALSO ALSO. PSA FOR EVERYONE. If you shop Amazon Smile (which is where those links take you) you can donate %.05 of all purchases to a charity of your choice. So you should definitely sign up, choose a charity and donate while you shop instead of just shopping. Nothing changes except you shop from Amazon Smile instead of Amazon.
I agree that your dog needs more exercise. One game that can help during the winter months is tug. If done appropriately it can even help stop bites.
Read Tug O' War is a Fun Game to Play With Your Dog for more info.
I've also heard good things about the flirt pole.
Remember, anytime she bites, play ends.
When guests arrive, I would keep her away from the door and the humans altogether. Set up a room or an exercise pen for her to stay in and give her a special treat, like a marrow bone or bully stick, for her to chew on. People entering is a lot of excitement; set her up to succeed by giving her something to do when people are entering and then let her greet people when she is calm. My dog bites for real and this has worked wonders.
Finally, learning to respond to her name as a positive interrupter, a solid recall, sit, and settle on a mat are all helpful tools to get her away from others or you and her feet and butt on the floor so drill those as much as you can, working towards increasing distractions. Desensitizing and counter-conditioning her to the sound of the door opening, knocking on the door and people entering can also help.
Since you only brought her home today, I wouldn't judge her ability to understand where to potty quite yet. I definitely don't think she has a psychological problem. She's in a brand new home with brand new people and has absolutely no clue what's happening to her. Even dogs that were previously perfectly house trained for years tend to have accidents in the house after being in a shelter or rehomed. With a little decompression time, you'll be surprised at how much more of her personality you discover.
Since she's new to your home, you're going to want to introduce her to your home by slowly increasing her access to your space. Dogs won't potty in what they think is their home/hangout spot. You can start with a crate and work outwards. Whenever she isn't crated, having her tethered to you or closely monitored while tethered to furniture is a great start, too.
I'll link a couple of Zak George videos, too. It's way easier to explain techniques through video links. He's got great positive training tips, especially for dogs that are essentially blank slates. If you want to delve deeper, I'd read How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves or The Perfect Puppy in 7 Days, both by Sophia Yin.
Zak George on House Training
Zak George on Crate Training
Good luck! Congratulations on your new addition!
Like most training, you need to set up practice scenarios in order to succeed. If you dive straight into real world scenarios with highly valued items, of course you'll fail. It's a bit like trying to teach recall at the dog park without practicing hundreds of times in scenarios that are easier for your dog (and then claiming treats just don't work). You're setting the dog up for failure. You always need to set up situations where it's easy for the dog to give you the response you want. In this case, you need to give the dog low value items you can trade for in a calm, safe environment. Practice with items the dog is all too willing to trade for and gradually work your way up to higher value items and extremely high value items for trade. These practice scenarios will often involve items you can give back to the dog after you've taken them away. That teaches the dog that giving an item to you doesn't necessarily mean it will be taken away, and that really helps to build trust for emergency situations in the real world.
Mine! by Jean Donaldson is a good overview of guarding behavior in dogs and some of the steps you can take to work on it while making sure that you and others remain safe.
Oh, that sounds super frustrating!!
Here is a video showing how to make an unflippable bowl for less than $10
I think you can also buy some in pet stores or on Amazon but I'm sure you've tried looking at those already!
Have you tried feeding him out of a puzzle toy like a Kong Wobbler? That way, he's literally pushing the 'feeder' from side to side and bonking it around to get food. Here are some options:
Kong Wobbler
Maze Treat Dispenser
IQ Treat Ball
Buster Food Cube
Sorry, no ideas on water bowls, but I'm sure someone on here will have a suggestion.
My heeler doesn't flip the water bowl but he does love to stick his paw(s) in, which makes my other dog very happy, I'm sure. /s
Here's what Dr. Sophia Yin says:
> At any point when Fido’s predictably lying down with the hand signal, add the cue word “Down” right before you give the hand signal. Make sure you say the cue distinctly but in a happy voice. Also, make sure you say the cue word before you give the hand signal that he already knows. If you present the two at the same time, a phenomenon called blocking may occur, in which he fails to learn the verbal cue because the visual cue (which he already knows) is more salient. That is, he will have no reason to learn the verbal cue because he already knows the hand signal.
> On the other hand, if you present the verbal cue first, then it will predict that the visual cue is coming. Once you present the verbal cue prior to the visual cue enough times and follow with a reward, he’ll respond to “Down” by lying down. You can test whether he’s lying down due to the verbal cue or whether he’s going on a visual cue by standing perfectly still with no body gestures and uttering the cue “Down.” If he lies down on a vocal cue while you’re otherwise perfectly still, then he knows that “Down” means lie down.
> If you taught down by just waiting for Rover to lie down and then rewarding the good behavior, then you can teach the verbal or visual cue by giving it right before you know he’s going to lie down. After many pairings, he will understand that these cues mean that he should lie down.
Your dogs are adorable! Thank you for sharing photos of them.
I’m thinking that there are three possible explanations for Tycho’s worrying change in behavior: resource guarding, heightened anxiety due to a change in the household, or an underlying medical issue.
First things first you need to go to the vet and get him checked out to make sure this is behavioral and not medically based. Once that has been ruled out try to figure out the behavioral cause.
If this is resource guarding then you need to start nipping this in the bud now. You do not want your dog to be resource guarding around or towards the baby. The book “Mine! A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs” would be a helpful read.
If this is anxiety you need to work out ways to make your dog feel calm, comfortable, and confident in more situations. You may want to talk to your vet about an anti-anxiety medication.
Whatever the cause there are things you can do to help prevent this behavior. You need to be in complete control of every situation involving Tycho and guests/strangers to prevent aggression as every time he bites the behavior gets that much harder to train against. Take this deathly serious because his behavior is escalating towards breaking the skin. Dog bites should never be taken lightly and if this situation goes unaddressed properly Tycho could very well be put down.
I would also seriously, seriously recommend that you find room in your budget for a dog trainer. Tycho has a serious anxiety issue, has fear aggression, and you have a baby on the way. Babies and toddlers can be loud, noisy, grabby, and unpredictable- all things that stress out and scare an already anxious dog. To give Tycho the best shot at adjusting to the new addition to the family I really think you need to consult with a professional dog trainer who uses positive reinforcement methods (NOT the outdated and disproven dominance based methods, those will make Tycho’s anxiety and fear aggression worse). You should also work on desensitizing Tycho to baby noises and smells before the baby gets here (you can do that on your own but that should not replace consultations with a professional trainer).
Do not EVER leave Tycho or Rizzo and the baby unsupervised (especially as your baby grows into toddler- and young childhood)- 77% of dog bites occur from the family dog or a friend’s dog. A dog does not have to be super aggressive or “vicious” to bite. It often happens when the signals of “please stop, I’m very uncomfortable/scared” from the dog are missed until the dog gets overwhelmed and reacts with a bite. Check out the Stop the 77 campaign for info on how to teach your children dog safety.
Be patient, be in control, and don’t push Tycho too far out of his comfort zone all at once. Small gradual changes is the name of the game. This process will likely take a long time and progress will be in small increments, but it is possible to get this behavior under control if you are consistent and work hard with Tycho.
Good luck.
You said 'gentle lead,' but did you use a name brand 'gentle leader'? http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Gentle-Leader-Headcollar-Large/dp/B00074L4W2/ref=sr_1_3
Must study the dvd or youtube video instructions and apply exactly as directed. It seems odd applying the loop around the head (behind the ears) so tight--but follow the directions precisely.
I have a 115 lb dog bred to pull carts & she does love to pull ;-) This makes a 100% difference as when she pulls..... her head is turned around to face whoever's walking her--and that's no fun. Even my 5 year old grandson has no problem walking her with the gentle leader. She has little or no interest in pulling with the gentle leader on-I use a slim puppy leash with it. But she still will pull some with a normal lead. There's lots of useful reading on the amazon page: both the product description and some of the over 3800 user reviews. It does work for lots of dogs.
Good luck!
If it's important to you, you can work on building her play drive. I used this method to get my dog from complete disinterest in toys to a reliable tug in the house. We're still working on interest in other environments.
Remember to always stop before she gets bored, always leave her wanting more. Even if that means putting the toy away after she sniffs it if you think she's not in the mood. Our agility instructor recommended that if you initiate play do whatever you have to do to get them interested, don't ever let them walk away from you first offering the toy, then you can stop once you get even the slightest bit of interest.
Have you tried chaseable toys like a flirt pole? If you're not morally opposed you could also try a toy with real fur. Clean Run has an entire category of motivational toys.
Last thing, it's probably impossible to over exercise a 2 year old pointer mix, but if she's getting all her energy out in other ways she might be perfectly content to just relax at home. My 2 year old is much more interested in play if I cut our 2 hours of daily exercise down to 1 hour for a day or two so she starts going just a little crazy.
Good luck!
Guarding is a normal dog behavior, but is definitely unwanted. I don't believe that any dog should ever allow another dog to take their chew or toy, so mainly I focus on making sure dogs can enjoy their chew in peace. Other pets are not allowed to approach one who has a chew. Anyway, guarding becoming scarily common in Goldens. Check out the book Mine! by Jean Donaldson, you'll find a wealth of great tips and advice.
Management is going to be extremely important. Don't let your dog have an opportunity to guard.
Also, WHO THE FUCK BRINGS A BONE TO A DOG PARK?!??!?!!
I would like to recommend a couple of books.
The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell. She has a PhD in behaviorism and has worked with a lot of aggressive dogs but she only uses positive reinforcement. Her book talks a lot about the difference between primates and canids (aka dogs) and how those differences create misunderstandings.
Bones Would Rain from the Sky by Suzanne Clothier. Suzanne has tons of experience with all kinds of animals. Her book focuses a lot on what it means to have a trusting, healthy relationship with dogs and I guarantee it will change the way you see your dog.
I also have a reactive border collie. You are on the right track with the hamburger treats while walking, but you need to not get your dog over threshold to the point where she can't focus on you or the treats any more. And more exercise is never a bad thing for a border collie, mental and physical.
Good luck!
Temperament is about 40% inherited and 60% experience. What's really interesting, though, is that that "60% experience" part is primarily shaped by experiences dogs have before they're 16 weeks old.
Weeks 6-16 are a "critical period" of socialization. Strategic socialization when you first being him home will help him grow up into a well-adjusted adult.
Here's a socialization checklist for things you'll want to cover.
The first page of the checklist has a scale to help you grade how he responds to each thing, so you can determine what you might need to work on more.
Don't forget things like the vacuum cleaner, umbrellas, shopping carts, strollers, different walking surfaces (hardwood, carpet, linoleum, concrete, grass, pavement, gravel), people of all ethnicities/ages, and people using canes/wheelchairs.
Also be sure to take him lots of new places to have positive experiences in a variety of environments. I love garden supply stores and home improvement stores for socialization - I go in with the puppy and treats and practice walking nicely on a leash. If I see people smiling at my puppy, I say that I'm there socializing him and ask if they'll give him a treat for sitting nicely.
I also highly recommend this book by Dr. Sophia Yin for helping map out your training plan.
It's a lot of work, but two months of daily work is SO WORTH IT for a well rounded dog for the ~10+ years. :)
Get a force free trainer in to help you with a training plan. Nothing-in-life-is-free is a start (but can be implemented incorrectly; please be careful with research on this one, and do not buy into anything that connects it to alpha dog nonsense), and also this book. A great guide to mat work and helping over-excited dogs learn HOW to be calm. A lot of people think the answer to a hyperactive, overstimulating dog is MORE exercise until they tire themselves out. This is not true. The answer is actually more calm, relaxing time, so they learn how that works, and how to calm their own brain down. Do very short training sessions, multiple times a day, so she practices using her brain without getting over-excited.
I know how you feel. My dog overstimulates too, and it is a drag. But she's young, and with a smart training plan and lots of patience, I'm sure you'll get her on track. Just meet her where she's at now. You need to slow down, back up, and find the point where she is able to succeed and work from there.
Also, I'd look into some dog sports for her, but ones that require a lot of self-control. Triebball, agility, trick training.
Good luck and happy training.
The thing that causes this behavior is that he is a working breed dog who is extremely energetic. You basically described almost every lab I have ever trained. His owners need to give him a lot more mental and physical stimulation.
Since he is a lab, a chuck it ball thrower would be a great way to play fetch. A flirt pole is another really great toy for tiring dogs out.
For mental stimulation, mealtimes are a perfect opportunity. Have them get either a Bob-A-Lot or a Kong Wobbler for daily feeding and get rid of his food bowl. I recommend the Bob-A-Lot because you can make it easier or harder. This gives him ~10 extra minutes of brain work every day and you don't have to do anything extra.
Then basic obedience and chew/puzzle toys (kong marathon ball, nobbly nubbly, squirrel dude) will also help.
Congrats, I'd say make sure to set boundaries, and closely watch them to make sure they aren't getting into anything you would consider deviant behavior. It's important to calmly work on correcting it while they go, so it doesn't become a habit you have to try and untrain. I just picked up Dr. Sophia Yin's Perfect Puppy in 7 days, and have a post here about being at my wit's end with the 4 month ACD/Terrior mix I have been trialing. I can't say it's solved all my problems, since I'm either going to give up, or start all over with training, but I really wish I had read her book first. It's not that long, so you should hopefully have time to get through at least the first few chapters which after reading, helped me realize why things have been so frustrating for me.
I was used to cats, and when I brought home the puppy, she was adorable, happy, and mild mannered, so I just let her roam while keeping a constant eye on her. She pretty much developed one bad habit after another, and while trying to push her to get better with DIY training, I was getting nowhere because I was trying to solve several issues without looking at the underlying cause.
You can feed him exclusively through food dispensing toys which will help occupy him and drain some energy. I'd pick up a couple different ones like this and rotate their use. See the recommendations below that, most of those toys are pretty good. The Bob A Lot is nice because you can put a decent amount of Kibble in before you have to refill. For hard puzzles, there's one called the Tug-A-Jug which lasts a long time. Freeze creamy stuff or wet food in Kongs to make them last a bit longer. If you can find a type of bone he really likes, keep a bunch in stock; chewing can be great for tiring him out.
And like other posters have suggested, practicing a little training every day will make a difference. Teach new tricks or mix in some basic obedience cues with a game of fetch or tug, using the toy as the reward.
I switched from normal bowl-feeding to [this food dispenser toy] (https://www.amazon.com/StarMark-Treat-Kibble-Dispensing-Puppy/dp/B01CP7B9L4/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468270533&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=bobalot+feeder) and my dog LOVES it. It's hilarious to watch him knock it around and he just about does cartwheels at meal times.
Is it possible to start taking your pups for walks to tire them out? Or teaching fetch to tire them out quicker in the backyard, or tug of war?
I've also been thinking about getting a [flirt pole] (https://www.amazon.com/Outward-Hound-41001-Exercise-Replacement/dp/B0042I5G2I/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1468270723&sr=1-1&keywords=flirt+pole) as my dog got to play with one at our training class this weekend and about crapped his pants (he really liked it). I think the trick is to figure out what activity your dogs likes best – chewing? squeaky stuff? chasing? digging? nosework? and then finding more focused activites related to that. Good luck!
Here's a fantastic introductory book on positive dog training techniques:
The power of positive dog training
Get the book. Even if you're not a "reader", the middle section is essentially workshops on training certain tricks.
I have to admit, when I first got my dog last year, I just assumed that dominance was the way to train a dog. Mainly because of our good friend Cesar Milan. However, as soon as I picked this book up I realised the error of my ways.
How can you convince your boyfriend that positive is the way forward? Try and get him involved. Pick up that book, get him to pick a trick from the book to teach your dog. It will be a real eye opener.
Another important point that has been mentioned by others - you both need to be consistent. Him hitting the dog for misbehaving while you're using positive techniques will be counter productive. It is very easy to miscommunicate with negative training techniques. He can be essentially poisoning your training, especially as he has no clue what he's doing.
Good luck!
Yeah, don't worry, you can do it! If you enjoy books, the best intro to science-based training methods that I've read so far is The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller. It's simple but pretty comprehensive for the things most dog owners run into.
If you can give us more detail about the behaviors you want to discourage and the ones you want to encourage, we can help you come up with an action plan that you both can enjoy doing.
> she won't take treats outside or when she is scared so I don't know how to make it work?
If she won't take treats, it means she's already too afraid for counter conditioning. If you open the door so she can just see outside, but remain inside, does she react this way? Maybe you could start there first.
Also, if you're struggling with exercise you might have better luck with a flirt pole. If you can take her somewhere secluded and just keep her on a harness and longline, you could play that for ~15-30 minutes. Even high energy dogs tend to get worn down pretty fast because of the fast paced chasing and turning.
Also, you say she's pretty smart. How often is she getting training sessions every day? Do you give her puzzle toys? Mental stimulation can really reduce a dog's energy.
Nope. That harness attaches at the dog’s chest, which, while not chocking the dog, actually enables the dog to pull harder. Dogs naturally pull. If you give steady resistance, they pull harder. Let me get you a link to the gentle leader.
https://www.petsafe.net/gentleleader
And here’s amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Gentle-Leader-Collar-Training/dp/B00074L4W2
Definitely check this out. It may be your saving grace with your pup. I suggest reading the amazon reviews — there are a lot of good ones of stories how the leader helped their dog with pulling issues almost immediately, although adjusting the dog to having a halter on its nose can take even weeks. I’ve experienced a dog that was forced to wear the halter without a gentle, positive learning route, and it was not good. She learned to hate the halter. I recommend taking your time with lots of treats as the DVD included with the gentle leader (I think that them giving DVDs for training is really so cool) will instruct.
Save for the one dog who was forced to wear the gentle leader, Ive never had a bad experience. I hope you can have better peace of mind walking your dog soon.
Well I'm glad to hear it, and even more glad you weren't offended!
I'd go with these as good places to start:
Zak George
Puppy Primer
Don't Shoot the Dog
Other End of the Leash
Kikopup on youtube has a TON of amazing videos on puppy raising too. Well worth checking out. :)
This isn't going to solve your problem immediately and maybe not at all but isn't going to hurt and is worth a try since it's pretty low effort. It sounds like since she's a nervous dog even with you there in some situations that she doesn't know how to calm herself down when she is feeling stressed. My dog has really high anxiety and my behaviorist recommended this and I started to see a difference in about 2 weeks (though he strangely didn't have separation anxiety). Anytime you are home, have a treat bag and clicker handy. Every time she sits or lays down, click and treat. Don't cue her, just every time she does it naturally. You're rewarding her for taking herself to a lower energy state from a higher one and she'll start to do it more naturally. You can do this for any calming behavior (this book is really short and goes over calming signals).
Is she getting enough mental and physical exercise? It sounds like she’s bored and is getting into things. Even if you have appropriate chews for her, make sure she’s getting enough physical exercise and that you’re engaging her brain with puzzle toys and training. Both of my dogs eat their meals from Starmark Bob-a-Lot toys because it engages their brains. Nina Ottosson makes tons of great puzzle toys of varying difficulties that are relatively inexpensive. Working on trick training and obedience commands also helps tucker them out - do “commercial break” sessions, as short as 90 seconds and no longer than 5 minutes, a couple times a day.
When it comes to physical exercise, make sure she’s getting walks or that you’re playing fetch with her. Plenty of dog owners just toss their dogs out in their backyards and call it “exercise” even though most dogs aren’t going to actually expend much energy in a yard by themselves. Walks around the neighborhood are also a great opportunity for sniffing new smells, which is great mental exercise. If you don’t have the time or energy to walk her, consider hiring a dog walker, or sending her to doggy daycare one or two days a week. We also play with a flirt pole some evenings when my dogs seem restless despite multiple walks... best $15 I’ve ever spent! You can use it indoors in an open space or out in your yard (if you have one).
If your dog is getting plenty of physical and mental stimulation and still chewing things up, management is your best friend. Crate her when you can’t watch her closely or confine her to a puppy-proofed room. Or use the “umbilical” method - put her on a leash and tie it around your waist so she goes everywhere with you and isn’t out of your sight. You really can’t train a dog out of behaviors you don’t witness, but you’re setting her up for failure (and a dangerous intestinal blockage) if you leave her unsupervised in a room with tons of things she can (but shouldn’t) chew. A 15 month old lab is still effectively a big puppy and labs have an affinity for chewing things up. It might be that the best you can do is manage it now and hope she grows out of it in the coming years.
I would suggest a Gentle Leader. It works the same way people control horses in that it controls the nose. We have been using it to teach our dog to stop pulling/jumping and it is really great.
From the description on Amazon "Designed so that owners can communicate with their pet in a way they instinctively understand, the Gentle Leader painlessly and effectively removes the dog’s natural tendency to pull by placing gentle pressure on calming points and eliminating uncomfortable pressure on the throat. In addition to reducing a dog’s desire to pull away, the Gentle Leader is also a very effective tool in combating lunging, jumping, excessive barking and helping to calm an aggressive and/or anxious animal."
My pup was just like yours-loves sticks and anything made of wood! Unfortunately, I don't have too many suggestions for the wood replacement. I gave my pup a few of these when he was little, but after reading the Amazon reviews I would possibly reconsider that decision. He enjoyed them, however, and you can do some research and make your own decision!
As far as a puzzle game I highly suggest the Omega Paw Ball. My almost 1-year-old pup recently figured it out and has been loving it. The Kong Wubba is also good, but with my pup I noticed that the Omega Ball requires a bit more finesse and concentration, rather than the Wubba which mostly sent him into frenzied batting episodes.
Hope some of this was helpful!
You have to reward him for looking at you, once he understands he gets fed for it, he will change his attitude and shouldn't be so crazy.
You can google basics of clicker training. You don't need a clicker though, you can use a word like 'yes' or a pen click, or click with your tongue instead as your 'marker'. A marker being--a noise that tells the dog they are doing the right thing. He looks at you, and you click and feed him. Once he understands what the marker noise means, and understands he gets rewarded for looking at you, he should start looking at you in order TO get fed, even if you don't ask him to. This is the same principle behind how pretty much everything can be taught.
You might need to teach him to relax first if he's too excited to focus. Kikopup on youtube has a video on this, or this book. And you can absolutely teach him to walk on a leash--use a harness so he doesn't pull on his neck to start. Again, lots of videos on youtube and books on how to teach a dog to walk on a leash.
https://www.amazon.com/Fired-Up-Frantic-Freaked-Out/dp/0985934921/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0985934921&pd_rd_r=81D7EAZFEBMZ5C9EN8V9&pd_rd_w=L9Ma2&pd_rd_wg=7Nxzc&psc=1&refRID=81D7EAZFEBMZ5C9EN8V9
The book 'click to calm' is also very good.
The best start is going to be laying the foundations of communication and a positive relationship. Dog training books are like scripture: highly open to interpretation. The most comprehensive guide I've found that has the most cohesive and wholesome explanation of working with dogs is written by a close mentor and dear friend, Pat Miller, it's called The power of positive dog training
It has a pretty great explanation of separation anxiety, and a list of activities to strengthen your dogs trust in your actions and confidence in itself, as well as a very dry and truthful anecdote about understanding the significance of specific breed characteristics
Fair warning: I don't agree with everything in the book, but 90% of it is spot on. Check out 'Relatioship-Based Approach to Dog Training' — just take whatever info you find with a grain of salt, your gut is typically right
I got a 6 year old dog about 4 years ago. He spent the first 2+ years of his life in a cage alone, then a few years living with a family. He also didn't care for toys or playing with other dogs. He's started playing well with my puppy over the last few months, but before that he didn't play with anyone for more than maybe a 10 second game of chase in the yard.
For toys, I taught him "take it" to get him to pick up a toy. He'll humor me and take what I offer him, but very rarely does he actually play with a toy. He sometimes squeaks a toy a bit if he doesn't think I'm paying attention, but as soon as I notice he drops it and expects pets. He really only cares about bones and kongs.
His life isn't any less fun for him because he's not keen on toys. He's smart enough to know what toys are for, just not interested in spending his time squeaking something when he could be sleeping on the couch!
For yours, if he likes food and sometimes chases the ball, I'd probably try a puzzle toy that involves pushing the ball around to dispense treats. This particular one is big enough not to roll under my couch. He may get the idea to chase it if the treats are coming from the ball and not you. You can also throw out some kibbles into the yard and let him hunt them out.
Also, keep in mind that it could take weeks or even months for a new rescue to adjust to you and your home, especially if he's used to living on the streets or in a kennel at the shelter. I'm not sure how new he is to you, but you may find he comes out of his shell as time goes on and he sees you playing fetch with your other dogs.
> Ignore bad behaviour.
(Just clarifying for the OP, because I imagine that /u/livmaj already knows what follows:) "Ignoring the bad" isn't referring to allowing the bad behaviour to happen and then just not doing anything to stop it when it happens. Actually, I much prefer how Kathy Sdao talks about this in her book Plenty In Life is Free: Reward the behaviours you want, prevent access to reinforcement for the behaviours you don't. A lot of "bad dog" behaviours are in themselves rewarding to the dog (think of all the yummy things that are in the trash!), so it's important to set up the environment in a way that prevents the dog from doing it in the first place. Put trash cans in cupboards or behind closed doors where he can't reach them, keep your shoes in a closed closet, etc.
And if the dog is in the middle of destroying your shoe, you don't just let him keep destroying it - but don't scold or punish for it either. Identify how he got the shoe, and work to rectify that gap in your management. I also found it helpful to play trading games and teach my puppy a "Can I see it cue?" so that rather than me taking things away from her, she happily carries them over them and gives them to me in exchange for a treat. Sometimes she has something that's totally fine for her to have, so I give it back to her and this is really important so that the dog learns that it won't always be taken away when they "share" with you. I also prefer this method because, once the trade behaviour is solid, it prevents the dog from either turning it into a game of keep-away or from dropping it at a distance and picking it up again unlike teaching a straight "drop it" (which was more difficult for me to train and proof than a trade anyway).
Ye ask and ye shall receive. Here are some good resources to learn more about leash/barrier reactivity:
Books
Websites
Videos (These are mostly to techniques to help with reactivity)
Edit for formatting
It sounds crazy but that honestly might not be enough exercise, especially if he's still "run[ning] around bonkers a bit on his own too". I am so glad I ended up with a smaller, semi-lazy dog, because even with four walks a day - adding up to probably around 6 miles total - he sometimes has extra energy to burn and we have to play fetch with him or tire him out with a flirt pole (which he LOVES). I'd be totally screwed if I had a larger, more active dog!
Mine dealt with separation anxiety, too, and it took months to train him to trust that we were coming back. High-value treats and food-dispensing toys helped a lot. It took a little while to figure out what he liked best. He goes nuts for peanut butter and bully sticks, though he chews through the latter in about five minutes so I started blending peanut butter with yogurt and water, piping that into a Kong plugged with a dried liver treat, and shoving the bully stick in the middle and then freezing that all so it takes him longer to get through. He also loves deer antlers, which are long lasting.
We decided to partition off one puppy-proofed room of the house instead of limiting him to just the crate. Now that he's finally used to us being gone he voluntarily goes into the crate to sleep until we get back.
http://www.amazon.com/Fired-Up-Frantic-Freaked-Out/dp/0985934921
Train them to use a mat as a relaxation spot and train them the MOMENT they see eachother to hit the map for super high value MEAT.
If they learn that laying down in eachothers view is more rewarding then you can slowly begin to move the mats closer. Eventually you will have them layind next to each other for rewards and they learn to self calm around each other.
We alternate between the Kong Wobbler, the Buster Cube, and the IQ Ball every morning for breakfast. The wobbler is definitely the easiest, the cube is definitely the hardest, and the IQ ball is Sequoia's favorite (but she loves balls of any kind, so no real surprise there).
The total surprise winner was the Pickle! I was convinced it would be torn to shreds in minutes, but it has held up well! It doesn't last super long, but it is easy enough to just stick a little more peanut butter and some more kibble in when she is done.
I Agree but things to also take into consideration. Environments with high and/or dry temperatures will cause most dogs to attempt to cool off through panting and laying on cool surfaces. (Some people see this as being tired, but is a different form of fatigue)
For the peeing, make a note of any changes that have happened in the past 3-4 months (The new kitten?), even something like change in outdoor lighting can cause a dog to stress. This in turn could cause a fear of peeing at night, or added stress could cause a UTI. Make a note of anything you can for the vet trip. I would restrict your dogs access to the house when you sleep (Crate training, or in your room, or something like that.) Allowing him to continue the behavior is VERY counter productive. Every time he gets away with it, he is 'rewarded' which makes the behavior harder to break.
Something to note JRTs are very high energy dogs that chase small vermin, anything that might run around or roll around (Nothing living please :-) will help burn energy. things like this toy will help with both the terrier predatory drive and his high energy.
One of my favorite things to buy myself some time is what we affectionally call Bob (or the bob-a-lot by StarMark). I had my eye on one of these when I first brought my puppy home and didn't buy it for awhile but when I did it revolutionized my life. This keeps my pup busy and entertained forever. We will give her some food in the bowl for meal times but we put aside a lot of the daily food to be fed out through this. Our pup is incredibly food motivated but sometimes is super selective about what she'll chew.
Get Patricia McConnell's book Love Has No Age Limit. I promise it will help.
Patricia advocates POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT training. as /u/Splunken says, you should start REWARDING independence. Patricia McConnell's book will help you do this in all aspects of your puppy's life. Walks, leaving him alone, feeding time, chill at home time. For example, give your dog spontaneous treats anytime he is lying down being calm and not begging for attention. Say, "Good calm!" and throw a treat. When it's time to eat, have your dog sit politely, then put the bowl down. Say, "Good sit!" and give him his dinner. Use EVERY time your dog does the RIGHT thing to reward him. Generally ignore bad behavior, except for a stern "No!" when you want to interrupt his behavior (like when you witness him about to eat something he shouldn't).
I also dealt with a dog with pretty bad separation anxiety. Here are the steps I took.
Between the crate training, kongs and the routine, we now have a very nicely behaved pup when we are out of the house. He remains very calm as we leave (he used to freak out and whine every day) and is far more relaxed when we get home.
The key thing here is time and consistency. Best of luck!
This sounds a lot like boredom to me. Is it possible to get the dog out exercising more? Other things that may help are training classes to get him to think, or doggy daycare (nothing tires my guys out more than running with other dogs all day). Something that you can use indoors to help tire him out is a flirt pole. It will cost about $10 in supplies, and if you follow the "rules" that site lists then Pikachu is getting mental and physical stimulation, and you barely have to do anything.
Other than that, you might need to babygate off a section of the house - kitchen or bathroom, and get him used to being left in there. It's easier to keep one room spotless than it is to keep an entire house. Make sure to get a few puzzle toys this is a favourite of my dogs or a kong to freeze his lunch in to keep him occupied.
Good luck!
Buy a harness, a harness is less likely to rub any areas raw as long as it fits properly. Front clip one will help "turn" the dog so they won't pull as much. A Gentle Leader can also work wonders by turning the head, however if the dog lunges at birds/cars/dogs/cats/etc. I wouldn't recommend.
Get a plain leash, retractable leashes actually encourage the dog to pull (since the dog has gotten used to pulling to get farther out).
You can exercise the dog indoors and only go out for potty breaks if you don't want to buy stuff just for the weekend. Play games like fetch or mental games like scavenger hunts (find hidden treats), or put treats in old water bottles, DIY toys work wonders. If the dog doesn't know any tricks/fetch you can start teaching games like sit, down, shake, roll over, etc. All good mental games.
Edited to put Shearaha1's harness suggestion.
If you really don't want him to eat his poop, then teach him to go potty on command while on a leash. Both of my dogs were trained this way since a yard wasn't always an option. 'go potty', treat, and pickup poop.
I initially got the impression your dog ate poop while you were away. I still think a tired dog is a happy dog, and exercise and mental stimulation minimizes these types of unusual behaviors. I have a working breed (weimaraner) like you and they truly need a 'job' and to be tired both physically and mentally to be happy.
Also, completely disagree that puzzle toys do nothing to help a dog through separation anxiety. Perhaps it only helps in less severe cases? But, it absolutely helped both of my weims over the years.
If you're still dealing with separation anxiety I would highly suggest reading I'll be Home Soon: How to Prevent and Treat Separation Anxiety. Another tip that I don't think that was in the book is teaching your dog 'I'll be back'. I started with 1 second, 5 secs, 30 secs, etc. Now he knows to relax and typically just goes to his bed. Works great in public when I need to leave him for a moment.
Our favourite is Bob-a-lot. We used to use a Kong Wobbler, but it was too easy. The bob-a-lot lets you adjust the hole openings so it's more difficult. He has learned how to open the first hole though so it doesn't keep him as occupied as before.
He really likes PetSafe Busy Buddy, Petzone IQ Treat Ball, and Nina Ottoson Treat Maze, but I didn't find them very durable. My 10lb pup isn't much of a chewer, but he definitely cracked the plastic on most of those puzzle toys.
I've got a high energy lab mix too, and as many people have said here, walking just doesn't cut it. Several people have recommended fetch, which has been a huge help. Additionally, this thing has been a lifesaver. Basically, anything that gets him running hard and will help you drain his excess energy quickly.
Mine! is a fabulous resource. But ideally, you feed the dogs separately (crated, or separated by rooms) and pick up all food related items before allowing them to come back together. As far as training out the behavior, I put the dogs on opposite sides of the room with tethers (they shouldn't be able to get to each other). I then play the name game and treat (Tesla - dog comes to me ... still out of reach of the other dog), I reward, and send the dog back to their corner, and then do the other dog. I keep alternating, over and over again. And over the course of days (or weeks), we move closer and closer together.
What about a flirt pole?
What type of toys does your son use to play with your puppy? Is there ample room between where the puppy grabs the toy and where your son holds onto it?
You can make the "bite = leave" concept more clear to puppy if you work with a baby gate. Have your son play with puppy on one side of the baby gate and puppy on another. Maybe take a long toy and drag it so puppy can get it. When puppy's teeth hit your son's skin, he needs to immediately leave the baby gate, whether he drops the toy for puppy or drags it with him is up to him. You may need to do a few practice sessions to show him exactly what you mean. But the baby gate creates a clear barrier and separation that you can immediately employ when needed. After 15-20 seconds, go back to playing.
Alternatively, you can have the puppy on a longer leash, like 6-8 feet at least. Have your son play with puppy while you hold onto the leash. When puppy bites, hold onto the leash firmly (don't pull) and have your son move away from the puppy immediately so puppy doesn't follow him.
I don't have much experience with resource guarding personally, but I've seen Mine! by Jean Donaldson recommenced a bunch of times. It's like 100 pages and is supposed to give a great overview of the issue and how to handle it. You can get the kindle version for like $9.
To second this, we use the same approach with an otherwise healthy foster dog who refuses to eat what is offered. We get donated food for foster dogs, I am not about to go out and buy expensive dog food unless there is a medical reason to do so. I'm not reimbursed unless it's vet recommended.
I put the food down, dog gets five minutes to show interest. Only longer if eating in a crate. Walk away from the food and I pick it up. That simple. You see this a lot in fat dogs that have trained people to give them table scraps, etc. Eventually, they'll figure it out.
All things good and all reinforcement comes from me. There's a book out there called "Mine!" that I've heard good things from others who have had to deal with resource guarding. http://www.amazon.ca/Mine-Practical-Guide-Resource-Guarding/dp/0970562942