Dog Community

3 issues: Begging, Containment, and Travel

Posted : 7/18/2006 6:48:44 PM

Hey all,

My darling 5 month old husky mix pup is doing great. However I am having a bit of problem with begging. He's never had a bit of human food (except peanut butter covered medicine) and he's becoming extremely annoying during our meal times. We have tried pushing him away while saying "off" our word for getting down "down" is for him to lie down. He listens other times but not when food is involved. We've tried "ignoring" but at 35.5 lbs already he's quite hard to ignore when he wants to be on our lap. We've also tried feeding him at the same time- no success. We've tried playing with him before we eat and after. No effect. Anything I'm missing? If we can't come up with a situation we are just going to put him in his crate during our meal times so we can have a moments peace. I look forward to your suggestions.

On an unrelated front. He can Jump. he can climb. This dog is a freakin' triathelete and I love it. However containment for him is becoming a problem. Our house is very open layout except for the bathroom and a swinging door into one of the kitchen entrances. He likes the bathroom because it's cold and the tiles are cool but it's too small for him to play when he's by himself. So we tried to put him in the kitchen with the swinging door blocked off and a baby gate on the other entrance. He climbs/jumps over the average babygate. I will plead ignorance in that i don't know if they make extra high doggy gates for indoor use?

Lastly, I'm travelling to VA Beach from Kansas City, and since he's so young I'm going to take him with me. So we'll be doing the 19ish hour drive. Any suggestions for ease of travel?

THANKS!

Lee (and Feyd)

jones

Posted : 7/18/2006 8:03:03 PM

Dogs don't need to taste your food to know it smells good. [

]

My dog is a wicked beggar at mealtimes. We've had good success with putting him in a down/stay while we eat. The bad thing about your dinner is they really, really want it... the good thing about your dinner is they really, really want it. It's one of those situations with a powerful reinforcer built right in. So, the dog has to down/stay throughout the meal. The way our trainer had us teach a down/stay is to give small treats randomly throughout the stay, rewarding for the act of staying rather than for getting up afterward. I just applied this at dinnertime by having the dog down/stay by my chair, and as long as he stays he may or may not get bits of food from my plate - I keep him guessing. If he doesn't down/stay he gets nothing and may even get exiled to his crate. After just a couple months of this, he's laying down as soon as I sit down to eat. [

] Not perfect yet, he does still get up and beg at times, but we're making progress pretty quickly.

Your dog is a little young to have a really good down/stay, so I wouldn't expect immediate results, but you can certainly start training it now. And any time he's been really annoying about it, just put him in another room or his crate.

inne

Posted : 7/18/2006 8:30:19 PM

ORIGINAL: PitOrch

Lastly, I'm travelling to VA Beach from Kansas City, and since he's so young I'm going to take him with me. So we'll be doing the 19ish hour drive. Any suggestions for ease of travel?

Is he used to car rides? Does he travel in a crate? Both of these things have really helped us when we take longer car rides - she mostly sleeps the whole time in her crate. You can also look up spots ahead of time to stop for exercise and pottying so you won't be stuck with a hyper/cranky/restless dog and nowhere to go. That isn't fun for anyone.

Minty_Pups

Posted : 7/19/2006 1:01:07 AM

Work on his down stay. As a pup, he's probably not very "stable", but with continued practice, he should eventually be able to stay through the whole dinner. I would work on it with distractions first before doing it during dinner time. For example, train your dog to stay while you toss a toy or treat around. It could be a little challenging at first, but he'll get it.

For the trip, I would bring a crate with you and leave him crated for the majority of the time. They also sell doggy seatbelts. But I'm still an advocate for crating. Plan your trip so that you pass a rest area every 3-4 hours. That way you can give your dog water and let him stretch his legs a little. Buy a really long leash or bring a rope so you can play fetch or let your pup run around while you're out. A stuffed kong and extra stuffing can keep your pup busy in the crate.

agilebcs

Posted : 7/19/2006 6:38:30 AM

I would start teaching him a command like "place" and get a mat or something and teach him to go on that at mealtime. Teaching a down stay is good too but with a puppy it's hard because of their short attention span. I'd start teaching "place" separate than mealtime though because you're going to be trying to eat and unable to give your full attention to him. Best suggestion right now for mealtime is to crate him.

On the climbing thing my only suggestion is a crate for when you need to contain him. I tried to contain my first dog and he climbed up, over and thru everything and it was quite messy. We even screwed 2 baby gates (one on top of another) into the wall and he busted thru them - and he was a 5 month old lab! Then I caved to the crate idea (I thought that they were cruel before) and haven't regretted it. I think that there are tall baby gates but really, if he wants out he'll find a way.

For the car ride, I'd get him used to the car now (unless he already is). Take him lots of places with you, give him some meals in the car, make it a fun place to be. I would suggest crating him in the car mostly for the safety of it. I travel with my dogs a lot and they are always crated and they start riding in the car a lot as young puppies. Another option is a seatbelt. Whatever you do, please don't just leave him loose in the car.