Help with some training difficulties

I'm hoping someone with some time to craft a good response will come along shortly to help you.  BUT, for now, the first thing that comes to mind is that this dog has too much freedom and that confinement could make a good step toward addressing half of these issues.

If he's in a crate, he can't run away from people trying to let him out to pee.  He also can't steal things off of end tables if he's in a crate when someone isn't actually working with him.  Can't chew the blinds strings, either.  But, best of all, when he gets overstimulated and bites too hard during play, that's the place for him to calm down and understand that play stops when he bites hard.

He really sounds like he was overindulged and hasn't EARNED his place in the home.  NILIF would help him understand that he has to give something before he gets something, like play time and interaction w/Mom.  I'd expect a lot of protesting from him (think of a spoiled kid stomping his feet when he can't get what he wants).

With time away from Mom & others who will play with him, the proximity and interaction with mom should be a pretty good motivator to behave, once he's given clear direction what "behave" really means.  What is your mom training him now that she uses those treats with him?  Work those behaviors when you take him out, then put him back in the crate.  He can come out for a specific play time, then put back away.  I really tend to think he needs some of his freedoms reined back in for a bit.

The pooping when nervous thing?  Well, first off, him pooping on the bed while Mom was packing could actually have been him marking.  Is he allowed to sleep/get up on her bed? 

Keep in mind that if he's already overstimulated, that exercising him could actually exacerbate the excitement.  Make the exercise constructive with obedience training.  Cute dogs can do well with tricks, because a lot of owners don't want to train their little muffins a full roster of obedience. But "tricks" make it worthwhile for some owners to invest the time in training.

I'm no expert, but those are my thoughts.  Hope some others come along and contribute for your benefit.

I am typing a very temporary reply, and i am declaring  a bias here, Shih Tzus are in a very small number of breeds that i really don't like.

I would go and get a Vet check. The dog would be on a diet of good high quality DOG food. I would be aiming to get it's weight in the correct range, and it would be feeding twice a day, not whenever it wanted too. I can almost guarantee that it is overweight.

Dogs under stress don't take treats, nor do overwieght over indulged dogs. It would be a case history if it didn't start taking an interest in food after a few days of calorie reducition. :)

The dog hasn't learnt succesful bite inhibition. It takes a lot of repitition over  a period of time to teach a dog not to bite. I wouldn't use the crate, but would completely clear out a room like  toilet so that it could be timed out for biting.

I don't ever think that there is any correlation between size and the ability to train. My dogs are mini poodles,and i know of Paps that are tracking champs,and a chinese crested that is CDX. All dogs need the certainty of basic obedience training, and the structure that it gives their lives.

Above all, you need the help of a good trainer, who understands the human who might just wish to strangle this "delightful" little dog after a few days :))))

So sorry to post and not reply, but I went off to a dog show this weekend, and just couldn't get to the forum.

I agree that a little dog can learn just as well as anything else. I think there is a lot of human stuff that goes on with little dogs not being trained well.

 Actually he is not overweilght, but I bet he would be if this kept up long. I tried very hard to get Mom to not free feed when he first came here. it would not go over. When I am in control for a few weeks, I am hoping to be able to show her a noticable improvement by doing it "my" way, and then maybe I can get her to continue.

I have a friend up there who has been into dogs all her life to bounce off any particular problem I might run up against, plus all you guys. :-) I can tell you that after taking three weeks off work, and traveling across the country, I cannot afford to call in the trainer yet. Even if that would be the best scenario.  That is going to have to be me, and a couple friends. I have a friend who went pretty high with her rottie in obedience too.

I thoght too about the time out area  for biting. I will not tolerate it, and I have no qualms about telling people they will do like I say in reference to him or I will put him away while I am there working with him. That is an Ian DUnbar thing, to have a time out for bad behavior.

My dogs get two treats a day, unless I have a particular thith I am treating htem for in reference to training, orhasecial beahvior. I don't think they need a treat for every pee pee.

if I had to choose what was most important to me to fix,I want him to not run off when he's to be let out, will go out and pee on his own, and stop biting.

I am not ignoring your advice either Dobe, but I know that I am not going ot be able to pull off having him crated most of the time. I will use it when I can, but I do have to strike the balance between not having her thing I am misteating the little boy, and getting some thing accomplished.

the one thing I have on my side is I know that Mom actually wants what is best for him, she just thinks spoiling him is a good thing, and I want to show her there can be a balance and he and everyone else can still be happy. Thanks for the help so far. J

 I also agree that the dogs freedom should be limited. We use time outs (still *sigh*) with Ari when she bites. We simply take her, isolate her and walk away. Fun stops immediately. For Ari, nothing else has worked. We called in our trainer (who is a behaviorist) and we tried other methods to stop the non-aggressive biting, but to no avail. Now, she gets removed from us. US is ultimately what she wants - so if she bites she is removed from the objects of her desire.

If the dog cannot be trusted freely around the house, then the dogs free reign gets pulled in. Does your Mom have the ability to gate off a safe room? If your Mom's shih tzu is anything like my Mom's was back in her younger years, she could jump up quite a distance, but a gate should be fine! Shih tzus can be adorably stubborn creatures at times (or maybe that was just Nikki my Mom's dog for you) and its harder if they are not food motivated. How about toy or praise motivators?

I've taught both my Mom's dog and Ari to go pee and to "poop already". I'm really no nonsense about that. If we are out for a potty run, you best go! I give my dog about 5-10 minutes and then we go back in and I will go back out in another 10 or so to try one more time (especially if I know they need to go - Ari is predictable with her potty needs so that helps). I trained it by seriously celebrating them going pee and poop and then slowing adding in the verbal command. Ari at a year and a half still gets excited lol after she pees outside. 

I love shih tzus. By nature they are sweet and affectionate. They typically don't need a ton of exercise (they were bred to ahem guard the royal pillows after all), but I know Nikki was unusual in that regard. She had a ton of spunk and energy. If you can teach a retrieve game, there's no reason why his exercise needs couldn't be met in the house (particularly if you have a long stretch a room a toy could be tossed in). This way your mom doesn't have to do anything too strenuous on her back and the dog gets to learn a fun behavior that everyone enjoys.

spiritsmom

He has started to bite hard when he plays, and the last time I saw Mom she had places in various stages of healing on her arms where he draws blood on her senior thinner skin when they play. I know that at least part of that problem is the way everyone plays with him, but he does not have an off button once he is on high. I could always tell Kota "ok" when she would get a little excited and she would stop what ever she was doing. He is wound up and out of control.

Too bad for how everyone plays with him.  If you can't get them to stop, you'll never get him to stop - periodic reinforcement of his obnoxious behavior will lead to him continuing it.  When he starts getting wound up, that's the humans' cue to become boring, very boring.

He steals things off the end tables, coffee table, etc, and will chew and eat anythig he can get ahold of. He chews things if Mom isn't watching him, like the ends of the blind strings, or the newspaper.

He has way too much freedom, and has obviously solidified this behavior, too, by being reinforced for it.  So, the best thing would be if you could clear the counters, tables, etc., tie up the blind strings, and not have anything available that he can get into.  If he begins to chew something inappropriate, he can be redirected to a chew toy.  I also think this dog is probably in need of more environmental stimulation.  Find the thread "Bored Dogs" and get him some of the interactive toys that people have listed there.  He needs something to do that makes him think!

He poops when he gets excited, and although he is housebroken, he pooped on the bed when Mom was packing for a trip,and pooped in the car even though Mom took him out a few minutes before they left. he never let them know he needed to go.

The dog is not house trained.  House trained dogs do not soil in the home or the car, even if they don't signal that they have to go - they wait for the human to take them out;-)  Back to house training 101.  Also, if he is pooping on beds, he doesn't get bed privileges.  You can put a drag line on him, and when he jumps onto the bed, gently take the end of the lead, guide him off while you say "off" - it takes a while, but if you are persistent, he should get the meaning of "off" within a reasonable time.

He runs when anyone but Mom and my sister try to let him out to pee, including her boyfriend who lives there. He also has to have you go out and stand with him, for upwards of 10 to 15 minutes, becuaue if you put him out without going with him, he will just lay with his nose to the door.

This is pretty normal behavior.  Dogs hate isolation.  Another good reason for a drag line - the boyfriend could step on it, pick up the end, and take the dog out.

He is not treat motivated. He wouldn't eat a treat out of your hand when he came here to live, he needed to go find it in his bed. Mom has been feeding him about 10 treats a day, and he is even  more picky about them now, so he needs other motivation. he also need that cut down by about 90%. I just bought a book called, When Pigs Fly by Jane Killion, who is supposed to help you find the thing that makes your dog click, and also how to work with your breed specific traits.

Let him skip a meal, then see how food motivated he is if the treat is of high value (chicken, cheese, etc.)  If he still isn't, see if he is motivated by other things - ball, tug rope, rabbit pelt, whatever.  If he is an anxious dog, he may be too nervous to eat, but it sounds as if he is just used to having things his way when it comes to food and treats.

I know first thing he needs is more exercise, but with MOm recovering from back surgery, that is going to be something I try to address with everyone else when I am there and see what I can get in place.

Check out the bubble machine: www.activedogtoys.com

Well, I am sorry that I have not been her eto reply to these very helpful suggestions, and to say a great big thank you! For some reason, I have not been getting notifications in my email the last week or so apparently, and I haven't been in to just check things out as it has been a very busy schedule getting everything ready for this trip.

I completely agree, and it gave me some good places to work from. I will be all over the Bored Dog thread as I have been looking for just thoses kind of things to have on the way there from the doggie catalog before I get there, and I am sure interested in what the bubble machine is. I can imagine,though.

Again, a big thanks to all the helpful suggestions in all the posts. I will be taking them all to heart. Julie