normal or not? (nibbling, barking when I am on ladders, digging at carpet)

All sounds normal to me. *S*

jillyrg

On the other hand, the Brittany will run and grab the toy, but no matter what, unless there is a major treat waiting, he refuses to bring it to us. This is after months of trying to train him to fetch. Why is he so resistant to bring a ball/toy/etc to us? He just wants us to chase him. Is it that simple?

Yes, it is that simple and very normal.  If you want to train him to bring the object back, continue using treats as a reward for returning with the toy.  In his mind, it's much more fun to have you chase him, as this is how dogs love to play with each other and sometimes owners do chase the dog,  so the dog continues to try and entice you to play the "chase me" game, since it's worked in the past. :) It's not that he's being willful or resisting, he's just playing the game his way.  If you consistently reward him for returning the object to you, he'll learn this is also a fun game.  It may take many many repetitions, spread out over the course of several weeks, to teach him the new game but most dogs learn it pretty quickly.

ETA: The Bichon nibbling on hair is somehow rewarding to her.  Reward her for not nibbling/licking by shovin a treat in her mouth before she has the opportunity to nibble the moment you see her about to start.  Often the squealing and arm waving is rewarding to the dog as this makes the humans seem like giant squeaky toys. :) If she can't be prevented by shoving a treat in her mouth, the person should immediately get up to interrupt the behavior.  It's not always possible to know why dogs do some things or find them rewarding but it is possible to make the behavior no longer rewarding to the dog.  If you want to see some examples of how to counterconditon, go to Sophia Yin's website.

jillyrg

when I am climbing up the bunk bed ladder

Maybe shes telling you to get down or I want up there too.

 Um, you have described my Willy!  LOL No, really!

Willy is a rescue, came here July 2010, not even 2 years yet. He is now a bit over 89 years old.   He loves to steal socks, underwear (he pulls it out of the hamper, through the air openings) napkins or tissues, and shows us his treasure.  I swear I can hear him:  "Na nee na nee na naa, I got it, you don't!"   I started by teaching him to trade for a treat.  This took time.  Next, I started trading him treats for toys.  We are now (after 20 months!) on the last stage:  I do NOT trade treats for socks, underwear, etc.  He MUST have a toy.  THEN I will gladly, quickly, get a treat and trade with him. 

Tag: teach everyone who interacts with the dogs:  dog can chase human, YES; never never can human chase dog.  Do not get into this game with the dogs.  

Teaching a dog to fetch:  The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell discusses this, as do many of her other books.  You may be able to find the books at the library -- I did.  The ones I liked I bought on amazon.com  They are easy reads and very enlightening!

 As for the bunk bed - upper, have you ever put her up there so she can sniff around?  Can you take small bites of high quality treats with you, and toss them to her when she is quiet to reinforce the good behavior?  That's 2 ideas.

Have these dogs ever been in training classes?  Especially the bichon mix - bichons require a consistent owner to keep them in line.  Positive reinforcement works well as they so want to please their human.  If you haven't been to classes, I highly recommend it, with every human in the home attending all classes, and doing all the practices and homeworks with the dog. 

Good luck, all sounds normal to me.  

jillyrg

I have 2 dogs-haven't posted in ages!! But I have a few answers and if you have any feedback for any of them, I welcome replies! Didn't want to post multiple times for the same 2 dogs.

1.) My 7 yr male Brittany: EVERY time we get up in the morning, he immediately bolts through the house to find a ______ (sock, stuffed animal, etc)..and he will not bring it to us. He runs to the middle of the room holding it and staring-- as if "HA! Look what I got!" Every day. For the past 7 years!

2.) We adopted a poodle/bichon mix, female, 2 1/2yrs old. She is a whole category of crazy in herself.  Will do that same grab a shoe concept, but she always does this when we have been gone and return to the house.

3.) Above mix also will come up and nibble on hair (the guys yelp like little kids when she comes up to their bare legs--she licks, then nibbles).

4.) She has fetched and brought back beautifully since we adopted her as a baby. No training. She just does it! On the other hand, the Brittany will run and grab the toy, but no matter what, unless there is a major treat waiting, he refuses to bring it to us. This is after months of trying to train him to fetch. Why is he so resistant to bring a ball/toy/etc to us? He just wants us to chase him. Is it that simple?

 5.) Bichon barks hysterically when I am climbing up the bunk bed ladder to change the sheets. What the heck is she trying to tell me?

That's all I can think of. They are otherwise loving, easygoing dogs, great with the family, and we give them vigorous walks daily. I will try to post a pic of them......

Sounds pretty normal to me too. 

Stop chasing the dogs when they run with something. Eventually, they will get bored of this. They'll either drop the items and walk away, or they'll bring it back. Reward heavily if they bring it back. You can prevent your Brittany from doing this by leashing him immediately in the morning. Just leash him up and take him out right away, rather than letting him free to run and grab something. Your Brittany is so resistant to bring things back because he thinks it's more fun to be chased. Apparently to him, bringing it back to let you throw it again, or take it away from him, isn't as great. If you chase him, the game ends when he decides it ends. If he brings it to you, you control when the game ends. It's not  nearly as fun for the one who isn't in control. My cavalier has retrieved since he was a tiny little baby. I don't know when he started doing it, but I first met him when he was 10 weeks old, he was retrieving. I had to teach him to bring it to me instead of to his bed, but he got it within minutes. The one that looks like a golden retriever struggles with retrieving.

Your bichon who licks and nibbles hair... you know that when she starts to lick, nibbling is coming next. Stop her before it progresses to the nibbling. If you can stop her before she even starts to lick, even better. Stop her when you see her headed towards someone's legs. Distract her, get her to do something else (you can tell the other people to get her to do other things) and reward her for doing something else.

Also, is it possible just to prevent the bichon from seeing you go up on the top bunk? Just block her out of the room at that time?

Wow, I leave for a few hours and when I return there is a whole plethora of info here. THANKS!!!!! Sounds like our Brittany is smarter than we are (LOL) and yes, both have done training- the Britt both individual and a class, and the bichon just individual. She definitely could use some obedience, as we struggle with her "cute" factor making it difficult to be strict (never mind the fact that she has come so far with her fearfulness/skittishness that we try not to over-scold or scare her). But being firm is important and we will have to go back to some basics.

She does the whole pull tissue out of trash can thing too. Oh- here is another one, when I leave the house (and husband is home), she will run to our room, find an article of worn clothing of mine, and drag it around the house, often to him! As if letting him know that I left and she is going to make me pay for it.

THANKS AGAIN!!! Great tips and reassuring to know there is nothing "off" about my furkids.

 I've never been a fan of individual training, MUCH prefer group classes.  You learn from watching others, they observe and comment on things you are doing, your dog is getting socialized to other dogs, other people, AND learning to focus on your with distractions around.    I know there is a place for individual training, usually for a problem, not general training.  Just my opnion.

I think you interpret some of their behaviors in the wrong way - not that I am a doggie mind reader, lol.  Like her getting your clothing.  Not she is going to make you pay, but "gee, I miss mom I need her scent close by me! "  Like LiInus' security blanket!  Yes, the cuteness factor IS an issue with bichons and poodles, lol.  Scoldling doesn't work w/ bichons (I don't know much about poodles, so I keep focusing on the bichon side of your mix), they can shut down.  Positive reinforcement of the good stuff, ignoring the bad, not letting it pay off as in letting it get them your negative attention. 

Oh, the digging in the carpet -- my bichons LOVE to nest.  I have piles of blankets on the sofa,and on my bed where they sleep,  as they have to shuffle everything around before settling.  "Construction" is a great entertainment to watch!

 Dogs don't have the same emotions like humans do. They don't think, "I'm going to  get her for this," or "I'll show her." For them, it's mostly about what happens after they do the behavior. "when I grab clothes, people run and shout and chase, and that's so much fun," or "when mom leaves and I grab her clothes, dad pays lots of attention to me."

I know how tough it can be to be hard on a tiny little cute dog. I have one of those myself. You don't need to scream or scold, you can remain calm, even tempered, and just redirect her to do appropriate things. 

My cavalier loves to dig, and "adjust" the spot where he is going to lay down. I have no idea why really, but I guess he just likes to make the spot more comfy.