Dog Community

How to get his need for attention under control...??

Posted : 6/19/2006 10:31:03 PM

Buster is a severe attention hog at times. For example..If im on my computer and I dont acknowledge him when he jumps up with a ball or bone he'll drop the toy and focus completely on getting my attention by jumping in my lap, scratching at my legs/arms until I scolled (sp) him for doing this. When it gets to out of control I crate him until he has calmed down which is usualy 10-15 mins. This sometimes does or does not work. For the most part it works for a few hours then he's back at it.

Another example: Tonight I had fabric layed out on the floor becuase im cutting for a quilt. He did his usualy for attention at this point I decided to just take him for a walk because that will usualy poop him out for a while giving me time to do my thing. This walk wasnt good enough and a few minutes after getting settled into my work he walks infront of me on my cloth with ball in mouth and just stands there. Doesnt look at me. Doesnt move just stands there until I move him. Only for him to walk right back. I know he is wanting me to play ball. He then gives up on that and just flat out plops down on my fabric and lays there.

Now I give him tons of attention. I always play with him and walk him at least 1-3 times a day depending on how hyper he is that day. So its not that we dont give him the attention he needs. He just has to learn to understand he isnt going to get it all the time or everytime he expects it. This is where I need a little advice. How do I teach him that he isnt going to get played with 24/7? Do I just crate him when pushes for the attention? I would much rather give him positive reinforcement than the negative. Help..

Dario Medina

Posted : 6/19/2006 10:59:15 PM

I can't offer good advice, but I think crating him for punishment makes him dispise the crate, or so I hear. Others here will come along shortly who can give great advice!

inne

Posted : 6/19/2006 11:07:31 PM

You mentioned walking him 1-3 times per day.    Do you ever really tire him out? I know that my puppy gets very high strung, annoying and needing if we haven't had enough playtime outside, but usually we spend about 1-3 hours just playing and running and exploring outside every day and she's great at home as a result. Training is also a good way of stimulating your dog and a lot of dogs enjoy those puzzle toys.

I know there have been some posts here about being the one to initiate play.   I don't know if it's part of NILIF, but I'm sure someone who knows more can come along and tell you more about that.   Does he know commands to stop his behaviour? (Off, down, stay, etc?) If not, those could be good things to work on.

It's also okay to crate him when you know you need to be doing something uninterrupted for a while.   However, I wouldn't crate as 'punishment' once the behaviour has already started.   I'm sure it's unavoidable at times, but just something to keep in mind.

Krista J

Posted : 6/19/2006 11:28:10 PM

When we play with him we usualy play until he has had enough. He'll just stop and go lay down and sleep. If I walk him during the day I notice that tends to tire him out more than walking at night via moonlight. I think the sun and heat are factors to him being more tired out but we are night people so majority of the walking is done after the suns gone down. (I work from early afternoon to late afternoon). But majority of the time he'll nap after a walk. He does know "sit, stay/wait, no, down etc." He knows he's doing wrong when he walks infront of me on my project becuase he gets this guilty look/attitude but does it anyways. He's just very persistant.

Regarding crating him..I have always used the crate when he doesnt listen. I dont believe he feels his crate is always a bad place because he'll often go in there to sleep or will go there sometimes when he gets spooked by something. So its still a comfortable safe place to him. I think his reaction to the crate at the time of putting him in depends on how we treat him. Becuase if we have company we praise him for going in and he doesnt fuss.

And what is NILIF?

I will note that he has calmed down considerably since he was a puppy. He's 2 years old now. This isnt an everyday occurance ..happens on average about 2 days out of the week when these days hit.

glenmar

Posted : 6/20/2006 7:03:25 AM

He is doing this because it works. You stop what you are doing and give him attention. Good or bad, he really doesn't care, it's ATTENTION. Now, being on the floor, well, that's HIS territory, so if you are on the floor, it stands to reason that he thinks you're down there to play.

The best way to eliminate unwanted behaviors is to ignore them. Otherwise, they continue because they work.

dogslyfe

Posted : 6/20/2006 7:37:30 AM

Krista, in my experience the best thing you can do with a dog acting like this is to (like Glenda said) ignore it. Keep in mind, that as you ignore him --- he's going to try harder. That's OK, though, because you're tougher than he is, right? If you're at the computer and he starts up, ignore him. Watch out of the corner of your eye, and if he tries to get on your lap, block him with your body, but continue to ignore him. If you give in, EVEN ONCE, he's going to start back worse than before. You'll just have to be a wee bit patient, but trust me - you can do it.

If you want to pet him, call him to you, make him do something (sit, lie down, whatever) and then pet him.

As for the floor thing, I would crate him, or put him in a down-stay in a designated spot with a chewie. If I need to do something on the floor (like wrapping Christmas presents) the crazies get crated with a chewie, or are told to stay in a certain place and stay off tha big momma's stuff.

Good luck. I have one that was very much like your dog, maybe even more pushy. The ignoring helped her a ton! She was not only pushy and in your face, but whiney taboot! grrr.

Krista J

Posted : 6/20/2006 9:51:31 AM

Thanks for the advice! Ya i'll be honest and say my DH said the same thing you guys did about ignoring. I guess I just get to irritated and give him attention even if its not me playing but just pushing him away its attention enough. So i'll try harder on the ignoring thing. Thanx!

dogslyfe

Posted : 6/20/2006 10:11:41 AM

I guess I just get to irritated and give him attention

I can understand. My Bree is the most persistant, annoying dog I've met yet. I let her get WAY out of control - throw the ball throw the ball throw the ball.... She just NEVER stopped. She had NO off switch. Its very important for a Border Collie to have an off switch - or really any dog for that matter. It probably took two months of consistent ignoring to get her to settle some (not to say we didn't pay her any attention, we just paid her attention on OUR terms). She was pretty annoying during that time, but we lived through it. She now settles when we're not doing anything - whereas before she was vying for my attention all waking hours. At least now if she wants my attention she settles for lying down in my line of sight and stares at me. I can live with that. Whiney in my face, I cannot.

olinda

Posted : 6/20/2006 10:22:27 AM

How cute is he! And how well he has got you trained...hehehehe.

Romeo, tried a couple of times the same little number with me, because grandma and grandpa are tied around his little paw and he knows how to play them.

I would be at the computer and he would get up and start scratching my arm, leg, or licking my arm, (my dad at this point would get up and play with him) I ignored him, he would come around the other side do the same thing or seat there and stare, one time I turned around and stared back, did not speak not touched him, just stared at him, he eventually layed by my feet and looked at me like he was going to die, now what I do I give him a rec bone. He gets plenty of attention on my terms, I sometimes will ablige if he requests it, but if he is being annoying just to be, he gets ignored.

They are like little kids, he knows what he can get away with and with whom, he does not pull half the stuff with me that he does with my parents.

jones

Posted : 6/20/2006 4:17:13 PM

I agree with what Glenda and Laura said. Another thing you can do is when you catch him being calm or quietly entertaining himself, praise him verbally. Make sure to do it in a long, low tone - you don't want to get him excited or mistakenly invite him to play. But it's good to give positive feedback when he's doing something you like (such as leaving you alone for a minute! [

]).