Behavior Problems

Suggestions for Gibby and a baby PLEASE

dyan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:05:46 GMT

Okay...so I need suggestions in a hurry..hope you guys can help.

I have a new Grandbaby....he was born in May. He has been here only twice, once when my son Mike brought him over when his wife went to get her hair done and needed him to watch the baby...so he brought him over. The other was when I had a cookout in June with several friends and family, I'm sure they just came to show off the baby. They are busy kids.....and pretty much their friends and his wifes family are much more important than us....so we just don't see them. Oh well.

Now....its the holidays. Mikes wife decided she will have Christmas Eve for several reasons and one was the baby will be crawling and he won't be able to at my house because of the dog. I realized then that they probably don't come around because of Gibby. She believes that dogs belong outside in the back yard...and besides she hates big dogs. Obviously..... Gibson is a big dog. I swear.... that Ollie ( Mikes Dane ) got sick and had to be put down this summer....JUST because of her and her attitude about him and especially with a new baby. Well,,,when she put out this idea about Christmas Eve ( which I have been having for years ) I answered that I had hoped that they are not going to not come around because of Gibby because after all I raised two baby boys with two dogs in the house....blah blah blah!

My problem is now Thanksgiving......they just informed me they WERE coming for Thanksgiving dinner.......and now I am worried about the baby and Gibby. We all know Gibby is a brat, he gets excited and then gets kind of crazy....he is still that puppy that he was but of course in an adult body now. He is getting better little by little.... but now I have realized that I need to enforce the NILIF thing...... I have gotten away from much of it over time. DH is the one that is with him most of the time and he does what he wants, but now I have quit my job and will be home. I will start working with Gibby more now. He loves kids and people, so not worried he will bite.....but he needs to be pretty calm and not be a maniac.....not sure how he will manage that one. BUT since I made my statement about raising two baby boys with two dogs and they were just fine................. I am sure Erin will be waiting for one little thing to say " I told you so!" I will be so busy in the kitchen, and have to depend on DH to watch Gibby....OH GREAT.....the same DH that just can't seem to get his eyes off the TV.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

Border collie puppy unable to calm down around new puppy

SkysTheLimit — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:35:53 GMT

Last summer I adopted a border collie puppy from a rescue. He's had many fear problems which I've worked through and, for many intents and purposes, conquered. He's currently approximately seven months old. Knowing that he's a high energy breed, I've taken to running him 2-4 miles each day (sometimes every other day depending on work schedule and amount of daylight), as well as going to puppy classes every week on Wednesdays (kindergarten, basic manners, now performance introduction), work on training at breakfast and dinner time including his very own mini-agility course in the basement, and take him to play with neighborhood and coworker dogs often. Because of all this activity, on top of traveling to 'observe' agility meets on some weekends, whenever he's with me hanging out around the house, he'll lazily play with toys, chew on chewies or just crash and go to sleep. He really is the perfect dog- amongst all the training and activity, life is smooth.

About four weeks ago, my mom bought a shih tzu puppy named Cassie, who is currently 16 weeks old. She's having some training issues, such as potty training and the like, but that's not really the issue. She absolutely adores Skylar, my border collie, and constantly wants to play with him. However, this is where the problems begin. She runs up to him and instigates play, and he happily obliges. Soon enough, sometimes immediately, he gets extremely rough to the point of picking her up and shaking her.

I had them meet on neutral ground. The night she came home, we went out into the neighborhood field and had them sniff noses and such. They immediately took to each other. I take them on walks- Sky on my left, Cassie on my right, and neither budge from my side or try to mess with the other. Because of this excessive rough play, we've put up baby gates and kept Cassie in the kitchen, allowing them to sniff and lick each other through the gates. I would love for them to be able to play, but Skylar just worries me. He gets overexcited and just takes more and more of his endless resource of energy out on her.

What should I do? I'd hate to keep them completely separated, but it feels to be getting to that point. I can tell Skylar to 'leave it' and he'll sit and stare at me pitifully wanting so bad to go get her, and she wants nothing more than to run up and jump on him! Lately she's been getting fed up with the rough play and hiding underneath couches and tables and getting upset to the point of peeing if he jumps on her too quickly. When he gets too rough I try to take him to a quiet room for 'time outs', which calms him down until the second he sees her again. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Derailing habitual over-excitement

corvus — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:44:44 GMT

My poor partner is going through major work stress at the moment, and when he comes home it seems to be a cue to Erik that it's time to get very excited and bark at us for the next 2 or 3 hours. It's really bizarre to me, as I come home around 5-6pm and he's very excited, but makes hardly any noise and for the next couple of hours before my partner gets home, he is relaxed and even when he's playing he's relatively quiet. Poor partner is not a happy chappy. He wants to come home to relaxing dogs and instead is coming home to a wired Vallhund that never shuts up.

We are starting Karen Overall's relaxation protocol and are trying to derail his habitual response to my partner coming home. Today we tried setting him up on his blanket with a pig's ear while my partner stroked and massaged him. It seemed to help.

Does anyone have other ideas for tackling over-excitement? Erik's not the hyped up type. When he gets over-excited he gets uber alert and spends a lot of time sitting in front of my partner barking at him, or walking around and getting up and down and just being quite restless. I wonder if he is responding to my partner's emotional state to begin with. We have found him to be a dog that works out very subtle cues for exciting things that will happen. For all I know, he's decided my partner's arrival heralds the iminent preparation of his dinner.

Ena Bean spins in circles

jennie_c_d — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:28:49 GMT

She will be 2 years old on January 26. She is a delightful dog. Obedient, friendly, beautiful to look at. We have one, ongoing issue, and I am not sure how to even BEGIN to approach it.

Bean spins. When she's happy, she spins. When she wants something, she spins. When she's nervous, she spins. Yesterday, I said, "Heel!" and she spinned in heel position, for over 100 feet. I am concerned about the nature of this. Her sire, I'm told, is a spinner. He is a kennel dog, though. A lot of Cresties "happy spin", but this is beyond that. It's started to affect her gait. She always spins to the right, so her rear is stronger on one side than the other.

She is happy. She is well. It isn't a huge issue, but.... what can I do? I've tried teaching her to spin, on cue, in the other direction. It confuses her, so she starts SPINNING! She can sit, down, wait, heel, come, stretch, pivot, jump, "be good", tell me, say please, etc etc on cue, and at a distance. She can stay for as long as I ask her to. None of that is a problem, but the spinning is starting to worry me.

getting things off the counter

etownperson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:56:54 GMT

We adopted Bailey last month. He is a five year old cockapoo. He is pretty large for a cockapoo and he can get his paws up on the kitchen counter. The family we adopted him from had a child in a high chair and I think the dog was allowed to get things off the high chair. Anyway, I need to break him of this. I have trouble catching him in the act because he is up and down quickly. Any ideas?

Help! Dogs are running away and not coming to me when I try to get them...

DeeMillieEllie — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:58:21 GMT

I am at my wits end at the moment!!! I have two dogs (sisters) 2 1/2 yrs old, they are cross breed with cocker spaniel. Mostly all the time they are of a good temperment. In the past we were having problems with them running away from the house, we live on a half acre with a ranch fence around so there was nothing to stop them from running into the neighbours or the field etc. So we invested in a static correction system to prevent them from leaving the garden. This was working fine for at least a year and they never seemed interested in anything other than the back garden.

Recently, our neighbour got a new kitten which has created alot of interest in them also in addition to that, the static correction system was faulty and they were running out. They are now no longer interested in the kitten but their new found freedom. When I go to get them, they would run away from me. I had to resort to neighbouring childen holding them or catching them, the dogs now avoid them too.Usually, when one comes back the other will eventually follow.

At the moment, they have run out into the wide world yesterday mid day and will not come back. They have nothing to eat since then (that I know of!) We are in rural area and there are live stock nearby, another worry. They will sit either on the drive or the neighbours garden looking in and crying but nobody can catch them to bring them back. They are almost wild, they think it is a game. I have a small baby and will be back to work in 2 weeks, and if I cannot get a solution to this situation, I feel I will have no other alternative but to have them re-homed. It breaks my heart to think this but what can I do?

Advice on a newly adopted senior rescue dog

greeneyespsu — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:50:05 GMT

Hello all! This is my first time posting here, so thank you in advance for your advice!

Three weeks ago I adopted a senior Pomeranian named Layla from a local rescue. She was turned over by her previous owners (who took pretty much NO care of her!) who said she was 6 years old. The vet estimates that she's actually 10 to 12. She was never fixed and this caused her to have a mammory cyst the size of a golf ball which is benign, but has not been removed because of her age and the fact that it doesn't bother her (if it does, we will remove it). When she was put under to be fixed the vet removed all but one of her teeth because they were in terrible condition. She's still a great eater, so no worries there! Her eyes are going blue in the center so I think she may be developing cataracts, but she seems to see fine though a little more paranoid outside at night. She an absolutely wonderful and loving dog (she spends most of her time sleeping or following me around and she lets me do anything to her -- bath, brush, sweaters, etc), but has a few quirks that I'm trying to work on. I've never had a dog of my own (my family had a couple when I was a kid, but that's different) so I want to make sure I'm going about things in the best way possible. :)

ISSUE 1: The first day I brought her home, I made the mistake of bringing her into the apartment before letting her relieve herself outside because it had only been about an hour and a half since I picked her up. I didn't realize I was supposed to do that and she pottied on the carpet. I cleaned it up with Resolve and Pet Febreeze. It happened a couple times again after that (one I never even saw wet, but I could smell it and found it that way) but I'm PRETTY SURE that she stopped peeing on the carpet. However, there have been a couple instances where she peed on the linoleum in the kitchen (much better, but still not ideal.. and there is no door outside there so it's not because she wants out and I don't take her.. she doesn't do it on the linoleum at the apt entrance, only the kitchen). Most of the time she does it it's because I'm gone at work. She could be alone for only 5 hours and she pees on the floor, but I can be home with her for 7 or more hours and she's fine. I reward her (treats and praise) for peeing outside on the grass, and she gets it. I'm beginning to think that her peeing in the kitchen is because she doesn't like to be left alone. Maybe she's scared I won't come back? I've tried to get her to use puppy pads so I can leave them out as a backup when I'm gone, but she has no interest in them. I've even taken them outside and put her on it midstream and nothing, she just stops peeing! I had only left it by the door previously (only a couple times) so I will try leaving one in the kitchen on a hunch while I'm gone and maybe she'll figure it out.. haha

ISSUE 2: She barks at nearly everyone and every dog when I take her outside. Sometimes she doesn't bark, but 99% of the time if I see a person or dog she goes nuts. She can't get to them or hurt them (no teeth), that's not my concern, but I just don't want her to be afraid of people or dogs. She's generally calm around old dogs and most old people and she has absolutely no issues with people who come over, it's only when we're outside. I've tried the light tapping on the chest and haunches like a mother dog would do and it isn't working. Occassionally a "shhht!" and a finger pointed slightly over her head works, but it's beginning to lose effect. Is there some way I can calm her nerves?

ISSUE 3: She has a cough that sounds like bronchitis and it occassionally (2 or 3 times now) makes her vomit (just liquid, no food). Sometimes it's the whole force of her body with it and it happens a lot when she gets excited (but not exclusively). I have an appointment at the vet on Monday to get it checked out. Any idea what it could be? She doesn't seem to be bothered by it much, but it worries me.

ISSUE 4: Her muzzle is partly red and purple, almost like a burn, I guess. It's been like that since I got her but I noticed some missing fur on one side that isn't near the red/purple and I'm not sure it's always been like that. I think she may have pulled out some fur from scratching her face roughly.. maybe it's a skin condition. It looks bad, but it only affects that bit under her jaw and around her mouth. Again, I'll be getting it checked by the vet, but was looking for any thoughts on what it could be.

ISSUE 5: She does what I call a "crazy butt dance". She sits on her butt and kinda hops in 90 degrees back and forth while barking. At first I thought she was trying to itch her tumor because this used to happen after she tried to scratch with her back leg (like she couldn't reach whatever it was that itched), but I noticed her licking herself afterwards (as if the butt dance didn't help either) and sometimes her little pee part is red. I thought maybe it was a UTI (she had one a while back before I got her), but she had recently been on meds for a staph infection so I figured that would have cleared it up if that was it, right? Could it be that she needs her poo glands squeezed? I thought dogs generally drag their butts across the floor in that case, but maybe this is her way of doing that. I'll ask the vet, but it's quite strange. Does anyone else's dog do that??

6 yr old rescue dog too scared to pee!!

LittleHaven — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:47:03 GMT

I have a husky/german shepherd male that we adopted from a no kill animal shelter. He was found on the streets as a puppy, and has spent his whole life in a small outdoor kennel with little to no socialization. He is terrified of everything even his own shadow. When I try to take him out to go the the bathroom he freaks out bc i'm 'following' him. I tried a longer leash, but it scares him when it drags the ground. I can't let him loose even though the yard is fenced its so large i won't catch him again. He hasn't peed or had a bowel movement in 2 days!! He's eating well, and drinking plenty, but nothing is coming back out. He's been vet checked and is healthy and up to date on all shots. I've worked with skittish dogs before, and i know i can help him trust people, but i have no idea how to get him to go to the bathroom. I'm worried about him getting a UTI or other health issues from holding it in which wiill only make the whole process even harder. He won't even pee in the house. I made him a 'den' by covering a large wire dog crate with a blanket and putting it in a quite corner of the house. The door is wide open and he's free to come and go, but he won't leave it. He only comes out when i put the leash on and try to take him outside. Please help!

Anxiety - First time ever (Harry)

aerial1313 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:58:45 GMT

This is probably going to get a bit long, sorry about that. I just want to give enough info...

I'll start by saying that Harry has never, ever showed any kind of severe anxiety. Sure, he's had stressful moments, but this is the first time I've ever seen him act this way. I'll relay the story and you guys let me know if I handled this right, and any other advice is very much appreciated.

This is what happened this morning. Like most of us, we have our normal morning routine. The dogs wake me up at around 5:30am, I let them out to pee, feed them breakfast, and we go back to sleep until 7am. Then I get up, shower, get ready for work, go downstairs and let them out to potty. Then we play for a bit before I leave for work. Sometimes BF is already gone to work, sometimes not. This morning it's lousy weather, so he slept in a little.

When I got out of the shower, I could hear one of the dogs whining on the other side of the bathroom door (turns out it was Harry). Both dogs were in the bedroom, BF was still in bed asleep, so it's not even like they were completely separated from their people. When I opened the bathroom door, Harry came bursting into the bathroom and was completely velcroed to me. Usually he lazes in bed while I get ready in the mornings, so this was not normal.

I finished getting ready, he was right on me the whole time. This is when I heard a noise. Apparently while I was showering, one of our smoke alarms downstairs started beeping to indicate a low battery (once every couple minutes, just one beep). You could hear it in our bedroom.

Harry, Sammy, and I went downstairs, and I let them outside to potty (this is when they usually go #2). Harry wouldn't go outside unless I came with him (not normal for him). Then he still wouldn't leave the deck, even though I kept asking him to go potty. So we came back inside. Harry was shaking, his tail clamped tight, panting.

The whole while I'm trying to listen hard to figure out which smoke alarm it was that was beeping. I finally found it...in the downstairs hallway. I grabbed a chair so I could reach it. I took it down, replaced the battery, put it back up. Problem solved, no more beeping.

This is pretty much how I handled the situation. When I found which one was making the noise, I pointed it out to Harry and said, "This is where the noise is coming from. It's not a bad thing, Harry. But it's bothering you, so we'll fix it, okay?" Then I talked to him through the entire process letting him know what I was doing. When I took the smoke alarm down, I let him sniff it (he wanted to, I wouldn't have forced it on him), he wasn't afraid of it, but it was quiet at that point. When I replaced the battery, I told him, "Ok, it's quiet now. Everything's back to normal."

I did all this very calmly, tried to have a reassuring tone to my voice, at the same time acting as if this was no big deal. I didn't coddle him at all, but I talk to him a lot, and stroked him massagingly. Then I went about my normal "fix my coffee, etc." Then instead of playing, we all three sat in the living room for about 10 minutes, so he could really hear that all was quiet and the scary noise was gone. He layed on the couch next to me, right up against my side, with Sammy on the other side of him. He stopped shaking while we did this, and was panting less.

By the time I was needing to really leave for work (I was already going to be late, but big whoop, my pup needed me), I took both dogs upstairs to the bedroom so they could be in there with BF. I told BF about it, and he was so sweet...he said, "C'mere, Harry, come lay with me." Harry jumped up on the bed and curled up with BF. He seemed okay with me leaving at that point.

When BF got into work an hour and a half later, he said Harry was perfectly normal when he left. He did go to sleep with BF for a little while after I left, and when BF got up, Harry was his normal tail-wagging, happy self. He finally went potty, and he even asked for some treats from BF. So it seems he's fine now, thank goodness.

So, guys, do you think I handled this right? Any advice if he ever gets like this again? Thanks!!

Getting Two Dogs to Get Along

Tympanuchus — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:35:35 GMT

I own a four-year-old male German Shorthaired Pointer and a three-year-old male Golden Retriever. Neither are neutered. They are both fabulous dogs in many regards, except for one thing: they hate each other. The pointer hangs out at my brother's dog grooming shop and I used to be able to spend a lot of time with him when I worked there. Recently, I haven't been able to interact with him as much as I would like because I am no longer working there and I'm at home for most of the week. I would like to keep the pointer at home, but the retriever is already "the house dog." The two are very aggressive towards each other, to the point that it's dangerous to themselves. Is there any way I can help them at least tolerate each other? Would neutering one or both of them help? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Kennel Difficulties

ninagrace — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:35:18 GMT

We adopted our one and a half year old pit bull about two months ago, and we couldn’t be happier. He’s been a great puppy, and has learned and adapted quickly to his new life. During the day he stays home alone, and gets walked around noon for 30-45 minutes (his other daily walks include 45 minutes in the morning, 45 in the afternoon, and a 35 minute walk at night). He’s a big guy, around 65-75 lbs, and very strong. Everything was perfect until earlier this week when he bit through a couch when home alone. Because of this he has spent the last four days in the kennel when no one was home (averaging 4 hours a day). This isn’t new, as when we first got him he spent around the same amount of time in the kennel home alone. Except this week he’s been biting the metal kennel frame, and trying to squeeze out. He’s successfully ruined the kennel door, and today he attempted squeezing his face out so furiously that he managed to get a few cuts on his face from it. He chewed through his pillow and he’s peed while in the kennel (aiming out) 3 out of the past 4 days.

We’re not sure what to do. He recently got a new dog walker, which could be the problem. She’s often not walking him long enough (15 minutes instead of 45), and may be too harsh with him (I’ve noticed marks new on his face from his gentle leader). I may be quick to blame her though and was wondering if there’s anything we should try before finding a new dog walker. We’ve talked to the walker, and although she claims he’s been perfect, he clearly is having behavioral problems (he’s started to nip more frequently). I would appreciate any advice on what to do next. Thank you.

Mother dog pretty much starving herself since losing her puppy 4 weeks ago...is there anything that will help?

Abbeyroad86 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:40:59 GMT

I really wasn't sure of the best place to post this. My best friend is this mother dogs foster by the way.

Its a long story: KEEP IN MIND THEY WERE TOGETHER MUCH LONGER THAN MOST MOMS AND PUPS.

This is referring to a mother rescue dog that had her puppy on the street. We don't know how many puppies she may have had or how many survived but all she had with her was this one, so we think this was the only survivor.

Anyways the were fostered together and the dog was weened from her. The puppy was adopted probably 10 weeks after they came in.

Its been 4 weeks since that and the mother still hasn't been adopted and furthermore she refuses to eat anything. All she does is lay around. She paces and looks around for what we assume is her puppy. And then goes and lays back down. She is getting so thin and still she wont' eat. She has been checked out medically and she is fine.

All that is possibly left is that she is suffering from a broken heart.

Could possibly something this mother dog and her puppy went through have caused her to become so attached to this puppy?

Has anyone heard of this happening before? A mother dog becoming severely depressed after her puppy is adopted?

I havent. I'm sure it happens but I haven't?

Any suggestions to get her through this?

The dog is a Lab/Husky mix and the puppy was already around 6-8 weeks old when they came into the rescue

How to get the mother dog through this?

She certainly can not be adopted out until she is well again

(the rescue is doing everything in their power to get her well, she just doesn't want to get well)

They tried to adopt them out together but it just didn't happen and they knew if they kept waiting the longer they waiting the harder it would be to adopt out the puppy The mother was eating fine until the day the puppy was adopted. Now keep in mind the puppy was around 16 weeks old when he was adopted. Maybe a little older.

Can anything be done to help this mother dog become well again so she can be adopted. My friend is prepared to keep her as long as possible but sadly she said she had to tell her family to prepare themselves, they aren't sure she will last much longer

My dog pulls the leash and then waits for her dog friends, pulls and waits,...

hukes — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:27:38 GMT

Hello everyone, I just joined these forums, so I feel kind of guilty asking questions right away. Anyway, I'll get to the point (or points). I have a five-month-old female Jack Russell Terrier named Luna. We have daily walks about 40 mins long and for most of the time she heels and/or keeps a loose leash, but: 1. She pulls the leash during the first block. Magically, after turning the first street corner she behaves. 2. Luna came to my life when she was three months old. The first month (fourth one in her life and while I was making my apartment dog-friendly) she lived at a friend's house with other three dogs and they became close friends to her. A couple of times my friend and I got together to walk the dogs. It was a nightmare! Luna kept pulling the leash to be ahead of his dog friends and then she stopped to wait for them. Then, again, pulling to get ahead, and then waiting for the dogs, pulling, waiting, pulling, waiting. She made the walk unbearable for me, cause she was pulling so hard I could hear her struggling to breath. The second time we all got together for a walk, I couldn't do it again. I told my friend I was gonna take another route cause Luna's pulling-waiting was very stressing for me (and I guess for her too). We parted ways. For half a mile Luna kept whining, squealing and refusing to walk. She kept squealing even when I carried her in my arms. I felt embarrased cause other people kept looking at me as if I was killing Luna. I see the first problem as not so serious. I've been working with Luna to heel during the whole walk (stopping and resuming walking after she sits for a few seconds). I just wonder how come the pulling problem is only during the first street block. For the second problem I really don't know how to stop it. She gets so hyper when her friends are around and pulls and waits during the walk, but she behaves fine with strange dogs. If anyone has any idea why these two behaviors Luna shows, I'd be very grateful. Thanks! (My paragraphs are not separated. Sorry, I have to see why.)

Erased

spiritsmom — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:01:54 GMT

Extremely intermittent separation anxiety?

zuper8 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:51:31 GMT

Hi everyone! My doberman pinscher/ rat terrier is never left alone more than a few hours. I try to keep him exercised, entertained, and his diet is good. But occasionally, just about a few times a YEAR, he has sever separation anxiety in which he engages in extremely destructive behaviors, defecates, etc. These "panic attacks" don't happen only when he is left alone a particularly long time. Most recently, I was only gone 45 minutes. I have tried to condition him to be okay with me leaving, and really, he's quite alright with it 95% of the time. But when it happens, boy is it bad. This last time, he ruined curtains, blinds, books, somehow pushed everything off the desk, pooped everywhere..... and then he's been fine for weeks since! What could cause such infrequent but severe separation anxiety? Again, this happens only about 3-5 times a year. I hate to kennel him while I'm gone, I know it just makes him more miserable. But is that what I should be doing perhaps?

6 year old chihuahua... still pooping in my house

dawnneuen — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:05:46 GMT

My Chihuahua is about 6 years old. She is an amazing, lovable dog. She comes, sits, lays down and plays dead... She is a very good listener and she loves pretty much everyone. There is just one problem... She poops in the house! She always has and I have tried everything to get her to stop. She can be outside ALL day, then come in and poop in the house. I just don't understand. Any advice?

Right on schedule...need a new technique

thetruejuliet22 — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:29:34 GMT

Hey all,

So I have an 8 week old merle pomeranian named Bentley, who my fiancee has nick named genghis kahn and little destroyer haha...

Anyway,

This puppy is a little fireball of energy and is quite comical to watch...but we are having an issue....

He's biting just as all puppies do his age, but when we use the "eh eh" he just goes in to bite harder, and if we ignore him he doesn't really get the message. We've also set up a "time out pen" for him when he gets into his little biting fits...

Additionally, we yelp when he bites...
The downside is none of this is even coming close to deterring him...and I'm not sure that the short 2 second walk to the time out pen is helping him make the connection.
If yelping, time out, ignoring him (including turning our bodies fully away from him) and "eh eh" don't work, what's left to try?
I know he's right on schedule developmentally I just want to know if there are other ways we can put an end to this behavior.

I will say, he doesn't react at all to us making loud sounds to interrupt him from doing anything...so I'm not sure a shaker can would help at all either.

Thanks for the help! -new pom mom

Help with some training difficulties

spiritsmom — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:38:30 GMT

I am going to Mom's soon for 3 weeks to help her after a back surgery. The 2 yo shih-tzu boy she adopted has spent the last few months being loved, but spoiled and learning some nice bad habits. I spent 10 days with both of them here when she first adopted him, and he had some issues, but he is a smart dog and seemed like with a little consistency and some trianing he would be a great dog. Mom has back problems and she stopped obedience class and has a hard time getting down on his level. And before anyone points out the obvious that an untrained young dog was not the best choice, I already know that :-) and tried to lead her in a better direction at the beginning.

She loves the dog completely, and calls him her little boy. She deosn't know how to convince him to behave. I have a plan to work hard and get hin behaving better, and try to get all the people that deal with the dog on the same page. And hope that she will be able to follow along with what I start.

I wanted to touch base here on the things I know he is doing, and take along any tips that anyone would like to share.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

I know how I am going to go about some of these thigs, but was hoping for some insights on what may have worked for others.

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.

I appreciate even the smallest suggestions on how to help them. I will have my computer there so i can give updates and ask more specifics. Maybe even pictures. Thanks, Julie

AAh!! Gobie stop peeing in the house!!

shamrockmommy — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:34:44 GMT

Gobie, you are on my last nerve. Do you realize for more than 13 years now you have marked in every house we've lived in, multiple times? What machoism do you have to prove? Really? You are fed the best foods, worried over, taken care of in every way and yet you still have to be a jerk and mark in the house?! Why? You have a dog door! Go pee on anything you like out there as many times as you want! Seriously!

If it were a nice climate here I would have to make you an outside dog, I really have no other choice! If I put a belly band on you, and you go through the dog door, then you will soak the belly band! You have nothing to prove, you've been neutered since 9 months old! Grrr.

What would you do with a naughty dog like this? After more than 13 years of this problem, I am more than at my wit's end with this dog, and more than tired of pee everywhere! I've been thinking about just keeping him penned up indoors, except for going potty and walks.

Grrrrrr. Forgive me but at the moment I'm completely frustrated and

Over-eager

corvus — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:43:23 GMT

I've been working on Kivi's impulse control lately as I'd like to get him into therapy, but at the moment he gets a little too wired at the sight of another dog. Not wired like leaping up and down barking, but wired as in he just leans into the harness and tries to drag me over to the dog faster. I've started asking for a sit when he starts pulling on the leash, and it works beautifully in that he sits and waits for me to say okay, but now he's starting to anticipate the release and it's beginning to mean "now run over as fast as you can". So I've been following it up with another sit. And another. And if we have to, we approach the dog half a step at a time with a sit in between. In Kivi's defence, asking for him to fall in beside me does work as well, but not all that well. It works after a few sits. Do you think there's a more efficient way I can tackle this? He's been heavily socialised and he has never got to meet every single dog he sees. Off leash he's much more sensible.

I guess what I really want is a way to bring him down a few notches in excitement level. That's where I was heading with the sits, and it works after a fashion, but it also seems to create excitement, if it is possible to do both. The sit has always been something associated with calm behaviour, but when he's beyond a certain level of excitement that kind of goes out the window and it becomes little better than the tension in the leash when he wants to pull. I would just work him up like I've done with other distractions except that I can never predict how much he's going to want to go and talk to another dog. Some days he'll walk past pretty well and other days he really will be jumping up and down. Sometimes he does both in the same walk and I really don't know why.

Oh, I've just thought that maybe using his emergency recall would be the way to go? I at least know that will get his attention on me... We have been working on really stengthening "watch me" and "leave it", but they are nowhere near strong enough for this yet.

Leash Tug of War-need ideas

littlerotten — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:45:26 GMT

My 20 month old Mastiff throws tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants when we go for a walk he'll grab the leash, play tug of war of war with and snap/snarl, jump and grab my arms... At 120 lbs, it's getting a little old... I've tried the downs and waiting til he calms down, stopping when he grabs the leash (which worked for awhile, til he was strong enough -bad hips- to jump up and grab hold of it and my arms). Over the past year, he has gotten better at some things, but, it seems to be now, certain intersections, or when he sees dogs he wants to visit, or when he wants to cross the street... Any ideas?

Walking problem...also pack leader problem?

TotemandMaya — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:56:37 GMT

Ok so here is the main problem. The leash hurts my hands! I am tired of getting to a point where I can not finish the walk because my huskies are pulling. According to my husband, "that is just what they do"

I have worked with them seperately, and together. I know the first issue is, who is the pack leader? according to ceasar anyway. So when it is time to go, I make them sit before I put on the leash, I make them sit and wait while I open the door, and go out, but as soon as I release them from the sitting position, they fly out the door. I have tried being calm while on the walk, because I know they will get distracted at some point, but the calmness does not calm them. I know they can heel, because they have done it, on occasion. I am going to get a leash that is more comfortable for my hands, but in the meantime, will someone help me figure out why they pull? With my older male I can say "right here" to make him pay attention, and begin to listen to me, for a minute or two, but when I start focusing on my female, he thinks that I have released him from duty!

I am aware that they need lots of exercise, and they do get it, and they behave pretty well off leash. we go for walks in the woods, and to the off leash dog park at least 5 times a week, but the days when I want to have a leashed walk, I end up getting very frustrated! HELP ME!

I know this sounds horrible, but I am pretty consistent with training them, and I do not have enough money to pay for a trainer,so please don't suggest that. My dogs are very intelligent, I just need help being more assertive, while I am teaching them. How do I make them follow, instead of pull? or drag me along? Thanks

Can my dogs sense my period?

sugarsandz — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:42:49 GMT

Can my two year old male Pug Chewy who is not fixed sense when I'm about to have my period? I ask because he only marks in the house around my time of the month and only around me. Plus I hadn't had my period the last few months and he didn't mark inside once, but now I am getting ready to start my cycle and he tried to pee on a pillow next to me in bed and again when I was petting him on the floor. He is more frisky with me and my other dog Pudge who is aso a male Pug. This gets annoying because he won't leave me alone half the time. Plus I don't want to play with him as much because he gets riled up and tries to mark. We never got him fixed because he was the runt and had a rough puppyhood and the vet thought we should wait because he was so weak. we can get him fixed now but I don't know if it will help much at this point.

Does anyone know if he can tell when I am ready to mensturate and maybe that is why he is marking around me? Please help!!!!!

Thanks, Sugarsandz

Barks at everything, even me

tilnih — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:20:12 GMT

I have a 9mo puppy, Sasha, who we think is possibly a whippet mix, with possibly some terrier in there somewhere. We've had her and a Chihuahua mix (same age) since they were about 16wks old. The problem we've started having with Sasha is that she barks and growls at everything. She doesn't bark incessantly, since we discouraged barking from day one. She'll let out one bark and then a few seconds later another one followed by some growling, but about every 5-10 minutes she does this. She'll just be in her crate with no access to any outside views and nothing going on around her and she'll just start. Our other dog is very quiet and only actually barks at cats, which is a reasonable thing to bark at. She is generally a well behaved dog and I am definitely the pack leader in the situation. The other thing to note, is when we are in the same room and she does it, I correct her and she immediately runs over to me and gets really close. She is not an affectionate (wants to be close to you) dog so I'm thinking fear might play a part in this. A lot of times she'll bark at me or my husband when we enter the room, especially when we first wake up to take them outside. Even after we tell her to be quiet she doesn't stop. I'm so frustrated with this because she knows we don't like it, we verbally reprimand her and sometimes use the squirt bottle. I don't know a lot about dog behavior, since these are the first dogs I've owned. So I'm wondering if this is just a puppy thing that she'll grow out of as she gains more confidence, or if some dogs just bark?

Carpet Eating

pstoddard — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:21:11 GMT

I know that this subject has been touched on a number of times in this forum but it always seems to be dealing with puppies that are just going through a chewing stage, my girl is going to be 5 years old in December and has always had problems with chewing carpet. When she was a puppy she did chew on carpet, linoleum and sheet rock but we thought that she had grown out of that phase. Now she has found a spot in the carpet of the house that we have been living in for about two years that she won't leave alone. I have sprayed some of the anti chew spray on it but she went at it again yesterday while my wife and I were at work. She had a kong filled with peanut butter and a raw hide bone at her disposal.

We closed the door to the bedroom today so she can't get to the spot but I'm worried that she is going to rip up the carpet at the door, which she did a few months ago. I hate to crate her during the day but am thinking that it might have to be done and she will have to earn her way back out.

Ollie has always been a very needy dog, she wants cuddle time and affection which we are always willing to give her. But my wife and I train for triathlons and do workout before or after work. We always try to plan our days and workouts around Ollie so that she isn't left home alone for more than a standard work day time period. I'm hoping that this is just a phase that she is going through because this is really frustrating.