jaybeece

It could be a combination of things or just one thing they all share in common that you as a human being don't/can't see. Body language is a big one so if you really start watching what people do as they approach him you might start to see a pattern of body language that gets him all riled up. As Cavnrott said though, you really need to find out why he's behaving in this way. Prevention is the best way to go too, so work on preventing the behaviour rather than worry about what to do once it's happened.

I agree with that too myszka, but I think the breed is a good general starting point in establishing where to go next.

So you believe that it's possible to train a CAO using the same methods as a pug? Or a dobe with the same methods as a lab? A mastiff the same as a KCS? Before you answer that from a broad view I think that you can, afterall you just want them to sit and all dogs sit in the same way. But I think that the breed definitely needs to be taken into consideration as temperament vary vastly between breeds and be very significant so the finer details such as rewards and training tools must vary depending on the breed and/or dog. Whacking a choker on a "soft" breed and correcting for disobeying is a terrible idea. So is expecting a greyhound to go batty over food rewards. There are certainly exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking it's a good start to determining how to approach training and, as you may have noticed, whenever someone asks for advice the breed is always given or requested.

It can be. Some dogs are notoriously difficult to house train, some make life very tough when you're trying to teach them to sit. Some dogs will learn "sit" with a heap of praise, some need more motivation (ie. food, toy reward) and some just need a good ol' correction to really get the point through that sit means sit. Sometimes there's a behavioural reason why a dog won't obey, sometimes a medical. No-one is going to be able to accurately determine that over the internet though. Also we all know there are generalisations about the temperament of every breed and although a lot of dogs vary, the basic temperaments are generally similar from breed to breed. So I do think that even with a simple sit or heel that breed comes into it, behaviour certainly does. So where do you draw the line? Should people just stop giving any advice so the next person who asks how to get their dog to heel is immediately told to see a behaviouralist? I don't see the harm in providing general advice and training tips. I also don't think that giving minor behavioural advice is a big problem as long as it's made clear that a behaviouralist would be the best person to seek out. I've learnt an enormous amount about dog training and behaviour from forums and websites alone and if people were to stop posting this information for fear of leading others astray I think it would be a real shame as it's such a valuable way to learn about many different areas of dog behaviour and training. Just look at Leerburg.com and flyingdogpress as examples...ooooodles of behaviour and training information there and I don't think it's harmful at all to have it around.

My dog became a little funny about people briefly, he used to bark at approaching people if he didn't like their body language or if they were staring. I started to take him to the local train station around peak hour and just heel him through the crowds opposite to the traffic. My thinking was that firstly all of these people would be distracted and not paying attention to him or staring, secondly that if there were a lot of people to look at then he wouldn't fixate on one. Lots of praise and encouragement as well for good behaviour and I think it did get through to him pretty well. I also used to take him up to the local shops and give him a treat that took a little while to get through (Dixie cups in Summer are great) and just sit with him while people passed as he lapped it up. It really changed his demeanour around the shops, before he was a bit nervy, afterwards he seemed a lot more relaxed about the whole deal and was less likely to get worked up over someone staring. That's just my dog though, he was pretty mild and I knew that this wasn't going to upset him or put anyone in danger. You're probably best seeking the advice of a behaviouralist who can tell you why the dog's acting this way so he can be treated correctly.

I'd be a little concerned that the dog sees the barking as effective as he's seeing you respond (coming to the door and telling him to sit). I haven't had to deal with attention barking from a dog before, but I'd personally wait for silence from the dog (while you're inside the house), then open the door to ask for a sit for a few seconds and then let him in. Otherwise you run the risk of him learning that barking = door open even if there is a sit in the middle of it. I always walk away, then come back a few minutes later and ask for a sit before he comes near me. Sitting dog gets attention, jumping dog gets zip. I don't go by a certain amount of time as it really depends on the dog and the bad behaviour, instead I prefer to really make sure there's a decent seperation between good and bad. Bad behaviour gets absolutely no attention even if he amends it quickly- I don't want him to jump on me every day and then sit afterwards, he's not allowed to jump full stop. I hope that makes some sense.

That's what I call a tail windmilll It means my dog is very happy and very excited, mostly when he sees someone he knows.

As someone who's been in your neighbour's situation....TALK TO HER. I dealt with non stop barking at night from my neighbour's dog for 3 months and it was hell. I was suffering at work and developing anxiety from lack of sleep. I'd complain to her and receive no feedback from her at all, except for a snide comment back of "Deal with it". In the end I went to the council out of desperation figuring I'd take up her suggestion and deal with it. She did make steps to stop it but never asked ME if they helped. I had no way of knowing she'd done anything and she was very hard to get hold of as we worked opposite shifts so couldn't even follow up on my complaints to her. I don't think your neighbour sounds all that unreasonable, barking dogs can cause a lot of stress so if she's still giving you feeback and not trying to throw things at the dog's head (I came close once) then she must be pretty patient. She's not the enemy here, she could be a huge help to you. Work with her, talk to her and most of all try to understand where she's coming from. If she has the wrong dog, tell her. Also, if sticking her head over the fence causes your dog to bark, can you have them interact a little more? Maybe just drop by on walks, go visiting or have your neighbour drop by. The dog is far less likely to bark at her if she's familiar.

I like this subject, a link was posted a while ago and I started to pay attention to my dog's tail more. His tail curves more to the right when he's comfortable about something/someone, more to the left when he's unsure. He does round tail windmills when someone's at the door who he knows and is very excited to see, furious back and forth when he's excited but unsure. It's interesting stuff

Hehe love the photos in this thread, they look so proud of themselves Once again, mine's not that impressive, but my boy passed up a class at school on the weekend. Even better is that he's all but completely stopped barking at other dogs from the car and he's met the stare of other big dogs a couple of times lately and looked away! He also stood a couple of metres away from a rottie the other day, no reaction whatsoever even though they were almost facing each other. So doesn't sound impressive, but for a dog who never used to look away he's doing well! He's also not getting as worked up as he used to and is more willing to come away from whatever is upsetting him so he's beginning to really "get" it. I finally feel like what I've been doing with him is working and when the instructors at school say he'll get there eventually I actually believe them now

All these achievements are so awesome, makes me feel like my dog's waaaay behind with pretty much everything I've had a small but important breakthrough with him lately...he's learned how to growl! This may not sound like much at all, in fact it sounds like a bad thing if anything...but for a dog that goes from rigid to barking lunging immediately at anything that upsets him it's like music to my ears. He's finally discovered the intermediate step between discomfort and barking/lunging He's also been doing really well at school and I think it's doing him a lot of good to be around other dogs again, even if he still does have the occasional upset. He's less intense than he used to be and calms down so much faster now. I just hope he keeps it up!

Can you try to teach her to "hold" instead of straight out shredding the tissue each time? So if she's ever just holding it in her mouth, you can try to encourage that behaviour? Maybe distracting her while she has it in her mouth (ie, calling her to you with a favourite toy) would be enough for her to not eat it long enough to try and teach it? I've had a similar issue with my dog investigating objects I'm holding so taught him "sniff" and "eat", now he knows there's 2 different responses to things he considers edible ;)

Mine isn't a recreational barker so if he does it, it's for a reason. I check out what he's barking at which is usually a noise next door or someone walking down then street and then praise him for letting me know. He stops barking straight after that and follows me away from the door. If I can't be arsed getting up I'll praise and call him away, that usually works too although he's more likely to keep barking until I get up and take a look

As has already been mentioned agility might be a good confidence booster for her My boy can be a bit timid about things he hasn't come across before and isn't a big fan of trying anything new. But he LOVES agility equipment even after one go at it. I take him on children's playgrounds whenever I can too and it's really done a lot for his confidence and willingness to try something a little different.

I think they grow out of it eventually. My dog had it in for my chili bush and nothing I did made any difference. He's also yank out any wooden stakes I used to stop it falling down *sigh* I even turned to iron star pickets (hammered into the ground as far as they would go) and would find them lying around the garden when I got home. He ended up actually eating most of the bush, green chilis and all, then turned on my newly planted vegie patch. I completely abandoned planting anything in the backgarden after that. 2 years later he's more or less stopped completely. He even leaves wooden stakes alone- they've been there for 3 weeks now so I think they're safe ;) I might even muster up the courage to plant something new in the backgarden soon.

jaybeece, like I said in my earlier post, it's a case of "preference". Eh? I didn't say it wasn't Each to their own, it's just not something that my dog responds to 100% of the time, but that's just him. I'm sure there are dogs out there that can't get enough of clickers for everything.

I'm a big fan of clickers, but definitely don't see them as a total solution for training. It's brilliant for teaching new tricks and refining existing ones, but for actual obedience I find voice a lot easier as I can vary my tone when needed. I always click to mark the behaviour and then give a reward which is either food or a toy.

We started at a new dog school today (the old one is too far away now) and I'm EXTREMELY proud of my boy with how well he went. We've had a break from dog school for about a year due to it getting too hard with his dog aggression so he really hasn't had a lot of exposure to other dogs. It's sucked, but there really aren't any places where he can socialise in a controlled environment. Anyway, I spoke to one of the instructors about him and she ended up stopping a class so he could do a walk past all the dogs. He ended up sitting and staying a metre from a golden retriever, the closest he's been to one in over a year without going crazy at it and did about 4 passes of the class without batting an eyelid. He also had a go through an agility tunnel (fully extended) and seemed to really love it I can't wait to go back now! He's such a good boy

Damn that's a cute little pup And so well behaved!

The only problem I've had after teaching him to give me his paw is that he's more likely to paw for attention. That and he knows "right" and "left" and will give me both to save time occasionally. Not so much a problem since it's pretty damn cute when he does it He gets this immense look of satisfaction on his face like he's saying "See, I knew you were going to ask for the other one too so I saved time! I'm great! Gimmee food! YAY!".

I don't mind the rain, once you're pretty soaked you can't get any wetter. I don't wear a long jacket either, just my ski jacket that stops at my waist so I get somewhat damp It's kinda fun.

Absolutely! Class sizes are tiny which is great, plus the lower numbers of dogs means mine is easier to work with. Oh and I get to dress him up in his camoflage rain coat The dog doesn't seem to care about the rain at all and his short coat is very quick to dry.

I have one that's not as good as the rest in this thread, but it made me laugh. We were doing offlead recalls at obedience school and my dog was in a bit of a puppy brain mood. I told him to come and he bounded up to me, stopped a bit too late and headbutted me hard in a place that made me glad I'm a girl. It got a few laughs and I had the giggles for the rest of the class

The last few days the dog's growled at one of the cats when they're both basking in front of the heater. They're normally fine to share it, in fact she curls up with him and sometimes grooms him. He first did it because she lightly kicked him a couple of times when he nearly squashed her. He made a short, soft growl, then moved away and sulked in the corner for a bit. It's happened a couple of other times since- both times she didn't seem to do anything, but had a little growl (almost a grumble) and then moved. He has been aggressive towards her in the past over food and territory, but he's improved out of sight and is pretty relaxed around her now he knows where he stands. This growling doesn't really seem related though as he's not gearing up to attack, he just complains and moves on. So this is probably going to sound like a really silly question but should I worry about this? I mean, dogs that live together seem to have their little disagreements pretty often, it's just that he's a single dog and I've really forgotten what it's like seeing how cohabiting dogs relate to each other. He's also not much of a growler- I've only heard him do it a handful of times in the past so it's hard to judge. Should I keep 'em both away from the heater? Or should I just let things be and let get his knickers in a knot occasionally since he's being peaceful about it?

Yes, they can and do fall apart sometimes which is why a lot of the information on prong collars out there always recommends a backup collar as well. It only seems to happen when there's no pressure on them, especially when they loosen up after a bit of use. It makes sense that if you can pull all the links apart yourself then at a certain angle they can pull apart on their own.