dee lee

Im afraid i'm with Miranda. Keep the dog inside at night. Once the kids are in bed, my dog is curled up inside on hers and she just sleeps until we all get up in the morning. Im sure she dog would love to be outside barking at dogs, cats, bats etc, but nighttime is sleep-time so we keep her inside at night and she doesnt stir much at all. I do feel for you though, i remember getting up in the middle of the night to my dog i had when i was younger when she barked. it was HELL... I like my sleep too much!

YAY!

God, i hope maturity helps! My 1 year old dog seriously needs to calm down and learn to pay attention- it cant JUST be me!!! Right?

I know, i have a rescue dog and, when she had some dog aggression issues and i considered rehoming, i felt ENORMOUSLY guilty. Squishy though, may find a childless home where he will be spoilt rotten and be amazingly happy. maybe contact the rescue group you got him from and ask them what they think?

Assuming he is physically ok- if it were me (and i have daughters aged 5 and 3) I would look into rehoming him to somewhere without small children. Its not fair on the dog if he is constantly uncomfortable and not fair on the kids either, not to mention potentially dangerous. Who benefits from this situation? Hope this is not too harsh.

Thanks Erny!

I Know!! I have tried but i can t seem to remember how to change the title!! Thanks, BP, Still lots of work to go yet but hey she is only just one and considering how tricky she has been Im sure if i continue to put in the hard yrds she will indeed become an angel!. She is my first dog as an adult (waited a long time- 38th bday next week, gulp!) Whew what a learning curve. Will order a training line this week, then watch out!!

Do they just not like getting wet? My dog started to be fussy in the rain when we got her as an older pup and a trainer advised us to play with her in the rain to give her good associations with the rain. It worked and toileting and walking in the rain are now no problem (for her! me, i hate rainy day walkies!!!). So go outside in your raincoat and wellies and do something with them they love, then maybe they will use the grass when it rains? Good luck.

Well at long last i can see the light at the end of the tunnel! And i feel completely confident ive got the problem licked. She doesnt walk on a loose lead yet but she is not pulling anymore and its not hard to keep her at my side now- before i was worried i'd turn into popeye! Basically i keep her on a very short leash with the check chain and she gets a little tug on it if I feel she is about to push ahead. If she persists we stop and she is made to sit, drop and stay by my side until she looks at me (kinda a mini TOT) THEN we proceed. The distance travelled without this routine depends on the distractions around, but she has improved out of sight and i no longer get frustrated. Not completely there but i expect eventually it will become second nature and i can dispense with the check chain. YAY!!!! I must say too, she has become MUCH better behaved in general- presumably since there is no question now that i mean business- and i have even been complemented on what a well trained dog she is!! Wow! AND I can even get her to stop snarling at other dogs now! Next step- offlead.... (oh, and fetch..) Thank you all for your help, as usual DOL saves the day!! :D Now can someone turn the rain off??

Here is the cheeky bugger!!

To be honest i havent the slightest- at home I'd say about an 8, but since she developed some issues with other dogs and is now always on leash i would predict it is about a 2 off lead! At present- until i get those issues seen to- im not fussed about recall. Which i guess is perhaps not helpful when playing fetch!!! D'oh!

Luckymum, A big "no" followed a squirt from a pop-top waterbottle!!! Guaranteed! We had the same prob with my dog, within a day of squirt training she wouldnt jump up if you asked. But wait, theres more- It can be used for a multitude of sins! Good luck.

OoOh i winced at your description of the snout hold MarkS, those teeth!! She has a vice like grip on that ball and trying something like that makes her think its tug o war time (which i NEVER play with her since she started playing that with other dog's necks), i cant win that game so i leave her and go inside. She is getting better with the coming back its the "leave" or "give" im having trouble with, i do turn my back on her and walk away if she doesnt play by the rules. I dont practice everyday like i do the loose lead walking so it may take a long time i spose.

BP, now THAT sounds like a good idea, but wouldnt i still be stuck when it did come time for getting her to "give", or is it sposed to give her the idea that the chasing is the fun bit- no "give"= no throw? Tony R, while the ball is tops, it is closely followed by dogs and people, then food, then me!! Always something fun to replace the ball! I do agree though that some ball related NILIF is in order- will get right on that. But my biggest problem is getting her to give the ball up WHEN i want it. Im trying the association trick at present of saying "give" and praising her when she finally gets bored of it and drops it but i dont find that a particularly proactive approach.

Thanks Tony, I have tried your two ball approach and the running but she just chases the other ball and then leaves it to come back with the originally tennis ball still popping in her mouth! The whole problem came to a head when i was playing it in the park with her (for a while she would play by the rules) and would run from her to get her to come to me with the ball- now she thinks the game is: "ball gets thrown, chase ball, chew ball(the best!!), and THEN to top it all off i get to play chaseys AND my owner now REALLY wants the ball cause i wont give it back!!! Coool!!". Somehow in all this excitement she then got the idea that fetch means all obedience stops too, hence why i stopped it. Im trying to slowly, in a small area, encourage her to give it up for chicken but i can see her enjoying the chewing too much- the ball in her mouth seems to be the top value thing for her. its a bugger because she gets such enjoyment and exercise from it AND she is less distracted by other things when we do it so its a real win win game for me. And BP, stop your e-collar boasting!!! You know it drives me insane with jealousy!

Simple really, months ago stuffed up playing fetch with my dog and now once she has the ball will run away from me and will not give it back. I have tried to make her "give" in exchange for a treat but the ball has higher value for her- god she loves that chewing sensation. I have backed off playing it with her as i am trying to beef up my leadership status and i find it challenges that. Tips on how to get her to understand give=ball throw=heaps more fun? Thanks, and hope im not driving all you training gurus too nuts!!! Dee

Ridgy girl, I'm so glad i STARTED this thread!! Its been amazing to get such great advice, try it and see what has worked for me. There have been so many aproaches that i could never have thought of myself. Glad i didnt give up!! Day 5 and still getting good results, not giving up the check chain yet though, we are some ways before attentiveness is second nature, but at least walking is no longer a pain in the arse and arm! I'm pretty confident the new walking style- attentive and next to me- is here to stay as long as i stay consistent. Im finding flow-on improvements in other areas too- she now listens to me when I say "No" to savagely barking at cats or some other dogs!! Yay for new found respect!!

I think telling her about the snake is a great idea, or at least put a note on your fence warning "passersby".

Another good day! Not perfect, i suspect she may be testing if i am serious, but I really feel she is coming along- FINALLY :thumbsup: Lets hope it continues! Yep, the staying calm has been the BIG challenge! BP, sadly not enough yard for a leccy fence, might have to go for minimalist garden instead! Do you think she'd eat a cactus? Tarope, as much as i would love to, I have not been able to attend obedience training and rather than just not train my dog i have used a private trainer (I am NOT entirely happy with her, but i have been referred to others on here) and have asked advice of anyone who will listen to me. DOL has been a godsend and i have received amazing help from many people. Additionally, I cant fault TonyMc, i have found him to be extremely knowledgeable and he gives very sensible advice. I may have trouble with my dog, but she has (no, I have!) improved in leaps and bounds in many areas over the last 6 months and i dont think i am exaggerating if i give the majority of the credit to people here on DOL. Thanks everyone who has helped me and given me hope when i've been down! :laugh: :laugh:

I think the dominant bitch is that woman!! (ha ha, too obvious??) We have a cranky little maltese dog that lives next door to us and an aloof doberman that lives down the end of the road, both dogs drive Eve spare- she used to throw herself at our security grill to get to them. I started using a water bottle to squirt at her when it happened and now the maltese gets little response and we are still working on the dobe but expecting to get there. Since you have the ecollar (which i hope is MUCH better than a water bottle!! :wink: ) can you keep it on until the bitch, sorry, woman, comes past? Is she regular?

Hate to be premature and jinx myself, but the walk i had with Evie this afternoon was the best i have ever had. She stayed by my side for most of it, i kept her close and made sure she got a little tug if i felt her trying to move ahead, then the ocasional sit drop, stay just to keep her focus on me. I was very cranky with her this morning, after what shall henceforth be known as "the gardenia incident", so i wonder if she senses that and thus is on her best behaviour? Regardless i shall be capitalising on it. It was amazing, barely more than 5 verbal reminders to come back! Thanks BP, i really think that your timing tip was the thing that i "got". and MarkS the calming prewalk tip has helped me see that maybe im not as much in charge as i thought - it certainly helps, thanks. Tarope, TonyMc is right, i have been given some great advice and i also thank you for yours. Now can anyone give me advice on how to protect the gardenias? (just joking!)

Having bad day, bloody dog has "deplanted" 2 of my prized gardenia bushes, fury does not come close to how i feel when i look at her at the moment... What next? wondering if my hard work will ever start paying off. Anyway... after my unsuccessful park back and forths, followed markS's advice on behaviour when leaving for a walk. waited til she calmed down, first in the living room, then on the porch then went for a walk. whenever she looked like getting ahead I corrected her (as per Bella's person's advice) rather than waiting til she did. This did seem to work quite well, combined with a few on walk training sessions to get her to pay attention to me (sit, drop, stay- we dont move on til she looks at me). All on check chain of course but not a bad run, better than i HAVE had anyway. Not counting my chickens yet though. Now to deal with the gardenias... Kamuzz, "next" month might have to wait for a while, having financial "issues"... Tarope, She is a 12month old staffyx (prob kelpie) and i have been trying to get her to walk nicely probably for about 4 months- she hasnt been to obedience, just to a trainer and stubborn is not the word!!

Good idea BP! Cheers! And thanks for the pep talk. I know what you mean about "those" people, trying hard not to be one. Wish they'd stop staring at me whilst i'm walking my dog backwards and forwards though!! :p

Ok, Seriously discouraged and over it all at the moment. Obviously is ME that is not "getting" anything.

Hi steve, Do you mean like using an e-collar or a punishment? I would dearly love to use an e-collar but its simply not within my financial means, and i'm already using a check-chain which results in a pattern of her speeding up, me correcting, her falling back ad infinitum. generally my fallback position ends up me snapping at her- is that an aversive? I must admit to feeling a bit of head explosion with so much information. Perils of online advice... not conducive to confident training.