I Was Just Completely Disobeyed..

[Pete.the.dog]

I've had him for about 7 months, and he's about 14 months old. He's a bit 'independent', i.e. he does sometimes decide to do his own thing. We do training nearly every day with him have to sit and or drop to get his food, to come inside, for pats etc. We used to go to training but my car died and I can't afford a new one so I can't get us there. I try to do NILIF with him pretty much all the time, and am starting the TOT thing too.

But I just had a shower and came back and he was on the bed. I told him to get down and he just looked at me and ignored me!! After a little while of this happening, I went towards his collar to drag him off and he snapped at my hand!! Didn't get close but his intention was clear. So I went and got his lead, to which he jumped off excited (like he always is with the lead) and I tied him up outside. It's probably the completely wrong way to deal with it, so some advice would be fantastic!

[poodlefan]

You were more than disobeyed PTD.. you were threatened.

How far away is training?

[Pete.the.dog]

You were more than disobeyed PTD.. you were threatened.

How far away is training?

Well I left him tied up for about 5 mins, and then took him off. About 10 mins after that (just then) I went out and did some training with him (with treats), and he responded really well to it. It was all positive and fun and he did well. I don't know if that was the right way to do it? He has done the snapping thing before if I have tried to physically move him. He's really good with obeying to come inside and for dinner etc, also if I am putting the bins out or something he will stay inside the front yard if I tell him to, so he can be pretty good, that's why I'm so confused about what to do!?

[Aidan]

Have you got any other resource guarding issues? Not a bad idea to see a professional.

In the meantime, can he touch a target with his nose? You can use that to teach him to get on and off the bed on cue. That way you control the resource again.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

It's possible you might have rewarded him by getting the collar and lead. Even tho' you then tied him up outside, he won't have connected that to the bed behaviour but the walking lead is usually pretty highly associated with "good stuff" for most dogs.

It's been a long time since our dogs tried that with us, but in the past I have used a slip lead with success - just a nylon one, and you don't have to put your hand near the collar to get it on them. I don't use it to correct, I just put the lead on and walk the dog away from whatever it is guarding.

If this were me, the dog would lose bed privileges right away and I'm a treehugger who lets her dogs on the furniture. They only are allowed to get on furniture if they get off when told to. I would also start NILIF* with him (search this forum or google for links). Your problem isn't training in the "learning" sense, it's compliance and NILIF can really improve that side of things.

He's at the age where he is testing boundaries. It's not personal, he's just seeing what he can get away with.

*Nothing In Life Is Free

[Pete.the.dog]

Have you got any other resource guarding issues? Not a bad idea to see a professional.

In the meantime, can he touch a target with his nose? You can use that to teach him to get on and off the bed on cue. That way you control the resource again.

Sorry I'm not sure quite what you mean by resource guarding? Like how he won't get off the bed when I ask? He used to do it occasionally when he would sneak onto the couch but he doesn't even go on the couch anymore. He sometimes gets off the bed when I tell him to, mostly even, but when he decides against it he is pretty stubborn.

Also not sure what you mean by touch a target with his nose? He is big, so he can easily touch the bed with his nose? Sorry if I've misunderstood.

[Pete.the.dog]

It's possible you might have rewarded him by getting the collar and lead. Even tho' you then tied him up outside, he won't have connected that to the bed behaviour but the walking lead is usually pretty highly associated with "good stuff" for most dogs.

It's been a long time since our dogs tried that with us, but in the past I have used a slip lead with success - just a nylon one, and you don't have to put your hand near the collar to get it on them. I don't use it to correct, I just put the lead on and walk the dog away from whatever it is guarding.

If this were me, the dog would lose bed privileges right away and I'm a treehugger who lets her dogs on the furniture. They only are allowed to get on furniture if they get off when told to. I would also start NILIF* with him (search this forum or google for links). Your problem isn't training in the "learning" sense, it's compliance and NILIF can really improve that

Yeah I was worried about that, but I also didn't know how else to get him off the bed! I didn't want to pull him if he was snapping at me - I don't think he was going to bite me, I think it was just a warning sort of.

Bed privileges will be rescinded. I only ever let him on my bed with the ok but the bed he was on today was in the spare room.

He's at the age where he is testing boundaries. It's not personal, he's just seeing what he can get away with.

Thanks, it can be hard to remember it's not personal sometimes!

[Bjelkier]

Have you got any other resource guarding issues? Not a bad idea to see a professional.

In the meantime, can he touch a target with his nose? You can use that to teach him to get on and off the bed on cue. That way you control the resource again.

Sorry I'm not sure quite what you mean by resource guarding? Like how he won't get off the bed when I ask? He used to do it occasionally when he would sneak onto the couch but he doesn't even go on the couch anymore. He sometimes gets off the bed when I tell him to, mostly even, but when he decides against it he is pretty stubborn.

Also not sure what you mean by touch a target with his nose? He is big, so he can easily touch the bed with his nose? Sorry if I've misunderstood.

Resoure garding is when the dog has something it wants, ie bone or in this case the spot on the bed and wont give it up without a hassle

[Pete.the.dog]

Have you got any other resource guarding issues? Not a bad idea to see a professional.

In the meantime, can he touch a target with his nose? You can use that to teach him to get on and off the bed on cue. That way you control the resource again.

Sorry I'm not sure quite what you mean by resource guarding? Like how he won't get off the bed when I ask? He used to do it occasionally when he would sneak onto the couch but he doesn't even go on the couch anymore. He sometimes gets off the bed when I tell him to, mostly even, but when he decides against it he is pretty stubborn.

Also not sure what you mean by touch a target with his nose? He is big, so he can easily touch the bed with his nose? Sorry if I've misunderstood.

Resoure garding is when the dog has something it wants, ie bone or in this case the spot on the bed and wont give it up without a hassle

Oh ok thank you. No he's not like that with anything else (like I said he maybe was twice with the couch) he's really good with food and toys, and generally the most gentle dog ever, so I found this bed thing very unusual for his normal demenour

[JulesP]

Think you need to see someone in person about this. I would be taking it very seriously.

[Pete.the.dog]

Think you need to see someone in person about this. I would be taking it very seriously.

Really? I don't know that it is all that serious though. I mean, I'm all for trying to fix the problem, which is why I'm on here searching for advice. But I think there are people on DOL with the expertise to give me some tips to try before I go down that route... Thank you for your opinion though

[JulesP]

It is serious and the wrong, well meaning advice could see you get badly hurt.

[Odin-Genie]

Think you need to see someone in person about this. I would be taking it very seriously.

Really? I don't know that it is all that serious though. I mean, I'm all for trying to fix the problem, which is why I'm on here searching for advice. But I think there are people on DOL with the expertise to give me some tips to try before I go down that route... Thank you for your opinion though

I'm not a trainer. But if any of my dogs snapped at me, I would consider it very serious and see a behaviourist. You don't want a dog to think even for a second that it is ok to snap.

My dogs get on the bed and get out of the room when asked to, though sometimes they do get cheeky so I physically lift them off and close the door. But I am 100% sure that they would never ever snap.

[Animal House]

Absolutely get a trainer/behaviourist in to see what is happening.

Snapping at owners is not on!! And like the others have said, it isn't something you muck around with, or take advice over the internet with.

For the moment, deny his access to all beds in the house.

What breed is he?

If you can let us know what area you are in, someone can recommend a good dog behaviourist.

[Pete.the.dog]

Absolutely get a trainer/behaviourist in to see what is happening.

Snapping at owners is not on!! And like the others have said, it isn't something you muck around with, or take advice over the internet with.

For the moment, deny his access to all beds in the house.

What breed is he?

If you can let us know what area you are in, someone can recommend a good dog behaviourist.

He's an unknown cross. Possible mixes include: Wolfhound, Deerhound, Poodle, Bearded Collie etc etc...

I live in Adelaide, but don't know where I'd find the $200 +

[Staranais]

Yup, see a trainer if you can. If your dog snaps at you for telling him what to do, then it sounds like you may have a bigger problem than just being disobeyed.

He sometimes gets off the bed when I tell him to, mostly even, but when he decides against it he is pretty stubborn.

If my dog did this (refused to get off furniture sometimes, let alone snapped when being moved), she would lose all furniture privileges. In other words, I'd be telling her to get off as soon as she got up, and redirecting her to her own bed. I'd only let her in the house when she was being supervised, like a little puppy, so I could interrupt her when she went to get up on the furniture.

I'd also be attaching a 4 or 6 foot line to her collar to drag behind her whenever she was in the house. The line allows you to enforce your "off" command by gently tugging the line, if your dog ignores you when you tell them to get off, without risking getting bitten and without starting a direct confrontation with the dog.

By nose targeting, I believe Aidan means to teach him to run over and touch your hand (for example) with his nose, in order to get a reward. It's a useful behaviour and pretty easy to teach with food rewards or even just praise. It can be used to get dogs away from places you don't want them, such as off beds - just hold your hand out and ask the dog to target, they have to jump off the bed to touch your hand.

If it were my dog, I'd still use a line in the house, though, as I would want to have the ability to enforce the dog getting off the bed 100% of the time.

[Pete.the.dog]

Yup, see a trainer if you can. If your dog snaps at you for telling him what to do, then it sounds like you may have a bigger problem than just being disobeyed.

He sometimes gets off the bed when I tell him to, mostly even, but when he decides against it he is pretty stubborn.

If my dog did this (refused to get off furniture sometimes, let alone snapped when being moved), she would lose all furniture privileges. In other words, I'd be telling her to get off as soon as she got up, and redirecting her to her own bed. I'd only let her in the house when she was being supervised, like a little puppy, so I could interrupt her when she went to get up on the furniture.

I'd also be attaching a 4 or 6 foot line to her collar to drag behind her whenever she was in the house. The line allows you to enforce your "off" command by gently tugging the line, if your dog ignores you when you tell them to get off, without risking getting bitten and without starting a direct confrontation with the dog.

By nose targeting, I believe Aidan means to teach him to run over and touch your hand (for example) with his nose, in order to get a reward. It's a useful behaviour and pretty easy to teach with food rewards or even just praise. It can be used to get dogs away from places you don't want them, such as off beds - just hold your hand out and ask the dog to target, they have to jump off the bed to touch your hand.

If it were my dog, I'd still use a line in the house, though, as I would want to have the ability to enforce the dog getting off the bed 100% of the time.

I have been letting him up on my bed more often lately, I'd say this is the cause of the increased bed jumping.

I totally agree the behaviour he is exhibiting is unacceptable, and there will be no more getting on my bed, and I will close off access to the spare room. (NB He doesn't get on my bed while I'm in the room without me saying ok - occasionally when I leave the room he will jump up but mostly I hear the thud of him geting down as I open the door to return)

Thanks for the clarification on nose targeting and all the other tips, helpful stuff

I'd like to be able to call in a behaviourist for the snapping, but as a student on a very limited income, I just don't have that kind of cash. I don't want people to assume this makes me a bad or incapable owner, but I just want to try to work through it myself first and exhaust other options.

Thanks again Staranais

[Staranais]

I'd like to be able to call in a behaviourist for the snapping, but as a student on a very limited income, I just don't have that kind of cash. I don't want people to assume this makes me a bad or incapable owner, but I just want to try to work through it myself first and exhaust other options.

I understand - many people on this forum (including myself) generally recommend people see a behaviourist for any type of biting or aggression, since it's easy to misinterpret what's going on when you're just reading about it on a forum, and if the owner does the wrong thing then there's a risk that the behaviour can get worse or someone will get hurt. No one wants to be responsible for that happening.

But if this were me, I too would be trying to fix it initially without consulting a behaviourist: by tightening up house rules (no furniture privileges), by making sure I always enforced my commands (and only ever gave commands that I was able to enforce - hence the long line), and making sure I was being 100% scrupulous with NILIF and TOT. I'd also make sure I was giving my dog lots of training (IMO even clicker training tricks helps get your dog into the habit of working for and with you), and sufficient exercise.

If the behaviour gets worse, though, or doesn't improve after a wee while, then I really would recommend you find the money if you can do so.

[Tassie]

OK - so in the meantime - and away from the bed or any other precious resources, I would be teaching him the collar grab game. Some dogs are very reactive about having their collars touched in a restraining sort of way, but you can reduce this by making you touiching the collar very rewarding. Calm dog, high value treats, touch collar lightly, mark good behaviour and treat. Gradually, probably over several sessions, increase the intensity of the collar touch, and start applying a bit more pressure. Treat generously when yous ee him relaxing and starting to enjoy the game..

I did this with a boy who would crocodile roll in an attempt to get the pressure off his collar - and over a few sessions, he ended up asking for the game - I'd say "Do you want to play the Gotcha game? - and he'd come and showve his colalr into my hands so that I could play tug with his collar. .

[Pete.the.dog]

OK - so in the meantime - and away from the bed or any other precious resources, I would be teaching him the collar grab game. Some dogs are very reactive about having their collars touched in a restraining sort of way, but you can reduce this by making you touiching the collar very rewarding. Calm dog, high value treats, touch collar lightly, mark good behaviour and treat. Gradually, probably over several sessions, increase the intensity of the collar touch, and start applying a bit more pressure. Treat generously when yous ee him relaxing and starting to enjoy the game..

I did this with a boy who would crocodile roll in an attempt to get the pressure off his collar - and over a few sessions, he ended up asking for the game - I'd say "Do you want to play the Gotcha game? - and he'd come and showve his colalr into my hands so that I could play tug with his collar. .

Collar grab game sounds like a great idea (In addition to all the other great ideas I've got here too ) thank you for that, I will give it a go