Meet Jackson (acd)

[GoldenGirl85]

Me and OH adopted a 5 month old ACDx a week ago, when we got him the RSPCA warned us that he is a mouther, and he is a jumper, but while he isn't as bad as they made out, this is something I want to stop sooner rather than later

He does jump up on us, mostly when we're sitting, now we don't mind him sitting on the lounge (by invitation) with us if he is going to sit quietly, which sometimes he does, but it he is worked up, we just push him off and ignore him or ask him to sit...how should we be discouraging this? he spent his whole life on a tether 24/7 until now, and he just craves attention

As for the mouthing, he will nip at our feet or heels (that ACD in him I guess) and he also seems to get mouthy if he gets frustrated ie we push him off the chair, he gets back up, we push him off, he gets back up and starts mouthing us if we go to push him off again...I can see we're getting nowhere with that, so thats why I'm asking for advice on here

He is walking on lead nicely, which I'm impressed with, the 'I'm a tree' method seems to be working when he does start to pull

He also hasn't been well socialised, he is friendly, but does react to other dogs, he will bark like crazy and his hackles stand up, am I right to work him just outside his threshold and do basic training with him to get him used to working in a distracting environment? That seems to be working, but how should I go about introducing him to strange dogs? I think I've finally convinced OH that he is NOT going to an offleash park

This is my first older pup, and my first working dog, so its all new for me, but I don't want to make big mistakes with him either lol

Oh, and the mandatory photo

[persephone]

Seems you have some hard work to do ..

I would suggest you immediately start on Nothing In Life Is Free , and K9Pro's Triangle Of Temptation. That will help give him the right ideas!

[Weasels]

what a beautiful dog!

Sounds like you are doing good things Remember it's only been a week, and his life has changed A LOT (for the better!) so he might be able to learn the rules better once he's settled in a bit.

Just some quick thoughts

- you could teach him a 'go to your bed/crate/mat' and get a treat as a (hopefully more rewarding) alternative to harassing you onn the couch.

- when Weez tried to mouth my feet for attention I'd give him a toy to chew so he still had an outlet for his chewing desire/excess energy. I'd play a game of tug too to give him something else to focus on.

Good news is a young ACD should be easy to train

[Inevitablue]

Hi, I'm on the ACD Society of NSW committee,and Steve from K9Pro wrote this for us, as we get LOTS of emails asking for advice with young ACD's.

There might be some helpful stuff in it (the links didn't cross post, but the link info is all on his website)

The Australian Cattle Dog

These are commonly and energetic, robust and no nonsense dog that can make a great companion, working or sport dog but can also have problematic behaviours if not raised, trained, exercised and socialised correctly, but this is very much like any dog of the herding breeds.

This breed can be a great guard dog as they have natural territorial behaviour but of course this guarding behaviour needs to be in balance, not over encouraged or ignored. Those who want a social friendly dog will do well to encourage a lot of positive socialisation around the home with people arriving.

The most common reasons for this breed to be brought to me for a behaviour consult are: -

Aggression towards people and dogs

Nipping children who run and scream

Destructiveness

Barking

All of the above are generally a result of the dog in drive overload, poor socialisation and or generally poor to no training the correct behaviours before the undesirable behaviours manifest. This is the key problem with have with dogs in our communities today; we get puppies and don’t put enough time into educating them, which in turn leads to more time, effort and money being spent on rehabilitating them.

There is a lot to raising a puppy so I am not going to try and cover all those steps here, but I have listed some tips below that everyone should consider employing when they get a new ACD.

The Triangle of Temptation (link)

A simple feeding program that has incredible power, it is designed to look like you just have the dog sit before feeding but it is much more than that. Great for teaching impulse control, training markers, gaining and regaining respect and many more benefits.

The NILIF Program (link)

NILIF stands for Nothing In Life Is Free, this is a program that helps your dog understand the value of the life that you give him.

House training your dog (link)

teaching a dog not to toilet in your home is a must, you may not intend to keep your dog inside your home, but if your dog is sick or injured, he may need to be inside at some stage, this is a very wise move to make.

The Behavioural Interrupter (link)

This is a great little tool I teach all my dogs, it has value for the life of the dog and it is super easy to teach. Great for interrupting your dog from doing something you don’t want it to without screaming no all the time.

Ten reasons to crate train your dog (link)

I am a big fan of crate training, again even if you don’t want to have your dog inside, a dog that sustains a leg injury will need to be kept from exercise. The crate is ideal for this and many other things.

The Puppy Development Calendar (link)

this is the “bible” to refer to when you get a pup, it can help predict temperament changes in your pup as it develops and helps you prepare for them.

The Importance of Play (link)

A great article to read so you can see why playing is necessary for a dog.

We have a website (link) with over 200 training and behaviour articles that are free to read and or download, our online shop has the highest quality dog training equipment you will find and our service is great!

We also have a very active Facebook page (link) and Discussion forum (link) we welcome you to join and say hello!

K9 Pro provides a full behaviour consult service, obedience training from pet to competitor and Distance Learning Packages as well, if you have a problem with your dog, or don’t but don’t want to have a problem, we can surely help.

I hope your enjoy your Australian Cattle Dog, wether you get a puppy or an older dog from rescue, these are a very fun dog to own with great capabilities and can offer you years of loving companionship!

Edited December 26, 2011 by Inevitablue

[Pretty Miss Emma]

He's so cute!!!!

As for his reactiveness, the main thing I would say is I wish I had started training the "Look At That" game sooner. Which means you'll have lots of things going on! But the dogs seem to catch on to LAT pretty quickly. The main thing I find is that threshold is different for different types of dogs (we can go much closer to working dogs, JRT's and GR's than other breeds - but that is because they are the dogs we socialise with most).

Oh, and when Kenz was a baby she thought she had a right to jump up on the couch. So I taught her "up" and "off" so turned it in to a game. If she jumped up with out being asked she was immediately asked to get "off" and then do something else. Then I would later ask her to come "up". It's a strategy that worked for her!!

[aussielover]

He is gorgeous!

At this stage I would not be letting him get up on the couch with you- that is a privilege that has to be earned by good behaviour imo. Not something I would invite a new, young dog who is pushing the boundaries a bit, to do.

I wouldn't recommend you push him off you either. Instead it may be better to keep a lead attached to him so you can pull him away with that and avoid giving him the oppportunity to mouth you- which is a very unacceptable behaviour and should be stopped asap.

I also think you should look into crate training and NILIF

If he is reactive to other dogs, I highly recommend you see a professional if possible, I am sure people could recommend a good trainer in your area.

I think its better to see someone who can properly assess the dog and determine a suitable plan for him, rather than trial and error yourself which may or may not be effective.

Good Luck with him, he looks lovely

[itsadogslife]

Put a tab on the dog's collar so that you will have something to grab onto - or else a short light line. Keep it on the dog around the house. When you want him to get off the couch don't push him off. Rather take the opportunity to teach him a very useful command - such as "off" - the couch, the bed or whatever. Just take the line and use it to encourage him to get off the couch, as he moves to get off say (his name) "off". Praise or give him a treat. Avoid using your hands - use the tab or light line (a thin piece of rope attached to his collar).

Biting or nipping your heels? Teach him the down command - every time he starts to nip, give him the command.

As for his problem around other dogs - he needs to be taught formal obedience. Find a trainer.

Every problem you have mentioned can be solved by switching your thinking around from how do I stop this behavior to what can I teach him so that the behavior is redirected into something useful.

Good luck - looks like a great dog.

[GoldenGirl85]

Thanks for the advice guys

We are currently crate training him, thankfully it seems he has been crated before, because he relaxes when we lock him in, I just need to work on building value so he will be keen to go in, but we're working on it

TOT and NILIF I'll have to go onto K9 Pros website and download them, thanks

He doesn't seem terribly toy driven, so if we give him a toy, he generally won't chew it or play with it...I think he must have never had access to toys in the past

LAT, I do have a copy of controlled unleashed, Ill have to dig it out, I forgot about that game!

I do have a tab lead somewhere, so Ill dig it out and stick that on his collar, and use that to redirect him instead of touching him when he has jumped on us, thanks for the idea

I was already thinking along the lines of 'redirecting' behaviour rather than 'stopping' it, I just couldn't think of how to put it in writing lol

That letter from Steve is awesome, I'm a big fan of his methods, so I'm glad he has written that

He is settling well, in fact he is getting so comfortable he decided that I didn't need my phone OR laptop charger today...whoopsie

[persephone]

T O T (DOL link)

NILIF (k9pro link)

[Cosmolo]

I would try to get him onto a tug toy as soon as you can and build value for one in particular- it will be a must have training tool for you later on so don't give up!

I'm going to go gainst the grain here and say that if he was mine i would also be feeding his daily food intakes in training/ rewarding house manners/ conditioning a recall/ playing LAT etc only rather than starting with TOT.

[persephone]

if he was mine i would also be feeding his daily food intakes in training/ rewarding house manners/ conditioning a recall/ playing LAT etc only

;) said from a trainer's wise perspective . Good advice.

[GoldenGirl85]

Lol, yeah it's hard to know what should be a priority in his training