Dog whisperer-types

[Vonnie]

My dog is an utter eejit with serious behaviour issues that are making me want to give her away. However, I am willing to do pretty much anything in order to sort her out so I'm turning to you bastions of knowledge to give me ideas.

I really am at the end of my tether with her and have already advertised her for sale, ideally she needs to go to a training/obedience class but a) I think she's now too old and b) I don't have the strength to control her. What I'd really like is for Cesar Milan to sort her out but that's unlikely. The sole command she follows is 'sit' and even that is only when she's interested and it's not through lack of trying. It's maybe worth mentioning that she's from working stock.

Advice?

[Hammer]

What specific problems are you having?

Is she just not behaving off the lead, or is she uncontrollable in the house etc?

Remember that some dogs are like people and just can't or won't learn commands or behave off the lead.

[Witch]

It seems a bit partonising and its not meant to be but patience is a good one, especially with Labs, Sam took alot of hard work to get her to walk to heel and do as she's told, she still has mental puppy moments.

Biscuit rewards, showing her what to do over and over and over again, i used a crate for training as well and it worked a treat, Linda's propbably your best bet though

[Vonnie]

Originally Posted by Hammer

What specific problems are you having?

Is she just not behaving off the lead, or is she uncontrollable in the house etc?

Remember that some dogs are like people and just can't or won't learn commands or behave off the lead.

She's 9 months old and still pisses in the house despite being paper trained by the book. She'll go outside and crap, then run back in the house to pee.
She jumps up on *everyone* including the kids and knocks them over.
She's still mouthy and verges on biting at times
She doesn't listen to *any* commands except sit, and even that is when she can be bothered.
She whines from 5am every morning to get out. Goes out and whines to get back in. Comes in and whines to get out - etc etc. 5am is not funny when you have work and kids that still don't sleep through.
She pulls on the lead to the extent that she's almost dislocated my elbow. I've tried a halti, clicker training, treats. Nothing makes a difference.

I'm really not fussed if she's going to be an arse off the lead because I can just keep her on - I can't and won't tolerate the pissing in the house and general antisocial behaviour around the kids.

Originally Posted by Witch

It seems a bit partonising and its not meant to be but patience is a good one, especially with Labs, Sam took alot of hard work to get her to walk to heel and do as she's told, she still has mental puppy moments.

Biscuit rewards, showing her what to do over and over and over again, i used a crate for training as well and it worked a treat, Linda's propbably your best bet though

She's not that much younger than Sam though - in fact she's only a couple of months younger than Kyuss but she's just useless. We've spent hours and hours working on her commands and it's like she forgot everything when she went to kennels for a weekend in February. She has a crate and she sleeps quite happily in there until 5am then whines the house down.

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by Vonnie

She's 9 months old and still pisses in the house despite being paper trained by the book. She'll go outside and crap, then run back in the house to pee.
She jumps up on *everyone* including the kids and knocks them over.
She's still mouthy and verges on biting at times
She doesn't listen to *any* commands except sit, and even that is when she can be bothered.
She whines from 5am every morning to get out. Goes out and whines to get back in. Comes in and whines to get out - etc etc. 5am is not funny when you have work and kids that still don't sleep through.
She pulls on the lead to the extent that she's almost dislocated my elbow. I've tried a halti, clicker training, treats. Nothing makes a difference.

I'm really not fussed if she's going to be an arse off the lead because I can just keep her on - I can't and won't tolerate the pissing in the house and general antisocial behaviour around the kids.

Not sure what to do about the peeing.
My dad and grandad (who was a vet and knew fine what he was doing, before anyone screams cruelty) always advised reasonably gently smacking the hip of dogs when they bounced, then putting them back in the basket. It worked well with our dog.

On the lead, get a choke-chain. I was dead set against them for years, but they didn't bother my dad. When I left home, they got one because the dog had started acting up. She got used to it very quickly and behaves excellently on the lead on now.

[Vonnie]

Had a choke chain; she ate it. Plus it didn't bother her one iota, she just ended up vomiting from the strain.

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by Vonnie

Had a choke chain; she ate it.

Actually speechless. Hope it didn't do any damage.

[Jenpot]

What type of dog is she?

[Rhythm Junkie]

If it's as bad as you say may I suggest Dog Borstal?

http://www.thedogownersclub.co.uk/extra/db_faq.html

At the very worst you might find some useful tips. If not for you then maybe this guy?

http://www.dog-problems.co.uk/?gclid...FQuKMAodyksnWw

[Witch]

Sams 18 months now, It's been a hard slog and there's still things she doesn't listen to, i reward her for her good behaviour and ignore her when shes being bad. Im really unsure what to suggest, getting the kids to ignore her when she's hyper is a good start as well as you and Bob, that way she's not getting recognised for her bad behaviour?

[Elfaba]

catch me by pm but its going to be so much harder to get rid of the bad habits now shes that wee bit older

robbie was past the socialisation period when i got him and he was hard work and took nearly a whole year of perserverance to get him to drop all of the bad habits. he's the better behaved out of my two now, and is a great wee dog - albeit a little vacant heh

the biggest thing for him that made the biggest difference to his behaviour though (and his pulling on his leash) undoubtedly was more exercise he gets three 40 min walks a day now and he doesnt give us any bother at all

how is she around other dogs?? i found that his behaviour also improved rapidly when he was around Judy more because he is a bit dim and mirrors behaviours and she was a cracking dog. i dunno if walking her with other dogs would help or not or getting her to spend time with other good role models sorta thing (if that doesnt sound too daft)

Originally Posted by Witch

Sams 18 months now, It's been a hard slog and there's still things she doesn't listen to, i reward her for her good behaviour and ignore her when shes being bad. Im really unsure what to suggest, getting the kids to ignore her when she's hyper is a good start as well as you and Bob, that way she's not getting recognised for her bad behaviour?

actually last time i met sam i was really really impressed by her behaviour for such a young dog! your work obv paid off there i think!

[Vonnie]

Originally Posted by Hammer

Actually speechless. Hope it didn't do any damage.

Well the choke chain was ruined.

Originally Posted by Jenpot

What type of dog is she?

Labrador retriever

Originally Posted by Rhythm Junkie

If it's as bad as you say may I suggest Dog Borstal?

http://www.thedogownersclub.co.uk/extra/db_faq.html

At the very worst you might find some useful tips. If not for you then maybe this guy?

http://www.dog-problems.co.uk/?gclid...FQuKMAodyksnWw

They look really interesting - cheers Mandy, I'm emailing the dog borstal folk just now.

Originally Posted by Witch

Sams 18 months now, It's been a hard slog and there's still things she doesn't listen to, i reward her for her good behaviour and ignore her when shes being bad. Im really unsure what to suggest, getting the kids to ignore her when she's hyper is a good start as well as you and Bob, that way she's not getting recognised for her bad behaviour?

I'm not being rude and I hope it doesn't come across as if I am, but you're kind of teaching your granny to suck eggs here. We've done absolutely everything by the book in terms of her training and rewards. The kids ignore her all the time now because they're scared of her and I'm getting the same way myself.

[Elfaba]

dunno why but just reading some of the stuff here reminds me of the dog in marley and me

aye a lot of the textbook things didnt work with robbie - different dogs respond to different things, its just trial and error

hope you manage to sort out something for the best vonnie x

[Vonnie]

Originally Posted by Elfaba

catch me by pm but its going to be so much harder to get rid of the bad habits now shes that wee bit older

robbie was past the socialisation period when i got him and he was hard work and took nearly a whole year of perserverance to get him to drop all of the bad habits. he's the better behaved out of my two now, and is a great wee dog - albeit a little vacant heh

the biggest thing for him that made the biggest difference to his behaviour though (and his pulling on his leash) undoubtedly was more exercise he gets three 40 min walks a day now and he doesnt give us any bother at all

how is she around other dogs?? i found that his behaviour also improved rapidly when he was around Judy more because he is a bit dim and mirrors behaviours and she was a cracking dog. i dunno if walking her with other dogs would help or not or getting her to spend time with other good role models sorta thing (if that doesnt sound too daft)

She's very submissive around other dogs and in fact she's at her best whenever we're out with Robert, Eve & Kyuss.

The Marley and Me comparison has been made before!!

[Jenpot]

Hmm. We had a border collie who was only 4 months and she was the exact same. Training classes were helping, but we had to end up giving her up because my mum couldn't handle her anymore.

I'd at least try the dog training classes, if it turns out she's too old and it isn't sticking then you can always drop them. Worth a shot?