Our pointer allows herself to be led by the collar very easily but our mutt goes crazy whenever you try. Doesn’t bite but will dig her heels in and fight against it so bad that you’ll eventually give up. I’ve had good luck with simple patience and working her to go where I tell her without physically forcing it. I used treats to start with (still give one to crate her most of the time), and then transitioned to a bunch of positive reinforcement (for stuff like returning to the house after bathroom breaks, following me inside when we’re done w yard work, getting in/out of the car, returning after I call for her on hikes, etc...). I find the more independence and positive feedback I give her the more rapidly she responds to commands, and conversely she is visibly distraught and submissive on the occasional instance I tell her she’s being a bad doggo. Does he do good on the leash? Might be a bit cumbersome but maybe try leashing him whenever you want to lead him and then transition him to using the collar only? Also I may be in the minority, and I definitely rely on verbal cues, time-outs, and yelp-acting for bite training, but I don’t think the rare instance of aversion/dominance is the worst thing in the world as long as you’re not making a habit of it.
You have to establish his place in the pack and exert dominance. Not trying to sound like a billy internet badass but ultimately if you dont get control of him he'll bite someone and........he dead. Or increase his exercise tenfold. But you have to absolutely let him know that's not tolerable in dog language, which isn't beating him.
Did you ever get to train a rat in psychology class? The same techniques work on humans, dogs, cats, etc.
Sad/embarrassing post alert. Background: My fiance and I have 1 cat and 2 dogs. Cat was 6 while the dogs (lab/pit mixes) are 3 and 1 1/2. The cat was my fiancés before we ever met so she was extremely attached to him as he was with her through college. We rescued both dogs at 7-8 weeks old and they grew up with the cat. Sitaution: Fiance and I went to gym yesterday morning like we have 100 times and left the animals out to roam the house freely, again nothing new. When we returned, we found that our younger dog had killed our cat. As you could imagine, it was not a pretty site. Just an hour earlier they were laying with each other in our bed. They have always played together and never once did I ever feel that the cat was ever in harms way. I feel terrible as not only did we lose our cat, but it was at the hands of another one of our pets that we love. In fact, she was my fiancés favorite of the two dogs. I've been doing my research and I am now realizing that what I viewed as playing was more of a dog living out their natural instincts (zeroing in on the cat when he’d come into a room, chasing it, etc). I understand this and in no way am I considering giving her up, I am just not sure the best course of action to follow. I have been looking into local training options to atleast instill some form of obedience as we failed to do this in the first place (jump on people when they come in, go crazy at the sound of the doorbell, chase squirels, etc). Hopefully not, but has anyone gone through something similar? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Consulting a professional for behavioral correction is always a good plan. But, there's something to the cliche of "fighting like cats and dogs." Obviously, there are anecdotal exceptions where they get along fine, but you can't really blame a dog for being a dog. What kind of dog is it?
Yea, that’s what I am telling myself, it was her instincts to chase and we never tried to curb it. She is a mutt from the pound, but she definitely has some lab and pitt in her.
There will definitely not be another cat in our future. We already had discussed not getting another one, just thought that wouldn’t be the case for another 8-10 years.
What are some reasons puppies will eat on grass? Blue has done ok in his crate the last two nights. He will whine a bit, then go to sleep, a couple hours later he will whine again and I'll have to tell him to shush. Then hes good till about 4 am when he makes so much noise you'd think he was dying. Both nights I've gotten up and took him outside and he went straight to the bathroom so I figure thats why he was making so much noise. At that point I just put him in bed with us so I can get those last couple quiet hours. It hasn't seemed to make a difference if the crate is in our bedroom or the living room. Granted it's a small sample size.
idk how we got so lucky, but Tosu never had to be crated as a puppy and he does fine in one now. granted, we get him in there with a treat filled kong, but he's always calm when we come back to get him out. as a puppy he'd just sleep at the foot of our bed on the floor, or against the bed room door. he still eats on grass and mud, tho.
Buy this and follow it religiously: I know he isn't a GSD, but it's close enough that the general premises will be the same. They're a lot of work, but they're incredibly intelligent and trainable. Both parts of that are doubly true of Malinois. It sucks, but right now you need to get up and take him out when he lets you know he has to go. Over time, that's going to be fewer and farther between. But, he needs to know how to let you know he needs to go. If he's in a crate that's small enough for him, he's going to hold it instinctively. That gives you the opportunity to spread out the frequency of taking him out. Putting him in the bed with you is already training him that whining gets him there. That's not a good thing.
Thanks for the tips guys. I'll post more after work when I can use a computer and not my phone. Short response is, we definitely get up and let him out when it goes past the just whining for 5 minutes cause hes alone length. And we put him on the bed at random times as well, not just when he whines. When he is big enough to get on the bed on his own he will be allowed to get on there when invited.
The point is that you can't wait until he's big to draw that line. And, he'll be big sooner than you think.
I understand that part. I figured thats why bringing him on the bed at other times when he's "invited" is a good thing. Like we sort of say "up on the bed" and then pick him up and bring him up. Even when its 4 am I tell him that. Maybe that's not good enough though. I'll get that book as well. We will also be attending training him as soon as he is old enough. Basic obedience at a minimum. We would love to do more advanced training (her nephew sent his GSD puppy to a training/boarding type place where they give him commands in german) but with paying for a wedding this year I dont think something like that is on the table.
That's the one I posted above. They also wrote a book called how to be your dogs best friend which is also a great read. I never read the one Wes recommended but it's downloaded and in the queue.
Are these books I could listen to in the car or do they need to be acted on as you read them? Was thinking I could say them in the mornings and afternoons instead of same old morning shows.
Here's our current foster Bean. 9 month old Lab/Boxer mix. Rescued from a shelter in Alabama. Some motherfucker cut off his ears with a pair of kitchen shears, presumably in a bid to make him look like a pit with a battle crop. He's a lot to handle but he's such a good boy.
Took the girls for a nice 8-mile coastal hike this morning. The pointer promptly pissed on our rug when we got home as a show of appreciation. Thanks buddy.
Got a new pal for hiking and camping as the wife has started traveling a ton for work. She’s fucking awesome.
Weston Urgency: Arrives early March Border collie mix, 3 years old, 39lbs, neutered male Weston is a low-rider, with short little legs! Super charmer. A little timid at first but warms up quick. Great cuddler, lower energy level Loves other dogs. Loves kids Likes to hang out under the bed or in his kennel Good listener, crate trained, house trained. Knows some basic commands Great leash manners! Looking to foster this handsome pup
Argh. Both my dog and I have torn ACL/CCL's. Irony is, the dog's surgery is going to cost literally 500x what my ACL reconstruction is going to cost, because I have insurance and that motherfucker doesn't even have a job.
I've been looking at insurance quotes for all our animals now. After what happened with the greyhound I never wanna go through that again
I'm pretty sure we're going to go get this adorable little fucker this weekend, my wife has been sending me pics of him since I left for work at 6 this morning.
We have it for our two, through work insurance. We are net negative on it, but that's not a complaint, just means they've been healthy.
He's a heeler/aussie mix of some kind and he is super athletic. Often spent an hour a day with him and the frisbee, so he packed on the muscle and is over 65 pounds now. Vet said he wants him down closer to 45-48 pounds, which is closer to the size he was when I got him from the shelter at about a year old. He's 6 now, and this happened at Thanksgiving out at our property. Think he might have stepped in a gofer hole at speed, and he does everything at 10/10. Vet didn't think it was completely torn, so he's on NSAID's and reduced calories for a month then we will see where he is at. If he can strengthen the leg up, he may not need the surgery right away. Which, ironically, in the same situation I'm in, with a hamstring graft ACL repair that partially tore. I meet with the surgeon again on March 1 to talk about how my knee has progressed post-injury I guess I'll have to come clean at that point that I haven't stopped skiing lol
When Nymeria broke her leg and have fusion surgery some TMB dog crew guys told to not be ashamed of asking for help. Numerous folks here donated to a GoFundMe and I'm sure plenty of us would help however we could to make sure your doggos have the care they need. Not meaning to say you couldn't afford it or anything. Hope it didn't come off that way.
Thankfully, I'm a TMB Old Guy with a pretty stable life and the ability to absorb something like this much better than I could have when I was 25 and struggling to make bills and stuff. When I sat down to talk to the wife about it, she really didn't bat an eye at the idea.