Dog Channel / All About Dogs / Dog Behavior and Training

Housebreaking

elsam57 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:46:18 GMT

I have a new puppy. She goes potty outside but I need to know how to train her to tell me when she needs to go out.

I have had only cats for the past 20 years and I am out of practice with puppies. Vet estimates Kelsie is 7 weeks old.

She is a rescue as a woman found her dumped on the side of the road. How could I NOT take her.

Well, any help with how to get her to "tell" me shen she needs to go out would be greatly appreciated.

Kelsie and Kelsies mom

Do you think Cesar Millan preaches the truth about dog physiology?

PonyAndPuppyCrazed — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:47:57 GMT

I'm really not trying to bash anyone who his method works for them. I say take what works and abandon what doesn't! I use some of his more humane practices and physiology but I'm almost positive that some of it that he preaches dogs dislike they actually like... What do you think? Please don't reply rudely- I'm not trying to offend anyone and if I do, please tell me so I can correct it!

Thanks...

How do you teach your dog to wear clothes?

animal lover 14 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:29:08 GMT

I was just wondring how to do it because I have a pom and she has never worn clothes before. Thanks fo answering!

Unusual Aggression

BellaGrace — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:09:13 GMT

My seven month old Corgi has suddenly developed an attitude problem. She has this odd objection to feet. She will not stand anybody coming too close to her with their feet while she's relaxing.

The living room is a family area, and also my sleeping area. When the family sits on the couch to watch a movie before bed, and somebody accidentally brushes their foot against or near her, she will growl and often snap. Though she has no problem with feet when she's up and about.

She occassionally has abrupt mood changes and has a very low tolerance for just about anything. She's snapped at the cats, at her doggie playmate, and my brother very unexpectedly. I can't seem to explain the reasons for her mood changes and what sets her off. At first it was just a problem with feet, but it seems to be escalating from there.

Recently, I find her licking excessivley at her left paw. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with them. She lets me handle them just fine (unless I pull the nail clippers out), but sometimes I'll walk into the room and find her licking and chewing on them until they bleed. She's just not acting like her usual self, and I don't know how to explain it.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to what might be causing these unusual behaviors?

advice needed. please help

megan01 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:23:05 GMT

I am getting a border collie female puppy for my partner. Problem is I have a 6 year old huskey that was abused when she was younger. She is a very well behaved dog and can get aggresive towards bigger dogs on her turf. I want my dog to get along with the puppy. If she doesn't we have will keep the dog at my partners house. But for the moment I need advice how do I introduce sasha my 6 year old huskey to the puppy ?

How to get my dog to respect my birds

szamir — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:21:02 GMT

I recently adopted an Australian Sheppard mix from a shelter. He is very calm and nice we also have a cat and two African Grey Parrots; this dog has no problem with the cat but when it comes to the birds he gets very aggressive and wants to jump on them!! My question is, what do I do to make him leave the birds alone (I think he is jealous of them) thank you for your advise.

German Shepherd Schutzhund Club Yearbook Dvd

stadtrand — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:17:36 GMT

Von der Stadtrand German Shepherds offers free training to all of our puppy owners. Our Schutzhund Club Training is held Saturdays from 11-3 pm at Von der Stadtrand farm in Cedarburg Wisconsin.

Our club has put together a DVD of our dogs training for Schutzhund.

The DVD will show a new comer the basic concept of schutzhund, and how much fun it is to train your German Shepherd.

The Club is selling the DVD as a fundraiser. Thank you to all who help support our Schutzhund Club.

The cost of the DVD is $20 which includes shipping.

Order Now <br>
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Too territorial

macypimm — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:07:42 GMT

I'm pretty sure my dog considers my room hers...and she's very possessive of it. If anybody opens the door she runs right to the room and growls at them. And if she's on the bed, there is no way somebody can come in the room without getting growled at. I would really like to get her to stop growling at people but I don't know how! Ideas, please?

Clicker

animal lover 14 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 10:51:40 GMT

I have a little pomeranian named pearl. I've been using clicker training for about a month and it's been going pretty good! I have even taught here to jump through a hula hoop! Has any one else had this kind of success?

Clicker training method

puppychic120 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:35:31 GMT

I was wondering if anyone knew much about the clicker training method?I want to try it and see how it is with my dog and how she responds to it.I'm ordering books from the library and I'm going to read up on it but I want to know what it's really like from the people who have tried it personally.

Still having Problems

Bluedog — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:31:38 GMT

My year old Australian Cattle Dog won't come or mind when she escapes from our house (RV) or Pickup. She just runs around and just stays ahead of me as I try to get a leash on her. This goes on until she messes up and gets cornered. If a strainger trys to help she charges barking and growling. The other day she went into a Safeway store before I got her. The manager on duty has three ACDs she says she thinks the dog was abused before we adopted her. She will growl and show teeth to my wife if pushed. She is a very good and loving dog and we don't want to give her up but I done know what to do. She is not aggressive when on leash. I have been told to use a shock coller at a lower setting but I don't like the idea. Can someone HELP Harry

Dominance in Dogs

ZackTucker — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:39:35 GMT

I have been reading about what Dr Yin has to say about Dominance in Dogs and i want to know what you think.

She is "Debunking the Myths of Dominance Training". The idea of dominance training is that when your dealing with difficult dogs you just have to dominate them and teach them who’s boss to get them to behave. Dr Yin addresses this but has other opinions about how to train for behavior. For example she lists these ideas...

1. Clearly defining guidelines for behavior, such as sitting patiently to ask for what you want.
2. Communicating these guidelines by reinforcing the desirable behaviors immediately as they occur and removing reinforcers for undesirable before they are reinforced.
3. Avoiding reinforcement of undesirable behaviors and only reinforcing the desirable behaviors frequently enough and consistently enough for the good behaviors to become a habit.

Here is the link to Ask Dr. Yins page about dominance in dogs.

SHOCK!

annielovesmama — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 08:49:28 GMT

My neighber has a dog named buddy and he has an eltrical colar thing and it got me to think are they harmful to dogs? It just seems like it would be pretty painful to get shocked... Do you think they are?

At wits end with Housetraining

Happi1D — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:03:16 GMT

I just adopted a Chihuaha Mix and I have had her for 3 weeks. I take her to her spot to do potty and no matter how long I am out there for and how many times I say "go potty" or "hurry up". She will wait until we go back in the house to relieve herself. I can not stay outside for hours at end to wait for her to relieve herself and that is even if she does. Any other suggestions?

Anyone tried this iPhone dog training program?

bluemary — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:35:52 GMT

I downloaded this iPhone program (Dog remote Control) for training my Betsy. Has anyone else got it? Betsy responds to 3 or 4 of the commands. Its a kind of dog whistle thingy.

New Here! Need advice for a friend

vettechgirl — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:56:23 GMT

Hi! I'm new here! I'm a Peer Moderator for the Cat Channel forums. I do love dogs (especially big doggies!) but I am just too busy to own one at this time. Cats are a little more self sufficient! (Also, can't afford it and I don't believe in adopting an animal unless I can take care of it properly.)

So, to my question. I have a friend who has a Puggle (Beagle-Pug mix). His name is Stanley. Stanley is a good dog, but his owner needs a little guidance on how to handle some of his 'quirks', and since I work mostly with cats, my dog knowledge is a little rusty, and she has tried everything I suggested.

First issue is that Stanley has a SEVERE under bite and absolutely destroys his toys in about 4 seconds flat. My friend has tried the very large knobbly Kong toys (made for the large breed dogs) and he ripped it to pieces in about 1-2 days. Do you have any suggestions for toys for Stanley?

Second issue is his training. Stanley is very protective of my friend. She took him to a group class at Petsmart. Stanley urinated all over my friend every time they got there! He growled viciously at the other dogs, and the trainer there was no help at all. She did not know how to handle Stanley and often asked my friend to leave for a short time until she could calm her dog down. So, she was paying for classes that she wasn't attending for half the session. They eventually just quit.

Stanley just barks and barks and does not listen. He seems to have a lot of beagle traits, such as pointing, constant barking, chasing her cats around the house (for a week, he chased a man on his bike down the street! The poor man I guess found an alternate route!). He is also extremely lovey and clingy (I think this is more the Pug side). He always has to be touching her or her husband in some way (or at least very close to them) and has some separation anxiety. When they moved into their new home, my friend and her husband were home almost all the time for nearly two weeks. When they went back to work (she works days, he works nights) Stanley was barking all the time, pacing, drooling, destroying all kinds of things. It took him about a month to calm back down to 'normal'.

I was hoping someone would have some suggestions on what she can do to help Stanley. He's a good dog, and they love him very much. But I think something needs to be done to make both her life and Stanley's life a little more enjoyable with each other. Thank you for your input!

QUESTION ABOUT OFFLEASH!

Texaspup — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:11:04 GMT

Every dog in my city seems to be perfect. My neighbors dog is so perfect her owner can trust her off-leash by the streets, even though there are lots of cats around.. Anyways, a lot of dogs are well behaved here and basically NO ONE listens to any leash laws, at least on the many trails around here. Well, anyways, dogs in my area are good at coming.

Not my dog. She is actually okay at coming when called. If there are no other dogs around. Her word for come, is "OY!!" Don't ask why, I said that on accident and she got all excited so..

Can anyone tell me how to get her to be trusted enough not to a) bark at other dogs and usually get so excited it ends up in a fight

and b) make her not just run away when she sees another dog. It is so embarrassing dragging her away from someone who is trying to watch the game, while her pug is screaming like a banshee and trying to eat my dog, whos barking and freaking out, leash trailing on the ground.... You know the story.

PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO MAKE HER STOP!

Dog Nipping/Seperation Anxiety

BrotherBear — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:20:01 GMT

Six days ago I got a pup from a man who had a 10-pup litter. The father was a pure German Shephard with papers from Germany and the mother was thought to be a hunting dog-boxer mix. The puppies were accidental; his shephard got into his backyard when the mix was in heat.

When I got the pup, he was tired and not feeling very well. The guy I purchased the pup from had been out in the heat for a couple of hours trying to find a home for the last dog leaving. He had just fed the poor thing, too, which led to an incident in my car.

For the first day, the Bear just wanted to be held. He was sad to be away from his previous home, I think, and for all his brothers and sisters to be gone from him. He wasn't very happy at being separated from me at night, but I decided that crating him was probably the best option.

I've noticed a very strong change in his behavior with me since then. He likes me a whole lot now and always wants to play with me. He doesn't like resting to get attention like pets and praise. He prefers to keep moving, keep going, running, nipping and playing. Its the nipping I'd like to stop.

I know he's trying to play with me when he nips, but I don't appreciate it. I don't want him to think that nipping is O.K., because I have a 2 year old and a 4 month old. When he meets new people, I don't want him to nip them, either, and he'll get a lot stronger when he's older.

I've tried grabbing his nose when he nips, but he thinks I'm playing. I've tried pushing him away when he does, and ignoring him, but again, he thinks I'm playing. I read on one website that I should whine like a littermate when they're hurt playing, and that did work for the first day. No longer. I don't need him nipping my 2year old, but he does. He also gets destructive if no one is paying him the attention he thinks he needs.

He follows me around everywhere, too. He can't stand to be separated from me and cries when I leave. He doesn't like being locked up in his crate, because he knows that he won't be near me and won't get to play with me for a while. He doesn't like the 7' X 12' covered kennel we have outside, either. He can't stand to be away from his mommy.

We're working on clicker-training. He already knows that when I click, he did something right and gets a treat. I want to work him towards tracking smells and train him using the Schutzhund method. He's a very smart dog, but I need help getting him over the nipping and separation anxiety.

Any suggestions?

new dog scared of everything!

I<3Molly — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:56:10 GMT

So I just adoped a new dog (Molly) an australian cattle dog/????? and when we tried her out at the shelter she was fine but now that she's home she is scared of everything! and this causes a problem for me cause I show dogs in 4-H and she'll have to be able to adapt to new places (such as the fair this august) do you have any ideas on how to get her to relax? she was not timid at all at the shelter do you think this is just a temporary thing?

Training Schools for Pet Grooming in Maryland

jacobylauren — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:50:53 GMT

I am looking for a reputable training school to learn Pet Grooming. Does anyone know of any in the Maryland area? Thanks, Joan

Brad Pattison Fans Gather Here!

PonyAndPuppyCrazed — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:20:40 GMT

I'm a HUGE Brad Pattison (At The End Of My Leash) fan! After clicker training Bailey and getting no where in my walking or respect, I decided it was time for a change. What a perfect chance for me to discover the tevelvision show "At The End Of My Leash."

Can I clearly state that Brad never 'abuses' dogs and hasn't been inspected by the S.P.C.A. and that sort of hate will just be ignored here. Brad is all for the dogs- heck he even has dog charities and walks and clubs, etc. etc. etc...

So if you've found tremendous changes in your canine partner, would like to rate his books, or don't have a clue who he is and would like to find out more you've come to the right place!

Have a nice day,

PonyAndPuppyCrazed

Pees When she Sees me

stellasmama — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:39:29 GMT

Our almost 10 month old Schnoodle Stella pees as soon as I walk through the door. I walk into the house calmly....I don't make a big deal out of seeing her....I actually ignore her for a few minutes.....as soon as I reach down to pat her....she pees.

She could have just peed outside 5 min earlier....and she still pees when she sees me. She doesn't do it for my husband....he is home with her all day.

She's basically housebroken...does all of her business outside. Hub thinks she's peeing from excitement.

Suggestions for what to do?????

Who is your favorite dog trainer/training method and why?

PonyAndPuppyCrazed — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:38:27 GMT

I've noticed that some trainers can become aggressive with difficult dogs and although I don't agree with that I do agree with parenting your dog. If you ask yourself how you are going to fix a problem humanely just ask yourself what would a parent do? I'm really interested in picking a dog trainer/training method so that I don't always have to sort out my own problems and there is a brief guideline on how to raise a puppy. We have clicker trainers and Volhard trainers along with traditional trainers in our area but I'm trying to decide who to pick. Please help!

-PonyAndPuppyCrazed

The Best Training Method Of Them All

PonyAndPuppyCrazed — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:31:08 GMT

So everyone has a different perspective on dog training. Some people adore choke collars whilst others are more interested in clicker training. I'm personally curious about force-free methods but you can post experience with any method physiology.

The methods I would mostly like you to rate out of 5 and then say why are:
-Cesar Millan

-Karen Pryor (clicker training)

-Brad Pattison (At The End Of My Leash)

-Volhard

-Traditional Methods

Happy Barking!
-PonyAndPuppyCrazed

running to strange dogs

puppiesarecute — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:09:23 GMT

hey, just have some questions about off leash training. my dog's doing great at it. he's ignoring people wen we walk by them, not like before (he'd jump on them and try to play with them even on a leash). some people even call, then he gives me a "can i please go" look, sometimes i let him. But the issues come wen he can see other dogs. I mean he'll just run to them and greet them like theres no tomorrow. Sometimes he'll pause for like 3 secs them sprint to them. i have him attached on training lines that he drags around so i can catch him wen he bolts, so i was wondering if he's ever gonna grow out of this, and how do i help him overcome our situation? If theres a dog that we know and is definetly going to play with us, then i let him go wen were like 15, 20 feet away. he starting to restrain it more, but there are those occasions wen he just has to go for no legit reason. im very blessed there are no accidents yet, but i want to get rid of this bad habit once and for all. thx

Housetraining

Isabella32496 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:42:23 GMT

My lab puppy is struggling with housetraining. She goes to the door but if I don't follow her there that's where she will eliminate. Sometimes she doesn't go to the door she'll just squat down. Also sometimes she squats but she doesn't eliminate. Why does she do this? Please help I need some tips!

aggressive young male silky attacking his father

CarolynPeb — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:41:34 GMT

I chose to keep one of my silky terrier after having the mother fixed. I kept a male. This puts 2 males together in the same household....mother, father, and son.

The son is very aggressive toward his father, who is somewhat passive, but not at all times. I realize there are alpha males. The son must be in this category. They do not seem to fight over the female, as she is fixed. I cannot predict what makes the son attack the older dog. Sometimes I think it is over me, and try to prevent that happening. Do they claim space and get angry if another dog takes it? I know this is true for food.

I need to make peace between the two....I have to keep both....cannot think of getting rid of them....not either one. I try to equalize the attention they both get. I do know the younger dog can be very jealous of my attention with the other two.

dog beheaver

coolmom — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:24:52 GMT

My dog is two years old she was house broken till we watched an aggressive dog . when she left that is when she started to go on the floor .

Dog Behavior Problems

globalpetvillage — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 01:33:23 GMT

One of the most common pet behavior problems is food aggression. Other more commonly seen problems in dogs include barking, chewing, digging, begging, chasing, and inappropriate elimination of feces and urine. Fortunately, managing pet behavior problems such as these are all easily remedied, provided the dog owner is diligent and routine in their managing strategies such as teaching proper commands, or using crate training to combat negative behaviors.

New Dog Aggression Problem

K9D56 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:38:42 GMT

I have a dog I adopted from an animal shelter. We have had her a little over two weeks. She is a young adult dog maybe 2 yrs. old or younger.

She growls and barks at people that come in our home to visit. She does this the entire time they are here. I love her and will keep her.

Has anyone here had this problem with their dog? If anyone has any helpful advice or suggestions how I can stop this behavior please respond.

Thank you

Puppy steals washing

middy — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:36:33 GMT

My almost 5 month old puppy keeps stealing my washing. When I find the clothes on the ground, I take him over to the clothing and tell him off. He does it every single time I do the washing.
I am starting to get very annoyed with it now. I am sick of having to wash things twice!
I have had alot of dogs, and have never had any problems before.
Does anyone have any ideas on how I can stop him from stealing my washing?

Need help with a digger

chucklene — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:01:15 GMT

My 9 month old Shih-Poo digs in the yard. Tried everything I know to stop it. Need help here please!!!!

Dog Behavior Problems

globalpetvillage — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:18:08 GMT

Hard to Groom and take to Vet

dakotasarge — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:26:08 GMT

Getting my one year old, 80 pound, German Shepherd to the Vet is crazy. As soon as he see's other people or dogs he is out of control. Same thing with grooming. I have to do it myself at home because he can not be left with a "stranger". It is very hard to clip his nails. Is there any type of medicine I can have prescribed or over the counter to give him to calm him down for these things?

Loneyl Dog

Texaspup — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:01:22 GMT

My dog, Luna, needs friends. At 102, it's way to hot to take her to the dog park (last time we tried she almost got heat stroke, and it was only 92 then) and she is calmer with a friend at home. She loves playing with oter dog and flips out when she sees one on on her walk.

I would love to get another dog to be her friend, because she needs a friend, but I can't. Is there any way I can find a close friend for her that she can see often?

E-Collar

LoverOfDogs — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:23:49 GMT

My dog Sam is finally over his aggression with children and now lays down calmly and lets them pet him and even pull his ears a little with no reaction. Plus, when he's on a leash he can go right past another dog and completely ignore it, instead of trying to kill it. Thank you everybody for your help with that. But now there's a new problem: when he is off leash at the park and he sees another dog running around, first he stares at the dog as if it is the only thing that matters, then, slowly, as he gets more interested, his tail goes up, then his muscles tense and he raises his body slightly off the ground, and finally, he charges while making growling noises and rams into the dog at top speed and starts barking with his fur raised along his back. This all happens in a matter of seconds but I've seen it enough to see all the little things. Anyway, I've been thinking of getting an e-collar to stop this behavior because he doesn't react to any of the commands as soon as he gets into this mode. I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions on how to fix this. And if I do use an E-Collar, should I press that vibrate button, after training him to pay attention when he feels it, right when he starts to fix on the dog, or right when he begins to lunge?

And the 7 month old puppy's behavior has gotten worse. Instead of just barking and growling at other dogs, now he actually trys to bite them. If he is standing next to Sam, he will attack him since he can't get to the other dog. And just today, he had been about to snap at a labrador puppy when I caught his collar and instead he bit me and started making these barking/growling/screaming noises and kept trying to grab me again. I was wondering if an e-collar could fix this too and how. Otherwise, I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions. He growls at dogs that are on the same side of the street but regards dogs that are farther away with what looks like suspicion. Any help or comments are greatly appreciated.

Sorry about the long message, I just want to fit in all the details.

How to Stop a Dog eating ANYTHING on Walks

Triple_H — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:28:02 GMT

My dog seems to be hungry all the time! (I know he isn't. I feed him before we take our walks, and he gets the amount he is suppose to be eating per day, morning and night.)

We will walk- he will sniff- BAM tries to wolf down bird feathers, duck poop, leaves, food people leave on the ground, wrappers, ALMOST ANYTHING!

It drives me nuts! I want to know of a way to stop this behavior if possible. I also hate yanking him to get him away from it, but if there is no fast action, its down his throat.

Also, this is causing him to have diarrhea on and off, which is probably uncomfortable for him.

HELP!

New pet product that will save your grass!

Iluvboxrs — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:18:50 GMT

I have a boxer named Sox and she used to urine all over the grass in out back yard. It left nice yellow burn marks all over and after a while our grass was a mess. I live in California so with out nice weather, we are outside all the time. I knew we had to find some solution to this if we ever wanted to have our grass looking good again.

I recently came across this pet product sold at pee-pole.com. It was awesome! We used it and loved it! It works so well that I wanted to give you all a heads up on this product. You need to check out there website for all the details. It's pee-pole.com. It's a fun way to keep the urine in one area and my dog loved it and it works great! Please check it out! You'll love it!

Pee-Pole.com It's an amazing fun aid!

dog acting differently

joodles — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:07:05 GMT

Hi. I have a 4 year old female cocker spaniel. She has always been in good health. Lately, for the past few months, she has been sitting behind our chairs at times or going to another room and sitting in a crate. I know this doesn't sound that weird, but she never did this before. My husband says he has seen her twice sitting and just looking at the wall. We have her cousin that lives with us and they get along good. Before she came, almost 2 years ago, we had another cocker female that was hit by a car and killed. Does anyone have any idea why she is acting like this now. Any info would be appreciated. thanks.

DOG BARKING AT THE FENCE

tonya — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:33:13 GMT

I have a split rail fence in the back yard by a walking trail. People walk and walk there dogs alot. My pekingese runs out to the fence and barks everytime they go by. I bought a birdhouse dog bark stop box and it is not helping at all.

Any suggestions?