dog training

[ratito921]

Since lots of us have pets I was wondering if you all could give me some advice and anyone else that needs it.

My dog can sit stay roll over come talk and whatever else but we have two very big problems.

1. As soon as he gets outside, I become invisible. When he was little we could let him outside in the yard and he'd stay right with us and listen . now he runs as far away as possible. I'm scared because we live so close to the main highway. So I take him out on a leash only. He no longer gets the freedom to RUN!! Is there anyway to get him to come back? I guess try to retrain him? I would love for him to be able to run around and play and do his thing.

2. He just turned two he is no longer a puppy but as soon as we have a visitor he goes into puppy mode. Now granted for a while there he would sit instead of jump on new people but it doesn't matter what I do, he's clawing and jumping on new people. Not because he doesn't like them but because he LOVES them SO MUCH he can't contain himself. How can I keep him from jumping on people?

His behavior is almost like he's regressed instead of advanced. :)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[elvia]

I'm going to put my Cesar Milan hat on and ask you how often you walk your dog? and when you guys get out of the house who gets out first?
If your dog is the one that steps foot forth first he is the leader and you are his follower.

If he is jumping on new people it is because you have not showed him otherwise. he is to be reprimanded or called up on it even before the person rings the doorbell. you need to get on him right way. As soon as you see that the behavior is going on give him a shush. He should figure out that the shush means stop or anything that you want him to do. do not talk to the dog or pet him. no good boy or girl or anything of the sort, you will only make him anxious and give him affection at the wrong time.

I hope this helps.

I have a chocolate lab and she is so needy. It took me a couple of days to figure out I was playing into her game. she is like one of the family but she is a dog and I am the leader.

[Marie]

what you need to do for the jumping is have some cooperating people. When people come to your house and your dog jumps on them, have them turn their back to the dog. When he sits, have them give the dog a treat and give him attention, not WOW attention that gets him all riled up though, just regular attention.

For the yard thing, you do need to train him to come to you. If you only teach him to come when it's time to go in, he's not going to want to come back so you need to make him come and then go back again. Get a really long leash to train if you need to that way he won't run to the highway.

Some things to make your dog come back when he wont, start walking/running the other way....get in the play position (embarrassing), make a bunch of high pitch noise (again embarassing).

I saw these 2 things on a show.

Eventhough your dog is 2, you still need to keep up the training.

Good luck girl!

[dgman]

elvia is correct about ranking the dog. she just didnt use the same word. right now the dog thinks he is number one. you need to change that. the humans need to be number one. unfortunatly you will need the loeash to train him to come. in most places there are leash laws so you probably need one anyway. especially if that is his picture on your post.

i will explain the focus excercise first. all correction needs to come from the leash and the collar. at no time are you to use your hands. except for praise. the best way for me to explain the correction is this. have you ever taken a belt fold it over and make a snapping sound with it. it is made with a sharp jerk no a steady pull. you will find within 10 minutes or so this will make a difference. you need at least a 6 foot leash and a standard flat collar. do not use any voice commands. dont say a word to the dog. do not try to keep the dog by your side. he will do that soon enough all by himself. hold the leash by the loop and start walking. act like you are going somplace. just keep one eye on the animal. more than likley he will try walking in front of you. as soon as he is past you just simply turn and walk the other way. when you turn give the leash a firm jerk. not pulling but a jerk. your dog is a strong one. you wont hurt him. the idea is get his attention. keep walking. now he is behind you because you made a turn he will try getting out in fron again or something similar. he goes one direction you turn and go the other. remember the jerk on the leash and dont say anything. soon the dog will be watching every move you make. every time you turn he will turn with you. he will be watching you. it wont take long. after he has this down pat then training can begin. this is just the focus excercise. i could type all day long just explaining this. its much easier in my training classes because i could show you. try the focus excercise and tell me what happens. then ill try the next step in fixing your problem. as i have time i will tell how to fix the jumping thing. if you can figure out the correction with the leash then you can do everything else.

another way to learn the correction is this. put the handle of the leash over your wrist. first try a steady pull. you will see you can guide your hand but thyere is no correction. now put a little slack in the leash. try a jerk. you will se now there is a little correction involved where before there was none.


i had starting writing a book with all this information in it but lost the hard drive it was on. there is quite a bit more to it. maybe ill start writing again. a good group traing calss can teach you what you need to know. almost any dog i can teach the entire obedience course in about 15 or 20 minutes. people are the ones that need the help. i am also thinking of starting a website for training. including obedience, stupid dog tricks, tracking (mantrailing), obstical course and so on. but i will not teach attack. that is for law enforcment only.


what marie says is also true. but try the focus first. another thin to do is this. when your dog is doing something good give him the command for it. for instance when he is coming to you. tell hime (dogs name) COME. when he gets there praise him. make him think its the best thing he ever did. use you hands. remember the hands are strictly for praise.

[ratito921]

thanks for the tip. I don't let him go out before me. I heard somewhere that I am dominant and the dog is to follow. So At least that we have. He jumps on everything. I call him down he does it more. I try the shush thing when we're walking and he does ok with it. I'm just going to invest more time with him from now on. We walk for at least an hour a day. Then other times when he goes to potty or just to get out of the house. He loves the beach too so I try to take him a couple of times a week.

I'm going to give it all a try. And buy another long leash and hope he doesn't chew in it in half. Little devil he's so clever!! lol

[epm525]

Ratito - here's what worked for us (we did training at Petsmart)

Kind of like what Marie was saying - When we wanted Belle to come back in after we left her out, we would yell "treeeeeet" in a super high pitched way and then give her a small treat when she came back to us. We don't have to do it anymore. Now she just comes in when we call. If she was just not in the mood for the "treat" thing or if we were out at the dog park or something, we would get down on our knees, cup our hands, look at our hands and say, "WOW this thing I have right here in my hands is sooooooo cool. Oh my gosh, check this out. This is awesome." Then grab her when she comes to investigate. I get Belle with that one every time. (Sometimes I can get the baby with it too!)

To curb visitor excitment, we asked our visitors not to make a big deal or even talk to Belle when the came in. In the beginning, we had to keep the leash on her until she calmed down, too.

Don't underestimate the power of time-outs. Just for a minute or two, though. We would put Belle in the bathroom.

What a lucky dog you have! Long walks! :)

[lexidoodle]

Agree with all the above. I love Cesar Milan. We also trained our 2 golden retrievers to come back with the whistle. They are at the beach running during low tide and need to come when called. (the low tide here on the bay side of Cape Cod goes out 1 and a half miles!, thats right no water)

This is the only time they get to run free, except in our backyard which is fenced in.

We are trying to also teach the pup (11 months) to sit when the whistle is blown. (for safety).

[ratito921]

thanks for all the tips. Last night Miko and I went for our walk and in 10 minutes he wasn't pulling and I wasn't getting frustrated. The exercise to walk one way then walk another way really worked. So we're going to try it again today. And keep it going. My dad is going to help us with the excitement thing. He just goes spastic when someone comes in. He's nuts. Then when you try to pet him he rolls onto his back and kicks at you with all 4 legs. I don't care what people think about pit bulls, I got the pacifist of the breed. He's such a baby.

[palinurus]

Great Thread,

I have a new puppy, she is 3 months now and I am trying to learn as much as I can about training her. She is a Gordon Setter, and if you have ever had a setter you will know they are VERY bouncy and excitable. I walk her alot because of this, and because she's so cute everyone I meet wants to pet her, and then of course she tries to jump up on them.... it's very confusing for her because they all think it's just cute!!

Great reading... thanks for all the tips. Right now I'd give anything to just get her house trained :).

P

[lexidoodle]

Many years ago my father had a german shepard that was the biggest baby in the world, except when a stranger came around, she would bark as if she would take your leg off! Anyway, my father worked with this dog everyday, "Shultza" (her name) was so well trained that my dad could throw her ball into the road and she would sit and not move, although her staring at it would bore a hole through it. I am babbling now, my point is consistancy and you have to train everyday.

Ratito and others who are trying to have their dog walk nicely next to them without pulling, try a harness collar. With the harness collar they don't have a tendancy to pull because it is not around their neck.

[Marie]

rat: they are people lovers :) mine LOVES people too and jumps on people. I'm going to have to work on that part myself.

[ratito921]

mine seriously needs puppy ritalin. He's just wired. he's getting better. I worked with him all day today. He's doing really well.

[dgman]

ratito921

i forgot to mention limit trainig sessions to around 20 minutes. i usually do 2 sessions with a 15 min break for fun. at least during classes.

[ratito921]

thanks dgman will do!!