Puppy Training

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

My fiancee and I are trying to figure out how to continue/start training our puppy. He is becoming a big pain and quite dominant. Actually he was dominant from day one but he now seems to disregard most commands and only listens maybe 50% of the time.

Just thought I would see if any of the dog people on here have any advice or know a really good trainer IN Vancouver (not in Burnaby or somewhere). At this point, I don't mind paying a lot to have him (us) trained.

He is a Boston Terrier, Miniature Pinscher with a little Jack Russell. If we had known about the Jack when we bought him, we would have never bought him. Both of us really dislike Jack Russells.

We expected hyper, but he absolutely ridiculous. More energetic than any dog I or my fiancee have ever had...by far. He seems to have a problem still with meeting people and other dogs. He just cannot calm down. He literally starts shaking and whining, jumping, nipping. He knows he is suppose to sit before anyone can approach him and he used to but now he is starting to just go nuts if he is restrained or made to sit when he wants to see someone. He cries so loud that it sounds like he is dying lol. Its very embarrassing.

The other problem is his lack of obedience in the house. He was progressing very well for months but the past little while seems to be going backwards. By about 8 weeks, he was starting to nip hands a lot and chase the cat around the condo. He was terrible on walks but this was all to be expected. Over the next few months he got better on walks and actually stopped the nipping of hands quite a bit. Now he is starting to do it all over again. We have obviously lost his respect.

He does listen but often it takes a long time to get his attention and he ends up listening more on his own terms than ours. He has also started to bark back at us when we give him a command. He has also started to bark at the cat a lot which he never used to :neutral:

Any ideas? He is just about 7 months old now and was neutered yesterday.

I guess I should give him some credit for the good things...he was "paper" trained very well and quickly, only going to the bathroom outside on the balcony (on paper) or waiting to go for his walk. He has also never chewed anything he is not suppose to after being told to stop other than paper if he finds it. He has no problem sleeping in his crate at night.

So we seem to have been lucky with a few things :smile:

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Here are a bunch of pictures of the little bugger (Diesel) ....

When we first got him:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/Justinpsmith/IMG_7284.jpg

Few weeks later:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/Justinpsmith/imagejpeg_2.jpg

Few weeks ago:

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/Justinpsmith/IMG00109-20091119-1928.jpg

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

And just cause I love this one!

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r179/Justinpsmith/IMG_7169.jpg

[365seasons]

Adorable puppy! I really like his coloring.

I'm not an expert on dogs or anything, but I figured I'd share my experience, and you can take or leave what you choose from it.
My parents actually have a 7 month old boxer puppy right now, and have been going through a lot of the same thing right now, so a lot of this is fresh on my brain.

First off, neutering should help him be a little less dominant, so lets hope for the best there. Hopefully he will calm down a little. As far as the biting, and barking at you goes, you are right. He is pretty much in his teenage years and telling his parents "NO!". My parents and I have found that with Zephyr (their boxer), when the dog starts biting, to calmly say no, and go to another room, or up on a high chair or somewhere where the dog cannot bite. Usually they are doing this for attention, and regardless if you are trying to break the bad habit with techniques, it is still bad attention. So by leaving them, you are telling them that you do not appreciate that and will not tolerate it.
As well, when he barks at you when you ask him to do something, I would suggest putting him on a time out. This should not be a bad thing, where there is yelling or pulling, just a calm time out so he can calm down and realize that you are, indeed, the alpha & boss, and that that behavior is unacceptable.

Something I'm sure you've been doing already, but will mention anyways, is the reward system. Whether your dog is praise oriented or responds to food, you need to let him know exactly what behavior you like and praise him generously for it each time he does it, whether you commanded it or not (at least for now). By doing this, the dog will be trying to please you constantly because he will associate that with praise.

Other than that, he is in his teen years as far as age goes, and as long as you keep on doing what you'd been doing in the start that worked, I wouldn't get too discouraged. He should just be going through a phase and by staying constant, he will come out of it well trained. As he is an energetic dog, try working with his commands and his temper after he has had a long walk or exercise. This may just help your sanity as he will be worn out and more compliant.

Hopefully I could be of some help, and I really hope that you and your fiancee can figure out a solution for the problems you are having. He is an adorable puppy and I'm sure he will grow into a great dog. =)

[The Grizz]

How much exercise is he getting? He needs to be totally played out before you do any training. If you wear out his energy he will be easier to train. One idea is a hulla hoop, with treats oin one hand and the hoop n the other get him to jump threw the hoop over and over untill he doesn't want to any more. If he seems like he want to stop get him focused on the treats on the other side of the hoop. Keep your tone of voice calm & monotone when training commands. If you get excited so will he to. Play play and more play is your key to success.

[Navigator]

I have a Labrador that I adopted from the SPCA when he was about a year old and he was very dominant. It took a long time before he stopped embarrassing me in public, but I took him to Petsmart Obedience, and lucked out that the trainer was very knowledgable. Jack Russells are what they are, but they are smart little suckers and probably would respond well to some formal training since it gives their brains something to do. My Lab loves learning new stuff (comes with food!) but I find it does help calm him down too.

The books by Ceasar Milan are pretty good, and they do advocate a lot of walking, and restrained walking - not one of those zip line leashes, keeping them close to establish dominance. I find long walks with a little training session after really worked for my dog and he's pretty good now, very few slips. The one thing that I really liked from training was teaching them to walk on a loose leash - I guarantee if you have a puller - you will look ridiculous for awhile but it works. Take them out on a 6 ft leash and the second he pulls - stop. Have him come back to you and sit. Then carry on - every time he pulls you stop. I must have taken 25 minutes to walk half a block the first night but I now have a 80 lb Lab that walks like an angel on a leash with no gimmicky collars or rig-ups.

[workn2hard2day]

I know that the treadmill saved us. Our Golden never really got tired on outside walks. (2 - 1/2 hr during day and a 1 hour at before dinner) He walks on the treadmill at 4mph for about 10-15 mins.
It is cute to catch him standing on it looking at the control panel wondering why it isnt moving. Started him on it when he was under a year, but the older lab wont even go near it.
I got the idea from Cesear Millan.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Adorable puppy! I really like his coloring.

I'm not an expert on dogs or anything, but I figured I'd share my experience, and you can take or leave what you choose from it.
My parents actually have a 7 month old boxer puppy right now, and have been going through a lot of the same thing right now, so a lot of this is fresh on my brain.

First off, neutering should help him be a little less dominant, so lets hope for the best there. Hopefully he will calm down a little. As far as the biting, and barking at you goes, you are right. He is pretty much in his teenage years and telling his parents "NO!". My parents and I have found that with Zephyr (their boxer), when the dog starts biting, to calmly say no, and go to another room, or up on a high chair or somewhere where the dog cannot bite. Usually they are doing this for attention, and regardless if you are trying to break the bad habit with techniques, it is still bad attention. So by leaving them, you are telling them that you do not appreciate that and will not tolerate it.
As well, when he barks at you when you ask him to do something, I would suggest putting him on a time out. This should not be a bad thing, where there is yelling or pulling, just a calm time out so he can calm down and realize that you are, indeed, the alpha & boss, and that that behavior is unacceptable.

Something I'm sure you've been doing already, but will mention anyways, is the reward system. Whether your dog is praise oriented or responds to food, you need to let him know exactly what behavior you like and praise him generously for it each time he does it, whether you commanded it or not (at least for now). By doing this, the dog will be trying to please you constantly because he will associate that with praise.

Other than that, he is in his teen years as far as age goes, and as long as you keep on doing what you'd been doing in the start that worked, I wouldn't get too discouraged. He should just be going through a phase and by staying constant, he will come out of it well trained. As he is an energetic dog, try working with his commands and his temper after he has had a long walk or exercise. This may just help your sanity as he will be worn out and more compliant.

Hopefully I could be of some help, and I really hope that you and your fiancee can figure out a solution for the problems you are having. He is an adorable puppy and I'm sure he will grow into a great dog. =)

Thanks. We are hoping the neutering will help a little too but so far, he has come home the same dog. Day after and he is already back to his old ways. We did not expect him to calm down but maybe loose a little dominance. Maybe with time.

Many of the things your mentioning are similar to what we have tried. Many people have told us it will just take some time. This is my first dog but I grew up with many puppies over the years and none were like this. They were all large dogs though.

How much exercise is he getting? He needs to be totally played out before you do any training. If you wear out his energy he will be easier to train. One idea is a hulla hoop, with treats oin one hand and the hoop n the other get him to jump threw the hoop over and over untill he doesn't want to any more. If he seems like he want to stop get him focused on the treats on the other side of the hoop. Keep your tone of voice calm & monotone when training commands. If you get excited so will he to. Play play and more play is your key to success.

He does NOT get enough exercise and we do know that. Not having a yard is a problem and something we have considered before and after getting him. We have talked a lot lately about whether keeping him is even fair. He is walked daily but I cannot always take him for hours and hours to tire him out. Actually I have taken him for a day long walk around the seawall here and down to the beach but he was still crazy when we got home. I don't think walks or even runs wear him out. I have yet to see him really tired other than going to sleep at night. I suppose it's impossible to never be tired but I don't know what it would take.

We do try to keep calm and monotone with commands as he does respond very negatively to yelling or worse yet, excitement in our voices! If you get excited around him, you have to understand he is going to go nuts! lol

I have a Labrador that I adopted from the SPCA when he was about a year old and he was very dominant. It took a long time before he stopped embarrassing me in public, but I took him to Petsmart Obedience, and lucked out that the trainer was very knowledgable. Jack Russells are what they are, but they are smart little suckers and probably would respond well to some formal training since it gives their brains something to do. My Lab loves learning new stuff (comes with food!) but I find it does help calm him down too.

The books by Ceasar Milan are pretty good, and they do advocate a lot of walking, and restrained walking - not one of those zip line leashes, keeping them close to establish dominance. I find long walks with a little training session after really worked for my dog and he's pretty good now, very few slips. The one thing that I really liked from training was teaching them to walk on a loose leash - I guarantee if you have a puller - you will look ridiculous for awhile but it works. Take them out on a 6 ft leash and the second he pulls - stop. Have him come back to you and sit. Then carry on - every time he pulls you stop. I must have taken 25 minutes to walk half a block the first night but I now have a 80 lb Lab that walks like an angel on a leash with no gimmicky collars or rig-ups.

We have a few books from Milan. Although I do like his methods, I don't think much of his methods are for us but I may have read the wrong books. In the books i have read, he is mostly training using a pack which is an advantage we obviously don't have. He is also using basically a "no love" approach (for lack of a better term) where he is not showing the dogs "human" love and affection but treating them purely as dogs. I have really butchered that description and I think I may have read the wrong books. I will check the others. We did take some stuff from his books like the walking strategies. The long lease....never worked. I tried for a week straight about an hour each day but after I stop, he is stubborn enough to never come back no matter how long I wait and call him back. Maybe I didn't try long enough? We just literally were getting no where. Keeping the lease very short so he cannot walk ahead of us is how it is now but he pulls like crazy and ends up choking a lot. I am stubborn enough to never give in to him but I amount of people who comment on how mean I am gets annoying. I walk him mostly at night now...not good either.

It's amazing how many people on the street have an opinion on how to "fix" the puppy and a majority are just stupid. Someone even told me to beat him and he will listen. I looked at her poor dogs and felt really bad for them :sad:

Thanks guys!

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I know that the treadmill saved us. Our Golden never really got tired on outside walks. (2 - 1/2 hr during day and a 1 hour at before dinner) He walks on the treadmill at 4mph for about 10-15 mins.
It is cute to catch him standing on it looking at the control panel wondering why it isnt moving. Started him on it when he was under a year, but the older lab wont even go near it.
I got the idea from Cesear Millan.

I bet this would help but we just don't have room for one and I don't think my gym would like me bringing him along lol. My girl would probably think I am taking the dog to the gym to "pick up chicks" :lol: Actually that's one thing he was good at when he was really little. Now he just jumps all over them :sad: Not that I'm using him for that :wink: hahahaha

[banditpowdercoat]

Tagging along. Our Min Pin can be a handfull most of the time too. Hyper as heck. Even with a cast on!!! She was wrapped up in the daughters blanket when I went to put girl to bed. Dog fell out and smacked coffee table :( Tough Pup though, I will say that. I splinted it, and she slept till morning when we could get into the Vet....

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Tagging along. Our Min Pin can be a handfull most of the time too. Hyper as heck. Even with a cast on!!! She was wrapped up in the daughters blanket when I went to put girl to bed. Dog fell out and smacked coffee table :( Tough Pup though, I will say that. I splinted it, and she slept till morning when we could get into the Vet....

Oh man Im sorry to hear that! Our pup seems to be very tough too.

[banditpowdercoat]

Ya, I felt really bad. snapped it clean in 2. Was out of work at time too, so Vet bills were scaring me to say the least. But she got the cast off the other day the Wife said. So she's doing great now. Was really siprising how well she could get around on 3 legs. Barely slowed her down any.

[365seasons]

Thanks. We are hoping the neutering will help a little too but so far, he has come home the same dog. Day after and he is already back to his old ways. We did not expect him to calm down but maybe loose a little dominance. Maybe with time.

Many of the things your mentioning are similar to what we have tried. Many people have told us it will just take some time. This is my first dog but I grew up with many puppies over the years and none were like this. They were all large dogs though.

Hopefully with time and consistency, he will learn. Most of my experience is with large breed dogs as well, so that may be different, but just keep trying.

Good luck! =) All great advice so far on here. And luckily none about beating your dog like the lady you saw. That's horrible.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Hopefully with time and consistency, he will learn. Most of my experience is with large breed dogs as well, so that may be different, but just keep trying.

Good luck! =) All great advice so far on here. And luckily none about beating your dog like the lady you saw. That's horrible.

The dogs we had growing up in my house were: German Shepherds (brother and sister), Rottweiler and the biggest, a Rottweiler x Bernese Mountain Dog, so same thing, all big dogs.

This little guy is way more trouble and work than any of them ever were!

I was shocked at what that lady told me :sad: Sad to think she had a few dogs with her at the time too.

[michika]

I'd look around for a dog walker. They can be invaluable. If you can find a great one they'll both exercise your dog, work in its socialization skills, and often you'll find that their general responsiveness to commands improves. All on top of your dog getting lots of great long walks.

You're vet could also probably recommend a behaviorist if you feel like you need additional outside help.

[The Grizz]

That was another this I was going to sugest was the treadmill. He is young enough to learn to how to work with it. You have your hands fun with this little guy. We have 2 huskies and they still get to be a hand fun and need to bust out and run there buts off. I am lucky we live on an acreage were the ajacent farmer's let me run them with my quad in there feilds.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx291/GRIZZtheWELDER/100_2886.jpg

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I'd look around for a dog walker. They can be invaluable. If you can find a great one they'll both exercise your dog, work in its socialization skills, and often you'll find that their general responsiveness to commands improves. All on top of your dog getting lots of great long walks.

You're vet could also probably recommend a behaviorist if you feel like you need additional outside help.

Ok this is a good idea that I had not thought of. I am going to look into this for sure. Eventually I may look into the behaviorist too I guess. Lately I am kind of feeling a little guilty even keeping this dog. We are both very attached to him and love him a lot but maybe we are not the best home for him without a yard? We really do want what's best for him. We are looking into selling our condo and buying a house but because of our wedding next year and some roof problems with our condo, it might not be for a few years which doesn't really help diesel.

[imisky]

i have a male jack x schnauzer which is not neutered and he can be a handful sometimes but usually if he gets too aggressive during any event whether play or greeting someone simply sit him down with a firm "NO" does the trick, otherwise if your at home flip him onto his back (watch for the teeth) until they have calmed down before standing up and walking away into another room. by calm i mean they will lay on there back without you pinning them down. mental training on a dog is more tiring for them then physical training, it will wear them down fast from my experience.

I find that indoor games is useful with training them mentally, telling the dog to sit and stay and walking away, stay within his sight for the first little while then move onto walking out of his sight and calling his name and letting him find you works well both for bonding and training and wearing out his energy.

[michika]

Ok this is a good idea that I had not thought of. I am going to look into this for sure. Eventually I may look into the behaviorist too I guess. Lately I am kind of feeling a little guilty even keeping this dog. We are both very attached to him and love him a lot but maybe we are not the best home for him without a yard? We really do want what's best for him. We are looking into selling our condo and buying a house but because of our wedding next year and some roof problems with our condo, it might not be for a few years which doesn't really help diesel.

Not having a yard can also be a blessing. Remember there are some dogs who never go for walks, runs, or off-leash adventures. All their owners do is let them out in the yard and thats it. I bet he appreciates walks more then you know. My dogs love it when the dog walker comes, its definitely worth the price, the benefits completely outweigh the cost.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

i have a male jack x schnauzer which is not neutered and he can be a handful sometimes but usually if he gets too aggressive during any event whether play or greeting someone simply sit him down with a firm "NO" does the trick, otherwise if your at home flip him onto his back (watch for the teeth) until they have calmed down before standing up and walking away into another room. by calm i mean they will lay on there back without you pinning them down. mental training on a dog is more tiring for them then physical training, it will wear them down fast from my experience.

I find that indoor games is useful with training them mentally, telling the dog to sit and stay and walking away, stay within his sight for the first little while then move onto walking out of his sight and calling his name and letting him find you works well both for bonding and training and wearing out his energy.

Yeah I remember your dog :) He was very calm compared to my dog though! He was kind of more what I had expected when I got diesel. We knew he would be a handful but nothing like this. We actually do exactly what your saying already and he's pretty good with sitting and waiting.

I think I should be more clear. He does listen, is very smart and very, very affectionate. He just has a hard time listening once he is distracted by the cat, new people or dogs he doesn't know, birds,ect. Normal puppy stuff but like a million times worse than a normal puppy.

Then add the dominance and he can be tough to deal with. One huge mistake we made was pinning him with our hands when he was young and also putting a finger in his throat when he bites. These were things a few people had given as advice but I now believe are totally wrong...at least with this dog. He is now a little scared of hands or at least he associates hands with being in trouble. Scared is maybe the wrong word. So now he nips and tries to avoid hands even when you go to pet him. We really messed up there and are trying to fix this. We also made the mistake of going after him or chasing him when he wouldn't listen to his commands and run away. My mom has since told me never to chase after a dog as it shows them your not in control and its what he wants us to do. I'm sure we have made many more mistakes along the way which is why I know we need to be trained probably more so than diesel.

[marie]

Don't give up hope... one of the biggest problems you have right now is that he is going through puberty. Just like any teenage boy he thinks he's all grown up and doesn't "need" you to tell him what to do anymore

More dogs are re homed or "rescued" between the ages of 6 months and 18 months then any other time

Looking at the pics I can tell he's trouble and probably not the most ideal apartment dog, he looks like a terrier at heart and needs a job to do (mainly hunt down and kill vermin :lol: ) I second a dogwalker and maybe even find a large area fenced in where he can race his butt off to burn off steam


And remember he will grow up.....maybe :twised:

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

That was another this I was going to sugest was the treadmill. He is young enough to learn to how to work with it. You have your hands fun with this little guy. We have 2 huskies and they still get to be a hand fun and need to bust out and run there buts off. I am lucky we live on an acreage were the ajacent farmer's let me run them with my quad in there feilds.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx291/GRIZZtheWELDER/100_2886.jpg

Beautiful dogs!

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Don't give up hope... one of the biggest problems you have right now is that he is going through puberty. Just like any teenage boy he thinks he's all grown up and doesn't "need" you to tell him what to do anymore

More dogs are re homed or "rescued" between the ages of 6 months and 18 months then any other time

Looking at the pics I can tell he's trouble and probably not the most ideal apartment dog, he looks like a terrier at heart and needs a job to do (mainly hunt down and kill vermin :lol: ) I second a dogwalker and maybe even find a large area fenced in where he can race his butt off to burn off steam


And remember he will grow up.....maybe :twised:

Thanks Marie.

I agree that he is really not a great apartment dog. That is really the main reason we had been considering re-homing him. We do not want to be selfish and keep him if he could have a better life somewhere else. The problem I have with re-homing him is that I would have a hard time letting him go to people we don't know and I will not send him to the SPCA. This is the first animal I have ever had as a family pet or my own, that has not come from the SPCA and I had a hard time in the first place buying a dog instead of rescuing one.

I think my fiancee would be a mess if we re-homed him. She has been really quiet about the subject and just kind of said if its the right thing to do then I can figure it out. Not so much help...but the only dog she has ever owned as a little girl had to be given away and it was rough on her.

I don't know how to decide if keeping him in a condo is "wrong" and he should be re-homed or if its just not ideal? It's a lot easier with fish lol.

I do know we are both willing to work even harder than we have been to train him. We have changed lifestyle things like being home on a saturday night because we were out most of the day today and don't want to leave him too long. I notice we are home more often since getting him.

Another question about the dog walker. Is this a suggestion so that he gets out more or so that someone else is training him and handling him? I guess a bit of both?

[marie]

Thanks Marie.

I agree that he is really not a great apartment dog. That is really the main reason we had been considering re-homing him. We do not want to be selfish and keep him if he could have a better life somewhere else. The problem I have with re-homing him is that I would have a hard time letting him go to people we don't know and I will not send him to the SPCA. This is the first animal I have ever had as a family pet or my own, that has not come from the SPCA and I had a hard time in the first place buying a dog instead of rescuing one.

I think my fiancee would be a mess if we re-homed him. She has been really quiet about the subject and just kind of said if its the right thing to do then I can figure it out. Not so much help...but the only dog she has ever owned as a little girl had to be given away and it was rough on her.

I don't know how to decide if keeping him in a condo is "wrong" and he should be re-homed or if its just not ideal? It's a lot easier with fish lol.

I do know we are both willing to work even harder than we have been to train him. We have changed lifestyle things like being home on a saturday night because we were out most of the day today and don't want to leave him too long. I notice we are home more often since getting him.

Another question about the dog walker. Is this a suggestion so that he gets out more or so that someone else is training him and handling him? I guess a bit of both?

I suggested a dog walker (or even better a good puppy daycare) to get him socialized with other dogs as well as some exercise

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I suggested a dog walker (or even better a good puppy daycare) to get him socialized with other dogs as well as some exercise

Ok. There is a dog daycare just down the street from me. To be honest, I have been kind of embarrassed to take him there because I know how he will act when I walk in but I think I should give it a shot. It would be nice for him to be out for a full day with other dogs a few times a week.

[marie]

Ok. There is a dog daycare just down the street from me. To be honest, I have been kind of embarrassed to take him there because I know how he will act when I walk in but I think I should give it a shot. It would be nice for him to be out for a full day with other dogs a few times a week.

Do check up on them, there's no point sending him there if all he's going to do is sit in a crate all day.

And don't be embarrassed to take him for lots of walks, he won't get better behaved if you don't...besides the extra exercise is good for you too :mrgreen:

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Do check up on them, there's no point sending him there if all he's going to do is sit in a crate all day.

And don't be embarrassed to take him for lots of walks, he won't get better behaved if you don't...besides the extra exercise is good for you too :mrgreen:

I actually have a brochure from the place and for a full day there (8 hours) they get two walks and the rest of the time they are in the common area playing with the other dogs unless they become a problem. Then they get a time out. I guess its a lot like pre-school.

I'm not really embarrassed about the walks, more about taking him into the daycare :neutral:

I run almost everyday, so I want to take him with me but so far when I have tried, he barks and trips me. Going to just keep trying though and Im sure eventually he will "get it" and run with me. He thinks its a game right now. I don't take him out for runs consistently enough I don't think. Need to just start taking him every time.

[Leah]

Justin,
Do you guy's have a crate for him, a place of his own to go, I would try to get him use to one. And he still is very young. Small dogs are indeed way more work at times. Ours had
little set backs till she was about a year. Much to my horror. Also get him a choke chain not a heavy one and make corrections by snapping the lead. Puppies are so cute I think the biggest mistake we make is we treat them like babies and are afraid they may break. So generally we talk softly and do not show any authority, more so women. So the dog gets the idea he is boss. I hope it all works out for you guy's, good-luck he is very cute.
The daycare might be a solution but he still has to come home at the end of the day so he needs to realize you are the ones in charge.

[marie]

I don't think a choke chain would be the best tool to use in this case...a better choice would be a 'Halti' or 'Gentle Leader' , they are the same idea as a halter for a horse

[Carrera75]

justin,
do you guy's have a crate for him, a place of his own to go, i would try to get him use to one. And he still is very young. Small dogs are indeed way more work at times. Ours had
little set backs till she was about a year. Much to my horror. Also get him a choke chain not a heavy one and make corrections by snapping the lead. Puppies are so cute i think the biggest mistake we make is we treat them like babies and are afraid they may break. So generally we talk softly and do not show any authority, more so women. So the dog gets the idea he is boss. I hope it all works out for you guy's, good-luck he is very cute.
The daycare might be a solution but he still has to come home at the end of the day so he needs to realize you are the ones in charge.

+1

[JJB84]

Hi,

I myself have a stubborn dog and he too was very nippy as a puppy and pulled alot when we go for walks. A few things that work when we walk is a gentle leader, its a muzzle looking thing but its not a muzzel you would attach your leash to this gentle leader and when the pup pulls you have more control because it attached to his snout. It takes a bit getting used to for the pup but they do help alot. Another thing I tried that worked was looping his leash (6 foot one works well or longer) around his back end to almost make a choker so everytime he pulls the leash will tighten around his lower stomache and cause some discomfort but its easier on his stomache than his neck. The leash is still attached to the collar when doing this method. hope maybe some of that helped. It took my boy 1 1/2 years to calm down and listen better :)

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

So its been a few weeks since Diesel got neutered and he is actually listening and progressing much better now. He has the same energy levels as before but seems to actually stop and try to figure out what I am asking him to do even when he is running around like an idiot. So that's been great.

He also seems very, very cuddly and loving since loosing his boys :lol: I guess he's gone soft lol. It's really nice actually. He seems to enjoy our company much more than before.

One thing though that has not changed and is the one thing that drives me nuts more than anything else is how he reacts to meeting new people/dogs or how he reacts when he wants to meet people or dogs.

For example last night I was walking him and he was great for most of the walk until near the end when he saw a lady that for whatever reason he HAD to meet. He starts to pull, bark, whine, ect. I hold him back and try to get him to sit but no matter what I do, he will just persist. In this case, the lady wanted nothing to do with him and kept walking. We went around a corner and he was still whining and pulling to go back.

Anyone dealt with this before? Or have some ideas?

When people come over we ask them to ignore the dog and we lease him so that he cannot get to them either. It takes a good 10 minutes for him to calm down but then after we allow the people to approach him, he goes nuts again. On new years eve we had a party with quite a few friends over and he stayed on the lease all night because he couldn't calm down. We took him off a few times to try but he knocked over drinks, jumps on people and just tears around the condo.

I can't really ever tire this dog out. I run almost everyday and now take him with me but even after a long run, he is not tired! He can out run me easily.

Basically we are pretty happy with him lately other than meeting new dogs and people. He just can't seem to handle it!

[lastlight]

Glad to hear things are improving!

I can sell you my treadmill...you pay shipping haha.

[JJB84]

Have you tried bringing some extra tastey treats when you go for walks? I tried treats with my pup but I had to resort to human food as he liked that best. I would cut up some hot dogs or cheese cubes and everytime he would get too "excited" I would try and get him to sit or focus for his treats. You can also try getting him to walk with a toy, I have not done this but met a few people with bull terriers that worked well for them. They would get there dogs to walk with there favorite toy in there mouth to distract them while walking. As far as the in your condo part this will just take some time if you can have a friend come over and then keep coming in thru your door and everytime your friend comes in your pup will go crazy but you can try and correct him and eventually he will get used to people coming over.

Hope that was some sort of help, and glad things are going better.

[The Grizz]

This could be just the curious puppy side of him. He sounds like he is a friendly type and just want's to say hi to people he see's. Dogs, I find anyway, are a great judge of character My female Husky is the same way just love poeple except one she doesn't. The only thing we can do about it is to focus her attention to something else, some time's it takes a little tap in the but with my foot, just like Ceasar.

[my2rotties]

I have a dog walking/training business, and I can say exercise is the biggest factor in having a healthy, happy and well rounded dog. When dogs get out they socialize. Because I walk unruly dogs (hyper and frustrated due to lack of exercise), it is up to me to teach them how I run my pack and my own dogs help me with this themselves. People that hire me to take their dogs hiking, very quickly learn how essential I am to how their dogs behave. They say they are much more willing to listen and are very content. I leave with crazy dogs and come back with dogs that listen and the owners think I am the dog guru.

Please watch Cesar Milan and read his books. This man is the God of dogs to me, and he has common sense ways that help deal with any issue people have with their dogs.

With the leash pulling and barking, you should keep advancing ahead and not allow him to fixate on anything aside of moving forward. You do this by making quick corrections with his lead and having his collar fairly high up on his neck. Make sure they are looking and moving forward and not looking back. Just keep walking and correcting and tell him "no" or just make a noise (whatever you want) that is quick and gets his attention. Cesar Milan uses the famous "shhhhh". You can use "yuck" or whatever guttural noise you like to use.

Cesar says "exercise, discipline and affection"... it really works.

I have a new English Stafford puppy that is quite a handful at time, but I am very consistent with her exercise and discipline. If she was in a single dog home and did not get out with lots of dogs like she does in her life with me, she would be dog aggressive for sure. With her personality, a person could have had issues with her, since she is a little fire ball of a puppy. She LOVES people, but is stubborn and hard headed like most bully breeds can be. All dogs will test their boundaries and challenge as they grow and bond with you.

Neutering your little guy may have calmed him down for now, but he will still need to be worked with daily. I have a two year old intact male Stafford and he is by far, the calmest dog I have ever owned. I think all dogs have personalities and even when you have them altered, they won't stray too far from what they really are.

Another thing you might want to consider is day care a couple of times a week. It would be good for him to interact with other dogs and learn a pack mentality. It socializes them and teaches them the tools on how to deal with other dogs in any situation. Dogs in a pack behave differently, and you see the older ones teach the younger what is acceptable behavior and what manners in a pack really are. If you ever watched how my personal dogs interact with my client's dogs, you would be amazed at how much dogs learn from each other. You actually see them having light bulb moments and watch them change for the better. My rottie girl is my star pupil and teacher dog. She knows how things are to be and will correct other dogs (not a harsh of violent reaction), and make sure they behave the way I expect them to behave.

When you buy a pup from an ethical breeder the pup is a minimum of 8 weeks old (10 weeks is best), and has learned a huge amount from its mother and siblings. Also a good breeder will match a puppy with the potential owners personalities and life style. I don't know how old your pup was when he was weaned and taken away from his mother, but this may have some thing to do with some of your issues as well.

Good luck with your pup, and I hope this some what helps you out.

[Bayside Corals]

I got pitbull puppy about 6 months ago and he is now about 8 months old. I have never owned a dog before and experienced many things you have. His name is Bosco and he is a great dog (getting better every day). After the first couple of months of getting him me and my wife were like holy Sh*t what did we get ourselves into! We had a serious talk on many occations about getting rid of him as we could not handle all of his energy!

Like others have said watch cesar he has been a ton of help for us!

To me it sounds like your dog has to much pent up energey that he needs to get rid of! We use to take Bosco for very long walks and it wouldn't even faze him! So I started taking my bike and made him run beside me on the bike. That worked much better! he would actually get tired out and would listen much better to commands after a good run (not a walk). We would sometimes take him for a run beside the bike and then go for a walk after so we could train him not to pull on the leash for walking. If we tried just walking him with no run first he would pull like crazy! The run before hand is key.

Bosco is a very social dog. We take him to the dog parks, bring him around other friends with their dogs, we started this from a young age and does well around other dogs. When Bosco was younger we used to leave the leash on him while he played with other dogs and people so if he got out of line we would correct him with a stern NO and a quick correction with the leash. If he did it again we would respond with the same corrections only the tug on the leash would get harder and harde each time. Eventually it will sink in! The other thing that really help us was a pincher collar. A regular leash did nothing, the choaker also did nothing. Put on the pincher collar and a swift tug on the leash and he will listen real fast! He now wears his pincher collar all the time except for bed time.

he is still a work in progress as he is only 8 months old but has come a very long way since we first got him! For us the single most imoprtant thing is excersize! Without it we would have been hopless. the second thing was the pincher collar.

If you don't have room for a treadmill, or have a bike, try some roller blades or even get one of the those doggy back packs and put some extra weight in there to tire him out quicker. You have to tire him out before you try to train him or he will not listen. If we are expecting company or throwing a party we will run Bosco on the treadmill for 30mins before everyone arrives and he will behave much better. I also run him before I take him to the dog park or anywhere else there may be other people and dogs and he will listen to me. The key is to tire him out.

Colby

[my2rotties]

Colby,

Why not get Bosco (love that name) a harness and teach him how to pull things. It is fantastic exercise and pitties are the very best for doing things like this. Dogs LOVE to have a job, and pitties were used for fighting and then people saw their pulling potential. It's amazing to see how much one dog can pull.

Good for you for working with you dog, and not giving up on him.

[Aquattro]

First, a really good read is a book called Control Unleashed. Great info on managing "disorderly" dogs. Also, I can tire out my border collie in about 10 minutes while sitting on the floor training her with a clicker. Clicker training makes them think hard, and thinking hard is hard work. There is no need to run your pup for hours a day. Another thing I'd look into is a DVD called Crate Games...it's designed more for sport dogs, but the first few phases teach self control, I found it to be a fabulous tool.
As for dominant, I think the case is more that the pup is sensing your frustration, and without feeling your clear direction, is taking it upon himself to direct his own actions. The book above will help with that. Lots of Milan's stuff is probably similar. Goggle clicker training and read some of Karen Pryor's stuff on it, it's a great way to tire your pup without leaving the house.
to add, there are lots of comments about tiring him out being important. I'd have to disagree. The real key is to have a relationship where the dog respects your direction on when he can act up and when he can be a good dog. Yes, excercise is important, but running your dog into the ground to bypass correcting behavioural issues is not the way to do it. If I had to physically tire out my dogs everyday, I'd be ready for the olympics :) Again, the book will give you advice on getting to this type of relationship. Clicker training will also help, as it builds the dogs confidence and lets him learn to be successful working with you. This starts the realtionship where your dogs looks to you for direction.

[StirCrazy]

First, a really good read is a book called Control Unleashed. Great info on managing "disorderly" dogs.

Another thing I'd look into is a DVD called Crate Games...it's designed more for sport dogs, but the first few phases teach self control, I found it to be a fabulous tool.
.

and why didn't you tell me abbout these two?

Steve

[workn2hard2day]

It will also help to make his mind work.
We taught our dog to sit at the side of the trail when we saw people approach. (it took a special treat - real chicken bits!)
He would have to sit until they went past. Some people will ask to pet him because at that point he will be "well behaved".
Keep the treat in your fist and low to the ground, make him work to get the treat it. They will pet and go on before he gets the treat.
Your walk will take longer, but it will make his little brain try to figure out what you are doing.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Thanks everyone. Sorry for the late reply but I kind of got busy and forgot about this thread! So much great advice. Some is along the lines of what we are doing, some is new.

I still run with diesel as much as possible but it never tires him out for long. He is a machine. I grew up with two German Shepherds, two Rottweilers and a Rotty/Bernese mountain dog X, who combined probably didn't have as much energy as this guy! I grew up on 200 acres though so the dogs had a lot of freedom :)

He is still relatively good at home but continues to have issues with socialization. I have to be honest too, I take him out much less now during the daytime or where there are a lot of other dogs simply because I can't handle the way he acts. I know this is really wrong but for the past few weeks I just can't deal with his whining and barking when he sees another dog.

He is starting a dog daycare twice a week on monday. So he goes in for 8-9 hours a day. The dogs are all in a nice big area together with lots of toys, a cool little playground and half of it is outside, so fresh air. They seem to take great care of the dogs and allow big and small dogs which I like. I didn't want him going to a small dog daycare which actually may not allow him anyways because I am hoping some of the older, big dogs can put him in his place.

We'll see how that goes.

I forgot to mention something funny. Today I was walking him past the big Vancouver Police Station near my place and there was a huge group of officers outside. Well Diesel decided he would bark as loud as he could at them! So embarrassing! They were cool though and just kind of asked if I wanted them to arrest Diesel and take him away. I said sure but I guess they didn't realize I was serious.

[my2rotties]

Good to hear Justin!!!

[Leah]

Glad he is behaving Justin! :biggrin:

[fishoholic]

One thing I found that helps tire out my small dog (who has lots of energy) is a laser pointer toy. He love to chase the mysterious red dot all over the living room. He puts on quite a show for our guests and is so tired after that he behaves himself really well around them.

[busypencil]

You must realize that the decends from a pack mentality. You and your wife-girlfriend are the pack to the dog. No in a pack someone has to be boss. To be boss they have to be respected. Sometimes people get their emotions involved when they have a tendancy to think of the dog as a little person in their house hold and he is not. There are a few simple things you can do to get the idea across as to who is boss.
Food is usually the easiest. Do not leave his food on the floor for him to self feed. Then in his mind the floor is the provider and who are you that I have to respect.
When feeding the dog put food in a dish call the dog. At this time you have to have an idea in your mind of what type of behaviour you want as an end result. If the dog jumps up on you at feeding time this is disrespect, and the best way to treat this is to pivit to your right no talk no touch no eye contact. After all you are boss and he is nothing but a lower pack member. The dog will do what works and if jumping up gives him what he wants in his mind he will continue to do it. IF you responce to jumping is different such as turning away he will enitially try harder. Keep you responce constant. When he realizes it is not working he will stop. If he is hungry he will finally sit and stare at you. Bingo. Now he is willing to take direction from you. If he is trained to sit with one command ask no tell him to sit with conviction in your voice it does not have to be loud but not a plea. Once and once only. If he is not trained to sit mearly use the food to shape the behaviour first before introducing commands. By placing the food just over his head in such a way that he does not jump but is incline to sit to reach the food 2 inches out of reach. It is important at this time to praise as this is the indication reward is comming from this marked behaviour. Then lower his dish and allow the dog to eat. If he will not respond in the desired manner such as continue to jump or walks away he is not hungry enough so put food away for the day and try again next schedual. He will not starve so do not treat him. A time will come when he will understand you are leader and supply the food of life at which time you time your feeding after a sit when the dog is watching your eyes. Praise and reward (feed) You are now much more important in the pack and on your way for respect in other areas. I.E. Do not him lead you on the walk the dog in front is the leader. That is your place. reverse directions you may not go far in the first few walks but he will get the idea. You are first. Even through doorways he waits while you go through even if you have to go through backwards to ensure you go through first. Be consistant. I am sure the paper or kennels in your area can put you in touch with clicker training or other positive methods of training in your area.

[my2rotties]

I have to disagree with the use of laser pointers. Some dogs develop OCD like symptoms from chasing and object and never being able to catch it. However some dogs react negatively, and some dogs do not. With breeds such as mine, I just won't do it. Here is a link...

http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-Laser-Pointers-Safe-for-Your-Puppy-Dog?&id=292320

One thing I found that helps tire out my small dog (who has lots of energy) is a laser pointer toy. He love to chase the mysterious red dot all over the living room. He puts on quite a show for our guests and is so tired after that he behaves himself really well around them.

[fishoholic]

I have to disagree with the use of laser pointers. Some dogs develop OCD like symptoms from chasing and object and never being able to catch it. However some dogs react negatively, and some dogs do not. With breeds such as mine, I just won't do it. Here is a link...

http://ezinearticles.com/?Are-Laser-Pointers-Safe-for-Your-Puppy-Dog?&id=292320

I don't use it all the time, probably once every 2-3 months for maybe 15-20 minutes. We mostly pull it out when we have a large number of guests visit because it's pretty funny to watch my little dog and cat go crazy over it. I do agree that if it's being used all the time problems can arise from over use. I should add that so far my dog (I say dog because my little one is the only one who chases it, the 2 big ones could care less) hasn't developed any OCD symptoms from it. We originally got it for the cats but I know Gulliver will chase it.

[my2rotties]

I wouldn't worry too much Laurie... I don't think most people are aware that it can be a negative thing to their dogs. I don't know if it is bad for cats since they are a different animal then dogs. I used to have a laser pointer, and teased my dogs to odd time too. I noticed it frustrated them to be chasing something they never could catch, and I googled it. I gave you a quick link, since I am on dial up and it take all day to do anything right now. There is a lot to be read out there aside of just that one article.

I had a friend with a Pomeranian and she used to tease her with a pointer... one day the dog dug a hole right through the carpet and under lay, as well as the couch cushions because she was still looking for the dot after the pointer was put away. My friend was all upset at her dog, until I explained everything to her. The dog had never destroyed anything before... until the laser pointer was being used constantly as a game. I am sure glad my dogs did not dig a hole to China in my furniture.:surprise:

I don't use it all the time, probably once every 2-3 months for maybe 15-20 minutes. We mostly pull it out when we have a large number of guests visit because it's pretty funny to watch my little dog and cat go crazy over it. I do agree that if it's being used all the time problems can arise from over use. I should add that so far my dog (I say dog because my little one is the only one who chases it, the 2 big ones could care less) hasn't developed any OCD symptoms from it. We originally got it for the cats but I know Gulliver will chase it.

[fishoholic]

I wouldn't worry too much Laurie... I don't think most people are aware that it can be a negative thing to their dogs. I don't know if it is bad for cats since they are a different animal then dogs. I used to have a laser pointer, and teased my dogs to odd time too. I noticed it frustrated them to be chasing something they never could catch, and I googled it. I gave you a quick link, since I am on dial up and it take all day to do anything right now. There is a lot to be read out there aside of just that one article.

I had a friend with a Pomeranian and she used to tease her with a pointer... one day the dog dug a hole right through the carpet and under lay, as well as the couch cushions because she was still looking for the dot after the pointer was put away. My friend was all upset at her dog, until I explained everything to her. The dog had never destroyed anything before... until the laser pointer was being used constantly as a game. I am sure glad my dogs did not dig a hole to China in my furniture.:surprise:

Yikes! Good to be aware of for sure.

[StirCrazy]

I don't know if it is bad for cats since they are a different animal then dogs.

I wouldn't think so.. Cats are smart enough to realize whats going on.. took mine 5 min to figure out what the little red dot was and start ignoring it.

Steve

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

You must realize that the decends from a pack mentality. You and your wife-girlfriend are the pack to the dog. No in a pack someone has to be boss. To be boss they have to be respected. Sometimes people get their emotions involved when they have a tendancy to think of the dog as a little person in their house hold and he is not. There are a few simple things you can do to get the idea across as to who is boss.
Food is usually the easiest. Do not leave his food on the floor for him to self feed. Then in his mind the floor is the provider and who are you that I have to respect.
When feeding the dog put food in a dish call the dog. At this time you have to have an idea in your mind of what type of behaviour you want as an end result. If the dog jumps up on you at feeding time this is disrespect, and the best way to treat this is to pivit to your right no talk no touch no eye contact. After all you are boss and he is nothing but a lower pack member. The dog will do what works and if jumping up gives him what he wants in his mind he will continue to do it. IF you responce to jumping is different such as turning away he will enitially try harder. Keep you responce constant. When he realizes it is not working he will stop. If he is hungry he will finally sit and stare at you. Bingo. Now he is willing to take direction from you. If he is trained to sit with one command ask no tell him to sit with conviction in your voice it does not have to be loud but not a plea. Once and once only. If he is not trained to sit mearly use the food to shape the behaviour first before introducing commands. By placing the food just over his head in such a way that he does not jump but is incline to sit to reach the food 2 inches out of reach. It is important at this time to praise as this is the indication reward is comming from this marked behaviour. Then lower his dish and allow the dog to eat. If he will not respond in the desired manner such as continue to jump or walks away he is not hungry enough so put food away for the day and try again next schedual. He will not starve so do not treat him. A time will come when he will understand you are leader and supply the food of life at which time you time your feeding after a sit when the dog is watching your eyes. Praise and reward (feed) You are now much more important in the pack and on your way for respect in other areas. I.E. Do not him lead you on the walk the dog in front is the leader. That is your place. reverse directions you may not go far in the first few walks but he will get the idea. You are first. Even through doorways he waits while you go through even if you have to go through backwards to ensure you go through first. Be consistant. I am sure the paper or kennels in your area can put you in touch with clicker training or other positive methods of training in your area.

Thanks.

Yeah he actually has to work for his food. He does not eat out of a dish when he eats dry food. He has to listen to commands and his reward is small portions of his food from my hand each time. So feeding takes about 20 minutes or so but its worth it I think. He gets wet food a few times a week as well but I do put that in a dish :lol: For wet food though, he has to sit about 3 feet away, wait for me to put it in the dish and then sit still until the timer on the stove goes off. I set it to about 1 minute right now. Took a long time for him to learn this but now when I feed him wet food, he will just sit a few feet from the full dish until the timer goes off.

I can teach him new commands in a matter of hours. He is very smart and obedient now. Very easy to train and knows for sure that we are boss. He is very respectful of our space and I couldn't be happier with him at home when its just the two of us.

Now its a whole different story when other people come over :sad: or on walks. All this goes out the window. Hes very slowly getting better on walks but still can't handle seeing other dogs.

I am still kind of lost on how to fix this. He obviously needs more socialization but so far the one daycare near us doesn't seem to want him there because when I went in to inquire he was pretty hyper and I could tell they weren't too impressed. They told me right away that they don't like to take small, energetic dogs. I had called a week ago to ask and they had room but then suddenly when I went in that day, they were booked "for a long time". Yeah right.

We don't really have all that many people over and honestly less now because of him. It's just not fair to the people that come over. I know people need to so he gets used to it but its a lot to ask people to put up with. I lease him in the house when people come over but then its all howling, whining and barking...ugh!

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I wouldn't think so.. Cats are smart enough to realize whats going on.. took mine 5 min to figure out what the little red dot was and start ignoring it.

Steve

One of our cats goes nuts for the red dot. He cries and cries when it goes away :lol: