Ok, so I am not a good dog trainer. I love my dogs, but have been screwing up their training for years now (I got both dogs as puppies and they are now 7 & 8). As a result, my husband hates the dogs. I have listened to a lot of bad advice over the years and even hired the help of a dog trainer whose methods were very physical and unproductive. But,I want to do things the right way and someone recommended this forum. I am willing to spend whatever time I need to in order to get the dogs properly trained. Of course, the hard part is getting the family properly trained (three kids under 6, a husband and a nanny who all know nothing about dogs) too. Neither dog has every bit anyone. Neither bites or scratches furniture, shoes etc. And, lastly, I will do whatever will work to make them a part of our family. Right now, we can't trust them througout the house because...
Here is the situation:
They are actually very good dogs. Perry is a very smart Yorkie-Poo. Cody is an incredibly dumb Cocker-Poo. Perry loves chasing balls, Cody has never chased a ball in his life. Perry should have been an "only dog" but Cody just loves everyone and everything. Before we started training them, over the last few days, Perry would mount Cody, then for a while Cody was mounting Perry, now that behavior seems to have stopped.
1 - The dogs are still not house broken. They don't pee in front of me, but they will sneak off to a bedroom whenever they have to go. I am currently trying to retrain, but they keep sneaking off (Obviously my fault, but I can't seem to keep them off the leash in the house and keep an eye on them - I also have three kids under 6.)
Q1 - To potty train, can I keep them leashed in the house, or does that cause confusion?
Q2 - They seem to need to pee every 45 minutes or so (that is how often they sneak off). This isn't a realistic walking schedule. Why are they going this frequently? Is it just "marking"?
Q3 - Since these are my dogs in my house that they have already marked, is this going to be possible? Or will the marked areas always be a problem?
2 - One of my dogs ate a baby bird yesterday. He is a yorkie-poo and has never bit. He is a real alpha personality and will snap if he is threatened (by that I mean one of the kids accidentally hurts him).
Q4 - Is eating a bird a big problem or just a dog thing?
3 - The last problem is another one that may just be a dog thing. The kids leave food at the table, so when the walk away the dogs keep climbing on the furniture to get at the food. They do listen (usually) if I scold them, but obviously if they can grab the food before I can scoot them down, they certainly do.
Q5 - How do I train this behavior away? They get food when the disobey, so it is reinforcing the problem I am guessing.
4 - Cody, our cocker-poo barks. All the time. At anything he doesn't know. Continually. It drives my husband crazy. But, I think the dog is genuinely scared. I can get him to stop generally by making him sit (commands). If that doesn't work, I make him lie down (usually with commands but sometimes I have to put him physically into a down)
Q6 - What is the right way to break this habit?
Of course, if you guys have links that would be great. I have been reading a lot on this forum and have been trying to implement. But I am worried I am using the wrong training for the wrong problem since I haven't been having much luck yet.
edit: just added a bit more background
Here is the situation:
They are actually very good dogs. Perry is a very smart Yorkie-Poo. Cody is an incredibly dumb Cocker-Poo. Perry loves chasing balls, Cody has never chased a ball in his life. Perry should have been an "only dog" but Cody just loves everyone and everything. Before we started training them, over the last few days, Perry would mount Cody, then for a while Cody was mounting Perry, now that behavior seems to have stopped.
1 - The dogs are still not house broken. They don't pee in front of me, but they will sneak off to a bedroom whenever they have to go. I am currently trying to retrain, but they keep sneaking off (Obviously my fault, but I can't seem to keep them off the leash in the house and keep an eye on them - I also have three kids under 6.)
Q1 - To potty train, can I keep them leashed in the house, or does that cause confusion?
Q2 - They seem to need to pee every 45 minutes or so (that is how often they sneak off). This isn't a realistic walking schedule. Why are they going this frequently? Is it just "marking"?
Q3 - Since these are my dogs in my house that they have already marked, is this going to be possible? Or will the marked areas always be a problem?
2 - One of my dogs ate a baby bird yesterday. He is a yorkie-poo and has never bit. He is a real alpha personality and will snap if he is threatened (by that I mean one of the kids accidentally hurts him).
Q4 - Is eating a bird a big problem or just a dog thing?
3 - The last problem is another one that may just be a dog thing. The kids leave food at the table, so when the walk away the dogs keep climbing on the furniture to get at the food. They do listen (usually) if I scold them, but obviously if they can grab the food before I can scoot them down, they certainly do.
Q5 - How do I train this behavior away? They get food when the disobey, so it is reinforcing the problem I am guessing.
4 - Cody, our cocker-poo barks. All the time. At anything he doesn't know. Continually. It drives my husband crazy. But, I think the dog is genuinely scared. I can get him to stop generally by making him sit (commands). If that doesn't work, I make him lie down (usually with commands but sometimes I have to put him physically into a down)
Q6 - What is the right way to break this habit?
Of course, if you guys have links that would be great. I have been reading a lot on this forum and have been trying to implement. But I am worried I am using the wrong training for the wrong problem since I haven't been having much luck yet.
edit: just added a bit more background