dog training?

[dogmation]

hi there! we have a chow dog and she is about a year old now. Shes very loveable and friendly most of the time, but she doesnt listen too well and sometimes she is overprotective.
for example, she sleeps in our brothers bed and if anyone comes near them, she will start to growl and bark. now, if its a family member that does this, if you stick your hand out and pet her she will stop.
also, she doesnt get along with our australian shepard. they get jealous of each other and when one is getting attention the other will get angry.
also. she WILL not come back when she gets out of the house and she will not go into the backyard if you tell her to. she goes and hides. not even for a piece of bologna.
this is really important. we love our dog, and im sure she can be trained, and we dont want to have to give her away. so if anyone knows any tricks on how to change this behavior, it would be very helpful. thanks!

 

[Tazwell]

The best option for you is a personal trainer. They usually run about $100 to $300 for an hour consultation, in my area at least. A Professional should be called, because you have dominance issues in your house. This can easily lead to serious injuries in your dogs, visitors, or even your family members.

But right off the bat-- I can see that your dog needs basic obedience, badly. You need to train her reliably to Sit, Stay, Lie down, Heel, Come, etc. These are things that ALL dogs should know.

You also need to NOT let her on the bed. She thinks she is the alpha over everyone else when she's on the bed, that's why she's growling. She can NOT be allowed on the bed, or especially to sleep on the bed. This is sleeping as high up as the alpha. It may seem cruel to us humans, but this is natural social order of dogs.

You should definitely start practicing "NILIF", or Nothing in life is free. This will help establish who is the alpha. Here is a link: http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm This is something that should naturally be a part of your household. It may help your dogs become more balanced with each other, too.

As for the recall problem, Here's a few things you should remember-- If you yell at or scold her whenever she comes back to you, she will NOT come back to you next time. She will know that you're going to scold her. Simply never scold her when she comes back, no matter how bad she's been. Praise her and give her treats for coming back to you, finally. This should be established while training her to "Come".


I hope I helped a little, but like I said before, a Professional trainer is your best option with a dominant dog problem

 

[IliamnasQuest]

Dogmation, chows are very independent-minded dogs. It takes a great deal of commitment and consistent training in order to get chows to respond. It's important that everyone in the household set the same rules and use the same methods for training in order for her to learn properly.

Chows also can be very assertive and will choose what they want to accept if they're not handled properly. This isn't the dog's fault, it's the fault of the humans it lives with. Chows should be highly socialized when young in order for them to understand that people are not something to act defensive toward, too. So you really do need someone who can help you out with teaching your chow the manners that you want her to have. I strongly encourage you to look into what is available in your area in the way of trainers. Contact your vet to see who they may recommend.

Ideally the trainer you find will be highly educated in animal behavior and won't immediately choose to go to corrections in order to "teach" your dog. Chows respond well to rules if all the humans follow them, but will certainly take advantage of anyone who lets the rules lapse. A trainer/behaviorist will help you set reasonable and consistent rules and teach you how to reward properly so that your dog wants to respond to you. If the trainer you find wants to immediately put a corrective collar on your dog or use other corrective methods, then that's the wrong type of trainer. A good trainer will work to increase the confidence of your dog while still getting her to do what you want.

About the "jealousy" between the dogs .. this is something that they wouldn't be so apt to do if they had better leadership. All of my dogs want to be the one to be petted, but because they respect and love me they know that they have to share my attentions. I live with four dogs - three of them chows - and they all get along just great because they understand the rules and they know that I am fair, consistent and yet don't accept any nonsense from them.

Good luck!

Melanie and the gang in Alaska