Is My Dog Normal?
- Thread starter Happy
- Start date
I'll echo what everybody else has said..
That puppy needs more than 10 minutes or an hour a day of your time. Animals are just like kids. You have to teach them and nurture them to get them to love and respect you...and to know their boundaries.
I don't blame him for barking at you when you come out with a food pan..that's his way of giving you down the road for neglecting him all day and keeping him tied to a chain all day.
Try walking him around your lawn on a leash, and telling him that that's his yard... Let him take a step into the garden, and tell him "Bad!" or "No!", and bring him back out of there.. do this on a regular basis and he will learn that the garden is off limits.
I had a dog once that was almost impossible to break from jumping up on people, and we were scared to death that she would jump up on an elderly person or a small child and knock them down...so every time she jumped up on us, we'd step on her hind feet..she hated that, and it broke her of jumping up on people (or cars, and scratching them!) more efficiently than anything else we tried. I've also see people try pressing their knee into the dog's chest as they jump up, but I'm afraid of cracking a rib...if you just put a bit of pressure on their back feet (don't stomp them!), they'll jump down.
The biggest thing is definitely spending MUCH more time with the puppy than 10 minutes or an hour a day... Burn that energy off... take him for a run with you... put him on a leash, take him to the park, and start running!..Everybody likes to jog!
The food aggression worries me more than anything. If you don't get him broke of it, and he would happen to get loose and end up at a shelter, that is one of the first things that they test an animal for...if they are food aggressive, then they are less likely to put them in with the adoptable animals on the chance that the dog may hurt someone. Work with him on that!!!
Good luck with Happy...I hope things work out for the best.
That puppy needs more than 10 minutes or an hour a day of your time. Animals are just like kids. You have to teach them and nurture them to get them to love and respect you...and to know their boundaries.
I don't blame him for barking at you when you come out with a food pan..that's his way of giving you down the road for neglecting him all day and keeping him tied to a chain all day.
Try walking him around your lawn on a leash, and telling him that that's his yard... Let him take a step into the garden, and tell him "Bad!" or "No!", and bring him back out of there.. do this on a regular basis and he will learn that the garden is off limits.
I had a dog once that was almost impossible to break from jumping up on people, and we were scared to death that she would jump up on an elderly person or a small child and knock them down...so every time she jumped up on us, we'd step on her hind feet..she hated that, and it broke her of jumping up on people (or cars, and scratching them!) more efficiently than anything else we tried. I've also see people try pressing their knee into the dog's chest as they jump up, but I'm afraid of cracking a rib...if you just put a bit of pressure on their back feet (don't stomp them!), they'll jump down.
The biggest thing is definitely spending MUCH more time with the puppy than 10 minutes or an hour a day... Burn that energy off... take him for a run with you... put him on a leash, take him to the park, and start running!..Everybody likes to jog!
The food aggression worries me more than anything. If you don't get him broke of it, and he would happen to get loose and end up at a shelter, that is one of the first things that they test an animal for...if they are food aggressive, then they are less likely to put them in with the adoptable animals on the chance that the dog may hurt someone. Work with him on that!!!
Good luck with Happy...I hope things work out for the best.
wow Baileys...thanks for the great advise.... yeah, since i get all the advises, i've practised it for past 2days...spend more than an hour on Happy. i must say he is a better dog now. i dunno how to thank u all. i just couldnt believe that it works that well...and i guess he really bored and need my attention.
the only thing im still working on is his jumping behaviour on me and anyone else. yeah, i really scared he will jump on elderly and kids too. there was once, he managed to loose himself from the leash and he ran out and jumped on passer by. luckiliy no one was hurt when I realised that.
do you mean i have to step on his hind feet everytime he jump on me? mmm..im afraid that i would hurt him but i will definitely give it a try tonite
thanks all again. wonderful and great advise.
the only thing im still working on is his jumping behaviour on me and anyone else. yeah, i really scared he will jump on elderly and kids too. there was once, he managed to loose himself from the leash and he ran out and jumped on passer by. luckiliy no one was hurt when I realised that.
do you mean i have to step on his hind feet everytime he jump on me? mmm..im afraid that i would hurt him but i will definitely give it a try tonite
thanks all again. wonderful and great advise.
I'm so happy to hear that happy is progressing. You'll be amazed at how fun happy finds training and YOU find training. It is a wonderful, bonding experience and something you'll look forward to for many years.
I've never used the stepping on the feet but I assume it is the same principal as stepping into his space that I explained before. When you are in their space they naturally back up. You can also use it as a time to teach the command "back". (One of our hardest commands for my pup.)
Keep giving all this a try and increase as you both progress. It will become something you'll both look forward to and benefits the both of you also. When it is fun you'll look forward to your time together. Don't forget to keep us updated and come back with any questions. There are tons of ways to train a dog and it can be a challenge finding what works for you and your dog together but the benefits are too numerous to count once you "get it right".
I've never used the stepping on the feet but I assume it is the same principal as stepping into his space that I explained before. When you are in their space they naturally back up. You can also use it as a time to teach the command "back". (One of our hardest commands for my pup.)
Keep giving all this a try and increase as you both progress. It will become something you'll both look forward to and benefits the both of you also. When it is fun you'll look forward to your time together. Don't forget to keep us updated and come back with any questions. There are tons of ways to train a dog and it can be a challenge finding what works for you and your dog together but the benefits are too numerous to count once you "get it right".
And this may be something that won't work for everybody... Stepping into her space didn't work, and she was very sensitive about her feet..so I took to just tapping her toes with my feet (again, I want to stress, don't put much pressure on their feet! The bones are thin in a dog's feet, and could break..I would basically just tap her toes and she'd go down.)
You'll learn from trial and error with Happy what will work and what will not work.. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
You'll learn from trial and error with Happy what will work and what will not work.. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
wow...i was so amazed this morning. As i woke up, i walked to Happy. He was awake and keep looking at me. Then i said 'Happy, Sit!'...and he immediately sit!! wah wah, i cant explain how happy i was.
but it only last for 5seconds..hahaha...coz i didnt give him any treats. Usually he expects treat to obey to my command. when he noticed that i will not reward him any treat, he will ignore me...
hmm...any advise on this? and also how can i make Happy sit longer? i tried to command him by saying 'stay'...but he just dun listen. i've tried since many months ago on this command.
So far, he only follow my command of SIT (most of the time only works if I reward him with treat), NO (only works once in a blue moon) and hand shake (work all the time).
but it only last for 5seconds..hahaha...coz i didnt give him any treats. Usually he expects treat to obey to my command. when he noticed that i will not reward him any treat, he will ignore me...
hmm...any advise on this? and also how can i make Happy sit longer? i tried to command him by saying 'stay'...but he just dun listen. i've tried since many months ago on this command.
So far, he only follow my command of SIT (most of the time only works if I reward him with treat), NO (only works once in a blue moon) and hand shake (work all the time).
Keep working on sit until you get at least 90% out of him. If you have a clicker, as soon as his butt hits the floor click (if not then use a marker like "yes"). Start off treating for every sit but then start treating for every 3 sits, then 5 sits, then 2 sits, then maybe 1 sit. Don't show him a pattern for when he'll get the treats and he'll never know when to expect one but should sit every time in anticipation that this time may be the time. Eventually you should not have to treat anymore for sit.
To teach stay I've started off with a sit with the dog in the heel position (on your left side, but tucked into your your left leg). Keep your left leg planted on the ground and pivot in front of Happy with your right leg and hold out your hand and command "stay" in a calm, stern voice. Stay where you are and give him a second or two at max, click (or use marker word) and treat. Next take a step back after your command and slowly work your way to moving back further and further making him stay longer and longer. After you get about 20' away for 30 seconds you can work on moving around your dog in a large circle without him breaking his stay and give him longer and longer. It can be a very slow process but is not a hard command to teach at all (and is fun).
To teach stay I've started off with a sit with the dog in the heel position (on your left side, but tucked into your your left leg). Keep your left leg planted on the ground and pivot in front of Happy with your right leg and hold out your hand and command "stay" in a calm, stern voice. Stay where you are and give him a second or two at max, click (or use marker word) and treat. Next take a step back after your command and slowly work your way to moving back further and further making him stay longer and longer. After you get about 20' away for 30 seconds you can work on moving around your dog in a large circle without him breaking his stay and give him longer and longer. It can be a very slow process but is not a hard command to teach at all (and is fun).
You can use attention as a reward for some dogs. We switch it up with a food treat, and sometimes when they do the right trick we get all happy and say, "good boy! yeah!" while rubbing his ears or face however he likes best. It sounds like he really likes attention from you, so maybe trading it up with getting petted will help him transition out of wanting a snack every single time.