Train Me

blueknurd

TYPE: 8 month old mutt. She has the definate markings of the Rottweiler, but a much smaller body. Some say that she looks like a lab/rott mix, but there is a small breed somewhere in the mix. (She is 27lbs at 8 months, so I am anticipating that she will grow to be on the smaller side of a medium sized dog, but who knows?)

DOG'S KNOWN HISTORY: According to her paperwork, she was taken to the SPCA when she was 4 months old. I do not know how long she was there or where she was prior. She had at least 2 owners before coming to my house. (sad.) One was a girl who didn't have time for her. The second is the guy that I got her from who also didn't have time for her. He only had her for one month, and then she found her way into my life. This is her first week in her new home with me. (Actually, we are only on day 4)

Why I am posting?
Teach me before I start bad training habits.
It's been a long time since I have had to train a dog. I have been reading and reading and reading. I know that there isn't one correct way that works for all dogs, so much of the things that I have been reading contradict themselves or don't necessarily apply to this particular situation...or I am not sure if they apply to me. I'm confused. Basically, train me to train my dog.

WASTE:
The previous owner admitted to poorly crate training her. Basically, he was leaving her in the crate for so long that she would eliminate in the crate and sleep in her waste. Eventually, she would seek out her crate when she had to go to the bathroom. I'm pretty sure that the previous owner did not have any kind of bedding in her crate. He gave me her toys and they smelled of urine. The dog happily chewed on them. (shiver.) Basically, I think that this has led the dog to become de-sensitized to the smell of urine... and of course, too much time confined made her hate her crate.

The previous owner warned me about her habits, so I wasn't surprised when I brought her home. Actually, so far, I have been pleasantly surprised because it isn't nearly as bad as what I had expected.

I have washed the crate, given her bedding, and thrown away her old toys. Since then, she doesn't seek out her crate to go to the bathroom.

Her first day at my house, she did not want to eliminate outside. We stayed outside ALL day. She would signal that she wanted to go inside... eventually, we did go inside and the first thing she did was pee inside of the door. Umm, so I need some advice on how to untrain her previous habits.

I have gotten her to go to the bathroom outside, so she no longer begs to come inside to urinate. But, she doesn't ask to go outside to urinate yet. Today, I left the back patio door open while we were hanging out inside to see if she would go outside on her own when she had to urinate. She didn't; I had to lead her. So, right now, we passed the first hurdle, which was to learn that it is ok to potty outside, but we are still working on the second, and bigger hurdle of learning that it is NOT ok to eliminate inside.

Per advice to some of the other forum posts and readings, I have been saying "Go potty" and "go poo" when she eliminates outside, followed by the "Woo Hoo Good Girl".

CRATE:
Also, per advice from other's posts, I have been feeding her in her crate to re-introduce the crate as a "good place". She recieves treats for going into her crate at night. Also, randomly throughout the day, I throw a treat or toy into the crate so that she has to go in and get it. (I do not close the door when I am throwing in a treat/toy or when I feed her.) She will go in without too much hesitation, but will not willingly go in her crate on her own.

For now, I put her in the crate at night to go to sleep. 4 hours after "sleep time" begins, I take her outside to eliminate; I will pet her at this time, but we do not play. 4 hours later, it is time to go outside and then have breakfast. Randomly throughout the day, I do put her in her crate with the door closed (maybe for an hour) and then let her out. (I read somewhere that you should put your dog in for short periods so that she realizes that not everytime is going to be for 8 hours. Dunno if this is correct. This is my first crate training experience.)

Eventually, when she no longer eliminates inside the house and is past the chewing phase, I would like to have the crate as only a little home for her... basically, never close the door. What is a realistic time frame for this? at 2yrs of age?!?! (I know all dogs are different, just statistically or in your experience.)

CHASE ME:
Saying "no" in a stern voice triggers my dog to play some kind of "catch me" game. I know to not chase her, but any advice on this is appreciated also.

TRAINING:
How much training is "too much training" for a dog that is 8 months old, and a new dog?

Many posts say "be consistant", but I don't want to say "no" or "heal" so much that it becomes ineffective.

I would like to train her to walk next to/behind me on a leash. This one is new for me... I find it difficult to be "consistant" with this one in particular. Should I start this now? Is she too young for this one? or should I concentrate on one lesson at a time? (i.e. wait to conquer the potty-training.) Also, how long should "lesson time" be? I do integrate "lesson" time with general play time. I.e. She pretty much knows the word "sit", so we practice that and then work on the "sit" command with the "stay" command. After some tries, then we play regular "fetch"... and then back to "sit and stay". Obviously, I stop when she is tired, but is it too early for this many lessons? I don't want to do more harm than good with the training.

NIPPING:
We are only on day 4 of our new life together, so we are still in the "honeymoon phase". As she becomes more comfortable in her new enviroment, new little behaviours arise and probably will continue to arise. The newest is nipping. She is still a puppy, so she likes to chew. When she tries to chew my hands, I give SEVERAL stern "No" and quit interacting with her until she stops. Umm, but she doesn't stop. Eventually, I show her where her chew bone is and then pet her. (Train me, is this wrong? Am I rewarding bad behaviour? Do dogs "grow-out" of nipping?)

She also "nips" at my feet. I stop walking and say "no". This works most of the time. Mostly, she just does it around the house, but sometimes she does this while we are on walks.

JOG:
Eventually, I would like her to be able to jog with me. I did a trial jog yesterday. I thought that we would just jog half of a block together... but she gets really excited and wants to jump or bite at my clothes. I think that we made it about 3 feet and went back to walking. ha. Is it too early for this? Any suggestions?

Exercise:
How much is too much at this age? I think that she would play and go for walks ALL day. Currently, I'm not pushing it because she 1. is still adjusting 2. was probably sitting in a kennel for at least the last month and not use to the exercise 3. I don't want to mess up her joints and muscle growth by over-exerting at an early age.

COUCH:
I think that the previous owner allowed her on the furniture. New house, new rules. I give a stern "no" and tell her to get down. She wags her tail. I pull her off of the couch. When she stays down, she is pet and verbally rewarded. When she is playful, which is most of the day, jumping on and off of the couch has become a game. SHe tries to get me to chase her. Of course, I don't, but any suggestions on this one are welcome.

I successfully trained my last pet (which was a cat) to stay off of the furniture, but I think that it was easier because I was the cat's only owner. I think that I need advice on breaking old habits.

So far, she has exceeded my expectations. Most of my friends' dogs that I have "dog sat", will jump, bite, chew everything, and get into the garbage. So far, she hasn't even noticed the garbage. She responds to "no" when she chews on the furniture, shoes, ect.

With that in mind, how long does the "chewing on everything" phase last? I know that dogs like to chew forever, and all dogs are different, but eventually they can be trusted to be left in a room of shoes and not eat them. 2 years? (Eventually, I would like to be able to allow her to enter and exit her crate as she pleases and never lock the door, even when I am not at home. I know that is far off, maybe years, but that is our long term goal.)

Barking:
I was warned that she barks at everything. Umm, so far, she doesn't. If she barks while we are in the yard at nearby noises, I can usually get her to stop with a stern "no". (I live in a development, so there are always cars, people, and other dogs making all kinds of noise). So far, she has not been permitted to go into the yard alone, but I hope that when we get to that point that she doesn't bark at everything. As far as when we are on walks, her barking is seemingly random. Some people barks, most she wags her tail. The same goes for when we are in the car. Most of the time, she just looks at the people outside of the car. Randomly, she goes crazy with the barking. I took her to a dog park and to PetSmart for socialization, and she didn't bark at any of the people or dogs at either place.

Digging:
This dog likes to dig. I'm not sure what to do or not to do about this. (My last dog just didn't dig.) Personally, I don't like the digging because 1. she drags mud into the house and 2. she is digging next to the fence. Eventually, I want to be able to allow her to go outside alone while I am at home, but not if she digs a hole under the fence to freedom.

Thanks:
I appreciate any advice/critiques that you have to offer.

Noah

Sorry, I don't have any extra time to write more :[
Train her to come to you. Some people have a misconception that when a dog stops doing something, the punishment continues. I'm not saying that is what is happening in your case, but try to reward her with the right behavior. I suggest saying no, then holding a treat or toy up for her to come get. Make it a big deal. If she runs away, don't chase her, instead back up or lean back. Backing up in doggie language means come here. Eventually she should run to you for her treat.

Your dog should be allowed a short time to settle in, maybe a few days to even a couple weeks. It all depends on your dog. But 'training' doesn't just consist of sessions. Your dog is learning as soon as she gets into your house. Never make your training sessions longer then five to ten minutes. Puppies have short attention spans.

Yeah, start soon. If you allow her to run ahead and pull from the start, she will have problems learning to heel. No, she's not too young for it. I'd do about five minute sessions throughout the day. You can do just one session, or even ten, so long as you spread them out. Also, I suggest variety. Don't just focus on one thing, give your dog something to think about, so she gets used to multiple commands.

Curbside Prophet

This really should not be a priority IMO. What should be a priority is recognizing and/or establishing a potty schedule for your dog. I recommend keeping a potty diary so you can keep track of your dog’s elimination habits and create a schedule that works for both you and your dog. This IMO is more important because some dogs simply don’t learn they can cue you for a potty break and when they do most don’t make the connection that it means go outside to potty and not go outside to play. But if you have your dog on a schedule the habit can form as part of a routine. Plus, what would happen if your dog did request to go outside and you inadvertently ignored the dog?

I would go a little further than verbal praise. If she has any other things that are highly reinforcing, I would use those too, like her food or toys or a belly rub if that’s what she prefers.

I think you’re doing fine with the crate, so keep doing what you’re doing. I would though use the crate at those times when your dog is scheduled to eliminate but doesn’t. Place her in the crate for a short period of time before you take her back out to eliminate. This isn’t to punish her but to minimize indoor accidents. This of course is predicated on her keeping a clean crate.

I know with my dog it took about a year before she chose the crate as a resting place, but my dog has a few more freedoms than most dogs, and if given the choice she prefers the couch to the crate. Only when I’m being noisy will she meander over to the crate. Otherwise, we just use the crate for transportation or when I can’t afford to have little critters under my feet.
What is the context in which you say “no”? If “no” was used as a punishment and the dog learned that running away avoided whatever punishment followed the “no”, she will continue to run away. Knowing this, I would avoid this verbal punishment. Instead, teach her the behavior you want. So what is she doing that you say “no” to?


Every second of your dog’s life is a learning opportunity, so really there is no “too much.” However, actual training can be stressful to both you and the dog, so keeping training sessions short, and I would say under 5 minutes for most behaviors, is preferred. You can then take a short brake and continue or move on to something new.
Really, you shouldn’t add a cue to any weak behaviors, only very strong behaviors. So, unless your dog voluntarily moves into a heel position at your first visual request for heel (either with a lure or a hand/leash prompt), you shouldn’t use a verbal cue at all. Heel though is a more formal behavior and maybe too advanced for your dog when what you want is actually loose leash walking – there is a loose leash walking sticky in the dog training forum.

Yes, your dog is old enough to take a comfortable 30 minute walk, and learn this too along with everything else you’re teaching. If you follow the loose leash walking sticky you may not get very far but if you keep a diary on this too, you’ll better understand her progress.

[quote] When she tries to chew my hands, I give SEVERAL stern "No" and quit interacting with her until she stops. Umm, but she doesn't stop. Eventually, I show her where her chew bone is and then pet her. (Train me, is this wrong? Am I rewarding bad behaviour? Do dogs "grow-out" of nipping?)[quote]
No you are not rewarding bad behavior by redirecting her to a toy. You are rewarding the dog for stop biting your hand, because the dog can’t nip your hand and chew on a chew toy at the same time. So the reward is for the preceding behavior, not two behaviors before. So I would continue doing that. Otherwise, google “The Bite Stops Here.”

I would just stop and wait for another behavior, like sitting, praise her for the sit, then move on. Negative attention is still attention and your dog seeks attention when she wants to play, so give her the opposite of that, no attention.
Yes, too early for jogging IMO. Not until you have a decent loose leash while walking.
At 8 months your dog could easily take two 20-30 minute daily walks. Though opinions on this may vary. A good question for your vet.

I prefer teaching the behaviors I want before using them as an instructive reprimand. “No” is so over used that the dog doesn’t really know what it means, she just knows punishment is coming. So, I would actually start with the dog on the couch and luring her off with a food reward. When she begins to anticipate the behavior, then add a cue, proof the cue, then Premack (google the Premack Principle) the cue, then use the cue as an instructive reprimand. At the same time you’ll need to give her another place to rest comfortably and reward her heavily for using this spot. It could be the crate, but I prefer using a mat or a dog bed.

Don’t know of the time frame but I will say this…dogs never stop chewing on things, but they usually learn acceptable chewing behaviors around the same time when “drop” and “leave-it” are strong behaviors. Owner absent chewing is a different issue and is dependent on its remedy.

I prefer to put problem behaviors like this on cue. So I would provide an area for the dog to dig, like a kiddie swimming pool filled with sand. I would then bury cheap wind-up toys locked inside a hamster ball and bury the hamster ball. Then let her dig away. Not only does this provide an acceptable outlet for the behavior, bit it also provides an enriching, mind stimulating exercise for your dog to drain off energy. You could punish the dog for the behavior, but if your dog enjoys digging, why not use it to your advantage.

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