[frankyk]

So a few of my buddies were hanging out at my place and there's a couch that I have there. Anyway, I wanted my dog to stay in one spot and not move around so much to not trip over the cords and stuff. She initially listened but then one time didn't, so I started chasing her and she noticed that she had disobeyed and wanted to try to avoid punishment by running to one of my buddies on my couch. I decided to 'pull' her off the couch, she didn't like this and decided to hop back on, this time I tugged harder and she started to bite aggressively at me and started to disobey severely to the point in which I pulled her to a corner and scolded her repeatedly. She basically curled up in a ball and was unresponsive for quite some time.

Eventually she warmed up to me after I was more affectionate to her later on.

My questions are:
1. Why did she attempt to bite me? I mean, I was trying to get her off the couch and perhaps I was pulling hard on the collar or trying to get her away when she kept running back but she was disobeying.
2. Do dogs remember when I am being harsh and will hold it against me or will they be affectionate later on, she seems to be back to normal at this time.
3. Why are dogs more 'affectionate' to my friends somtimes than me. I mean, she lays on their lays while she just 'sits' by me, she's always excited to see me but she won't lay on my lap or jump on me and stuff?

 

[Keechak]

1. She was terrified of you, she knows that when she gets caught she gets scolded and this scares her. you should never scold your dog after catching it, that just makes them want to run away more.

2. dogs learn by classic conditioning. from the dogs point of view " I run, human chases, if human catches me I'll be punished so I better do all I can to stay away"

3. she likes them more than you. she sees you are a scary reprimander.

Try more possitive traning tecniques. Use lots of treats.

 

[FourIsCompany]

1. Why did she attempt to bite me?

I can't read her mind, but my guess would be that she was scared to death. Dogs bite sometimes when they're afraid. The issue is that you need to train your dog, not use brute force to get her to do what you want her to do.

If you want your dog to stay in one spot, either crate her or otherwise restrain her OR train her to do so. I prefer the training, myself.

You should never chase your dog. You're setting yourself up to lose. Dogs can run faster than we can. She ran to your friends for protection because she's afraid of you. And that's totally your responsibility. You have made her afraid of you. When you repeatedly scolded her until she shut down, you reinforced all the fear she has for you. She should be afraid of you. You're dangerous.

2. Do dogs remember when I am being harsh and will hold it against me or will they be affectionate later on, she seems to be back to normal at this time.

Dogs live in the present, but they do have a memory. She absolutely will remember. But fortunately for you, dogs are also very forgiving and loyal, even if the person doesn't deserve it. But it will take a lot of work and dedication on your part to get your dog to trust you again. Let me just say that if you're not willing to do the work involved, please give the dog to one of your friends or someone else who won't treat her like you have.

3. Why are dogs more 'affectionate' to my friends somtimes than me.

That's a silly question. Do your friends jerk her around and run her down and trap her in a corner, scolding her until she shuts down? She TRUSTS your friends. You need to earn that trust. And you can only do that by respecting your dog. You clearly don't.

My advice would be to contact a trainer in your area or take your dog to obedience training classes and learn how to deal with a dog. YOU need to learn. There's nothing wrong with your dog. There's something very wrong with the way you treat your dog. In the meantime, NEVER act like you described in your first post again. Treat your dog with love and respect or give her to someone who will.

 

[frankyk]

what i don't get is this, if your dog is disobeying you clearly, how do you make them do something? for example, if you're trying to bring her to her crate and she just lies down and doesn't move after you try calling her, bribing her with treats and toys and lightly nudging her to move, what do you do then?

i don't think i was anything but stern with my dog, just as you would be with a kid who is misbehaving. i didn't hit my dog, i just removed her from the couch in a manner that wasn't 'painful' but it was forceful to demonstrate i meant business. also, my scolding was basically taking her aside to just saying "No" several times to emphasize that her actions were inappropriate. for example, if your kid is rolling and tumbling on the ground in public and crying because their parents aren't buying something, are you going to just plea with them for eternity to get up if after a few minutes, they obviously aren't responding? you generally would pull them up forcefully if they are obviously resisting you from trying to get them up?

basically, can someone explain:
1. if your dog is clearly disobeying, how do you remedy the situation, let's go with my initial example of how i'm trying to take her back to the crate and i've tried every method to move her into the crate without actually physically moving her there, i've used treats, nice 'here girls,' gestures, toys, etc.
2. if your dog does something wrong, what do you do to make her do it right? i mean, isn't it a scold? if she pees on the carpet, you would say, "NO" and then bring her outside to the point of where she is supposed to pee at and you make her pee there?

 

[ThoseWordsAtBest]

basically, can someone explain:
1. if your dog is clearly disobeying, how do you remedy the situation, let's go with my initial example of how i'm trying to take her back to the crate and i've tried every method to move her into the crate without actually physically moving her there, i've used treats, nice 'here girls,' gestures, toys, etc.
2. if your dog does something wrong, what do you do to make her do it right? i mean, isn't it a scold? if she pees on the carpet, you would say, "NO" and then bring her outside to the point of where she is supposed to pee at and you make her pee there?

Dogs are not children, first and foremost. There is no correlation between a child screaming for something they want, and a dog not wanting to go into it's crate. Training takes LOTS of time and patience, especially when you already have a dog that is afraid of you and your punishment. I don't know how your dog was crate trained, but if she has only ever been forced into a crate, you can't expect her to associate it with something good and be lured in by treats.
If your dog pees on the carpet, she isn't doing something wrong. It could be a number of things, but more than likely she just isn't completely house trained and needs more work.

 

[FourIsCompany]

1. if your dog is clearly disobeying, how do you remedy the situation,

It all depends on the dog. I have 4 different dogs with 4 different personalities. But I never discipline with anger or frustration. At the time you were taking her to the crate, she was probably already a bit freaked out. She can't be held responsible for her actions if she's already afraid. But what's missing with your dog is basic training.

You shouldn't have to take her to her crate. It should be a command that you've worked on lots of times before and, because she associates her crate with lots of good things, when you give the command, she goes into the crate.

2. if your dog does something wrong, what do you do to make her do it right? i mean, isn't it a scold?

I don't scold my dogs. That doesn't do anything but make me look like an angry, unpredictable crazy person. They don't know what they're being scolded for. If they do something wrong, I ask myself how I let that happen...

Don't get me wrong, I use punishment, but only when appropriate, only in a calm state of mind, only as the particular dog will respond to and only when I absolutely, 100% am positive that he knows what is being asked and refuses to do it. Then it's quick, short, without anger, and it's over. And there's always praise that follows when he does the right thing.

The situation you describe in your first post wasn't the right time to use punishment, in my opinion. If she was running around, you call her and because she has learned the command and she trusts you, and is not afraid of you, she comes running to you. You either put a leash on her and take her to where you want her to be and leave her with a bone or toy or something nice or give her the command "Kennel" (or whatever you've taught her in the past) and she goes in there.

 

[FourIsCompany]

I gotta agree with you, frankyk. But that kind of thing is going to happen on discussion boards. Try not to let it get you off the main reason you're here and that's your issues with your dog.

If you have any questions about how to train your dog, there are lots of people here who would help. But probably only if you're interested in dealing with your dog differently than you have in the past. I haven't really read a big interest in doing that in your posts so far. I could be mistaken. But, if you're interested in learning about some training that is going to take a little more work and dedication to your dog, with the reward of having a very well-behaved and loving dog, then there is a lot of information we can suggest...

I think this is a great place to start. If you're interested.
NILIF

Training Levels

 

[frankyk]

Thanks for the links, I definitely appreciate it.

I generally post for basic general understanding of a problem and I try to figure out what I should do from there. I don't really know too much about dogs so I sometimes I'm not really sure what to ask either, so any information, asked for or not, would be very much appreciated .

 

[Mdawn]

I'm not going to comment on anything else but the crate training because everyone else pretty much has it covered...

I didn't crate train my Lab until he was over a year old. Before then, he'd never even stepped foot inside a crate or really been around one except for seeing my Mastiff in his crate.

What I did is take the whole thing slow and didn't force it. I never forced him physically into his crate and never tried to push the process to more than HE was willing to do.

First, I just sat by the crate with a few of his toys and played with him there...That's it, nothing more; just me sitting next to an open crate playing with my dog. I did that a few times.

Next, while we were playing, I'd throw a toy in there and see if he'd get it out. If he wouldn't after a minute or so then I'd get the toy out and repeat. Eventually, he'd edge himself in there and pull the toy out...then I'd treat.

I'd feed him in the crate...you said that your dog will not go into the crate for a treat. What are you treating her with? It may not be of high enough value. Try something that has a strong scent to it...like a hotdog or cooked chicken. When he'd willingly go into the crate for the treats reliably, I started feeding him his meals in the crate...all of his meals.

After this point, I had no trouble getting him into the crate, however, he freaked if I shut the door to the crate. If he was in the crate...I'd shut the door for a second, open it and treat. I did that several, SEVERAL times...stretching the time the door was closed longer and longer...treating heavily and not being afraid to let him hit the "jackpot" every now and then.

All in all, it was fairly easy to crate train him. I think because I never forced it. I had a very laid back attitude about it because it wasn't a HUGE priority if he ever became trained to a crate because I had him for awhile without one...so...it wasn't a big deal to me. I took it slow, didn't push him and in the end, he came to LOVE his crate. He goes in it all the time now on his own.

Here are some books that I think would be helpful to you in dealing with your dog. I think that every dog owner should read them.

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Shoot-Do...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243228698&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Other-End-Lea...=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243228698&sr=8-5