[Thegunsgowoof]

Hi all, my name is Andrew and currently I am the owner of two wonderful dogs and part owner of another (I say part owner because my girlfriend's dog spends a lot of time with us). So first off, my pride and joy is my German Shepherd, Howitzer. The best $70 I've ever spent. He was found as a stray puppy in San Diego with parvo. I adopted him at three months and he is now currently 2 1/2. He displays a very laid back relaxed demeanor, but like most germans he is very sensitive. Next, I have my 8 month old Bassador that I adopted recently, Kimber. Very sweet little girl, with a fiesty side. Since joining the family -- she became an attention seeking daddies girl, who is trying to figure out where she belongs in the pack. Acts out just as you expect a puppy would.

Onto the reason why I joined the forums in the first place. My girlfriend's dog, Fox. He is a 1 1/2 year old. Australian Shepherd, beagle, pug mix (I think). He is a very affectionate dog, with many great attributes. But those only go so far and are quickly turned off by all his bad habits. He is very sneaky and loves chewing anything and everything. He can be disciplined, but moments after his punishment is up he will just go back to what he got yelled at over. i.e. eating out of the literbox, climbing on the table when no one is looking, attacking the cat, eating our food if we leave the room for a second. He has gone through dog boot camp, but I think he might be a little slow. I love this dog to pieces, but he is starting influence the puppy into committing his shenanigans. If anyone has suggestions, that would be great!!

 

[Jen2010]

Welcome to the forum.

My first suggestion would be to stop punishing him for doing bad and instead show him what you would rather have him do instead, then give him treats & praise for doing it. For example if he is chewing on something he shouldn't, take it away and immediately give him a bone or toy that IS okay for him to chew on. Praise him for chewing on the correct item.

It sounds like you need to teach him a solid "leave it" command.

 

[Thegunsgowoof]

Thanks Jen, but these dogs all know the 'leave it' command very well. They are all trained in that respect and receive praise for chewing on the correct object. In fact each dog has their own toy, but for some reason when no one is looking my girlfriends dog loves getting into something he shouldn't.

 

[cookieface]

Punishing obviously isn't working....

Implement management strategies so he can't practice undesirable behaviors.

Make a list of all the things you don't want him to do, then after each item list an alternative, more desirable behavior. Teach him the desirable behaviors. It's helpful if the desirable behaviors are incompatible with the undesirable behaviors, e.g., he can't steal your food if he's staying on a mat.

Figure out what motivates your dog (treats, play, toys - hint: few dogs are adequately motivated by praise) and use that to teach and reinforce behaviors.