[shellyb0924]

Hello

Hoping for some advice. I adopted a just 5 month old puppy.He is a pointer mix we think. We got him at the shelter. He was very skinny ( just treated for tapeworms) and he is little. Only 18.6 pounds probably about 5 pounds underweight. Bet believes he will be no more then 40.pounds so not sure of the mix. Looks very much like a pointer though. He is a scardy cat and is very sweet at times. It has been a week and each day seems to be the same. He is very housebroken but has no manners which is a bit odd. He will sleep.curled up on my arm all night from midnight till 7 am. He will take naps cireled up with me like a sweet baby. But when he is awake oh my goodness. I have dogs my whole life and puppies. I have had misbehaved puppies but never one that doesnt understand no. I have a 14 year old dog ( her sister passed 2 months ago and they were together her entire life) I expected problems from her because she isnt super dog friendly but was lonely. She has very much accepted him and a little more pep in her step. I will.list the issues below. I am walking him a few times a day and he goes on a car ride each day to see the horses and to walk in the woods. So he gets out.

1. Crate did not go well. He will bark and bark and bark in the crate. I live in an apartment so I had to give in or we get kicked out. I ordered a no bark collar for small dogs. It just has vibrate and beep no shock at all. That should be here soon.

If I could out him in his crate when he is bad that might help but he barks and whines and tares at it.

2. My senior dog accepted him but he pushes it and I am afraid he will get her to not accept him. He has crazy wild spurts throughout the day. Tons of zoomies and then he will run crazy circles around her and bark. Then he will not let us catch him to stop him just barks and runs like a full and continues crazy bigger circles. When we do catch him we have tried numerous things. First a rolled up newspaper smack ...does nothing he just tries to grab the newspaper and chew it up. Then a hand smack ( I hate) and he is boney so it is more for the effect then a hard smack. He doesn't care. Yell no..he doesnt care hold him tell him no he just goes wild to squirm away and continue what he was was doing. If we try to hold him still he will bite. Not a nasty mean dog bite but biting so we let go I smack his nose ..doesnt phase him at all...smack I tried.a flick to his nose lol.doesnt do a thing he just keeps chomping away. He does this more to me then my dad who helps with the dogs. He will bite and squirm forever. It is like he doesnt hear me saying no and doesnt get it at all. I know he can hear because he hears a food wrapper and he is gone.

3. The only way to calm him down is to put his leash on and make he stay beside me. He then chews his leash and flips all around and grabs at anything he can ti chew. He has a bunch of new kong toys which he does play with.

4. This one worries me alot. He is a tiny little thing so I can restrain him b8t as he grows this could.get way out of control. He has serious food.guarding with my other dog. Not people. I give him his food.take ot away hand feed everything no issues. If.my other dog goes anywhere near where his food.bowl.was (I pick it up after the eat and feed him in another room) he will flip. Thank god.he was never loose when it happened because if he goes after her she isnt shy. In his crate once when he was eating she walked by and this was a very nasty growling barking and charging in his crate to get to her. If she walks by where his bowl was he will do the nasty bark and growl.

How can a tiny 5 month old puppy have these issues? I would never take him back to the shelter but I have to fix him. Not.many trainers around here and I am capable I train horses and can train him but am at a loss. Any tips ?? I have never seen a dog that doesnt understand no..nothing makes him sit back and so ohhh sorry or anything.

 

[Knute]

Oh my......so many issues to address at one time.

My first suggestion is to take the dog on long walks or runs or a park with a long leash. You need to let the dog burn off the energy. Then you will stand a chance to train the dog.

My 2nd thought is to take the rolled up newspaper and use it on you with possibly a hand smack (just for effect) while yelling NO. What would be your response to this?

Training is a constant task. Yes, some training needs to be focused on task specifics. But a great deal of training is continuous. Example. Leash training. This typically happens only during walks. The learning key is different for all dogs. But basically, when the dog pulls you stop. Become a post. When the dog returns to you, place him in the proper position, treats/reward, begin again. Patience is very important. During walks you can also train commands like Pass, Leave it, Drop it, Come, Stop/yield, Potty...... Training requires continuous work on your part to practice the commands, reward WHILE being consistent and PATIENT.

Go have a short visit with your neighbors (landlord too) to talk about your pup and your training. Ask them to be patient and understanding. Cookies or cake or pie could be a good reward for the neighbors. They may need training too.

Final thoughts. The Crate is not a punishment for when the dog is bad. This should be a welcome retreat for the dog. There are many crate training videos and written methods to crate train. Begin using training as a tool to modify and teach your dog the behavior you want. The dog doesn't automatically "know his manners". Frankly, the dog is behaving like an untrained puppy with too much energy.

Sorry, this is all squarely on your shoulders to train and teach the dog. Get some books or watch videos to learn techniques. Zack George has many vids on YouTube.

 

[LeoRose]

It sounds like you really need a good, positive based trainer to work with you in person, or at least via video consultations, especially for the resource guarding. If you can tell us your location someone might know of one you can work with.

In the meantime, please don't put a bark collar on him in his crate. You've said he's nervous, and already upset about being there, and getting zapped (even if it's just a vibration), isn't going to help matters. It will likely just make him more scared and upset about being crated. Check out Kikopup's YouTube channel for crate games to help get him more comfortable with his crate.

Another thing is do NOT hit him once you've caught him during the mad dashing around. If he's already nervous like you said he is, that is going to ruin his trust in you. I mean, would you let someone grab you if you knew it was going to mean you were going to be smacked?

 

[Alexliu]

I think the key to your current problem is to adapt the dog to the new environment. The question you ask is a problem that a dog faces when it comes to a new environment.

Here is what I would recommend:

1. Try out to make sure your dog has at least as many privileges as it experienced ahead of the transfer. If they really feel restricted, they are going to instantly such as the new houseless.

2. Go walking your pet, a lot. This will have the dog familiarized with all the regions. When your dog knows his area, he might have much less anxiousness about this. Following a few days or so the dog was family. Why? Because people love to play with puppies, and you were probably attending to it 24/7. Your pet was getting a lot of love it neglected information on its outdated home. Take care of your dog like it’s a puppy again for your initially 2 days in the new house.

 

[3GSD4IPO]

1. What kind of crate? If it is a wire crate your puppy is likely insecure in it. Get a plastic crate and COVER it so he cannot see out. That might make it better. Give him raw meaty bone in the crate. Freeze it first. That should quiet him down. Put the crate in a quiet place away from activity.

2. Put a collar and leash on him. Do NOT let him out with the other dog. Work on your relationship with this dog and work and walk him alone. It is more work for you to handle two dogs separately but that is what you need to do. Work on recall. Make coming to you the best thing ever in the world. ALWAYS have REALLY GOOD food on you. when he comes to you, make that the happiest thing he can do and FEED FEED FEED. Don't try to hold him back. Use the leash and collar. If he goes to bite redirect to a toy.. a tug.. something you can engage him with. Leave a leash and drag line on him at all times. DO NOT chase him.. run away from him. Chasing him teaches him the fun game of "keep away."

3. Chewing the leash. Redirect to something else. Play tug with that. You need a toy that he only gets when he is engaged with you. Something that the two of you can play with .

4. Resource guarding his food. Easy. Feed him in his crate in a place separate from the other dog. LEAVE HIM ALONE WHEN HE EATS. That crap where people take the food away and give it back, put their hands in the dog bowls or that fake hand they use at shelters.. NO NO NO. Just let the dog eat in peace by himself away from the other dog. It is HIS food. Leave the dog alone when he eats.
You can also make him earn his food. Every bit of food he must do something for and never eat out of a bowl.

STOP hitting your dog. That is a sure fire way to ruin your relationship.
I DO correct my dog and make no excuse for it but not like this and not at this age and only when the dog clearly KNOWS what is expected and has elected to blow me off. THAT is not what you have here. You have an untrained dog with a lot of energy, not a dog that clearly understands what you expect. That won't happen until the dog is about 2 years old and only if you train a LOT. Again, stop hitting your dog. It is not effective. Instead you need to enthusiastically let your dog know when he is right.. food, excitement and play are your friends.

Instead of correcting your dog, set him up to be successful. Don't make it a fight. Reward what you want. Work and walk the two dogs away from each other until you have solid behavior and responses.