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A few months back I was incredibly frustrated with my coonhound mix. We just could not seem to get her fully housebroken. As I had said in another thread, I was shocked that I could not get this dog housebroken. Most of my previous dogs were pretty darn reliably housebroken in a week, or even less.
And she was a slow learner on so many levels..... plus just plain stubborn. I could tell she was smart. The vet thinks she is half border collie. But she was just ambivalent about being taught what to do. It was getting to the point that I was willing to give her away to someone who had more patience and better training skills than I have.
THEN.... somebody recommended the book "When Pigs Fly" to me.... and while I didn't actually follow what the book told me to do, the book gave me insight to the way my dog - and coonhounds in general, according to her - think. So the parts that made sense to me, I read and re-read, over and over.... and I started thinking how to make my dog want to learn.
So, now the puppy is 10 months old and she seems to finally be picking up what is expected of her. It's been 3 weeks since she has had an accident, and she has learned to go to the door and whine a lot if she need to go out. If it is the middle of the night she jumps up on my bed and licks me and then whines.... like she did yesterday at 5:15 AM. I hated getting out of bed, but I loved the fact that she got me up! And when we went out she peed and pooped almost immediately. Hurray!
She is also much better at listening to other commands these days.... she's not perfect, but at least she has reached the point where she can co-exist in the family without so much - I hate to say this - resentment.... or maybe a better word is exasperation. Life was really hard with her for about 6 or 7 months.
While not a perfect dog by any means, she is becoming the dog we had hoped she would be...
1. She is great with kids and dogs
2. Can be left uncrated alone ( with my other dog )
3. Great watch dog
4. Really a loving dog..... though if she's not in the mood she stays away from us.
5. Funniest, most amusing dog we - or I - have ever had.... she can make us laugh like no other dog ever has.
Anyway, I wanted to make this thread to mention the book. And I wanted to possibly give hope to other people who have dogs that just seem "Impossible" to train. Seriously, we had nearly given up. And then it was like a light bulb clicked for me ( the only person in the family who ever really worked on training her ) and her, after reading the book.
Good luck to all of you who feel like I felt.
And she was a slow learner on so many levels..... plus just plain stubborn. I could tell she was smart. The vet thinks she is half border collie. But she was just ambivalent about being taught what to do. It was getting to the point that I was willing to give her away to someone who had more patience and better training skills than I have.
THEN.... somebody recommended the book "When Pigs Fly" to me.... and while I didn't actually follow what the book told me to do, the book gave me insight to the way my dog - and coonhounds in general, according to her - think. So the parts that made sense to me, I read and re-read, over and over.... and I started thinking how to make my dog want to learn.
So, now the puppy is 10 months old and she seems to finally be picking up what is expected of her. It's been 3 weeks since she has had an accident, and she has learned to go to the door and whine a lot if she need to go out. If it is the middle of the night she jumps up on my bed and licks me and then whines.... like she did yesterday at 5:15 AM. I hated getting out of bed, but I loved the fact that she got me up! And when we went out she peed and pooped almost immediately. Hurray!
She is also much better at listening to other commands these days.... she's not perfect, but at least she has reached the point where she can co-exist in the family without so much - I hate to say this - resentment.... or maybe a better word is exasperation. Life was really hard with her for about 6 or 7 months.
While not a perfect dog by any means, she is becoming the dog we had hoped she would be...
1. She is great with kids and dogs
2. Can be left uncrated alone ( with my other dog )
3. Great watch dog
4. Really a loving dog..... though if she's not in the mood she stays away from us.
5. Funniest, most amusing dog we - or I - have ever had.... she can make us laugh like no other dog ever has.
Anyway, I wanted to make this thread to mention the book. And I wanted to possibly give hope to other people who have dogs that just seem "Impossible" to train. Seriously, we had nearly given up. And then it was like a light bulb clicked for me ( the only person in the family who ever really worked on training her ) and her, after reading the book.
Good luck to all of you who feel like I felt.