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4 Posts
Hi there,
I posted about our new dog and our baby and appreciated the help! There are a few other issues we're having and there is so much information online that sometimes seems contradictory. I'd love to hear from real pet owners what is the best way to handle it, especially with a dog that is still getting adjusted to our home (we've had him for 1.5 weeks).
1) Barking when we have food
Probably because he previously lived outside and had to fend for himself, he gets very excited over food. I don't know what to do when we're eating meals at our dining room table. He becomes destructive when we confine him in our den and so that is not an option. I have tried ignoring him when we're at the table and that's when the barking starts. Should we just keep ignoring? I hate to put him in his crate because we normally put him in the crate for ~20 minutes about an hour after dinner when we're getting all our kids in bed because all the commotion gets him extremely hyper.
2) Leash pulling
Although I don't think he'd ever been on a leash much, he's actually not terrible. He is fine with me putting the leash on but does attempt to walk out in front of me. Some things I've read say use a harness--some say don't. Some say turn in the opposite direction. Some say stand still. I'm confused!
3) Getting on furniture
We allow him to get on the couch in our den and have assigned him a chair in the living room that he's allowed to be one, but we don't want him on our living room couches. He seems to understand this, evidenced by the fact that he will get on the "no" couches to get our attention. What is the appropriate way to correct this? We have tried putting treats on the ground to get him off, also tried pulling/picking him up to get him off... I'm fine with consistency and know it is a journey but just don't know the best thing to do.
4) Confining him
I feel kind of like he has power over us as we do have baby gates but he is quite able to jump over them or go under them. If we put up two in a doorway it does confine him but then we can't move around our house.
5) Outside
We don't have a completely fenced in yard, but we have a nice long lead in the back yard. I'd love to be able to put him out there for short periods of time, for example, when I'm feeding the baby. However, he often barks when we do this. Is that OK? Should I just keep trying it until he's used to it, or is it a bad idea? We do go for plenty of long walks and let him explore the backyard with us, so it's not like that's his only outside time.
I realize this is a lot... any help is so appreciated!
I posted about our new dog and our baby and appreciated the help! There are a few other issues we're having and there is so much information online that sometimes seems contradictory. I'd love to hear from real pet owners what is the best way to handle it, especially with a dog that is still getting adjusted to our home (we've had him for 1.5 weeks).
1) Barking when we have food
Probably because he previously lived outside and had to fend for himself, he gets very excited over food. I don't know what to do when we're eating meals at our dining room table. He becomes destructive when we confine him in our den and so that is not an option. I have tried ignoring him when we're at the table and that's when the barking starts. Should we just keep ignoring? I hate to put him in his crate because we normally put him in the crate for ~20 minutes about an hour after dinner when we're getting all our kids in bed because all the commotion gets him extremely hyper.
2) Leash pulling
Although I don't think he'd ever been on a leash much, he's actually not terrible. He is fine with me putting the leash on but does attempt to walk out in front of me. Some things I've read say use a harness--some say don't. Some say turn in the opposite direction. Some say stand still. I'm confused!
3) Getting on furniture
We allow him to get on the couch in our den and have assigned him a chair in the living room that he's allowed to be one, but we don't want him on our living room couches. He seems to understand this, evidenced by the fact that he will get on the "no" couches to get our attention. What is the appropriate way to correct this? We have tried putting treats on the ground to get him off, also tried pulling/picking him up to get him off... I'm fine with consistency and know it is a journey but just don't know the best thing to do.
4) Confining him
I feel kind of like he has power over us as we do have baby gates but he is quite able to jump over them or go under them. If we put up two in a doorway it does confine him but then we can't move around our house.
5) Outside
We don't have a completely fenced in yard, but we have a nice long lead in the back yard. I'd love to be able to put him out there for short periods of time, for example, when I'm feeding the baby. However, he often barks when we do this. Is that OK? Should I just keep trying it until he's used to it, or is it a bad idea? We do go for plenty of long walks and let him explore the backyard with us, so it's not like that's his only outside time.
I realize this is a lot... any help is so appreciated!