Dog!

[mad_andy]

Where am I going wrong with this damn dog?

I praise him when he gets it right.

I try and ignore it when he gets it wrong. (I haven't even thrashed him when he throws his kong at my head. He has unerring aim.)

I walk him at least once a day and, usually, twice.

I took him to work with me when he was a puppy. (Socialisation, dude. And you see all sorts of everything in a busy vet practice.)

He has toys that are changed regularly to avoid boredom which, of course, he usually ignores unless he's throwing them at my head.

So.

Why does he pee on his bed? Every. Damn. Day.

Why does he ignore me completely when he's off lead? (Correction. When there are no distractions, his recall is beautiful. When there is another dog, people, birds, bits of paper, I might as well not exist. And I praise him when he does come back.)

Why does he try and bounce on the head of every other dog he meets?

Why does he raid the bin? (And then try to bite me when I attempt to take things he has stolen off him.)

Why does he try to steal food from my plate? (I have never, ever fed him from my plate. He gets leftovers in his bowl at mealtime.)

Why does he try to bite me when I turf him off the sofa? (He has always been turfed off the sofa when somebody wants to sit down. He still is, despite the teeth, I'll be damned if I'm giving in.)

I am THIS > < far from just giving up with the whole dog thing and sticking to goldfish. Where am I going wrong?

No more saluki crosses. Never, ever, ever...

Comments

Man...

[bella-cheval.livejournal.com]

Sounds like Axl thinks he's a human.

He's just a puppy still, give him some time. At least that's what I think. I've never had a dog but I've been around dog trainers a lot in the past 6 years and have seen them nearly tearing their hair out over puppy behavior.

Good luck and don't despair.

[kraftpistole.livejournal.com]

Axl must be distantly related to my own dog, Tobey [well, he's Elliott's, but in truth...]. He does all these things, and I do all the things you do. :/ I don't get it...

Is it that they were just bred to be this way? Something that can never be praised/trained out of them...?

[heads out to wash peed upon doggie bed yet again]

[lady-t-220.livejournal.com]

*turns up randomly via mjules*

If it helps any, the peeing behaviour he should grow out of. We had one Belgian Shepherd who peed on the top of the landing every day for close to a year. But it is re-enforced by odour, even after washing. If you can use an odour neutraliser on it that can sometimes help break the cycle. But yeah, should grow out of it.

The growling and bouncing on other dogs though is an attempt to assert dominance. If you take the stance of an adult dog chastising a puppy, getting a good hold of their neck and pushing it firmly to the floor with a solid, firm, verbal 'NO' is a clear way of saying "I've had enough. Stop now." Ideally your dog should roll over in submission to you as the alpha. If he doesn't see you as dominant, he ain't gonna' listen to you.

The other thing is that sometimes, ignoring misbehaviour doesn't work for every dog. Lord knows we've got a willful little sod of a puppy right now, and the only way to stop him sticking his nose on the table and trying to swipe things is a sharp tap on the muzzle. Not to hurt, just enough of a flick to make him jump back because they really don't like the sensation. Positive re-enforcement is great for encouraging good behaviour, but means bugger all if there are no repercussions for overstepping set boundaries.

Good luck with the puppy-training though. You sound like you're doing things right, but you just need to be sure your pooch accepts you as the dominant dog. All that growling and snapping behaviour is because he's trying to userp your position. Be firm and make sure he knows he's not going to win.


Oh, and recall can sometimes be aided by rewarding with treats and such. Those little doggie chew-sticks are great for that, it's the only way we get Robbie back. Dumb dog loves those rawhide chewies.

[madandy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tips! I haven't yet found anything appetising enough that he'll turn away from another dog to get it. I keep trying, though.

As for the alpha thing, I tried that the first time he did it and got a rather nasty bite on the hand! Little bugger can turn like a snake. He's never allowed to get away with it - the last time I'll admit my temper got a bit frayed and I threw a sofa cushion at him and roared. That worked. Until the next time.

Consistency and patience, I guess. *Sigh*

[lady-t-220.livejournal.com]

*nods*

If he's reeeally willful and determined to be alpha, getting him neutered can work too. Though obviously not helpful if you're planning to stud, but then stud dogs are sex-obsessed little sods anyhow... ;p

[madandy.livejournal.com]

Already done that! It helped a bit, but then I never expected it to be a magic bullet.

[lady-t-220.livejournal.com]

*lol* Well good luck, and hopefully he won't try your patience too hard for too much longer ;)

[hanks-lil-pit.livejournal.com]

How old was he when you got him? What do you know about his background? How old is he now?

I dunno much about salukis but he sounds like he's got dominance issues...question is are they true alpha dominance issues or fear dominance issues?

Have you done long lead recall training with him?

The biting would be the first thing to go in my house. I'm hard pressed to give you any advice about that without knowing much more about his motivation, because you know as well as I do that if you use excessive domination on a fear based dog the whole thing just goes backwards. Get back to me on that part.

As for the peeing on the bed. I know it sounds completely fucked but Chili was claustrophobic like a motherfucker and if I crated him he went into a blind panic, pissed and then slobbered drool in buckets from the nerves. He had a very poor background for crating. He was, previous to me, punished by being placed in an extremely small box and then shortly before he came to my home he had the whole ear crop nightmare at the clinic where he was, of course, caged. I found with him that I could gate him off in a room and claustrophobia was no longer an issue.

On the other hand...if you look at the other issues you have it sounds more like he is acting out by peeing on the bed...because it makes you mad.

Raiding the bin is just something dogs do when they can get access to it...cut off his access...whatever it takes.

Do you do the peanut butter in the kong?

I'll wait on your reply for more.

Hank
~who has a pretty new icon~

[madandy.livejournal.com]

He was 11 weeks when I got him; his mum was found in the back of a van, taken on by a chap with working lurchers and so was born in a kennel. I've seen the chap's kennels; spacious, big run, yard for exercise. He hadn't, I don't think, been indoors until I got him but he handled all the household stuff with apparent ease.

He's just over a year old now - fourteen months. He uses his crate as a refuge if anything scary happens - thunder, fireworks - so I don't think he's scared of it. The pattern seems to be if we speak upstairs before coming down to him in a morning he pees on his bed. I just ignore it and change the bed...again...

The growling and biting is weirder. He's never been allowed to have dominance. I guess it may well be fear related; he does it most (and worst) when he's stolen something and doesn't want to give it back. It seems that edible rubbish is worth, to him, getting into a fight over. The other time is when he wants to stay on the sofa and doesn't want to go to bed. I'd leave him on the sofa all night but for his rather unfortunate habit of destroying the kitchen door to get at the bin...

At work, or with someone he doesn't know, he's submissive to the point of cowardice. It's only when being walked and when he's at home that we see the nastier behaviours. He'll snap at me when I won't let him off lead and he sees another dog he wants to play with.

And if said dog is another young male, he wrestles and growls and they have a lovely time together being stupid boys. But if they aren't as boisterous as him he gets, well, not aggressive, but pushy.

I've done the kong thing, but once he's got the easily reached stuff he gives up with it. And it doesn't matter how long the lead; no-one about, great recall. Distractions, forget it, only then I have a dog attempting to hang himself on a long line.

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm just trying to refute everyone's points but it's so strange...I'm sure I haven't tried everything and maybe he'll grow out of it but it's driving me bugshit.

Of course, it plays right into Slay's hands - because he didn't want a dog in the first place. *Sigh* I just wish I could explain to Axl how hard I had to fight to get him - and to keep him.

Nice icon, btw. ;)

[hanks-lil-pit.livejournal.com]

Mmmkay. He's a submissive and not yet mature. Complicated. First thing I would do is build confidence and get his brain working. Mild agility, coursing, that type of thing. Also, he needs the strictest of obedience, all day, every day and a complete understanding of where he ranks in the house. Because of his behavior when asked to get off the couch, I wouldn't let him on the couch...ever...or at least until the attitude has changed permanently.

What exactly, step for step, do you do when he growls/bites?

Peeing in the crate sounds like an excitement issue...he's just so fucking happy to hear you coming that he pisses himself.

At work, or with someone he doesn't know, he's submissive to the point of cowardice.

This screams to me that he's thinking you are not so in charge, that there is some leeway and he has the right to insist he gets his way (like keeping the stolen trash). This is also where strict obedience comes into play. Make new rules in the house, change things up. Require him to go through the paces to get dinner, require him to sit/stay a dozen times during your walk, etc.

Now, one thing you might consider is that you've an overly intelligent dog on your hands. Havoc, who was the all time worlds worst puppy whom I threatened to give away on more than a dozen occasions, was the all time best adult dog ever, with an intelligence hard to match. This could also be part of the issue. In this sense, surf around for mental games for dogs. Hide and Seek, that kind of thing, to engage his grey matter.

He sounds like a dog that needs a lot of structure...for now and until he's about 24 months, just to be sure.

Now watch this...I'm gonna get all weird on your ass...

I just wish I could explain to Axl how hard I had to fight to get him - and to keep him.

You can, if you believe you can, and what's more he'll listen. The other thing is that you need to employ intrinsic expectations. There are a lot of people that go on about how lucky I am to have the dogs I do, and how well they behave and blah, blah, blah. I don't think it's luck, and it certainly isn't training because they've never been trained...it's just that I expect a certain degree of behavior in my house and it's delivered. Potty training and all that, of course, was trained, but how they behave on a day to day basis with the family and with each other is something that I have always expected without question.

I know that fucking sounds weird...but speaking to them with the understanding that they understand and expecting a certain quality of behavior...it works.

Hank
~who figures you oughta just tell Axl that if he doesn't straighten his little ass up he's going to lose his housing to the decision of the big guy with the beard...whether it's true or not~

[arrys-girlie.livejournal.com]

I agree with Hank on talking to him.

When he does take something he shouldn't have, use your foot to cover it. Don't reach for it with your hand, just place your foot over it (with shoes on in case) and tell him "drop it". I had the same thing with my last Elkhound, and Haiche snarls and bitches but he doesn't bite.

The peeing - sounds like he's just excited, and some of them never grow out of that. But, what you could do is get a long play tape and put it on a continual player. You don't have to fill the tape but record bits and pieces here and there and let it play at night, until he's used to hearing your voice even when you don't show up. This might get him conditioned to understand that hearing you doesn't mean seeing you right away. Even record "sounds" like you're walking down the steps.

And the make him earn it is a great idea. Sit, down, stay, come, heel - all of that before he gets something as simple as his dinner. That way he thinks obeying you gets him what he wants, and he'll be more responsive to ot. Even before you walk him or play with him - make him work for it.

The bin - ha - had that problem with Flink as well. What finally did it was sprinkling cayenne pepper around the top of the trash a couple times. But that doesn't work with every dog. The couch? Again, I agree with Hank - no way no how.

Growling and biting - out alpha him. Without knowing what you do to correct it now though, I'm not sure what you've tried. With Flink, I finally had to rap him on the nose with my fingers and then I stared him down until he gave in. Glad no one saw me cause I would get down on the floor at his eye level and move around to keep eye contact until he realized I was more stubborn than him - took me a while but he got to the point where a sharp "No!" stopped him in his tracks.

He was 10 when I got him so he had a lifetime to develop his bad habits, but after about six months he was one of the best I've ever had. When I lost him he had stopped raiding the bin, he wouldn't steal food (and I could leave my plate in a room on the floor and he wouldn't touch it), if someone dropped something and he grabbed it "drop it" was all it took.

Well, that's my two cents, hope some if it helps. :)