My white german shepherd, Lily, is 14 weeks old. We never leave her home alone unless it's for a short shopping trip, since I work in the mornings until four and don't work every day, and my husband goes to work at five. We spend a lot of time with her, and have ever since we got her when she was 8 weeks old. I've gotten four different books (The Art of Raising a Puppy, Kathy Santo's Dog Sense, For the Love of the Dog, and Why does my dog act this way?) and we have put a lot of time and effort into training her, but she still has a lot of problems.
First off, I want to mention that she was breed well. I have loads of information on her blood line and her parents were beautiful, well-mannered, championship dogs. I wanted to take them home with me when I met them. Lily is cute, but that can hardly keep her out of trouble forever. She constantly bites - it's like she has no urge to do anything else. In order to pet her or rub her tummy, you have to keep her from biting you the whole time, and it's left so many injuries on my husband and I. We've tried everything, from a "soft mouth" bite inhabition aproach, yelping like a puppy everytime she bites and ignoring her when she continues, closing her mouth shut and saying "close your mouth, no no bite", looking her in the eyes while grabbing the scruff of her neck, trying to use our finger to pinch her gums while she is biting, to hiting her on her nose. This is really bad though, and we have been persistent when trying to teach her. When we try the ignore method, she won't even let us get away without biting us like five times more. It's impossible to really get away, and she tears our clothes. She doesn't care one bit when we ignore her, if we ever successfully do, and the next time you see her she's ready to bite your hand off again... and these are not tolerable bites. When we yelp, she hardly responds. Like maybe once she'll cock her head to the side, but then continue to bite and she'll just get really excited and start biting more with a playful growl. The ONLY thing she responds to is getting hit on her nose or head when she bites, and this is a technique that my husband and I do NOT approve of and do not wish to use with her, but it's the only way we can get her to stop in some situations. Even then she'll come back to bite maybe five more times, and when we say "NO" in a deep growl and hit her she gets all mad and excited (biting even more) until she finally feels bad and leaves... but later it's the same thing all over again. I do not wish to use any "painful" techniques and I feel that hiting her makes everything about dominance and who's stronger. This is not a relationship I want with my dog, especially since her dad outweighed me by 15 pounds! Who knows how big she'll get.
It's near impossible to hook her leash onto her collar when taking her for a walk because of her biting. Even though she wants to go outside, she'll bite our hands and arms terribly and then the leash until you finally get her outside. It's a struggle to do anything with her. Even when we play with her, when she brings back the toy and we take it to throw again, we have to put up with her biting us until we throw it again. Ignoring her and stopping play does nothing, she'll just run back and start attacking you like nobody's business.
She screams like crazy when we put her in her "crate"... and we were dumb enough to get a collapsable one that's soft. So all night she screams and cries and bites the thing to wear it pops up and down and up and down. When we put her in the crate for biting she doesn't understand at all, and she screams like we're killing her. I can't even describe it, it's awful.
Also, she's not really a "destructive dog" as she doesn't tear up the house when we leave her alone, but she does however rip apart paper in the trash can if we leave the bathroom door open while we're here. She also has chewed the corner of one door frame and ripped a vertical molding type thing off of the wall in our bedroom. No idea how we're going to fix that. :(
She also is less potty trained now than ever. She will use the bathroom outside, but she'll use the bathroom inside almost as quickly. Even though she has no problem scratching on our bedroom door while we're asleep to let us know she's bored, she will not scratch on the front/back doors to let us know she wants to go out. Sometimes she'll let out one small whine somewhere in the house and then that's it. She'll never come up to you or really do anything as a "sign". We take her outside soooo often, and it's consuming our life! Last night alone we took her outside at 2 o'clock, 5 o'clock, 7 o'clock, and then 11 this morning... and this is after we've had her for six weeks! Of course after all that, she still pooped in the kitchen after we let her out into the rest of the house because she was chewing the molding. At least she only pees/poops in the office and the kitchen... I would not be able to put up with it the two bedrooms. I feel disgusted every time I come in our office even after all of my cleaning it up and Lysoling the carpet. Should we buy training pads for her?
Sorry for the long post... I need all the help I can get!!!
Behavior problems... can you help?
Wow. You really have some issues with Lily. Part of it is that she is still a puppy, and I can tell you that these things will go away. At least part of her biting problem is because she's a puppy, and it hurts even more because she's got sharp puppy teeth. It's normal for puppies to be really mouthy and need to bite a lot of stuff to relieve the teething. However, I do think she's biting too much.
Getting up at all hours of the night to take her out, is unfortunately another normal puppy thing. We went through this with our dog when he was potty training. Dogs can't hold it that long until they're a little older. Maybe 2-4 hours. But it does eventually get better. The most important thing you can do for your dog's potty training is to resolve the crate training issue. Crate training is the best way to potty train, and you need to have a crate trained dog for other reasons, like if you ever have to leave for long periods of time or take her on a trip. This is what I'd do: I'd either put her in the crate and let her howl for a few weeks, and get myself some ear plugs, or get her a bark collar for when she goes in the crate. Get her one that beeps or sprays citronella, not the shock kind. It will beep/spray when she barks, and she won't like it, but it will quickly correct her barking and howling in the crate. The only problem with this is that she won't be able to bark when she needs out to go potty, so you'll have to pay special attention to when she might need to go. With my foster dogs, I crate train all of them. Even if it kills me, I just let them howl all night. It's hard, but it's what's best for me and them. But I have used bark collars before with a lot of success.
The house destruction is probably part of her being a mouthy chewy puppy. It probably won't continue, just correct her if you catch her doing it. Unfortunately, you'll just have to wait until she outgrows it, and then try to repair what she's done.
For the smell in your carpet, I'd recommend buying a carpet steam cleaner. It is the best $100 I've ever spent. To treat a spot, I buy this stuff called Nature's Miracle or mix some OxiClean in water and pour it on the stain. I try to do this right after the dog makes the mess. I soak up the pee with a paper towel, then soak the area in OxiClean/Nature's Miracle. Then I soak that up with a paper towel. Then I use the steam cleaner on it with pet odor shampoo. People even come over and tell me my house smells good!!!! Even after all the dogs who have peed on my floor lol.
Since you've got a pup who's going to be very large, I think you should take her to obedience classes now. She has to learn that you are in charge, period. Especially if she's going to be bigger than you. German Shepherds can be very well trained, well behaved dogs, but it takes lots of training. I think she's ready now for a puppy class. With all commands, she's going to learn she has to obey you, and that will help with all her problems, even the biting. She has to learn to submit to you. So you'll have to be very on top of things with her obedience training.
The biting- this is where I think you might have a real problem. I think I know what you are talking about, because I once handled a German Shepherd puppy who constantly attacked my arms and legs, and it was even scary! I had never seen a pup like that. I am assuming you are talking about that kind of problem. The important thing to understand here is that if you don't get this under control, you might have a dog so out of control that she has to be put down. She's a puppy now, but imagine her acting like this when she's older. It looks like you have tried every possible way of fixing this, and she isn't responding. I really think you'll have better luck with this as her obedience training comes along. Usually, I don't suggest such heavy handed methods, but it looks like you have tried everything else, so here's what I would try now: a shock collar; continuing hitting her on the nose, filling a can with coins and shaking it at her when she bites, rattling newspaper at her (don't have to hit her), or getting a spray bottle filled with water and spray her in the face when she bites. I know you don't want to have this kind of relationship with your dog, but with a breed like a German Shepherd, you have to. You have to have a relationship where she understands that you are the leader and she must obey you. If all this doesn't work, call a dog behaviorist to work with you, because this is serious. I really hope you can get things going better with her. Good luck!
Reply:My best advice is if you have the National Geographic channel watch "The Dog Whisperer" and watch several episodes, you already know the "Training Basics" but what you need is not Dog Training, it is Dog Psycology. The main problem is that she does not see you as the Alpha. The alpha dog is not a chew toy! You establish this by setting rules, boundaries and limitations. You will learn more about that if you watch "The Dog Whisperer". I was an assistant dog trainer for 2 years and I have learned a lot by watching those shows. There is clearly a difference between dog training and dog psycology. If you do not have the National Geographic channel there are DVD's of "The Dog Whisperer" available, maybe you can even check them out at the library, I am not sure on that. But the key is to not treat your dog like a human, treat it like a dog. What I mean by that is take a wolf pack for example..The alpha does not ask the Beta dogs if it is OK for them to do something they just do it, they eat first because they claim the food. They lead the pack and the others follow, they do not ask if they want to follow or if they are ready, they just lead. Own your space and she will give you respect and you don't have to beat her in any way. If she is doing something wrong just touch, don't push. don't hit. If you pin a dog and you use force to do this the dog learns that you are just being forceful and you do not know how to dominate. You should be able to pin the dog with one hand and only let the dog up when it relaxes. You want your attitude to be calm assertive and the dogs to be calm submissive. If it is not that way then you can not move forward. I would highly suggest you watch the shows and watch several it will be well worth the investment. I have used his techniques on my own dog who is dog aggressive, he resource guards me around other dogs. I have had great sucess. I can easily take him to Pets Mart by myself and even carry stuff I have bought and always maintain control of him. Before I watched the shows, with all of my "training" knowledge all I had was a dog who refused to listen. That is where the "pshcology" part helped immensely. I no longer approached him like I was a victim of a unruly dog. I approached him like I was the owner of a well mannered dog. On the walk you want to lead the dog, do not allow the dog to lead you (tells the dog it is the dominant one) and if you use a choke chain have it high up on the neck. (regardless of the type of collar you use) If she starts to pull or go after another dog, or starts to chew on you then just give a quick pop on the leash. If she is getting unruly you can tap her in the belly with your heel. Do not kick her, just a tap, that usually snaps them back to reality at least for a second. Own your space and everything in it. when you "claim" something do not take it from her or push her away, put your hand or foot on it and allow her to back away. If she wants to chew on you use a broom or tennis racket or anything as an extension of your body, put that between you and the dog, don't push her with it, allow her to chose to respect it. But that way she can't chew on you cause there is something in the way. The best way I can help you is again, watch the shows, that is where I gained most of my knowledge on treating behaviors.
Reply:Ok, wow. For the biting, when she bites grab her lower jaw, say "NO" and stare at her until she looks away first. Repeat this everytime she bites. The lower jaw is the part or the skull with all the closing power. If you disable the lower jaw she will be unable to bite you, she can still breathe fine and it doesn't hurt her in the least. It will bruise her ego and scare her because she will have absolutely no control over her own mouth and will cry a lot. It should help to make her understand that you do not approve of this behavior. The plus side to this is it doesn't matter how big the dog is, grabbing the lower jaw will disable their ability to bite until you decide it's time to release them.
This is a bit extreme and I don't like doing it because it does stress out the dog but it does get the message across without hurting you or the dog.
Otherwise I would highly suggest hiring in a trainer for some serious one on one time. She is in serious need of some training. And since I'm not a certified trainer I can't really give you anymore info than what I've learned from experiance.
Good luck!
Reply:Most of what you are describing is typical puppy behavior.... the biting. A three pound puppy will act the same way because of the teething. And yes, believe me, I know it hurts. I've been through "puppydom" a few times. Everything you are doing is correct.... but just like a typical baby, her attention span is short, so just keep at the " NO BITE" over and over.
The potty training is a concern. Are you giving her much praise and a doggy treat when she does her business outdoors? Really, she does not need to go out during the night that often. Training pads should help.
Also, doggy obedience will help Lily too. Just don't give up... when she's an adult, Lily will be a loving and obedient dog. There's is light at the end of this tunnel!!!
Reply:Like the other people will say. it is teething. People I babysit for just got a puppy. He is never scolded. I got bitten really hard and it is just a stage. If it persists it could be a problem. I currently have three dogs, all five years apart with the youngest is one. The crate should not be a bad place all the time unless they do something like almost get hit by a car. Also if the crate isn't in your room put it in there. If you don't mind that is. It is the only way to quiet her is if she can hear you breathing. Put a stuffed animal or two in there to sleep with too if she was in a litter for the whole time before you got her. It might help. The leash, she should be told the sit first and be calm before you attempt to do anything with it. We go by a simple "No." If they hear no they know they have done something wrong. A light tap on the nose isn't harmful for a dog. It shows they you are correcting them. A dog's stomach is very vulnerable when they are a puppy so she may not like it much. We don't do this but our neighbors pin their puppy on his back and look him in the eye when he is very rialled up. He starts to whimper when he calms down. It is not something I would use but you could try it. When you tell the puppy no bite try to give her something else to chew on that is hers. Like a bone or toy.
Reply:i can help with the biting its natural she is obviously teething
she needs something okay for her to chew
when she uses, it praise her, when she doesn't, scold her
it should work
Reply:I'm going through the same problem. I suggest the potty training pads. They are working for me. Keep it in one location so your dog will know this is the only spot he is to go(bathroom). It's helped a lot. Praise her when she goes on the pads as well as when you see her outside. You need to praise imediatly after, so she knows what you are praising her for. She'll catch on. As for the biting, she is teething and this is normal. You just need to teach her what she can chew. Buy some chew toys and when she starts to chew on you, firmly so no, and give her a chew toy instead. Be patient and persistant and she will catch on. It sounds like she is also a little confused with the crate thing. The crate should be a place that she feels safe. You are putting her in a crate for punishing her for the biting. Now, when she is in the crate she knows it's for punishment and she will want to get out, because she feels it's a bad place. Keep the crate open and put a blanket and some of her favorite things in there so she can get reaqainted to the crate and feel safe when she is in there. I use it when we leave to the store and at night. He finally is use to it and goes in there by himself now when it is bed time. If you catch her peeing or pooping, pick her up right away and put her on the pad or outside right away. It's important that you catch her doing it. If you dont. then dont bother scolding her as she will get confused. The main thing to a healthy tamed animal is to be persistant, and let her know you love her. It takes time and they just want to please you. Get Traing Pads today and a new crate. One more thing I never spank or hit my dog. They will learn from your tone of voice what is right or wrong.
Reply:Uh - she's fourteen weeks old.
Follow the teaching in the Monk's book, to the letter, as it applies (note there are some age appropriate do's and don'ts).
Reply:I would contact a professional trainer for this dog. You obviously care for this animal, and are trying to go at her training systematically, but Lily has some problems,as you know. They are somewhat serious, especially the biting. She is young, though, and this is in her favor. But you need to get started with a professional right away so these traits don't become ingrained or get even worse.
Reply:I have a shepherd. I trained her to chew on plastic water/soda bottles as a pup. I took her everywhere with me as well. On 2 trips from Calif. to Texas and back I played with her in our van with the plastic bottles. Its a reward and a fun game for her. She has never eaten any of my furniture, cats or family members. I use baby gates to direct my dogs to rooms they are allowed to be in and installed a doggy door in my back door to allow free access to the back yard. I have 4 large dogs. My big girl will sit and scratch the hallway walls at all hours to get our attention. I gave her an old t-shirt I had worn for 2 days and a plastic bottle /cap on. I have to hear her chewing up the bottle but at least She is not howling for me to get up cause she is bored.
I have always pinched the inside of a dogs lip when it tried to nip me. If that doesn't stop it then I use my hand like it's mother's mouth and bite the dogs neck and hold it down until it submits. You must be calm and assertive when you do this.
Get Cesar Milan's book. "Cesar's Way". I bought the Dog Whisperer videos.
Reply:The first thing I suggest is that you stop and I mean stop every single thing you are doing that involves touching your dog in a negative way.
No more pinching, pulling, hitting, grabbing and so on!!! Stop it now. Go to the Petsmart class. It is a very good start for the price and if you pay attention and practice religiously at home, you will be greatly rewarded.
You are trying to teach too many things to such a young pup AND you keep changing the method and what you want from him. Your puppy is so confused he has chosen to ignore you. You are driving him insane from his point of view.
The keys to successful puppy training are consistency, patience and use of positive reinforcement. Everyone in the household must be consistent and work with the puppy in the same manner. Training should be fun for everyone, including the puppy. Children should be monitored to ensure the puppy’s safety and to ensure that they aren’t teaching the puppy the wrong behavior.
Always reward your dog for good behavior and NEVER punish for bad behavior.
Corrections reinforce the bad behavior and cause avoidance. Behavior that continues to occur is rewarding. If you have been correcting your dog for something and it still does it, the correction is rewarding the bad behavior or the behavior is more rewarding than the correction.
The correction probably only caused your dog to be scared of you, not the behavior. If your dog is chewing the rug and you correct chewing you are not teaching your dog what to chew, you are negatively reinforcing chewing. If you negatively reinforce chewing you are reinforcing chewing.
Punishment and corrections are generally ineffective and will not eliminate the unwanted behavior. Punishment (and the punisher) will be avoided, not the behavior. Your dog will learn to jump on your side.
When not given choices, dogs will be slow to give up behavior even if that behavior results in pain or punishment. Without being taught to do something else your dog will become frustrated and continue the bad behavior. And if you don't teach your dog what to do instead you won’t correct the bad behavior.
People are so busy trying to stop their dog from doing what they don’t want, and approach training them by correcting bad behavior that they have forgotten the most important thing! What do you want your dog to be doing instead? If your dog is sitting it can't be jumping. Get your dog to sit, don’t correct it for jumping.
Corrections can cause fear and aggression. Corrections often cause your dog to be scared of you, not the behavior. Your dog could learn to avoid you and defend himself from you. Your dog could feel confronted by you and challenge you. This will lead to aggression. Corrections can cause aggression. This is why dogs turn on people.
Dogs really don’t do bad things. At least from their point of view they aren’t bad… we have to teach our pets what to do so they won’t misbehave. Not correct them for misbehaving. A dog can only do what you let him do. A dog should not know any better and won’t until you teach him. . It takes training not correcting.
These are books I think will help you more, toss the Monks in the trash. I was trained by Petsmart as a trainer, and for the cost, you won't be sorry, but remember, continue training, don't stop there. Each stage of your dogs life brings on new challenges and YOU must be prepared to teach him correctly and humanely. I wish you luck, be patient and NEVER stop teaching.
Advise from Victoria's Stilwell;
"Owners often think that once a dog is trained, there is no need to carry on. But your dog never stops learning, and training should be reinforced throughout your pet's life."
www.victoriastilwell.com.
- For small dogs: Little Dogs: Training Your Pint-Sized Companion (Paperback)
by Deborah Wood (Author)
- The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller and Jean Donaldson
- The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell
- Feisty Fido by Patricia B. McConnell (Author), Karen B. London (Author)
- Dog Language: An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior by Roger Abrantes, Alice Rasmussen, and Sarah Whitehead
- The Dog's Mind: Understanding Your Dog's Behavior (Howell Reference Books) by Bruce Fogle and Anne B. Wilson
- Feeling Outnumbered? How to Manage and Enjoy Your Multi-Dog Household. by Karen B. London
- I'll be Home Soon by Patricia B McConnell
- For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend, by Patricia B. McConnell (Author)
- Family Friendly Dog Training: A Six Week Program for You and Your Dog by Patricia B McConnell; PhD and Aimee M Moore
- Outwitting Dogs: Revolutionary Techniques For Dog Training That Work! by Terry Ryan and Kirsten Mortensen
- Don't Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training by Karen Pryor
- 1000 Best Dog Training Secrets (1000 Best) by Robyn Achey and Bill Gorton
- It's Not the Dogs, It's the People! A Dog Trainer's Guide to Training Humans by Nicole Wilde
- The Cautious Canine Paperback by Patricia B. McConnell
- The Body Language and Emotion of Dogs: A Practical Guide to the Physical and Behavioral Displays Owners and Dogs Exchange and How to Use Them to Create a Lasting Bond by Myrna M. Milani
- How to be the Leader of the Pack...And have Your Dog Love You For It. by Patricia B. McConnell (Author)
Reply:First of all, you got some good books, but a couple of them I have not read myself. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the way you are doing thew yelp is not the correct way of doing it. By the way you discribe it, you are sitting there and she bites you and you yelp. But then what? You said she is continuing to bite you after you yelp. One of the best books I ever read was called "The Dog Listener" by Jan Fennell. It discribes in detail the yelp process. What you are suppose to do is the following. You are playing with her and she bites you. Yell really load "OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Then you have to put her down, away from you so you are not touching her. I know, you say but then she just comes running back up to start again. You don't let her. Once you put her down you get up and walk away. Go in another room, keep walking away from her if she is chasing after you. If she continues to chase after you after five minutes, give her a toy then walk away. Be percentant. Do not say anything, do not look at her, do not touch her. Just like Cesar says, no touch no talk, no eye contact. Another thing, get a better crate. I recommend the smaller hard pet taxies that are used for airline travel. You don't want a big one. Put it in a room that is the furthest from yours and if possible far from the living area. When it is bed time, put her in the crate, and leave, do not make a big deal of it, calmly big her up, put her in the crate, turn around and walk out, do not say a word. Most people don't realize but alot of times, just saying "OK, we have to go, you be a good girl" can have an excited tone to it that the puppy will pick up on and this will cause the puppy to get excited. Don;t think, "Ok you are going in the crate now" just do it, dogs don't think they just react, you must do the same. Also, when you get the crate, you need to get one just big enough for her to stand up and turn around. IF the whining continues, you can do things like put a blanket over the crate, and turning off the light. You have to ignore the behavior, it is the hardest thing to do. Also, turn on a radio in the room she is in, or better yet, a sound machine. We have one of those that has like wave sounds. Very calming sounds. I have an 9 month old and I have already been through a lot of this, and I use to rescue German Shepherds and have dealt with just about every issue there is. I know it may sound like I am telling you to do exactly what you already have been doing, but take a step back, if you need too, film yourself, it doesn't sound like you are doing things correctly. Make sure you are not free feeding her also. Free feeding can cause a lot of behavior issues as well as potty training issues. Also, check out the book I suggested. If you don't get anything else from this answer, take that into consideration.
tooth decay
No comments:
Post a Comment