Tips for Training Dogs
My brother has an American Bulldog, and he's really just a big baby. Comes and leans on you, loves be petted, ADORES squeaky toys. He'll even cheer you up when you're sad. I was crashing bad one day and he was next to me with his head in my lap. Next thing I know he jumps up on me and licks my face, causing me to burst out in a giggle fit. After he was sufficiently satisfied that I was happy, he calmly walked off like nothing happened. Most awesome thing ever! The problem is that my sister and I are low on the totem pole at home. He jumps up on us and my sister is 8 so she often gets knocked to the ground. He's playing but I'm tired of having scratches on my boobs. I mean scratches in the right context are sexy as hell, this is not one of those time.
He's trained in some capacity. He'll sit and lay down when told, and I've seen him attack on command. (My brother is an idiot and was showing how well Kane was trained) However, that's all he'll do when it comes to my sister and I. Is there anything I can do to become seen as more as a 'alpha' in the house? I ask on behalf of my boobs that are scratched and my sister with leaves in her hair from being knocked to the ground.
P.S. I'd spank him....if I wasn't secretly afraid he'd knock me over and eat my face. >_< What?! He's a 90 lbs bulldog!
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Comments
A couple things.
Be dominant. Not abusive, just confident. If he follows commands from you for other things, use that voice when he misbehaves. If he jumps on you, there is an expected reaction, like a head scratch, or even simply a "Hi puppy!" Instead, ignore him. Absolutely no petting him if it happens.
If the dog listens to your brother, have your brother correct him when he jumps.
Edit: If he approaches calmly, reward the behavior with a pet, but don't get him excited.
When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. -Arthur Conan Doyle
------
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
I try not to...
Get him excited, but sometimes me just walking through the door ellicits an OMG SHE'S HERE reaction. I do try and get my voice to stay the same though that doesn't work. I normally get higher in pitch when he jumps on me.
Nothing of me is original. I am the combined efforts of everybody I've ever known. -Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
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Weeeeird
No one's called That What She Said at this yet? What happened to you people while I was traveling?
"The worst thing in life isn't to die. The worst thing is to have lived but have missed it."
I will try to be good.
Kilcommons
Read Brian Kilcommons' "Good Owners, Great Dogs." If that dog doesn't see everyone else in the house as higher up in the family pack than he is, he's not trained. The dog is always lowest in the pack in a household, and has to be reminded of it. Otherwise, there's trouble.
According to my brother...
Kane is trained...he just doesn't listen to you. I used to watch the dog whisperer and his British counter parts shows to help. When he goes to jump or gets overly excited I say no and turn my back. He now jumps on my back.
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Training includes the owner
Kane needs to help the dog listen to you. It's not all on you, or your sister. As long as the dog is jumping on the two of you, the dog is not trained. It's trained to recognize him as alpha; he needs to make it clear to the dog that you and your sister are higher in the pack than the dog himself is. That has to be a joint effort--I don't think you'll be able to get the dog's attention on your own, especially if your brother has this dog trained a certain way.
I think he feels...
If kane listens to him then he's trained. He told me that the reason Kane jumps on us is because we allow squirt ( a shi poo) to jump on us, bit squrt is so small it's the only way we can reah him without sitting on the ground.
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Is the puppy kennel trained?
Is the puppy kennel trained? (i.e., has his own roomy cage which is his den/sleeping spot/"home safe"?) If he does, when he's really misbehaving, tell him to "kennel up" (or whatever the command is) to give him a time out.
I find it's really really handy for when our puppy is waaaaay too wound up and needs to calm down, or has done something very naughty (being banished without a treat is definitely a punishment to him), or made some sort of mess and I need to contain him for a minute while I clean up. We always give our puppy a kibble or three of his puppy chow for a low-cal snack whenever he kennels up - except for those really naughty moments - so he actually likes kenneling up. If he was banished from our company without a treat for being really naughty, I usually only leave him in there for 3-5 minutes before letting him back out to tell him he's forgiven. He usually wants to lick my hands or chin then, which is fine because it's a puppy way of saying "sorry".
Honestly, it sounds like your brother is not ready to be responsible for a large dog if his idea of a trained dog is one that listens only to him and only sometimes, and he teaches the dog to attack on command. There's a dog-bite hospital trip and/or lawsuit waiting to happen, there.
Supreme Minister of All Livestock
"Use, do not abuse. Neither abstinence nor excess renders man happy." - Voltaire
Kane no longer...
Has a kennel. If he acts up he's either put outside or sent to my brother's room for a time out. I can believe you about the lawsuit. Kane tried to 'protect' me from the vet last week, which was the oddest thing because he'd been to that vet before. I think it's just because it was my first time taking him anywhere alone. Though he's normally great with kids. Except when he's bowling them over to love them to death.
ETA: I forgot to add that the reason Kane is trained to attack is because unfortunately my sister, who's eight, is a latchkey kid. My mother wanted a large enough dog to protect her if need be. Thankfully she's not needed kane's 'services'.
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How old is Kane? Most large
How old is Kane? Most large dog breeds don't fully mature until three or so, so it could be he's finally getting past the "tolerant puppy" stage. Or he remembered something unpleasant about the last vet trip.
I love my vet clinic. They bribe my guy with lots of little milk bones during the visit, so he actually likes going to the vet.
Supreme Minister of All Livestock
"Use, do not abuse. Neither abstinence nor excess renders man happy." - Voltaire
Kane is about...
1 I believe. Can't say for certain though. The vet was awesome though. Ignored Kane, and gave him a treat when my brother and I went to pick him up. Needless to say Kane was calm ( high as a kite) when we picked him up. He had a minor surgery that day. That's probably why he was upset, but he stood directly in front of me.
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Ditto what the others said
Ditto what the others said above. In addition, though, sign up for an obedience class and have *you* and *your sister* be the ones to take him to it. The instructor should be able to help you and your sister learn the right tone of voice and signals to send the "we're alpha and we like you, but you're beta" vibes while practicing the commands.
And tough as it is, consistency is key. You and your sister should never reward undesired behaviour, even if it's cute some times. A 90lb dog needs to be trained to never jump on anyone.
One simple way I remind my dog that I'm the boss is that I never let him go through the house door by shoving in front of me. I had to make him sit-stay a lot at first in order to make it happen, but he now knows that if I'm standing right there, he has to hang back until I'm through. Just practicing being the one who gives him commands (and rewards him when he does them right) a lot will help, too. Big lovable dogs are great, but they can be kinda thick, too, so it'll take lplenty of consistent repetition. I speak from experience with an energetic, athletic, tall, 80lbs-and-none-of-its-fat labrador who isn't even 2 years old yet
Supreme Minister of All Livestock
"Use, do not abuse. Neither abstinence nor excess renders man happy." - Voltaire
Do you think the fact...
When I first got home I was seriously afraid of him has anything to do with it? I'm not afraid of dogs normally, but usually those are dogs I grew up with. When I got back home I hadn't seen him since he was about 3 months old, and he really is a large dog. It went from OMG HE'S GONNA KNOCK ME OVER AND EAT MY FACE to he's gonna knock me over and lick my face to look at the baby come get loved on. My heart rate elevated when he came around.
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How do you guys feed him?
I've read -- and found in practice -- that this helps: When it's time for his meal, make him sit and wait, then put the food down, and then give him permission to eat. It enforces the fact that YOU provide the food; he depends on YOU. Get him in the habit of obeying those commands. Then, whenever he's not being respectful of someone (like you or your sister), you can reassert your positions by being the ones to feed him.
He normlly 'dances' around...
When he's fed. He doesn't jump up but he's really excited. He does let you get the bowl and water down before touching it though. He's never just sat there. Even when my brother feeds him. Kane has always been excitable.
Nothing of me is original. I am the combined efforts of everybody I've ever known. -Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
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He isn't trained, then. He's
He isn't trained, then. He's a loving puppy, so he isn't hurting you and he'll do tricks, but he doesn't sound trained in the going-to-pass-basic-obedience-class sense.
Do the sit-stay-wait-for-okay thing for all his meals, like was suggested along with everything else. The puppy likes you guys, so he's nice to you, but he isn't obeying or listening to y'all.
Supreme Minister of All Livestock
"Use, do not abuse. Neither abstinence nor excess renders man happy." - Voltaire
From reading the comments
From reading the comments others and chu have made, it seems there's a bit of difference in what people mean by "trained". This dog seems to "trained" to heel, listen fairly well to it's owner, and not you know, shit on the rug.
He's -not- trained to obey everyone else, or not to jump on people, etc.
He is trained in the general sense that a lot of people use, and is acceptable for many dogs, but he is not fully trained- and because of his size he needs to be.
Language is important. :/ the same word means different things to different people.
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Point-of-order*: the puppy in
Point-of-order*: the puppy in question isn't trained to heel as far as we know. I make a point of this, because heeling is a command that seems to take a lot more in the way of obeying and subordination than simpler commands like sit and stay. If Kane does heel, I'd say the prospects of getting him to behave better were a lot brighter because of that.
You're right in that there's a difference between "house-broke and generally understands his owner" trained and "actually obedient and understands he ain't alpha" trained. For an energetic 90lb bulldog, I completely agree - he needs to be "obedient" trained. Hence my earlier recommendation of a obedience classes
*(I just spent 3 days at a Farm Bureau state meeting where we develop and vote on our policy positions for the year - so. much. Robert's Rules of Order.)
Supreme Minister of All Livestock
"Use, do not abuse. Neither abstinence nor excess renders man happy." - Voltaire
Yes! Exactly!
All of us in the house can get him to sit and lay down. Though the lay down for the most part involves a treat. We even can tell him go and point and he'll leave the room. He also understands, for the most part, that if he wants affection he has to sit still. However, he gets overly excited and jumps and it goes downhill from there.
Nothing of me is original. I am the combined efforts of everybody I've ever known. -Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
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I thought of it vecuase well,
I thought of it vecuase well, one, I spent several years doing debate where "terms" are really important to define. And can cause fun little disputes... But also because of the difference in the training of my patents dog, and my uncles'.
He uses his dogs to hunt birds, and they are... Crazy trained. It's really impressive, but that's how he needs them to be, not just for hunting but because his children were born really premature, and when they were young they were not only really small for their age but also weak and just.. not built to put up with that. A big lab jumping on them to play, no matter fun his intentions, was -not- acceptable.
Then there's my parents dog, Zoey, she's a standard poodle and normally well behaved, barks rarely, never bites, very affectionate- but she loves little kids, and licking their feet, and jumping against them, and while she, like your dog, is trained to come, and sit (and shake hands like a princess, ugh) she definetly is not fully trained.
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I'll see if I can get my wife
I'll see if I can get my wife on here when she finishes work today, as she's an animal trainer/educator and should be able to offer good advice. In general, rule #1 with undesirable behavior is to ignore it. Obviously this doesn't work in all circumstances, but with jumping, barking, and the like, even a negative reaction(like pushing them away or scolding them) can be an encouragement to keep up the behavior. If that turns out to be impossible... well, I'll see what the lady of the house has to say on the subject later tonight.
same here...
I was thinking of asking BM the same. She was a trainer before she went back to school for nursing. The trainer that did her training at work has gone on to open her own business but still calls BM for adivce...
PETA = People Eating Tasty Animals
A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
le update
Had a quick conversation with my wife, who suggested two potential courses of action. The one that she prefers(though it may be somewhat more difficult) is to train the dog so that it responds very strongly and consistently to a command that can't be done while jumping. Then, every time the dog jumps, give that command(for example, 'sit' or 'lie down') and reward the dog for complying. The second is to punish the dog, generally with a knee in the chest whenever it jumps. Its somewhat less reliable, and obviously less nice to the dog, but has the benefit of not requiring that the dog be willing to listen to you.
With both of these methods, consistency is very important. Ideally, everyone who interacts with the dog will know to respond the same way every time. This can be awfully difficult with a family, but is very important.
Finally, the best way may be to ask the person to whom the dog responds best to train it not to jump up on people.
I hope this helps some. If you have any questions, or feel I've answered a different question than you've asked, let me know, as I do have access to an excellent resource or two. Good luck!
Oh no that was....
Really excellant. I'll definitley go for the counter command option. The knee in the chest won't work for my sister. She's tall for her age, but not tall or strong enough to knee anyone.
Oh and believe me we've asked my brother, but he's 16 and a pain himself at times so that's not really an option. We get: Squirt does it so Kane does it.
Nothing of me is original. I am the combined efforts of everybody I've ever known. -Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
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your brother doesn't sound clever.
ask him if you can get away with the same shit your sister can.
Especially if he lets her, say, climb on him (your brother, I mean).
It's supposed to be a challenge, that's why they call it a shortcut. If it was easy it would just be the way.
--Road Trip
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I would if...
It wasn't gonna start an argument. Thankfully I'm moving soon so I won't have to deL with him for much longer. I weep for my mother.
Nothing of me is original. I am the combined efforts of everybody I've ever known. -Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
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Djksnah
Oh man. 16 year old boys.
They're the ones who need training.
(sorry, siz months out of high school and I'm still happy to bot have to deal with them. Even the nicest ones ate so awkward.
I guess, to be fair, 16 year old girls aren't much better)
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My other brother...
Is 15 and is awesome. He can be a pain but it so rarely happens we're all confused when he does it. He's really hilarious when he wants to be, and well just a bit of a nutter. Somehow he managed to forget our mother is a nurse. Where did he think she was going everyday?
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Additional rank reduction tips...
BM here, I have some additional tips that have not been mentioned:
1) Nothing in life is free (except water.) This means that he needs to (at a minimum) sit for food, to go outside, treats, petting, anything we wants he must "work" for. ONce he's mastered that he's got to sit for it mix it up. Have him "down."
2) Politely waiting for food is a pretty good tip, but when there is one step further I would go and that is to HAND feeding for a minimum of 2 months. This can and SHOULD be done by you, sister, and mom. As previously mentioned it is important that Kane understand that he ranks below every person in the house. ** Again nothing in life is free he MUST sit for each handful of kibble. (I know this is a slobbery proposition, but WELL worth it in the long run.)
3) Kane should NOT be allowed on furniture, for dogs, heirarchy is closely tied to physical position. If he is allowed to sleep in bed with someone he is "equal" to them. Lay on the couch while you're watching TV = "equal" to you, and so on and so forth. If you sit on the floor and he's on the couch, well then he's HIGHER than you, not a good idea.
4) EVERYONE should be using the same commond words. This seems pretty basic, but I cannot tell you how many people don't get that "down" SHOULD mean one thing - either lay down or get down, but not both. We use "down" for lay down and "off" for get off the furniture or what not.
5) A good way to work on the not jumping (in addition to the counter command) is to work on having Kane on a 6' leash when you know someone is coming home (or over) before the door is opened he has to sit and then drop a loop of leash to the floor and stand on it close to him. When he jumps it'll help provide a correction.
I hope that this helps some, we adopted a great dane almost 5 years ago who weighed 125 pounds when we got him and NO ONE had taught him jumping on people was improper behavior. With these tips and 2 levels of obedience class he passed the AKC CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and the TDI (Therapy Dogs International) tests!
One other important note, "bully breeds" mature a little slower finally fully maturing around 4 or 5 though much of the "puppy" behavior will have (hopefully) been trained out by 1-2 years.
Good Luck!!
BigMama
PETA = People Eating Tasty Animals
A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
Amen to all that. Also, did
Amen to all that.
Also, did your Great Dane drool? I love big dogs, but can't stand the drooling, so I won't get a St. Benard or one of those giant hound breeds. (We always had Benards when I was growing up; the day they breed a drool-free or near enough Benard, I'll be the first to get one). But I don't know if Danes are drooly too?
Supreme Minister of All Livestock
"Use, do not abuse. Neither abstinence nor excess renders man happy." - Voltaire
Sully Monster in the Basement...
He's only drooly if he's just eaten or drank, or we're teasing him about eating. Our danes have had relativly small flooves and BM's told me that is why they are not so drooly...
PETA = People Eating Tasty Animals
A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
Newfies
Always wanted one, but drool = dealbreaker.
Can you recommend a dog?
I'm not ready to get a dog quite yet, but as soon as I get a house with a yard I really want one. My boyfriend isn't crazy about dogs because he really doesn't like barking. I like medium to big dogs. Can you (or anyone) recommend a quieter, calmer medium to big breed of dog with minimal drool and shedding? I know training is a big part of that, and if I get a dog, I'm sure 'll take him/her to obedience school and meet the parents before I buy unless I rescue, but there are definitely dogs types with dispositions that are more likely to be calm. He's really a cat person, and while I don't mind cats, I'm really allergic to them (but not to dogs) and I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about them. Thanks!
Well, aside from the shedding
Well, aside from the shedding question, the most cat-like dog I can think of is a Shiba Inu. We have one, but they're near impossible to train (waaaay too smart and independent), so maybe not for a first time owner. Although I guess if you survive training a Shiba, anything else would be cake.
Most of the larger breeds tend toward being laid back and quiet. My little sister recommends a German Shorthaired Pointer but says they can end up a little on the energetic side without enough exercise. A Golden Retriever has a more laid back personality, but they do have longer hair, so shedding is more of an issue. She also recommends a German Shepard to pretty much anyone as a first dog because they're smart and very easily trained. She also pointed me to a list of common dog breeds ranked by intelligence. Most of the breeds high on this list are working dogs, which does make them tend toward higher energy, however, a lot of them are also hunting dogs, which makes them less likely to be loud and bark-y.
All that said, adopting is a wonderful thing. If you're willing to give it a shot, mixed breeds often have less health problems and more brains. It's a little bit of a mixed bag, though, so you might end up with the traits you're looking for, you might not.
Edit: Also, keep in mind that younger dogs are easier to train since they don't have bad habits. Starting early and being consistent tends to result in good pets.
Also, pay attention to what style of training works best - my grandfather had a Border Collie that was completely out of control because instead of trying to praise the dog when it did something right, he only scolded it when it did something wrong. Positive reinforcement works really well on certain breeds and won't even phase others.
The problem with a lot of
The problem with a lot of goldens (and labs) is that they're in puppy mode until they're like... six. So if you get one that's a boisterous and energetic pup, be aware that it's going to stay that way for many years and what's lovable at 20lbs isn't always at 60, 70, 80lbs. I think they're among American's favorite breeds in large part because they're been breed to be perma-puppies.
Supreme Minister of All Livestock
"Use, do not abuse. Neither abstinence nor excess renders man happy." - Voltaire
We had a couple german shorthaired pointers
I adored them. Cocoa is my grandmother's, and is a female runt so she's much much smaller; maybe up to my knees? She's always been pretty low key normally and high energy when there's visitors, but any dog raised by my grandmother is pretty much bound to be crazy so I'm not sure that counts.
We also had Max, a male runt (so about the size of a full grown lab I think?) who was much more low key. Except when there were cars. He looooved cars and always chased them down the driveway. And he got into a fight with a badger once. But that's all I can remember of him being crazy, really. We finally had to put him down at 18. These dogs live bloody well forever, I swear- Cocoa's 13 now I think.
And something to keep in mind: Max lived outdoors for the most part, and we're next to 3000 acres of state forest so he could roam at will. Cocoa lived in my grandparent's apartment in Manhattan.
We also had Max's sister Patches, but she died when I was about 6 so I can't tell you much.
"The worst thing in life isn't to die. The worst thing is to have lived but have missed it."
I will try to be good.
A note on training styles
If you're using only reward or only punishment, only reward works faster and lasts longer. With every type of trainable animal, including humans.
The most effective method of training is generally a combination of rewards for desired behavior, ignoring the bad behavior that you can safely ignore, and redirection to the desired behavior followed by rewards. Lots of rewards at the start, more intermittent and random rewards as they catch on.
Yay psych class!
I tack on that "doesn't phase others" because...
I tack on that "doesn't phase others" because, well, I've tried to deal with our Shiba. Not much gets through to them - positive or negative.
Our family has made certain Koda knew his place in the pack from day one, and he's still a little toot whenever he thinks he can get away with it. But at least he's a mostly-well-mannered little toot.
That list...
is awesome. I found one too, with an internet search: http://www.gopetsamerica.com/dogs/low-activity-dogs.aspx I really do need to find a dog that doesn't bark a lot and will be generally calm and even tempered. My current favorites (just from the website) are these:
http://www.gopetsamerica.com/beauceron/beauceron.aspx
http://www.gopetsamerica.com/chesapeake-bay-retriever/chesapeake-bay-ret...
A standard poodle. I'm not
A standard poodle. I'm not quite so sure on temperament there, but I know they don't have the spastic reputation of small dogs or the zomg-so-much-energy-i-need-a-full-time-job problems of working dogs like collies. A poodle is one of the breeds we're considering for our next large dog because of a low/no-shedding factor, and standards are big enough to survive being friends with our big boy lab.
Just promise me you won't give it any humiliating hair cuts
Also, the AKC website is a good basic resource on different breeds. They'll at least tell you what the ideal dog of that breed is supposed to be like. Then, once you've found a couple that sound promising, you can look them up online for more detailed information including potential medical/personality problems.
Supreme Minister of All Livestock
"Use, do not abuse. Neither abstinence nor excess renders man happy." - Voltaire
That's what my parents have.
That's what my parents have. She's a very nice dog, we don't trim her like a poodle, and she's rather cute. I'm excessively a cat person and cannot stand her licking my hands with that big, wet, slobbery tongue, but that's me.
Because they don't shed you do have to trim them, else they smell, and look like hobos, which can be a bit a pricey sometimes. But well, they don't shed, which is pretty awesome.
As far as taking commands, as I said, we haven't excessively trained Zoey, but she took quickly to basic training. She gets cute and excited, but it's not scary like with a really big dog.
I think it's a nice level if you want affectionate, but not needy.
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I might...
consider a standard poodle. The German Pointers seem high energy, as do the Shibas, which is not really what I'm looking for, but a poodle might be nice. I wish I could get a poodle temperament and intelligence in another dog's body, though. I would never give one a ridiculous hair cut, but I don't really find them to be attractive dogs, just as a point of personal preference. They don't shed though, so that might be nice. Clearly I'll have to give this more thought. That list of dogs by intelligence is helpful, though. I'll have to remember that one.
This is really...
Great advice. We don't have to worry about him jumping on furniture. Though I admit I am guilty of sitting on the floor with him. Oddly he only jumps on a few people. Mainly my sister and I sadly. I'll definitely share these tips with my sister so we can practice together.
I'd love to have a scooby doo, but as I'm 5'3 the thought of having a dog stare in my face is unnerving.
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