Running out of training ideas, help please!

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Booboos

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I feel like I am a bit stuck between a rock and hard place with Halfy's training and would appreciate some help. She is 7 months old now.

She is a big chewer, she will chew anything and everything. My usual strategy for chewers is to watch them all the time, use a crate when leaving them alone (which works fine with her) and flood them with chews so that they have nice alternatives to all my furniture, walls, etc.

However, Halfy is a bit aggressive with Pookie (JRT) over food. She leaves Dizzy (GSD) alone, but can leave her food in order to run after Pookie and take his. She is fairly serious about this, i.e. body stiff, tail straight out, etc. and they have had a few scraps over this. I have tried removing her from the situation and placing her in an empty room away from us all for a few minutes as this has worked wonders with unwanted behaviour with other dogs on the past. 2-3 repetitions usually help the dog get the message, but with Halfy I have removed her about 15 times and she doesn't seem to be getting the idea that her actions have consequences. I also try to stand between her and Pookie and distract her, but she is extremely quick at going around me and getting to him anyway. If I keep feeding her until he finishes I can just about distract her, and if I pop her in her crate while he eats everything is fine. She does not bother the cat over food or, luckily, the baby.

The problem is the two together, I can't flood Halfy with treats around the house as this sets off her arguments with Pookie. I am not particularly house proud but she is a seriously destructive dog (the walls are bearing the brunt, the cushions are gone, various baby toys have been chewed, the skirting board will never be the same!).

Any ideas on how to deal with either or both problems?
 
Are you using a house line?

I would not be feeding them in the same vicinity as one another. Pookie deserves to eat in peace, you deserve not to have to watch over them and stress, she deserves to eat without feeling the need to go over and deck Pookie.

Sometimes not all dogs can be bosom buddies and we have to manage the situation rather than force it. If you have to feed them separately for ever, it's better than one dog getting pestered all the time.

It sounds like she is self-rewarding (speaking as the owner of a massive self rewarder) and I am not saying batter her, but if you want to fix it the consequence for the behaviour has to be a bit more uncomfortable for her (not painful or traumatising, just making her life a bit harder than it would be if she stopped) than it is currently.
 
Ditto CaveCanem, I would feed her separate to the rest of the dogs and feed the other two first (stick her in a different room) and feed her after them but by herself. This way you do not give her the opportunity to self reward when she snatches the other dog's feed and prevent the food possession escalating.

She's seven months old so chances are her back teeth are coming through which is why the chewing is getting worse. Definitely crate her when left and over night to minimise the opportunity and prevent it becoming a habit. Hopefully once her back teeth are through you can wean her out of the crate again.

When you say chews, do you mean raw hide chews or hard bones? I would recommend getting sterilised bones, those antler horns, or smokey bones so she has something hard to chew on, and plenty of them so she doesn't then look to chew your walls or skirting boards!

Good luck!
 
Thank you both.

No I haven't tried a long line, but thats a good idea thanks. I am not sure I could cope with it as the space is relatively small and I have 3 dogs and the toddler but I'll try popping her on a lead while Pookie eats.

Yes she eats last and in her crate, she is not let out until everyone has finished. She gets treats/chews last. The problem is the chews, she needs a lot of these to stop her from chewing the house (which she has done non-stop since arrival and I appreciate is a tooth thing) but I can't put her in her crate everytime as she'd not be very happy about that. She's not been a huge fan of the crate and I've had to introduce her to it very slowly. Now she will eat in there and stay in there when I am out (maybe 1-2 hours every other day?) but I think that if I pushed her more at this stage she would stop going in.

I have tried to be more assertive with her (which is not something that comes naturally tome i have to admit) and she becomes excessively submissive, e.g. flat on the floor, ears down, cowering, then turning belly up...as soon as I break off she goes back to what she was doing!

I am finding her an odd individual, I can't quite read her. She is super attached to me and the baby, recall is fine and she has a blast running around the farm, very good out and about, just chills under the table while we all have coffee/lunch. On the other hand she doesn't seem particularly bright, e.g. she still hasn't cottoned on to the off command (I teach it by clicking/treating any move away from the treat and she still doesn't seem to understand what gets her the treat) and she doesn't offer any behaviour if you do not lure her into it. She is also marking with her urine (sofa, bed) but I think I am on top of that one (I bet she'll catch me out now because I said that!).
 
Oh yes, forgot to say, I give her every kind of chew in the market, she loves them all! I wish I could just throw them around the house as I have done with previous puppies as I think that would work very well with her (the house is already separated with baby gates and room barriers which keep the other dogs/baby contained but Halfy jumps and clears everything from a standstill so keeping her contained is impossible). I have never tried hard bones will try to find one, but it's more of problem of how to give them to her so as not to set off the food problem (if I only give her chews at some point they split or she drops them momentarily, Pookie might pick them up and then all hell breaks loose. If Dizzy picks them up she just dances around him crying "I am a puppy give them back to me").
 
Booboos said:
The problem is the chews, she needs a lot of these to stop her from chewing the house

If I pushed her more at this stage she would stop going in.

I have tried to be more assertive with her and she becomes excessively submissive, e.g. flat on the floor, ears down, cowering, then turning belly up...as soon as I break off she goes back to what she was doing!

On the other hand she doesn't seem particularly bright, e.g. she still hasn't cottoned on to the off command (I teach it by clicking/treating any move away from the treat and she still doesn't seem to understand what gets her the treat) and she doesn't offer any behaviour if you do not lure her into it. She is also marking with her urine (sofa, bed) but I think I am on top of that one (I bet she'll catch me out now because I said that!).
Click to expand...

OK, picked out a few things. IMO this wee dog is bright and she is playing you like a fiddle. You have to bribe her with food not to eat the house, she only does things when you lure her into them, she is getting onto the sofa because when she gets off it, she gets food, and when you do try and reprimand her, she throws herself on the floor and you immediately stop.


That's just my reading of the situation, I could be entirely wrong but I'd be completely rethinking the way I deal with her, and only because I realised earlier this year that I had created a little sod who actually used to throw himself on the floor and scream and have proper tantrums when I tried to end his fun. Now that the rules are the rules, I have a much better behaved dog and we have a much better relationship.

**Not getting at you, by the way, but sometimes different dogs need different methods x
 
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No worries, I asked for help!! :) I am definately not communicating with her well!

OK I also haven't explained myself well. Here's the longer version.

She knows the command "ah uh" which means stop what you are doing, so she will stop chewing the wall if I say it, but of course in 10 minutes she will start on something else. I don't think that is her fault though, she needs to chew. The problem is I can't give her free-range chews if she's food aggressive with Pookie.

She will also get off the sofa or bed on command, no problems there. She does not guard the sofa/bed or have a problem when the other dogs or we get on them, she will shift for us or get off for us.

But I am finding her odd to train. For example, I teach the 'off/leave it' command by having a treat firmly in my fist. The dog can lick, bark, beg, whatever but does not get the treat until her nose moves away from the treat, then I click and treat. The fist few times the fact that the nose is away from the treat is coincidental, but after that the dogs get it, i.e. the more I go for the treat the less I get it, the more I move away from the treat the faster I get it. I have seen literally countless dogs (and some horses and cats) get this after a mere 3 repetitions. Halfy has not gotten it after loads of repetitions. She is interested, she wants the treat, she knows I will give it to her, she offers behaviour (some dogs walk away uninterested and that can be a problem and some just stare intently not offering behaviour also a problem, but she has none of that), but just not the RIGHT behaviour. She doesn't seem to understand what she needs to do for the treat.

Similar for teaching sit. I teach the sit by luring the dog into a sit, clicking and treating, repeat three times then wait for the dog to offer the sit. Most dogs get this, if not the fist time then the second or third...not Halfy! She offers any behaviour but the sit (or the down, I have tried both in case she finds one easier than the other).

Does that make more sense?
 
There are more ways to skin a cat, some dogs just dont get what you are asking so try another approach. Make sure she is the only dog in the room and put her on a lead and tie her to something, then place a treat just out of her reach. She will lunge/pull etc to get it, the minute she stops click and give her a treat. Once this is in place with the leave it command practice walking past a treat on the floor, if she lunges pull her back and say leave it. Once she walks past without trying to get the treat click and treat but you do not give her the treat on the floor.
 
Have you tried *making* her do any of those things? As in, not giving her the option to do anything else, it is still positive training, in my opinion!
Like gently pushing her into a sit and not giving her the option of moving.
And reward when she holds the position.
Similarly, off, use a line or move her physically off the sofa and reward when she is off.
I'm doing positioning work with my dog, he is elevated on a table or bench, he will receive pressure to his croup for the sit, his shoulder for the down, his midriff for the stand. Once he is in the position, the pressure is naturally off and he is rewarded. If he attempts to break the position, my hand is still there hovering above the contact point to stop him moving out of the position, once he returns to the position he is rewarded.
 
Oh and when I say reward, as well as the release of pressure (it is literally only a touch) he is getting a word, then food from my other hand, it's too tricky to manipulate the dog, feed him with the other hand AND use a clicker :p
 
Do you use a no-reward marker at all? For Henry, I use 'noooo' with an upward inflection to let him know 'close but no cigar, sunshine'.

It may be as simple as her needing a lot more repetitions - the figure I've been told is 80-100 to get an idea really embedded.:)
 
Spudlet yes I do use a no reward marker, but usually later on when they start running through their repertoire of learnt behaviours.

I've had a sheepdog cotton on to the "off" behaviour after only one rewarded behaviour and even the horse caught on before 10 repetitions. The only dog I have seen that is stupidier than Halfy was an Afgan Hound that just sat there and looked pretty through the entire training course!

But seriously, I don't expect her to know the command after a few repetitions, just to cotton on to the idea that I am rewarding her for moving away from the food (or whatever the rewarded behaviour might be). Then again, she is naturally ace at some things, e.g. she will retrieve, including wait to be sent off and will release on command with no training whatsoever - what is up with that? I don't get this dog! This spring I am letting her loose on the agility equipment, I expect that might be her forte!
 
One day, in my advanced training class, i.e. dogs that could do some distance control and were working on out of sight sits/downs, the instructor told us to ask for a sit BUT do it while lying down. Only one dog in the class sat (OK OK it was a set up, it was MY dog, my lovely Betty!), and it was really interesting to see how a change in the circumstances of giving the command threw these dogs.
 
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