Worried that I'm doing it all wrong.....

[Vetty]

....before I start I'll say that I am a first time novice dog owner!! I have a 5 month old male collie x and I want to raise a nice well-mannered dog, but I'm worried that I'm going to end up with a deliquant, noisy mutt!

1) He has recently become very barky - he barks at birds in the bushes at the end of our garden, and the sight of a cat sends him mad...... I'm worried that he will annoy the neighbours, although I don't leave him out barking, I bring him back in. I've started taking him out in the garden on a lead to stop him charging to the end and barking and that does stop it. But will that be enough to break the cycle so I can go back to letting him out unaccompanied?

2) He eats anything he can see/find on the floor both in the garden and on a walk. If he's on the lead he will lunge for whatever he's seen and grab it. He seems to find poo particularly tasty which is so grim..... Can I stop it?

3) His own poo is very loose. He eats Chudleys Junior ad-lib and I supplement it with different things (chicken, sardines, raw egg). I started him on probiotic yoghurt today and am planning to give him chicken and rice tonight - will that help?

4) My attempt to keep him off the sofas need constant supervision!

I am taking him to puppy training classes, we've done 2 of 8 and things like sit and down are coming along nicely.

Am I worrying too much? Am I expecting too much? Am I just fed up because I've been rained on twice so far today taking him out?!! Sorry for all the questions but I'm really doubting myself and need a bit of reassurance/kick up the bum!

Thanks all xxx

 

[FinnishLapphund]

As I've recently said on another thread, when one of my first bitches, as a puppy, had an accident indoors I often began worrying about that they would never become house broken, when it happened with the last three ones, I shrugged my shoulders and thought that they will learn sooner or later. Mañana!

Maybe it is only a coincidence but the last three ones, also happens to be the puppies that I've managed to get house broken the fastest.


1, About the barking, almost all dogs I've had and have, does "guard" as in that they inform me about what is happening in the surroundings but in general, I would say that the more bored they are

, the more likely it is that they will find things to bark at. The more activation they have gotten from other things, the more quiet they have been.


All activities doesn't have to be that difficult, if you feed dry food then simply not feeding in a bowl without spreading it out over the floor or in the garden and letting them work to find every little bit, is an activation. Hiding a favourite toy, indoors or outdoors, and allowing them to find it, is an activation.
I also have brain-exercising toys (boredom breakers) from Nina Ottosson's, my dogs favourite is Dog Tornado Wood.
They are sold in UK e.g. http://www.petplanet.co.uk/category.asp?dept_id=724 , http://www.mutleyandmog.co.uk/dog/dog-accessories/dog-toys/nina-ottosson-training-toys/ and http://www.swellpets.co.uk/dog/dog-toys-715/boredom-dog-toys-944.html .

As I recall, Prose's Stella enjoys this boredom breaker http://www.boston-terrier-challenge.com/tests/busy-buddy-twist-treat.html



If more activation doesn't help, go with him to the part of the garden where he finds things to bark at and simply train with him to see and hear the things that he likes to bark at, while being praised every time he is quiet.


Don't forget that they can learn that if they want our attention, just bark a little and *poof* like a Genie, we turn up and give them attention/lets them back in...




2, When I've had puppies who have thrown themselves over anything and everything they've spotted that they think is edible (with other words, all my puppies, in different degrees), I throw myself after and dig everything I can reach out again, which sometimes does mean that I get yucky stuff on my hands.
If we are talking outdoors, then by digging out various yucky things from their mouths out on walks, while giving them a voice command, they at least learn that if they can't swallow it within x nanoseconds, they will lose it and then it is less hassle for them to simply spit it out as soon as they hear me say the command.


Indoors I train them in situations that I control, have set up. E.g. I can begin with putting a slice of cheese on the floor and then I guard it like a hawk, if they as much as think on trying to get it, I tell them to forget it!

Eventually I will be able to move further and further away from the goodies and the end result for me in this training is that I am able to put my full dinner plate on the floor and leave the room and no dog will have eaten anything when I come back, however if one of the cats walk by...

But getting to that stage takes time.



3, I don't know if I really can give any advice but I often recommend giving them some pro-biotic yoghurt or similar. All dogs doesn't react the same on different foods, maybe another food would suit him better but if he eat things he shouldn't eat, then that can be the cause to that things doesn't work as it should.



4, Personally I don't mind my bitches being in my sofas, armchairs or beds, I teach them to jump up in e.g. the sofa on one command and jump down from it on another command and I also teach them "Not now", which I use if I don't want them to jump up there when e.g. I'm cleaning or we have guests.

So basically, I have never tried teaching a dog to never be allowed to jump up in sofas. Though many years ago I had a neighbour that I heard always filled up their sofas with chairs whenever they left home.
They had been convinced about that they had taught their some years old Rough Collie to never jump up in their sofas, then one day when they came home from work, they found their Rough Collie deep asleep in a sofa...


What does he do in the sofa once he has jumped up? Sleep, look out a window or what? If it is for the view, can you fix so that he gets his own lookout place?
If it is to sleep, do you train him that he should sleep on/in his dog beds, rugs or in his crate (whatever you have), just as you do other training, like sit, stay and walk nicely on the lead etc? That is the thing I can think of at least, that you really treat it like all other training, spend time specifically on training him where he should sleep, so that it e.g. isn't something that you only train when/after you have caught him in a sofa.


There is always the possibility that it could work as barking sometimes can work, that he have realised that being in a sofa = your attention.


Good luck.

 

[Vetty]

Thanks you so much for such a detailed reply, I really appreciate your thoughts and time.... I am definitely going to look at the boredom toys, as he likes his food he should be quite motivated by them! I think the barking in the garden has become a habit - I open the door and he races to the same corner and barks before going off to wee, poo or explore....

The sofa thing is tricky, I don't want him just leaping on and off when he wants to if that makes sense. Also, when we're out he only has access to the kitchen and conservatory, so it's only an issue when we're with him. It is definintely a good attention seeking activity though, cos he waits for us to get over to him then he jumps off!

I love the thought that eventually we could leave food without him pinching it! I think I should start as you describe, do you give the piece of cheese as a reward or is the reward something different?

Thanks again for the advice and reassurance xxxx

 

[CorvusCorax]

With the eating stuff thing, I would try and get this sorted as he could end up eating something that will make him very ill.
For my dog I use my BIG SCARY VOICE! You know the one - if you go near that pile or eat one more thing, the sky will fall in. A very big AH-AH or LEAVE!
Mine will drop a pile of poo or whatever in a flash - and the most important thing, when he does leave it, lots of praise.
As Finny says, you can practise in the house before hand.

With the sofa, it is your place to lie. If he has a bed, when he jumps up, don't speak or make a fuss, just calmly and firmly take him to his bed or his spot on the floor and reward him with food or a toy once he is there. Make him think that the sofa is the place where he gets removed and is annoying and uncomfy, his bed is awesome.
Be consistent - don't let him up sometimes and ban him other times, dog's heads don't work like that. Put something like a folded chair or a washbasket on the sofa to physically prevent him from getting up.

With the barking, I ignore it, as rewarding barking with attention/food/fuss makes it worse, but I understand it is hard in a built up area - I would use my voice again, a low, loudish NO or CEASE or STOP or ENOUGH, nothing hyper or stressy, just 'open your mouth again or else!' kinda voice. Then praise (calmly!) when he is quiet.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I don't want it to become just a matter of waiting for permission to eat the goodies, so that they just sit there and tries to hypnotize it to jump into their mouths, if I "accidentally" drops something, I will eventually pick it up again and then they get something else as reward.
Then I will use whatever I dropped as a reward for something else later that day. For this I usually use cheese slices, raw carrots or pieces of meat.



With my dinner plate I can begin by eating a sandwich or carrot while I sit so that I am within reach of the dog, between the bites I put my hand in my lap or I rest the arm on a knee. Later I put the dinner plate in my knee and eat from it there and eventually I sit on the floor with the plate beside me (I know it is not exactly acceptable table manners, but it works for me).
When I train this, I prefer to not give any edible reward, without only praises with my voice.



Basically I prefer to simply growl if they as much as looks at my food during these trainings, if you're good at growling they understand perfectly that it means they should stay away. Sometimes it can make them go all *OMG You're not angry on little innocent me are you?*, if so happens, I accept their grovel and makes sure that they don't accidentally get to close to any temptations.



I'm so evil that it has sometimes happened when the girls are in another room, that I've placed a raw carrot in the middle of the floor, then I sit down and pretend as if nothing. When the girls comes back into the room I'm in, I can hear when they spot the carrot because they do a dead stop, followed by trying to sneak past the carrot as far away from it as possible, as if it was a booby trap!
Quite understandably because that is what I've taught them.


Nota bene, the first time I leave the room while leaving a temptation on the floor, I make sure that it is a raw carrot (which you/they can't eat soundless) or on something that will alert me to if they fall for the temptation, which they usually do!
Not understanding that e.g. the sound from eating on the raw carrot reveals them, I can "explode" the moment they begin eating and all they know is that I have super powers that can detect them doing wrong when I'm not even in the same room...