I need training help

[Cody & Duchess]

Okay- I will admit this is not training for a border collie. But there are a lot of smart people here that might be able to help. I am working with a dalmation/ potentially boxer mix -male, 11 months old. 50#. Mouths awful. I want to train him so that he has the potential of being adopted ( I volunteer at a local humane society) I fear that if I don't get him better manners he won't be adopted.

 

Today was the third time I have worked with him. The first time, no one mentioned that he was a handful. I went in, waited for him to calm down to put on the pinch collar. As soon as we got outside, he started leaping at me, grabbing the leash with his mouth and shaking it madly. He has a muscle neck - the pinch collar had no impact. Finally I start running with him , he dropped his hold on the leash. We ran for about 15 min. then I tried to start the sit, down, stay, etc commands. He did okay. But then in was like a switch went and he started his escapades again.

 

Next time out with me I brought a rope for him to hold in his mouth when he started to mouth the leash. Worked great, but he only held it for 30 seconds, dropped it, I picked up, 2 min later had to re-introduce to get him off the leash again. Ran again with him, expending a little energy seems to help. That night we did the agility course- he did great. Table, A frame, tunnel and even the tunnel that is like a tent. This dog is fearless. His attention span seems to be a nano second.

 

This morning I stopped by and bought a jolly ball. I figured that if I could get rid of some of his energy I would be more successful. At first he did not know what to do with the ball. Loved playing tug of war with it. Played for about half hour. Then brought him out for a walk and training. I felt brillant. He did great. Until the last 5 percent of the time. He started leaping at me, the leash, really mouthy. Recaged him - thinking he needed quiet time.

 

Next 2 hours checked up on him- he was draped over his jolly ball. Cute. After 2 hours took him out again. Played with the jolly ball, but after about 10 min he started leaping and mouthing at me. I did not have him on the leash (we were in a run) got the leash to get more control over him. Calmed him down, rubbed his ears (this seems to comfort him) Started to play with him again and he started leaping again, wrapping his paws around my legs. I kneed him and said off. He tried again. He now is leaping , mouthing my shirt, pants,- that is when I had enough. I said ENOUGH! Grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pushed and held him down. He immediately got better. Put the leash on him, walked him around, he did great. No mouthing, no leaping. One moment I feel like there is hope with him, the next, when he is misbehaving- more than the majority of people would not be willing to put up with. He is not biting- but mouthing way over the top. And hugging you with his paws- trying to dominate you.

 

Question- really mouthy, high energy, strong dogs. How to immediately stop the above behavior? How to get his attention and replace his actions with more appropriate behavior. Any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I do not think this dog is a mean or vicious. I really hope that I can help. Thanks

[ejano]

Okay- I will admit this is not training for a border collie. But there are a lot of smart people here that might be able to help. I am working with a dalmation/ potentially boxer mix -male, 11 months old. 50#. Mouths awful. I want to train him so that he has the potential of being adopted ( I volunteer at a local humane society) I fear that if I don't get him better manners he won't be adopted.

 

Today was the third time I have worked with him. The first time, no one mentioned that he was a handful. I went in, waited for him to calm down to put on the pinch collar. As soon as we got outside, he started leaping at me, grabbing the leash with his mouth and shaking it madly. He has a muscle neck - the pinch collar had no impact. Finally I start running with him , he dropped his hold on the leash. We ran for about 15 min. then I tried to start the sit, down, stay, etc commands. He did okay. But then in was like a switch went and he started his escapades again.

 

Next time out with me I brought a rope for him to hold in his mouth when he started to mouth the leash. Worked great, but he only held it for 30 seconds, dropped it, I picked up, 2 min later had to re-introduce to get him off the leash again. Ran again with him, expending a little energy seems to help. That night we did the agility course- he did great. Table, A frame, tunnel and even the tunnel that is like a tent. This dog is fearless. His attention span seems to be a nano second.

 

This morning I stopped by and bought a jolly ball. I figured that if I could get rid of some of his energy I would be more successful. At first he did not know what to do with the ball. Loved playing tug of war with it. Played for about half hour. Then brought him out for a walk and training. I felt brillant. He did great. Until the last 5 percent of the time. He started leaping at me, the leash, really mouthy. Recaged him - thinking he needed quiet time.

 

Next 2 hours checked up on him- he was draped over his jolly ball. Cute. After 2 hours took him out again. Played with the jolly ball, but after about 10 min he started leaping and mouthing at me. I did not have him on the leash (we were in a run) got the leash to get more control over him. Calmed him down, rubbed his ears (this seems to comfort him) Started to play with him again and he started leaping again, wrapping his paws around my legs. I kneed him and said off. He tried again. He now is leaping , mouthing my shirt, pants,- that is when I had enough. I said ENOUGH! Grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pushed and held him down. He immediately got better. Put the leash on him, walked him around, he did great. No mouthing, no leaping. One moment I feel like there is hope with him, the next, when he is misbehaving- more than the majority of people would not be willing to put up with. He is not biting- but mouthing way over the top. And hugging you with his paws- trying to dominate you.

 

Question- really mouthy, high energy, strong dogs. How to immediately stop the above behavior? How to get his attention and replace his actions with more appropriate behavior. Any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I do not think this dog is a mean or vicious. I really hope that I can help. Thanks

 

You could try a leash with links on the part closest to the collar- he may not like the taste of the metal in his mouth. A harness or easy walker instead of the pinch collar.

 

Does he look like a Dalmatian or a Boxer? Some folks say that whatever they look like is how their brain is wired. And of course, neither breed is as smart, or self-adjusting as a Border Collie but the Dalmatian in particular will run just as far, or further.

 

We have friends who have a Dalmatian...that dog can run for hours and yes, she has no attention span. The dog is in fact, deaf, which is somewhat common among Dalmatians, but did learn to "check back" with her owner when she was running in the fields., otherwise she'd be in the next county.

 

Boxers are all about respect and they aren't exactly a lapdog either, so you have a challenging mix, especially if he's nerved up from being in the SPCA as well. My sister and her husband had a Boxer years ago; he couldn't keep his four paws on the ground for about three years. If he respected you, he listened. I must admit, I never really liked that dog but I was "just a kid" and thought him a bit intimidating because his legs were like pogo sticks - he literally bounced around like a fighter in the ring.

 

Is there a place where the dog could just run and play on its own before you start working with him? Not in a dog park around other dogs, but some SPCA's have an outdoor, fenced in play yard. Take the jolly ball with you, if there's any of it left the next time you go. Be prepared to put him in his place if he comes at you when he's off lead, as you describe in this post. Then after, lets say, two hours of romping, he might be willing to learn a bit?

 

Liz

[pansmom]

This is something I deal with a lot in my volunteer work. Here's my mostly positive training method, that lets the dog figure out what to do on his own. Start by spending a couple hours with this dog tethered on a long leash, totally ignoring him when he does all this boisterous stuff - looking away and walking away, dramatically - but throwing him treats on the floor when he sits or lays calmly.

 

This method works really well for me, even on a single-session basis. Recently, on a day when it was too stormy to walk dogs, after about ten-fifteen minutes of using this strategy of ignoring negative behavior and capturing positive with a really boisterous, completely un-exercised "teenaged" (11 mo. old) Rottweiler at the pound where I volunteer, I had her sitting calmly for pictures so she could get rescued the next day.

 

Once the dog is sitting calmly for treats, in the first session, put the dog up and let him think about it a while. Couple hours later, or the next day, take him back out again. Same routine. Amount of time to calm dog should be shorter. If there is overexcitement/mouthing/pawing when you attach leash to collar, treating while attaching leash (when calm) often helps. Continue this exercise until the dog is calm almost immediately no matter what with you. Once the dog knows this with you, begin capturing this behavior with other volunteers, until the dog generalizes. This may take weeks - especially at this age. The idea is immediately withdraw eye contact and look away when the dog is being bad - the dog wants interaction - you are teaching the dog correct rules of interacting with people.

 

If at any time the dog jumps up on you, body block him off you and abort the interaction until the dog calms down again. Not kick but body block... pushing him off with your leg and moving him into his space... the object is not to hurt or punish but simply to show him where he needs to be. I don't like confrontational interactions. I don't buy into dominance theory. Neither do most veterinary behaviorists anymore from what I've heard (from a veterinary behaviorist I consulted about a severely disturbed but well meaning dog) and read.

 

"Using Dominance Theory to Explain Dog Behavior is 'Old Hat'" (Article in Science Daily)

"If You're Aggressive, Your Dog Will Be Too" (Article in Science Daily)

[Mariji]

I totally agree with pansmom. When you physically correct the dog the behaviour is only suppressed never extinguished and you will have to work on correcting for his entire life. What she is describing is no correction training and what is called shaping. This dog has never had to think for itself and no doubt there was no training for the dog when it a little pup. The breed mix is what causes the hyperactivity and it WILL be hard to extinguish it. He will ALWAYS be high drive but you can teach him that he won't get anything acting like a lunatic. You have to impose boundaries, meaning he can act like a freak but no-one will pay him attention. So it is a game called, "in order to get what you want, you have to do what i want" simple as that. Putting it into practice with a dog that was never taught to use his brain may be a pain. I agree with getting a leash he won't mouth (chain links) this is a quick fix so you can move onto basic behaviours.

 

Clicker training is about shaping your dog's behavior. There are two basic types of shaping; prompted shaping and free shaping. Prompted shaping is when you lure or induce (e.g. with a target) your dog to perform an action and thenclick and reward him for completing it. Free shaping on the other hand is waiting for your dog to perform a desired action of his own free will and then clicking/rewarding him.One of the disadvantages to free shaping is that it takes much longer as all of the initiative is in the dog's court. For beginners this is usually too difficult both for the trainer and dog.

 

An example is when my littlest was 9 weeks she had no idea that she wasn't allowed to take food from our plates (apparently dog etiquette is alot different to humans )so we would put our plates on our coffee table where she could only just not quite reach. Of course she would jump and jump trying to reach and only her tongue could reach the very edge of the plate. Eventually she figured out the moment she offered something other than trying to get the food, i.e. standing still, sitting or lie down then she would get some of it. The distance at this point of how far away she would sit was not important. Baby steps remember. This may be hard for the "average" dog owner as it's so hard to just sit there and watch, but when they learn for themselves they retain information better.

 

This link is to a video i done of my pups tunnels sessions, although it is not basic obedience it is shaping and can help you get the idea.

As for fixing his obedience try showing him some food, it generally will command the attention of a high drive dog. Try training when it is his dinner time, i.e. take the food bowl out and use that to train. Don't ask too much. At this point him sitting still for 3 secs is a great start! My girls work for every biscuit in their bowl and whatever we are working on gets learnt a whole lot faster! If he does exactly what you want jackpot him. (give him heaps of treats) He will figure out gets heaps of treats when he does what you really want. He will learn that in order to play with you (what he wants) he must sit or be calm first or not jump on you (what you want). Happy dog= Happy handler Good Luck!