Help! I have created a monster.....

[Jenniecc]

I finally stopped my 15 month old border collies bad habit of wanting to go in and out of the house all day long. I let him out on a regular basis and made sure he did his business. Then when he wanted to go out again 10 min later, I told him no and ignored him. For the most part, he understands that now. However, over the past month or so it seems that he has come to believe that my main purpose in life is to entertain him. This happened around the same time that he became on only dog. I am a stay at home mom, so I am home with him all day. My kids are 12 &14 so after school my duties mainly consist of taxi driving. After my kids go to school, he either goes for a 3-5 mile run with me or an hour long walk. Then he settles pretty well while I shower, clean do laundry etc. But if I dare to sit on the couch at any time during the day... It's play time. He drops his toys in my lap, throws his ball at me and then gives me "those eyes" while staring longingly at me. I admit, he has my whole heart and I give in. Then it's an hour or two of ball throwing. He will go all night if I would let him. How can I teach him to amuse himself sometimes? He'd has plenty of toys.....stuffed kings etc don't always keep his attention very long. When he had his canine companion, the two of them would amuse each other. I hesitate to get another dog however just to keep him busy. I would rather to teach him to settle on his own. We also do several short training sessions a day and agility classes once a week. Any suggestions?

[Shetlander]

Put the ball up when you are not wanting to play with him. Give him toys to chew on and teach him to settle. Be firm and consistent when you tell him play time is over. You might also want to do some activities to stimulate his mind -- hiding a toy, nose work, trick training, clicker training, obedience, etc. If this has only been going on for a month, you can break this bad habit. But put the interactive toys away, make sure he is getting enough mental exercise and just say no to pestering behavior. Good luck!

[GentleLake]

Getting a second dog to amuse the first one is a really bad idea. It doesn't always work as you'd expected it would, because they may not play with each other as anticipated. If that happens, then you have 2 to amuse.

 

And chances are that, because you've allowed this dog to dictate your interactions with you, that you'll do the same thing with the second dog.

 

Ask me how I know. (I volunteer with rescues and see this scenario all too often.)

 

Before you even consider getting another dog, you need to get things under control with this one. You acknowledge in the topic heading that you've created a monster. And in the text you also admit that you give in.

 

Listen to yourself and start enforcing some rules with him. Use some of that raining time each day to teach him an off switch. Teach him to go to his mat (or bed or crate or wherever you want him to just chill out) and then work on duration.

 

Learn to say no and to mean it. He can learn to settle down, but not if you give in to him. All you'll teach him (or have probably already taught him and now have to un-teach him) is that if he's persistent you'll cave. So he just learns to be more persistent.

 

And don't forget to quietly reinforce quiet, calm behavior when he does it on his own. Too many people overlook this. How will he know that it's a good thing to do if you never tell him it is, and instead only ever pay attention to him when he's active? Spend less time reinforcing the activity and demand behaviors, and more time reinforcing the quiet that you want.

 

Good luck.

[waffles]

Simple... Put the toys away.

 

He doesn't need a pile of toys Laying around. If they aren't there he can't give them to you and you can't give in and throw them.

 

It sounds like he is getting great exercise outside already. Do some mental training inside and other than that have indoor time be down time. Give him something to chew on if you'd like but indoor time can be a no fetching zone. In time if he settles when he is older you can bring toys out when you want to play. Then put them away when you want to end play.

[Camden's Mom]

Others have given great advice here. I would only add one thing, add a bit of training to play time. I'd teach a "That'll Do" or "All Done". This means the game is over and when you say it you should be sure you (nor any other family member) throws the ball/toy for the dog again. Also, you could just put the ball away after you tell him "all done".

GentleLake has also shared with this forum her training of "Last One", which many members (including myself) have since implemented into the play routine. Before you throw the ball the last time you can tell him "last one" and when he brings it back let him know "all done". This kind of gives him a heads up that the game is about to end so it's not so surprising when you tell him it's over.

I have a dog much like yours. He just can.not.settle if a ball is out. We also do regular training, like asking him to sit, speak, scootch, etc. before throwing the ball to make the whole thing a bit less mindless. We use "last one" and "that'll do" to manage his obsession and always put balls away when the game is over.

[Jenniecc]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It seems so obvious to just put the toys away but it never occurred to me. We have already done that and it seems to be helping already. I know that he can settle because when I go to my room to read at night, he comes with me and lays quietly on the bed with me. The training sessions with the one more and all done are an excellent idea too. I will start those in the morning.

[Camden's Mom]

It seems so obvious to just put the toys away but it never occurred to me.

 

I dunno that it's really that obvious...

I wanted to keep my dog's toys out so that he would have something appropriate to play with when I wanted him to entertain himself. I figured having toys out was better then him tossing a pillow or remote control around. Then, at some point, I realized that he almost never plays with a toy by himself, he wants to interact with me or hubby if a toy is involved. So the toys go away when we aren't playing but I DO make sure there's always something appropriate he can chew on (antler, nylabone, bully stick, rawhide, stuffed kong, etc) in case he gets bored and wants something to do.