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Adorable Dog, But I Can't Seem to Train Him Right


maritalbliss86

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32 minutes ago, lostandhurt said:

Yep that's the one I got. It's also called a martingale collar. 

One great thing about this collar too is that its quite easy to slide the collar to go up higher on their neck, near the ears, when walking them. just make sure to have a short leash while doing this. When you do this, you have more control of their head and you can control their walk.  It makes my dog walk like a show dog but control his head and jaws (from yapping away).

 

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Just an update:  This morning he did and is continuing to do great with staying off the couch.  The step-ladder thing seemed too confusing for him yesterday, but I'm going slow and not expecting him to learn it fast.  

He actually can jump without a running start, and I realized that yesterday.  I mean he can jump from just being on the ground, to over 4 feet in the air when outside (it's amazing to watch).  So I do think Lost was correct in that he just wants to get there fast.  He was so much slower today, and remembered his training it seemed.

I could tell he really wanted up, but he controlled himself and finally decided to lay at our feet.  At first he was laying under the coffee table, and would look out at me and the kids gloomily LOL, almost like he was pouting by putting himself under there.  But then as time went on, he moved to being by our feet.

Dogs are so funny... I confess, I'm not really a dog person, we're more cat people, but we love him ❤️ I'm excited to see how easy it is just after yesterday.

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Also, we tried letting our daughter walk him (indoors) on the leash, and he did NOT want to obey or respect her at all!  

And the problem is that he's so much stronger than her, he can bolt away or pull her too fast.  We tried to correct it, but it also makes her more afraid of him.

He almost didn't want to be led by our 2nd oldest, either, it took awhile for him to get used to it, and then it seemed like he'd only pull sometimes.  

But I get it... lots of practice/training should help

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7 hours ago, maritalbliss86 said:

Also, we tried letting our daughter walk him (indoors) on the leash, and he did NOT want to obey or respect her at all!  

And the problem is that he's so much stronger than her, he can bolt away or pull her too fast.  We tried to correct it, but it also makes her more afraid of him.

He almost didn't want to be led by our 2nd oldest, either, it took awhile for him to get used to it, and then it seemed like he'd only pull sometimes.  

But I get it... lots of practice/training should help

This is where the check collar and the leash come in.  Notice there are two loops on the leash.  One up close to the clasp and one at the end.  Until the dog walks at your side (the side you choose and should always be that side) with no pulling or hesitation to staying in step with you the close loop should be in your dominate hand and the end loop in your weaker hand.  Keep pressure on the leash so the dog learns to be at your side.  When he wanders a little then snap the leash a little and say "HEEL" in a strong voice and direct him back where you want him.

  As far as your daughters go try walking the dog together.  They hold the short loop and you hold the end with your other hand part way down the leash just in case you need to help.  The girls will do as I stated above and the dog will learn that you have  given them a promotion in the pack and he is to abide by  it.  It takes time but he will come around. 

Once you all get good at walking together relax the leash and give him some slack.  If he wants to go smell something and you don't mind follow him and let him sniff or pee or whatever and then direct him back to the walk.  In time you should be able to just say "HEEL" and he will return your  side with no snap of the leash and if you guys are in sync one day he could be off leash walks in safe areas.

My dog is almost always off leash but I bring it with me so he knows and remembers.  I just clear my throat and point to the ground next to me and he comes running and stands there.  Let's see a cat do that 😀

Involve the kids as much as possible in the training, after all the dog really isn't the one being trained you are.

Keep up the great work!

Lost

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Oh, i didn't mean steps.  i meant an actual ramp without steps -- a gradual incline.

Also, try teaching him different commands like heel with small pieces of treat and verbal praise and then wean him off the treats.  I have had huge dogs and positive reinforcement to teach them  works best - you can't start to "correct" them if they haven't gotten the right thing down.  I don't believe in snapping a leash at a little dog.  It takes more than one day, but he will get it

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Just an update... this afternoon I noticed he's really understanding how to jump up slowly.  Even outside when we were relaxing and the kids were playing in the water and jumping and running around, the baby was up on the bench with me, and twice our dog jumped up very slowly and carefully.

He doesn't need the running start at all.  He gets it!  He may not even really need the step ladder except for inside (and it's only really an early morning problem). 

He's only had ONE accident where he jumped up too fast and scared them in all these days of training, so that's really great!  He didn't land on anyone, but it was still too fast.  But again... it was only one time out of many times where he's been doing it right!  

 

 

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On 7/26/2021 at 1:42 PM, lostandhurt said:

Yes the whole family is your dogs pack and he knows you and your husband are higher up in the pack than he is but with the kids he is trying to make sure he is above at least one or two of them.

My sister learned from a training book that the kids MUST be considered by the dog to be higher in the pack for their safety. One way to teach this is to have the kids add their saliva to the dog's dish before he is fed. ( A quick spit is fine.)

This is an instinctive message that everyone ate before him, and it teaches his place and curbs competitive aggression.

It sounds gross, but it makes sense.

I also like the suggestion of some doggie stairs to teach the dog step up to the couch rather than having him jump. Reward him for using the steps, tell him 'NO' when he fails to use the steps.

Very cute dog, and best of luck with this!

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