Getting there...
ive been sitting in work, bored out of my mind (my turn to do the back shift, so im here till 7.30pm), and i got to thinking, as i was reading threads.. i feel like ive definitely made serious progress with alfie over the last 10 months since we got him, not that he was ever a bad pup.. * He sits at the door and waits for me to go out before him * He sits for his dinner until i say "get it" * He barks to let me know he needs to pee or poo * When he's socialising in the park, and i shout him, he comes to me * He knows sit, lie down, roll over, paw and speak (the last one a little too well) * He's in a good routine of earning his meals by walking, before i goto work and when i come home. * The halti has cured his pulling, although it hasnt corrected the problem, as demonstrated when i tried his lead without the halti yesterday From what i gather from speaking to dog owners, and trainers, this is all pretty good behaviour especially since he's only just coming up for 1 in a couple of weeks.. On the downside, maybe you guys can give me some suggestions on these not so good things? :- * Alfie will bark for attention, since we have spoiled him. Ive tried ignoring this, but i have to give up at 25 minutes. now ive taken to putting him out of the room for 10 minutes, which seems to calm him down. is this the thing to do? * He climbs up on the couch, not so much with me because i dont allow it, although he will try, but with my girlfriend he is terrible.. climbs up and basically just lies on her, clearly he sees her as the same or below him in the pecking order? does she have to make the change? * My mate who alfie seems to treat like a playmate, comes down a couple of times a week - alfie pees with excitement when he sees him, whereas he doesnt do this with me or my girlfriend. any reason for this? ive read all the alpha stuff i can find and it claims alfie approaching me in a submissive state but tail wagging is correct, which is what he does.. sometimes he jumps up a bit, but im practicing making him sit before i speak to him when i come home. i think im doing pretty well, but just a few wee things, if anyone has any ideas? thanks |
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| further to this, ive taken to trying some subsmission excercises last thing at night before bed.. im conscious that alfie pretty soon will reach his teenage years, so in an effort to remind him who's boss ive been doing the following:
just him and i alone in the room, i make him sit, and i approach him on my knees, and because im taller, im towering above him... i place a hand on his back or neck and just leave it there, and kinda make like im sniffing his face and head.. at first he was a little squirmy, but after i stuck with it, he lay down, at which point i lay on my front, and placed a hand on him again, again he squirmed a little until i stuck with it.. any time he sat up, i returned to kneeling... even after one "session" of this, he is completely cool with it.. dont think this is an actual technique, but im certainly not hurting him, and all ive done is observed his behaviour with smaller dogs, which is to tower over them and paw at them.. |
| I don't have alot of suggestions except to say, WELL DONE!! You will get there. |
Quote: * Alfie will bark for attention, since we have spoiled him. Ive tried ignoring this, but i have to give up at 25 minutes. now ive taken to putting him out of the room for 10 minutes, which seems to calm him down. is this the thing to do?
This is exactly what my husband and I do, we put Oliver in "time out". On his 10th bark (yes, I am optimistic that he will stop up until his 10th) we tell him to go to his room, we follow, shut the door, and leave him there for about 10 minutes. When we let him out, he is very calm. I think he is learning. Now when he is barking, all we have to say is "Do you want to go to your room?", and he stops. |
| Good for you!! It sounds like you are doing an excellent job with Alfie. Isn't it wonderful to think about all you've accomplished? Just a few days ago I said to Brad, "Tucker will be one year old next month. It's amazing to think that a year ago he knew nothing. His brothers and sisters taught him the puppy socializing basics, but everything else he knows is because WE taught him!".
It seems like you and I are on the same training path, with Alfie and Tucker knowing a lot of the same things. Now how did you get him to roll over? I've tried to get Tucker to lay down, then I try to have a treat and move it in a circle like to get him to hopefully follow it with his body and roll over. All he does is watch it and move his head in circles! I am also having difficulty training him to sit and wait when a door opens and for me to walk out first and invite him outside. He just wants to RUN! I think this is just a lack of effort on my part, though. As for the girlfriend on the couch - if this is something that bothers you or her, then you need to take care of it. Yes, it does seem that maybe he perceives her as equal. What have you done to establish your leadership? It seems that she needs to do some of the same exercises. Continue on with your great work - it sounds like you really have a handle on this. And like myself, you are doing a ton of research, which is invaluable!  |
| Sounds like you have done a great job with Alfie. He is still young so remember patience and being persistent is the key. Obe is 18 months and still needs reminding every now and again. |
You have been doing great! You should be pretty proud of yourself! 
Quote: * Alfie will bark for attention, since we have spoiled him. Ive tried ignoring this, but i have to give up at 25 minutes. now ive taken to putting him out of the room for 10 minutes, which seems to calm him down. is this the thing to do? You are actually teaching him to bark more and longer. If you give up he learns that he just needs to bark more for your attention. When he barks for 5 minutes and until now you gave him attention, the first time you ignore him for 5 minutes, he will bark for another 5 minutes to see why you are not listening. So, if after 10 minutes you give up and pay attention to him - even putting him in a different room you are paying attention to him. Negative attention is still attention, saying "No" or touching him is the same thing. Attention. So, slowly you are teaching him to bark more. What Alfie does is, it's called the Extension Burst. Same thing when you want to change the channel with the TV control but nothing happens. What are you going to do? You keep pressing the button harder and harder. Still nothing happens. Then you give up and check the batteries. So, if you carry on ignoring him (it might take 20-30 minutes) you just carry on ignoring him. You can leave the room but make sure to turn your back on him, do not make eye contact, do not touch him and do not talk to him! BUT as soon as he closes his mouth (even for a second) immediately praise him and give him attention! Quote: * He climbs up on the couch, not so much with me because i dont allow it, although he will try, but with my girlfriend he is terrible.. climbs up and basically just lies on her, clearly he sees her as the same or below him in the pecking order? does she have to make the change? She needs to get up and push him off as soon as Alfie is trying to get up on top of her. You can see it happen so you can also stop it before he is laying on top of her. He is not going to get hurt if she gets up and he falls. It will be a surprise to Alfie and will not feel comfortable but I'm sure your girlfriend doesn't feel very comfy when Alfie is squashing her. Quote: * My mate who alfie seems to treat like a playmate, comes down a couple of times a week - alfie pees with excitement when he sees him, whereas he doesnt do this with me or my girlfriend. any reason for this? ive read all the alpha stuff i can find and it claims alfie approaching me in a submissive state but tail wagging is correct, which is what he does.. sometimes he jumps up a bit, but im practicing making him sit before i speak to him when i come home.
Practice door manners with friends. First of all, do not open the door until Alfie calms down. It is going to take a couple of door knocking, opening and closing the door but they learn fast and he will understand the drill pretty quick. If he gets too excited he doesn't get to see HIS mate. When your friend comes tell him to ignore Alfie. Again, do not talk to him, do not touch him and do not look at him. Pretend he wasn't there. You/he need/s to ignore him until he calms down or at least 5 minutes! Have your friend sit down - still ignoring Alfie - chat a little bit and when everybody is sitting - being calm - he can pet Alfie calmly. He still doesn't have to say anything to him. Well, I hope this helps. If you don't understand something or have any questions let me know!
Keep up the good work! |
Mel & Tucker wrote: Now how did you get him to roll over? I started this when he was a much smaller puppy.. Had him in the lie down position, and i physically rolled him over and said the words "roll over".. we just practiced it for a while until he did it himself. now he can roll over one way and then back the other way |
| Great Advice Prof Boni!
Richy it sounds as if you've done a great job so far! Good for you! As for the barking - just a little story to tell. Many years ago my Shaggy was barking frantically in the middle of the night. My partner kept yelling "shut up!". ( Not suggested to use that word) I had always told him dogs bark for a reason so went to investigate. If dogs bark while looking out the window they are doing what comes naturally in their pack..telling you...come quick..someone is out there..a stranger...another dog..ect. Most often you just have to walk over to the window and acknowledge what they are looking at and then walk away. It's been my experience they then stop when they see you as pack leader are not alarmed at the 'strangers presence". With the other type of barking - I fully agree with Prof Boni's suggestion. Back to my original story. I did go peek out the window to see what she was barking at. It was two guys that had hopped my neighbors fence and were in the process of breaking in. Not too long ago I let my three out for their evening bathroom break and heard Ole Blue bark a peculiar bark. I put on my boots to go investigate as the backyard was dark. Panda had fallen in the frozen fish pond and I had to help him get out. In a nutshell while barking is annoying, sometimes it's very helpful. We don't want to eliminate it all together as that is their "hue and cry" to warn the other pack members of something going on. Not always however! My three go crazy when I arrive home and I'm greeted by barks. I ignore them all when I first enter, until I've taken off coat, put packages down, opened the back door to let them out for bathroom break. When they are calm and not barking is when I pet them. Sounds as if you've worked really hard with Alphie and it's paying off. Keep up the good work! Marianne |
| Thank you Marianne! I totally agree with your "territorial" barking. I reinforce my boys to bark when they see someone approach our house. I did teach them to come to me and take me to the window where they see someone.
My husband used to tell me, they bark for no reason and never got up to investigate or check on the dogs. So far nobody has ever came to our yard but I always make sure the dogs see that I am aware of the stranger. I don't mind them barking. Nobody can be sure what my dogs are trained to do and a 100+Lbs and an 80Lbs barking dogs do stop people approaching our house. |
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