Category: Animal House
hello,
I seriously need help. my gretta she's doing good at guiding except now she won't stay off my couch even if theres a dog pillow next to the couch.
And when i tell her to lie down or just down, she rolls over on her back and tries to mouth me.
And when i grab her chain collar and correct her to tell her to go down when we're in the bedroom or in the livingroom she puts her teeth around my arm or hand.
And when i try to do obiedence with her and tell her down when she's on leash she tries to bite the leash.
I've tried tapping her on the nose with two fingers and telling her know mouthing but that don't work all the time.
I've tried tapping her under the chin making her teeth click together and that worked once so far.
I've also tried just holding her mouth closed and saying know mouthing and that works most of the time.
She is also really scared ofmy twin sisters one year old baby he doesn't even do nothing to her and she flinches away from him and tries to nibble on him and i correct her hard with the leash a few times then she does that.
Somebody help me, she's starting to larn the routes i take her pretty good and i haven't had her for very long, i truly don't wanna loose her.
I would call the school and get a field rep out to visit you before it really gets out of hand.
good luck
Did your school give you a head collar?
It sounds like my suggestions wont be good enough, but anythings worth a go. When my Orla is trying to bite my arm I tell her to sit in a very firm voice. This distracts her from what she's doing, as saying no doesn't work, she just thinks its part of the game. Your Guide Dog school might also be able to help you use one of those sprays on her. I'm not sure what they are called, but we use them in the UK when a dog is baddly distracted or genrally being pretty naughty. It fits ont to the collor and with a remote controll you can give the dog a blast of lemon air which they don't like. The other suggestion I have is not to put the dogs bed next to your couch, having it further away makes the boundaries between what is yours and his a lot more defined. Then you have a clear spot away from you where you can send him when he is being naughty. I know you probably don't want to get the school involved as you might be worried they'll take him away or blame you, but honestly, if things are getting really bad I'm sure you would rather they came and helped rather than waiting till something terrible happened, especially when there are children around.
Best of luck
those sprays sound cool... a lot better than the shock collar my parents &e on our dog. they don't use the high setting (i don't think), but still i'd rather use the sprays. As for the origional problem: holding the mouth shut is a good idea, keep trying it.
this sounds like puppy play to me, but she should have been taught to stop that, as it is anti social. waht the hell do they teach the dogs these days? Even here in the Uk, they are scaling back the teaching of the dogs before users get them. I used to be in favour of getting a guide dog, now i'm not so sure.
The collar is called a Commander Collar, and you can get them from Ebay.
If your dog is mouthing you, you should stop whatever you're doing with a firm "No," get up, and walk away. If necessary, close the door behind you to stop her following you. Every single time her teeth even touch your skin, immediately stop whatever it is, tell her no and walk away. Mouthing is an anxiety behaviour. The dog does it when they feel unsettled or stressed. But gradually she'll learn that, every time she mouths, nothing, absolutely nothing, happens, i.e, all her fun/distraction is taken away.
To solve the problem of the couch, you need to make yourself pack leader. Dogs jump up on human furniture to show their dominance. Putting a stop to it will involve changing all interaction with your dog. Never let her go through a door in front of you, unless she's guiding and on harness. Make her wait until you tell her to come through. When she's walking on the lead, keep her in the heel position. When you're playing with her, take care that your head and body are never lower than hers. Take her toys away, giving them to her when she's good, or during a play session only. Lie on the dog's cushion. If she tries to get on, push her off with a firm no. Keep going at this, bodily removing her if necessary. Same goes for the couch. If she jumps up, it's a squirt with the collar, a firm no, and bodily removal if necessary. Rest your feet/chin/hands/whatever on her back. Dogs show dominance over others by placing their bodies above/on top of the other dog. That's why you'll see one male dog hump another. Make her lie down if you can while you do this. Don't give her attention every time she demands it. The leader of the pack calls the dogs to them when they wish for company; the lower members can't just go to the leader whenever they want. I'm not saying ignore her completely, but it'll do her good to realise that you're not a pushover. Don't let her end play time. If you see she's losing interest in the game, end it before she chooses to. Again, the leader is the one who makes the choice about activity time, not the follower.
I hope some of this helps.
FM
just to clarify about lying on the dog's cushion. After you've pushed her off, and she's got the message that she can't just flop on it when she wants, invite her onto it with you. Spend some time like that, before getting up and giving her the cushion to herself.
Whenever she does something good, like getting off the sofa when you tell her to, you need to give her huge praise. Reward her with food and/or a really good long play session.
FM
good advice fm. dogs are a fucker to train, but if you get it right, it will work. though I believe the training schools should be doing a lot of this. seems they aren't now.
No they aren't, nor are they giving people the information they need. I didn't get any of this when I was given my first guide dog, but luckily, i'd watched my mum work them all my life, so I knew the ins and outs. My trainer didn't even do basic obedience training with me... Says a lot, no?
FM
that's fucking shit. some guide dog owners have never owned a dog in their lives, so they need to be taught from scratch how to handle a dog. that's the basics, before all the guiding shit, which is secondary in my view until the dog knows you as pack leader.
The trainer didn't even do basic obedience/ Sheesh ... That's ... wow.
Yep, it beggers belief, doesn't it? I'm just so glad i'd had my mum to watch all those years. But then, the standard of dog training's going way down hill. I'll shut up now, or it'll turn into a full blown rant.
FM
O my gosh! I'm at GDB right now and obediance is the first thing we learned!
I think it depends on the school you go to wheather or not how much obidence training you get with the dog,a dn what behavoris are acceptable from the puppy home. Very good suggestions Fm, but if a person who wants a dog, can not or chooses not to go to a school that does good obidence training, well they they are going to have to figure that there is number one better out there, and two they should have choosen a better school to attend. I have had dogs from two of the very best schools and I am happy with the one I recently got my pup from. But no people are just getting dogs because is the cool thing, they are not taking the time to be educated about them either. drives my crazy.
Marsha
Marsha. Not everybody has a choice over the school they go to. In the UK, we only have one. Rather than picking on schools and their standards, we should try and help those unfortunate enough to be saddled with a troublesome dog.
FM
My aunt breeds dogs so I have a few coments that might help if you are still haveing any probs. when its biteing, put your thumb in its mouth, and your index under the jaw going from side to side, press up with your index, dog will open mouth wide and move head arround to try to get off your hand, it doesn't hurt, but they don't like it and will stop after a few times. or you could clap your hands over its head and say no or waht ever you need to say, you have to get their attenchen, clap, snap or someting, then say no.
When you say put your thumb in its mouth, where exactly do you put your thumb? And does the index finger run from one jawbone to the other, so you're pushing up against the bone?