Buddy is driving me NUTS! What am I doing wrong?

[thebritt]

Thanks, Jamie - will work on "Settle".
When relaxed in the house, after dinner and all, he's a very chill dog. He sleeps in front of the woodstove like a normal dog. But if I get up, he always tries to follow me (not DH). He keeps his eyes on ME whenever I move about, and if I go outside, he barks. We've been told to "redirect", involving DH putting him in a sit with focus, and giving him a treat when he's quiet. Seems to work - he doesn't bark if DH is home to do this, but does if he's not. I never say "goodbye" to Buddy, I just kinda slip out the back.
Soon as I win the lottery, you're on!

 

[thebritt]

Jamie - The "Settle" position is a hit! I did as you said this morning, walking Buddy around the house - no words - and having him lie down on his pillow...dropping the leash - picking it up, patting my leg - and randomly and quietly walking around the house...and we were both totally calm! I did walk towards the front door, at which point he'd start to get excited (no barking, just started pulling ahead), so I'd just pat my leg and go in another direction, ending up at his pillow, where he'd calmly lie down...You're a genius!

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
Ahh you are doing very well.

You found his threshold (which is the door), excellent on your part to realize that. Now try and take the pillow out of the equasion. Its ok for now but you want "settle" to be an anywhere type of behavior. What you are doing is training him to be calm and also treaching yourself how to breath and relax during training. The idea is to get him trained enough so this position is very closely associated with the calm feelings/behavior. Eventually this will be transfered to outside....but eventually not now. You see this position will become his behavior when you ask him, should (after a lot of practice) calm him right away even in a stressful situation.

So keep up the practice, in the next few days start to get him to down faster. Still no talking at this point. You can remain calm and get a faster down by using the leash faster. At first it will probably excite him but just keep it up and he'll eventually down faster without fussing about it.

The next phase is to get closer and closer to the door but take a couple more days of practice. Step three will be to have him settle with someone opening the door then shutting it. Baby steps LOL

 

[thebritt]

Quote:
Ahh you are doing very well.

You found his threshold (which is the door), excellent on your part to realize that. Now try and take the pillow out of the equasion. Its ok for now but you want "settle" to be an anywhere type of behavior. What you are doing is training him to be calm and also treaching yourself how to breath and relax during training. The idea is to get him trained enough so this position is very closely associated with the calm feelings/behavior. Eventually this will be transfered to outside....but eventually not now. You see this position will become his behavior when you ask him, should (after a lot of practice) calm him right away even in a stressful situation.

So keep up the practice, in the next few days start to get him to down faster. Still no talking at this point. You can remain calm and get a faster down by using the leash faster. At first it will probably excite him but just keep it up and he'll eventually down faster without fussing about it.

The next phase is to get closer and closer to the door but take a couple more days of practice. Step three will be to have him settle with someone opening the door then shutting it. Baby steps LOL

THANKS! I'll keep you updated (if you don't mind). Seriously, you're a sanity-saver!

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

I'd really LOVE the up dates. Since this process might take a few weeks I think it would be cool to get it all on here so you can look back at progress.

 

[thebritt]

Quote:
Well, I actually printed your advice from yesterday so I wouldn't screw up!

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Hope all is going well. He'll have a time when he starts to think about other things he'd like to be doing and he'll start to give you problems. Its a training plateau, you'll just have to work thru it. Its a test for you and how calm you can remain. The more calm and focused you are on his doing what you tell him the more calm and accepting he'll be of your leadership.

 

[thebritt]

Quote:
Hi!
The weird thing about walking outside (which we haven't done since you suggested not to), is that he doesn't act like a "normal" dog - he doesn't sniff the ground and take interest in his immediate surroundings. He just stares and pulls ahead. At least until we'd be on our way home.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
He's got no focus on normal dog things because his behavior is not normal. I suspect its a LOT of anxiety from his previous owner. This behavior he displays is how he has practiced for a long time and even though its not good for him, its his "go to" thing. Somehow it works for him, probably the only outlet for his anxiety and the only thing that has ever given him some stress relief is to go into orbit this way. Its actually fairly common. It shows he mistrusts because he's not confident and relaxed. Its actually sad, but you are on the right track with him.

 

[thebritt]

Quote:
He's got no focus on normal dog things because his behavior is not normal. I suspect its a LOT of anxiety from his previous owner. This behavior he displays is how he has practiced for a long time and even though its not good for him, its his "go to" thing. Somehow it works for him, probably the only outlet for his anxiety and the only thing that has ever given him some stress relief is to go into orbit this way. Its actually fairly common. It shows he mistrusts because he's not confident and relaxed. Its actually sad, but you are on the right track with him.

You've nailed it on the head regarding his former owner. He walked Buddy (Buddy's name WAS "Mr. Nobody") on a chokechain with a leash, plus a harness (on another leash), and of course the muzzle. Buddy was ALWAYS pulling - the guy wore a leather glove to protect his hand. There was never any slack - about a foot of leashes between Buddy and the guy's hand (this guy has walked around town w/Buddy since Buddy was a tiny puppy - about 8 yrs). You are so on it! Again,

(seriously, not trying to kiss-up - you just sound like you've been there before!).
A little more about Buddy's past...the guy was attacked by another homeless guy, whom Buddy bit. That guy pressed charges and Buddy was quarantined for 2 weeks at the shelter. People in the community wrote letters and called to have the dog released and not euthanized (I was one of them). The court released the dog back to the guy under the condition the dog was muzzled in public (this was over 2 yrs ago). Unfortunately, the guy was homeless, so he was ALWAYS in public. Even on the hottest days, that guy walked and walked Buddy - unable to pant or drink. Whenever anyone tried to pet Buddy, the guy would jerk the dog behind him and yell at the person. That's how I got him - the guy called out to me as I was walking to my car. I reluctantly went over to him (I've always hated seeing the dog treated this way, as did most of town, and would go out of my way to avoid them). I said "Hi --, Hi Mr Nobody" and reached down to pat the dog. In the past, he'd let me pet the dog because I've given him dogfood. The guy whips the dog behind him and yells. "This is the f'n problem! Everyone wants to touch my "f'n" dog! Here! Now he's your problem~ (unhooks harness, puts leash in my hand) "But know this...he's a known biter! Now he's YOUR problem!". Buddy was so flea infested his back end was bloody, bloody nose from the muzzle, etc. First thing I did was go to the police station and tell the cop "--just GAVE me Mr. Nobody!" The cop was amazed, but said they could not take him, but I could take him to the animal shelter in the morning. Next thing I did was take him home and give him a flea bath. The rest is, as they say, history. Whew! Sorry if you've read this story on a previous post of mine - it just kinda came spilling out, and I thought maybe some background was in order if you hadn't already read it.