My new monster mutt, Mack.

[orumpoultry]

Meet Mack the wonder dog. Due to changing circumstances his previous owner could no longer keep him. He's a very sweet boy with many small, workable issues.

He's also super protective of me. This thread is to post on Macks progress with training him NOT to eat the cats.

An aha moment, a break through, an anything would be amazing. Here he is, Mack the wonder mutt. Best guess is Doberman mix?

pros: This sweet boy knows his beds and stays in them. He plays when you want to, but is lazy when you aren't. He's house broken, neutered, and isn't totally neurotic. He's stuck to me like glue and quite protective after a long training session this morning.

Cons: He's highly prey driven and wants to eat my cats. He chases the horses. He doesn't like when my fiance gets excited about something. He tries to eat the cats. Oh, and he's got separation anxiety. Did I mention the cats??

 

[Starfire669]

Meet Mack the wonder dog. Due to changing circumstances his previous owner could no longer keep him. He's a very sweet boy with many small, workable issues.

He's also super protective of me. This thread is to post on Macks progress with training him NOT to eat the cats.

An aha moment, a break through, an anything would be amazing. Here he is, Mack the wonder mutt. Best guess is Doberman mix?

pros: This sweet boy knows his beds and stays in them. He plays when you want to, but is lazy when you aren't. He's house broken, neutered, and isn't totally neurotic. He's stuck to me like glue and quite protective after a long training session this morning.

Cons: He's highly prey driven and wants to eat my cats. He chases the horses. He doesn't like when my fiance gets excited about something. He tries to eat the cats. Oh, and he's got separation anxiety. Did I mention the cats??

He is good looking.

 

[SavageDestiny]

Looks like there might be some sighthound in there, which would explain the prey drive. He's a handsome boy!

 

[orumpoultry]

He's four foot tall. Three people have asked me if he's a greyhound. As fast as he is and as driven it wouldn't surprise me. He looks me in the eye when he stands on his back legs. BIG boy but veryyyyyy lean.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Definitely looks like some sighthound in there!

I find distraction by treats to be the best solution in many, many cases! Distracted by the chickens? Pay attention to me! *treat, treat, treat, treat* Cats? Look here! *treat, treat, treat, treat* It may not be the best long term solution (I would still be careful leaving them alone until you've had lots of time to monitor them) but it is a great way to get a dog's attention when they are paying attention to something else. I'm also a fan of tying the dog to your belt (providing the dog won't take off WITH you still attached). That way the dog can be under constant supervision. Teaching little commands like "leave it" are important and helpful also. Anything that gets the dog to pay attention to you instead of other stimuli!

Definitely workable issues, but it may take some time! He's a pretty boy!

 

[srosales1996]

Super cute. Yes probably a dobey mix.. In a previous post I think you said he doesn't respond to a shock coller but is responding to a click trainer correct? We had one dog that came to our properity that was attracted to our goats.... (Packing) I assumed he was just a dumped dog my husband liked him And we brought him in the house. Had two inside cats. My cats instantly started acting strange as soon as he stepped foot inside. Eventually this dog mauled and ultimately killed (we had to put her down) one of our cats. And paralyzed another cat outside... Had wheels for her but eventually put her down also. About a week of having him I let him outside and he got into our goat heard. I almost had to shoot him but my oldest son was able to get him wrangled. Both myself and my neighbor had him in our sights though. I don't say all this to bring you down. I very much hope you are able to train this out of the dog. It sounds like he has bonded very tighly with you. But .... I have had trained many dogs. My own and helped friends. You will have to be very consistent and and have zero tolerance for bad behavior. It sounds like when he gets his sights set on somthing it is hard to break his concentration. Will he look at you in the face when you talk to him? I know that is an of question.... If not, work on that. Build the relationship to the point that when you use an angry tone it makes his ears tick when you yell at him even if he has his eyes locked on somthing. Get his ears attention and you will eventually start getting his eyes as well even if you have to move in front if him to break his concentration. I hope your able to make this work.

 

[orumpoultry]

Day three: Me Time.

I will start off by saying yesterday we began training a very strict routine. Scheduled bathroom breaks, meal time, play time, etc. Mack is also allowed no freedom except at bed time. Any other time he is leashed to me or within arms reach. If he moves, I put him back on his bed. He is not allowed to pass through doors until I do. He is not allowed to do anything unless I give him the go ahead. He's even going to be in the bathroom with me when I shower.

Today, this continued. Mack went with me to turn the birds out. Took me thirty minutes just to get through the front door. He must be sitting, and looking to me for the next command, before I open the door. Every time he srands before the command, we start over. Same goes for the gate on the front porch, and any other door way I have to open.

Took me another twenty minutes to get the coops opened up. Any time he showed fowl ( no pun intended ) play towards the birds we left the run and walked back to the safe zone. A designated spot in the yard with no sight of the horses or chickens where sit, stay, is practiced. My other dogs know it as the spot. He will, too.

He then lay on the other side of the gate in the kitchen while I cooked. Every time he whimpered or acted out, I got out of sight until he got quiet. The cats came in the cat door and he lost his mind. I backed him off and got hos attention off the cats and onto me. He was not allowed back to the gate until he calmed down. Repeat three times. Finally the cats got to eat in peace.

Mack then helped me do the laundry and run errands. He's getting the wait command at the door down to a T. He's also learning to lay down when I'm at the washing machine and dryer. These are located out in the shed, which means the cats have free range of it. Had to go to the spot a few times with him during this.

It's much easier to break his focus and bring his attention back to me, but it's still a pain in my rear.

After a long day of learning routine, Mack went with me to the dog park to work on his canine social skills. To put bluntly, Mack doesn't know when to quit.

He is finally coming when I call him ( with treats ) and even came to ne when he was tired. Good boy.

As of right now I'm standing in the kitchen waiting on him to move. He's at the gate staring at me, leash down, waiting on the release command. Good boy.

He's smart. I think he will get this eventually.

Rosales, you mentioned breaking his focus and the ear twitch. I have that. He hears me. He now looks at me and comes to me when I say no. Leave it. He gets a treat and a click as soon as he comes and another when e sits. He's not off leash often.

He's a totally different dog from yesterday. Our two hour shuffle over the cats I must have come out on top. I danced with him, averting his gaze and taking his attention until the cats were no longer interesting last night. However he still gets overly excited over them and I'm still afraid he will harm one, he's at least listening when I say no.

He totally ignores my fiance though. Won't even sit for him. He growls at him if he gets between us, John needs to gain dominance over Mack soon.

Good boy, Mack. You may leave your post at the gate now.

 

[enola]

I would like to see a picture of him standing, a side view.

 

[orumpoultry]

Hard to do. I'll get my fiance to take one when he gets home.

 

[srosales1996]

Day three: Me Time.

I will start off by saying yesterday we began training a very strict routine. Scheduled bathroom breaks, meal time, play time, etc. Mack is also allowed no freedom except at bed time. Any other time he is leashed to me or within arms reach. If he moves, I put him back on his bed. He is not allowed to pass through doors until I do. He is not allowed to do anything unless I give him the go ahead. He's even going to be in the bathroom with me when I shower.

Today, this continued. Mack went with me to turn the birds out. Took me thirty minutes just to get through the front door. He must be sitting, and looking to me for the next command, before I open the door. Every time he srands before the command, we start over. Same goes for the gate on the front porch, and any other door way I have to open.

Took me another twenty minutes to get the coops opened up. Any time he showed fowl ( no pun intended ) play towards the birds we left the run and walked back to the safe zone. A designated spot in the yard with no sight of the horses or chickens where sit, stay, is practiced. My other dogs know it as the spot. He will, too.

He then lay on the other side of the gate in the kitchen while I cooked. Every time he whimpered or acted out, I got out of sight until he got quiet. The cats came in the cat door and he lost his mind. I backed him off and got hos attention off the cats and onto me. He was not allowed back to the gate until he calmed down. Repeat three times. Finally the cats got to eat in peace.

Mack then helped me do the laundry and run errands. He's getting the wait command at the door down to a T. He's also learning to lay down when I'm at the washing machine and dryer. These are located out in the shed, which means the cats have free range of it. Had to go to the spot a few times with him during this.

It's much easier to break his focus and bring his attention back to me, but it's still a pain in my rear.

After a long day of learning routine, Mack went with me to the dog park to work on his canine social skills. To put bluntly, Mack doesn't know when to quit.

He is finally coming when I call him ( with treats ) and even came to ne when he was tired. Good boy.

As of right now I'm standing in the kitchen waiting on him to move. He's at the gate staring at me, leash down, waiting on the release command. Good boy.

He's smart. I think he will get this eventually.

Rosales, you mentioned breaking his focus and the ear twitch. I have that. He hears me. He now looks at me and comes to me when I say no. Leave it. He gets a treat and a click as soon as he comes and another when e sits. He's not off leash often.

He's a totally different dog from yesterday. Our two hour shuffle over the cats I must have come out on top. I danced with him, averting his gaze and taking his attention until the cats were no longer interesting last night. However he still gets overly excited over them and I'm still afraid he will harm one, he's at least listening when I say no.

He totally ignores my fiance though. Won't even sit for him. He growls at him if he gets between us, John needs to gain dominance over Mack soon.

Good boy, Mack. You may leave your post at the gate now.

You know what your doing. Btw I bet he has some Shepard in him also. Your right about John needing to gain dominance. Does Mack own you or do you own him (in his head)? I'm sure you do this but I would treat his disrespect of John with great distain so he understands that is not exceptable. I have a dog that barks at my husband in his own bedroom and every time he walks I to the house. I have not been able to put a stop to it and it is a huge sore spot for Joe. I had a remote zap collar and it worked well for him but I think my sons old girlfriend hid the collar.