What am I doing wrong? o.o

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
If you are going through all this trouble with NO success the only thing you can do next is get a trainer or go take some classes. Anything is better than spinning your tires.

 

[bantyhen'sfriend]

I agree with welsummer. Harsh, yes. Reality check, yes.

My advice is to find a good trainer, someone with experience in working with older dogs that might have issues. All the instructional sites on the internet cannot teach you timing of the reward and the punishment, and they cannot teach you how much of a punishment is required for your dog.

I would suggest agility, rally obedience, disk dog competitions, or other stimulating exercises. You do not have to do it well, and you do not have to actually compete, but they are great activities for your dog to exercise both her mind and her muscles.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Quote:
If you are going through all this trouble with NO success the only thing you can do next is get a trainer or go take some classes. Anything is better than spinning your tires.

I think this is great advice. Like I mentioned above, it's really not too expensive at all. Do some searching and you might be able to find someone who specializes in high energy dogs like you have. When I was training my guy, we went to a lady who trained dogs for herding and fly ball. She gave us GREAT advice and it was nice to have someone to show me how to do things in person.

 

[PuppyBantamCochin]

http://leerburg.com/
This website might be helpful in certain areas--however, it is a bit harsh and I can't agree with everything myself.
www.cesarsway.com

www.showdog-magazine.com/Training/dominance.htm

www.dogbreedinfo.com/
(you may be able to find something helpful on here)

Do you have a harness you can hook her up to?
If you don't, buy one. If you cannot buy one for some reason, make one (search how to make a pull harness online)---I have made makeshift ones out of 2 cloth belts. Other harnesses could work, but they're not really great for pulling.
Then hook her up to something light to drag---start with maybe 5lbs...make her get comfortable.
Some people think exercise is not very important, But it is!

The dog I mentioned before (the one who jumped/nipped people), was very stubborn, did not listen, bull-necked, bone-headed...sadly, I was never able to ''click'' with him, and he never improved. He was also very territorial and aggressive. That lead to his downfall. HOWEVER, It is not impossible to train a hyper dog. You have to be determined and consistent. Don't give up on her!
BE FIRM AND CONSISTENT.
Can you meet/talk with anyone who has trained multiple dogs? (Does NOT have to be a dog trainer--just someone experienced with dogs. Even better, someone who's dealt w/cattle dogs or border collies)

 

[BeccaB00]

Quote:
OK so here is a question...

when you are trying to train her to sit, or leave-it, or whatever else, what exactly are you doing, what is her response, and what is your response to that? And how is it going for you, overall, training those basic commands?

Maybe if you can describe, people could help troubleshoot.

Also, what about keeping her leashed to you when she is in the house so that she physically *cannot* do a lot of the things you are describing? That is pretty simple.

Pat

When shes inside She'll happily do any trick or command I ask her to do.

Literally. "bridgit leave it!" and she turns away immediatly.

"sit" great response. Immediatly sits. shes great with commands and all.

She stays interested, she stays focused. But Just not when she 'wants' somthing.

If she was running around crazily and I say " sit! " or " down! " Never in a million years.

'I keep her on a leash, but not leashed to ME.

guess I'll try that also.

 

[Tala]

The Leerburg site is the one you need. You need his DVD (or free articles) about ESTABLISHING PACK STRUCTURE because as others have pointed out, the dog is currently controlling the household, instead of the humans. Also get the basic obedience DVD, it teaches you HOW and WHEN to punish and reward. Sometimes these two are sold together for a discount. I usually don't find him unusually harsh, in fact he's all for clicker training and treats, but mama dogs teach their pups NOT with treats but by growling and snapping when the pup disobeys, therefore correction DOES have it's rightful place in training your dog in the way dogs naturally understand.

Start reading here: http://leerburg.com/pdf/packstructure.pdf and http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/Ed FrawleysPhilosophyonDogTraining.pdf and http://leerburg.com/pdf/theoryofcorrections.pdf
And buying here: http://leerburg.com/308.htm

 

[manichicks]

If I am reading this right, you have a dog that is an attack dog. If she is attacking not on command then she is spoiled.
If she is charging and running into legs,surely you see that coming and should be reasy to whack her right before she hits. No, bad dog.
At this point, that means you need to this a hundred times or so before you should even begin to expect it to resolve.
Nipping at faces? are you kidding?
Better get a lawyer because you are going to end up with a lawsuit when she disfigures some kids face.

 

[BeccaB00]

You misunderstood what I wrote.

She runs around the house crazily and slams herslef into peoples legs in

a clumsy way. I do correct it but somtimes she comes from behind. Shes not

aggresive what so ever. The nipping at faces has 'kinda' been corrected. she

thinks twice about it now, but she used to love to nip our ears and cheeks

when we were laying in the floor. She's NOT attacking. She playing. ROUGHLY.

She doesn't bite. Just little pinches and nips. Sorry I should have explained it better.

I'm the one to blame here.

thanks for the reply

 

[welsummerchicks]

The thing you need to learn, Becca, is that your dog IS being aggressive.

Running into people and 99% of the other behavior described, that IS aggression.

To you it LOOKS like it's 'playing' because of her demeanor, but again, that's incorrect.

That website is good, but it still can't teach timing and what correction works for what thing(note Tala's comments that follow below which are spot on). It can't teach 'FEEL', which is watching the dog and seeing how he reacts, and 'tuning' your correction to that dog's feelings.

You can't overdo corrections, the dog will just give up and get miserable. They won't learn a thing. You can't under-do corrections or you get...what you have.

With an active dog, one needs to be careful how much one feeds it. If I remember that dog was as fat and roley poley as it could be. What one feeds a dog can contribute to both overweight and hyperactive distractibility. Just controlling calories overall, can reduce hyperactivity. I don't mean starve a dog, but a dog should show a little rib and its tummy should be tucked up. Both exercise and a managed diet are important for that.

Fitter:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...=2&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:5&biw=897&bih=344


Not:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...page=2&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:5&tx=70&ty=51

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Which is why spending money on the DVD is actually worth it. He explains it and then SHOWS it to you (with both trained and untrained dogs) and critiques his other helpers if they don't get it right. Expensive yes, but dogs ARE expensive. My last dog was "free" . . . before the vet visit, Rabies shot, XL crate, divider thing for the truck, no bark collar, multiple balls to satisfy his fetching desires.....etc. I think my "free" dog cost about $400 by the time we'd had him 2 months. Fortunately, most of it was one time expenses, but so are DVDs.