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Hi I've been there not long ago If I had to re do it, my first concern would be impulse control, as it's a matter of security - fluent response to his name - response to smacking sound and look at me - drop it - leave it - sit - stay - come when called This seems to be very basic, but what you have the impression that going well at home will find a deaf ear when outside, or playing, or following critters... The other thing would be "life training" - crate and pen if you have - car !! This one should not be underestimated - handling and manipulation : touching collar, paws, putting harness and leash Because you just don't want every day basic doing becoming a fight every time Life saving tips : - forcing naps is life saving and life changing, as a cranky, bitey, not wanted to do anything puppy is likely tired but don't want to miss out - do not be greedy and cheap on the chews : chews are mental stimulation, and also calming. The right chew at the right time on a devil possessed puppy may transform him into an angel it seems a lot for just a start, but hope it'll help please post in the picture post when you have him 😉

Hi Robert, Welcome to the forums! You have received excellent tips above. For ease of navigation, I will provide some of the links where you can find all the guides. The first days, it's mostly about getting the pup used to his new place and the crate and starting potty training. Puppy may whine at night so keeping him in the bedroom with the crate nearby can help him habituate and can help determine when and how often to be taken out (2-3 trips at night/early morning are not unusual initially.) Love the crate exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ Main article on potty training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/7-secret-potty-training-strategies/ Advanced potty training program: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/advanced-potty-training/ Obedience guides are found in the link below. Since your dog is likely a young puppy you will need to factor in short attention spans, so make those training sessions brief and fun (you can start with just 2-3 minute sessions spread in 4-5 sessions throughout the day and see how it goes.) You want to end the sessions with your puppy still having fun so to inculcate eagerness to being trained. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/ Importance of socialization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-your-puppy/ Smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Handling exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/ Bite inhibition and bite inhibition games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/biting-mouthing-nipping/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/ Prevention of resource guarding: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/ Brain games are great to keep your pup busy and mentally stimulated: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/ As your puppy develops, exercises to prevent separation anxiety: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/ With a large breed dog as a mastiff, tackling jumping early is important: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/jumping/ If you search the forums you will also find loads of extra tips for puppy nipping and lots of other puppy related info. Keep us posted when you get your pup! Happy training! Best, Adrienne

Amazon has some relatively economically priced beginner sets. Without knowing the age of your GSD, though, I'll throw this caution out there: until 18 months their growth plates aren't fully able to handle the load and if they land wrong the soft tissue can get damaged. For smaller dogs it might be more like 12 months, but our bigger dogs are late bloomers. 🙂 The tunnels and weaving poles are still a-okay to use, I'd just avoid any jumping exercises until mature. There was a gal at the dog park once who had two GSDs and she would put them in a sit stay while she walked off into the wooded section (this dog park was Awesome). She'd hide two balls, one for each dog. Then she'd walk back and release them to find. It was fun to watch them proudly bounding back to her with their prizes. Meanwhile, there was my dog, head under water, fishing out rocks . . . lol. When he was a puppy I had a plastic pool for him and I'd put sinkable toys in there for him to pull out. I never did find a good use for his skill (I didn't know Adrienne, yet!), but he sure enjoyed it. This is the course I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017TBQ4Z2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Most of them are around $60 for the poles, ring, and tunnel. If you have anyone crafty you could get them to build a ramp (I don't know what type of space you have available). In fact . . . I think I need my husband to do that with our spare lumber - glad you asked this question! 😆

Dear members, We are pleased to announce our new potty training guide! Below is the link to enter Potty Training Supercharged https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/advanced-potty-training/

Hi there, Welcome to the forums! I am not too much a fan of numbering sessions when it comes to length, frequency and number of reps because of so many factors (age, breed, history of training, health etc). When I worked for a big box store, we had modules that used a cookie-cutter approach to train dogs and the head trainer was very adamant in having the dogs do 10 sits in a row, 10 downs in a row etc. Were the dogs learning this way? Yes, their sits were getting quite mechanical as muscle memory sunk in. Did they look interested? Towards the end of the 10 reps I was seeing signs of tiring in some dogs. It didn't help that we had dogs of different ages and breeds all clumped together doing these exercises. So I would suggest putting more emphasis on whether the dog seems to be enjoying the interaction and not getting bored or frustrated. You can certainly try to do some reps as a trial and see how it goes. See what your dog thinks about it. Your dog may like to do some mix and matching of cues to stay interested and this can also help him/her discriminate between those cues. Always aim to end up the sessions on a positive note, before boredom or frustration sets in. Remember as well to add variety and distance, duration and distractions. All these cues once fluent at home, need to be taught as well in the yard, on walks, at the park and at pet stores. You can also integrate them into several impulse control exercises https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/10-impulse-control-games-for-dogs/ Happy training!

Try saving the article as a PDF. That seems to be working for me.

Thank you! I really thought she’d throw a fit without her usual walk but we did training games outside for about 20 minutes then took a 5-10 minute walk to get her to poop and omg maybe it’s a coincidence but she was able to see a big dog from our steps and not completely freak!! She didn’t even bark she just stopped and stared which is huge! She did small barks at some passerby where our “backyard” is (I live in an apartment it’s basically grass and a bench with a fence to the street) but that’s the least foot traffic of all the areas near me. Then we’re playing some indoor fetch and tug (shes not ready to play outside yet, just doesn’t want to) to get out any extra energy. We’re going to try this routine for a few days while we work on the behavior modification towards sounds. 🙂

I'm going to add, always praise him for coming. Even if it took 10 minutes, refrain from negativity. Say you're late to a friend's house and they greet you enthusiastically and was happy to see you vs arriving at a friend's house and they yell and gripe at you for being late. Which friend are you going to want to visit again? Cannot agree more on this one, even if it's difficult, and specially for us during the teenage phase : last experience : we were walking, and he was with a doggie friend, we let them loose to play fully in a field, which is next to the forest... the 2 rascals started to play next to us normally and at some point, they decided having an adventure in the forest was much more fun... they fled like bullets deep in the forest... and took almost half an hour to come back... Emotional roller coaster. Just pissed at first, then annoyed, then angry, then afraid something happened, then sad because we thought of the end... And then they came back to us, just happy... I would have killed him on the spot for the emotional ride, and the total absence of obedience... but we praised and rewarded the coming back, otherwise he would quickly think "when I come back I get grounded / scholded".... punishment was ending the walk on short leash while he's usually on long leash

I've been doing some desensitization with Esther and found a wide variety of barks on YouTube. If you have a Bluetooth or WiFi speaker, those are extremely helpful as they're louder / more realistic than a phone or tablet speaker and you can move them around to gain or close distance, experiment with behind doors, around corners, outside vs inside, etc . . .. If you can't get the sound through the speaker via its natural coding there is a program I use (I have a Sonos speaker which does not play YouTube, for example) here: http://www.streamwhatyouhear.com/ With that I can play YouTube through the Sonos speaker now. I mute my computer so there's no feedback or competing sound. Not sure if they have it for other devices - I use it on my Win 10 PC. Phones and tablets should be able to use Bluetooth with no issues, not sure about WiFi as we've only ever had the Sonos for a WiFi speaker. Bluetooth are so inexpensive you could pick one up for under $10 just for this purpose.

If I may barge in, just to say the steps are spot on, and provide a little self experience although all doggies are Actually the 1/ was one of the most powerful for us. So that he would go by himself to see if another one have spawned. One thing we did much also was complementing with capturing : if he would go in on his own and we see it, he would get an high value treat. Now, when I get near the crate, he would hop in, sit, and look at me like saying "you see how nice I am ? May I get my treat now ?" And also, you have to give time its due. Even with working daily, he would cry and whine a bit when crated, although less and less. And few months later, you call bedtime, he will go in, sleep without any whining

And then I just snapped, it was the "too much" moment. I grabbed him by the scruff, put him down on his back, and said in a firm voice, but without yelling "STOP ! NOW ! ITS OVER !". A few seconds, he didn't whine, my gf went back, I stepped up, Loki too, I went into the house back, and he followed me, and went to lie down after that. I was feeling so bad about myself, and was thinking "oh my... its over... i've killed our relationship..." Then I went to cook, he came to the kitchen, offered a sit, I gave him a little piece of cheese... I tried to pet him, he let me... I don't want to justify my action, I don't like it much because it was done out of loss of patience, but weirdly, it may have helped. He was calmer. I was afraid he would be now frightened by me, but not at all, I would still come near me, took treats, and let me pet him. It reminded me a bit of a toddler who pushes, pushes, pushes, got grounded, and settle back I don't want this kind of episode to happen again because I really felt not good about it (and still do today whereas everything's good) but that made me really think about something like "pushing the limits", and the teenage phase, when I saw the consequences and him being better after being grounded please don't be too harsch with me, I love him, I would never abuse him, I'm just human I am not here to judge or be harsh firstly because I know how well loved Loki is and secondly because I think as humans, we can have a breaking point, especially when a loved one or another dog we care for is at risk. The good news is that (in general) dogs are rather resilient and bounce back. That is, if it happens just once, they'll come to think we just had 'that one episode" an odd, exceptional behavior that was out of character for us. Sort of how we may surprise them when we accidently step on their tail or trip on them, and then they understand it's all good, no harm was meant. If we keep at it though, that's when we do the most damage. We come to prove to the dog over and over that we are unstable, untrustworthy and unpredictable when dogs need to feel deeply secure with us. Physical corrections, snatching things from their mouth and even yelling can have negative repercussions. As a result dogs may become suppressed, anxious and even defensive (fear/stress/uneasiness is the main cause of aggression). Signs of a dog acting suppressed/anxious/defensive include walking tentatively (like on eggshells) towards the owner (in what mood is my owner today? I better walk slow=appeasement signal), keeping the ears back, tail low (dog making himself as small as possible to appease), defensive behavior when in possession of something, hyperactive behaviors (the fool around response in stress, one of the 4F responses to fear), the cliché' of typical dog who appears well behaved when instead is in a state of suppression/ learned helplessness, lack of initiative (the dog is no longer an active learner as is afraid of trying new behaviors), displacement behaviors (yawning, scrolling of the fur) and several more. Our dogs can sense when we are calm, and our calmness reassures them. If we tend to be on the reactive, excitable or frustrated side, it's important for us to at least try our best to act calm in the presence of our dogs. Moving quickly, talking in frustrating tones, breathing fast, petting them quickly ruffling up the fur, fleeing from the scene, risks making them hyper, reactive or unsteady. Catching our dogs when calm indoors or outdoors and praising calm behaviors with a calm, soft tone of voice,(possibly dropping a non-too exiting treat at his feet) and preferably without making eye contact, can help capture the calm behaviors so that they repeat. Excited/hyper behaviors shouldn't get our attention-any form of that means none of the positive or negative type. Even in play with other dogs, our dogs benefit from taking breaks if their play gets too hyper. . Before we give any form of attention it's therefore important that we evaluate in what state of mind our dog is. It's amazing how many calm behaviors our dogs display during the day and they often go unnoticed, but as soon as the dog misbehaves, he gets all eyes on him. It's therefore not surprising why then we get a higher percentage of the latter. On top of capturing and rewarding calmness, controlling the circumstances (antecedent control, management) so that the dog wants to do what we want him to do is what ultimately sets them for success. In other words, we can pave the path to good behaviors by avoiding rehearsals and trying to preempt behaviors and giving something more acceptable to do praising and rewarding that so to compete with and supersede the innate reinforcement gained from acting out in ways we do not like. On top of this, getting to the root of the problem is paramount (not enough sleep, too many stress hormones, not enough outlets for instinctive behaviors, too much social pressure, etc). Therefore as difficult as it may be, it's important to take several deep breaths at critical times and become proactive rather than reactive and do some goal setting to prevent these situations from occurring in the first place and then implementing an intervention plan that is both easy for us and our dogs to adhere to (baby steps with possibly a way to track down whether the behavior is improving over the course of several days). Setbacks can always happen through the process, but these should gradually become more more far in between and and if occurring more than expected, a careful evaluation of what may trigger it and a little tweak back on the drawing board can help soon set things back on the right path. Finally, as tempting as it is to think that dogs misbehave just for the pleasure of upsetting us, it's important to remind ourselves that it's nothing to be taken personal and that they simply do so because they are in a phase of their lives and most likely it is fun, relieves pent up energy or stress, or simply grabs our attention.

Congrats on your upcoming bundle of barks, er, joy! 😆 Dachshunds are pretty smart pups so I don't think you'd have an issue when he gets older. There's a section in the training for putting "potty" on command that would be useful for this. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/advanced-potty-training/potty-on-command/ That comes in useful if there's a designated area for him if you ever travel with him. When nature calls and he's in that field, it will happen even if potty isn't on command, lol. Having it on command makes it easier so they know it's what they're supposed to do in that area. I'm not sure if it's the breed or my husband's "training" but his Dachshunds were little devils about going inside so I highly recommend the command route and routine. Routine is one of the most powerful tools we have with helping dogs live in our world of rules. :)

I wouldn't be able to advise on the subject as our boy is alone, but just wanted to say the picture is precious ! They're lovely !

Hi No question here 🙂 just a little sharing : we try to implement the carpet game but with a towel as I have no carpet 🙂 I like the Come+stay+go which starting to be real good at home 🙂 https://youtu.be/l2LWN2c0r3w

Célébration day today people !!! Day of joy !! Mister Loki finally accepted to go through the dreaded feared road. I must confess I didn't train it specifically lately but several things may have helped : - we sometimes walk by until he was not ok with going further, then just stayed around enjoying there while being sure he was under threshold and not in a fearful mood - sometimes we met dogs and people around he could greet and train impulse control with - he even met his best doggy friend and could even fully play with him unleashed one or two times - he was walked there with my parents in Law, who didn't know about this fear. But being with them overdid the fear and he walked with them with no issue (I was a bit bothered as with me he wouldn't... But with them it was ok 😭😂) sometimes it doesn't have to be complicated, but what is sure is what you said : "slow and steady win the race"

Thank you FrederykbBlot and Adrienne for the information! Adrienne, the first and third link will not open for me. Both say I do not have access. All the others are fine. Is there something I can do to access these? We brought our girl home today. She is such a cuddly one. Now to implement some of the trainings into our routine.

As today is celebration day, some more updates on the progress that are causes for joy - his wait is getting better and better, in duration, distance, and environment (we're outside where things are going + muffin game is likely his favorite...) - recalls, and specially recalls when free... that gives us even more trust to let him loose to enjoy I swear it's not bragging, but just a sharing of joy :D :D

Thank you and yes he once did bite over a wrapper with food. After that dilemma I hand fed him for 2 months whilst also training him. I now can get him off street objects and food by a simple leave it or tossing treats away from him. I will try the above mentioned, I didn't even think of steak being higher value than a bone, so thanks for the info. I will let you know how I go. Here's a pic of my cheeky boy.

I feel you. Internet and media are great for information and skill learning but I found the hard way that : - you can read so many things, all claiming this is good, and this is bad, and discerning the reality in all of that can be difficult and can create much self questioning - what is shown is usually the best, in the best of world : everyone is happy, puppies are lovely, they all seems to have a perfect solution to a specific problem.. even with difficult dogs, it's always shown as they can "correct" them quick, while in reality, there are always some struggles... but struggles isn't something anyone want to share on Facebook or Instagram, or YouTube Once you get to the point that you accept that you just doing the best you can, with the skills you acquire and the love you have, while accepting making errors, it all become more bearable

This is my little big girl, Fraser. She is obsessed with puppies that live in mirrors and window reflections (herself). (Not sure why the image is showing rotated 🤔). She is a real sweetheart. Photos show her age 5-7.5 months (she’s 8 months now)

Stella loving her first spring! Also peep her after spay surgery gown it was so adorable!! If she didn’t hate wearing clothes i’d still use it to be honest and yes she did chew through her leash 😂 IMG_5285.MOV

Aww beautiful, Gizmo has a black eye patch also

Gizmo... gorgeous after a play in the secure field

You are very welcome! Just as an FYI, I think in most places vets are open for business with the lock down, they are just taking extra precautions (you have to wear a face mask, keep distance as the vet examines the dog and some vets may do visits in outdoor areas). Just pointing this out as it seems like many dog owners are delaying their vet appointments for some even rather urgent cases (not your case of course) not knowing that they are open. I hope your pup turns out fine! Best wishes Adrienne

According to the DNA test, Katie, the doggie on the left, is 64% Chihuahua, 20-something% Mini-Schnauzer, and the rest terrier mix. Doesn't give me much trust in DNA tests! But she's a love and we rescued her last June. Duffy is a Bernese Mountain Dog. He's the bestest boy in the world and is 4 years old. They've become great buddies and playmates.

Ziggy at 10 months.

Hi Melissa, Welcome to the forums! How exciting it must feel to be getting a new Rottweiler puppy! Make sure to post on the forums some pictures when your new pup arrives! I am sorry to hear you are feeling overwhelmed. With puppies, there are lot of things you will need to work on, and you will find that many things will overlap. If you go to the main member page, you will see how upon hovering over the main categories there are clickable dropdown lists: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/ Under puppies as you can see are the main sections: potty training, socialization, bite inhibition, developmental stages etc. If you go to the brain training section you will find a step-by-step guide, starting with obedience 101 and then the brain games. The brain games are placed after obedience 101 because some of them require some preliminary obedience skills. However, this doesn't mean you can't do them while you are still training your puppy in obedience. Actually, it's beneficial to work on them in between training sessions so as to provide mental stimulation and lay some important foundational skills. That's why you'll find Look at Me listed as one of the first brain games to work on. And then in the background, you will be also potty training, crate training, socializing and teaching bite inhibition, it's a whole big work in progress and the reason why many new puppy owners feel as if it's a lot of work, (some say more than having a new baby!). Since you are getting your puppy on the 20th, I would focus right now on reading all the puppy reading material and the big potty training supercharged section so as to know what to expect and be prepared: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/advanced-potty-training/ You can then skim through the obedience training and brain games just to get an idea of what it entails and then focus on these more when you and your puppy are ready. You'll likely find little time the first few days for training, as you'll be spending a good amount of time getting to know each other, watching your pup for signs of needing to go potty, introducing him to his/her bed, toys, water and food bowls, making sure she doesn't chew anything, and getting your puppy used to her new place and helping her cope through the first night away from his/her littermates and mom. As you get to know your puppy better, you may find that some things are more urgent to tackle than others. If you struggle with anything, these is the search button where you can type the problem and solutions will pop up. Same with the forums. And of course, you can always contact me through this forum. I hope this helps! Best, Adrienne

Hi Jennifer, your help is always welcomed and appreciated! And I am sure other members feel the same way. 😍

Hi there! Welcome to the forums! So sorry to hear about the loss of your Pry. These losses deeply impact us and our dogs. Many dogs get overly excited when they see the leash. If this is a new behavior, there's likely also some element of anxiety as well considering all the recent changes. I hope she has good bite inhibition, when dogs "miss" and end up biting us in this highly aroused state, the may not be as good in gauging the pressure of their bites. Please make safety your top priority. If she's rough with her mouth use a bite-proof basket muzzle for extra safety, (https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-your-dog-to-wear-a-muzzle/) and if you notice aggressive behavior, please don't hesitate to work along with a dog behavior professional for safety. Now, let's think like our dogs for a moment. A leash on its own may be a neutral stimulus and something that our dogs could care less about. In fact, a puppy who has never seen or worn a leash before may even perceive it as annoying, entertaining, or something to chew on. As your puppy or dog gets used to having the leash clipped on and taken for a walk, the leash then starts to represent some strong, positive associations. It turns into a conditioned stimulus (previously a neutral stimulus), and your dog develops a conditioned emotional response to it. This conditioned response may consist of a variety of emotions depending on how walks are perceived. For some dogs who are fearful of the great outdoors—those scared of noises, seeing people, or other dogs—their emotional response may be based more on fear than excitement. For others, it can be great emotional arousal from going on the hunt for critters, new intriguing smells and meeting other dogs and people. Some others there may be elements of mixed emotions, anxiety, fear mixed with excitement for all the things that can happen. Trying to tone down the excitement/anxiety by scolding or pushing away can often makes things worse, and even if the dog maybe stays still for a bit, it's more a result of us suppressing the dog's emotions which can lead to side effects. For example, in sensitive dogs, it may lead to further anxiety of going outside. So rather than getting frustrated we can tackle this excess excitement/anxiety in two ways: 1)Using the leash to our advantage to reinforce desired behaviors and 2) reducing the saliency of the leash. It's worthy to skip walks for a while so that you stop reinforcing all the excitement package taking place when your dog is in this hyper/aroused state. Because if every time we go out for a walk, Elizabeth is rehearsing all these problematic behaviors just prior, soon a new routine establishes and we're reinforcing it, sort of like letting a toddler go play with his friends outside after throwing a major tantrum. If the tantrum works in having mom and dad let him out, he'll be likely to repeat this scene over and over. So here are some tips: -Use a Chain Leash Since you mention your dog chewing the leash, I would suggest for a while using a chain leash. Most dogs don't like to chew on chain and will give up chewing it after some time. With a new leash you also have an object with "less baggage'' in other words less rehearsal history. -Prevent Rehearsal of the Problematic Behavior If every time you grab the leash, your dog gets hyper excited just by seeing it, you will have to start changing things, or you may be stuck with a dog that lacks impulse control. On top of this, your dog may adopt these impatient these behaviors in many other aspects of her life. So we need to tone down things and prevent her from practicing all these hyper aroused behaviors. We therefore need to take several steps to keep her better under threshold. Here's the thing: when dogs get into too aroused states, they tend to get nippy, jumpy, humpy, and yes, they may chatter their teeth if anticipating something. So the primary goal is taking several steps to keep your dog under threshold: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ -Try My "Unpower the Leash" Method Here's the thing: dogs live in a world of associations. The leash therefore becomes particularly salient to our dogs because it's presented at distinct times, that is, always right before the walks. For sake of comparison, we can say that the leash becomes super salient and highly predictable such as the noise of the food bowl announcing dinner, or the treat bag announcing a fun training session, or the door bell announcing guests, or our car keys announcing our departure (and triggering anxiety in dogs with separation-related issues). The contingency leash=walks therefore becomes particularly strong. So how can we break up this contingency? By removing the power from the leash and making it less salient. We will therefore present it throughout the day so to desensitize her to it -Casually keep the leash around I would skip grabbing the leash in front of your dog for now because she'll likely get all revved up, and maybe even more nippy because she may get frustrated that it will be presented when she's not going on walk. So let's start easy peasy, when she's out in the yard or in another room, away from where the leash is kept, get that leash out and place it on the couch or hang it to the door knob. Then, let her find it on her own. Because the leash is lifeless at this point and not in your hands, she shouldn't get overly excited about it. ***If at any time she tries to grab the leash/steal it, say 'leave it" and toss a kibble away. If she knows "leave it" already, even better. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ -Add Movement Have the leash on the couch or hanging by the door knob, and casually during the day, move it a teeny bit. Your dog may show interest at this point, twitch an ear or come running towards it, so be ready to toss her a kibble or treat every time you move it. The kibble or treat should keep her from thinking about nipping you and keep her mind busy on something else. It also reinforces any other behavior than the nipping. Do this several times. -Add Sits If your dog knows how to sit, start practicing this exercise: Move the leash a little bit and then ask for a sit and toss a kibble/treat to reward that. Rinse and repeat several times, the movement/noise of the leash should become a predictor that a sit must follow. The treat toss should keep her busy and prevent her from thinking about nipping. -Start wearing the leash If your dog did well with the above exercise, start "wearing" the leash. In other words, walk around with the leash clipped to your belt. You want your dog to start getting used to seeing it around more and more without getting excited. Every now and then, stand in front of your dog, lift the leash a bit, ask for a sit and toss a treat. -Desensitize to the clipping noise Every now and then, as the leash is clipped to your belt, stand in front of your dog, lift the leash a bit ask for a sit, make the clipping noise by opening the snap hook thingy and toss a treat. Rinse and repeat several times, lift leash-ask for a sit, clipping sound- toss treat. -Start practicing clipping on the leash Start practicing clipping on the leash to your dog's collar, when your dog is sitting calmly. Lift the leash a bit make the clipping noise by opening the snap hook thingy, ask for a sit, clip it to the collar, feed a treat. Then, unclip it and give another treat. Rinse and repeat several times. The leash comes on only when you dog is sitting calmly. -Work by the door Do the same exercise this time by the door. Lift the leash a bit, make the clipping noise by opening the snap hook thingy, ask for a sit, clip it to the collar, feed a treat. Then, unclip it and give another treat. Rinse and repeat several times. The leash always comes on only when you dog is sitting calmly. -Walk Away From Undesirable Behavior What if your dog breaks the sit or starts getting nippy right when you are about to clip on the leash? In that scenario, stop trying to clip the leash, turn around, and walk away. By doing this, you are informing your dog that their excited behavior sends you away. Come back and try again. If your dog is still wiggly and bouncy, make an about turn and try again. At some point, your dog will tire out from acting excited and will get the message. You should, therefore, start seeing some calmer behaviors. At that point, ask for the sit, clip the leash on, and go out the door a brief second and then back inside, unclip the leash and feed a treat (you can toss several small pieces, treasure hunt style) -Don't Be Afraid to Repeat the Technique What if your dog sits nicely when you clip the leash on but pulls towards the door, jumping and acting hyper again? In that case, once again, turn around. You don't want to reinforce this behavior. Make sure you exit the door only when your dog is in a calmer state of mind. It may take some time to get out of the door the first few times, but since you keep going towards the door and then turning the moment your dog acts hyper, your dog will get tired; you will eventually start to see a calmer dog. Things get better once your dog understands that calmness equals walking towards the door and getting out. If you are consistent, you will notice an improvement. -Watch for Frustration If you notice any signs of frustration building up, or reverting back to nipping/jumping, take that as a sign that you have progressed to fast. You may have raised criteria too fast and need to back to a few steps in the process. Make sure to use treats that are valuable enough to your dog so that it's easy for her to make good choices. -Implement Impulse control games Dogs who get overly excited and struggle coping with their emotions, benefit from learning more impulse control. Training is ultimately teaching dogs to better cope with their emotions and develop better frustration tolerance. They must learn that patience pays and only calm behavior leads to what they want. Here are several impulse control games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/10-impulse-control-games-for-dogs/ Once the leash has lost its salience and you are putting the leash on and walking towards the door only when your dog is calm, you are tackling the issue on several fronts: -You are no longer reinforcing excited behaviors -You are rewarding calm behaviors -The leash will have assumed less importance so that you can help your dog succeed -Your dog is learning how to tone down her emotions The above techniques are more tailored for dogs who act super excited when they see the leash. Remember, if your dog is super excited, this may be a sign that your dog needs more training, enrichment and mental stimulation during the day. Make sure you provide enough brain games, training, food puzzles so that you will have a calmer and better behaved dog. Now, you have mentioned some issues on walks and these will need to be tackled too, as they're part of the arousal problem package. I will be discussing this later today in the next post. Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.

Oh no, so much going on! I hope your hand heals quickly and your next appointment goes smoothly. I am so sorry to hear about Abbi, sounds like her poor body has given up. She had a wonderful life with you guys. May the good memories keep your hearts warm. Love and strength to you and your hubby at this difficult time.

Beautiful attention heeling! Wow! And what a magnificent place to train.

Hi there, I hope your goldens' TV training is progressing nicely! Please see my observations/tips/ideas in non-bold. My 20-month-old Golden Retriever has started fighting other dogs at doggie daycare. He is neutered and has been going to doggie daycare since he was about four months old. He has been well socialized since he was a puppy and, up until a few weeks ago, was known as the dog that got along with every dog, whether young, old, big, small, male, or female. Until recently, and only at doggie daycare, he has been the quintessential Golden Retriever - friendly towards all. A few weeks ago, the first incident was when he attacked a dog that growled at him while a staff owner was petting this dog (he wanted pets too). Then, last week, he attacked one of his best friends who he has played with for months without any issues. His friend (a Rottweiler), did pin him without doing any damage and he ran away frightened. Both altercations were observed and promptly addressed by staff who intervened, and he was separated and put into a timeout. It's always very upsetting when things like this happen, especially since your dog has a long track record of being super social, and I understand how shocking it may feel when dogs act this way out of the blue.

The big day is coming closer! I am sure you have a mixed bag of emotions going on. Esther is going to be so happy to see you again! It's good that you're meeting at the pet store so that you can see how she performs in that environment. It's a great place to proof things. Keep us posted on how things go!

Going to chime in with our dogs' new favorite: https://www.chewy.com/brands/vital-essentials-7704 I bought the actual food, but you mentioned you're in a dorm and if your college days were like mine, $30 for treats isn't exactly in the budget without knowing if they'll work. They do have smaller bags of actual treats for around $8 - 9 you could try first. I think of the food like Cheetos for dogs, only with meat instead of flours and fake cheese. Meatos? 😏 The other one they really go for is the Ziwi Peak: https://www.chewy.com/brands/ziwi-7776 More expensive than the VitalEssentials, but they stink to high heaven and the dogs go positively bonkers for them. With both foods I break them up into much smaller pieces to make them last. Think of the size of a Claritin pill (I can't come up with anything better for comparison at the moment!) for the Ziwi Peak and maybe an Advil for the VitalEssentials because they're a little tougher to get super small. Just some thoughts based on my recent experience - I'm working on desensitizing / conditioning Esther to numerous distractions and these foods, used as treats, are doing the trick. On another note, the real deal works quite well, too! If you eat chicken for dinner, for example, you could set aside a handful for her next session (I use the innermost pieces that don't have sauce or seasonings).

Hello I think most of us can hear you, come when called is a life saving one, but also one of the most difficult, and it will get harder with more distractions (ours won't do anything is there are other dogs around), and with the teenage phase... I'm sorry I'm not reassuring :) However, one of the things that mattered the most for us was the choice of the treats : what didn't work with medium value ones, worked far better with high value treats For our boy, those would be cooked chicken breast, dry liver, or dry smelly stuff like beef larynx / small edible chews, liver paste I'm not sure it's relevant, but when you say "he won't come in when you know he's finished doing his business", it seems that you call him back just once he's done with his business, and that's why he doesn't like it. He'd rather enjoy a little outside time. Maybe letting him enjoy a little outside time may help

I've looked at the Gonoughts and I think I'm going to get one in addition to another of these: Smaller dogs: https://www.chewy.com/petstages-orka-tire-tough-dog-chew/dp/217422 Bigger dogs: https://www.chewy.com/petstages-orka-tire-tough-dog-chew/dp/46937 She does have a Wobbler I use every morning. Her afternoon meal has the meds in it so I bowl feed that one in hopes she gulps the meds down with a big bite. The evening meal is also in a bowl because my kiddo is asleep and the Wobbler makes an awful racket right above her room. When we get that next house I'll be able to come up with some new ideas. We have the kennels figured out now that we've expanded them to 4' x 4'. I attached a picture of their current set up with my best effort at displaying the concept for the new ones. The current is 68" L x 44" W so they'll lose a little length but gain a little width and then the door will lead out to a 4' x 6' run. Plenty of space to work with for feeding / toys and we'll have a sturdier gate built with more height so they can't try a jump-over-the gate stunt from the beds. The stairs pictured are just about right - they need maybe one more step to reach 30" high. I'm losing my drawers underneath but we're getting more closet space so that's okay. The drawers go back about 2' and the closet will be 4' deep and 6 or 8' high so I am definitely not going to complain! The rest of the house is standard, but the office is all about the dogs and storage, lol. I am making the beds mini crib mattress size because those are easy to find waterproof and fitted sheets for and oddly, mini crib mattresses are less expensive than most dog beds. They're pretty tough and have thus far stood up to her chewing. They're just a bit tricky to stuff with mushier things to freeze. I am going to try a peanut butter / apple sauce / yogurt mix in a baking piping set as they have a good long attachment that can reach into the crease. I also keep my eye out for chunky treats that can go in there because all three dogs are too dang good at getting things out. Esther is now 46 lbs and maybe 11 months old. We got her May 9th and the vet said she was about 6 - 7 months old then so yes, 11 - 12 months old. Time has Flown! With the pushing it doesn't start fights, it mainly annoys me because Gertie just takes it and it's rude (to me). We haven't had a fight in a good long while as I've been vigilant with management. Gertie will make this weird high pitched growl? snarl? when Esther is being too Esther and once in a while it will come with a warning air snap. This usually occurs when they're lying on the couch or their beds and Esther is trying to entice play while Gerts wants to chill. In those cases I have them move further away from each other and face the other direction so they're not looking at one another and that's been effective thus far. In extreme cases I put Esther in her kennel with a toy. Esther doesn't sleep during the day and wants to play all the time, despite outside play and brain games. Endless energy! It's tiring the rest of us out and October 18th can't come along soon enough! I don't know if you know how much your clients look forward to your help, but I'm here to tell you it's like waiting for Christmas or a really exciting vacation! You are so very important to your clients' lives! <3 Abbi sees the doc about 1 - 2x per month and there was talk about amputation, but he said it would have to be at the shoulder and she would really struggle with that. I sewed (horribly, lol) three hand towels together and we use those as a sling for toileting. We couldn't find anything on the market, that wasn't super expensive, for a Dachshund's odd shape and the sling we did find was too narrow. The towels work well because we can adjust the width and even air lift her so her back is supported and her weight is off her legs entirely. There's a bit of a balancing act to get it right so her rib cage is supporting most of the weight and it's not on her soft organs. Her poor little foot has rotated severely.

That's the one! Thank you. :)

Thank you for the insights From what you say, it seems we allowed too much that he's excited around her, and should we be less tolerant to any kind of hyper state around her As cute as he is, it would be important that your girlfriend act calm and use a calm tone of voice around him and follow the same rules you have established. If she must praise, it must be done in a lower tone, that doesn't cause excessive excitement. It would help to involve her in the training. Take turns training, side-by-side, you first ask for a sit, praise/reward then right afterward she does, then you ask for a down, then she does, etc. We try to as much as possible, but not on every aspect For example, we brush together, like one treating, one brushing, evening walks are together, but I do morning alone It's true we do not do obedience at the same time. Mostly me, and sometimes she does We pay attention to our tone. In the beginning, we were a bit at the "dominance" school, like big shouted "NO" in case of bad behavior, and other stuff I wish I didn't do, but now most of it calm, even when cutting the interaction : a firm but not shouted "no mister !" and walking away We are around in what you say, butI think we just wait a little too much and tolerate for long He would start to bite, to tug, she will try to remove the arm, he will go again, she would dodge, he would finally get it, tug with more strength, which would be the ending point ==> We will now not accept even the first tug For humping she would be chilling, he would come, start to paws on her, she would turn her back, or dodge a bit, he would get back, get the paws on, and the humping position ==> after the first paws, (in the case we could prevent it) if he doesn't respond to "paws on the ground", we will cut here also instead of getting another round of him trying Thank you for the help ! We'll implement that and see how it goes ! I sense we will do quite some trips in the cellar now (it's the "interaction-cutting room :))

Dogs Barking (not synced with the video) Puppies Barking Advanced Dog Barking (for after the single dogs aren't causing havoc) I found a few videos to help with dog barking reactivity. Esther is So reactive (wants to play, not aggressive) to other dogs she was going Bonkers, jumping into my lap, stepping on Gertie, running around, etc . . . when she so much as heard another dog on the television. This gave me the idea to use YouTube as a training tool to help quell some of that behavior. We're not even to the point of being able to go to the exterior of the dog park, yet, she's so doggone nuts. What I do is play the video. She was so hyper about it I started rewarding her just for getting off my chair. I play the "look at that" game to get her to look at the screen in addition to hearing the barking to really get her interest. When her paws are on the floor she gets a treat. We graduated to when she was quiet she got a treat. Now we're at when she looks at me, paws on the floor, and is quiet she gets a treat. That's a Very quick summary of how I'm helping her rein in her excitement over other dogs. Eventually we'll build up to going to the exterior of the dog park, but for now video is enough. I thought I'd share because it's tough to find videos of Only barking With video. The 3rd video is only barking and it's numerous dogs. She's not ready for that, yet - got a little too excited. This could be done with any sounds or sights that set your dog(s) off. Doorbells, people yelling, sirens, loud bangs, etc . . .. Some dogs won't react to the video portion (Gertie couldn't care less), but the sound will appeal to most. If you can't find a doorbell video, look for "doorbell sounds" on a search engine. There will be plenty! Doorbell could even be done with a partner ringing your own doorbell. Same with knocking.

95% of the time they love each other. The other 5% Gertie is having none of it, lol. This is them after all the excitement with Abbi's emergency yesterday. They're such good girls to have endured the hour long round trip and another hour of surgery.

Rejoice people ! Today is a day of joy and celebration ! After days, and numerous walks, of pieces of treats on stairs steps, and jackpot downstairs, mister Loki did respond to "come" when I was downstairs and join me there without any treats on the steps ! He got a maxi jackpot once downstairs ! I guess the confidence built up, and he also managed to "perform the mechanics" HARD WORK AND PATIENCE WORK PEOPLE !!!! Another cause of celebration for today (with the electric fence thing) ! Thanks to you both Jennifer and Adrienne for the help and the guidance on this matter, which is now almost solved (I will still go on jackpoting the coming downstairs for a while just to be sure)

Bonjour Ivana! And that's about all the French I know. :D You are not alone. Most of us have dealt with the "stealing" from our new companions. This one is dear to my heart because it was my first post (cry for help) here when we adopted Gertrude Marie. Thieving Pooch https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/topic/296-counter-surfing/?tab=comments#comment-1453 https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/topic/271-my-dog-is-a-thief/?tab=comments#comment-1340 https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/topic/242-raiding-the-waste-basket/?tab=comments#comment-1178 The other three are from people with similar issues so you can see it's something nearly all dogs go through. A flirt pole comes to mind for your pup, or the "treasure hunt" game. I read a bit about the Epagneul Breton and it seems they're great at agility and hunting. With agility I'm thinking he has energy and with hunting I'm thinking he would enjoy using his nose. The flirt pole would help get that energy out and is an excellent tool to train "leave" and "drop," which are two things a "thieving pooch" definitely needs a lesson in. Treasure Hunt Game

It all makes sense, as usual. :) If there's one thing I've learned here it's to proceed with caution and at the dogs' pace. I can do the preliminary CER work without objects being involved - that should be a piece of cake and merely reinforcing what's already happening. They do play very well together in the yard and even with the jaw fighting inside. They share beds with no problems. Though they have 3 in different areas of the bedroom and two in the office, they usually end up together. From what I've seen so far it's only been with the newer toys. That's good news, though, because it means when we're ready to do CER with actual items we have plenty to choose from for the first stage. Lots and lots of play bowing, high-pitched vocalizations, bouncy play, bunny hops, etc . . .. Gertie often invites Esther to play, which I think is a mark in the pros box. There hasn't been a single time when they're playing that either of them has gotten upset. They need to learn to be a little gentler with one another and I play referee to guide them in that regard. Both listen well and ease up, thank goodness. A large part of my stress has been how busy we are with work. I haven't been able to dedicate the time I want to Esther's obedience and basic training. A contributing factor to that is Abbi being so needy. If she's left in the room without a human around she barks, howls, and carries on. I'm looking for ways to carve out time to do the training because it's driving me batty that she's not better mannered already - still having accidents in the house which is something I've always been able to get tackled in the first week or two and we're coming up on week 2 tomorrow. Esther also has no off button. She's wired for sound from 1 pm after her nap to 11 pm when we're ready to go to bed (no more 3 am bed times for me!). Once I can get her basics down we'll be in a better place. She already listens better than the other dogs with leave it and recall so I'm counting that as a major plus. Going from your Einstein story, both Esther and Gertrude were staring at the ceiling the other night. I kept thinking, "knock it off, Mo!" Not sure what he'd be doing on the ceiling, but it's where my mind went, lol.

Greetings and welcome to the forums, This is a great question considering that we want to establish good leash walking habits, but it can be challenging asking a young energetic puppy to walk politely on a loose leash for a whole 20-minute walk. In such a case we have several options: -Drain excess energy. If you can find a compatible play companion ( like another puppy that has completed vaccines) that will help burn off some of the physical energy, and can help make the walk easier and nicer. Alternatively, if you have a fenced yard or somewhere else to play, try burning off some of that energy before you go for your walk. A walk may not be enough exercise for a young pointer, and it can be frustrating for a hyper pup to move at a slower human pace when all they want to do is explore and run. -Use sniffing as a reward for polite leash walking. We often think of treats as a way to reward a dog who walks nicely next to us, but for some outdoorsy breeds, being allowed to sniff and explore can be equally reinforcing or even a higher reinforcer. You can use a long line for sending him to sniff. A long line is a longer leash that a regular leash and it's often sold in horse tack stores or online as dog recall training leashes. If you use a 15 foot leash you can send him to which gives some distance and still a loose leash. -Mix things up. Asking a young pup with a short attention span for 20 minutes straight can be challenging. You can add some variety on walks to keep your pup's interest alive. For instance, you can do some polite walking for 20 steps, then you can reward that by giving your pup permission to sniff, then you can do some more steps of polite walking using high-value treats to reward heel position, then you can ask some hand targets https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/, then a little more walking reinforced with sniffing, then you can do some walking with some added turns, then you can drop some kibble on the ground and let her "go find!" in a treasure hunt-style https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-treasure-hunt/and then you can offer a higher-value treat or toy when he comes to you and chooses to walk by your side. - Use a short leash for polite leash walking and a long line for sniffing strolls. Your pup can learn over time what to do with different lengths of leashes just as service dogs learn it's time to work when they wear their working harness. To help your puppy succeed, you may find it helpful to do more polite leash walking really close to your house where your pup is more familiar with the area or at the end of the walk when your pup is more tired. -When using the long line, make sure to always praise and reward your puppy for checking- in with you (comes to you or looks back at you). With time, your puppy may learn to do this more and more often. At some point, after your puppy starts offering real attention rather than just an occasional glance, you can then start using sniffing as reinforcement for polite leash walking. -Practice off- leash. When at home or in a securely fenced yard, practice training your pup to stick to your side. Polite leash walking really has little to do with a leash (the leash is there just for safety and to obey leash laws) it's all about creating a strong bond and a strongly reinforced habit. You are basically mostly reinforcing position and moving with you despite tempting distractions. -Finally, I would not recommend using a slip lead. Your puppy is very young and a slip lead works by tightening around the neck to create an unpleasant "strangulation-like" sensation. It's a correction-based tool. It has its uses for emergency situations or when we need to take dogs quickly in and out cars, play areas, kennels etc. but for training purposes, there are risks for negative associations, choking, coughing and gagging and damage to the delicate structures of the throat/neck area (in a young puppy the cartilage of the trachea is still particularly delicate). A front-attachment harness such as the Perfect Fit harness can be a much safer alternative (it doesn't constrict the throat and is not designed for corrections). I hopes this helps, Let me know if you have any other questions! Best, Adrienne

That's awesome! Not easy at all with deer being so close! That's the enthusiastic type of recalls I am always after. Keep up the great work!

Hello and welcome to the forums, I will be providing info about the three issues you mentioned. I will start by the issue number 1, cat chasing. In a household of 3 young dogs and a cat, things can quite challenging, because 3 dogs loose together will form a sort of "group mentality" and they'll all want to join in the fun of chase. Most importantly, with group chasing, there are higher chances for mishaps such as risks for injury or predatory drift. It's therefore imperative to protect your kitty as much as possible, from not just potential injury but also to ensure her emotional wellbeing. Just this past summer I had to work on a case with a beagle who pestered the household cat, he never really hurt the cat, but the poor cat was terrorized of moving freely around the home. She would have to check when he was around to just use her litter box or go to eat. She moved very slowly and lived most of her life walking on shelves, tables and tall chairs. Any time the beagle saw her, he would chase her and try to mount her. I really felt for the poor cat! So to tackle this sort of issue, there is an easy way, and then there is a more involved way that will require training and time. Firstly, let's take a look at the easy solution, that is management. Management is important because it prevents your dogs from rehearsing the problematic behavior (chasing), and it also helps keep your cat relatively safer. Here are some management options: Provide Your Cat With a Safe Area It's important for your cat's comfort and safety that she is provided with a safe place to retreat that is out of your dogs' reach. There are several options to provide such areas that can help you keep your cat away from your dogs. You can for instance, erect a pet baby gate or some indoor pet fence options. Several cat owners split their homes in two areas using such barriers; the cat area and the dog area. Some of these options you may need to adjust adding some additional barrier to prevent your cat from fitting through the bars if you want your cat to stay in a specific area of the home permanently, but there are also some models that can allow cats to fit through them, while dogs cannot, so the cat is free to come and go from the area as she pleases. These latter can work well in cases where dogs aren't really interested in harming the cat and where pet owners can always monitor interactions. Another option is to provide cat trees, cat window perches and condos that are high enough to be out of your dogs' reach. Whichever the means of separation used, it's important to ensure your dogs have no way to jump over, chew thorough or dig under these barriers. This means you will have to monitor these enclosures to ensure they remain effective. If you need to leave the home, it's better to be safe than sorry and keep your dogs enclosed as well with sturdy crates and kennels, which provides a double level of protection. By keeping your cat out of reach, your dogs aren't allowed to rehearse chasing behaviors over and over. Left untreated, cat-chasing behaviors can quickly risk becoming your dogs favorite pastime, and that for sure is not a good hobby. Not to mention, the more dogs rehearse chasing behaviors, the more ingrained the behavior becomes and this makes it more difficult to work on. Chasing is a self-reinforcing behavior in dogs that is ingrained and instinctive. The main advantages of management are therefore that, you won't have to invest much time, your cat can finally feel more secure, your dogs don't get to rehearse problematic behaviors, and if the barriers are sturdy and secure, your cat is also kept safe. The main disadvantage is that, it doesn't do much to tackle the underlying behavior, it fails to give you back-up plan should management fail (many management plans fail eventually for instance, a door or baby gate is left open, a cat escapes etc) and it requires a starter investment cost to cover for the cost of the chosen type of barrier. A Word About Calming Aids for Cats Many cats can become stressed when living with dogs. Separation alone can cause most cats to feel better, however some remain stressed just by seeing/hearing dogs on the other side. If your cat is stressed, you may also want to provide some calming aids. There are several pheromone--based products such as Feliway or Comfort Zone, which are products that mimic a chemical that cats are known to emit through special glands on their faces when they are feeling calm. There are also several over-the-counter supplements that can help calm down nervous kitties. Examples are products containing l-theanine. Now, to the more involved option. The more involved option requires that, you keep your cat safely separated from your dogs when you cannot supervise and as well when you cannot train. Training dogs to stop chasing cats requires a good level of impulse control (which can take time), on top of this, you will need to train each dog individually, unless they are already under good voice control as a group. Training to Stop Chasing a Cat This training requires that you teach each dog individually, and then once your one dog is under good voice control, you can add another dog as a distraction and then you can progress to having all three dogs together. If your dogs guard food from one another, please consult with a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification. Here are three of my favorite methods: Leave it One of the most effective ways to train a dog to stop chasing is the leave it cue, you can find how to train it below. You will have to keep your dog on leash at a distance from your cat in the initial stages of training. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ Leave it, basically tells your dog "stop trying to engage with whatever is tempting you". It can be applied to many circumstances where you need your dog to stop in his tracks, for instance, it can be used to tell a dog to not pick up something that has fallen to the floor, or it can be used to tell a dog to not move towards a distraction. You can therefore use it if you notice your dog/dogs are thinking about chasing your cat. Before practicing with your cat, it may help to practice with some intermediate distractions such as practicing leave its with a flirt pole, or a helper dragging a stuffed animal shaped like a cat around attached to a string. To work well, it's important to say "leave it" in advance before the dog is too focused on chasing. Look into My Eyes Another method for stopping dogs from chasing cats is to train a very solid response to a smacking sound made with my mouth that tells the dog to pay attention to me. This can work well with dogs with intense predatory drive because many dogs seem to respond better to a sound we make rather than voice. As with leave it, you will have to train this to all your three dogs. Here is how to train it: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/look-into-my-eyes/ You can then practice this exercise in more and more distracting areas such as in the yard, then watching things pass by your window: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Once you have a nice response, you will have work around the cat, but with your dog on leash and at a distance from the cat. This is to keep the dog under threshold. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ * If you are concerned about your dog potentially breaking loose from your grip on the leash and injuring your cat, by all means, let him/her wear a basket muzzle. It never hurts to add an extra layer or protection and play it safe. If at any time your dog isn't responsive, it's likely because he's too close to the cat (and, therefore, not ready for this level of distraction yet) or the treats you are using aren't high-value enough. Go back a few steps, increasing distance temporarily, and try increasing the value of the treats if your dog seems disinterested. Going to a mat All dogs can be trained to go lie on a mat at specific times when you perhaps may want your cat to be around a bit and you want to keep your dogs all in an area and engaged in some other activity. In this case, you can give your dogs something tasty to enjoy on their mats. Ensure your cat though never goes near them as many dog will resource guard food from cats. Also, keep the mats at a distance from each other to prevent food guarding between your dogs. Here's how to train it: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ A disclaimer is warranted here. Dogs and cats may seem to get along at times, but accidents can always happen at a moment's notice. Always supervise your pets and make safety your top priority. Even among dogs, fights may occur in presence of a cat due to redirected aggression. It's a good idea to have plan to separate dogs in case of a fight (keep an air horn handy, two pot lids to slam together for a startling effect,a bucket of water, etc). If your dogs guard food from one another or show other types of aggression, please consult with a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation of behavior modification.

Hi Adrienne, Thanks for the response. Harmonie is definitely leery towards strangers, whether they come to the house, in the yard, or out on walks. When people come to the house, she pretty much keeps her distance. She will come up to them and sniff them and whether they ignore her, talk to her, or try to pet her, her reaction is just about the same. She just backs off. She doesn't seem overly nervous, she lies down and rests. When we encounter people on walks, she just keeps her distance. If someone asks to pet her and they put their hand out for her to sniff, she sniffs it and then backs off. I have a friend that comes over and doesn't make eye contact or talk to her and Harmonie just ignores her the entire time. I have another friend that talks to her and Harmonie will approach her when she's sitting down and she lets her pet her. Harmonie has access to our fenced backyard, we live on a farm, she spends a lot of time outside barking and keeping a watch on things. She comes in the house to check in and maybe take a nap, then back out. I have noticed her being startled in the house. One time she didn't know I was behind her and she jumped up and ran, then came right back when she realized it was me. She gets startled outside with a loud noise that surprises her but she doesn't seem to be scared in an ongoing way... more just a startle until she quickly figures out what it is. I tried to take her to get groomed last week and she was having no part of going into the building. She was pulling and I couldn't/didn't want to drag her in because I figured if she wouldn't walk in, she wasn't going to have a good experience once inside. I have made some mistakes with her grooming at home. She is known for getting really muddy outside and I have used the hose to spray her feet off - she has started really resisting this and now it's almost impossible. I have to go back to square one and take it super slow. Okay...on to the older dogs. All 5 dogs are spayed/neutered. I wouldn't say that the 12 year olds are showing much as far as aging. I do think Taffie's (female) eyesight might be a little worse than it was. Tigger (male) doesn't seem to be showing signs. Poppie is definitely showing more signs of aging but I don't see any issues between him and Harmonie. Taffie sometimes cowers a bit or hangs back until Harmonie goes away. Tigger doesn't seem to be affected at all. Tigger pretty much holds his ground. I would say after the initial encounter, they go back to normal. Most of the time they all just do their own thing. I don't think it has a lasting emotional impact. One thing I do notice is that Harmonie seems to intentionally sit (sometimes) in front of the dog door so that the others can't go in the house. About 2 times a day I hear someone bark to come in and when I go out, she is sitting right in front of the dog door. I think I have a lot of work to do... she has been a really good dog as far as being perfectly house broken, not destroying things, she doesn't jump up or anything like that...but, I haven't asked her to do much, she pretty much does what she wants. I don't take her too many places for a few reasons, the craziness of the world right now, I don't go anywhere and, having 5 dogs makes taking 1 or 2 more difficult. While I wait for your reply, I'm going to take a read through the exercises and make a plan to start slowly working with her more. If you have suggestions on any particular behaviors to start with, I'd appreciate the advice. She's not overly food driven or toy driven. The other day when I took her for a visit to the vet, I brought some cheese to reward her for going in and she had no interest in the cheese. As always, I so appreciate your expertise and friendly advice. Thanks, Susan

Our family got a 9-week old female golden doodle a week ago. We were just starting to use treats as rewards when I joined your course yesterday. I assume that it is OK to dive into it with such a young puppy but I'm wondering if my expectations, if not approach, should be adjusted for her age. For example, she is super curious and distracted by small things like a leaf blowing or a faraway sound. And unlike an adult dog eager for a treat, she's so unimpressed it makes me wonder if she needs to be older to appreciate the treat. I personally don't have the time to do the training on my own and am wondering if it can be shared with other members of my family? Assuming that it can be shared, how would you suggest it be done?

Hi Jessica, Welcome to the forums, When dealing with dogs who chew and ingest things, a multi-faceted approach is needed. Firstly, management, which is often something that is overlooked. That is, dog-proofing the home and yard making any objects and things around that dogs may get into inaccessibile. Think of it like toddler-proofing the homes keeping things up high and our of reach and locking cabinets/closing rooms where there are knick-knacks the toddler may get into. We can make our life easier by creating dog-proofed areas and fencing them off if out the yard, or baby-gated areas if in the home. This can make the project of dog-proofing large areas much easier and manageable. At the same time though, we want to have a back-up plan that allows us to tell dogs to leave things that we may have accidentally forgotten to remove or that may have appeared despite our best intent (think a dead bird in the yard) or maybe something tempting on a walk. In this case it's training two specific cues: that is, the leave it and drop it command. You can find how to train these cues here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ With multiple dogs living the home, yes, I find it is best starting to train each dog individually. It would be quite difficult practicing when the other dogs may get in the way and try to steal things left and right. Then, once each dog has mastered the cues at a fluent response level, you can then practice adding the distraction of another dog working up to the level of being able to then practice group leave its (and drops as necessary) as long as all dogs have proven to be responsive and not prone to resource guarding. Of course, make sure to also provide your dogs with suitable and safe items to chew so that they can fulfill this need and don't forget about exercise and mental stimulation as many dogs who chew and ingest things are often bored and are looking for ways to entertain themselves and fulfill their natural scavenging/foraging instincts. Happy training!

Thankyou SO much for this reply Adrienne. Not only was it detailed and informative but personal and so much information. I truly appreciate it so much, so thankyou. I shall seek out a behaviourist whilst looking into the above but honestly to have someone who clearly cares this much about people’s pets and their welfare is so refreshing and comforting I have added a few pictures to show his improvement and confidence already :) - Nate