Adrienne

Thanks so much for the extra details as they are very helpful. The more details the better, so no worries, I like to read novels! OK, so yes, I tend to agree with the trainer's approach of providing a treat every time he sees a dog. This is based on a powerful behavior modification method known as counterconditioning, which you can read more about here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ The method of giving a treat upon spotting a dog in particular is based on the "look at that' (LAT) method which we have in intro here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ I also have a Pre-LAT method outlined here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/pre-lat-look-behavior-modification/ The goal is to create positive associations to the point of obtaining what's known as a conditioned emotional response: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Here's is a case study using a form of LAT: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/03-homer-homers-reactivity/ It sounds like you were introduced to this method, but the biggest problems with LAT is going too fast in the process, failing to provide structured settings and working with a dog who is too over threshold to be able to function at a cognitive level. Avoiding these issues is therefore key. The structured settings require taking baby-steps and working on distance work, progressing only once a dog is comfortable at a certain level, recognizing early signs of stress and going a few steps back if there is a reaction. This is why along with counterconditioning (giving a treat every time the dog sees another dog, with the goal of creating a positive emotional response) we also want to add desensitization (baby steps, exposing him to dogs less than 10 meters away until he's fully comfortable with that distance before progressing to closer distances). Here is a read on desensitization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ With a good desensitization and counterconditioning plan in place, we should therefore be better able of keeping the dog under threshold: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Off-leash dogs or people walking their dogs too closely can create a lot of disruption. Avoiding such areas is important. If a dog though is heading our way and our dog isn't ready for that level of closeness, we can use what's known as an emergency u-turn: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ Now, it sounds like your dog is fearful towards other dogs, but it's also important ruling out something that is known as barrier frustration. In barrier frustration, we are dealing with dogs who get alone well with other dogs but mostly off leash. These dogs struggle when on leash due to their frustration of not being able to go meet and greet other dogs. This can cause them to put up quite a scary display (barking, growling, lunging). https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/barrier-frustration/ The problem with barrier frustration is that it can look a lot like fearfulness, but since it's mostly a display of frustration, the treatment is different. In fearful, under socialized dogs, we aim to change the dog's emotional response though counterconditioning and desensitization (LAT exercises) as discussed above, whereas, in dogs with barrier frustration, we aim to train an alternate behavior to engage in and improve the dog's impulse control and frustration tolerance. For example, with such dogs, I like to make a smacking sound and train them to perform several steps of attention heeling upon spotting another dog, versus just feeding them food for looking at another dog. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ Because these dogs aren't fearful, they don't really need much of their emotions changed (through classical conditioning), but rather, they need to keep busy at a more operant level (operant conditioning). So we are a step ahead. Therefore, it would be important knowing whether you are truly dealing with fear-based behaviors or whether they are frustration-based behaviors. I would assume your trainer who has worked with your dog specifically could have obtained an insight on this, but sometimes it can be tricky due to the fact that it's mostly by looking at the dog's off leash history with other dogs that we can deduce a better picture. I will be tackling the other issues you have mentioned in the next post.

Hello and welcome to the forums, I am glad to hear that he has improved with people and has starting to enjoy the attention from them. I have just a few questions so I can get a clearer picture of the situation. Where and by who was it suggested to you to give a treat every time a dog is nearby? Does he do well if he sees other dogs on leash? Or is it only with the dogs who come up too close that he struggles with? If so, do you know roughly at what distance he is likely to react? Has he ever played or interacted with any dogs off leash? (not saying you must try this, only trying to understand how his social skills are off leash as some dogs struggle with other dogs only when they are leashed) When you mention he absolutely barks at nothing, is it in the home or outside? Thanks

My only question with this method is how will he learn to cry out for us if we are waking him in the morning every day ? Good question. In this case, it's a matter or priorities. Right now, the biggest priority is to stop him from peeing in the crate. Peeing in the crate is highly-self reinforcing, because when a pup pees in the crate, it feels good, so they'll want to repeat this behavior-so it becomes quite habit forming as the crate starts becoming a toilet area more than a bedroom. Peeing in the crate overrides the natural instinct puppies should have not to soil where they sleep, eat or play. Without this instinct, crate training has little purpose as its main purpose is teaching pups to "hold it" until they can be taken out. Our hopes at this point is that we can start establishing a new habit of exclusively going potty outside and making the outside his favorite potty area by praising and rewarding for going out. We want him to forget about peeing in the crate, erasing it from his mind, by taking him out before he has the chance to pee in it. Once we have made going outside the favorite, preferred area and he associates the crate as his bedroom again, then we can expect him to want to be taken outside to potty, so we hope that he'll start whining/pawing/barking again to be let out. I think the crate can be made just a little further snugger by moving the divider to be straight rather than oblique, although it's hard to tell because I don't know how long your puppy is when standing. Is this puppy a brittany or some other type of spaniel? Also, after you woke up this morning after he has slept with the divider in place, where did you find the pee? Did he pee in the opposite corner, or right where he was sleeping? This would be important to know. Other things that come to mind since you said that he previously was alerting to potty and now suddenly no more: -Make sure he fully empties his bladder at night. Some puppies need to empty more than once, like they'll pee a little here and there several times. -As mentioned, consider possible medical issues (you should see accidents during the day too though) -I know this sounds crazy, but just in case, ensure your baby monitor is working -If feasible, it can help having a monitor that you can watch and see when these accidents happens exactly. This can be insightful, as some puppies pee when they hear us approaching from happy excitement. So perhaps the accident happens when your puppy hears you coming down the stairs. You should see this type of peeing though also during the day. Here is a read on excitement/submissive urination: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/submissive-urination/

Thanks for the extra details, they are very helpful! Accidents in the crate are not unusual in young puppies, but we want to minimize the amount of accidents happening in the crate as this can become habit-forming. Yes, If you wake up to a puppy who has peed in the crate in the early morning, mark the time you suspect the accident may have happened and aim to set your alarm clock at least half hour prior, in hopes of preventing it, by taking your puppy out. If it doesn't work, set it up an hour earlier or more until you can prevent it from happening. With Daylight Savings Time around the corner, this can give you an advantage. The purpose of a crate for potty training is making it difficult for the puppy to pee in one corner and sleep comfortably in the opposite, so a snugger crate may help the pup whine/bark/scratch the crate because most puppies instinctively don't like to lie on their pee. You can find crate dividers on Amazon, but temporarily, some puppy owners have made their own dividers with cardboard (some pups though will chew this or knock it down so a warning is needed) or they may use plywood for something more sturdy. Some pups also benefit from temporary using non-absorbent bedding so they end up feeling wet, versus bedding that is highly absorbent and doesn't impact them. It can also help to remove access to water for a couple of hours prior to bedtime if your pup is 100 percent healthy-always best to ask the vet. It would be also important ruling out any possible medical problems especially if this is a new problem. Although more common in female puppies, males pups can too develop urinary incontinence due to urinary tract infections so they may be more prone to having accidents. Other tips/ideas that come to mind: -Make sure that when your puppy is crated he is "empty." In other words, he has peed and pooped before being closed in. -Clean the accidents in the crate with an enzyme-based product that helps remove traces of any residual smells. Hope this helps! Best, Adrienne

Hello and welcome to the forums, Is this happening at night and he pees when he wakes up early? or is this happening anytime he is crated during the day? What is his crate lined up with? Towels? Mat? Blanket? What breed is he? Are you making sure he is going potty before closing him in the crate? What size is the crate? Does he have room to stand, turn around and lie down yet snug enough for him to not pee in one corner and sleep comfortably in the other corner? Is the crate nearby you so that you can hear him move around to alert you he needs to be taken out? Has he -by any chance- been scolded for whining in the crate or having accidents? Any recent changes? Thank you for the extra details.

Do you think it's a good idea to keep her blanket away from the main room when we're gone then so she doesn't rip up the blankets that are covering the couch? Since she has chewed up a hole in her blanket already last time, there are chances that she may move on next to the blankets covering the couch. Indeed, it sounds like after she chewed the hole in the blanket she took the blanket off the couch- so likely that was intent. It can get tricky here. Like if you provide her a blanket that you do not care for her to chew, she'll likely chew it. Chewing on it may buy you some time and keep her occupied until you come back home-but it's likely just a matter of time that she may get tired of chewing her blanket and may look for something else and those blankets on the bed may lure her like a magnet. So I would suggest removing any things you do not want her to chew. However, if you can't crate her (we have a guide here on gradually conditioning dogs to like the crate), have a walker/neighbor swing by or prevent access to the couch (which would be the ideal approach, out of sight- out of mind- at least until we can work more on identifying the source of problem-stress? boredom? pent-up energy? need for more enrichment? medical issues? self-soothing behavior?), the goal would be to tire her out physically and mentally before leaving (walk, kibble treasure hunt in the yard, then brain games, nosework, clicker training) provide things that will attract her far more than the couch (like a Kong frozen with peanut butter, hidden treats, Kong Wobbler, slow bowls, Pet Tutor set to release kibble at routine times,). Things get risky here though as your dog may still chew things up and may ingest parts of blankets, pillows or toys that may lead to a blockage. So a disclaimer is needed. Also, careful with leaving many tempting stuff around if your other dog is around too, if your dogs are prone to or potentially prone to resource guarding. Separating them just for safety may be a good option.

Your puppy sounds indeed very smart and very sociable! She must really love playing with her pal since she's always looking for her. If this neighbor pup has always been there, then one thing you can do is that, once your pup is doing better with the "leave it" and "drop it" cues, and therefore not eating things around (removing as much tempting things as you can, helps too), when you take your puppy on leash to potty, the moment she goes, you can praise and hand a treat and then unleash her so that she can enjoy some free time in the yard (always under your supervision). This may help her with time to "stay on task" (going potty) when she goes out as she will learn that going potty gets her multiple rewards: praise, a treat and then freedom to look for her friend or explore. Even better if she can be trained to go potty on command. On top of this, I always encourage puppy owners to form a strong bond with their puppies through fun play and many rewarding activities. We want to become the most fun and reinforcing figure to our pups. The more they bond with us, the less dog-to-dog oriented they may become. Being dog-to-dog oriented isn't a bad thing, but it can get out of hand sometimes. Happy training!

Hello Sandra and welcome back, It is great that Zeus is walking with a loose leash on your quiet dead-end street. This tells me that you and your puppy have grasped the basics of loose-leash walking, but are struggling when walking on another street. In such a case, it helps to evaluate and do some troubleshooting to identify what may be happening. Often, this is just a matter of increased distractions. This road may have many temptations that attract your puppy as a magnet and lure your puppy away. At this young age, it is rather normal for puppies to be inquisitive and interested in exploring in their surroundings. On the other, perhaps there may be also some anxiety component in place which often causes puppies and dogs to to act hypervigilant and walk in a zig-zag motion. So let's tackle these two forms of pulling. Pulling due to distractions When we walk our dogs and expect them to walk nicely on the leash, we are dealing with strongly ingrained instincts and competing distractions. There are countless stimuli on walks that draw dogs like magnets. Dogs are naturally impulsive beings, if they see something they like they'll go for it. Walks offer a multisensorial experience and dogs are eager to explore their whereabouts and sniff. So to compete with all these distractions, we want to start training in low distraction areas and/or walking at a distance from them, and we can also increase the value of treats so we can better compete with them. We can also provide consequences to make pulling less likely. Let's take a closer look at these. Starting training in Low Distraction Areas. If your pup is pulling to go meet dogs or people, sniff bushes and chase cats, you may find it helpful to start training heeling in a lower distraction areas (like at home, then the yard, then the quiet road) so to set up your dog for success. Use initially a very high reinforcement rate, and aim to gradually increase the number of steps until you reward. Once your dog's heeling behavior is more fluent, you can then start working in areas with a little more distractions, always working gradually. The goal is to keep the dog under threshold and compete with the distractions making walking next to you more desirable. Walk at a distance from distractions. If your puppy pulls towards other dogs in their yards, walk him on the opposite side. If your puppy wants to sniff the grass on people's lawns walk farther away from them. Distance can help your puppy be less distracted. Compete with distractions. This means making sticking by your side the best place to be. We can do this by training the dog to heel and attention heel for some steps while we are passing some distractions as described in these guides: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ It sounds like though you find the treat-delivery part impractical. Perhaps it's the bending down action to deliver the treat next to your leg? Or the slowing down? Provide consequences for pulling. If you really want to bypass treats, you'll need some type of consequence and you'll need to be very consistent. The consequence doesn't need to be something aversive such as delivering a leash correction by pulling back. It can be as simple as stopping walking or turning the opposite way as Jennifer has described. The goal is restoring the tense leash to a loose leash before walking again, so when you stop in your tracks, you'll have wait for the dog to realize that he doesn't get anywhere if he isn't walking "with you." You will need to therefore adhere to the rule that "a loose leash is your accelerator and a tense leash is your brake" and apply it consistently and praising when the leash is loose and reinforcing that loose leash with forward movement. (I personally prefer to praise when the leash is loose and reinforce with a treat as well as forward movement for a double whammy of reinforcement). As Jennifer pointed out though, this method requires lots of repetition, which means that you'll be stopping or turning repeatedly, so you will have to evaluate which is the less of the two evils you are walking by an area with distractions: making a smacking sound and praising and rewarding your pup with tasty treats every few steps to keep his interest alive and compete with distractions, or stopping or turning repeatedly or maybe doing a mix of both. Regardless of methods chosen, be aware of behavior chains. Sometimes, with some smart dogs, we may get stuck with them walking in a yo-yo fashion. They'll be pulling, then they come to us for a treat, then forge ahead and pull, then come get a treat etc. This a behavior chain that requires some skill to stop. I work on this with providing frequent feedback. If your dog does this, the moment he pulls ahead, you can use a slowing down option to put in the middle of the two behaviors (heeling next to you and pulling). In other words, right after your dog has eaten the treat after several steps of heeling, start slowing down and then stop in your tracks the moment he reaches the end of the leash. Imagine being a tree, where as your dog starts pulling, you start getting heavier, slowing down and then you stop in your tracks, put roots and "become a tree." You want to anticipate your dog in this. If you do this enough times, your dog will come to learn that "When I start to pull, my owner slows down, when I reach the end of the leash my owner stops, when I don't pull my owner keeps walking and I even get tasty treats! Pulling or trying to pull is not good if I want to keep walking!" You can even issue a warning that you are about to slow down by saying a split second prior to slowing down something like "slow down" and then "oops!" (or anything else) once you put roots and stop walking. This pre- warning will help your dog succeed as he will learn to adjust his pace to yours upon hearing you pronounce that, while the "oops" works to get your dog's attention and understand what is happening. So once your dog understands, that, when he forges ahead and pulls you slow down and stop, you'll notice more occasions of him walking next to you which you can promptly reward so he learns it's great to stick nearby. With small dogs, once they grasp they concept, we can even drop treats to the ground next to us to reward them rather than feeding them right next to our knee. Pulling Due to Anxiety These dogs may require behavior modification prior to starting formal training. In other words, they need o be exposed to triggers in a systematic, controlled manner through desensitization, and creating positive associations with triggers through counterconditioning. More on these here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ The dog's behavior on leash needs to be therefore carefully assessed to compile a list of triggers. Calming aids may be needed with some particularly anxious dogs. Other tips that come to mind: -Use a harness rather than a collar for small dogs. Small dogs are prone to tracheal collapse and leash pulling against the collar can cause damage over time. You may find a front-clip harness better for training your pup to walk nicely. This puts the leash in a more frontal position and when your pup pulls it somewhat turns him your way and redirects him to your side. -Watch what you do with your arm. Keep your arm in a natural down position when walking your pup. If you stretch your arm forward when your pup pulls, you are reinforcing the pulling by giving more leash as you extend the arm. If pulling therefore makes your arm move forward and your dog gains just a few inches this way, granted he'll keep pulling to gain that. With some owners, I tell them to keep their hand holding the leash in their pocket to fight this ingrained habit. -Drain excess energy prior to walks. For young, energetic dogs, it helps to drain excess energy so that they're less frisky. Plan to play with your dog, train him, offer mental stimulation (brain games!) so that he'll be less over the top. Consider that dogs are naturally predisposed to walk faster than us. If they haven't exercised much prior, they are frisky and full of energy, especially at the beginning of the walk. -. I know it can take some time to get used to treating dogs while walking, but it gets better with practice. I would still aim to setting him as much as possible for success by walking him more in the areas where he seems less over threshold before moving to places with more distractions and draining his energy prior so to minimize rehearsal of the pulling behavior. -Finally, here's a bonding exercise: If you have the space, it can also help to walk around a fenced yard and say "good boy!" and hand a treat when your dog, despite having a lot of acreage to explore, yet decides to stick nearby you. Hope this helps! At this age, we can't really expect perfect heeling due to the pup's smaller attention spans and desire to explore. Things get better though as the pup matures, bonds with us more and the outdoor world becomes more ho-hum so to say-as long as we stay consistent by not reinforcing the pulling with our forward movement. Keep me posted on how things go! Best, Adrienne

Glad to hear the vet bills weren't excessive and that animal control won't be called anymore! It's unfortunate, but in general, a dog running off at large escaping from a fence or just being off leash is often found to be automatically at fault regardless of the circumstances, especially when the area in question had leash laws in place. If your dog wasn't truly intently attacking the other dog, but mostly acting on defense rather than offense, you may have somewhat less to work on, but I would suggest, since you haven't witnessed what happened exactly and since it sounds like your dog struggles seeing other dogs on walks, to assume the worse and proactively work on the issue in the same manner nonetheless. Some dogs may be fine with other dogs, until the other dogs are near their properties. If the male dog was protecting his sister and acting provocative and your dog bit more as a defense mechanism, you still will have work to do to undo the negative associations with this incident. The good news is that behavior modification can work both ways, it can help dogs who attack for offense or defense.

Hello and welcome to the forums, For the barking problem, I would need some more information because there is barking and barking. Please let me know your dog's breed, age, the context in which the barking occurs and what you have tried so far. I am sorry to hear that you have been struggling with the sit cue. Let's do some troubleshooting. -Is your dog small? You can try to sit down on the couch and practice from there. Some small dogs are wary of feet (they may have been tripped over at some time or are just wary), other small dogs may not feel too comfortable when we loom over them from a standing position, so if we sit on the couch with the dog on the floor nearby, we are more comfortable and the dog may feel more comfortable too. -Are you using smelly treats? Sometimes using something that smells super good will motivate them more to follow your hand. -Are you moving your hand too fast? Try to move your hand slower having your dog follow with her her nose. -Try to take baby steps so she gets the concept that she must follow the treat in order to have it. For example, let her sniff the treat and let her have it. Then let her glance at it for a little bit it and let her have it, then let move the treat from her nose a little upward and let her have it, then a little more and let her have it, then try a little more until you have her following it with more confidence up to getting her to sit. -If you're a visual learner, take a look at this short video to make sure you are holding the treat and doing the hand motion correctly: --Try to stay relaxed and hide any frustration. Think of it as a game and don't feel pressured. With some pups, slow and steady wins the race, but once they grasp the concept, it tends to stick! -if you are still struggling, no worries! We can still train your dog to sit using capturing. Capturing is a training method where we reinforce spontaneous behaviors. In other words, wait for your dog to sit on her own. When she does, say "yes!" and toss a treat so to "reset" her. Then wait again for another sit and say "yes!" and toss a treat. Rinse and repeat several times. At some point, start saying sit, just before she sits and see if that evokes the behavior. If it does, say yes! and give a jackpot of treats (several small pieces of treats). Let me know how it goes! Best, Adrienne

Hi Cheryl, Was just thinking of you. I hope you are Shiloh are doing OK and that Shiloh has been recovering nicely.

OK, yes, getting a secure fence is a very important step. Actually, the most important one for now. We can't allow a dog that has the potential to harm other dogs escape anymore like that. You will have to have a fence that is high enough that he can't jump over and it needs to not have any "toe holds" that he can use as a grip to climb over. You also need to make sure he can't dig under. As for training, you can start with some basics and hold off walks for now until you have better equipment to walk him and he's more responsive you you. I would give him a couple of days to decompress from the stress and do low impact stuff like brain games, and then in the next days, you can start by training a strong response to a smacking sound which can be your foundation for the "Look at that Exercise" done starting in the home upon spotting any mild triggers from a window, then once you have a good response, you can practice out in the yard (preferably when you have it securely fenced) and then finally on walks once he's better under control. Here is the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Here is the Look at that exercise: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ Exercises such as look at that and open bar/closed bar (https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/) are based on two powerful behavior modification concepts, that is desensitization and counterconditioning. In desensitization, one takes small baby steps in exposing the dog to its triggers in a systematic, structured way so that the dog does not react fearfully to the stimuli and is able to take treats. If you overwhelm and flood a dog exposing her to full intensity situations, you risk sensitizing her, which means you make her more reactive and more fearful. To learn more about desensitization read here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ In counterconditioning, the goal is to change a dog’s emotional response by using treats or anything the dog finds rewarding. The moment the dog sees the threatening stimulus at a distance where she is calm, she is fed treats, the moment the threatening stimulus disappears, no more treats. The goal is to make it clear that great things happen when trigger is in sight. Read more on desensitization here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ When we create positive associations and work diligently, we aim to create what's known as a positive conditioned emotional response, from disliking dogs, to looking forward to seeing them. Here is a description of this. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ Once we have a strong response, we can start applying these exercises on walks and even train the dog to respond to our smacking and perform several steps of attention heeling upon spotting other dogs: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/ However, this takes time to master, so in the meanwhile when dogs are coming our way and we don't have enough distance we can rely on what Jennifer mentioned already, that is, the emergency u-turn: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ And we always need to pay attention to our dog to ensure that he's not sent over threshold: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Now equipment-wise, since he's a large powerful dog, you can try a front-attachment harness ( like the Perfect fit) or even a head halter (which requires an adjustment period, but it's worthy as it gives you extra control of the head area). I would also aim to muzzle train him to add an extra layer of protection on walks: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-your-dog-to-wear-a-muzzle/ I know this is a lot to absorb. With dogs who attack, we are looking more at behavior modification more than actual training. This requires skill and lots of judgement calls to ensure safety and correct implementation, so I always recommend working along with a dog trainer/behavior professional for in-person guidance and coaching. Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your 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 for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (and 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.

What you may have watched was the final products of the training. In the case of dogs focused too much on the trainer, the dogs have likely initially tried to interact with the snakes (but that part wasn't filmed), but with time, trial after trial, the phenomenon of overlearning could have have taken over, so that dogs just knew what to do in that specific setting/context. This may look impressive, but of course, it would be nice to see all the steps involved before reaching that level. With the shock collar, the dogs were likely initially given shocks at high level settings (but that part wasn't filmed), but then with time, just a very mild shock or even vibration/tone works as a reminder to alert them to leave the snake alone. Many shock collar trainers astutely don't show the videos where they use higher levels of shock because they want viewers to believe that their shocks are just minor "static stimulations" or "tickles" and therefore effective enough in keeping dogs under control. If I recall well, I think the force-free trainer I knew who held snake avoidance classes in Arizona used to calculate the striking distance by placing some sort of barriers like hula hoops or something round/oval in shape around the snakes and teaching dogs to not get within that barrier. Once the dog learned that, the barrier was gradually made less and less visible, until it could be removed and the dog still kept distance. Glad to hear that Gordo survived that scary bite, he does sound like a very sweet dog! I have met some very sweet souled hunting dogs, they look tough and rugged on the outside but soft on the inside.

Hi Denise, Welcome to the forums. I am sorry to hear about what happened, it can be heartbreaking, but things could have gone much worse. It sounds like your dog escaped the fence and went to attack two small dogs. What kind of fence do you have? Was he chained up before he escaped the fence to attack the small dogs? What breed is your dog? What kind of equipment are using currently for walking him? What does he do on walks when he sees other dogs? Animal control won't likely take your dog from you for such circumstance, but they may investigate the bite case, ask questions about your dog and check your fencing while likely making recommendations on ways for preventing your dog from running at large from now on. They may also recommend muzzling your dog when out and/or hiring a trainer to prevent future accidents.

Hello and welcome to the forums! How old is your puppy? Young pups struggle staying away from their caretakers, especially during their first weeks in their new homes when they were recently separated from their moms and littermates. Her barking is likely her way to ask to be reunited with you. Make sure she has a good balance of exercise, play, exploration, brain games and time with you and some quiet time in the pen. We have a guide on training a dog to love the crate and it can apply as well to getting dogs used to staying in a play pen. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ I recommend with puppies starting to gradually introduce exercises to foster independence: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/ If she bites when you pet her, you may find these exercises for handling helpful: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/ And here are some bite inhibition games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ In particular, I like to encourage hand targeting to encourage positive interactions with hands. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/targeting/ Other tips for nipping can be found here: Jumping on everything...this is rather a normal part of normal puppy explorative behavior. It should subside as the puppy gets more familiar with her surroundings and a bit bigger that she can see things/reach things without having to jump. You can help her learn to jump less by training her to sit, if she's jumping a lot on people.

Hello and welcome to the forums! How old is your dog? What breed? How long have you owned him? Is he refusing to eat his regular meals fed in his bowl? If so, is he free-fed (leaving food out for the dog to eat freely at any time) or is he fed at set intervals like twice a day? How many treats are you using on walks? It sounds like you are on the right path to working on trying to change your dog's emotional response to triggers on walks, but most likely in certain circumstances the triggers are just too salient which ends causing your dog to be over threshold. Here is a read on threshold levels: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ It's very important to have a plan in place to lower those threshold levels and provide a more structured setting.

You are very welcome! For the cardboard, as mentioned, the potential side effect is that she may want to destroy cardboard boxes you haven't provided her to specifically or anything that looks similar to cardboard --so you'll need to watch for that. So in other words, when you're out (or unable to supervise) you'll need to keep out only cardboard (and any other legitimate things for her to chew like her toys/food puzzles). When you are around and able to supervise instead you can enforce your "leave it" and potential "drop it" if you notice her intent to steal cardboard or you catch her already carrying a piece of cardboard in her mouth. With time, she may possibly come to learn that cardboard that is left on the floor is for her to destroy while other types of cardboard that are left on shelves or tables aren't destined for her use.-but when left alone, there are chances that her feelings of boredom/stress/anxiety may override any restrain she may have when in your presence. Our Einstein learned to destroy boxes on cue since a pup. We would give him a box and tell him to "go!" and he would break it up in pieces until small enough to fit in our trash can. He knew when we gave him something that he was allowed to play with versus other things. As he got older around the age of 9, if we weren't around he would sometimes pick up a box on his own and shred it without permission (we chalked it up to decreased inhibitions which can be typical as dogs age), but it wasn't a problem because we really never valued our cardboard boxes anyway and we knew he never ingested parts of it. So yes, as warned, there are good chances that if your dog starts destroying boxes the behavior will become self-reinforcing and she may come to perceive cardboard as a fun "toy." Dogs aren't good at discriminating similar looking things, so just as we shouldn't allow puppies to chew on an old pair of shoes we were planning to toss away and then expect them to not want to chew our new pair of expensive stillettos, we can't expect a dog to chew on cardboard and not chew other things that are made of or resemble carboard when left unsupervised. Of course, a word of caution is always needed. Cardboard boxes may have staples or toxic glues, so caution is needed. Providing cardboard may be only possible to do with dogs who shred and won't ingest any pieces of cardboard so it's important to evaluate risks as with many things, as nothing on earth is really risk-free when it comes to dogs. With blankets, we are getting closer to things that we may not want dogs to chew on unless we are willing to keep buying blankets and risking the dog chewing through fabrics we value such as couch covers, curtains etc. What we're looking for is providing legitimate things to chew on and making them easy to access so to make other things we may value less tempting. However, we may also want to evaluate why she is chewing in the first place, if it's just boredom-based or more of a stress-reaction/displacement activity which requires a different plan other than more enrichment/outlets for natural behaviors. Any chances a locking gate such as those tall 41"made by Carlton or Regalo can be used to separate the couch from where she spends the most time when home alone?

I hope I didn't overwhelm you with the exercises posted! They aren't meant to be worked on all at once. Baby steps. Some exercises may be more of a priority compared to others. For example, with pups who eat things outside in the yard, training a good leave it and drop it may be higher priority due to risks of ingesting harmful things compared to a digging or a barking problem. Are you planning to temporary get rid of the bells for good? If she has been doing remarkably well with it until now, it may be a pity letting go of this skill, especially if this is just a temporary glitch due to the arrival of the neighbor's new puppy. How long has this new puppy been around? If very recently, things may go back to normal once the novelty factor wears out. We don't want her to start having accidents in the home because you may have missed her trying to get your attention by walking towards the door to ring the bells. However, if the noise of the bells is particularly bothersome, maybe you can tape them to produce less sound? This way you may still know when she's asking to be let out and evaluate whether there's a true need to potty or not. What you describe sounds like a cranky puppy after playing. She is likely tired, but some young pups don't have the ability to self-soothe and settle and can remain overstimulated for some time. This is a skill that takes time to master. Puppies, just like toddlers, can therefore be reluctant to put themselves to bed when in this state of mind unless you help them. Giving her something to chew on can act as a "pacifier" and help her relax enough to snooze. You can help a cranky, overstimulated puppy relax or fall asleep by reducing stimulation so to help them settle down, relax and nap. Here are some tips: -Bring your puppy to a quiet place where they usually sleep (crate, exercise pen). -Remove access to overly stimulating toys -Encourage calming activities like snuffle mats, Licki-mats and food puzzles -Provide a chew toy or edible chew to gnaw on top of a mat/ dog bed (these can act as pacifiers) -Talk to your puppy in a quiet, soothing tone of voice -Act calm. This will help your puppy calm down too -Close all curtains and blinds -Turn lights off (or placing a blanket over the crate) -Play calming music (like Through a Dog's Ear) so to cut down on background noise.

Hello and welcome to the forums! I am happy to hear that your girl is so smart to have learned all those obedience cues and tricks! Kudos to you for training her all of that! Bell training can be a great method for potty training, but it comes with some disadvantages, and one of the biggest ones is what you are exactly describing: a dog asking repeatedly to be taken out- but for other reasons than going potty. For this reason, I am really not a big fan of this method, but rather prefer taking dogs out at scheduled intervals and training them to go potty on command. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/ However, there are ways to remedy to this common bell-training issue, although it sounds like you are already doing many things right (going out with her on leash and rewarding for doing her business). -I would suggest differentiating bell ringing due to a true need to potty from bell ringing because she wants to go play outside. You can do this simply by keeping track of your pup’s elimination patterns. I would make a log on when she goes potty by watching her carefully every time she's taken outside on leash. If you took her out just half hour ago and she urinated and had a bowel movement on that trip, it is quite unlikely that she’ll need to go again within this brief time frame. -Make going outside on leash boring. Take her to the spot and if she doesn't go potty within a few minutes, head back inside and watch her carefully for the next minutes. Be ready to take her out again as needed. -When she does go potty, praise and give a reward, and then allow her some time to enjoy the yard sniffing around if you can allow that safely (see below about the importance of training leave its and drop its). -Make being indoors fun and rewarding. Brain games, clicker training, treasure hunts, nosework. Try rotating her toys to keep her interest in them alive. Buffering outdoor sounds that attract her may also help. She may likely hear the puppy outside and wants to join the fun. Playing music, keeping the TV on or white noise produced by a fan can help buffer sounds. However, you may ultimately want to work on teaching her to behave outdoors. -Provide a digging area for her where she can dig and section off areas where she can't dig. Here are more tips for digging: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/digging/ -For barking at everyone and everything, you may find the look at that method helpful using a smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ -For eating things try to dog-proof your yard as much as possible and you may want to train leave its and drop its: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ For attention seeking behavior, encourage independent games like the muffin game, meals fed in Kong Wobblers, treasure hunts. Here are tips for attention seeking behaviors: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/whining/attention-seeking/ If she plays hard to catch, you can find some tips here: You may also find it helpful training her to come when called and enjoy collar grabs; https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/ I hope this helps, Best, Adrienne

Thank you for the extra details, they are very helpful-the more the better! So Nova, who is now the age of two, is likely still in the doggy adolescent stage. This stage's timeframes vary based on dog breed/size, so with mixes we can only guess, but in general, we expect dogs to enter the adolescent stage at around 6 months of age and to be in it until they are 2 to 3 years of age. Smaller dogs enter this stage earlier and end it sooner, while larger dogs enter it later and end it later. The adolescent stage, just like the human teenager stage, is characterized by many behavior changes. Namely, you may be likely to see a desire for more independence, increased energy levels and a strong desire to chew on stuff. Destructive behaviors are not unusual at all at this time. You can read more about this stage here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ You certainly have an interesting mix there. Huskies are known for being very active and escaping any type of confinement, beagles are noses on four legs (sniffing is their way or life!), poodles are very smart and thrive on advanced training and Tervs are highly active and can be destructive when bored. However, there is debate over how accurate these DNA tests are. So it looks like overall she's after things to shred. The fluff poking out from a bed, is almost irresistible to many dogs considering the fact that it brings back ancient instincts. In other words, from the dog's perspective the pillow or bed is like a large predator and chewing on it and removing the stuffing mimics what a dog's ancestors used to do when dissecting and "de-gutting" hunted animals, removing the entrails. As gross as this sounds, this happens more on a playful side, sort of like a child playing and pretending to go grocery shopping (including buying meat which comes from animals too!) and cooking a meal, although there are strong instincts at play. Even dogs who shake toys are mimicking ancient behaviors, as the toy comes to resemble small prey and the side-to-side shaking mimics what their ancestors did with small prey animals, with the purpose this movement being to kill the small animal by breaking its neck. So this sounds more like Nova is looking more for outlets for her instinctive behaviors and the fact she sleeps when you come home most likely suggests that she has been restless and likely looking for something to do. This can be due to excess energy, frustration/boredom and sometimes anxiety. So here are some things that come to mind: -On top of walks, consider training and mental stimulation (brain games!). Make sure that, before leaving your dog alone in the morning, that she has been walked, played with, trained (clicker training can be tiring) and provided with some fun brain games so that she's not left with too much energy to drain. Many experts believe that mental stimulation can be almost equally tiring (if not more) than exercise. -I would suggest rotating her toys. In other words, on those days when you must go out, you can provide toys she doesn't see often when in the home. This creates a sense of novelty and creates renewed interest. Of course, make sure the toys are safe to leave out if she is a powerful chewer. If she's the type that breaks toys apart, there are stronger toys out there such as Kong Xtreme and Goughnuts. West Paw makes a line of tough toys that I think may come with a warranty. It may help to provide these toys when you're home initially so that you can supervise and ensure she interacts with them in a safe manner. - Remove temptations as much as possible. If possible remove access to pillows to un-stuff, curtains to tug on and beds to chew. To help your dog succeed in making good choices, remove as much tempting items as possible keeping them off the floor and out of the dog's reach. Dog-proofing the room so that there's little to destroy, while leaving around several legit and safe items your dog can play with and chew will ensure she can only make good choices. Here are some alternate options for dogs who chew their beds: -When you are home, work on training a good leave it cue. Make sure to also practice when you leave a room and hide out of sight (while watching from an outdoor window, mirror or remote monitoring) so that your dog doesn't associate leaving stuff with your physical presence. In other words, teach your dog that even when you are away she must "leave it'. Here's how to train this: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ -Try a remote feeder. As the name implies, a remote feeder is a gadget that allows you to feed your dog at intervals throughout the day. This can keep dogs busy when left alone so they have less chance of acting destructive. An example of a remote feeder is the Pet Tutor which can be timed to release kibble a a certain time. Of course, exclude this option or any other options involving toys/food if your dogs are kept together and are prone to resource guarding. If that would be the case, you would have to keep them separated. The Furbo Camera, in particular, is a remote camera which offers the advantage of, on top of allowing you to monitor your dog when alone, feeding him treats/ kibble as often as desired. You can also talk to your dog and even practice "leave its" initially when you are nearby the home and then when away, when you notice she tries to chew on something she shouldn't and you can then reward for 'leaving it" with a kibble/treat. -I would evaluate whether there may be something triggering anxiety after the 3-4 hour mark, just for sake of exclusion. I know the destructive behavior seems to coincide with the treat ball emptying, but one of my colleagues once had a case of a dog chewing from anxiety like crazy always after a set time only to find out that at that time kids coming home from school would play ball against the wall of the room the dog was kept in. This made the dog highly anxious and he would chew to cope with his anxiety. -Sometimes, dogs may start chewing also from frustration. Perhaps she is frustrated that her treat ball has emptied and boredom is setting in. It doesn't hurt to increase at this age exercises for better impulse control and frustration tolerance. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ -I don't see providing cardboard to rip off as necessarily encouraging the bad behavior, but more as providing her a legitimate outlet. If she aims to destroy that and that prevents her from destroying other items (even better if items we don't want her to destroy are stored away), I see it as her making a good choice, just as with providing other legitimate things to chew on such as toys. She may though come to want to destroy cardboard boxes you haven't provided her to specifically or anything that looks similar to cardboard --so you'll need to watch for that. -Consider a multi-faceted approach. Often, tackling destructive behaviors, such as dogs ripping up stuff, requires a multi-faceted approach using the combination of several solutions. So with increased mental stimulation, play and training, removal of things she shouldn't chew on, and access to legitimate things to chew on when left alone, the destructive behavior directed at certain things should gradually reduce overtime. -For worst cases, after all has been tried, it may help to take your dog to doggie daycare (much better than the dog park if you find one that carefully screens dogs for health and aggression) or you can hire a dog walker to stop by mid-day (maybe after those initial 3-4 hours) to keep your dog occupied. Or maybe having a friendly trusted neighbor or relative who loves dogs who is willing to swing by. -And of course, if this destructive behavior turns out being anxiety-based (like in the case of separation anxiety or generalized anxiety disorder), the underlying anxiety will need to be tackled through behavior modification and possibly medications. I hope this helps, Let me know if you have any other questions/concerns.

Hello and welcome to the forums! Nice doggies, thanks for sharing their picture, they look like great buddies! I have a few questions to gain a better insight. How long have you had this rescue? How old is your rescue now? What breed or mix if known? How many hours is she alone? What does she destroy when left alone? I am specifically looking for certain patterns. For instance, does she aim for doors, windows? Shoes? Pillows? Remote controller? Have you tried using baby gates or exercise pens to close off a dog-proofed section of the home? Do your recordings of her when left alone show any signs of anxiety such as pacing, whining, drooling, restlessness and anxiety? Is your other dog behaving well when alone? Is he/she with her when they are alone or are they separated? Thanks!

Hi there, Welcome back! The good news is that your dog was neutered only 3 weeks ago, while in general, testosterone levels in puppies once neutered fall about a month or two after the surgery. It is a slow and gradual decline versus a one-time thing. So it may take some time for the behavior to completely subside IF the mounting behavior is mostly hormonally-induced. The bad news is that, mounting isn't always hormonally-induced (indeed, females, even the spayed ones hump and so do many neutered males). Many dogs therefore mount for other reasons other than the effect of hormones. Mounting indeed may be carried out due to mere play behavior, stress, anxiety, insecurity, excitement/overstimulation, bully, pushy behaviors and sometimes medical causes such as local irritations/itchiness. With humping behaviors directed towards other dogs, the earlier the behavior is tackled, the better the outcome. A dog who has rehearsed the humping behavior for several months/years is going to be more difficult to tackle compared to a dog who has just started. Day care personnel should have intervened to interrupt the behavior to prevent rehearsal also because mounting is one big provoking factor for dog fights. According to a study conducted by Tami and Gallagher in 2009, excess mounting led to aggression 85 percent of the time. A dog predisposed to mounting may therefore encounter a dog who will not tolerate this behavior and may respond aggressively getting into a brutal fight. Consider as well that mounting behavior is be self-rewarding rewarding so it's another reason why it's best prevent a dog from rehearsing this behavior over and over as it can become quite habit-forming. In such a case, therefore, it would be important to prevent the behavior from happening. This can be done through management (no off leash encounters at least until he is under good voice control). In the meanwhile, socialization with other dogs, should be provided in more structured settings that prevent over arousal and self-reinforcing mounting. For instance, less overstimulating exposures are organized walks with other dogs all on leash, hikes or small play groups with dogs who help the humper self regulate or dogs which your standard poodle has never tried to hump (females in your case, if he mounts mostly males). The goal with dogs who mount is to train these dogs to be more under fluent voice control, but this requires some time in training along with very careful monitoring. One would need to recognize pre-mounting behavior in a flash second (like by recognizing that glaze in the eyes/lip licking) and redirect at a moment's notice with super fast speed. As tempting as it can be to simply pull the dogs off, every time they hump other dogs, I have found that this method risks backfiring. By pulling the dogs off without dealing with the underlying issue, the dogs risk getting more aroused and frustrated over time. A helpful training cue may be "leave it," but it's important to give this cue at the earliest signs your dog is about to mount. If you give it too late, your dog may not be able to listen. Here is how to train leave it: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ Some dogs though seem to respond better to a smacking sound rather than voice, so it may be worthy trying to train a super reliable response to that as well. Here is the guide for that: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Is the daycare monitored by dog trainers? If so, they may promptly redirect your dog's mounting or they may use timeouts. Many doggy day cares use this method. Dogs wear a short tab (very short leash attached to collar) and every time the dog is about to mount, he is taken to a quiet and boring timeout zone. Some day care attendants do this for a few times (like three strikes and you're out), and if the behavior persists, the fun is all over and the dog is put on leash and leaves the area for a longer time. However, this method has also its negatives, for instance, if used with dogs who have done this for some time, it can create frustration and even aggressive responses (like biting when somebody reaches for the leash) especially in some very persistent, obsessive cases. It can also make dogs learn to play hard to catch over time. So I prefer early redirection with the dog automatically removing himself from the situation because a leave it or smacking sound means something more rewarding than humping is about to happen. I hope this helps! Last but not least, consider again that sometimes humping behavior may stem from underlying medical issues such as localized allergies and irritations. Most likely your vet may have recognized this when he was neutered, but if you notice any excessive licking or itching, mention it to you vet. Let me know if you have any other questions! Best, Adrienne

Oh, wow, I really missed that. Wonderful camouflaging! Scary though because if one were to encounter such snake on walks, no "leave it" would work as how can you warn the dog in time? For what matters, one may even step on it and get bitten if the snake for some reason doesn't slither away, eeek! That's likely a circumstance where tapping the ground with a stick can turn helpful. My vet used to advertise the snake vaccine (I think it was made by Red Rock) but it's not meant as a treatment as one would hope. She explained that it's just meant to allow owners to buy some time to get to the vet's office for treatment. Always best to have several vet numbers stored in the phone in case of an emergency and to call first before heading anywhere to ensure that they have anti-venom in stock. Training to avoid snakes without practicing with real snakes is one of the biggest disadvantages even when working on solid leave its. One would need at least some components reminding of a snake including the snake's appearance, sound and smell. The advantage of the classes my colleague used to train is that by partnering with a herpetologist, she had access to cool things such as freshly shed snake skins, freeze dried dead snakes and she also had access to remote controlled slithering snakes to mimic the motion.

You're very welcome!

Hello, and welcome to the forums! I can just give you a few pointers, but you'll have to see your vet for diagnosis and treatment. If your puppy has recently been around other puppies/dogs (like in the past one to two weeks) or you have recently adopted him, there may be chances you may be dealing with a case of kennel cough (if he hasn't been vaccinated for it-although it is possible for a dog to still get sick from it as vaccination doesn't cover all strains). Kennel cough is rather persistent coughing that sounds like a puppy is choking on something and many compare it to a honking noise. You can find some videos of dogs with kennel cough on You Tube. Here is one: If it's occasional and lasts a few seconds or up to a minute or so, it can also be a reverse sneeze. During a reverse sneeze, the dog makes a snorting sound as he extends the head and neck and some dogs may look panicky. Owners are often frightened when they first hear it. We got some calls from frantic owners at the vet's office sometimes because it looked as if the dog was having an asthma attack or was choking. Rubbing on the neck can in some cases help make the episode subside. If it persists it can be sign of some underlying irritation that needs addressed. Even some dog reverse sneeze samples can be seen on You Tube. Here is one: Or may be he may just be choking on things he chews. Or if you live in the desert southwest, it can be the first signs of valley fever (that's how it started with Einstein as a puppy, but he was in Arizona where it's rampant). Sometimes even though not very common, even puppies can develop tracheal collapse (I think it's like 25 percent) in predisposed breeds. And then sometimes heart problems, or lung problems can cause coughing. If he was recently neutered it can be a reaction to the endotracheal tube. As seen, several possibilities! Please see your vet to play it safe and for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment. For chewing, stop by the chewing guide: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/chewing/ And visit the leave it section: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ and the drop it section: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/drop-it/ These cues can turn handy as your puppy approaches to chew something or has something already in his mouth. I hope he feels better soon! Best, Adrienne