Adrienne Farricelli

Around other dogs she tends initially to walk tentatively and if they approach her will often lay on her back - paws up. She has been chased a few times by bigger dogs at some dog friendly trails so is quite tentative there. We haven't been there over the winter. She has a little dog next door that she plays with. She had a big buddy across the street that she played with too, but he unfortunately moved away. Recently I had a friend's little dog stay with me for 3 nights. She is a tiny dog and elderly so wasn't overly interested in playing. Maisie tried to play with her, but took the hint when the other dog indicated she didn't want to play. OK, so sounds like she does well with certain playmates. Some dogs she may find come too strong, or are intimidating and she reacts to those by showing appeasement gestures. It was nice that Maisie was respectful of the older dogs' wishes to not play. At the recommendation of our vet, I don't take her to off leash parks. The vet has seen too many dogs hurt or worse at off leash parks so discouraged us from going there. There was a small dog killed at one of our off leash parks just this past fall. We are trying to get at least one small dog off leash park in the city. Perhaps I should be finding other ways for her to spend time with other dogs? Your vet is right, dog parks can really cause troubles, physically and behaviorally. There are of course some exceptions to the rule. Small dog parks for small dogs are safer than dog parks that allow a bunch of dogs of all sizes to mingle, but on top of size, we need to consider how the other dogs are behaving. If dogs are constantly chasing other dogs around, acting pushy and not being respectful of other dogs' request to tone down their style of play, they can do more harm than good. In these cases, play dates with other dogs you know your dog is comfortable being around and that share similar play styles may be better. I think there is a bit of both at play - sometimes barrier frustration and sometimes fear/defensiveness. In such a case, she may benefit from management, some behavior modification followed then with training. I'll go a little bit more on depth on this, it's important to prevent her from going over threshold. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Management: the main purpose is to prevent the dog from rehearsing over the threshold behaviors over and over as doing so leads to perfection. In other words, practice makes perfect. Just like an actor gets better and better in reciting for a play by doing rehearsals, dogs get better and better in performing certain behaviors and therefore carrying out these behavior becomes almost like second nature. Hence, the importance of avoiding exposure to stimuli and situations that trigger the dog to go over threshold. This is known as "managing the dog's environment." t Your main goal is to therefore proactively manage your dog and her environment between training/ behavior modification sessions so to prevent rehearsals of over-threshold behaviors. The benefits of behavior management are various. 1) Management helps keep every body safe. By preventing a dog from going over threshold, you reduce the chances for the dog to harm herself, yourself and other people or dogs. When dogs are over threshold, they are more likely to react in impulsive ways and this can include biting (this may not apply to your dog in particular, but worthy of mentioning). 2) Management reduces a dog's stress. By no longer exposing the dog to overwhelming situations, the dog is in a calmer state. Consider that every time a dog displays aggressive behavior, several neurochemical and behavioral reinforcement systems are activated. 3) Management reduces an owner's stress. With the dog no longer over threshold, the dog owner can relax no longer feeling anxious or embarrassed by the dog's over-the-top behavior. A reprieve from exposure to triggers therefore gives both dogs and owners time to "chill out." 4) Management prevents rehearsal. As mentioned, every time a dog is exposed to a trigger and reacts to it, he/she is learning to practice the behavior. Soon, courtesy of associative learning, the dog learns to associate its anxiety and all of its accompanying autonomic responses (rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing) with that particular stimulus or situation. Ways You Can Manage Your Dog's Environment There are many steps you can take to manage your dog's environment so that she feels safe and you protect her from unnecessary stress, which only makes matters worse. For instance, in the case of reactivity to other dogs on walks: Walk at a distance from other dogs. Use an emergency U-turn if you see dogs coming your way. Here is a guide on how to train that: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/ Walk your dog at night or early morning hours to avoid peak times (yet, consider that this is the time when rabbits are out! So maybe pick areas where rabbits are not around, avoid trails or maybe drive somewhere?) Avoid rehearsal of barking at other dogs from windows and behind fences. Block access to the window area. Apply opaque window film to windows, use privacy fence/keep dog on leash in the yard. Avoid the perimeters of the fence. Of course, keeping your dog away from all of his triggers won't do much to fix the problem, but at least it prevents it from establishing and getting worse. The earlier you intervene in taking measures to prevent rehearsal, the better, since your dog has less chances of rehearsing the behavior allowing it to put roots. As the saying goes "best to nip the behavior issue in the bud" than dealing with a deeply entrenched behavior. Management is therefore a temporary measure that should be in place as you systematically plan and take steps to implement behavior modification techniques. Management works great also for those times when you do not have much time for training, but don't want your dog to go over threshold. Become a Pro in Reading Body Language On top of management, you want to become a pro in reading your dog's body language. Through body language you can decipher how your dog is feeling. This can help decrease the chances for a dog feeling overwhelmed and getting over threshold. Here are some subtle and less subtle signs of stress: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/signs-fear-stress-dogs/ Your goal is to therefore keep your dog as consistently relaxed as possible during the day, and then dedicate some time systematically exposing your dog to her triggers (through organized setups) so that she's aware of them but under threshold. Signs a Dog Is Over Threshold The dog is exposed to the full intensity form of the trigger. The dog is overwhelmed, panicky, reactive and unable to concentrate. She may bark, lunge, growl. What to do: remove the dog from the situation and allow her to decompress in a safe area. Signs a Dog in Under Threshold The dog is exposed to a less-intense form of the trigger. The dog is alert and aware of the stimulus, but responsive. What to do: Monitor the dog carefully for signs of stress. If there are signs, take steps to lower intensity of exposure. If not, use this level for controlled desensitizing and counterconditioning exercises. Signs a Dog is Neutral (Baseline) The dog is not exposed to the any trigger. The dog is comfortable and relaxed state, dog feels safe as there is no triggering stimulus. No intervention is needed. Here's why it's some important to read a dog's body language and prevent them from going over threshold. When Dogs are Over Threshold, Their Ability to Learn is Impaired Imagine having a phobia of heights and being asked to solve a math problem while being at the top of a skyscraper. Most likely, you will hardly be able to think through your anxiety! It therefore should come to as a surprise if, when a dog is barking and lunging, it's close to impossible to get his attention, even if you're dangling a tempting piece of liver in your dog's face! There is though a type of learning taking place at an operant level that still can take place when a dog is feeling strong anxiety: that is, doing anything that provides them with immediate relief. For instance a dog who is scared of loud noises on walks, will quickly learn that, by pulling, he gets home faster, or a dog who doesn't want any people petting his head, may learn quickly how a snap will cause the person to quickly back away. We can take advantage of this form of learning to help a dog stay under threshold. For instance, if on walks your dog is reactive towards other dogs, the moment you spot a dog approaching at a distance, before your dog reacts, do a u-turn and walk away. Paving the Path Towards Learning Now, to the juicy part. While management of the environment has prevented your dog from going over threshold, you may at some point be ready to take some steps on changing your dog's behavior. How can you do so though if exposure to the trigger will cause your dog to go over threshold? The answer is by implementing behavior modification. Most behaviorists use a variety of techniques, and these often include methods based on operant conditioning, desensitization and counter-conditioning. The choice of one over the other may vary based on what is causing the dog to go over threshold. Let's take a closer look at several useful methods. Operant Conditioning: this is simply training. In behavior modification, dogs can be trained to engage in alternate behaviors that are incompatible with problematic behaviors. Several impulse control training exercises may turn helpful in teaching dogs better self-control. Now, in dogs who are fearful/reactive towards other dogs, it may be difficult to get them into an operant state of thinking since their minds and bodies are in a fight or flight mode, so they need some extra work first, but in dogs who are just excited, and maybe a bit frustrated because they can't go and meet other dogs (barrier frustration), a little distance and training to engage in an alternate behaviors through differential reinforcement (my favorite lately is attention heeling) using super high-value treats may work. More about strategies to work on barrier frustration are covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/barrier-frustration/ Differential reinforcement: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/differential-reinforcement-incompatible-behaviors/ Desensitization: the process of exposing the dog systematically to his triggers in a manner that the dog is under threshold. This is best done through organized set-ups since we have more control over the environment. Often, distance can be a great place to start. For example, with a dog over threshold with dogs 40 feet away, it would be important to start with strangers at 30 feet away. The dog and dog owner team can be instructed to walk perpendicular to the reactive dog (not frontally which is perceived as more threatening). Desensitization to be effective should be coupled with counterconditioning. More about desensitization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/ Counterconditioning: the process of pairing a trigger with something the dog finds very reinforcing (often tasty food). The goal is to change the dog's emotional response to a trigger from dreading it, to actually looking forward to it. In order to work best, should be coupled with desensitization. Back to the example above, as the stranger is introduced at 30 feet, the dog is fed tasty food. Then, the distance can be reduced gradually, always feeding the dog tasty morsels and watching for signs of the dog going over threshold. Here is more about counterconditioning: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/ As you pair the sight of other dogs with food, you want to aim for nice +CER: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/ There are several techniques that incorporate desensitization and counterconditioning, here are some: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/treat-retreat-game/ Progressing Too Quickly: A Common Mistake Desensitization and counterconditioning is over all a pretty tedious process, some compare it to "watching paint dry." The first exposure sessions should be rather short, about 10 or 15 minutes at a time, once or twice a day, every day being preferable. The biggest mistake is moving too fast through the process which can cause setbacks. If the dog reacts at any time, that's a sign we have progressed too fast. We would therefore take several steps back into the process and resume from there before trying to progress again. Do not progress to the next level until your dog ignores the stimulus or at least shows just mild interest. With time, the dog should progressively show signs of tolerating more and more exposures. Need for Some Sub-steps? Some dogs are so over threshold, they need some sub-steps. For instance, before seeing actual dogs on walks, some dogs can benefit from first watching them from a window, then on a porch, and then in front of the driveway https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/ And some dogs may need first being desensitized to the sounds of tags jingling or dogs barking, using the "hear that" method: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/pre-lat-look-behavior-modification/ Raising Criteria There are four types of criteria to meet when doing behavior modification: distance, duration, number of stimuli and distraction To keep the dog under threshold, no more than one criteria should be added at a time. For instance, if you start with a setup with a dog walking closer and therefore decrease distance, you shouldn't add duration or distractions. "I think also that overall she revs pretty high - very high energy - wants to play all the time. I worry that I may have contributed to that. I am the only one here with her and worry about her being bored or unhappy. She gets lots of attention and stimulation - games, fetch, agility, etc." It's great you are providing her with all these activities! You are a very dedicated owner. It's important to ensure that she has time to recover in between and that she learns also how to relax. A big issue with dogs who are over threshold is their level of emotional arousal. While training can help teach better impulse control, it doesn't tackle directly a dog's strong emotional reaction triggers. All dogs therefore benefit on learning how to relax. It is therefore important teaching these dogs how good it feels to be relaxed. Capturing calm behaviors as they unfold can help a ton. Massage and TTouch are useful too. When Things Get Difficult Sometimes, no matter what you do, it may be difficult keeping the dog under threshold enough. In such cases, there are several options. Consulting with a professional (like a certified applied animal behaviorist/board-certified veterinary behaviorist) to personally guide you through to ensure correct implementation can turn helpful. Some dogs need medications to be calm enough for behavior modification to have an impact and these professionals can prescribe those. No pill though will cure anxiety or reactivity on its own, but medications along with management and behavior modification can be the winning strategy. For milder cases, a variety of calming aids are available over the counter or by prescription. Following are some examples: Pheromones (Adaptil plugins, collars, sprays) Calming Supplements (L-theanine, alpha-casozepine)-ask a vet before starting. Calming Foods by prescription by a vet: Hill’s Prescription Diet b/d and Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Calm. Calming Shirts (Thundershirt, Anxiety Warp) Calming Cap (Thunder Cap) Sorry this turned out being so long, there is a lot to cover on the subject and I still don't think I covered all cases or situations, but it should give you an idea. I hope this helps you and little Maisie! Let me know if you have any questions! Best, Adrienne

With the rabbits, she definitely wants to chase them. Thanks for the extra details, So with the rabbits, you'll need to strategically plan your walks so that you can avoid them-at least until she's better trained to control her impulses. This may take some tactical approaches and learning more about their habits. For instance, rabbits being crepuscular, we'll be more likely to encounter them at dusk and dawn compared to during the day. Also, being vulnerable beings, they may stick to bushes and trees rather than open spaces and public roads/ busier areas. Scanning for their presence as you walk, can help you make good decisions so to prevent putting your dog into a sticky situation. This is the management approach. Management is a temporary measure until the dog is better trained and for those times when we don't have time to dedicate to training. As for training, being part Yorkie, consider that the desire to chase critters is strong. Yorkies were selectively bred to chase and kill quarry underground (like rats and mice). Because of this, their impulse to chase critters cannot be entirely cancelled out, but it can be provided with outlets and redirected. You will therefore likely need a multi-pronged approach. -I would focus on impulse control and frustration tolerance exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ -I think flirt pole exercises using the leave it and drop it commands can turn helpful. There are many flirt poles on the market nowadays. -With dogs with high predatory drive, I like to create set-ups. Like I like to practice leave its https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/take-leave-it/ with fake birds/rabbits etc (you can find these online) and have helpers that drag around such stuffed animals tied to a long string in tall grass. I also have helpers also toss rocks (without the dog seeing) in tall grass on an opposite field and practice with that while the dog is on leash. Soon, the dog realizes that the sounds of grass being moved by the tossed rocks doesn't produce prey and learns to attend less to it and pay more attention to the treats I have. -Try the smacking sound. With some challenging high-predatory drive dogs, I find that more than verbal cues (like saying leave it) they may respond more readily to sounds. I have therefore had more success with these guys by making a smacking sound and then delivering a treat to reinforce paying attention to me/looking at me. I start training this in areas with little distractions like a fenced yard and then gradually increase the level of distractions. Rep after rep, the goal is to have a dog who learns to look at you by default anytime your dog hears a sound/catches a smell. Here is how to train the smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ -Reward with high-value foods. Very important is to use very high value rewards for choosing to leave it or walk nicely on a loose leash. These rewards need to surpass the adrenaline associated with the fun of the chase. I like to feed several treats in a row (I use the super duper high value foods like strips of baked liver) to leave a strong impact. However, in some dogs bred for hunting, the drive/instinct to hunt is so strong that they can care less even if you dangle a slice of liverwurst in their face. Their eyes are sort of glazed over, and they look as if they're in a trance. It's important to catch them before they get to this state and are still under threshold. -Don't forget about scent. Dogs with predatory drive are blessed with strong noses so you may want too practice with scent too. Find some rabbit fur online, you can practice with that (since the fur retains some odor) by creating set-ups. You can have a helper on walks place the fur in a bushy area (prior to you walking by), and you can practice walking by that area and doing leave its initially at a distance from the bush (always with the leash) using super value treats to reinforce good choices. Another idea that comes to mind, if you spot on walks an area where there are often rabbits, and you see them flee away, you can practice walking by this area since there will be some residual scent. Will tackle the reactivity towards other dogs shortly in a next post!

Hi, I hear you! I am sharing a short story on how static made my cat super anxious/aggressive. I once had a Persian cat, and we had carpet in 80 percent of our home, and I think her long hair and the repeated shock from the carpet caused her to get really anxious and eventually even aggressive. She had these sort of redirected aggression episodes where she would lash out and try to scratch and attack out feet. She would even chase us angrily around and sometimes poor baby was so anxious she would even pee on herself! I had to close her in a dark room to recover, and I was desperate because no vets seemed to be able to help and had no clue what was causing it. Talking to her, trying to feed her food didn't work, it's as if she didn't even recognize us and just wanted to attack. I had cat pheromone diffusers (Feliway) on every floor and used several calming aids, but nothing helped. I had to turn detective on my own, and suspected the issue was the carpet and seeing things out of the window that over stimulated her-or maybe a combo of both. Feline hyperesthesia was something I read about that somewhat resembled a bit what she had, but back then there wasn't mush knowledge about that. It got so bad that when I went on vacation to Italy I took her with me to see whether being in another home made a difference. My parents in Italy had only ceramic tiles and after a few days of adjusting, her behavior improved greatly only happening once in a blue moon. So I had to make the decision to re-home her there, so she stayed with my parents and I visited her once a year. This just to point out how something innocent like a small static shock can affect pets. They don't know what is happening, they just feel as if they are being "punished" by something coming unpredictably and out of no where. Poor Loki being a fuzz ball is likely very predisposed to this. Not to mention, this perhaps brings back old memories of the electric fence accident! I think firstly, it may help to find ways to reduce the static. Try training away from rugs and carpets. In the USA we have Bounce, a special fabric softener sheet that has anti-static properties. Some people pass this sheet on their dog's coat to remove static. (WARNING, PLEASE SEE FOLLOW UP POSTS BELOW ABOUT SOME RISKS IN USING THESE) There are also antistatic shampoo and sprays for pets I think, that may be worthy of trying. Try swapping to ceramic or glass bowls. No metal spoons I think what you can do at this point, is skip the training for some days and focus on play in areas where there is no risk for static. Then, very gradually and casually, in the midst of it, incorporate a training cue (sort of like doing the jazz up settle down brain game) making it extra fun and right after the obedience cue, praise lavishly and toss a jackpot of treats to the ground (no carpet/rug area). Poor Loki! How is his giardia doing? Is it all clear now? Has he vet given yet the OK to re-socialize with dogs?

Hi Jackie, Humping even after being neutered isn't unusual, however, we want to tackle this considering that many dogs react in a bad way when around other dogs wanting to hump. I see you asked help on this same issue some some time back. How is their obedience training going? Recall, leave its, response to smacking sound? Have you worked on recognizing pre-humping behaviors and intervening? How often do they hump? Is it most of the time? Or is it occasional? Are they chasing dogs around trying to hump rather than engaging in play? It would be important working on each dog separately. I will re-post my thoughts in case you missed my older response. If you missed it, please update on how things went. "In general, I don't recommend giving off lead privileges to dogs until they have a track record of being under perfect voice control and not getting into any type of trouble. Here's the thing, humping is a behavior that some dogs may tolerate, but it's one big provoking factor for dogs fights. According to a study, excess mounting led to aggression 85 percent of the time. It may be just a matter of time that your dogs may encounter a dog who will not tolerate this behavior and may respond aggressively getting into a brutal fight. Here's the thing: dogs are very routine-oriented beings and when they rehearse behaviors over and over, they get stuck into their habits and practice makes perfect. When dogs therefore get to rehearse problematic behaviors over and over, it can become quite habit-forming and eventually it may become their default way for them to want to interact with other dogs. While we know that humping in dogs may be just a form of play or a way to release stress in situations that may be a tad bit overwhelming, it starts getting problematic when the humping becomes a pushy behavior and a dog becomes fixated on interacting with other dogs this way, especially when the other dog on the receiving end is objecting and trying to make the other dog stop. In general, 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 years is going to be more difficult to tackle compared to a dog who has just started. On top of this, a dog who will not redirect from humping (like upon being called) may be too far gone to really listen and redirect so could end up being attacked when the dog on the receiving end has had enough and decides to take the matter in his own "paws" so to say. Consider that the behavior can be self-rewarding so avoid allowing your dog to rehearse this behavior over and over as it can become quite habit-forming. In such a case, therefore, I feel it would be important to prevent the behavior from happening. This can be done through management (no more off leash encounters for now). This doesn't mean your dogs should no longer socialize with other dogs, it just means that you can provide socialization in more structured settings that prevent over arousal and self-reinforcement. For instance, try less overstimulating exposures such as organized walks with other dogs all on leash, hikes or small play groups with dogs who help the humper self regulate or dogs your dogs have never tried to hump. A good trainer may sometimes have some good teacher dogs who will not allow humping, but who do so without using real aggression other than the more subtle, ritualized forms. He or she may also work with your dogs, praising and rewarding in a timely fashion when they engage in any no-humping behaviors (this method is known as differential reinforcement of other behaviors). We can certainly 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-humping behavior in a flash second (like that glaze in the eyes) 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 A helpful training cue may be "leave it," but again, it's important to give this cue at the earliest signs your dog is about to hump. If you give it too late, your dog may not be able to listen. This may be difficult to accomplish though if you have both dogs off leash at the same time. 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/ Some dogs may respond to timeouts, especially when the behavior has a brief history (recently started). 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 hump, he is taken to a quiet and boring timeout zone. Some dogs owners 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. However, this method has also its negatives, like I wouldn't used it with dogs who have done this for some time, I feel this can create frustration and even aggressive responses in some 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. "

Glad to hear that you were able to move around for at least 15 minutes! If he does better in the bigger crate it could be he struggles being confined in a smaller space. We often see young pups struggling being confined when breeder's didn't acclimatize them well to a crate/pen. It could also be just the novelty of the new place or he was a little tired. Keep it up though, creating positive associations with being in there, protecting it from becoming a place of panic (and trying to escape) and desensitizing him to you going back and forth and doing all the independence exercises.

Unfortunately we have many rabbits in our city and they tend to jump out and she completely freaks out. We turned and went the other way, but then two dogs came down the street on the other side of the street. She was already over threshold at that point and completely freaked out so we called it a night and came home after 5 minutes. By freaks out do you mean she loses it and wants to chase the rabbits, or is she scared of them? Does she try to pull to get to them or escape from them? And with the dogs, when she completely freaked out was it because she was overly excited and wanted to go meet them or would you say she's reactive towards them? Sounds like lots of triggers that are putting a dent in her receptiveness. She needs to be at baseline to be able to cognitively function. I could also use some guidance regarding other dogs. If she meets other dogs in a store or when she is off leash in our house or yard when other dogs come over or when we go to houses with other dogs or even when we have gone to small dog play group or agility, she seems to be quite fine and is actually quite submissive. Out on walks however, if she sees another dog, she tends to bark and lunge towards them. Sometimes I can get her to sit and look at me and we do ok, but other times like tonight she is completely out of control. It is so embarrassing! I know she was over threshold tonight, but still. Again, any suggestions would be welcome. When she is off leash does she seem overall friendly and happy to interact? Do you notice any stressed body language? When you state she acts submissive is she keeping her head low, tail low, lifting a paw, licking her lips, yawning, does she walk tentatively around? Do other dogs bully her, chasing her around and her slinking or walking away? Does she play? Lunging and barking can be seen in dogs who are reactive due to underlying fear/defensive aggression, but can also be seen in social butterflies who get frustrated from being on a leash unable to go greet. It is known as barrier frustration. It requires a slightly different approach than the actual reactivity from fear/defensiveness. I feel like she should be better at that by now too. Maybe my expectations are too high?? If she has been rehearsing reactive behaviors for some time and/or if she is often over threshold, this can really slow down progressing. It's important tackling these emotions so to have the dog in a learning, operant state. This requires to a good extent more behavior modification initially than training.

Awww, what a cutie pie! Sometimes a blanket over the crate can help some pups, but not all. Mixing shorter absences with the longer ones is important so they don't sense an increase in difficult. You likely will need a taller baby gate, like the Carlson extra-tall gates which work well too with larger breeds. Keep us posted on how things go, Best, Adrienne

Hi Diane, It's wonderful what you are doing to help Cosmo. I hope that you'll soon see some glimpses of progress with her situation and that they steadily increase. It may feel like our lives revolve so much around the dogs initially and it can feel frustrating and emotionally draining at times. Keep us posted. Best wishes, Adrienne

Hi Diane, thanks for answering all those questions. See my observations in bold "So sorry this took so long but I came down with this flu and upper respiratory thing that I thought was going to take me out for good! Lol still not great but at least upright long enough to answer some of the question because things here seem to continually be getting worse!! I need help! " Oh, my! So sorry you have been feeling so ill. I am glad that you are feeling better now, sending you best wishes for a speedy recovery. "As an update… her pacing is much more consistent no matter what I am doing or where I am. I have tried different places to sit, different areas of the house and even sitting on the floor once just to see if she would calm down. But you guessed it….nope just kept pacing and pacing and pacing. She is also now panting a lot more with the pacing. She has also started barking excessively at the slightest noise, people walking by or just randomly at the TV. I have tried taking her outside in the backyard on a long leash so she can explore which she seems to love but as soon as we come back in the pacing and panting starts again. I have been using the calming chews which help but sometimes not very long and I can’t give her more due to dosing. " The more you describe this, the more it seems to confirm anxiety, especially now with the accompanying panting. There seems to be something that is really making her anxious. "Is it normal for an 8 month old puppy to all of the sudden become fearful and protective? She was never a barker until a month or so ago. Some of it seems protective and some seems fearful. She is also suddenly not jumping into the car which she did for months and barking at people who come in the house. I know I’m a lot with all these issues….I just am so lost and no one I have here between friends, puppy day care workers, dog walkers, and trainers at puppy preschool have any real answers for now. I get a lot of oh she is a puppy and keep working on training her. " If this barking started a month or so ago, we should consider age but also several other factors. At 8 months, this is a delicate stage (that is, the adolescent stage). We see increased independence, decreased responsiveness to trained cue/prompts, high energy, increased impulsivity and this is a stage where we also see some onset of territorial behaviors. There is also a second fear period that occurs around this time (6-14 months) https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-periods-8-10-weeks-6-14-months/ German shepherds have a history as guardians, which makes them predisposed to being extra vigilant and very attentive to their surroundings. At this age, they become more and more alert and may sleep more lightly, easily awakening and possibly reacting to any sound. They may "react first, and think later. 'In other words, they'll be fast to sound the alarm towards a perceived threat, even if there is really no actual danger present. This is likely because despite their heightened responsiveness to triggers their ability to control their emotions is still in an immature state. It is important letting the dog know that it's OK to alert us, but then we will take matters in our hands and they need to no longer worry. If we give them the green light, they may start reacting to every sight or sound, which can become overwhelming and easily out of hand. More on territorial behaviors is discussed here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/prevent-reduce-territorial-aggression-dogs/ When you are not training, she should be prevented from accessing windows unsupervised (at least until she has learned better behaviors). Covering the windows is a good way to prevent a dog from rehearsing unwanted barking behaviors. There are many privacy window covers available that make windows look nice while preventing your dog from barking at passing triggers all day. Blinds and curtains often don’t work, as dogs may still detect movement and can easily move them aside with their muzzles. Dogs who are reactive toward outdoor noises do best being kept in a room far from the road, with a blowing fan or switched on radio/white noise machine nearby to drown out any outside noises. Will she still bark at the TV if you put a calming music station on with no visuals? The first thing I tried while I was crafting was to change the craft a couple times (different days and times) to see if that affected anything but it did not. Next I worked on trying the DRO exercise which seems to work for short times but as I got to longer times I had more difficulty. I have a hard time finding chews that she does not plow through. But as you know the bones she likes to chew on tend to lead to her pacing with the bone. Next I tried the leash and treat activity. This also worked as I was doing it but as time gets longer it was hard to keep her focused. OK, so seems like the actual craft you do has no impact on her behavior. She simply struggles with you sitting down no matter what you do. It seems like DRO worked to some extent, but you struggled with the longer times. This is very common, and one of the main reasons we often give up. It takes some time for behavior changes to occur and establish to replace the older more established ones especially with a long history of rehearsal (looks like you mentioned she has been doing this as far as you remember) . Chews or longer lasting things you can experiment with include: -Lick mats; you place some canned dog food on them and let your dog lick them -Muffin game: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/elementary/the-muffin-game/ -Feed a portion of her kibble in a Kong Wobbler -Snuffle mats: you hide kibble/treats here -Bully sticks (she may walk around whining with these) but some dogs will lay down and chew them -Automated treat/kibble dispensers (like Manner Minder/ Pet Tutor) can help add duration and they can keep dogs engaged since they can be set to drop/launch treats at random intervals. This may help provide a purpose to replace aimless wandering. It would be important stopping the sessions (you sitting doing crafts) *before* she has a chance for whining, so she doesn't come to think that her whining got you to stop. So try to time your sessions with her foraging time, stopping just a bit before she has finished and redirect her to something else like exploring the yard. "But with all of these or other things like walks or long leash play outside as soon as done she is back to her anxious behaviors." "As for her day she is walked once or twice for 20-30 min. I also spend an hour or so in the back yard with her on a long leash allowing her to sniff and roam. She is a big fan of sticks so I have to make sure she doesn’t eat too many! I also feed her all her meals in slow feeder bowls (I rotate between 3 different patterned bowls) or a sniff mat. I also play the hide and find game with her some days. During the day I have different toys that dispense treats or toys with puzzles. She also has a number of plush toys she loves. I keep them in a basket and she will poke through and pick out toys and chew them and then pick another. She does love her toys. I try to switch the toys out every week or two so they seem “new” to her! Lol I also use frozen peanut butter Kongs in her crate maybe 1 time a week. She is still pacing when I sit on the couch too now." This seems like a more generalized anxiety issue, sounds like something that needs to be tackled at a deeper level. I would suggest a vet visit to rule out anything medical. Let the vet know of her behaviors and see if they can run several tests to exclude anything medical. A referral then to to a veterinary behaviorist may help pinpoint the source of the anxiety and sometimes these dogs need prescription meds to keep them under threshold enough to allow behavior modification to be effective. As for new things in the home I have racked my brain but there really has been nothing new. The house is brand new ( finished building and moved in last August) so have not had critter issues or many other changes. And yes the barking at the TV, people or dogs walking by and now at any little noise is brand new! I really didn’t know she had a voice in her for the first 4 months! She was not protective at all either. People could walk in the house with no issues at all! Now all of the sudden she is very protective. Relationship- wise, it could be that she feels like she needs to take matters into her own hands and this may cause anxiety sometimes. German shepherds and their mixes can be very in tune with their owners and sometimes they have the uncanny ability to sense any weakness/illness on our side. It could be your dog has sensed that you were coming down with this flu and this exacerbated things. This happens more often than thought, we see dogs becoming more anxious and protective when owners get pregnant, ill etc. When she does bark my reaction is to say quiet one time and then give her the come command. When she comes I give her a treat and then another command. But she will usually just go right back to barking at the window or TV. I think she may benefit more training in certain contexts and around distractions. For instance, it sounds like she does well when you say quiet one time and then ask her to come to you. When she comes to you, you can give the treat, and then ask another command, like how about asking her to lie down and stay (like on a mat?) The stay command could come handy to increase duration in several of the exercises you are doing, here is the guide on sit/down stay: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/stay/ You can see it applied to lying on a mat: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-go-to-mat/ If she breaks the stay, she is re-told to go back to the mat until released. Don't make the stays too long so to set her up to success. Mix in shorter stays with longer stays so she doesn't sense an increase in difficulty. Now, if this behavior is due to some form of generalized anxiety, then attaining results can be tricky. Once again, it's almost close to impossible gaining access to a thinking mind when a dog is way over threshold due to anxiety. But the fact that you are able to get her away from the windows is a good sign. It shows a level of responsiveness, only that it needs to be built on. If she is responding to certain triggers outside the window it is easier to manage than whining for no particular reason. Have you noticed any triggers? Impulse control training can often help dogs attain better control of their emotions: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/ Cosmo was Spayed in the middle of Jan 2022. I have not noticed any fears that she has in the home or on the walk. A couple of times it has seemed like she is a little fearful of tall guys who come in the house but it is not consistent. Nothing on walks that myself or dog walker has noticed. That's good that she seems chill on walks. So it looks like most of an this anxiety behavior in happening indoors. I have dealt with several dogs showing anxious pacing and panting behaviors in the home, in particular these 3 cases come to mind and I will list what were found to be the triggers: 1) 9 month old Great Pyrenees often pacing and panting and wanting to go outside. I chalked this behavior up to her wanting to check out noises. This breed was selectively bred to protect sheep from wolves so they are often in high-alert and are eager to patrol properties especially in the evening. Here you see how she signals her desire to go check things out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J9xJS78yvw 2) 8-month old German shepherd. He was often panting and pacing. This seemed to be caused by a variety of possible issues: 1) the owner's husband often got frustrated from his nipping since a pup and would get angry yelling at the dog and the vet told him to alpha roll him and do scruff shakes and I suspect this pup eventually was stressed and very uncomfortable being around him, the wife told me he often asked him to "get out" when he had enough, the outdoors soon became a place where he felt "relief" 2) he suffered from panosteitis, which is sometimes referred to as 'growing pains" and this pain caused him to often pant, 3) he had a very dense coat and being in Arizona, was often "hot" and wanted out especially at night and owner often had a fan running or let him sleep out on the warmer days. 3) 10 month old mixed breed recently taken from the shelter, wasn't very comfortable being in the home, maybe never been in one before or had a doggy door or who knows what. She was constantly pacing and panting and I started reinforcing an alternate behavior, in this case morphed her pacing into going inside an agility tunnel followed by a fun treasure hunt game. You can see her pacing behavior and redirection to an agility tunnel in this case study with videos. Maybe Cosmo is looking for a job and an agility tunnel may help her too? Hopefully this case study can help provide some inspiration/ideas. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/case-studies/01-sadie-whining/ "Just another side note….I know all dogs have different levels of affection and show it in different ways but I’m just hoping Cosmos lack of affection isn’t because I’m too hard on her or not giving her what she needs. I am truest trying everything!! She is just not a cuddler but she shows affection in different ways im guessing. Thanks " Can you please provide a few extra details on what you mean by "’I'm just hoping Cosmos lack of affection isn’t because I’m too hard on her" and " I am truest trying everything?" Have you used by any chance used any training methods/tool using corrections, perhaps suggested by some puppy day care workers, dog walkers, and trainers at puppy preschool? Also, are you noticing any calmer behavior/less pacing whining on days she is walked more or taken to daycare? On days she doesn't do any of these activities does she seem better or worse? "Finally I have been giving her the chews when she just won’t calm and nothing I am doing seems to help. It says I can give her 1 a day so I cut it up into 2-3 pieces. I give her one piece to see if that helps calm her. " Again I really appreciate any and all advice. I am really struggling certain days feeling like maybe I’m the wrong person for this girl but I love her so much! I did just buy a tie out stake to place in the yard to give her more time outside as the weather is improving. I just want to do right by her. She goes to doggy day care one day a week, puppy preschool one day and has a dog walker for a longer walk during the week since I am limited. Looking forward to hearing from everyone. Thank you so much. " A tie out stake may help her enjoy more time outdoors, but we watchful if it increases her reactivity. Carefully evaluate how it impacts her. Does she seem more relaxed after spending time outside or more anxious? If you take her out on a long line, you have the benefit of creating more bonding time as you have the opportunity to reward her for checking in with you (give a kibble/treat when she comes to see you in the midst of sniffing and exploring). With a long line you can also put her nose to work by first hiding kibble around the yard and then telling her to "go find 'em!" I really appreciate all your work and dedication to help this girl. It's normal to feel hopeless certain days, I hope that as you feel better and gain more strength you'll be rewarded with some more desirable behaviors. It often starts like a little glimpse of progress here and there and then a little bit more and then some more and then more and more, up to where the new desirable behaviors start outranking the non desirable ones. Sometimes, it takes us carrying kibble/treats in our pockets all day so we can capture the wanted behaviors. Last dogs I boarded/trained would pace and bark the first days looking for the owner (mild separation anxiety). All it took was to play a kibble toss game (I have dog sit and toss a kibble for several reps) and he got much better and we were able to remove an anxious state and transform it into a more "operative one.." I hope this helps, Best, Adrienne

Hi there! Welcome back, congrats on your new puppy! Jumpshot is a cool name! At 9 weeks pups can struggle quite a lot with us leaving them alone, even if just for seconds. Here's the thing, before your puppy has arrived into your home, he sleeping pled up with his littermates. It feels very reassuring for puppies to stick together. Young puppies are vulnerable creatures and they have a strong need for company. This is because being alone would have made them an easy target in the wild so reacting strongly to being left alone is a survival instinct at best. The canine mother-puppy bond is an example of strong attachment, especially during the puppy's first weeks. Upon being separated from their mother puppies engage in increased activity and vocalizations which are a distress response meant to reunite with their moms. Once reunited, the distress response ceases. When leaving their littermates and mom and entering our homes, puppies quickly learn to depend on us as we readily become their primary attachment figure. It's not surprising for them to therefore emit distress calls when left alone as they used to when their mothers left them alone for a little while. An aggravating factor for new puppies is not being used to being confined. Good breeders will acclimate puppies to a crate/pen from an early age, creating positive associations with being in it. This provides young puppies a head start so they may be less fearful of being enclosed in it. Puppies not used to being confined in a crate may therefore find the whole experience of being confined and left alone frightening. To further compound things, consider that puppies go through what are known as fear periods and one of a pup's fear periods coincidentally takes place between the age of 8 to 10 weeks of age. You can read more about this here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-periods-8-10-weeks-6-14-months/ Most puppies will invariably vocalize distress when they're separated from their owners for the first time, however, most learn to adapt to periods of social isolation in the home, when exposed gradually. However, some puppies risk becoming sensitized to social isolation later in life, or they ultimately never gain experience in being left alone as there is always some person home and the dog follows the caretaker around the home ad is always underfoot (the so-called velcro dog). However, we need to avoid full-intensity situations, as the more a puppy experiences the trauma of being alone, the sooner the panic will set in next time. Also, leaving a puppy to cry in distress in a crate/play pen risks teaching the puppy to associate the crate/pen or room with being distressed and can create a confinement phobia. So we need to therefore tread with care as tackling this is a balancing act between not making the pup reach a panicky state, while also teaching the puppy more independence. Important would be differentiating between barking/whining from barrier frustration (I can see you, but I am frustrated because I can't get to you) from separation distress (OMG you're gone! Panic!). Since you mention your puppy cries and seems inconsolable and won't eat food, and since he's so young, I would stick to the latter and consider this distress crying. So how can we tackle this? Here are a few tips: Avoid full intensity meltdowns. This may not be easy, but it's important preventing a puppy from getting in a panicky state. The more a puppy experiences the trauma of being alone and acts panicky, the sooner the panic will set in next time. Fortunately, most puppies become more and independent once they mature (in general, with our help, things can get better in a few weeks once they reach their flight period).https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/flight-instinct-period-4-8-months/ Invest in calming aids. These aids can help lower a puppy's threshold so to instill calmer behaviors, below are some: Dog appeasing pheromones: Adaptil offers a variety of products meant to help new puppies adapt to their new homes. Its products are made with synthetic pheromones which mimic the pheromones mother dogs produce to sooth their puppies when they're nursing. Calming music for dogs. "Through a dog's ear" is music specifically crafted for dogs, but you can find hours of music for dogs for free on YouTube. Snuggle Puppy Behavior Aid This may seem like a simple stuffed animal, but it was purposely crafted for lonely pups. It emanates warmth and also mimics a heart beat to help sooth distressed puppies. Calming supplements: Alpha-casepine (Zylkene), L-theanine (Anxitane) Ask your vet about these options. Desensitize to you leaving. Practice repeatedly things like standing up and sitting down at your desk until your puppy no longer seems to pay attention to it. Then practice walking a few feet away and then sitting down. Then, progress to getting up from your chair, leaving the room, but never at a level that produces anxiety. Work at you pup's pace, if he struggles with any parts of this exercise, go a step back to where he was more comfortable and split the exercises further. If you must leave the room for good, have a helper watch him until you have progressed to leaving him a little longer. Learn your pup's threshold. If your puppy won't eat when you leave the room, consider that he is likely too overwhelmed. Split the exercises above into very easy steps and start introducing foods every time you take a few steps away. If he takes it, it's a sign he's growing his tolerance level. Try some peek-a- boo games: I like to play this with new puppies I foster or my client’s pups who seem to be a bit too clingy. I simply have the pup behind a baby gate or large box blocking the entrance to a room and hide behind the wall separating us. Every time before I hide, I toss a treat/kibble to the pup and hide while he/she is eating it. Once I hear he/she is done, I re-appear and keep doing this. I then progress to tossing several kibble/treats at once and therefore spend more time hiding behind the wall, always listening until the pup is done to re-appear and repeat. Afterward, I can practice the same game going out the door. You can then aim to do some fun hide and seek games and more independence exercises that are outlined here: Exercises to prevent separation anxiety in puppies: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/ You may also want to gradually move the pen from being around your desk so he doesn't come to be overly dependent. Try just moving it off to the side and putting a used article of your with your smell so he can use that for comfort. Hope this helps! Slow and steady wins the race with these guys, Let me know how it goes, Best, Adrienne

What you describe in the paragraph which starts "Are you rewarding her consistently...." is exactly what we have been doing. She knows to sit and wait before the gate is opened and also at the door. Also when I stop she stops and sits beside me. All of those things she can do very consistently in the house and in the yard and has been able to do consistently in those settings for at least 6 months. Perhaps that is why I am so frustrated. Being that she can do it in the house and yard well, shows that she's capable of performing the behavior and you have the skill to train. The going past the gate issue is likely causing some strong emotional responses that are causing her to be too over threshold. When a dog is too over threshold, their cognitive functions decline (try to think straight when you're too anxious of excited about something!) so we need to find ways to get over this hurdle. So here are some more tips: -Practice the stopping and getting your dog back to heel/turning around/ circling behaviors in the home and then in the yard and then practice a whole lot within the gate area, but without going out of the gate.....yet. You want to gain a very fluent response, then open the gate and practice walking towards it, back and forth, back and forth, praising rewarding for being on a loose leash and doing the stopping and getting your dog back to heel/turning around/ circling behaviors as needed. At some point, she should grasp the idea that advancing towards the gate pulling doesn't get you to go forward. It will happen eventually, it's a matter of not getting frustrated or giving up and sometimes being more motivated/goal-oriented than our dogs. When that happens praise and reward her with a jackpot of treats (several treats dropped on the ground). -When you are walking past the gate area, rather than praising her and hand feeding a treat, try to toss the treat/treats to the ground. Do this only if you are good at aiming not too far away that she has to pull to get them. If you make this a game, chances are, she'll look forward to playing this, versus focusing on pulling ahead. -You can start practicing scatter feeding around the home and yard first, then generalize in many different environments. It's calming for over aroused dogs to sniff and search for treats and this can help increase dog comfort. Not to mention, it's rather easy to implement. -If the place allows, you can try to bring a chair by the edge of the gate with your dog on leash and sit down there. The goal is to get her calm enough and make the area less salient. While siting there, reward calm, non-pulling behaviors (looking at you, sitting, laying down). As soon as you notice a calm behavior, make your smacking sound,https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ and praise/reward with a treat. Do this several times until she seems more comfortable with the area. You can then turn this into a teaching moment. In other words, as you're sitting on the chair, if she pulls ahead, wait it out, then, when she comes back to you and leash is slack, praise that, and reward her with you getting up to go on the walk (if she seems eager to want to go). Feed treats (or toss them) to help her stick nearby without pulling. If she pulls again, then make an about turn and go back to sitting on the chair. If she pulls as you're getting up, be ready to back promptly into the chair (make sure not to miss! I have done that!). Make it a game. Rinse and repeat until she understands that, in order to start the walk, the leash needs to be loose, then do the same exercise but this time standing by the gate. -Schedule your walks to the quietest times. Sometimes, there are specific triggers that dogs struggle with. -Drive to a quieter area for walks. -Try to drive her to a nearby area, do the same chair exercise (but this time using your car seat) and practice walking her back home. You don't have to make her walk the entire way home, even a few feet is good enough to call it a day and end it on a positive note. -If a dog is too over threshold due to fear/anxiety, calming supplements or prescription meds from a vet may be needed. -If a dog is over threshold due to triggers, it's important to work on desensitizing and counterconditioning them to them. The dog I worked with needed to do an intensive remedial socialization program to feel comfortable enough walking politely on the leash in the city. Outside the yard I am still treating her every few feet, but she continues to run ahead. Sounds like a yo-yo walk due to behavior chains. Dogs basically come to think that pulling and returning to you is the whole exercise. Not all dogs do this, but the especially bright dogs often do. These dogs basically will be pulling, then they come back to us for a treat, then forge ahead and pull, then come get a treat etc. A behavior chain requires some skill to stop. I work on this with providing frequent feedback as mentioned above. If your dog seem to do this, then, the moment she 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 she 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 she will learn to adjust her 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 she forges ahead and pulls, you slow down and stop, you'll notice more occasions of her walking next to you which you can promptly reward so she learns it's great to stick nearby. With small dogs, we can even drop treats to the ground next to us to reward them rather than feeding them repeatedly right next to our knee. Do you have a preference over stop vs uturn vs turn in circles when they pull? I sort of vary based on specific circumstances. For instance, on a tight sidewalk with cars on the road, I don't have the luxury to do a circle. A u-turn may be impractical if behind us there is another dog. Sometimes, we may not have enough time to stop and ask for a dog to come back into heel position. So now, I train all three exercises at a fluent level before going on walks, and then practice in the home/yard, and then in front of the home, and then gradually stretch a little more and more. Also, the harness we have is the PoyPet No Pull Dog Harness, No Choke Front Lead Dog Reflective Harness, Adjustable Soft Padded Pet Vest - we need a new one so just wondering if there is something different that you would recommend. Your harness looks pretty good, is has front and back options and it's good you don't have to have anything go over the head as many small dogs struggle with that. I know many harness are claimed as being no pull, but over all, a better name would be "control-better-your-dog-while- you-are- training" harnesses as a trainer colleague of mine once said. There are some models with a martingale strap in the front which tightens when te dog pulls, but in the case of an anxious dog we don't need any additional sources of stress happening in their environment.. So far, some of the most rated harness are "the Perfect Fit harness" the Balance harness and the Ruffwear Front Range harness. Keep me posted on how things go, I have some extra methods we can try out, but before going those routes, I rather try the less-habit forming methods first.

Hi Patsy, Thank you for the extra details, very helpful! Please see my observations in non-bold. I feel like a bad dog mom - she is almost 2 years old and we can't even go for a nice walk. Friends around me have dogs similar in age and are all out going for long walks. Some of their dogs are 15 feet in front of them, and if I was ok with that we could be too. Maybe I'm being to anal about the whole thing??? Seems like others just slap a leash on and let them lead, pull, whatever.... First of all, please don't feel like a bad dog mom, walking nicely on leash is not easy. Firstly, it is not one simple behavior to teach, it is actually several. There are multiple behaviors going on and we need to fully understand all the dynamics occurring, and even then, it's not easy because 1) dogs are naturally prone to walking faster than us, 2) dogs who are overly excited or anxious struggle being in a learning state 3) dogs aren't great in generalizing behaviors they have learned in the house and applying them in other areas, 4) the exercises can be tedious and boring for us when all we want to do is just go on walk! Your friends likely are OK with their dogs pulling. I know countless dog owners who never really trained their dogs to walk nicely on leash. They don't mind being dragged for the ride. They are missing out on how it feels to go on a more relaxed walk. And then, there are safety issues to consider. With a dog pulling there is no control so the dogs may rush to greet other dogs, people can trip over the leash and a dog out of control can be hit by a car or a person on a skate board coming at full speed from behind a corner. I was using a harness that I could clip on the front or back - Poypet is the brand. I switched because everyone else at agility was only using a collar and I read somewhere that sometimes they respond better with just a collar. Yes, this is my little Yorkie, Maltese, Shitzu mix. One main benefit of the harness is that, for small dogs, it protects their delicate trachea. Many small dogs are prone to tracheal collapse. Most represented breeds are Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, Shih-tzu, Lhasa Apsos, Toy Poodles and Yorkies. In small dogs who pull, repeated damage to the their tracheas can have a cumulative effect over the years. We started in the house and she consistently is able to do it there as well as most of the time in the back yard. However, despite much practice, and working in only very short sessions outside the yard, as soon as we leave the gate, she is pulling and running forward. However, despite much practice, and working in only very short sessions outside the yard, as soon as we leave the gate, she is pulling and running forward. Originally I would stop and stand still and wait for her to turn back so there was slack in the leash and then treat at my side. After a lot of this and still not gaining much success outside the yard, I switched to making gentle u-turns every time she moved ahead so the leash was tight and then treating her at my side. We have been trying to work on this a couple of times a day for months. She is high energy so usually we do something to tire her out before ie. play date, brain training, fetch etc. Are you rewarding her consistently when she heels like first every step/then every few steps? I mean like several treats in a row so to let her understand that your side is the place to be. You can even start indoors on this without a leash. Practice walking her back and forth as you treat her for walking by your side. Then, do the same in the yard, then practice this walking towards the gate (if the area is fenced). Then clip the leash on, and practice walking back and forth towards the gate and treating for sticking to your side. Then open the gate, practice walking towards the open gate without her pulling. If she pulls, either stop and call her back into position, turn, or walk her in a circle. Keep the gate open and keep practicing walking towards and then aim to walk past the gate, and the moment she pulls, once again, stop and call her back into position, make an about turn or walk her in a circle until the leash is slack again. Practice several times, until the concept sinks in: the loose leash is your accelerator, the tight leash is your break. I even like to add a midway cue, basically, when I notice the dog is starting to pull ahead, I will make my steps really heavy (making noise) and informing the dog that his walking faster only makes me walk slower and even come to a stop if the dog reaches the end of the leash. We took a bit of a break during the winter when it was so cold and practiced inside - like I said - inside things are fine - mostly in the backyard too. We have been working on this since I got her as a young puppy. I don't allow her to pull - as I said we stop or lately I have been doing uturns instead of stopping as it didn't seem to be changing the behavior. She would come back and heel, but then we would take a few steps and do it all over again. I am afraid there may be some inconsistencies at play. Breaks can be deleterious to any progress we may have made as we then need to go back to basics. The less a dog is walked (even skipping a day, I can notice a difference!), the more overly excited. overstimulated or anxious they will become once we bring them back to the outdoor world, and the more excited/overstimulated/anxious they are, the more we need to put in work. So if we stop walks for some time, we lose momentum, and we then are back to square one, and then that demotivates us and we turn into a vicious cycle of frustration and de-motivation. It is also true that, when we get frustrated by the lack of progress, we often feel tempted to just walk them for the sake of it, allowing them to pull. Not saying that's your case, but it's a very common scenario. I know you said you don't allow her to pull, but we need to also consider that, if we allow them to pull on any type of walks (even walks to go potty, or walks to take them to the vet or walks from the car to inside the field where agility classes are held) we are reinforcing their pulling, and therefore, we send mixed messages which gets extra confusing to them. My training mentor I worked with years ago was very adamant about this. He would not let any dogs into the agility field unless they were walking on a loose leash. I mean he literally closed the entrance door in the face of any dogs who were pulling and ahead of their owners, eager to get in the field. It was such a pet peeve of his. After several trials, and with the help of tasty treats, most dogs would make it through the entrance (although it would take some time for some dogs), but it made sense because allowing dogs to pull sometimes yes and sometimes no, puts the behavior on a variable schedule, making it super harder to fix. Of course, we can't always micromanage our dogs' lives to the point where we never ever get them to pull. Life happens, one day, vet staff may come to call us telling us the vet is ready for us, and they don't have the time or will to deal with us practicing entering the building on a loose leash! Yet, mental note for the future: on a day when we have time, we can make it a goal to go practice entering the building on a loose leash when we're not under the pressure for an appointment. The main concept is all about training a dog what makes them move forward. A loose leash that is, and we must do that over and over. Apply it in different scenarios, gradually adding distractions into the mix. If something is too distracting, we do some troubleshooting, split the exercise into smaller, easier steps, offer super valuable treats to make us compete with an stimuli, evaluate whether there are some emotions interfering etc. Attaining this skill often takes weeks and sometimes months. Aim for a year for really solid training where the dog learns to generalize the training to almost everywhere. On top of teaching the dog to not pull, it's also about relationship-building. As we train our dogs using positive reinforcement, they bond to us more and more perceiving us as their "secure base." They'll come to want to stick to us more rather than gaining constant reinforcement from the environment. Of course though, dogs need their time to be a dog too. So training a "go sniff" cue is important. Basically, when a dog is walking politely and we pass by some bushes, we can point and tell them to go sniff for some time. This is a natural reinforcer. Then, we say 'let's go" and resume our walks. As mentioned, dogs are naturally faster than us, they may prefer to trot. Sometimes picking up the pace can help prevent the leash from being too tense and setting our dogs up for success, especially at the beginning of walks, when dogs are very excited. Of course, with time we'll aim to train them to walk slower, but this can get us over that initial hurdle. Some good exercises are also teaching dogs that our movements are unpredictable so that they learn to focus more on us. I like to do lefts, rights, circles, and then serpentines to get dogs dog to pay attention. We can start this in a fenced yard. Your dog is likely already getting a good dose of that already in agility, but it's always good to practice. Here is a guide on serpentines and spirals: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/graduation/serpentines-and-spirals/ As you reach the area of the gate, try swapping to something extra high value. Many use chicken slivers or sodium-free organic hotdog slices, check with your vet if your dog is prone to upset tummy or has allergies. You may find that once you get over that gate threshold hurdle, things may get better. It could be that to your dog, the gate has come to represent a visual reminder of the super enticing outdoor world. Try keeping it open and practicing over and over getting out of it on a loose leash. Walking the same routes over and over can also help gain a more consistent response, then, once you have that pat down, you can try a little bit of a new path, but consider the chance for a setback, (sort of like the threshold of another gate, beyond which there are super salient stimuli) so you may need to re-apply the training there, each day aiming to progress a little more and being satisfied with a little progress each day. Remember that behavior is reward-driven, so the ultimately reason dogs pull is because we move forward with them. We need to go at their pace in the process, and troubleshoot issues. Before learning how to run, we need to crawl, then walk, and finally then run, so baby steps. Now, there is a possible compromise we can sometimes make with our dogs, but we need to make things crystal clear. In other words, we can use a leash attached to the back of the harness for pleasure walks and the leash attached to the front for loose leash walking. Many wonder whether this may confuse dogs, but we have service dogs who know that, when they wear that specific vest it's time for working so it's possible for dogs to predict what type of walk we will do based on equipment. In the pleasure walks, we may therefore allow the dog to walk in front of us on a longer leash -on safe trails, not city walks- but must never permit actively pulling. In other words, when they are about to start pulling, we slow down and even stop if they reach the end and pull, and then resume all over again, slowing down as necessary until the dog learns to pay attention to how tense the leash is getting and adjusts accordingly. In the loose leash walking, the dog is kept for the most part next to us, and we may need to keep the leash shorter initially until the dog gets the idea. I am not really a big fan of swapping between two ways of walking, it can be confusing for some dogs, especially with dogs who aren't trained well yet, but it's better than just giving up loose-leash walking altogether. To help these dogs learn better the difference between pleasure walks and loose leash walks, we can even have them start in heel position and tell them "go ahead" pointing ahead and therefore putting walking in front of us on cue. One advantage of this, is that, when we put a behavior strongly on cue, the behavior is less likely to happen unless we tell them to. I am posting below a video of some training done with a dog who was totally new to leash training. You'll see several of the methods mentioned about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKC1xp7XFPw I hope this helps! Happy Training! Best, Adrienne

Hi there, Hang in there! Walking nicely on the leash is a work in progress. It takes a good level of impulse control and lots of practice. If we also have emotions getting in the way (like a dog who is anxious or overly excited) these can put a dent too since these dogs are too over threshold to be able to think and learn. Also things get complicated if we allow them to pull every now and then, as we send them mixed messages. What type of harness have you been using exactly? Was it a front-clip one (with the leash attaching to the front ring?) If so, what model? Is there any reason why you have switched from the harness back to a collar? How large is your dog? Is this your Yorkie, Maltese, Shitzu mix? If so, I see you have had her for some time... did you just start now training her to walk on leash? Or did you start a while back and due to the pandemic have taken a break walking her? Or have you been struggling on this since you got her? Is she anxious about something on walks, (like seeing other dogs, noises etc?)

Soooo, we went out for our normal Friday evening Date Night. We returned a couple hours later to Esther having eaten part of the floor. She could have just Told us she didn't like the decor . . .. Oh, wow, looks like she had fun redecorating your floor! I am not surprised though... last 8-month old dog I trained/boarded managed to chew through some tiles in a sneaky way. Like I would give him a Kong to work on, and in the midst of that, perhaps when he struggled a bit getting something out, he would redirect and start nibbling on the tile. I didn't notice that right away, only noticed after the fact. I am talking about ceramic tiles here! He focused mostly on the spaces between the tiles removing the whatever material that is, but he also left visible teeth marks on the side of the actual tile. One day we did some "look at that dog" exercises while sitting on a sidewalk passively watching dogs walk by, and I caught him for like a split second trying to chew the edge of the sidewalk! This guy would chew the craziest things! The Kong Wobbler I told his owner outlived my Rottweilers? He managed to almost make a hole in it, he filled it with so many teeth marks making it thinner and thinner with time. He was the first dog I knew to be able to open a Kong Wobbler with his teeth as he persistently chewed on it. An extra thick gauge metal chain leash though worked great for his leash-chewing habit, too bad the leash would slip and hurt my hand if I tried to shorten it for some reason on walks. Owner though was happy with this solution because this dog's leash chewing took place only when walking from the house to the gate, so then he would swap for the regular leash with no problems as all this dog wanted to do once past the gate was to urine mark and sniff, as the good intact boy he was! We're looking for a better gate, but it's Really tough to find one that fits a 44" opening. Most go to about 40" or 42" maximum. She's chewed most of the plastic off the current gate. You may have to look for companies that make customized pet gates, I think a colleague of mine had one recently custom-made from Etsy. Worth taking a look googling customized pet gates. You likely need one made of sturdy, chew-proof materials. Leah did tell me about a trainer here who uses the same methods and can board train. If you have *temporary* time constraints and need help with her obedience (and maybe want to go a bit on vacation too), board and train can then help with that, as long as though the work done in the facility can be continued afterward. I have seen sadly some board and trains fail because very busy dog owners struggle to keep up with the maintenance work needed and they lose momentum. Like the dogs do great the first days, they are super impressed, but then the dog reverts to his usual behaviors. Some refresher drop-off days or follow-up lessons can help prevent that, but the work needs to be continued, especially critical during the first weeks. I think it's helpful for trainers to lay out the dog's new schedule to adhere to (possibly printing it out) so that a similar schedule can be followed once home. Transfer sessions upon pick-up are important. I like to do a two-three hour long briefing with the owner watching what I do, then shadowing me, and then implementing the exercises in my presence. They are also provided with several handouts and videos of the work done to motivate them to keep up the work done. They can refer to that to remember the exact mechanics. This doesn't have to be a full-time ordeal, just here and there daily maintenance. For some cases, it may be better, rather than having the owner pick up the dog, the dog being dropped off at the owners' home. With behavior issues, some of them can be tackled as well during board and train, but there are risks for relapses if they have a strong rehearsal history in the home (certain habits area very cue/contextual) or there is something causing underlying anxiety at their home (like fear of certain noises in the home, stress of being around children, another pet they are in conflict with). As you know, dogs aren't that great in generalizing training (we see that when dogs respond to training cues well at home and then struggle on walks), therefore once they go back to their old rehearsal places, muscle memory may kick in and they'll be likely to resume practicing the old behaviors. Steps to prevent these relapses include not allowing the dog to practice the behavior (through management) until it will be possible to implement the necessary number of reps to maintain/ attain some substantial behavior changes. If the board and training is done in a home (versus a kennel-like facility) then the trainer can also work on things like barking at the TV, and experimenting on different ways to keep the dog under threshold, (always force-free of course if you got to a force-free trainer) and methods to reduce the behavior. So on the positive side, I feel the Esther can be helped in a board and train scenario at least marginally (if your main concern is the fights with Gertie) by inserting various good behaviors and better impulse control in her behavior repertoire, and then applying those in your home. The trainer can certainly lay a foundation of training that can be followed up once home. In your case Esther and Gertie may benefit from a cooling off period, but, and this is big BUT, as mentioned, my biggest concern would be successfully reintegrating Esther with Gertie after being away from each other for some time. We never know what can happen in this case, with the worst case scenario, the formation of a new negative response, possibly in Gertie who may have felt relief with Esther being away. Finally, we need to consider that training can be only helpful to some extent in households with dogs with a history of fighting. The beefy part and ultimate goal of working on these issues is behavior modification (changing the dog's emotional responses towards each other) and gradually increasing their tolerance and coping skills. It's also important understanding that board and training isn't a cure-all that will magically dissipate all of the dog's issues. Dogs with a history of fighting may go through a honeymoon period after a board and train, but issues may flare-up again especially on days a dog may not be feeling well, is tired or stressed. I am sure you are aware of this, just posting this for those who may be reading and considering board and training. Most trainers will point this out in any case beforehand, unless it's one of those shady board and training programs where they make promises and guarantees. It's against the code of ethics of several dog trainer associations and organizations to offer guarantees on the outcome of a dog's behaviors. Our thought is to get Esther the basics (nice loose leash, polite greetings, recall) so that Leah and I can then dig our heels in to work on the real issues. I'm at capacity, over really, with work, home, and health right now. I haven't been able to do more than 15 minutes of training with the girls each week and my patience level is at an all-time low, which is not a good combination with Esther's issues. I want to do right by her, so I'm looking at all possible options. We're not even sure the trainer will take her with the aggression issues. Ok, now that you have provided more details about your plan, it sounds like Leah would then help take over, so to work on the issue more directly. So maybe this can work out, especially if she can be there the day of reintegration or even better if the trainer doing the board and training can be there too, just so everybody is on the same page. I still think though that a consult with a board-certified veterinary behaviorist may be the best option. There are several great ones in Florida like Lisa Radosta. She can conduct a thorough medical examination and behavior assessment and offer her insights on how to best work on the issue, possibly alongside your trainer. I think she does home visits too based on some of her reviews. Here are some other DACVB in Florida: https://www.dacvb.org/search/search.asp?txt_state=Florida The husband keeps saying we just need to take her to a park and let her mingle so we're split on that front, which doesn't help. He thinks she's magically going to get along with all the other dogs, and I'm not willing to take the chance. Leah explained to him what's likely going on with Esther when she sees other dogs, but he's just unable to believe dogs can't get along with other dogs. I must admit there have been cases where dogs going to the park got better. What did these dogs have in common? Rather than being truly dog aggressive, they simply had barrier frustration. These are the dogs who growled, lunged and acted angry when they saw other dogs on leash, but once off the leash, they were having the fun of their lives. This is really the only exception I can think of. Dogs who don't have good social skills, dogs who have a history of getting into fights, dogs who are possessive over toys, food or owners, dog who are fearful or have poor bite inhibition and dogs who don't have a good recall are not good dog park candidates. I am sure Leah explained this well, even better than me since she has worked directly with Esther. It's a wee bit challenging over here these days! She would have gone through the tv last night if he hadn't been holding her collar. There was a dog tied out, lying down and whimpering, that was rescued from its yard. It was a calm scene, but Esther jumped up at the sound, then at the sight she squared her body, tail went straight in the air, and a series of loud barks were followed by softer growls and then alternating growls and whines. Husband paused the show, dog was visible in the backseat of a car, I told him to turn the tv off (as Leah has told us to do but he only ever pauses, gah!). After the tv was off she started settling and once she was lying down again I took her to her crate in our bedroom, gave her a bully stick, closed the bedroom door, and we finished our show. She barked from the time she finished the bully to about 5 minutes before the show was over. The dog was out of the show 15 seconds after I removed Esther, and no more dogs appeared. Wow, that's quite intense! Have you worked on this with Leah in any way? Like trying ways to keep her under threshold? Calming aids? Distance from the TV? Hear that method using recordings? Using a small screen first (like an iphone, then computer screen)? Look at That exercises using the smacking sound? Open bar/closed Bar? In this case, open TV, close TV maybe? Or is she is so hyper-aroused that no threshold can be found? If that's the case, this is where a veterinary behaviorist can turn helpful. Sometimes, we may work on the issue, we see progress, but then we stop holding refresher sessions and things just slide and revert back to their original form. Or maybe we had progress, but then the dog rehearsed barking and lunging from a window and then the behavior made a comeback with the TV. Could that have been the case? The barking after she finished the bully stick could have been simply from her wanting to be back in the family room. Unless she heard noises from the TV that made her think there were still dogs on the screen. We've had her almost a year and she's made leaps and bounds with her confidence and no longer cowering or submissively peeing, so I have to give her credit there. We've had maybe 3 accidents in the last 2 months and I'm starting to suspect the Rock Rose and Plum Cherry in the Rescue Remedy may have something to do with that. No more Proin, no more Incurin. She's been off those medications for 2 months now. You have really worked hard on these issues, and I am happy that she's no longer on meds. You have done a wonderful job in helping her overcome her cowering and submissive peeing. This is not easy, and you have learned so much from her! I call these dogs "teacher dogs," they can be a handful at times, but they really get us thinking and troubleshooting. One of the best parts, is that these "problem childs" are often blessed with a superior intelligence as you have already noticed. This last dog that chewed through the tiles, learned tricks in a matter of hours versus days. He only needed a little guidance and then took the matter in his "paws" proudly showing me that he understood. Her leash manners are moderately better, but her impulse control is practically non-existent. I think you are on the right path with her leash training, but I suspect what you are missing is the time. And if you are not feeling well, that can really put a dent into the whole training. Here's the thing, daily or even twice a day walks can make all the difference. If I skip a walk or two with a dog in training, I can immediately sense a difference. The more days in between, the greater the difference. And when I am saying walks, I mean to start in quiet areas and then progress more and more so to expand generalizing to different places. This is hard work, and I know when dogs pull hard, it can be really demotivating, especially going to public places. With service dog training, where you need impeccable loose leash walking, this often means driving daily to a variety of places, practicing with other dog owners, going to the city, flea markets, pet stores, perimeter walks by dog parks, etc. However, in your case, you have the extra hurdle of Esther not liking dogs, so behavior modification needs to come first. Once the emotional response is ameliorated, and she's better under control, it becomes easier to work at an operant level (actual training). We've been practicing polite sits at the door, and after exiting the door, and it's like every day it's a brand new thing I'm asking her to do. Short term memory for sure on this girl, yet she's flipping brilliant! Hmmm. not sure what is happening here. Is she not sitting before opening the door? What happens after exiting the door? Maybe I am not understanding the exercise. I usually ask for a sit before opening the door, have the dog hold a sit/stay as the door is open and then give permission for the dog to exit and join me in the yard. Everything goes in her mouth, still. I kid you not when I say in the span of time it takes me to go downstairs, fill a glass of water, and come back upstairs she'll have torn up 2 envelopes and swallowed half of one. As long as someone is up here with her she's okay (better with me than not), but left to her own devices she's destructive and nervous. I need a doggy vacation I feel for you! Sounds like you're dealing with the typical chewy, bored teenager. With these dogs you can't leave much stuff around. It often takes stripping the home and keeping the bare essentials, until they become more reliable. I feel though that you are well-equipped to deal with this. Reminds me of your very first post in 2018, with Gertie stealing things from your desk. I deduce that Gertie has now grown out of this habit, no? She's such a loving puppy, despite all her issues. Once she's accepted you, you're part of her clan and can do no wrong. She adores Leah now, where initially she was Not feeling this intruder At All. I know she can be helped, I'm just overwhelmed with umpteen other things in addition to her. So sorry for the woe-is-me, lol. Hopefully the next update will be filled with positive remarks! I hope all is well in your world! I am sure sure Esther is a lovey-dovey dog! I just can sense you are tired with so much going on. It's very trying juggling work, family time, not feeling too well, and a household with multiple pets, especially with dogs in the teenager stage on top of all of that. I too have gone though the blues, especially when boarding an extra dog taken as a foster or some challenging dogs from the shelter for training. There are moments where you feel like there is just so much chaos and not much hope. You just see bad behavior after bad behavior unfold. Often times though, right behind the corner things start getting better. You see a desired behavior unfold and then more and some more and these expand, gradually taking over the non-desirable ones. I hope that's the case with you and Esther. Keep me posted! Best, Adrienne

Hi there! Welcome to the forums. If your dog has never been trained before, yes, start with the obedience section, but you can start implementing right away some of the easiest brain games and then move on to the more advanced as your dog learns to sit/stay, come etc.

Hi Diane, Thanks for the update. Can you please provide more info on exactly which techniques you have tried so far for the whining when doing crafts, and how often/how long you have implemented them and what your dogs exactly does when you tried implementing them? In your first post you said "The main time that it occurs is when I try to sit at the dining room table to do my crafts." In which other circumstances has the behavior occurred in the past even though at less frequent level? Are there any new things going on in the home? Please list anything you can think of (new sounds, inclement weather, possible critters in the walls, new pet in the neighborhood, increased itching/scratching etc). Is the barking at the TV or outside the window a totally new behavior? Can you identify any triggers she sees when she's barking out of the window? or when barking at the TV? What have you been doing exactly in response to when she barks at the TV? Is she spayed? Does she have any fears/phobias that you know of, like when out on walks? It is good to hear that the calming chews are working great, in which scenario have you noticed improvement using them? How long is she walked each day, plays with other dogs and is provided with training and brain games? Please provide some specifics for each so I can have an idea of how her day is. Does she calm down when you sit on the couch? Please don't feel like a horrible owner, some dogs can be extra challenging, especially during the adolescent phase when there are a lot of changes occurring. We can just try to do our best to help them. Some cases may need help at a deeper level.

Hi there! I am sorry to hear you are going through this with poor Loki. It has to be frustrating for both of you. Giardia sucks! My neighbors' dogs got it last year and his dogs had to go through multiple treatments, baths with special shampoo during and after treatment (special attention to hair by the rear end), no drinking from puddles, methodical cleaning, picking up stools asap, etc. Unfortunately, until Loki is cured, you can't really socialize him with other dogs without risking the possibility of giving them the same issue, so not many options socialization-wise. So your best bet is keeping him active mentally, through training and brain games. Mind-stimulating toys may also help with any boredom. Clicker training and training some tricks can help prevent boredom with just obedience exercises. I am sure you are already doing all of this. Again, so sorry your are both going through this, I hope things look better for Loki soon!

Hi, what a lovely story! It's so nice when they gaze into our eyes, especially the first times! Since he ran to you and first thing he did was sitting in front of you looking into your eyes, it seems like he has established you as his "secure base" and therefore felt secure and trusting in your presence.

Hi there! Thanks for the update, great to hear you pup is already being more gentle with his teeth. Kudos to you for a job well done! With the potty training, it's not very easy to have them pee/poop in a designated spot. Peeing is easier, but with pooping, many dogs are picky where they poop and some go through ritualistic circling and walking so they tend to go a little farther than where they pee. Some dogs are also fastidious about walking over or nearby where they previously peed, so in many cases, they pee and then walk a little further and then poop. Also, something to consider, if they don't feel totally safe in their designated potty spot, they'll try to hold it until they feel much safer. However, if peeing/pooping in a specific spot is important, there are several things we can try to do to help them out. The process is somewhat similar to making them pee on pee pads, only that now you're dealing with a much larger area with many more distractions. Your pup will need lots of guidance as he'll need to learn that great things happen only when he goes in that specific area and you'll need to set him for success by making it difficult to make mistakes. In general, the larger the potty area, the easier it will be. If the area is too small, it will take more effort as there is a larger margin for error, similar to striking a tiny bull's eyes with a dart. It would be even better if you can place some type of barriers to remind him to stay in the area until he's done doing his business. Once he's done, praise and reward and let him out of the area. If you can't use barriers, then using a leash may be next best thing, but you'll be walking him in the area over and over until he goes. This can feel like a tedious task, but it gets better if you can train him to go potty on command:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/ Now, here's the problem if he's left free to go anywhere: while you're not giving him praise and a treat when he goes elsewhere, we need to consider that just the mere act or peeing and pooping is intrinsically reinforcing to dogs. They get a sense of relief when they empty their bladders and bowels so, the more your GSD pup goes potty in the wrong areas, the more he'll feel drawn to going in such areas. It is therefore important minimizing the chances for accidents in the wrong places. Also, something to consider is that, even though you may have trained him to use a specific area as a puppy, as he matures, he may feel the need to start urine marking, so he may be instinctively drawn to wanting to pee/ poop in other areas that aren't his usual potty area. He'll likely methodically sniff around and want to expand his territory and therefore pee and poop in other selected areas. On top of this, things may eventually regress if you ever keep your dog outside on his own unsupervised for extended periods of time. When Nature calls, should he one day go in another area, this may cause a new habit to establish.

You're very welcome!

Hi there! Welcome to the forums! There are different makes and models of harnesses, and my go-to ones are the ones with the leash that attaches to a front ring. For safety, I like to attach the leash to both the front ring and a collar that has tags. If he is becoming over-reactive to situations, consider that he is likely over threshold, so you may have to adjust your plan so that he's not exposed to such full-intensity situations. Here is a read on threshold levels: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ Happy training! Best, Adrienne

Thank you for the additional details, they are very helpful! Also, wanted to thank you for rescuing, it is wonderful that you have opened your heart and home to Bailey being that she was abandoned along a highway. How sad! But I am glad this story has a happy ending. Please see my notes under your observations in bold. Please also understand that being unable to watch their interactions and their accompanying body language prevents me from being able to make an accurate assessment about the triggers and dynamics taking place, so I am just going by the descriptions provided, imagining the scenes and possible triggers as I read. "Approximately age 1 1/2 Bailey started picking unprovoked fights with Brandy, the female Chihuahua and would decide to attack her at various times for no decernable reason. I didn't have to be present. She never injured her, it was more of a mauling her around." What you are experiencing is unfortunately a common scenario. Us dog trainers/behavior consultants see this happen quite often, the typical cliché' of a younger dog being introduced into a household with older dogs and things starting deteriorating as time goes by. Studies and research on fights among dogs sharing the household household back this all up. Typically, the classical situation is this: a new puppy is added into a household with older resident dogs. The puppy and older resident dogs initially get along fine for several months. Then, somewhere around 12 and 36 months, the first signs of conflict/competition are noticed. Studies show that the conflict/competition starts becoming most apparent when these pups reach social maturity, which takes place around 18 to 24 months. Sources of competition often include resources such as food, sleeping areas, toys, tight passageways, and even access to favorite people. Conflict is also often seen when owners give attention to their dogs or when the dogs greet their owners after being away or out of the home for some time. Fights may also sometimes erupt over sleeping areas nearby the owner. Statistically, fights are more likely to occur between dogs of the same sex, in particular between two female dogs. A younger, larger and more agile dog is often the one competing against an older dog. 'At age 1 1/2 I enrolled her in a group training class & she was fine. iI had already been working on basics with her but wanted her ecposed to new people & animals. She did fine but did not want to be petted by anyone. No growls, just pushing against my leg. But the Brandy attacks & bathroom attacks continued. At age 2 we started with a one on one dog trainer. Bailey learned a lot & I worked with her a lot. She is pretty well trained but I'm going to start working with her daily again." It is great that you have enrolled her in group and then private classes. Even if the classes won't tackle the fight-issues directly, they can help you attain a better level of voice control while also teaching better impulse control and frustration tolerance. However, the ideal approach here would be having a professional come into your home and tackle directly the fighting issue. More than actual training, this would involve implementation of management strategies and likely behavior modification. "Her tells prior to attack have been the hard stare. Sometimes I could distract her but often the minute I spoke she'd attack. Have mostly gotten that under control using her sit/stay commands & avoiding likely situations. And on an average day they interact fine. The last few incidents have involved me sitting at the end of the couch. Either one of the small dogs, or cat, will be laying on the couch beside me on the right. I won't let Bailey come for a pet on the right to avoid issues. So she comes on my left side for her pet. On 3-4 occasions now she has lunged to attack the other animal across my knees. Either dog or cat. No growl & no stare." That's good that you have identified a precursor to the attacks. Attacks with no warning are much more difficult to tackle and have a more complicated prognosis since they are so unpredictable. However, yes, it can be difficult to interrupt things once they started and fights can often start real fast, especially when eye contact or movement is a trigger. Often, when dogs are believed to attack other dogs out of the blue, there's just this second of eye contact that we can easily miss, and of course, we can't keep our eyes glued on their body language all day long. It doesn't sound like your dogs or cats are doing anything particularly "daring" like physically getting in between when you are petting Bailey. From your description it sounds like they are just laying on the couch. Being that your other dogs/cats are on the couch, it could be that she feels triggered by something rather subtle such as eye contact from the above so when she's being pet and their eyes meet, she goes into attack mode. Or she could be just misinterpreting any of their movements perceiving them as an intent of coming closer to you so she prematurely reacts to that. On a more positive note, the fact that the fights occur mostly when you are sitting on the couch and not in other cases (other than the bathroom, which you have solved by closing the door) gives you some control over the situation, versus dogs who attack other dogs sharing the home for a multitude of reasons (food, toys, space, exiting doors first etc). However, this is something that needs worked on, because in some cases, these attacks may generalize to other triggers and situations. Also, the dogs/cats victim of the "potentially unprovoked" attacks, can start getting tense and react to Bailey (which further complicates things) or they may start living in fear, afraid of just moving around freely (and even breathing for some!) When an attack occurs, we therefore need to consider that damage to the relationship between the dogs/cats can be difficult to repair. So we want to avoid getting to that dramatic point. "So she comes on my left side for her pet. On 3-4 occasions now she has lunged to attack the other animal across my knees. Either dog or cat. No growl & no stare. From totally calm to Cujo. " We need to tread with caution here since you are so near and "sandwiched" between Bailey and your other dogs/cats. When there is tension like this, even just instinctively moving your knee to block an attack or stretching an arm to grab a collar, can lead to a re-directed bite. "The instant she does this I automatically shout & she immediately stops & runs either to her bed or to her crate. " This demonstrates voice control and it's good she stops in her tracks and runs to her bed or crate versus continuing to attack. Likely, your tone denotes that she is in trouble, so she gives herself an "auto-timeout" knowing that in the crate she feels safe. However, this is just a semi-management option and doesn't tackle the issue directly. If the attacks keep happening, we know that she likely she has an intent to not back down and will do it again until the next opportunity. We also need o consider safety if you don't catch her quickly enough. "She can also be in her bed & another animal can walk past & she's fine. But she will occasionally lunge/snap at them. Just never know when it will happen. " It sounds like she may be protective of her sleeping/resting areas. It may be best to keep her crated during nap time, or using a tall exercise pen with her bed or crate inside (crate can be left open inside of the pen if the pen is tall enough to prevent escape). Her bed/crate should be in a quiet area so that she doesn't feel the need to guard. "Last week one of the cats was sitting in the window above her bed & I saw her hard staring at the cat. I was on the couch 10' away & I immediately stood & called to her ,not yelling but just saying her name, and she lunged/snapped at the cat then ran into her crate. The cats & dogs have mostly learned to keep an eye on her. And I NEVER leave all of them alone together. If I'm not in the room either Bailey goes in her crate or I put the small ones in their room." This seems to confirm her not liking other dogs/cats being above her and likely a tendency of guarding her bed. It sounds like she benefits from having her own sleeping area where she can rest undisturbed and stop rehearsing the lunging and snapping behaviors. "I don't believe the other animals have stared at her. On the couch they're just laying beside me & relaxed. And the cat in the window had her back to Bailey." I fear here that Bailey is reacting to very subtle things such as the other pets moving their eyes or head looking around or just moving like to lick, move the tail or change position. I have known some dogs become reactive towards other pets' muscles twitching during deep REM sleep! Australian shepherds can be very movement controlling dogs, they were selectively bred to control the movements of stubborn sheep. This requires an A-type personality and they can try to micro-manage anything that moves. "I normally walk Bailey & the litudogs each morning for approximately an hour and Bailey never shows aggression, even if sniffing the same clump of weeds. However my husband has had serious medical issues lately & I've been unable to walk each day. I do know Bailey needs exercise so am taking time this evening. " So sorry to hear about your husband not feeling well. Less exercise can certainly drive these dogs' energy up the roofs. Brain games, training, walks and exercise is needed with these dogs. It would also be helpful to provide activities that provide outlets for her herding needs (sport of Treibball, herding trials). "She obviously knows this is bad behavior. She used to attack when all dogs would come into bathroom in a.m. while I was getting ready. So I simply shut the door & no one comes in. But how do I stop the aggression at the couch if she already knows she's wrong & puts herself in "time out" ? " In this case, more than stopping the aggression at the couch, I think the safest option and the best one for your other pets who apparently are impacted from her behavior, (it sounds like they are already trying to avoid her as much as possible) is to give your Aussie mix her own area when it's time to sit on the couch. This doesn't need to be away from the whole family area. A tall exercise pen with a mat inside can help prevent her from rehearsing the problem behavior. This should help her learn to relax in other other places than the valued resting area and away from people she may guard. It also will keep your other pets safe since she seems to struggle with other pets nearby her bed. This is therefore a management option, similar to closing the door when in the bathroom. Treatment though can be more involved, requiring, on top of management, behavior modification, removal of any stressors from your dog’s environment and fluent responses to redirection, *before* your dog gets ramped up. Behavior modification is often individualized by having a dog behavior professional come into the home, do an interview and carefully observe the dog's interactions with you and the other pets and the accompanying body language. Triggering events will need to be recorded so the professional can assess the situation carefully and provide a customized plan based on the observation and several individualized factors. For example, if other pets' movements when she is by her sleeping area are identified as being the exact trigger, relaxation and self control may be shaped using using positive reinforcement. She may therefore be rewarded for calmly watching your other pets without reacting. Setups may be strategically implemented to create positive associations with pets approaching when she is near you on leash if it turns out she is guarding you or there is some form of competition over your attention. You would be therefore guided and instructed on how to keep her best under threshold https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/. A relaxation protocol may also be needed if she's stressed. Of course, the approach chosen may vary based on whatever triggers are identified. Once again, this would need expert eyes on the interactions so to identify exactly what may be triggering her behaviors so to craft a customized plan. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions, Best, Adrienne 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. Board-certified veterinary behaviorists and Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists are often the top experts in the field. 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.

Thank you so much fir taking so much time and thought to respond! We started teaching Rhianna the “go peepee and poopy” commands just a week or so ago. We don’t have a fenced yard so she’s always on a leash and I’m nearby with treats. So boring trips out it is! We’ll see how it goes! Sounds like a great plan! It's great you have started training the potty on cue commands! However… the question remains… if she pees and poops, but still whines when we come back in do we ignore or take her out again? Thanks again. Now, this is something that will need us at times to make some judgment calls. When she has whined in the past shortly after going potty, and you have taken her out, does she ever pee or poop or just spends time in the yard exploring or playing? If the latter is the trend, and you are certain that she has already peed and pooped, you can skip taking her out again since she's officially empty, - so unless there's a medical issue at play it *should* be OK to ignore. Ignoring in this case would mean, zero attention, no looking, no talking, not even attention of the negative type (like reprimanding or telling her to be quiet). When ignoring a behavior that was previously reinforced, an extinction burst usually takes place (louder whining, maybe pawing at the door), so that should be ignored as well. BUT.... Sometimes we need to give the benefit of doubt, because in some cases, puppies may get diarrhea. So if your puppy is prone to this or you have introduced a new food or new treats, better to go on a boring trip than clean a mess on the floor (which can also risk causing setbacks in potty training). Also, you need to be watchful for the phenomenon of incomplete bladder emptying. So keep an eye on those pee trips. Sometimes puppies get distracted, so they start peeing, but then interrupt the flow to sniff or play and therefore they come back inside and finish peeing right after you close the door. Some other pups are "multiple urinators," they'll pee small trickles 2-3 times in a row rather than one big puddle-so know your pup's normal habits. I must admit though that I am not too big of a big fan of ignoring for various reasons. So more than ignoring, I would suggest this: When Rhianna is "empty," meaning you are certain she has pooped and peed, take advantage of this time for keeping her entertained. Therefore, I think it would be best if you can pre-empt this whining by offering her some extra enrichment so that she doesn't get to rehearse any attention-seeking behaviors. So for instance, after she eliminates outside, praise her like she won the Nobel prize and give her a treat. Then, you can let her explore the yard on leash or take her on a brief exploration walk. Then once home, do everything possible to prevent the whining in the first place at least until her next potty trip. If her whining takes place close to her usual potty time, take her out because we want to reinforce whining for a genuine need to potty. Even if it wasn't genuine though, you are doing the boring trip so that gets you covered. This may require some advanced planning such as the moment you take off the leash, have her engage in some fun activities like play with a ball or do so some fun clicker training, then do maybe a little treasure hunt, or a muffin game, and then offer her something long-lasting to engage with (like a stuffed frozen Kong) so to keep her mind off the going out and chill a bit. If she's crate trained, you can give the stuffed Kong there, she may take a nap afterward. When she wakes up, time to potty, especially if she whines, since most pups need to potty after taking a nap. I hope this helps clarify things, it's one of those things requiring judgment calls sort of like with babies crying, should I always attend to a baby crying or ignore? But what if we pre-empt all needs so to prevent crying in the first place? I think this approach covers most basis.

Hello and welcome to the forums, I am glad that you were able to easily solve the bathroom issue by shutting the door. I have a few questions to better understand the situation. -How long have you had Bailey? -How old are the Chihuahuas? -Has she always acted this way towards your other dogs and cats or is this a fairly new behavior? -Have you noticed an exact trigger when you are petting her? Like what are the dogs/cats doing right before Bailey lunges and snaps? Are they coming closer to you? Are they making eye contact with her? Are they on the couch or are they on the floor? -What do your other cats or dogs do when she reacts this way? -Has she ever hurt any of your other pets? Has she acted aggressive towards them in other circumstances (other than the bathroom episodes)? Thanks for the extra details.

Hi Bonnie, Welcome to the forums! I am happy to hear that you are so eager to get your puppy started in the training and brain games. Rhianna sounds like a great pup, with lots of potential! She is also very lucky that you are home with her all day. Please see my personal observations/tips in bold: "We are a bit confused and frustrated with her whining. We take her out to potty on a regular schedule and rarely have “accidents” in the house, however this not because she regularly alerts us but because we stay at on a schedule. " It is great that that you have her on a schedule and that she is having rarely accidents in the house. With a schedule, you are preventing the likeliness of accidents in the house which can become troublesome considering that it can quickly become habit-forming. Also, by taking her out on schedule you are emphasizing that outdoors is the right place to go. When she goes outside, make sure to be nearby her so to praise and reward her with a tasty treat. This will help her learn that outdoors is the right place to go potty and will help consolidate that in her mind . "Rhianna whines when she wants attention and when she needs to go out. If we ignore the whining she could be saying, “I gotta pee”. If we respond to the whining by taking her out, we could be reinforcing the attention getting behavior. " This is a common problem encountered by many puppy owners. Fortunately, the solution to this is fairly easy. Let's first though take a little look at how things may feel from our pups' perspective. So let's imagine for a moment, being a child in front of Walt Disney World's entrance. The gate to the amusement park is closed, but every time you go near it, a friendly character opens it up for you. You wander around this magic world, and have fun, but after some time, you are taken out of there and back behind the closed gate you go. However, as soon as you approach the gate again, you are once again granted access by the friendly character. This is somewhat similar to what a puppy must feel when taken out in the yard. There are so many fun sights and smells to explore she can't wait to get out there more and more. She may be a little upset though when she's brought back inside, but imagine, how relieved she may feel once she realizes how just by approaching the door, it magically opens and she's let out in the magical yard again. This is the power of positive reinforcement. After several trials, the puppy learns quickly how approaching the door makes good things happen, (even if we may be annoyed by it). Because of this great consequence, a puppy will therefore move towards the door more and more. This is the same concept behind getting a puppy to sit (or perform any other desired behavior.) If every time the puppy sits, right the moment her rump touches the floor, we say "yes!" and hand her a tasty treat, after a few reps, the puppy will soon be eager to sit more and more because of the great consequence (the tasty treat). Now, sometimes we may be getting tired of getting up to let the puppy outside, especially when the trips are unproductive (in other words, the puppy doesn't pee or poop once outside, but just sniffs around and plays). However, your concerns are valid, if we start ignoring a puppy's request to be taken out, we may expect a brief extinction burst, but then we risk her giving up signaling a need to potty altogether, even when she really needs to go potty. Of course, we don't want this to happen! So what to do if your puppy keeps asking to go out too frequently? As mentioned, there is a rather simple solution. Next time your puppy heads towards the door, get the leash, clip it on, take her to her usual potty spot and give her the opportunity to do her business there. Walk her back and forth and act rather boring. If she goes, immediately praise her, give her a treat and take the leash off so she can go have fun in the yard (if it's safely fenced of course!). If she doesn't go, nonchalantly, make an about turn and go back inside. Watch her very, very carefully once inside (you can keep her crated if she's crate trained), and then try taking her out again in another 10-15 minutes or earlier if you notice any signs your puppy needs to go potty. With time, your puppy should learn that when she's sent outside, the first thing she needs to do is to go potty, and then, only afterward she can have some fun in the yard. She should also come to learn that asking repeatedly to go out without a true need to potty, will only lead to a boring outing, without much going on. While you're at it, why not teach your puppy to go potty on command? Once your pup masters this, a simple "go potty" cue can considerably shorten the time you spend outdoors to get your pup to do her business. More on this is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/ To be comprehensive though, it is important mentioning a couple of things: -At 6 months, your pup is officially a teenager, at this age, they tend to become more and more interested in sniffing and the great outdoors. They also tend to become more independent and explorative. More about this is covered here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/flight-instinct-period-4-8-months/ -If Rhianna is not spayed yet, she may be asking to go outdoors more and more if she's around her heat cycle. During this time, female dogs are interested in urine marking to advertise themselves to any possible mates. -Also, worthy of mentioning is that sometimes, when puppies or dogs ask to go outside more often, they may be suffering from a UTI (urinary tract infection). This may not be the case with your pup, but always good to know how to recognize the signs. Suspect a UTI if your pup pees frequently in small amounts, licks her private area a lot, has blood in her urine, and squats often. Not all signs need to be present. Your vet can help your rule out bladder issues with a simple urine test. Consult with your vet if you think her asking out if getting out of hand and/or she is showing any suspicious signs. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. Happy training! Adrienne