JMFS

I finally have an update on price. We had our consultation last Thursday, which was $50, and that $50 was applied to a training package where the Behaviorist travels to my home. I received the invoice today and the total for 6 weeks is $575 ($525 after crediting the $50 from the consultation). It's sticker shock when seeing the full amount at once, but the math works out to less than $100 per session. I don't know, yet, what we're going to be working on. She had lots of ideas at the consultation and I don't know what she landed on - she's not big on email and we haven't had a chance to chat, yet. She mentioned Momo needs a job, commented on his herding instincts, and noticed he has a good nose. She threw out ideas about fly ball, nose work and I mentioned lure coursing to which she agreed emphatically. I have a feeling we'll be doing a mix of behavior modification and training on one or more of those skills. I'll be asking for clarification, but I got a good feeling from her during our consult so I trust she's got a good plan that will be well worth the money. I'll update again when I have a better idea of what our course of action is. I do know her primary focus is is resolving the resource guarding, but she wants me to have tools to help with his behavior because he's definitely not getting enough stimulation, physically or mentally. One of the questions she asked was whether I'd considered rehoming him. My answer was no, he's my boy and I made a commitment to care for him; But if someone came along who could give him everything he needs then absolutely, I'd let him go with that person because Momo would be much happier. I'm talking like if a marathon runner wanted a training buddy, or if someone was looking for a working dog with Mo's particular set of skills (Taken reference worked well there!). Mo would be in hog heaven with one of those lives and that would be in his best interest. In that situation, yes, I'd put his welfare before my emotional attachment. I'd be sad, but he'd be happy so I'd be happy - if that makes sense.

Wonderful clarification! I get it now. I am, indeed, working on the variable because we faded the lure (now that I know what I'm talking about I can sound smart!) a while back. Sister Definitely knows How to sit, she does it Perfectly for her Kong Wobbler every morning and evening. We just need to work on my body language. :D I think I would fail if I were a dog - they're definitely smarter than us in the ways of body language! I'm glad you mentioned the flirt pole because that lets me know I'm on the right track! I cleared a space in our living room so we can work on drop and leave. Eventually I'm guessing I can throw in sit instead of leave somehow so I can get her to stop what she's doing and put that butt to the ground (thinking of traffic or other situations where a sit vs a leave might be detrimental). In other news - daily training, even in small doses, yields better results than sporadic training. It's noticeable. :)

I was thinking variable and fade were interchangeable so I'm a little hazy on that point. To me they seem about the same with the ultimate goal being wanted behavior without constantly rewarding said behavior. I did start paying closer attention to my own body language and noticed she'll sit if I move my right hand forward while it's closed (like I have a treat). Then I give her the treat from my left hand. She ignores the hand signal I initially intended for sitting so I'll just throw that one out and use the closed fake treat hand move since it's working. I must not have been sincere enough in my communication. It's funny - the things I don't give thought to are the things she picks up faster. Instead of "stay" she understands, "I'll be back." I think I sound more genuine, even though it's a sentence, so she latched on to that phrase. Here's our routine for potty breaks since that's when the sit / leave / come are going to be the most important: Sit at the door, I go scan for squirrels, throw a stick in their vicinity to make them go up the trees (I'm still trying to figure out what will make them scatter when they see or hear me - they're oblivious), go back to the porch to tell Gertie to come, have her sit again so I can close the door, then we walk to her potty spot. Nighttime is the easiest because the squirrels are tucked away safe and sound so I've been able to eliminate treats for that outing. Currently I'm rewarding with a treat and "good girl," for each sit. I'll randomly ask her to sit and I reward her with a treat, ear scratches, and praise when she does that because there's a Lot going on when we're in the yard. I do have to give her credit, we've made progress since yesterday. She's less tense now when we go to the yard and there are four squirrels making their twitchy movements, tantalizing her prey senses. I have to stay on top of it, though. Sometimes those dang squirrels are hard to see and I'll tell Gertie "ok" when one of those stinkers is still playing around. She'll interpret that as, "go get it," so I spend a lot of time watching her ears and posture because those are dead giveaways that something interesting is afoot. I was able to get her to sit on the sidewalk with me and watch the squirrels. She eventually went into a down and I rewarded her big time for that one. We're also working on not being an irritant to the man who rides his bicycle by our house. She dd have a relapse due to a brave (or dumb) squirrel who decided to make a run for it right past us. Sit, come, leave it, went unheard. Once the rodent was on the other side of the gate Gertie bounded over to me. I wasn't sure whether to praise her for coming or say nothing. I opted for treat and praise for coming. (Edit: I missed a cue this morning when I was shooing squirrels away. I thought she couldn't see me but she sure the heck did and she dang near climbed the tree - it was impressive, but Not what I was hoping for. Ah well, back to step 1 we go.) I'll be glad when the squirrels have all their goodies gathered and hole up for the winter! There are no less than 8 of them in the front yard at any given time. Momo keeps the back yard fairly clear. Our front yard is full of Disney movie carefree squirrels who might break out into song and dance; our back yard hosts headbanging death metal squirrels - only the toughest guys hang out there. It would not shock me to see one of them sporting piercings and tattoos, or taking swigs out of a flask.

Rather that begin a new thread I thought I'd revive this one and include the link. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-listens-treats/ How long would you say before phasing out treats? Gertie seems like one of the stubborn dogs mentioned in the article so I'm guessing I'm being unclear or perhaps I make a motion she's detecting when I have treats and I skip that when I don't. Should it take a matter of days, weeks, or perhaps even longer, before we start the variable schedule? We've been working on sit where I tell her to sit, when she does I give her a treat. She does this unerringly when I have a treat in my hand. Goal is to get her to sit when she hears the word - the squirrel population Boomed this year so I've been focusing on desensitizing that prey drive and I want her to go into a sit when she sees a squirrel (or at the least when I say sit and there is a squirrel present). The cat isn't helping with this issue - he doesn't listen for anything. > Issue: Gertie won't sit when I have my back to her so I'm guessing she needs more reinforcement and does a solid sit without treats before we move up to that step. That's what brought up the question of "about how long" before entering variable. We've been working on this in earnest for 3 days and I'm thinking I'm expecting too much too soon. Thank you as always!

Well, I made it through unscathed. Not so much as a rolled up newspaper was brandished. :) She agreed Mo would do well with lure coursing so I'll be watching for that to come available again with this cooler weather. I'll be getting an email from her outlining her observations and what course of action she thinks will get us to a happier Mo. The only thing that concerned me was when the dogs were barking and jumping she kept saying "that's okay." It's not okay - they should have better manners! I've redoubled my efforts with Gertie this week and I feel we've made progress the last couple days with "drop," "sit," and "wait." She was excellent with "sit" today - and when I say sit, I mean sit even when my husband comes home and her tail is wagging her body. The Zuke's duck and my homemade treats are a hit and she's been very responsive with those involved. So, when the trainer said it was "okay," I was a little wary that she might be too accepting of poor etiquette, but we'll see. You can't sum up a person or a dog in just one visit or action! Mo was a charmer, sitting, playing dead, perking his ears, and giving good eye contact. Initially he was all excited, but he calmed down until the trainer got animated with a story. He started pacing from her to the door and back again. She took quick notice and calmed things down. He took treats from her politely and kept coming back to be pet. That's pretty normal for him, though. He's only a devil when food is a "free" resource and he "claims" it as his own. Her assessment on initial contact is that he's nowhere near the worst case she's seen (which I figured) and she agrees we should nip the resource guarding in the bud. She also confirmed what I've always thought - Momo needs a job. We just need to figure out what that job is. Her interest was piqued when I mentioned how Mo herds Gertie when Gertie is ignoring me, and how he looks to me for confirmation before he just does it. That's where we stand for now. :)

Everything checked out at the Vet's. She suggested age as a potential contributing factor, saying some dogs hit the senior stage faster than others. She said there were other tests we could run to rule out brain issues and recommended a food by Purina called Neuro Care. She suggested I meet with the Behaviorist before going through tests. She also confirmed that it's simply difficult to find a dog Behaviorist in this town. Horses are Totally covered (we're in the Horse Capital), but dog trainers are tougher to come by. There's the University of Florida that has a presence here where they take care of pet emergencies, and she said that's usually where they refer folks for behavior modification. Doc said if this gal works for me to let her know so she can get familiar and begin referring folks. To give you an idea of the mentality around here - the Vet told me how she alpha rolled one of her dogs when he tried to bite her and he hasn't tried biting since then. That's the kind of advice that got us to where we're at. :( It's hard to find quality trainers! In better news - PetSmart had their Halloween stuffed squeaky toys on sale for $1.97 each so I stocked up. There was a white egret on the roof of my car when we came outside. Both dogs behaved and ignored it - bonus points! Next update will be tomorrow or Friday. Here's to hoping she uses non-alpha methods on humans. :D

Thursday at 5:00 pm we have our consultation. Both pooches go to Banfield for their comprehensive exams tomorrow morning as well. I'm a little nervous because I know some of the training methods I tried lead to this behavior and her web site says, Yikes. Despise and dread are Strong words. Maybe I'll get brownie points for never using a prong, choke, shock, or slip collar, and for making a switch to a more respectful training method. I'll turn on my best winning personality, just in case. :o https://www.topdogsdaytraining.com/ I don't know how y'all do it, Adrienne. Starting over from square one time and time again. How do you handle frustration (or do you even get frustrated?).

I hear you on conflicting advice! I finally decided to go with Adrienne's program and block out all the others. That way I'll be consistent. So far so good. :) I have an aggressive dog, Momo. He's the polar opposite of Gertie, who's happy-go-lucky. Same as you, I've had Momo since he was just a wee pup, he's 8 now, and he was my first dog. He's always had issues with food, rawhides, and toys that hold food. Up until recently I'd managed it, despite having other people in the house. My rule is, "if you're not on board with the training, leave the dog alone." It's not ideal, but it does limit the inconsistent training. I'm really the only one who trains around here - everyone else expects the dogs to magically understand them, lol. Lately, though, his aggression has increased and he's snapped at me several times, the pool guy twice, and he's been seen growling, barking, and biting at the lawnmower when the guys come to mow. I don't know if the lawnmower maybe kicked up something that hit Mo, or if one of the guys did something (I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt - I've had conversations with all of them and they are nice fellows, but I can't entirely rule it out due to the sudden increase of aggression). This is exactly where I'm at with Mo so you're not alone! I did So many things wrong when I raised him. Wrestled, played tug of war, bopped him on the nose when he snapped at me over a rawhide (the first time it was a mixture of surprise and thinking it would be like smacking a child's hand away from a burner - dogs look at it Totally different so I utterly screwed that up). I did it a few more times until I realized it wasn't helping, etc . . .. I had plenty of people tell me that nose bopping was the correct thing to do, which is why I kept on. When I realized he was getting worse I stopped giving him rawhides altogether. I didn't have money for a behaviorist back then so the best option my Vet had for me was to eliminate triggers. He's über smart and hyper so I have to be on my toes with him. Terriers are also smart - think of all the "trick" dogs you see - a lot of them are terriers. :) Mo knows, and unerringly executes, sit, stay, play dead, all the way dead (he puts his head down), shake hand, shake body (after baths), high five, back up, turn around, and a few others I haven't had him do for a while. Though a dog is great with commands it doesn't mean he's going to have great manners. He steps on my feet (a show of dominance), he hunches forward when I'm filling his food bowl (he's ready to snatch it up), he sneaks in a couple bites when I call the dogs in from playing (utter lack of respect), he follows my hand when I go to pet him (lack of trust), he "guards" me at the dog park (he's claiming me as his property - dominance), and I've been unable to get him to roll over (lack of trust or he's just not comfortable with it). There, my dirty laundry is aired - it's uncomfortable to admit to the nose bopping now that I know how detrimental it was to Mo's behavior. I thought you might gain peace of mind knowing someone else is having trouble that goes beyond training (it's not just you!) so I pushed through the discomfort because I understand how unsure you feel with how to handle it. I have opened communication with a behaviorist, but the responses are Very slow to come and I'm Trying to be patient. Our area is filled with alpha mentality trainers (part of the problem with how I raised Momo) and it's tough to find a force-free person here so it is what it is. She's going to schedule a consultation, which is $50, and if we go forward with a training package that $50 will be applied to the package. I figured you might like to get an idea of what cost and procedure is for that. I take the dogs on the 24th for their comprehensive exams and will be talking to the Veterinarian about it as well so he can rule out any health issues. I'm also hoping they might have a couple more names for me Just in case. I hope that helps. We love our little guys, but they can be emotionally, mentally, and even physically draining when they have behavior issues and it's nice to have support and understanding.

Not at all! We trained our ornery dachshund when he was 13 due to his incontinence (or straight up refusal to communicate his needs - he was beyond stubborn). The first couple nights were tough, but after that he accepted the arrangement. We pulled up that carpet last month and replaced it with LVP and oh em gag, we were shocked at the legacy he left behind.

I can put your mind at ease about not using blankets. Momo also destroyed blankets and eventually he was no longer given the option. He's no worse for the wear and to this day he often chills out in the crate, by choice, even though there's no blanket. He was crated the first 4 years of his life. I was in the same situation - couldn't leave him to roam about while I was at work. I made sure he had ample time to go potty before I left for the day and he never did have an accident. I also didn't put water in the crate (he just spilled it, never drank it) so that helped with potty issues. He was 4 months old when I started having to crate him. Where does your other dog stay at night? Gertie and Abbi are in the bed with us, Momo has a bed on the floor. Before Gertie both older dogs stayed on the floor in their beds. She's something else, that Gertie. :D Anyway, we keep the door closed so they're confined to the area and it's worked out well (except for Abbi hogging the bed, all 10'ish lbs of her).

Did your older dog have issues with the cats before, or is this new since the puppy? Momo ignores our cat, but if I shoo the cat away Momo will chase after the cat and nip at him. If Gertie sees Momo chasing Monkey (the cat) then Gertie joins in the chase, though she doesn't bite or otherwise aggravate Monkey, she's just following Momo's lead. That may be what your older dog is doing - picking up on the puppy's example. The cat food issue is easy to fix if you can put it up higher than the puppy can reach since cats are good at getting to higher places. Either that or put the food in a location the puppy can't get into (you can put up a border or rearrange furniture to create a cubby hole that only the cats fit into, something like that). If you don't already, you can put the cats on a regular feeding schedule and take up the food after 20 minutes. They'll catch on. We had to do that with Monkey because of raccoons and opossums coming around when we left it out. When introducing cats to one another I've always put the bedding for each cat in the other cat's area and brushed the cats with the same brush so their scents comingle. I wonder if something like that would work with the puppy. If the cats have a bed, put that in the puppy's sleeping area for a while so he gets accustomed to their scent. Those are some ideas to get you started. :)

$50 for an at-home consultation and they'll apply that to a training package if we move forward. I said, "heck yes, please." Now I just wait for the behaviorist to contact me - I've been speaking to the owner of the Dog Ranch where they do all the events.

I walked by my silly floppy hat this morning and that reminded me of Gertie's reaction to a gentleman who was wearing a hat a couple weeks ago. I took her to the granite store to meet the owner's Rottie (Max, I'm in love with that boy!). We found her out in the slab yard and Gertie hunkered down and tucked her tail under her while trying to get behind me. Odd. Then we realized it was because the man had a hat on and she hadn't seen one of those, yet. So, today I've put on that goofy floppy hat to get her used to them. Since I'm having an utterly distracted morning I thought I'd compound it by sharing that tidbit. :) Gertie and Max got along, except that Max kept trying to mount her. 45 lbs vs 120 lbs - it was a good amount of exercise for everyone! Poor Max doesn't have a playmate so we thought I could take him once in a while since I'm at the store so often. At this point I'm going to say nope - that's too much for this gal to handle alone! They'll have to meet at the store until Max is satisfied he's the big dog. He had no problem sharing his rawhides with her so that was a nice change - dogs who share.

Thank you, Adrienne. Wouldn't you know, that place that does the lure coursing and dock jumping is the only result I got in my area. I've gone full circle, lol. I sent an email and already received a response. :) I gave them a good long read with all the details and will keep you posted!

When we were playing fetch last week Momo detoured and went over to something in the yard and started eating it. Not knowing if it could be dangerous (lots of mushrooms currently - we try to pick them all but we miss some and mushrooms are tricky to identify) I tried to get him to drop it. He would not obey "leave it" and when I went to move him with my legs by walking into him (I never use my hand, my leg is a lot better protected and tougher to bite) he attacked. No blood was drawn and I don't have any marks, but he did get his teeth on my arm and he was baring teeth after. I felt like he wasn't Trying to bite, only showing out, but he sure was angry. After we got away from the whatever it was and he seemed calm I went to get his collar to take him to the back yard because he still wasn't listening to commands and he attacked again. He also chased Gertie after he tried to bite me (naturally, she came over to investigate the hubbub). I've been able to manage it with "leave it" until this incident. I don't know if it's age, he's only 8 and all the breeds he's made of are said to have lifespans of 12-15 years, or what, but he's escalating. He snapped at our pool guy a few weeks back when he tried to greet Momo as I was feeding Mo (I usually get the feeding done before he gets there but he showed up early that day). My husband said Mo's been aggressive with the riding lawnmower, biting and barking at it, when the guys come to mow, and that's something he didn't do previously. I thought with my husband out there Mo would be okay. Not so much. Two weeks after Gertie came home, so April / May, one of the yard guys told me he felt like Momo was stalking him that day. He said he normally doesn't turn his back to dogs, but he'd gotten comfortable with Momo. He said that day he'd turn around and Mo would be hunched down, inching closer. I told him to knock on the door so I could put Momo inside before they get started, but he declined saying it would be fine. Our front yard is gated and fenced, then there's another fence and gate to the backyard, which is where Momo hangs out. I do bring him in when I hear the lawnmower. He's up to date with all his shots and he's due for his 6-month comprehensive exam this month so I'll be sure to mention all this to his Veterinarian, too. I'm also going to ask them for a behaviorist reference. It's Banfield so I know they'll have names. Do you think this could have anything to do with Gertie coming on board? They get along so well and these incidents are occurring when she's not around (save for today) so *I* would say no, but I'm throwing it in the hat as a potential trigger. She does have a couple marks on her from where he's gotten too rough so I'm limiting play as well now. After I called them in yesterday Mo tried to bite her ankles and I stepped between them and put my hand on his neck to push him away. He did nothing about that other than to sit down. That tells me it's a resource issue at this point and Gertie's not considered a resource. Thankfully he's only 34 lbs and I can physically handle him, but if he ever did sneak one in on someone it would be a decent injury, and no one wants that. I don't get it - I have no issues with the other dogs, only him. Okay, Abbi goes Cujo on Gertie when Gertie slams her paw on top of Abbi, or jumps on her. I'd get ticked off if my husband stepped on me or fly eagled on me without warning and then kept bouncing around all over me. I'd do something about it, too, so I get Abbi's reaction. It's scary and frustrating because it's become unpredictable (to me - though an expert might think I'm an idiot for missing the signs). Sometimes he's fine with "leave it" and using my legs to walk him away from whatever it is if he won't back up on his own. Other times he flips out. I'm not timid - I face confrontation, but I Am fearful of making it worse so I'm leaving him be, and limiting potential contentious situations, as much as I can. It boils down to this: my little guy is a psycho jerk sometimes and after 8 years I've finally reached my breaking point. I feel it's no longer manageable and I'm having a heck of a time finding a non-alpha behaviorist around here.

Hi Tina, We have a mini Dachshund as well, and our standard Dachshund passed a few years ago. From those two I can tell you it's definitely a Dachshund thing to bark. I came on board after Abbi was 5 and Brownie was 10 and it took a while, but we minimized the barking. There's hope! :) With Brownie, our senior, the good ol' water bottle did the trick. I'm trying new kinder methods now, but that's how he ended up getting quieter. I would squirt with the spray bottle after telling him to be quiet and only if he kept barking. Abbi, the middle age pup, wasn't bothered by the water bottle at all. It got to where I could present the water bottle and Brownie would stop in his tracks. He Hated the thing. I went that route because it worked well with my cats, which I'd had previous to dogs, and it's not harmful, though it is annoying. As far as the pickiness, I think that's also a mini Dachshund thing, yay! Abbi is so flippin' finicky we have to bribe her into eating her food (a teaspoon of beef broth or chamomile tea mixed in does the trick). You might have to bump up in "value" for the treats. Beef jerky is a hit here, as is chicken, turkey, and steak. Last night I used chicken nuggets from Chik Fil A. I saw someone using hot dogs, but I thought that might be too close to cannibalism with wiener dogs, . :D For serious, though, for picky dogs you're going to have to bump up in value, find something they go gaga for. I'd work on the barking and getting comfortable with him before trying the dog park. Too much too soon can make training tougher. For instance, right now I'm not trusting Momo (we've had some serious and puzzling issues come up this past week with his behavior) so I'm keeping him away from potential aggravations until I can get it sorted with a behaviorist. I would take your puppy for walks around the outside of the dog park to work on desensitizing him, but wait to go in until you're comfortable with letting him off the leash. He's going to be feeling you out as part of his assessment of the situation and if you're all wound up he will be, too. Really, there's no rush for the park. There are plenty of other ways to socialize. Friends with dogs, small groups, walks around the neighborhood, etc . . .. One thing I did with Momo on walks was turn around and walk the opposite direction when he got all riled up. I'd switch direction several times so he had to concentrate on me instead of the environment. He doesn't bark, but he gets ten kinds of excited when other dogs start barking, and for 34 pounds he's got a lot of strength when he pulls to get to the other dogs. I either kept walking forward so he had to follow or I'd change direction or sometimes I'd stop and play the "Focus" game with him while the other dogs were going crazy. Their owners could take care of them (and should have) while I did my part to ensure my guy had good manners.

I'm sure the alpha method of training is the source of my issues with Momo. That's why I'm trying Adrienne's approach with Gertie. I've had Mo for 8 years and tonight he put teeth on my wrist. That's the closest he's come to a bite. I was standing between him and his food as I do every feeding before I move aside and tell him, "okay." We first took a walk and I gave him little piles of food as we went along. The walk is to calm him down because he gets so worked up he practically vibrates from shaking so fast. You can actually hear his body shivering. A few laps around the pool calms him (brings him under that threshold). Everything was going great so I don't know what the heck set him off this time. I normally scratch his head before moving aside and telling him "okay," and tonight he simply did Not like that. I used to do the stand taller than him, invade his space and back him up with my body, blah blah baloney. Now I'm having to go back to the basics and because I was errant in my initial training we have struggles. My response isn't to hijack your thread, it's to let you know you're not alone and that your frustrations and uncertainty are understood. I can run a business, but I often feel totally lost when it comes to his outbursts - it's mind boggling sometimes. I also wanted to share my experience with the alpha style of training since you're not feeling warm and fuzzy about it. I'm not just a naysayer for the method, I'm someone who's dealing with the fallout from it. I also have to say Gertie is a Completely different personality than Momo. She's easy going where he's high strung and bullheaded so Gertie is far easier to train. I think had I known most of what I do now I would have trained Mo differently, and based on the Scientific approach vs the alpha way. I think there's some credence to alpha training, but I also think people take it too far. Should a dog beg at the table? Not in my opinion. They should be sitting away from the table, waiting for their turn. That's part of the alpha mentality I'm okay with. Intimidating or shutting the dog out is the part of it that I can say, firsthand, is problematic. So from someone who tried aspects of the alpha style, I encourage you to keep looking for someone who goes with a different philosophy. I post quite a bit around here with tidbits I've picked up, but I'm certainly no expert and I like to try to help by sharing my failures, too. If I can help by sharing my mistakes then share I shall! :)

I bet as he matures and gains independence the length of time he's okay with staying outside will increase. He's still pretty young. If you're having trouble getting things done around the house then I wonder if him watching y'all come and go, like a tag team system, would help him feel better about being out there alone. For instance, start outside with both of y'all, then one of you goes inside to do a thing or three and then comes back out while the other of you goes inside for a bit. That way he might grow to ignore your coming and going. When we had limited space and no yard I would put Mo's leash around the leg of our dining table so he'd be out from under my feet - when I get to cooking or cleaning I'm movin' and groovin' and his poor paw got stepped on pretty good once so I started using the leash. When I was moving from room to room I tied the leash around my waist and he joined me. That had an added benefit of teaching him to heel and walk on the leash, but more than anything it helped Me be aware of where he was so I wouldn't step on those little paws or trip over him. I will say that even though he's outside most of the time, Momo is more likely to nap than to exercise himself to the point of it being useful. He'll chase the squirrels and whatnot, but I have to be the one to throw the ball or take Gertie out to get them good and pooped out. If I'm not out there with them they'll both go off and do their own thing. I guess they like to perform for me and if I'm not out there there's not much point to running around like mad dogs. :rolleyes: When we first got Gertie it was a different story, but I suppose they're used to one another now and the new dog shine has worn off. Mostly, associating being outside with good things like the chews Adrienne mentioned and gradually increasing the time alone are going to be the things that leave the best impression on him.

I do both. Momo is 8 and Gertie is who knows, but I'm putting her at 12 months. I thought I did an okay job with Mo, especially for being my first dog and a hyper bullheaded sometimes dink at that. When Gertie came home with us, holy Toledo, Mo was like a championship level dog compared to her. This girl had No manners in the human world. :D Momo helps her catch on quicker and he even helps me train her. One example: Gertie is off in the woods rolling in gawd-knows-what-stench-this-time and is Completely ignoring my calls and whistles. Mo is looking at me like, "dude, what's up with her, doesn't she hear you?" I tell him, "go get her," and he bounds off, nips her ankles and gets her to chase him back to me. In that case he's quite helpful. On the flip side, when I'm speed feeding treats for silent whistle training it's usually easier to train them separately so I don't miss a beat; and so Mo doesn't forget his manners in his desire to get his treat before Gertie dares to so much as Think about taking it. On the flippier side, I can use that same silent whistle training to show him he's last in line for treats And that Gertie being around means he's going to get treats, but not until she gets one first. The theory is that he should associate Gertie being around when treats are around as being a good thing instead of being a growling jerk about it (he's special that way). Another example: Gertie learned that my touching the door handle means she's to take a seat (one of the tips I picked up on the site). Momo didn't know that rule, but after seeing Gertie do it a few times he caught on. So, my opinion (and experience) is that there are benefits to both and it's totally possible to train both at the same time.

Is the goal to have him go do his business alone? You're right, it's not a bad thing at all. Wanting to stick by your side, imo, means he's not an escapee in the making. When I try to send Gertie out on her own she stands by the door, utterly confused. If I leave her long enough a lizard or grasshopper will grab her attention and she'll bound off after it. :rolleyes:

I have one of the exception dogs. :D Momo has far too much energy and desire to be in constant motion to be happy indoors. He paces. Non-stop. It's maddening! We have a little over an acre for him to patrol and run around on. I didn't intend him to be a watchdog, but that's what he turned out to be. He grew up in duplexes and being crated while I was at work. Only one of those places had what could be called a yard (it was 30 sq ft). When we moved to our home in the "wild" he took to being outside like a duck to water. We're in a populated area, but the lots are about 1-2 acres so we're neighbors with space. We've found wild turkeys, armadillos*, raccoons, opossums**, lizards by the dozens, snakes, etc . . . in our yard. Anyway, as usual I digressed. When we were at the duplex with the "yard" I would let Mo out in the morning to eat and do his deeds while I got ready. That seemed to be about his threshold for being outside alone. As Adrienne cautioned, when left along for longer periods of time our little guy pulled plenty of shenanigans while he was out there. The worst was when he chewed off the propane hoses to the grill. He also tore through the insulation for the A/C hoses and the neighbor's Adorable (oh em gee I loved her) English Mastiff would dig under the fence so Mo could slip under and go play with her. With a 5-month old puppy who's probably mouthing everything you'll want to ensure the yard is managed so there aren't things he can get into. Look over your yard from his eye level and mindset - Mo found things I totally overlooked from my vantage point and other items I thought he'd find boring (the grill). After the grill incident I put a toy box for Mo outside that was filled with tough chewables like Kongs, tug ropes, and a gigantic rawhide bone that my friend got for Momo as a joke. Mo never chewed through it, but loved to run in circles with it (he never quite figured out how to grab it in the middle, only one end or the other so he couldn't run straight). Ultimately I think what got him most adjusted to being outside alone was spending time outside with me. I had a fire pit and would sit out there at nights chilling out with my pup. I'd leave him outside when I needed something from inside so our gradual time increments came naturally. He grew to enjoy it out there and was able to tolerate longer periods of time alone. Now he only wants to come in at night for the air conditioning. To help him associate the yard with good things you might play the Find It game with him out there. From a neighbor point-of-view I'll throw in there to ensure he's not barking his head off while outside. I would let Mo bark a couple times and then I'd stop him because I didn't want him to be one of "those" dogs; but I Did want to be alerted when someone was there. For digging I was advised to set up an approved digging spot - some folks have enough know-how, space, and / or inclination to put in a sandbox in which they hide toys to encourage digging there instead. A sandbox wouldn't fit in our yard back then so I spent a lot of time filling in holes with leaves, sticks and his poo (it was a suggestion to fill the holes with these items because they're uninteresting and therefore digging was unrewarding). I also had one of those plastic pools, the smallest one, and I would play with him there by throwing in toys for him to fetch or by tossing in ice cubes for him to try to fish out. It was kind of a pain because the water got nasty quickly (and Texas roaches love nasty water, gag) so I had to empty it and refill about every 3rd day, but I think it created another positive association with being outside. * Incidentally, did you know armadillos are Excellent swimmers who can hold their breath for up to 6 minutes?! We learned this after we were visited at 4 a.m. by a couple who decided to frolic in our pool. We were desperately trying to save the little buggers and each time we fished them out they'd dive right back in! They also "pop" up into the air after rolling into a ball - it's their response to attacks. I put a plastic tub over one to walk it to the door and it kept jumping up, nearly knocking the tub out of my grip. After the excitement was over I headed to my friend, Google, and learned all I ever wanted to know about the bizarre creatures. They walk along the bottoms of rivers and they are Excellent swimmers. Here we were trying to save them, and really we ended up ruining their good time, lol. Ah, humans, we're so well-intentioned. :D ** Opossums hiss before they'll play dead . . .. That surprised me. Also, 10-lb 10-yr old arthritic Dachshunds are Not afraid of opossums and Will go after them.

I use several sounds. It takes a little longer to train, but if you ask Momo, he'll tell you that after 8 years he knows Exactly what I mean when I make a certain sound. "Ahem" (like an attention-getting throat clear) makes him check himself, and then he'll realize he hasn't taken a seat, but my hand sure is on that doorknob waiting for him. "Uh uh" means, "you better start behaving, and look at me, mister!" Saying, "good!" in an approving tone gets his tail wagging - he knows he's done something right. I can emulate the clicker sound by clicking my tongue so you might give that a try. It's an easy sound to make and though it's not a dead ringer, it's pretty darn close. It's similar to the sound many people make when trying to coax a stray animal towards them, you just do it once or twice instead of several times. If you don't always have your clicker you might also not always have your phone with you, but Just in case you do . . . there are a few free dog clicker / whistle apps (my curiosity was piqued so I checked). I tend to play around with sounds to see what pricks those little ears up. This evening, to my husband's dismay, I was "tuning" Gertie. I started with a low whistle and raised the pitch until I found one that made her perk up. That gave me a tone to hone in on so I can work on getting her to respond to that particular pitch. Some days my whistler doesn't work, though, so I'm looking for something else to get her attention - my husband is going to be Thrilled with the process. :D Ultimately I think it matters more that the sound is used consistently than what sound is used so choose something that's easy for you to repeat. That's my two coppers. :) PS: I crochet and I'm getting visions of clickers and various ways they might be attached to walkers or crutches with yarn, or maybe even clicker lanyards . . .. I might have to come up with something like that for my silent whistle because sometimes it's a pain to carry around. You've got me to thinking now!

So the one fellow never did respond, he was $70 / hour. A local gal, who is CPDT-KA certified, I asked would have been $40 / hour, but she stated she's not a behaviorist. She said it sounded like I was managing the situation well and she wouldn't feel right taking my money for training that she couldn't guarantee an outcome for. She said she didn't think I needed to be referred to anyone because she felt things were fine the way they were so until I take Momo in to for his comprehensive exam I suppose we're staying status quo. After all that I've got a range of $40 - $125 per hour with the higher end including 4 hours roundtrip travel. $40 or even $70 doesn't seem like much to me since I think my situation could be sorted in a couple hours. I'm just missing something and I don't think it would take long for someone to figure out. With your situation I would just copy your post here and paste that in emails to different trainers. It wouldn't take them very long to read, and they could probably give you a roundabout quote.

It's been quiet around here and I finished most of my work for the week so I have time on my hands, which means I can write a(nother) post. I Love my silent whistle. It's a fantastic tool when you're in an area where you're not wanting to disturb others when your dogs are off spelunking. It's not 100% silent Spend the dollars and get a Good whistle, that $3 whistle from PetSmart did not work for me (and it broke within 2 months and my neighbors complained about it) Honest-to-goodness I use an ACME silent whistle (it's a real company!), I believe it's the 535 that I purchased from a hunting goods store for around $25 8 years ago and it's been worth every last penny It's not magic, but I've found it to be highly effective Have lots of small high value rewards ready to speed feed It will not stop your neighbors' dogs' barking There are a couple good videos for this, but this is my favorite, even though she's using a sound whistle: I love how her dog misbehaves at the beginning because it made me feel so much better that her well-trained dog could be unruly, too. Better yet, she didn't edit it out (I'm going to go ahead and cast my vote for an Adrienne Bloopers video). :D Sometimes I feel like trainers are super humans and it's comforting to see that they can also encounter struggles (dogs don't automatically know the trainer's credentials, you know?). One thing they don't go over in the video is attuning your dog to the whistle (because she's using one with obvious sound). When Fido is asleep you want to blow on the silent whistle. If Fido's ears perk up, good, you found a pitch he'll respond to. If they don't, adjust the whistle and try again until you find the right pitch. Now you're ready for step 2. So, like she says in the video, you use über valuable treats like chicken, steak, cheese, etc . . .. Whatever gets your pup to drooling. Set it up so you can rapid feed. Decide how you're going to blow the whistle for recall. Are you going to do like a cat call (ha), or are you going to do three rapid succession blows, maybe you want to do one long and two short, etc . . .. I do a long followed by a short like you might do whistling with your lips to get someone's attention. Be consistent with that rhythm so your dog learns to love it. Get your dog into a sitting position and do the first whistle, give a treat, whistle, treat, whistle, treat. As soon as Gertie finishes chewing her treat (because she's a lady) I whistle and give her another treat. I rinse and repeat for about 15-20 treats' worth of time and I end with a "Good girl!" I haven't ever been in danger of being light-headed or passing out, like she mentions, from using the whistle so I set the treat limit because that's about how many treats 2 minutes gives. This is the fun part because they may be unsure of what you're wanting so expect some confusion. The next week I had Gertie sit and stay, then I moved about 10 feet away and blew the whistle. She didn't come at first so I blew again a couple times then said "come," and gave her the treat. Walk away, whistle, whistle, come, treat. Rinse and repeat for about 15 treats' worth again. The goal is to get it to where she's going to come when I blow the whistle. When she's doing that consistently I increase the distance. I had the advantage of Momo being trained already and Gertie watched what he did and cheated off his paper. Now I'm able to call Gertie and Momo in when they're getting too wild, or when Gertie is probably rolling in something Momo killed in the bushes (ugh). I reinforce it about once per week, or whenever they start to get "can't hear you" syndrome. Momo caught on quicker than Gertie did so don't be surprised if your dog gets it instantly, or if they take a little prodding. Mo is Super Duper food motivated where Gertie is only highly motivated so Mo will do nearly anything I ask if there's food involved. Oh! You don't have to buy a whistle at all, btw. Abbi is trained to respond to her own special whistle. Yes, you can differentiate whistles so you can call your dogs individually! For Abbi I made up a whistle that I do with my lips and I can wake her from a dead sleep with it. :D Mo had such good recall that I nearly forgot my silent whistle and I was getting frustrated with Gertie's not listening. The whistle was a game changer so I thought I'd share. :)

Update: the "big" dogs have been doing a great job after I implemented the "check-in" idea. The silent whistle is the winner for that - gets them every time. :D I stopped the treats because they wouldn't leave my side, the little devils. After all, how are you to curb their behavior when they won't exhibit said behavior? Since they get a gajillion treats when whistle training I can pull them off of most things right away with that whistle. It helps that it's so flippin' hot these days that even Gertie is done running after 10 minutes. They mostly run, Gertie in the lead, Momo chasing. She'll run him around a copse of trees three times before Mo says, "heeeey, wait a minute," then he stops and waits for her to come around on the 4th trip and he pounces her. Then they run full speed to me and around another set of trees before they start rough housing, which is when I blow the whistle and they come running to me, almost wheezing. Mo gets to go for a swim while Gertie comes in with me for water and to die on the tile, tongue flapped out sliming up the floor with water and drool. Hubby slipped on it one day, lol. We're going to have to watch that - we're not That far from hip replacement age! I've also been Very much consciously praising the dogs for coming, even when they're in big trouble. Man-oh-man is it tough to override knee-jerk reactions by cheerily greeting instead of griping them out, but it sure does make a difference. Gertie especially is recalling better lately. BTW, Zuke's Minis are excellent for whistle training - they're tiny and I can speed feed without stuffing the pups full. It's just kind of wet work with all the slobber. :D