franklinshauna

Unfortunately it's still going on. He does take treats from my hand again. I waited several days to start back up. He's not intimidated or anything if I just give him treats. The very second I try to put treat above his head to work on sit he cowers off to the corner and just sits and stairs at me. I cant seem to teach him anything but his name. Harley is very special to me as all our babies are, but he is truly my best friend. But...he just turned a year a few days ago and he is still unattainable or maybe it's me that is unatrainable. Unfortunatly, Harley rules our house. It's to bad the forum isn't set up for videos so I could show you what he does. Grrrr

Quick recap: Harley is a 7 pound Malshi (half shih tzu half Maltese and is 10 months old) So in trying the training technique I sat in front of him with a hot dog and was working on conditioning him to the clicker. Click treat, click treat ect...at first he ok, but after a couple times he would go and sit across the room from me and just stare at me. So I assumed he doesn't like the clicker. Day two: I sat down with hot dogs in my hand. He approached me and once he smelled the hot dogs he instantly went across the room and started at me. He associated the hot dogs with the clicker I presume. Day Three: no training Day Four: Tried switching the treats. I sat on the floor and he immediately went across the room and just stared at me. Tried again a few hours later this time I was standing up. He will not get close enough to me to take the treats. I tried tossing him the treats and he would barely take the treat. Once he would take the treat at a distance, I would say good boy and he will scatter away again. I first tried to not say anything and he would eat the treat and scatter. So I thought a good boy may help. Wrong. Harley is never fearful. I've never seen him cower or behave this way. Sometimes I have fed him wet food by had because he has time getting it off the plate. My senior fog gets wet food, so I always give Harley scoop or two. He did take the wet food from my hand no problem, but if he became fearful when it was Turkey or cheese which he loves . I do not want to use the wet food because I dont want him fearful of that too. Again, I have never seen Harley cower or be unsure of anything. He doesn't even get scared when he goes to the groomer or vet. Usually noises are of no bother in fact he chases the vacuum. Please advise. I have yet to have any amount of progress with Harley as this has become more difficult than I imagined. Help! I'm becoming discouraged and that I really suck at this dog stuff. :( I really wanted my husband to be impressed with him

Thank you both for taking the time to respond. I'm not overly worried about aggression because Harley is only 7 pounds. He is smaller than the other dogs and he doesn't attack them he just has very loud growls and in fact he starts to play rough with me when they approach. The worst time is when I get home. The problem is I take Harley everywhere so he is always with me. The other dogs prefer to stay home. They greet me at the door, but they are pretty calm because they are old. The instant I put Harley down he starts to growl and jump on the other dogs. I think if I VC were to walk in the house and Immediatly put Harley in another room, he wouldn't understand why he is there. If I continue to hold Harley while I pet the other dogs, he is completely fine and calm, but when I put him down he instantly becomes phsyco.

Oh my goodness. I have read this entire program and while I believe it could work, I have some questions. I have a 12 year old shih tzu, 8 year old basset hound and my trouble maker who 10 month old Malshi (half shit tzu half Maltese). His name is Harley Harley is a bully to the older dogs. He jumps on them, puts his legs on their backs, growls if they come near me. Even if Harley is on the couch resting (which is rare) and the other dog enters the room he will jump down to growl at them from a distance. I've read about the time. My question is if it happens on the other side of the room from me do I get up and go get him saying oops and putting him in time out? How long should time out be? Also, he barks at everything. Walks and car rides are difficult. I understand the desensitization and the behavior correcting. Harley goes everywhere with me. Our biggest issue is at the gas station or picking up my son from school. He is an absolute freak barking non stop. I have gotten to where I ignore it as he usually goes to the back of the SUV. Should I not take him for awhile until we get him out of this habbit. And last question. When I arrive home he is a bully to the other dogs. I've read the sections on that about ignoring him until he settles down ect. My issue is that he is with me. When I come inside I usually sit on the couch to greet the other two dogs and Harley goes phsyo growling and biting the other dogs. He isn't attacking them, but he is definitely not happy they are around me. He resource guards me like crazy. No other dog or even my husband is able to approach me with him getting excited. He doesn't get mean, but he gets hyper and growls and barks. He also does this if my husband and I are starting to talk. Harley belonged to my daughter, but she left for college. I work from home so I have been with him all day every day. He was given to us way to soon in my opinion. Harley is my buddy. He came to me a low time in my life. My daughter moved 3000 miles away and my dog of 14 years passed away. Harley is extremely important to me. He goes everywhere with me, but it he also causes a lot of stress for me. Where should I begin in this training course. He knows nothing except his name. I've taken him to see a professional, but that was $60.00 down the drain. Only advise I got was to ignore the barking. Oh did I mention, my husband sleeps days? My husband is not a big fan of Harley at this point, but I know that could change. He is a 7 pound dog, I mean how hard can this be? I will say his behavior is my fault. I've tried tried to give him what he wants every time he barks in order to keep him quiet. Please help.