New participant, have some questions

[LauraEmmer]

Hi, I just purchased your program for help with my two dogs.

Max, a 7 y/o neutered male Doberman and Star, a 5 y/o spayed female Standard Poodle.

 

I just read through the target training and no further, so maybe my questions would be answered later.

However, if you can help a bit that would be awesome.

Both our dogs went to obedience training and good citizen as pups.

I practice sit, stay, down, wait, walk, often with them.

They do well with these commands.

Star will constantly look at my eyes waiting for the next instruction, but Max is usually looking out in space.

I can get him to look at my eyes for a second, but with effort.

(He just follows Star where ever she goes; easier for him.)

 

My problem is

 

Star turns deaf when a car, squirrel, bird, bunny comes into view and I call her.

She goes nuts barking and trying to get through the glass door, and if the deck door is open, she flies.

(We have an invisible fence, so she is safe and contained, but the barking has gotten us/them in trouble with neighbors.)

 

If we are taking them anywhere in the car, I can get them to “wait” while I put on their leashes, but the moment they are out of the car is impossible to manage them, unless I have a pinch collar on them. I generally use these only for walks.

 

Max hates dogs. (He barely passed good citizen because of this.)

We have an RV and want to take the dogs with us down south this winter, but are concerned with dogs coming into our site unrestricted by their owners.

 

If we are not home, Star's barking is very annoying. (We have a nanny cam which advises us if a car comes or if the dogs bark.)

Our main concern is leaving the dogs in the RV to go eat or visit a non-dog friendly place and they causing a disturbance.

 

So, that’s it.

 

Please let me know if your course will help me with these problems.

I await your answer, and in the meantime, we will practice “target”.

Thank you

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello Laura,

Welcome to the forum!

I will try to answer all your questions. They are all great questions by the way.

 

Following the obedience and braining training course in order is a good idea, however, if there are more pressing issues going on, it's OK to jump around a bit and go off the beaten path. I would suggest to therefore visit the archive for some solutions to some common doggy problems and move up to some of the more advanced brain games for now, although it's important to implement the rest as it's fundamental to tackle the very root causes of many behavior issues which often stem from a need for more bonding between dog and owner, a need for better impulse control and outlets for unfulfilled mental stimulation.

 

Several of the issues you are listing appear to be due to the influence between one dog and another. Each dog feeds off the other dog's emotions and this can put a big dent into any progress made in training. The fact that Max is unable to focus on you for too long, and looks at your other dog for directions, is highly suggestive that he's more in tune with your other dog than with you. It's very important to change this.

 

Walking two dogs together is not easy. Each dog feeds off each other's stress/excitement/arousal and there is little space left for calm. It is therefore a good idea to take a step back and train each dog individually at first at least until you have reached a level of control and fluency. This would entail training each dog separately and also walking each dog separately at first. If you have another family member invested in training, he/she can help you out and you can each take turns training each individual dog. Then once, they each appear to have attained fluency, you can then move on to add the distraction of them being together and therefore you can practice all the exercises practiced thus far with them together.

 

Now, if your dog gives deaf ears when she sees a squirrel/bird/bunny, your dog is over threshold. He is not at the level of cognitively functioning because his senses are in overdrive and the recall has not reached that level of proficiency yet. Calling him when he doesn't answer like that, risks burning your recall.

 

I suggest practicing the below brain games using a smacking sound and making the response to it extra fluid, and then preparing setups (have a helper wiggle a stuffed bunny animal tied to a string around the yard while your dog is kept on leash at a bit farther distance from the window). I would suggest not keeping the deck door open as this allows rehearsal of the problematic animal-chasing behavior.

 

Here is how to train a strong response to the smacking sound:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/preschool/look-into-my-eyes/

 

And here is how to practice this to get his attention away from the window (while a helper wiggles a stuffed animal around or use a flying bird decoy)

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

 

This read may turn helpful as it discusses the "leave it" cue and threshold levels applied to dog in predatory drive:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/attacking-small-animals/

And this discusses predatory behavior:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/chasing-things/

 

For your dog disliking other dogs, consider that walking him separate from your other dog is important until he is better under control. His reactivity is likely influencing your other dog and this leads to excessive pulling. Here is a guide on the behavior modification necessary to tackle this kind of problem:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/attacking-dogs-walks/

 

About the RV, I am afraid there is not much you can do with unrestrained dogs. Hopefully, people will obey leash laws. If you are on a walk and unrestrained dogs are coming your way, you can try an emergency u-turn. Practice it before hand for better results.

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/

 

A reduction in barking in the RV should be seen if you walk your dogs and provide brain games before hand. I am not sure how large your dogs are, but crating them with a stuffed Kong may keep them busy. A blanket over the crate may help calm them. Try to park away from other people or dogs or noisy areas. Playing some white noise like a radio or tv may help sometimes. Find a station with calm music. Make sure your dog's don't have access to windows as looking out may trigger barking. Pull the curtains away or block acces to them. Of course, make sure the A/C stays on if it's hot. You may have to check with the RV park rules though on keeping dogs unattended in the RV. I am not really familiar with them as I never travel with an RV but they may have rules to adhere to.

 

While these are some general tips and solutions for some of the issues your dogs are facing, changing dog behavior requirs a multi-faceted approach. This means you will have to implement brain games and obedience exercises to obtain the best results so that your dog's predatory drives/natural instincts are channelled and you can attain better impulse control. It's therefore important to try to follow the whole course if possible so to take an integrative approach and tackle the root causes of many behavior and training challenges.

 

I hope this helps. Happy training!

Best regards,

Adrienne

Edited June 8, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli