terrain_racer

My girlfriend has a dog that is need of some training. She doesn't have the money to send it to school so she is looking to do some training on her own. We are looking for some recomendations on books that we can read to help out.

The biggest problem we are having right now is that it has a bad temper. She got shut out of the art studio while were in there and she chewed a pair of shoes out of spite. She crapped in the living room this morning for seemingly no reason. Destroyed a pair of my sandals because I ran her out of the kitchen for begging. She knows that what she is doing wrong because she hides when we find one of her presents. We have never beat her or anything like that though it is possible the previous owners did.

She is a 1.5 year old Husky/German Sheppard/Jackass mix. My girlfriend has had her for about 6 months.

Any suggestions for books or advice are welcome.

lurkette

Advice: put your shoes where the dog can't reach them.

Seriously, two good books to try are "Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson - good insight into dog behavior and, for lack of a better word, psychology; and "Clicker Training With Your Dog" - can't remember the author but they have it at Petsmart. It's based a lot on basic learning theory and behaviorism. We have a very willful and unmotivated chow mix and she's been fairly easy to train with what we learned in these books.

I have to say, though, that you need to forget about this "for spite" stuff. The dog chewed the shoes because she was bored and anxious. Dogs don't have the same motivations people do - they basically understand fear, prey instinct, boredom, and hunger. They're not vindictive (she didn't chew your shoes because you ran her out of the kitchen - she just chewed your shoes and you supplied the reasoning after the fact). And she doesn't know what she's doing is wrong - dogs don't get "wrong" - she only knows that you yell when she does X, where X seems perfectly reasonable behavior to her. Sounds like she needs some chew toys - basted rawhide is good - and some basic confidence training. Provide more attractive chewing objects for her and she's likely to leave your shoes alone; get her to be more comfortable with separation and she'll quit being anxious when left alone.

Don't forget that the most important part of training a dog is training the dog's owner(s) how to think like a dog. Yelling over bad behavior rarely discourages the bad behavior - it just makes the dog afraid of you. Also, a 1.5 year old dog is still technically an "adolescent" dog - she's going to have a few behavior issues that are likely to dissipate with age. Reward good behavior - give her the rawhide chews and when she pays any attention to them at all, give her treats and praise her lavishly. The clicker training book has really good tips for how to encourage good behaviors and how to "extinct" bad behaviors. Good luck!

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zfleebin

I wouldnt suggest a book because I think only behaviorism books fully exlpain trainining to you. Go to a petsmart or the like and go through one class and if you pay attention you will get the gist. a couple tips
1. stop saying 'no' if it doesnt work now its because you have used it too much and the dog knows he doesnt have to pay attention to it. So try something else(any word will do) and whenever you say it make sure your intonation is the exact same. It has to be forceful, quick, a little bit loud but always the same even if your sleepy.
2. get a bag of little treats(I prefer liver treats like "training rewards) but make sure they are small and soft. when I say small I mean nobigger than a pencils eraser. When the dog does something appropriate say good girl first and then give her a treat(always do it in that order with as small amount of time in between the two as possible) also be consistent always say the same thing the same way.
3. anything you dont want chewed on needs to be out of her reach( theres no excuses the dog has impulses just like you and me and has less self control.
4. When the dog sees you pick up the poop take it outside or wherever is appropriate and let her see where it is. DO NOT EVER STICK HER FACE IN THE POOP. Hardcore punishment leads to the dog fearing you and spiting you.
5. If you need anything else post me a PM I am slow but I am a psychology student working on behaviorism and I have a 11month old beagle who has been through two advanced classes with a professional trainer.
Good Luck

Leviathan[NCV]

Think of the dog as a child. Chances are your parents gave you a wupin now and then for doing one thing or another, and over time, chances are it corrected your behavior (even if not the first time). No, I am NOT advocating abuse, in any way, I'm simply saying that proper disciplin practices can have great rewards. Chances are the dog will only need to be corrected once or twice, after which he/she will know when they have done something wrong simply by your tone/body language. As lurkette said, yelling excessively, as with any disciplinary action will do nothing but make the dog afraid of you, so be patient! This is only my view on the issue, and what has worked for me and those who I know. Remote shock collars can be a great tool for helping train your dog, consistance is a must. You may wish to do some research on classical conditioning for more information on the issue.

Edit:
An extremely good friend of mines dog, as well as my dog have been handled in such a manner, and have turned out to be incredible dogs. We can leave a garbage can sitting out, with a giant piece of steak sitting on top and he will not touch it. Unless he is absolutely desperate, he will not go in the house. And you will have to work hard to find happier or more loving dogs.


Best of luck.

lurkette

Just my $.02 but I think shock collars should be the last resort - if regular training classes don't work, and you've tried choke chains and the dog still has serious behavior problems, then you might try a shock collar. But I think this is a philosophical difference more than anything else - I prefer to start with reward-based training before I try aversion training.

I also agree that a class will probably be much more useful than a book, but the Jean Donaldson book I recommended is very useful just for understanding dog behavior and the basic principles involved in training dogs. A good foundation, especially for training and conditioning dogs with problem behaviors.

__________________
"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

Minx

Please, my own opinion, no shock collars, no wumpin's.
They are intelligent creatures and just like little kids....you leave a three year old in a room for more than a split second and they don't like that - then you get purple marker on your carpet (heh heh).
They learn and live like kids...no one is perfect and some, unfortunatley, are just trouble-makers.
I am just lucky, I suppose that my dog (Shep cross) is the sweetest, most loyal, laid back dog I've ever had. He is so much a family member I really think I should be able to claim him on my taxes!
Sorry...got off track.....as far as training goes. Barbara Woodward has a few good ideas. My own way of thinking....teach them who the alpha dog is....(um by the way, that's you!) because they still, no matter how domesticated, think in the pack aspect. You are the boss....that never means you have to hit them (that is a nasty human trait) but you have to develop the "pecking order".

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