STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

JMR · Dooney & Bourke

Dog training question

mikacat · Coach

oh the joys of dog ownership!!
how is willie??

he seems cute.

maybe a scat mat where he jumps on the bed for a shock to him, put him in a crat or the bathroom at night or close your bedroom door.

JMR · Dooney & Bourke

I should add - he does sleep in our room with us - but in his own bed. We don't use a crate with him at all anymore - and he's been really good!

Mikacat - Willie is SOOO good...I absolutely LOVE having him here. I don't know how I lived without him. Micha loves him too - soooo much - they love EACHOTHER...which is hysterical cause Micha wanted nothing to do with the dog when we first found him...now, forget it - they are both in love with eachother.

mikacat · Coach

oh Jen--

that is so cute about Micha and Willie---i am glad they are fast friends---

Collette · Chanel

We're currently training our puppy to not jump on things. 2 things wer do, one when he jumps up we squirt him with a water pistol. It doesn't hurt him but he doesn't like it either. Then when he goes back on the floor he gets praise, a good boy and a treat. Eventually he'll catch on, bed, means squirt in face. On the floor means treat and pets.

luckylily · Gucci

What do you mean by aggressive?

If the dog is showing any aggression at all, I wouldn't let him up on the couch until that gets straightened out. Being on the couch is a priveledge that he should earn for good behavior. You can still love your dog and show him affection without having him on the couch. Particularly during a time when you are trying to establish yourself as a leader, if he's on the couch, he may be thinking he is on the same level as you.

If he jumps up on the bed and won't get down with a simple "Off" command, you can also just hook his leash on then give it a quick tug to encourage him to get off. Reward him when all 4 feet hit the ground.

I'm not against dogs being on the couch or bed, it just sounds like Willie isn't quite ready for that priveledge quite yet.

I'm glad you posted about him. Just yesterday I was wondering how things were going.

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

I train Guide Dogs, my mother is an animal behaviorist, and my sister is a dog trainer/vet tech. So, I think that I can offer some good advice.

1. Your dog should not be allowed on ANY furniture. Couch, chairs, bed, etc. One, because that is human territory, two, that puts him on your level. His behavior with your bed tells me that he is a dominant dog. If he were not, then he could be allowed on couches/beds/etc. But since he is, he shouldn't be allowed on any furniture. It sounds like he's a small dog, but that doesn't mean he isn't dominant. If he starts to feel that he is the dominant dog/person in the house, he will keep getting more aggressive.

2. Have him sleep in his crate. It's not cruel, in fact, dogs like their crates. For them, it mimics a cave, their own safe place. Dogs, like people, need their own private place where they can escape. Just make sure it's the right size.

3. When he gets up on the bed, don't say anything, don't lunge for him, don't chase him, don't make funny noises, don't say no. Put a drag line on him when you're getting close to bedtime (this can be a light nylon leash), and when he jumps on the bed just take the leash and correct him off the bed using the leash. This way it's not a game, you're not chasing him, and he will learn to get off the bed. If you see him going for the bed, you can step on the leash, preventing him from getting on the bed. The leash makes it so that this is not a personal struggle between you and the dog.

4. Since your dog is showing dominant behavior with the bed, I'm going to assume that he's probably showing dominant behavior with his toys, and maybe food, as well. If so, PM me, and I can tell you some simple ways to deal with that as well.

halleybird · Hermes

We allow our dogs on the bed but not the couch, LOL. I know trainers advise against it, but it is something that is important to us. We usually don't have a problem with keeping them off the couches. Just make sure you use the "off" command any time you catch him on there, especially when he is just getting on.

Also -- this trick worked for my stepmom: Get a couple of big plastic garbage bags filled with empty cans (soda cans work best...clean ones, obviously). Place them on the bed so that there's no way he can jump up there without hitting them. The noise from the cans is negative reinforcement for the dog. My stepmom only had to do this for a couple of weeks, and her dogs stopped trying to get on the furniture.

Deuce · Dooney & Bourke

I really recommend the squirt bottle. If I want to keep my dog off or out of something I just place the squirt bottle where she can see it and she avoids it. I think she realizes that and when we take the bottle away she leaves it.

My dog gets that obnoxious we are going to play whether you like it or not attitude sometimes. Catch him before he does it and startle him with your voice or the squirt. When you see him coming tell him go to bed (0r another command that he associate with his bed not yours) If he does make it up Do not get worked up at all. In a very firm voice tell him off one time if he doesnt listen you be the dominant one. I have had to tackle my dog and lay on top of her when she would not stop playing. Some dogs realize that being obnoxious gets them some kind of attention.

Good luck

let me know if you have any questions. I have very similar boundries for my dog and she is doing great. She knows couch is ok and that she has her own bed not mine. She even knows she is not allowed to go into certian rooms. It took consistency, and her getting older she is 2 now and seems to be getting much better about learning the limits.