New Housemate & Puppy Problems!

[Tacoheki]

Hi everyone

My new house mate and her puppy moved in on Friday, and her and I need some tips and ideas to train the dog.

Here is some history. Dog is a 5 month old blue heeler/corgi/JRT (and yes, he is strange looking!), his name is Stay. Stay was purchased from a BYB at 5weeks old by house mate's ex boyfriend (yes, she knows it was a bad idea now). Since getting him, house mate has lived in a 1 bedroom unit with no yard, so Stay has been inside with house mate pretty much 24/7, except when house mate is at work.

He has had no formal training (which he will be getting soon), but here is a list of things we need to work on.

-barking

-mouthing

-sooking

-manners

-dog socialisation

-basic training etc

The current main problem is his barking. He barks aaaaallll the time! Before house mate moved in, we had Stay out here a few times, and he was good as gold with me, no carrying on etc. We also changed his routine at the unit so it wouldn't be such a big adjustment. But now that Stay is out in the yard (and still getting plenty of attention - when he is quiet only) he still howls, barks and whinges pretty much constantly.

If anyone has an idea that we can try to teach Stay that barking isn't the way to get attention both house mate and I would be forever grateful.

Sorry about the long post.

Erin

[mopmop]

Hi Phoenix,

it's nice to know someone who live in Ballarat as well

Things like barking and howls usually happen when a dog who used to be inside all the time. I think Stay is just looking for more attention. Therefore everytime Stay Barks or Howls, Just give the "no" command that you usually used for your other dogs.

HOwever since Stay is your Housemate's puppy, The most important things is teaching your housemate how to train Stay.

How is Stay behaving with your other dogs? do they play together?

[ish]

Is he getting plenty of exercise? The breeds he's made up of are quite active dogs which means he should be too. Obviously don't over do it for his age, but a tired dog is usually a quiet dog

[Tacoheki]

Thanks for the replies. Stay is very active, but is also getting plenty of exercise. He loves chasing my kelpies around, and wrestling with my beagle. He also loves his frisbee, and just general investigating of the yard. As my house mate only moved in on friday, as you can imagine she is still trying to sort out all her things and clean up her old unit, so we havent had a chance to take him for a walk around here yet.

[mopmop]

Thats a good start already.

What I Most worry to have a new dog in the house is about the dog fighting..

[Tacoheki]

Yeah I must admit that I worry about that too. Especially with Stay having missed so much socialization being taken from his mum so young. But he does seem to respond to be growled at, and having teeth bared at him. My dogs dont have 'fighty' personalities I guess you would say. They are just very much happy to be left alone by other dogs, so they prefer to walk away.

[dunnwarren]

Try squirting him with a water bottle every time he barks,, if you can do it where he cant see you. Take him for a walk around the lake,,, bet that would tire him out,(joke). Apart from that why not take him to obedience in Victoria Park, I'm sure they have a puppy class.

[Tacoheki]

He actually likes the squirty bottle. He thinks its a game. He will be going to obedience ASAP, but we want to start working on his barking immediately

[Poodle wrangler]

Have you considered an antibark collar in addition to the other training and behaviour mods you're doing? Just for outside?

I know they're not suitable to be left on for more than 8 hours at a time, so not sure if it would be suitable?

Maybe someone more experienced can advise if it would help?

I found the ultrasonic type useless, so either a spray or ecollar type?

[Flaves]

I was just about to ask about training.

Is he getting enough mental stimulation.

My jrt barks when she plays.

It drives me INSANE and i hate to think what my neighbours think

She gets enough training and play time, it is her.

However if it is ALL the time maybe stay needs something to do to occupy his mind instead of his voice.

[Erny]

FIRST you need to work out what the cause of the barking is. This is important as without knowing or understanding the cause, you could apply treatment methods that could in fact render the problem worse.

For example, you've mentioned the dog is used to being with someone 24/7. All of a sudden, the dog is not with someone 24/7. So, there is room for the possibility that the dog is feeling anxious at being without someone there. Applying treatment methods such as anti-bark collars or other aversives is unlikely to reduce the dog's anxiety .... in fact, it can produce the opposite result.

Another example - perhaps the dog's barking behaviour is the result of attention seeking without the presence of dependance anxiety. If the dog barks and you look or speak to the dog, even if only to verbally reprimand it, the dog has received attention and its goal is (at least partially) met. This would cause the dog to keep trying - for some dogs any attention (good or bad) is better than no attention. The same or similar could apply if the cause is boredom.

If you only treat the symptom and not the cause, you could find the 'cause' manifesting and producing more or other undesirable behaviours.

So you can see from here that it is quite necessary to work out what the cause is before you try the application of some of the aversives mentioned here.

Regardless of cause and treatment, leadership (ie yours) is always an essential. :rolleyes:

Edited March 27, 2008 by Erny