Stitch appears to be a pretty smart dog...she is just excitable. She LOVES people. A little apprehensive around strange men, but takes to women no problem.
She is easily distracted when outside.
She LOVES other dogs too, and wants nothing more than to play with them. She met the next door neighbors golden retriever last night, and she just wanted to run and play.
Perhaps I will get her a long lead and bring her to Chris' house so she can play with Kimber. Both are friendly, run and jump type dogs.
She knows the sit command, but it takes 2 or 3 tries if she is excited, so we need to work on that.
She needs to learn down, stay and heel. Those will come after she gets sit right.
She pees outside, but for some reason she prefers to poop on newspaper inside. That needs to change.
Crate training her will help. 99% of all dogs won't defecate where they sleep, and if she associates her crate with sleep, she will learn how to hold it.
She has major seperation anxiety, but it's not destructive, which is good.(Meaning she doesn't trash the house or anything)
Instead she just whines and barks. That is easily solved. The bark control collar comes in tomorrow. Basically, it's a little electronic collar that emits a high pitch frequency only she can hear if she whines loudly or barks.
The frequency hurts her ears, but causes no permanent damage. She will learn that barking/whining loud causes her discomfort and will stop barking. Apparently these collars work great for dogs that bark a lot.
Some people think that it's mean to use them, but it is harmless and compared to the shock collars or clipping the dog's vocals, a humane way of stopping the barking.
The Pinch Collar taught her to stop pulling on her leash REAL fast. It looks like a torture device...but it is better than the alternative. Pulling on the lead can cause permanent muscle and neck damage. This gives her a pinch is she pulls, with no permanent affect. Within 5 minutes she stopped pulling. She fights me when I try to put it on, so every time I put it on I give her a treat. She is starting to associate the collar with getting a treat, and fights less.
The dog training book I picked up, "Dog training for Dummies", is quite helpful in making me understand why she does what she does.
It teaches you MANY things that people overlook when training their dog. Simple things like why some dogs think it is ok to jump on people. We'll take Chris' dog as an example. Kimber jumps on EVERYONE to greet them, and everyone she jumps on gives her attention. In her mind, jumping=attention. It's that simple.
If everyone she jumped on ignored her until she was calm, THEN gave her attention, she would lose the jumping habit.
There's MANY things that make your dog think she is "top dog" that everyone overlooks.
Most people don't notice either.
1: Your dog brings you his rope toy and drops it in your lap. You play with him. No big deal right? WRONG. He is TELLING you he wants to play, and you are telling him he is in charge by playing on command. To him, that makes him in charge.
2: Your dog brings his bowl to you and drops it in front of you. He is telling you he is hungry. Most people would feed him. WRONG! The Alpha eats BEFORE the subordinants. By feeding him before you and your family, he assumes he is Alpha.
3: He runs to the door and whines, so you take him for a walk. WRONG! He is telling you "I want to go for a walk, take me now!" That makes him think he's in charge.
Granted, he may have to go to the bathroom, BUT, as an adult dog, he should be able to hold it until you take him out.
The main rule is ALPHAS ARE ALWAYS FIRST! They get the best sleeping spots, they get the best food, they enter/exit first. Once Stitch's crate comes in, she is going to sleep in it when I am asleep, so that she stops sleeping on my bed. Letting her sleep on my bed is not a good habit, but if I lock her out of my room, she whines and cries. (That will change too)
And there are simple training tips that people don't understand either. Like if your dog has an accident on the rug, and you yell at him mid-poop. He doesn't associate the act of pooping as a bad thing. He associates doing it in front of you as bad...so he'll start leaving "presents" behind the couch or chair.
Simple mistakes that often lead to people thinking their dogs are hopeless.
Man, I miss reading. I love learning stuff I didn't know.
-KOS
She is easily distracted when outside.
She LOVES other dogs too, and wants nothing more than to play with them. She met the next door neighbors golden retriever last night, and she just wanted to run and play.
Perhaps I will get her a long lead and bring her to Chris' house so she can play with Kimber. Both are friendly, run and jump type dogs.
She knows the sit command, but it takes 2 or 3 tries if she is excited, so we need to work on that.
She needs to learn down, stay and heel. Those will come after she gets sit right.
She pees outside, but for some reason she prefers to poop on newspaper inside. That needs to change.
Crate training her will help. 99% of all dogs won't defecate where they sleep, and if she associates her crate with sleep, she will learn how to hold it.
She has major seperation anxiety, but it's not destructive, which is good.(Meaning she doesn't trash the house or anything)
Instead she just whines and barks. That is easily solved. The bark control collar comes in tomorrow. Basically, it's a little electronic collar that emits a high pitch frequency only she can hear if she whines loudly or barks.
The frequency hurts her ears, but causes no permanent damage. She will learn that barking/whining loud causes her discomfort and will stop barking. Apparently these collars work great for dogs that bark a lot.
Some people think that it's mean to use them, but it is harmless and compared to the shock collars or clipping the dog's vocals, a humane way of stopping the barking.
The Pinch Collar taught her to stop pulling on her leash REAL fast. It looks like a torture device...but it is better than the alternative. Pulling on the lead can cause permanent muscle and neck damage. This gives her a pinch is she pulls, with no permanent affect. Within 5 minutes she stopped pulling. She fights me when I try to put it on, so every time I put it on I give her a treat. She is starting to associate the collar with getting a treat, and fights less.
The dog training book I picked up, "Dog training for Dummies", is quite helpful in making me understand why she does what she does.
It teaches you MANY things that people overlook when training their dog. Simple things like why some dogs think it is ok to jump on people. We'll take Chris' dog as an example. Kimber jumps on EVERYONE to greet them, and everyone she jumps on gives her attention. In her mind, jumping=attention. It's that simple.
If everyone she jumped on ignored her until she was calm, THEN gave her attention, she would lose the jumping habit.
There's MANY things that make your dog think she is "top dog" that everyone overlooks.
Most people don't notice either.
1: Your dog brings you his rope toy and drops it in your lap. You play with him. No big deal right? WRONG. He is TELLING you he wants to play, and you are telling him he is in charge by playing on command. To him, that makes him in charge.
2: Your dog brings his bowl to you and drops it in front of you. He is telling you he is hungry. Most people would feed him. WRONG! The Alpha eats BEFORE the subordinants. By feeding him before you and your family, he assumes he is Alpha.
3: He runs to the door and whines, so you take him for a walk. WRONG! He is telling you "I want to go for a walk, take me now!" That makes him think he's in charge.
Granted, he may have to go to the bathroom, BUT, as an adult dog, he should be able to hold it until you take him out.
The main rule is ALPHAS ARE ALWAYS FIRST! They get the best sleeping spots, they get the best food, they enter/exit first. Once Stitch's crate comes in, she is going to sleep in it when I am asleep, so that she stops sleeping on my bed. Letting her sleep on my bed is not a good habit, but if I lock her out of my room, she whines and cries. (That will change too)
And there are simple training tips that people don't understand either. Like if your dog has an accident on the rug, and you yell at him mid-poop. He doesn't associate the act of pooping as a bad thing. He associates doing it in front of you as bad...so he'll start leaving "presents" behind the couch or chair.
Simple mistakes that often lead to people thinking their dogs are hopeless.
Man, I miss reading. I love learning stuff I didn't know.
-KOS