My dog ate my homework...

[KnottedYet]

Just a quick plug for the Canine Good Citizen classes: they are great! Lots of fun, dogs have a great time, and the training is basic stuff that you can really use later.

They also teach how to train the dog, so if you have a specific task you want the dog to learn later, you can figure out how to train it. (I trained my dog to run with me and stay where I want him, and to turn left or right when I call it out as we run, and to slow to a walk when I call it out. Keeps me from tripping over the dog or over the leash.)

[Torrilin]

Crates are great. Your dog needs her own space, just like a kid. And just like a little kid, she's gonna think her own room sucks at first. It's amazing how much a 6 month old puppy in a crate sounds like a 2 year old in their own room for the first time. Maybe she needs an old worn out shirt of yours in there, so she doesn't feel as alone. Or maybe put a favorite toy in the crate. A Lab or Lab mix probably would want a chew toy. Once the dog understands the crate is *their* space, they think it's great. My family's dog would hang out in his crate when he wanted to be left alone for naps, or when the kids were trying to play rougher than he wanted.

It is possible (and for some breeds a really good idea) to train your dog to walk on a lead with you on a bike. A greyhound really needs to go fast, and a lot of times bike training them is the only way you can safely let them go all out the way they need. It does take training, and isn't a good idea for every dog. But for a high energy dog, the longer and faster distances are good.

Some dogs btw are nearly incurable beggars. They tend to be *very* food motivated hungry critters. For that kind of dog, any treats outside of mealtime will reinforce the begging. If everyone in the household sticks to "no treats", you can get such a dog to stop begging. If there's even one soft touch, the dog will hit up anyone with food and beg. If you're having a family meal, the dog will hit people up in dominance order, starting with the least dominant person and moving up the food chain. If they strike out on everyone, they go back around.

[Torrilin]

Oh, and as a baseline, most dogs are around as smart as a 4 year old human. Training is not something we do to be mean, or boss our dogs around. Training is to protect them, because a 4 year old doesn't always have the ability to make good decisions. A lot of dog training is meant to give us ways to tell our dog what is safe to do and what isn't.

[Python]

Worst thing I ever lost to a dog was my specs. Our dogs have always slept in their own beds in our bedroom and we'd just got this new GSD rescue (this was about 20 years ago). She thought it was a good idea to munch my specs while we slept. All that was left in the morning were the lenses and the very chewed up frames They were my new specs too and I really liked the frames. Guess what. I couldn't get another pair of frames like them.

We had to give that dog back to the rescue centre because she had other serious issues that we just couldn't seem to overcome, like weeing all over the house, even in front of us and doing the other as well. What was the final straw was our other GSD and this dog took a dislike to each other. It was almost as if our Tara didn't like Sheba's misbehaviour. She got a good home with a farmer who's GSD has passed away through old-age. I heard a few weeks after we returned her to the rescue centre that she was she was enjoying the big outdoors and was a very happy doggie.

[TrekJeni]

[QUOTE=Trek420;206663]Thanks gals. Again, no professional anything or expertise like TrekJeni. [QUOTE]

Thanks Trek420. I'm a professional by definition but my usual asking price for judging assigments is some good beer!

Jeni

[HappyAnika]

We crate trained our lab for over a year from when she was about 5 months old. We had the luxury of my husband being able to go home at lunch to let her out on the days I was away for more than 6 hours (I was in grad school with a very flexible schedule and lots of working from home).

Before we started the crate training she chewed up hundreds of dollars in books and shoes.

She balked at the crate at first but definitely came to see it as her space. We started by feeding her in it, so she would associate the crate with a good thing, FOOD. Then she'd go in there for naps on her comfy blanket on her own while we were home. Soon it was no problem for her to run in there when we left the house. She began to associate keys with her crate so that if one of us picked up our keys, she'd run right into her crate, happy as a clam. All of this while our other, older, perfectly behaved dog got to wander the house and yard freely. The lab didn't seem to mind, she loved her crate.

[CyclChyk]

Have you gotten your baby rawhides or something similiar for her to "teethe" on?

Your post makes me laugh cuz last year I posted something similiar. We had recently gotten a boxer who has an affinity for clothing and shoes and my husband would always leave his bikes shorts etc laying on the floor where ever they fell. Or he'd leave the closet door open which basically told my new pup (I have 4 dogs) that the shoes where his for the taking (or should I say chewing?)

Rawhides and bones did not make my boxer want the clothing items less, but it did give him something to chew on so that he was not so adament about getting to our stuff. Socks and undies however are still a beacon to him tho.

I am a firm believer in crate training. Especially for potty training. Good luck!

[Aggie_Ama]

Hammer- I know you have gotten sound advice but I just wanted to say crate training is nerve racking but worth it. One of our dogs is a rescue and has a lot of trust issues. We trained her to stay behind a baby gate in her doggie bed in the laundry room. At first she would cry, throw the water everywhere and just be destructive of anything she could. Finally she learned it was not punishment and now I often find Maggie asleep in her "room".

She still whines and acts like she hates being in there before retreating to her bed. I know it is frustrating, but maybe you could try one more time before losing more expensive cycling gear?

[Jacki]

[QUOTE=KnottedYet;206684]A dog crate is a beautiful thing.

My dog was a rescue, and had major panic attacks over a crate that I guess felt too much like the cage at the pound. So no crate until he was about a year old. QUOTE]


I agree 100% with Knotted - my dog is a rescue too and had the same fear of crates - the vet said she even noticed metal scraping stains on his teeth from probably trying to bite his way out of whatever cage he was in - so we did the same thing, left the crate door open for him to go in and out as he pleased. Then when he became comfortable with being in it, we started shutting the door when we had to leave or when he goes to sleep at night. And now he's fine with it. If something scares him (like the smoke alarm etc) the first place he runs is into his crate. When he's not in his crate, i usually find him in other parts of the house laying in similar den like spots like under a table or inbetween the table and the couch etc. . . It seems our dogs have only gotten destructive when they feel insecure like when we're gone, so the crate gives them security.

j.