Any Dog Trainers Here? Arni?

[Jade Tigress]

I seem to recall Arni is quite skilled at training. If it was someone else I apologize for the mix up.

As you all know I got a beautiful new *puppy*. A 70lb puppy with a territorial nature. As he's become more comfortable in his new home he's taken to barking aggressively at guests. I need to nip this asap.

He's enrolled in obedience school. We've been to one class, the trainer was on vacation last week, and our second class is tonight. So I will bring this matter up to him and ask for suggestions tonight. But I was hoping to get some feedback here as well on how to stop this bad behavior.

This dog is awesome, he loves me to death and doesn't bat an eye at other household members, but he'll bark at other guests even if they're regular visitors, and he's quite intimidating to them.

I don't believe he's had alot of exposure to other things before I got him, so I've been trying to expose him to alot of different things, taking him on walks etc, he was barking as passersby but he's getting much better about that as I work with him. I do crate him at night or if he'll be home alone for a while, and he loves his "bed", but I can't lock him up everytime we have guests come over. So I don't know how to handle the house thing with friends.

Thanks.

 

[Kacey]

I had a similar problem with Sable - I took him to training classes, and the trainer suggested that any time he did something I didn't like, I should have him do something inconsistent with whatever he was doing - for example, when he barked at or jumped on people who came in the house (or near the house, for barking) she told me to have him sit. Dogs don't multi-task well, and every time he sat, he stopped barking or jumping (and I've never seen him bark in any position but standing, either). Eventually, he quit barking at people unless they were really loud - and only when he's in the yard, not in the house - and quit jumping on them at all. I reinforced him a lot for doing what I said - giving him treats for sitting rather than trying to stop the barking and jumping - and it worked quite well.

His favorite treats are freeze-dried beef liver and Milk Bones, if that helps at all. The freeze-dried beef liver is really nice for training because the pieces are really small, can be chopped up further if need be, and don't require refrigeration, unlike any of the other small, soft treats I found for him.

 

[MA-Caver]

Taking the dog to a trainer is probably your best bet. There is a neat show on Animal Planet called "Me Or The Dog" and the lady has lots of tips on how to handle "problem" dogs.
You have to establish to your dog first and foremost that YOU are in charge. You are the alpha female and you S/O is the alpha male and that your new addition has it's place in the den hierarchy. Your house is your "den" , your family is the "pack". As alphas you set up the rules and let be known what is or isn't acceptable behavior. The aggressive barking is defense of the den and warning alarm to the other pack members.
Still, Pam you can let your puppy know that there are other ways for it to notify you or your S/O that there is someone at the door. You must be firm and consistent with whatever you find that works to stop the dog barking immediately, a loud "NO!" or a quiet (but firm) "no" is probably preferable anyway. If there's disobedience then removing the dog from the area (taking away privileges to smell new scents of the visitors) sort of like a time out room.
How-ever you do it establish control and maintain control, train the dog and work with the dog... even 15 minutes a day (but the longer the better) in obedience training with YOU (and your S/O) will establish a better relationship. And honestly speaking your dog will love you for it all the more.

hope this helps.

 

[arnisador]

I seem to recall Arni is quite skilled at training. If it was someone else I apologize for the mix up.

Close! That's my wife, not me--her sister is one of the better-known dog trainers in the U.S. and my wife is also pretty knowledgeable.

This dog is awesome, he loves me to death and doesn't bat an eye at other household members, but he'll bark at other guests even if they're regular visitors, and he's quite intimidating to them.

You don't want to completely damp this behaviour because a barking dog is a great deterrent to burglars! Some barking at strange things is probably good. It is probably more a matter of being protective of you and "his" family than being territorial, I'd guess.

You might try establishing a routine where you give him 10 seconds to bark, then give him a big "thank-you" hug and praise him to show the protection is appreciated, then put him off elsewhere. (When you play with him and teach him tricks, hug and praise him similarly, with treats, so he learns this is a positive thing.) Associate specific word/phrase with it (like a cheerful "That's all!"). When he stops barking, let him back; if he starts barking again, send him away. If you have a couple of people to play the stranger for you patiently then you should be able to teach him that it's OK to bark at new things, but when you give the signal he should stop. With time you'll get the barking to down to a quick few barks and then he'll be looking for his praise...hopefully. Every dog is different!

 

[Xue Sheng]

You could always ask Lisa... I mean she did train Chew afterall...didn't she?

 

[aedrasteia]

Jade

hope this helps. its a little long but....

Arnisador - your sister-in-law is Pat Miller???!!! WOW!! She is great - a terrific trainer/writer. Makes smart sense - uses CLICKER TRAINING Go here:
www.peaceablepaws.com Wonderful website.

The Power of Positive Dog Training (available on Amazon, used too - not expensive

Jade - Pat Miller is really good. She is one of the best and she applies the ideas that are presented here:

www.dog-obedience-training-review.com/clicker-dog-training.html

Kacey - Your trainer's suggestion about training to sit is right on target - sometimes we call it 'training an incompatable behavior" or counter-training. And it worked!! Combining the tiny reward (mix up the flavors) with clickandpraise and adding more incompatible behaviors (down-stay; defined greeting behavior(roll-over, offer paw, sit-up) and then transitioning to all hand signals... It looks like magic to visitors and friends but its gradually built 'behavior chains'. I gradually 'fade out' the clicker, 'fade in' the hand signals and amazing stuff happens. And I keep up unexpected occasional Big Surprise rewards for good behavior. This really works.

Jade and everyone - The dog-obedience review site is a huge resource and the page on Clicker training is one of the best - it has 3 videos of dogs and trainers using clicker training so you can see it in action (Pat Miller uses clicker training).
Watching these is better than any explanation I can do here - reading Pat's book or anything by Karen Pryor gets to the point fast.

The "Mother of All (clicker) Dog Training" is Karen Pryor
www.clickertraining.com

Her books are unbeatable the web site is huge and a great resource.

Don't Shoot the Dog: the New Art of Teaching and Training available cheap, used on Amazon. Funniest smartest and best book on teaching/training any animals - including people. Solid science - positive outcomes. I've given away many copies over the years.

Karen Pryor was a trainer of dolphins and other sea world type animals - animals you can't use conventional 'punishment training' on. They just ignore you and they are huge animals swimming - what to do to get them to do interesting things? From those expereinces comes the training ideas that really work. And she is incredibly funny and smart to read or hear.

And the training is really all about us - once you get it, the dogs are pretty manageable. Animals with serious behavior/agression/fear problems need the work of a skilled trainer but ordinary companions respond to this really fast - plus you can do lots more fun stuff.

And it works on kids, teen-agers and family members. I know, I know... but I've been more successful with this stuff than anything I've ever encountered before. And I learned about it from the most amazing middle school teachers I've ever seen - who had classes of all kinds of kids who were great to be around. What i learned from watching them made me get the training stuff from Karen Pryor. The teachers used different kinds of 'signal' rewrds - not clickers - but the basics were solid. Results were right there to be seen - no abstract-theoretical mumbo-jumbo.

I'm the designated trainer for ours over the years - all rescues/adoptees: G.shepherd; Husky/shepherd mix; Rotweiller/black Lab mix; current yellow Lab/Bull terrier mix.

Basic behaviors include sit/down, stay (extended), heel (on and off lead),
Alert/Guard, play, fetch, drop and leave-it (dangerous things), come, in (for safe loading in or out of vehicles, yards, doors, etc).

Most of these are both voice and hand signaled - all clicker trained.

check out Pat Miller and Karen Pryor.

 

[arnisador]

http://www.peaceablepaws.com/The Power of Positive Dog Training

My son is in her first book, holding one of her dogs. But the advice above is my own, modified by years of listening to the advice of my wife (who always consults her sister when the going gets tough!).

 

[MA-Caver]

You could always ask Lisa... I mean she did train Chew afterall...didn't she?

Actually I think it's Chew that's been training Lisa. You don't train a Chew you just hope they turn their aggression on to someone else.

 

[jks9199]

Someone beat me to the comment about Chew training Lisa...

But I'll run this by my wife; she's definitely a critter person and will probably have some good advice.

 

[terryl965]

You could always ask Lisa... I mean she did train Chew afterall...didn't she?

Well you like walking on thin ice don't you!!!

 

[Xue Sheng]

Well you like walking on thin ice don't you!!!

Just as long as I am hidden deep within my bunker in a locked room locked in the vault hiding behind a filing cabinet wearing my Groucho glasses...yes... I am EXTREMLEY brave here.

 

[Jade Tigress]

You all are funny. Fear the Chew!!!!

Class went well tonight. Zeus is learning, he did fairly well. He does bark at other dogs and people in class but I get him to sit and lay down for good periods of time while the trainer is speaking. Oh! And at the suggestion of the trainer, I have a bottle of "Bitter Apple" and if he doesn't quiet I give him a shot of the icky tasting stuff in the mouth.

The trainer also suggested using the leash inside the house when guests arrive, and as has been suggested, make him sit. (We use a training collar when he's on the leash). I'd been doing that outside on walks anyway, making him sit if he starts barking *aggressively* at other people or dogs, then continuing once he's calmed down. But the house is a different story.

I will take all of the suggestions into account. I really like Arni's suggestion of "thanking" him for his protection, then letting him know "that's enough" and removing him if he persists.

I have already had guests give him treats and that helps. I will also look at the links aedrasteia provided. The trainer for our class did mention clickers but he isn't using them with us.

I love "It's Me or the Dog". I don't get to see it often enough but you can really learn some great training tips from it.

Basically I have a very large puppy with a territorial nature, a deep bark, and an intimidating appearance. He has yet to actually growl at anyone and I know he's not be *aggressive, aggressive*.

The thing is, if guests act hesitant or scared it seems to rile him up more. When I went to get him, he barked like that at me when I entered. But I wasn't scared, I respect dogs I don't know no matter what their size, but I can also read their body language and could see he was *all bark*. His ears weren't back, his tail wasn't tucked, he wasn't showing his way back molars, small hackles. He ended up quieting quickly. But how do you tell someone else, "just don't be scared, he's all bark" ?

I'll be working with him and will keep you posted on his progress. :asian:

 

[jks9199]

Someone beat me to the comment about Chew training Lisa...

But I'll run this by my wife; she's definitely a critter person and will probably have some good advice.

I asked my better half... she has questions.

Is Zeus on a leash when guests come over? If not, you might try that.

Is he getting wound up and excited when people come over? If so -- they don't come in until you calm him down.

When you're walking or out, she suggests correcting him immediately if he's barking inappropriately.

 

[Jade Tigress]

I asked my better half... she has questions.

Is Zeus on a leash when guests come over? If not, you might try that.

Is he getting wound up and excited when people come over? If so -- they don't come in until you calm him down.

When you're walking or out, she suggests correcting him immediately if he's barking inappropriately.

He hasn't been on a leash previously but that is something the trainer suggested last night too. So I will do that next time.

I do correct him immediately when we're out for a walk. I make him sit and once he's sitting and quiet we continue.

Thanks for the tips.