I need dog training advice...

[Julie in CA]

I have a sweet 2 1/2 year old lab. She's eager to please, and fairly quick to learn. She's trained well (according to our standards :001_smile:) except for two areas:

#1. She barks when strangers come, which I like, but then I can't get her to quiet down while we talk or visit. Ordinarily, I can tell her to "rest", and she'll find a place to settle quietly, but not when I stand on the porch and try to talk to someone. How can I teach her that her watchdog job is done for the moment?

 

#2. All of my dc are older, and I'm not sure how to help her behave more gently around small children. She doesn't jump on anyone, including little ones, but she does get very excited and start tearing around the yard at full blast, eventually running right over the small child. We have a huge yard, so it's got to be purposeful when she does this. We rarely have little people here, and it's a behavior I don't know how to control during the rare instances when we do. It's really the only time that I see her looking out-of-control.

 

Thanks,

Julie (and Lila)

[anissa]

Would more socialization help? Maybe taking walks through a park? Perhaps if she gets use to strangers and children she'll calm down.

[hornblower]

1) you need to train a CHILL behaviour. I like to do it using a mat because mats themselves become a cue & are easy & portable. A mat can be just a thin piece of blanket, a towel, anything like that.

 

You train it when there is NO exciting stuff happening. The real important thing to understand is that this is not an obedience exercise, it's a relaxation exercise.

 

During this entire exercise you will move slowly, your arms will be quite still, you will talk in a quiet, calm voice. Think monks & nuns & meditative retreat, OK. CALM.....

 

The whole protocol is written out here:

http://dogscouts.org/Protocol_for_relaxation.html

 

The mat isn't written as part of the protocol but it's an amendment developed by trainer Leslie McDevitt & it really helps by anchoring the dog.

 

In the meantime, I would not allow her to practice this behaviour. If you have guests coming to chat on the porch, either put her in a room with a toy or a stuffed kong, or leash her & keep her near you in a sit. Reward heavily when she's calm.

 

One of the problems with this situation & your 2nd situation is that it's hard to train & deal with guests at the same time. You need to either set up training sessions with 'fake' guests, or be really good at meeting the needs of your dog while the real guests are there.

 

2) do not let her run loose with kids. She's getting over aroused. Keep her leashed with you. Get a sit from her, reward & then go to the yard & run slowly a bit with her. Then stop & ask for a sit. What you want to do is install an 'off' switch in her & help her be able to calm down.

If you go here: http://www.askdryin.com/dog_movies.php & check out

"Rewarding Calm Behaviour" Part I & II - those tips would help. You would do similar exercises in the presence of the things that trigger her.

 

Also, set her up for success by making sure she is well exercised before company comes over. That age & breed needs a lot of exercise - swimming, running, fetching ball over a large terrain. Tire her body with exercise, tire her brain by training obedience & tricks, give her mental stimulation by playing good games or tracking challenges & she should be a bit calmer around company.

[Julie in CA]

1) you need to train a CHILL behaviour. I like to do it using a mat because mats themselves become a cue & are easy & portable. A mat can be just a thin piece of blanket, a towel, anything like that.

 

You train it when there is NO exciting stuff happening. The real important thing to understand is that this is not an obedience exercise, it's a relaxation exercise.

 

During this entire exercise you will move slowly, your arms will be quite still, you will talk in a quiet, calm voice. Think monks & nuns & meditative retreat, OK. CALM.....

 

The whole protocol is written out here:

http://dogscouts.org/Protocol_for_relaxation.html

 

The mat isn't written as part of the protocol but it's an amendment developed by trainer Leslie McDevitt & it really helps by anchoring the dog.

 

In the meantime, I would not allow her to practice this behaviour. If you have guests coming to chat on the porch, either put her in a room with a toy or a stuffed kong, or leash her & keep her near you in a sit. Reward heavily when she's calm.

 

One of the problems with this situation & your 2nd situation is that it's hard to train & deal with guests at the same time. You need to either set up training sessions with 'fake' guests, or be really good at meeting the needs of your dog while the real guests are there.

 

2) do not let her run loose with kids. She's getting over aroused. Keep her leashed with you. Get a sit from her, reward & then go to the yard & run slowly a bit with her. Then stop & ask for a sit. What you want to do is install an 'off' switch in her & help her be able to calm down.

If you go here: http://www.askdryin.com/dog_movies.php & check out

"Rewarding Calm Behaviour" Part I & II - those tips would help. You would do similar exercises in the presence of the things that trigger her.

 

Also, set her up for success by making sure she is well exercised before company comes over. That age & breed needs a lot of exercise - swimming, running, fetching ball over a large terrain. Tire her body with exercise, tire her brain by training obedience & tricks, give her mental stimulation by playing good games or tracking challenges & she should be a bit calmer around company.

Thank you, we will work on it! One of the problems is that she's really a very calm dog the rest of the time. Over-stimulation isn't something that happens often around here. Pretty much *only* when we have drop-in company. Otherwise, she's extremely well-mannered. Even in play, she's energetic, but very very gentle with the humans, putting the ball carefully in our hands or laps, for instance, before tearing across the yard to wait for the pitch. :001_smile:

 

I think I'll definitely need to have some planned "drop-in" company just for her, in order to get past this.

 

Thanks again,

Julie

[kwickimom]

PP gave EXCELLENT advice. My yellow lab is the sweetest calmest thing UNTIL we are in public. I took her for show and tell and got kicked out of the school :lol: She wouldnt stop barking and running over the kids. I have 3 kids and she has never knocked one over or even come near to it here. She gets psychotic when out. Its so weird how they can have an alter personality come out when they are so laid back. Thankfully she is an angel here and we just dont take her anywhere. :)

[Bookworm Mom]

PP gave EXCELLENT advice. My yellow lab is the sweetest calmest thing UNTIL we are in public. I took her for show and tell and got kicked out of the school :lol: She wouldnt stop barking and running over the kids. I have 3 kids and she has never knocked one over or even come near to it here. She gets psychotic when out. Its so weird how they can have an alter personality come out when they are so laid back. Thankfully she is an angel here and we just dont take her anywhere. :)

 

 

This is our dog as well. She is 3.5 year old Springer Spaniel. I think we ruined her by not getting enough socialization when she was young as we are kind of home bodies. I'll be watching some of those videos to see if anything looks like it will help her/us.

[hornblower]

Thank you, we will work on it! One of the problems is that she's really a very calm dog the rest of the time.

 

I totally sympathise. My english setter is a total mellow love bug inside but the moment he goes out the door, his brain falls out on the pavement & he turns into a quivering shaking hyper mess.

 

It's not easy. Just last night I was moaning to my gundog list to HELP ME PLEASE b/e I am going nuts trying to get this dog to pay any attention to me outside.He's all birds, birds, BIRDS!!!!! Do you know there are BIRDS here? And there! And there! There's another one! OMG! BIRDS!

 

So just know that you're not alone :D

 

Some of us are sent dogs to challenge us in a big way LOL.

[Jann in TX]

I took our large-overly excited dog for frequent walks and would try to stop and talk with ANYBODY for a minute or two--even if it was just a conversation letting them know that I was out training the dog! When we would come near a person I would say 'neighbor' and if I stopped I would give the hand signal 'down' and the dog would quietly lay down until I gave the 'up' command.

This took a while --I walked him EVERY DAY and he ended up being the 'best dog ever'.

 

I use a 'friend' command when people come to our door that I want to talk to. I say 'friend' and our dogs know that they are to chill out.. usually they just walk away pouting!

 

When we had a 'jumper' I would invite neighbors over for training sessions... they had to be WILLING:lol: because that guy was so big that his paws fit comfortably on your shoulders!

 

Our first dog was a 'kid bumper' at first--- so we kept her on a leash around small children--or we put her 'away' until our guests left. Eventually she realized that she could stay out around the 'little people' if she used good manners.

[poodlemama]

For the Barking:

 

Start by teaching both a speak and a quiet command, it gives you control over the behavior.

 

First when you know she will is about to bark (maybe have the kids ring the door bell) say "speak" when she barks (because the doorbell rang) quickly give a treat and say quiet. She'll be quiet for a second (because she has food in her mouth) now HUGE reward: several small treats so it takes a long time to eat it, lots of praise. Work on teaching "speak" and "quiet" like this for about a week (it usually takes about 50 pairing before the dog starts to learn the word) Then start to increase how long she needs to be quiet to get the treats (go slow, very very slow here) Don't use it at the door until the dog really understands what it means.

After the dog understands I introduce a punishment for barking after being told to quiet (I like the high frequency air-horn type thing called Pet Corrector but you can also use a shake can). The key to training is always follow through! Sometimes this means I let the dog bark when I'd rather they didn't because I can't follow up on a quiet command. (Oh and I've had shelties and mini poodles so I know barking!)

 

For the over excitement Work on a stay command. Start with short time no distraction (ie no kids) and gradually work up form there. Also really think about having your dog around other people's kids. My dogs are well trained obedience titled dogs (one even has search and rescue experience) but I usually put them in crates when we have other peoples kids over unless I'm right there. Why? Because dogs are dogs and kids are kids which means both are unpredictable! MY dogs and MY kids are totally trustworthy together, but other people's kids the dog might not put up with the same indignities.

 

Just my two cents.

 

Lindsey

DD 9

DS 6

DD 3