[nagdu] dog problems

Sun Dec 8 20:25:55 UTC 2013

Ty,
There is no need to get snappy with the people who suggested leave the
dog alone. This is not bad advice, because let me tell you, a fearful
dog is, or can turn into, an aggressive dog. This is why it is
important to work at the dog's pace, and not at yours or Minh's.
Also, what you're saying is different from what Minh said.
First, this is about the relationship between your dog and your
girlfriend. Your dog does not like her. She has admitted that she has
behaved aggressively toward your dog, yelling, giving collar
corrections, and speaking sternly, when these things are obviously not
working and likely making the situation worse.
Second, raising your voice and yelling are 2 different things. I'm not
sure if you guys hang out/live together in an apartment or what, but
unless you are trying to get your dog's attention from across a field,
trust me, they can hear you perfectly fine. I never raise my voice to
call my dog, or any of the dogs I have trained. It is not necessary.
Bottom line: drop the yelling.
Third, you said that your dogs are comfortable enough to trust the
both of you. But Minh expressed the fact that your dog is not
comfortable around her. If the dog is avoiding her, not coming to her
at all unless she has a treat, hides from her, and yelps when she
plays with him, he does not trust her, he fears her. There could be
some underlying health issue as someone suggested; anything is
possible. But frankly, I believe the dog is afraid of her, and you
need to be very considerate of your dog's feelings, and Minh needs to
change the way she behaves toward your dog.
Now, training a dog to come when called is very hard. A surprising
number of people believe this is a basic, simple behavior/cue to
train, but it really isn't. There are two things that people do
frequently that hinder the dog's learning this behavior.
1. People often punish their dogs when they come to them. I've seen it
at the park when a woman has to call her dog a bunch of times, and
when he finally comes to her, she is yelling at him and gripping his
collar up. Any kind of behavior like this lessens the chances of your
dog coming to you when you call him. If you have to call your dog
twenty-five times, you still don't punish them when they come to you.
You rain praise upon them as if they just ended world hunger so that
they associate coming to you with good things.
2. Many people give in to their dogs, and after getting tired of
calling them, they just go to get/find the dog. When people do this,
they are communicating to their dog that the dog does not have to come
because their owner will go get them anyway.
You train that dog to come to you with a clicker and a toy, or a bag
of treats. Get your dog's attention with the toy, and of course, he
will come. Click! Give 'em the toy. Let 'em play for a minute or so,
then cue him to give the toy back with whatever cue you use--"drop it"
or the like. Repeat this several times. Make it a game, and make it
fun. Whenever he comes to you to get the toy, click! then give it to
'em. Start introducing the cue "come," "here," or whatever. The moment
he comes to you, say "come," click! give the toy. repeat. Then do it
all without the toy. If your dog won't pay attention to you without
it, do more than just call his name--snap your fingers, tap your
thigh, whatever.
Many people do not want to do training sessions for something like
coming when called, but training sessions like this are what will
improve the reliability, and it's playtime! Who would say no to that?
After several days of training sessions, get Minh involved. If the dog
decides not to come to her, do not allow her to coax or cue him to do
so. If he is not willing to approach her, even if she has a toy, you
must be the one to reassure him. This might take several days or a
couple weeks. You might have to use treats to draw him close to her,
and to reward him if he interacts with her in a positive way at all.
Use the advice in my other email as well.
Good luck.
Raven

On 12/8/13, Littlefield, Tyler <tyler at tysdomain.com> wrote:
> Hello all:
> First, for the one-liner "leave the dog alone," thanks but no thanks for
> the advice. Minh was looking for some thought and feedback. For those of
> you who responded (raven, nicole et al), thanks also for your responses.
> I have a few comments I want to add because I'm interested in people's
> actual feedback regarding them.
>
> first, O'Mally and Minh got to know each other when Viva was not
> around--I had O'Mally before Minh got Viva. It seems that his behavior
> has changed a bit after Viva came around and she started getting
> attention from both of us. We do pretty much give them equal
> attention--sometimes O'Mally more than Viva or Viva more than O'Mally,
> but it sort of all equals out. I have no problem what-so-ever with Minh
> calling O'Mally or me calling Viva. I think they are both comfortable
> enough with us to trust us. I guess others prefer to keep their dogs
> separate, but this seems like mostly personal preference. Regardless,
> here's what I'm thinking with O'Mally.
>
> First, I understand yelling is a bit of an issue. Neither of us scream
> at either of our guides, but a raised voice sometimes seems like it's
> useful for getting attention. It's much preferable to grabbing their
> collar or something, so I'd like to use that if it works. It doesn't
> seem to scare them, it's just like a way to get them to actually focus
> or pay attention.
>
> Second, I think part of this is stemming from a bit of jealousy on both
> viva and O'mally's parts. I've noticed they tend to get irritated at
> each other sometimes, which I generally try to take care of, but I'm not
> really sure how to do much with that. I assume it'll happen regardless,
> but it seems to be a contributing factor.
>
> Finally, I appreciate all the advice given thus far on alternative ways
> for us to get O'mally to come when she calls. There have been times when
> I have to leave O'Mally with Minh or Viva has stayed with me. I believe
> if I am going to do that, O'mally needs to be comfortable with her and
> she needs to be able to call him, knowing 100% sure or at least as close
> to 100% as you can get with a dog that he will come. It may be that she
> actually really needs O'Mally to come to her, which leads me into
> another point. I have also noticed that sometimes when I call O'mally he
> thumps his tail at me rather than coming. I don't know if it is his way
> of saying "I'm right here," but I'd much prefer he just came. It's not
> all that often, but it happens sometimes. Any advice on how to work that
> out would be awesome.
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> Take care,
> Ty
> http://tds-solutions.net
> He that will not reason is a bigot; he that cannot reason is a fool; he that
> dares not reason is a slave.
>
>
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-- 
Raven