rotten_two

man oh man where to begin? i will caveat this post by saying that you will find people on this board are quite 'passionate' about how we feel and we totally tell you if we don't like what you are doing. that said lemme say that i applaud you for realizing you need help and asking for it. you have quite a long road ahead of you and if you are not totally committed it won't work. your fiance has to be willing too. you need to find a good positive methods trainer in your area. i can help you search if you tell me where you live (you can pm me if you want). next thing i want to say is that alot of what you are describing is puppy behavior (chewing, nipping, not coming when called) and i will get to that in a minute. also your 14 week old gsd is not stupid or defiant or ignoring you nor does she know she is doing "wrong." likely she has no clue what you are asking her to do. i noticed in your post that you said you say "no" to her when she does something wrong. lemme ask you what information does no really give her? not a whole lot. there are 4 million things i could 'no' just in the living room. what i would like to see you try is giving her constructive cues. focus more on what you would like her to do instead of what not to do. [quote]I read that you are supposed to do it hard enough so that they whimper or else they will consider it play, but the problem is that my GSD really won't whimper at all! She is either a hard head or I am not doing it right... I don't dare pull her scruff any harder,[/quote] stop this altogether and now -- you are only teaching her that sometimes the human is crazy and shakes my scruff -- which can translate to fear/aggression if it continues! i want you to try the yiping thing again but with a few changes. when she mouths or bites you don't pull your hand back (i know this is hard) interrupt with a loud "yipe" and give her a chance to take her mouth off your hand. praise/treat her when she takes her mouth off! now we have instructed her that mouth off humans wins a prize. practice this a few times daily -- try to put your hand in her mouth (gently) so that she can see how to win the game. fiance has to do the same. lots of times we encourage mouthy behavior by pulling our hands up or holding their mouths closed. also make sure she has plenty of toys to chew and play. kongs are great. remember to praise when she is in the corner quietly chewing a toy. come -- unless you would bet me your salary that your dog will come to you when you call -- keep your big mouth shut! you cannot possibly expect her to come off leash outside right now -- there just hasn't been enough time to train it. so 1) i want you to work on come inside and make it a game. have fiance hold her while you get her excited about chicken or stuffie or whatever makes her wild. show her what you have and run about 10 feet and call "come" when she shows up give her the treat or toy. if she does not come go get her put the snack on her nose and lead her back to where you called. she still gets the treat because she came. for now she gets treats if you help or not. make it into a game go farther, go into another room and let her find you. when she is getting the hang of it then 2) try very short distance (on lead) comes outside just like you did at the beginning inside. if she doesn't come she's onlead and doesn't get the reward of chasing the squirrel or whatever, you can go get her. remember too that come should not predict going inside. if everytime she comes she goes inside then come is not a good thing. however if 99/100 times you call come she gets to go play again afterward come becomes a good thing. [quote]All the stuff I read says "do that and do that" but it doesn't say what to do if your pup just simply ignores you and won't listen, or sinks to the floor scratching fleas. She starts to yawn and I know I have failed making the 15 minute daily "training session" fun...[/quote] ok on this one i have several tidbits for ya. yawning, scratching as if at fleas, loss of interest -- all those are stress signals. when your dog is at this point no learning is going to take place. give her a break to play. 15 minutes straight? yikes! she doesn't have that kind of attention span right now. try 3 5 minute sessions. ask for sits and downs before food. anytime you see your dog is an opportunity to train. kudos to you for making her do something for your attention (courtnek will applaud). remember she needs mental [b]and[/b] phsyical stim so let her play ball or chase squirrels too. [quote]A snap on the leash does nothing. 2 out of 4 times she will start bashing around trying to get the leash off, or she will try to insistantly pull to where she wants to go or last but not least she just plumps down and puts her chin on the ground like she is pouting ignoring us.[/quote] also stop with the leash pops! she is not ignoring or pouting really she is trying to figure out what the hell you want and what she has to do to avoid the correction. go get her with chicken on her nose and lead her. not so much nagging and dragging with the leash keep showing her what you want and it is not a bad thing to help her with a snack right now. you have to introduce distractions gradually. there is a lot more in your post that i should address but i could go on forever. i think you and your fiance should purchase and read the book the power of positive dog training by pat miller ([url]www.dogwise.com[/url]). the other dogs need training too if not for anything other than their well-being (esp the one that roams).

believe it or not when you want to train a reliable retrieve you start with mouth. the running to the object and back is cake. there are a few steps so be patient it's not gonna happen overnight. so for now get a fetch toy (tennis ball), 2 pockets full of pea sized very yummy treats (cheese, chicken), and gracie. practice having her sit politely and take the ball on a cue like 'take it' (if you need more detail on this lemme know) then trade the ball for chicken -- put the chicken right on her nose so that there is no question. she should either drop the ball or give to your hand. you may have to work up to putting the ball in your hand. when she outs let her have the chicken. play inside and outside 3-5 minutes a few times a day. try for a week and come back and tell me how she is doing. then we can move on.

hello? canis? CA-NIS? *gulp* do you think the skunk axe murderer got him? makes perfect sense -- let the dogs out so that he has no fear of being eaten. then he chewed the cable and phone wires to cut all ties to help. that's why he was having puter problems and now can't connect. i think someone should go check on him *pushes jess to the front of the line* [size=2]seriously tho (if that is possible for me) i hope nothing bad has happened besides a botched internet connection![/size]

i am trying not to cry at work but this is too much! mouse i really had no idea gladis was ill and i am so very sorry this has happened! she is much too young! she is lucky to have you. i wish for you (and your pack) courage and strength in gladis' last days.

how bout start with the premiere easy walk harness for the dogs. the next thing i would get is a coupler so that she only has to carry one leash for two dogs. the flight of stairs will be a trick -- you can train dogs to wait at the bottom while she wrestles the stroller up then call dogs when she is set (she should start this training now with stroller) -- that way no one trips over anyone/thing else. then they should be set for walk. if dog poos she can park stroller, stand firmly on leash and scoop. if baby poos i say double time it home :)

hey whatha? i thought you said i was the only one that got to see that!

no one was s'posed to know about her er um appendage but me! thanks cc for spilling the beans!

well jess it's clear you have no game and thusly should not be bred!

too much for you jess? whoa! i expected a little more from a drama loving hobag of your magnitude?

nicely done mean one *golf clap*

no no no jess. they [b]are[/b] telling you something but it's not spite -- easy to take it that way i know.

where were you whilst she was negotiating the furniture to get your undies? supervise, supervise, supervise. it will get expensive if she eats something and gets an intestinal blockage -- that surgery costs about $3000 :o you really need to keep an eye on her. tether her to you, to furniture in a room where you are, or put her in a crate.

tammy our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family! unfortunately when i was a teenager we had to run a couple times from flooding also -- thankfully tho we had my grandmas house to go to and keep our pets safe. i can't imagine your stress. beyond this i dunno what i can say to help except that i am sorry this happened to you.

question -- what happens if you are not there and boyfriend pets lab? same response? if so . . this sounds like classic resource guarding -- humans being the resource. when the lab is present sirius is on edge. lisa made a good point which is that not all dogs like all other dogs. just like you don't like everyone you meet. even still he can learn to tolerate them and not go snarly face when the lab visits. you will need to work with him and you will need an accomplice. for now the only time good things (treats, praise, attention, etc) happen are in the presence of the lab. in other words the lab makes good things happen. for now you have to think about management. if you want to pet the lab put sirius in a crate or in the yard if you have that luxury. to train reward lavishly if sirius stays calm when the lab is near--make sure he understands that the lab is the treat predictor. you're gonna have to gradually get closer and closer to the lab until (may take a month or many) you can speak to the lab, and ultimately pet the lab while your accomplice stuffs food into dobe's mouth. he does not have to like the lab and he certainly doesn't have to interact but he does have to be tolerant and not overtly rude. i would never leave them alone together. i feel like i say this to everyone but work on a watch me command so that when he sees the lab he automatically looks at you for treats. if you need more help with watch me -- shoot me a pm. also for general resource guarding and ways to modify this behavior check out 'Mine!' by jean donaldson it is fairly small and cheap but full of helpful info.

hey tammy i am glad you are safe and relatively sound. wouldn't it just be easier to re-home your father-in-law until things settle?

my mom and dad came to visit us this weekend and it was so much fun. my dad claims that he doesn't like dogs (i think he lost a really great dog somewhere in his life and tries to shut down those emotions by saying he doesn't like them). anyhoo aspen won him over -- who couldn't fall in love with aspen as sweet as he is? aspen was just too cute for words -- he would go sit at my dads feet for petting and my dad loved it. the funniest thing tho had to be my dad talking about those funny shaped chew toys -- KONKS! so now i have been calling the kongs konks :D

good grief -- he gave you a run for your money today huh? it's a good thing they are so cute! per the housetraining lapse in pooh -- i would be careful 'yelling' at him when he does it in the house. if you catch him by all means interrupt with "outside" and lead him out to the potty yard. when you yell sometimes they will associate that with going potty. for instance the learn that they can't pee in front of the crazy human because she yells. then he will likely try to hide and pee. sometimes it means they won't pee while your outside with them either. also just a reminder to praise him outside when he goes even when he's housetrained. you don't suspect anything physically wrong, right?

well if he's busy having fun hopefully he won't miss you much!

yikes a whole week! you could take a blanket or toy with you to leave with him so he can have familiar smells. is it a kennel where he will play with other dogs each day or one of those we'll keep an eye on him in the crate and just take him out to pee? take some yummy treats (greenies, or whatever) so that the staff can give him treats just like at home.

good for you HF! he needs to know he can't treat you (or anyone else this way)!

guys, dogs aren't spiteful they don't think that way :D

YEAH! FUCK HIM & HIS DAMN CLINIC! geez did he develop tourettes syndrome overnight or something! there is no excuse for the way he treated you, none. sounds to me like he needs some stress management courses! just where does he get off treating you like an employee? boy it's probably good he caught you by surprise or we might have heard of the ruckus on the 6 o'clock news!

here's the easiest answer: don't give her access to your clothing. she is fairly young and should be attended when she is not crated. supervise supervise supervise. (haha now go read my thread about my dog who just ate a digital thermometer) :roll:

aaaaahhhhh! you better hide from HF, jess! i think potential adopters need to know as much as you can tell them for medical reasons as well as for behavioral reasons (traumas and such can later cause problems).

clearly the solution is for someone to buy this calendar and see if it says or shows other fotos :D