OT: Seeking advice for new dog owners

[87Xfer]

She’s a good one…
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Beauty!

 

[87Xfer]

I don’t have a dog, but screw it, this is the internet and I am an expert.

1) Seriously? A crate? All day while you’re not home? My idea is that if your lifestyle is such that your dog needs to be stored in a box for eight to ten hours a day, don’t get a dog. The dog is halfway to living life as a veal calf. (“But Sparky LOVES his crate!” No. Stop. Sparky is just happy to be let out of solitary when you come home.)

2) Don’t let them on the furniture. Dogs make your furniture gross.

No intention of doing either of those things, but thanks for your interest in dog ownership.

 

[storrsroars]

I don’t have a dog, but screw it, this is the internet and I am an expert.

1) Seriously? A crate? All day while you’re not home? My idea is that if your lifestyle is such that your dog needs to be stored in a box for eight to ten hours a day, don’t get a dog. The dog is halfway to living life as a veal calf. (“But Sparky LOVES his crate!” No. Stop. Sparky is just happy to be let out of solitary when you come home.)

2) Don’t let them on the furniture. Dogs make your furniture gross.

I used to feel that way on #1, but I learned that a lot of dogs actually prefer having crates as safe spaces. Maybe they're liberals, lol. I don't use one with my current dog, but he's huge and we didn't get him till he was already 3 and hadn't been crate trained, but as I also walk dogs as a side gig, I've run across plenty who are in crates when I get to the house and they're fine.

As for #2, I have one couch I let the dog on. but only with permission. He knows not to even try other furniture, but with the one couch it's actually a reward. And he keeps my feet warm.

 

[storrsroars]

Thanks for that. I've never done the crate thing but we're planning to get one on the way to pick her up.

She's an Australian cattle dog, also called a red heeler. Supposed to be super smart and very trainable. Just needs LOTS of exercise.

Your family is going to get herded a lot. A LOT. And there's not a ton you can do about it as it's what that particular dog is bred for. I'll just warn you it can get annoying. So, if you have a big yard, I'd recommend getting some goats or sheep to give him something to herd other than you

Btw, if you've never watched an Aussie cattle dog in action, they're amazing. Saw a competition up at the Calgary Stampede a few years ago and it's truly incredible how well they follow whistle commands, in addition to their natural inclination to guard and herd.

Also, for this breed, I think you'll want to consider agility classes. She'll love that.

 

[phillionaire]

Thank you. Ordered!

Good luck! Enjoy the pup!

 

[dvegas]

I don’t have a dog, but screw it, this is the internet and I am an expert.

1) Seriously? A crate? All day while you’re not home? My idea is that if your lifestyle is such that your dog needs to be stored in a box for eight to ten hours a day, don’t get a dog.

Nope, with a properly trained "crate" dog, you never need to close the door of the crate. They can come and go as they please, or more importantly, when commanded to.

 

[borninansonia]

Feed the dog well to help build her brain and body.
I suggest the New York Times Best Selling book, the Forever Dog by Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib.
It is an excellent book.

 

[87Xfer]

Feed the dog well to help build her brain and body.
I suggest the New York Times Best Selling book, the Forever Dog by Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib.
It is an excellent book.

Thanks, I'll check this out! It's 25 degrees here and Senna was NOT thrilled about leaving the nice warm bed in the crate during the night and this morning to go outside.

 

[husky429]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but my 6-year-old goldendoodle, Ollie (there's your advice right there, 87) has gotten worse in terms of barking. We live in a city and he's barking at everybody he hears going by and everybody that comes in, whether he knows them or not.

We bought a collar that shot out citronella when he barked-- didn't work. We bought a non-shock collar which has two protruberances that vibrate against his throat and which beeps when he barks -- that worked great at first, but now it doesn't bother him at all, even after I turned it up to 11.

We hired a trainer but she got sick. I guess we could get another one. But short of shock collars, does anybody have any recommendations as to something we can buy to curb this maniac's barking?

Also, yes on immediate potty training (do not over-rely on weewee pads inside the house) -- your dog will learn to go outside faster than you think. Yes on crate training. For a few months, when we left the house we would lock him in the crate, but soon enough we began leaving the door open. He now likes the crate and goes into it for naps. We trained him to go into on the prompt "kennel up" but now we don't even need to say it; once he knows we're leaving and not taking him, he goes right into it.

How to get your dog to stop barking

A barking dog can be a headache for pet owners. Here are six ways to reduce your dog's barking

www.humanesociety.org

Get a trainer or learn how to train. You need positive reinforcement.

And stop punishing your dog for doing normal dog things.

 

[husky429]

I have a 120lb Rottweiler and an 80lb pitbull. Being able to walk them without them pulling like psychopaths was 100% a necessity for their training. It takes a long, long time but I really recommend working on that. It makes it very enojoyable to walk my dogs.

Make a decision about dog on furniture early. You won't get it back if you change your mind. 200lbs of dog on my bed at night isn't always the most pleasant experience.

Exercises, exercise and more exercise. Every day. A tired dog is a good dog.

 

[DrZzzz]

Oh, and get a clicker.

 

[Husky25]

Haven't read all the posts so I well just share our story. We adopted our canine-daughter the weekend before the weekend that COVID restrictions were announced. She was a 4 month old black lab mix. She is now a 2 year old lab mix and she saved us from going insane when my father was in the hospital.

We hired a dog walker and found a spot in a doggy daycare because my wife's and my offices were both 40 minutes away in the opposite direction, but as "luck" would have it, we didn't need those services much, due to COVID restrictions and my wife now working fulltime from home.

Strongly consider getting pet medical insurance, if eligible. Baby Girl (not her real name) has idiopathic epilepsy, and while that is not covered for her (We got it after she had a seizure), everything else is and it saves about half on vet visits and medications.

The first piece of advice that we received is that for a dog her size at the time, that they are able to "hold it" for about as many hours as they are months old. It's whether they want to. In a new environment, they want to mark their territory. So we took turns walking her about every 60-90 minutes for the first two days and gave her treats each and every time to reinforce that "business" is done outside. We would literally walk her about 10 times during the day and a couple times overnight.

She only had a few accidents those first couple weeks, but they are a part of completing the house training and became few and father between. I recommend the bells as well. Evidently Povlov's Dog is a real phenomenon. Finally, we had a session with a trainer to learn how to get her to sit, come, not to chew on anything but her own toys, and how the humans are her alpha, even the (then) 4 year old.

We tried crate training, but she didn't like it. So we took our chances with her just sleeping on a pet bed and stayed on our overnight walking schedule. She's rarely had an accident overnight. She now has the biggest crate we could find, which is basically meant for a St. Bernard, but she is far more accepting of it. Still, we only use it when we are going out for basically over an hour and can't bring her.

A bittersweet idiosyncrasy that she doesn't like to do her business in our yard. So even if she is getting outdoor time, she has to be walked.

Finally, don't be that guy who doesn't clean up after your dog.

 

[nomar]

How to get your dog to stop barking

A barking dog can be a headache for pet owners. Here are six ways to reduce your dog's barking

www.humanesociety.org

Get a trainer or learn how to train. You need positive reinforcement.

And stop punishing your dog for doing normal dog things.

He has been trained, many times. He's a happy dog who everyone loves and behaves well except as I noted. He reverted once we had kids and moved. It scares my kids. I specifically asked for recommendations in addition to more training.

Having a humane collar that buzzes isn't punishment but thanks for your concern, Kanine Karen.

 

[Cuse Socks]

Looks like we've got a new family member inbound. A local breeder had the intended new owner of this pup show up drunk to pick her up, so they told the guy to get lost. They asked a friend of ours who has a dog from a prior litter if she could think of a good home for her. They sent a pic to my wife and daughter and it was pretty much all over.

We had about a dozen siberian huskies pass through our household when I was younger, but I haven't owned a dog since college. I could use any tips you have to offer, particularly related to good training resources.

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Walk your dog OFF LEASH. I can't stress this enough. When they are young they might jump on people for the first couple months but who really cares because it is a puppy. They'll grow out of that. We have a border collie-german shepherd mix, she was stubborn and jumpy at first but grew out of it. But if you don't get them off leash and socialized with other dogs as a puppy then when they are fully grown things get much more difficult.

I'd go so far as to say socialization with other dogs and humans in casual settings is FAR more important than any formal training.

Your dog breed will definitely need to run and run, those are not leash dogs. Depending on what part of the state you live I recommend Nod Brook in Simsbury, Birge Hoppers Pond in Bristol, Bi-Centennial Park in Berlin, the Glastonbury Dog Park, or the Canton Dog park.

(I walked mine off leash at horsebarn hill one time she immediately got under the barbed fence and started herding the cows so don't do that lol)

 

[NJHusky]

I have a 120lb Rottweiler and an 80lb pitbull. Being able to walk them without them pulling like psychopaths was 100% a necessity for their training. It takes a long, long time but I really recommend working on that. It makes it very enojoyable to walk my dogs.

Make a decision about dog on furniture early. You won't get it back if you change your mind. 200lbs of dog on my bed at night isn't always the most pleasant experience.

Exercises, exercise and more exercise. Every day. A tired dog is a good dog.

What was your non pulling training. Our dog went from terrible to ok now back to fair.

 

[mauconnfan]

I don’t have a dog, but screw it, this is the internet and I am an expert.

1) Seriously? A crate? All day while you’re not home? My idea is that if your lifestyle is such that your dog needs to be stored in a box for eight to ten hours a day, don’t get a dog. The dog is halfway to living life as a veal calf. (“But Sparky LOVES his crate!” No. Stop. Sparky is just happy to be let out of solitary when you come home.)

2) Don’t let them on the furniture. Dogs make your furniture gross.

Totally agree with #1 Fishy. Maybe a few weeks to assure the poops and pees but if the dog can’t share the house then don’t have one.

#2 my pups have always been able to hit the couch and recliners, bed as well. Leather easy to clean daily and vacuum as well to get any shed off. If people don’t like the fact she occasionally rests there then don’t come over. Don’t need anyone coming over to punch me in the throat anyway!

 

[CL82]

What was your non pulling training. Our dog went from terrible to ok now back to fair.

For what it’s worth, I think the biggest ingredient in training a dog is consistency. For the most part, they really want to please, so if you’re clear in what you are asking them, they will give it to you.

Keep in mind the physics related to walking a dog. They are lower to the ground and have four points of contact. That’s a big advantage for them. The longer the leash the bigger the advantage. So the easiest thing to do is short leash the dog, even if that means grabbing the leash halfway.

As with most training, you need to give positive reinforcement to lock of behavior in. For walking a dog, the positive behavior is a loose leash rather than a tight leash. First pat your leg or point to your heel to show them where you want them to walk. Then begin walking with the short leash. Once they stop pulling, and they should, then loosen up the leash and keep walking. If they move ahead of you wiggle the leash or pat your leg again to let them know where you want them to be. If they don’t immediately come back shorten up the leash to put them where you want them to be.

Eventually they’ll understand that they have more freedom if they don’t walk in front of you. It’s really that simple. I know other people who will simply stop walking if the dog gets ahead of them, I think that would work, but I don’t have the patience for that. Some people say to use treats, but then you’re stopping the positive activity of walking to give it a treat. It seems like it would be more confusing to me.

This process becomes infinitely harder if others in your family are not using it too because the dog has to learn two different ways of walking.

That’s my approach, but I’m sure there are others that are effective. Good luck.

 

[Cuse Socks]

Totally agree with #1 Fishy. Maybe a few weeks to assure the poops and pees but if the dog can’t share the house then don’t have one.

#2 my pups have always been able to hit the couch and recliners, bed as well. Leather easy to clean daily and vacuum as well to get any shed off. If people don’t like the fact she occasionally rests there then don’t come over. Don’t need anyone coming over to punch me in the throat anyway!

Agreed, throw a couple old blankets on couches they lay on if you want, can even block off certain rooms you may not want them in but treat them like a family member!

Most bad habits (jumping, chewing pillows, snatching food, etc) is stuff dogs grow out of anyway.

 

[husky429]

What was your non pulling training. Our dog went from terrible to ok now back to fair.

The standard stuff really. Turning around when theu pull, rewarding good behavior. It's really not HARD, it's just super difficult

 

[husky429]

He has been trained, many times. He's a happy dog who everyone loves and behaves well except as I noted. He reverted once we had kids and moved. It scares my kids. I specifically asked for recommendations in addition to more training.

Having a humane collar that buzzes isn't punishment but thanks for your concern, Kanine Karen.

Teach your kids to recognize what actual angry dogs sound like if they're old enough. Your dog barking at the neighbors probably ain't it. Have they ever actually seen dogs fight? My goddaughter is 6 and can tell you the difference because I taught her. Kids needs to know this stuff.

Half the world thinks my dogs playing is a "dog fight" because they're big and breeds that have been trained for guarding/fighting. I gotten hollered at by actual canine carens when I tied them up outside an ice cream place because they're supposedly dangerous. People need to understand dog behavior better if we're going to live with them.

You need a new dog trainer. Negative reinforcement doesn't work well. Any kind of shock/smell/vibration collar rarely works well as a long term solution. That isn't how modern trainers are teaching dogs to minimize barking.

 

[storrsroars]

Teach your kids to recognize what actual angry dogs sound like if they're old enough. Your dog barking at the neighbors probably ain't it. Have they ever actually seen dogs fight? My goddaughter is 6 and can tell you the difference because I taught her. Kids needs to know this stuff.

Half the world thinks my dogs playing is a "dog fight" because they're big and breeds that have been trained for guarding/fighting. I gotten hollered at by actual canine carens when I tied them up outside an ice cream place because they're supposedly dangerous. People need to understand dog behavior better if we're going to live with them.

You need a new dog trainer. Negative reinforcement doesn't work well. Any kind of shock/smell/vibration collar rarely works well as a long term solution. That isn't how modern trainers are teaching dogs to minimize barking.

All good points. My current boy is a Great Pyrenees/Golden Retriever mix. A really dumb designer breed that just should never happen. Looks like a sturdier version of dumb happy Golden, but is wired to protect whatever is inside the fence, whether that's livestock or us. He was downright scary as hell to the neighbors, even when he saw them every single day. He'll be turning 8 next month and we've had him for 5 years, and it's only in the past 1.5 years or so that he's relatively calm (by his standards) with the neighbors. It took a ton of work and even a dog psychologist for a bit. We learned the best thing to do was simply distract him when he gets going with the incessant barking.

When we got him he didn't even have a concept of "play", was awful on a leash to the point where my wife couldn't control him. Every dusk he'd just bark and bark and bark as that's what Pyrs do at that time of day while they patrol the border fences. However, once he's away from our yard and what he perceives is "his territory to protect", he's a different animal. I can show up with him to the neighbor's front door and he's perfectly fine, whereas he used to be near foaming at the mouth at the same neighbor if he was inside the fence. Took a lot of time outside distracting, correcting and rewarding him to get to where we are now, which still isn't ideal as far as barking, but it's 1000x better than when we got him.

All that said, five years later he's been a great dog and it's been more fulfilling getting him to become a companion than it was raising my late purebred Golden from a puppy. He's a fantastic trail dog, a great car companion, now loves to play, and is eager to learn new things even at 8.

Get to understand the breed and work with that. You're not going to beat out all the behaviors that are inbred, so try to work around those and find a way to provide games/exercises that allow your pup to deal with those instincts in a productive way.

 

[husky429]

All good points. My current boy is a Great Pyrenees/Golden Retriever mix. A really dumb designer breed that just should never happen. Looks like a sturdier version of dumb happy Golden, but is wired to protect whatever is inside the fence, whether that's livestock or us. He was downright scary as hell to the neighbors, even when he saw them every single day. He'll be turning 8 next month and we've had him for 5 years, and it's only in the past 1.5 years or so that he's relatively calm (by his standards) with the neighbors. It took a ton of work and even a dog psychologist for a bit. We learned the best thing to do was simply distract him when he gets going with the incessant barking.

When we got him he didn't even have a concept of "play", was awful on a leash to the point where my wife couldn't control him. Every dusk he'd just bark and bark and bark as that's what Pyrs do at that time of day while they patrol the border fences. However, once he's away from our yard and what he perceives is "his territory to protect", he's a different animal. I can show up with him to the neighbor's front door and he's perfectly fine, whereas he used to be near foaming at the mouth at the same neighbor if he was inside the fence. Took a lot of time outside distracting, correcting and rewarding him to get to where we are now, which still isn't ideal as far as barking, but it's 1000x better than when we got him.

All that said, five years later he's been a great dog and it's been more fulfilling getting him to become a companion than it was raising my late purebred Golden from a puppy. He's a fantastic trail dog, a great car companion, now loves to play, and is eager to learn new things even at 8.

Get to understand the breed and work with that. You're not going to beat out all the behaviors that are inbred, so try to work around those and find a way to provide games/exercises that allow your pup to deal with those instincts in a productive way.

Good to see he's doing better. It is super tough early on with a larger dog with a smaller handler. My fiance is 120lbs and maybe 5'1. If either one of my dogs decide that squirel is interesting... she's not holding them back.

Instincts do play a huge part. Some dogs are just predisposed to barking, herding, whatever. My rottweiler will bark a bit because that's what guard dogs do. I couldn't tell you the last time my pit barked. I'm not even sure she knows how tbh.

I also don't like how people say "bad owners, not bad pitbulls!" I mean sure... it's 99% bad ownership that leads to dog bites. But I also know my girl is predisposed to aggression because they've been bred that way for 100s of years. So we took the proper precautions--tons of socialization early on, a hard " no" even as a puppy for teething on people or her brother. All that. Pit owners shouldn't ignore the fact that their dogs are bred fighters, just like a huntinf breed owner needs to know their dog will have a high prey drive for small animals.

 

[NJHusky]

The standard stuff really. Turning around when theu pull, rewarding good behavior. It's really not HARD, it's just super difficult

Our last dog I was able to walk off leash after 6 months of training. But he was a golden mix. This guy’s dominant breed is husky and cattle dog. VERY different. I don’t think I’ll ever trust him off leash.

 

[husky429]

Our last dog I was able to walk off leash after 6 months of training. But he was a golden mix. This guy’s dominant breed is husky and cattle dog. VERY different. I don’t think I’ll ever trust him off leash.

I wouldn't either unless far away from cars out in the woods or something. My dogs are always leashed unless we're hiking in the sticks.

 

[Umami Zen]

Learn as much as you can about the breed and understand their tendencies. Sounds like you'll need to challenge your pup intellectually and physically .Agility classes/competition can help with both.

Based on having had one pure-bred Lab and two Lab mixes.. Establishing yourself as the Alpha through your actions and training will pay dividends over time. Eye contact and the volume of your voice/commands helps with this. How else does a mother dog control her litter? Through her growls. Low base..

One last comment-Appropriate socialization with humans and other animals is always beneficial. Enjoy your pup and remember they have their own personalities and can be quite funny when allowed to be.