Dog Training :: Tips and Tricks

I'm hoping Pa, or any other training experts here, can help shed some light on effective training techniques. Maybe stuff for everyone to try and ways to deal with common problems.

My gf and her sister live together, I am pretty much the third roomate. Anyway, they have one dog for a couple years, a Cavalier mix, and just got a second from the shelter last Tuesday. He was a stray so we don't have a history. He is well behaved and somewhat trained (already housebroken, seems to be crate trained, learned his new name already, is getting better with 'sit' and 'come').

He was very reserved and well mannered at first. He was scarred and confused, and also had to be neutered on the day we took him home, which didn't help. He is really opening up now and that is a great thing, but he is also starting to develop some bad habits. Some he is learning from the other dog, and some are his own. We want to stop this now so it never gets out of control.

We are instituting doggy bootcamp for us and the dogs to keep the house working the way we want, and make our training consistent between the 3 of us. I read a lot of info out there. Some of the best stuff was about how to make sure the dog knows that you are 'alpha'. I know Pa talked about this before too.

Most of the online literature is all about positive reenforcement, which we are doing. But nothing says what to do when the dog is misbehaving already and he gets a good outcome from it.

One big issue is barking at the door when the neighbors walk by. I have been making sure to grab him and pet him, calmly drawing his attention away from it so he will learn to ignore it. I'm not sure it's right but it's working ok so far. Another thing is him jumping up and surveying the coffee table for things to grab. I know the best solution is to not have things within his reach, but I don't want to have jumping up looking at all. Saying 'no' just gives them some form of attention. I push him down and make him 'sit', but that doesn't seem to stop him from trying again 2 min later.

I know some people suggest spritzing them with a water bottle when they exhibit bad behavior, but I haven't seen this on any authoritative site I've read.

Here is a good article about being the Alpha dog:
http://www.pets.ca/articles/article-alphadog.htm

I also found a lot of good info from about.com:
http://dogs.about.com/od/trainingand...d_Behavior.htm

Lets talk about trick training too!

The best advice I can give is consistency. Without that, your dog will never learn to behave. I worked at an animal hospital for a while and that's the one thing they shoved down our throats. Dogs and animals are just like kids, you give them an inch and they'll take a mile.

If you want to go the spray bottle route, try to put a little vinegar in it at first. I've found that dogs don't really mind just water, but put some vinegar in it and they'll get the hint. After a while, just seeing the bottle will make them behave. Just remember not to spray it in his eyes :)

As far as trick training goes, positive reinforcement is a must. Always have treats on hand and only give them when your pup does the trick right.

As long as you 3 stay on the same page and are consistent, you should be able to train him pretty easily :)

But then your dog will smell like vinegar.

Well, don't bathe him in it or anything. The smell is the point. No dog is gonna want that shit sprayed on him so if the alternative is obeying orders and not getting sprayed, the majority of the time the dog will start to obey. Don't put alot of it into the water, just enough to get your point across. Also, a dog's sense of smell is better than ours, so you really only need to use a tiny bit.

Look in the yellowpages for a dog training facility. Use it.

I worked at one of the best training facilities in the country and it's without a doubt the best course of action. The thing is, not only are you training the dog, you're training yourself. You need to know exactly what to look for in the dog and how you should react to different behaviors. Reading articles online and a book from Petsmart won't teach you anything about how to actually train a dog. You need a professional to coach you. It usually costs something like $80-$100 for a six week course.

More like $80-$100 a session in LA. I don't need to turn them into seeing eye dogs, I just don't want them to bark at the door.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stormy

One big issue is barking at the door when the neighbors walk by. I have been making sure to grab him and pet him, calmly drawing his attention away from it so he will learn to ignore it.

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Dogs are stupid.

You are giving the dog attention (which it likes) when it hears something outside and barks.

You are reenforcing the wrong behavior.

There was a bunch more I was going to comment on in your post, but honestly:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by icarusfall

I worked at one of the best training facilities in the country and it's without a doubt the best course of action. The thing is, not only are you training the dog, you're training yourself.

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VVV lol, freaking thief.

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...2&d=1204666071

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kidnemo

Dogs are stupid.

You are giving the dog attention (which it likes) when it hears something outside and barks.

You are reenforcing the wrong behavior.

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I'm not reenforcing the bad behavior, I'm stopping him before he even does it. I only do it when I get to him before he gets up running to the door barking.

If I'm on the wrong track please school me.

If you are "making sure to grab him and pet him" when the dog hears something outside, even before he runs and barks the dog is already getting into an excited state of mind.

The dog is going to relate getting excited (even before running/barking) with getting attention.