Okay, who's got doggie training tips?!

Crabby Abby · Post by **Crabby Abby** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 1:59 am

Okay, so I have a dog. Make that a pup. A very hyper and mischievous 4 month old Boxer.He wakes me with whining and barking and we're both outside before my eyes even open so he doesn't wake the rest of the house. He does 1, 2, sometimes 3 poops out there and still saves one for the moment we get back inside. Ditto with liquids! No matter how long I keep him out, he rewards me with something special. Puppy pads? Fun to chew up! That $35 sheepskin pad that goes in his crate? He ate half of it two days after we got it. He also doesn't stop barking when he's in his crate. I can tolerate that during the day but he does it at night, too. On his leash, he jumps in the air and spins in 360s and runs around me till I'm wound up. I've tried turning with him so I don't get wound but I get dizzy instead. He leaps baby gates, tears around bouncing off walls and tries to teethe on people (he's got more toys than my kids do so it's not that we haven't properly addressed this). I've taken him for walks and runs but I can't exhaust his puppy energy.Does anyone have experience with Boxers, or can you offer me some tips on training? It seems I take him out every 1/2 hour sometimes, oftentimes sooner and watch for sniffing and tail cues but he still surprises me. I need help!

rottiegirl25 · Post by **rottiegirl25** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:49 am

Okay the first thing you need to do is switch his food thats a lot of POOP. I would suggest a breeder choice food such as Pinnicle, Health food for Dogs,Go Natural, or Active Care. Also if those aren't a possibility you want to look for and all natural food with no CORN, By-Product or BHT or BHA. YOu don't want alot of fillers. The breeders choice foods is what we feed all of our dogs the Poop once maybe twice a day.Next problem Barking In vest in a bark coller ethier a citronella one or a shock type coller i have used both in training excessive barkers with great sucess.Next IssuePullling Jumping, being uncontrolable on a leah. If your using a nylon buckle type coller get rid of it. Invest in a check choke coller or a regular choker coller make sure you never leave a dog in a choker when unsuperviesd. Start training teach basic command like sit, down stay, come and heel. Use positive reinforcement always you can alos use bits of food or treats as a reward for good behavior. Use these commands in the house as well you will need to work on each command for about a week at a time before introducing a new comand. youshould train for about 15 min four times or more aday. If you can't do it on your own look into hiring a professional to help you you can even check petsmart training out though i personally don't likes the way they do things its a a start to help you out. A trainer can only do so much though you have to be willing to work with your dog when not at class or else the dog will learn to only listen when near the trainer. Also if pulling is a big issue get a shorte leash, never use those flexi leashes I normally start trining dogs on a six foot leather leash held in both hands so that they are only useing about four foot of it. you want to keep your dog close to you to teach the heel command.As far as house breaking limit the dogs food to certain times a day don't let him eat whenever he wants. also limit water intake especially after seven in the evening. THis is a diffucult job its like rasing kids but it will be worth it it you work on it.if you need any other help or anything let me know i will do what i can.

rottiegirl25 · Post by **rottiegirl25** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:54 am

here are some links to help you out.Dog-Play: Behavior, Socialization and Training(Diane Blackman)Dr. P's Dog Training Library (Dr. Mark Plonsky, PhD)Problem Solving -- American Dog Trainers Network (Robin Kovary)Punishment -- How Not To Do It(Gary Wilkes)I highly recommend this very worthwhile article.Training Your Dog(Cindy Tittle Moore)Great page! Includes dog training tips, information on behavioral terminology, dog training methodologies, and a brief list of recommended dog training & behavior books. Cindy Tittle Moore is well-known for her extraordinarily comprehensive web site which covers virtually all things canine.Also Check out Rottweilers rock on MSN groups its an awesome site with alot of very experienced people who will help you MS. Rottie is an awesome trainer and has many articles to help you out. the site is not just for Rotties.

Willow · Post by **Willow** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 2:39 pm

Well, first, he's a puppy. Puppies are insane. I have promised myself I will never again get a dog under 9 months old.....but just watch, my next dog will be a bottle baby or something like that. Second, he's a Boxer. Boxers are also insane, and they don't grow out of it until they're 2 or so. Same with Labs.I know rottiegirl addressed most of your issues, but I'll give my input too. For house breaking, make sure you're feeding him on a schedule, I think 3 times a day until he's 6 months old, then twice a day for life, you don't want to give him only one meal a day because it increases the chance of bloat, which Boxers are especially prone to. He should poop about 10-30 minutes after eating, so feeding him on a schedule should help you predict when he has to go. Don't use puppy pads; he's a large dog, you're not going to want him to be trained to go in the house. Keep taking him outside. A high-quality food should help too, I have never heard of the brands rottiegirl mentioned, the brands I buy are: Natural Balance, Solid Gold, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul (I know, stupid name), and Canidae. I rotate between the 4 brands, this is recommended in the Whole Dog Journal. The particular brand name is not important, the main thing is.....NO CORN!!! It's a cheap bulk filler ("bulk" means more poop!!), and a lot of dogs are allergic/sensitive to it. You'd also want to avoid wheat, artificial preservatives, like BHA and BHT, and meat by-products (there's nothing wrong with by-products per se, but the industry is badly regulated, and you can get food without for about the same price). Boxers are very prone to food allergies, so you need to keep an eye out.For crate training, don't put anything in his crate, no pad, no food, no water (unless you're leaving him for several hours), nothing at all except a safe chew toy (like a nylabone or a kong---no rawhide, he might bite a piece off and choke). If you give him a kong filled with peanut butter or meat paste, it will keep him quiet for a while. Cover the crate with a blanket and totally ignore him when he whines or barks. I think he's a little young to use a citronella collar on (and I don't approve of the use of shock collars; if not used properly, they can create more problems than they solve), but maybe if he still barks when he's older, you'll want to try one.As for leash training....well, he's still a baby. He's not going to walk perfectly. Don't let walk time become playtime, keep it all business. You can use a training collar, I really don't like full chokers, but a modified choker or a prong collar (they're not as bad as they look, honest!) should work fine. As for the teething on people....well, don't ask me, Willow didn't stop until she was 2--Labs are like that. He should get better as he gets older. Everything will get better as he gets older.Remember: This too, shall pass.Disclaimer: I am just a regular dog owner. I've only had 3 dogs in my whole life. I'm not a trainer like rottiegirl is, and my dogs are not perfectly trained. But they are very nice family dogs, so I guess I'm doing something right, or at least OK.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 3:50 pm

Also the prong colar will not choke him but put presure points in different spots while a choke colar actually chokes them therefore I believe the choke chains are cruel. Also give him a low protien foods. More protien means more energy to burn. Roll up a piece of newspaper anytime he missbehaves such as barking, biting, etc. shake it in his face and with a firm voice tell him no. At night get a driving whip (for horses) and attach some paper to the end of it and put his cage where ya can make the paper racket in his face. Also get an empty coke can and put a few metal beads in it (bb's for a bb gun works great as ya can put a small handful in it) and seal the hole. If he's a good distance from ya when he has an accident or miss behaves throw the can toward him (ya will not need to hit him) that will scare him and he will quickly associate the bad behavior with getting the noisy can thrown at him. Remember reinforce bad behavior with the firm no as when rattling the paper and throwing the can. When he does something right get all excited and brag all over him. Also when he has an accedent in the house rub his nose in it and put him outside for a while without any companionship (not from ya or any other dog) he'll know that ya are disapointed in ya and basically ignore him when he's allowed back in the house. When people come over have them ignore the dog till he calms down that way he's not getting rewarded for the rowdy behavior. My sis has a boxer and this is what she has done with him and it is working and he's only a year old now and a very mellow one but that wasn't always the case with him he learned what not to do and what he is allowed to do.

rottiegirl25 · Post by **rottiegirl25** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:56 am

Willow you feed awesome foods. Those are the top four i believe breeders choice foods are along the same lines as canidae, solid gold, and chicken soup. they are mentioned i belive inthe whole dog journal i am almost positive the pinnicle is. Look it up on line an let me know what you think!!! we try to feed the best possible diets to all of our pets. Also Prong Collers work great as well i useally don't recommend those to people who have never used them unless they are shown how to properly fit one here is the info on how to do that.How to Fit a Prong Collar Take any link apart to remove a prong collar from the dogs neckNever slip a prong collar over the head to take it off.I train dogs with prong collars. There are very few dogs that I would not train with a prong collar. I recommend them to new dog owners, new trainers and people who own dogs with behavioral problems. While some think a prong looks nasty the fact is they are far more humane than a normal choke collar.The biggest problem with prong collars is that new dog owners don't know how to put them on, how to size them or how to have their dog wear them. This article will address these issues.Normal choke collars need to be ordered by length (i.e. 22 inches long etc.) Prong collars on the other hand are ordered my by weight - Extra Heavy: Heavy: Light Etc. They all come in a standard length which is adjusted to fit the neck of the dog by removing or adding links to the collar.Prong collars are meant to be put-on and taken-off before and after daily training sessions. Unlike a choke collar that are often left on the dog all the time (in some cases this can be a dangerous practice). A common problem new trainers have is they don't remove enough links to get the correct snug fit. When that happens the collar hangs down on the dogs neck which results in the collar not working the way that it was designed. A prong collar should fit the way you see it in the photo below.A properly fit Prong Collar on a DobermanThe correct position for a prong collar is to sit right behind the ears and up under the jaw line like you see in the photos above. The photo below shows how many people mistakenly let a dog wear a prong.This photo above demonstrates a prong collar that was not properly sized for the dog. The collar is too loose and riding to far down on the dogs neck. It should be up where I have drawn the yellow line.This collar is correctly sized and fits properly. The rings on the leash are attached to are in the right place on the side of the neck.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sizing the ProngAdding and Removing LinksSome people mistakenly try and put a prong collar on their dog by slipping it over the dogs head and then moving it down on the neck. That's wrong. Prong collars are designed to be put on and taken off by unhooking links and actually unsnapping the collar from around the neck.The right way to unhook a collar is to pinch one of the links and pull it apart. Taking the collar off is always easier than putting it back on.This photo shows how to pinch a link and take the collar off the dogs neck.This photo shows how to start reconnecting a link to put the collar back on the dogs neck. Put one side of the prong of a link in one side of the connecting link. Then squeeze the link with the thumb until the other side drops in place.When both prongs are lines up (by using thumb pressure on the link) the collar will go back together.Problems develop if new trainers try and fit both sides of the link together without using thumb pressure to squeeze the link together - unless the prong is pinched together it will never reconnect.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Proper Placement Once the Collar is On the DogMost of the time when a collar is put on a dog the handler connects the collar with the links behind the dogs ears - this is the easiest place to access the links (by the red arrow in the photo above). Once the collar is on the neck the rings to connect the leash to are under the dogs chin - which is the wrong place for them to be. You will have to rotate the collar so the rings are in the proper spot on the dogs neck. This is usually on the right side of the neck - like you see in the photo below.This photo shows a well fit prong collar - it is sized properly, it is sitting in the correct spot on the dogs neck and the rings are located in the correct spot for the leash to be attached (right side of the neck).--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dead-Ring Vs Live-RingThere are two ways to attach a leash to the prong collar. It can either be connected to the live-ring or the dead-ring. Which one you choose will depend on the dog and what you are trying to do.Leash that is attached to the live-ring on the prong collar.When the snap is on the live-ring the correction is amplified because more slack is taken out of the collar when the correction is given and the leash is popped. The live-ring is used if a dog does not respond well to the snap being placed on the dead-ring.This photo shows how to attach a snap to the dead-rings on the prong collar.The first time a prong is used on a dog the snap should be on the dead-ring. When a correction is applied and the leash is attached to the dead-ring the correction will not take as much slack out of the collar as when it is attached to the live-ring. Send this page to a friend© 2003 Leerburg Video, All Rights Reserved http://www.leerburg.com/index.htm?http: ... ====Please observe in this photo that not only is he showing an improperly fitted collar on the dog's neck, but the prongs are going in the wrong direction and the leash loop is not on the right hand side of the dog's neck. This is a great photo for showing what so many people do with a prong collars who don't know how to properly fit or apply one. Proper fit and application is critical to proper use of this collar. It may be that it has gotten a bad name because so many so-called trainers out there don't really know how to fit and apply, much less use, this collar. MsRottie The prong collars that utilize a quick release snap are the best way to go! Makes taking the prong collar on and off so much easier! MsRottie

Crabby Abby · Post by **Crabby Abby** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 1:14 am

Thank you all. Lots of good advice here though I've heard *not* to rub his nose in accidents as that will teach him to hide accidents or eliminate the evidence. *ack* Right now he restricts himself to linoleum. I'd hate to drive him onto carpeting. I've heard about using a can for bad behaviors though. MY SIL tied bells to her door. Each time the dog had an accident, or any time she wanted him to go out, she'd bump the bells with his nose and take him out. Now whenever he needs to go or just wants to run around the yard he rings the bell.I've been feeding him Science Diet twice a day and have an unopened bag of Iams on hand. I'll try splitting it up over 3 meals instead of 2. What would allergy symptoms be?He does seem to be calming down a bit and loves to play fetch already.

Willow · Post by **Willow** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 11:27 am

Yes, rubbing a dog's nose in his mess is absolutely, shockingly, appallingly cruel and will only teach him to be "dirty", i.e. to tolerate being in his own mess. You really don't want that. No proper trainer has ever recommended that, as far as I know, even a dog training book my grandma has from the '50s says never to rub a dog's nose in his mess.Don't feed him low-protein foods; it's OK for older dogs with kidney problems, but not for puppies; he won't grow properly.A shake can is a good idea, but it can traumatize some dogs. My dog Penny is terrified of them, they scare her bad she can't think, she just runs.I prefer prong collars over chokers, because when Willow was younger, we were walking her with her choker, she saw another dog and started pulling hard to get to the dog. The dead-ring stretched out and caught in the links and we had a terrible time getting it off of her. Her tongue even turned blue before we could get it off. It was a good-quality choker, too, not the cheap Wal-Mart kind. I also once read something that said you should try it on your own arm before you put it on your dog, so I did, and I was appalled by how the choker felt, but the prong collar wasn't so bad, just annoying enough to prevent pulling.I forgot about Gentle Leader before. It's a head halter, it can really help with dominance issues (he's just a baby, he shouldn't have any yet) and leash problems. Ask your vet or you can usually find them at PetCo. I don't like the Halti's, though. I trained Willow to use the bells, it was easy and it really impressed guests, LOL. But Penny never picked up on it; the bells scared her. Toby was already house-trained when I got him, so I never tried it with him. If you're already feeding him twice a day, you can probably keep it up, no reason to change now, since you're just going to go back to twice a day when he's 6 months old. The point was, not to leave food out free-choice, since he'll eat all day and poop all day if you do that.He's a little young to start showing allergy symptoms; they usually start showing up after he's eaten the food for a while and his immune system has rebelled. Willow's allergies showed up when she was 8-9 months old. Some symptoms are: itching (no fleas present), licking himself to the point where he makes open sores, poor-quality hair coat, hair loss (Willow was nearly bald before we figured it out), ear infections, bad body odor (yes, dogs smell "doggy", but it shouldn't be too bad), hot spots, digestive upset----basically, every dog will present with different symptoms, if your dog is having problems, the first thing you should look at is his diet. If you respond at all to him making noise while in his crate, it will just encourage him. You need to ignore the racket completely. But I'm not one to talk; Willow cried whenever I put her in the crate, so I just let her sleep loose in my bedroom, and only put her in the crate when we left the house. My other 2 dogs weren't crate trained, although they will "kennel up" now if I tell them to. Yay, fetch!! Have lots of fun with your puppy, don't worry too much about how he's going to turn out. As long as you treat him well, and don't let him boss you, he should turn out fine.

Crabby Abby · Post by **Crabby Abby** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 12:14 am

OMG Did you guys know boxer's bounce? I should have named the dog Tigger. Or Rebel. Someone said you should hold off on naming until you know their personality. Man I so agree!Off to obedience school we go! He begs, jumps, nips, barks, chews, climbs on the furniture, vocally protests (that one is cute when I'm in the mood). I swear he's a Taurus but he was born in October. Do adult Boxers jump? I hope he calms down a little! It'll help when the weather warms a bit so he can run off all that puppy energy and stop crashing into and knocking over everything in the house.Other than that, things are great. He's seen the vet twice and she loves him. He gained 4.8 lbs in 3 weeks and he's getting coarse black hair down his back. Almost like a skunk stripe. He was all brown when I bought him. Vet said that was unusual marking for a Boxer. He put the brakes on when I tried to take him out because she gave him so many treats. Good, finally a dog that likes the vet!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 2:49 pm

My mom owns a boxer that is now two years old and she is the smartest dog I have ever been around. She was a wild and crazy puppy and can still be. Boxers are sooooo intelligent that you have to be on your toes to stay ahead of them. My mom's boxer whispers when she wants something and she rings a bell to go outside to go potty. I agree that to rub their nose in their messes is barbaric and inhumane, I would never do anything like that. I also have a problem with prong collars, but I do know some people use them and choker collars, I agree are not good things. My Mom feeds her boxer Wellness Simple Solutions Venison, a very good food and the poop is usually very firm and not alot of bowel movements. Your boxer will outgrow alot of this behavior, my mom's boxer has, but they do remain very playful and they love to be on your lap no matter how big they get. Something that we have found out about boxers is that they can have alot of food allergies. My mom's boxer has an allergy to chicken and if she gets into the cats food that contains chicken her paws will itch and she licks and chews on them. Just enjoy your boxer, you will find that they are almost like little children, they don't act much like a dog and they will make you laugh everyday and they will surprise you with their intelligence everyday, they are very lovable dogs.

jojo7 · Post by **jojo7** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 3:06 pm

I have 2 words that will solve your puppy situation!! CESAR MILAN!! (the dog whisperer)..Thats all i have to say!!..Good luck!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 6:06 am

I suggest taking the dog to a class where you both learn. Here in Los Angeles, shock collars, choke chains and prong collars are basically considered abusive. (and I agree) If I wouldn't use it on my child, I won't use in on my dog. (My daughter doesn't wear a dog collar but if she did, I would use a regular collar and not one of the above.)I believe in using positive reinforcement and it has always worked for me. I have trained my pit bulls and never had a problem. I did take one dog to a PetsMart for the puppy classes and had great success. The trainer was wonderful and the dog was socialized which was helpful. I have also taken a dog to a more private training class that was held at someone's house and the trainer had only 6 dogs there so we all got a lot of attention. Both worked very well. No choke or prong collars were allowed in either.Puppies can be so crazy and it confuses them when we give mixed messages and we don't even mean to do it. It's our job to teach them (non-violently) what the rules are. I'm sure you're dog will get it but it may not feel like it at the moment!Hang in there. I'm sure you'll figure it out.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:34 am

quote:Originally posted by CrabbyinLA:I did take one dog to a PetsMart for the puppy classes and had great success. The trainer was wonderful and the dog was socialized which was helpful. my friend took her puppy to the petsmart classes and also had amazing success. she had a very good trainer as well, who's own dog would sit and wait for a command before gobbling up a treat off the floor. now that's good training