Ok now what?

[jessesnewperson]

Before everything crashed, I introduced Jesse....short summary.
I got Jesse a few weeks ago, he's a beautiful 19 month old lab and his previous owners never trained him for anything. He had no idea how to function. He's super smart and he's so much fun.

So far I have taught him, with a pretty good degree of mastery : Sit, Come, Down, Back, Porch (means to to the porch)and Rug (means go lay on your rug). He can also walk on a leash well without pulling. He's also well crate trained and he will go in on command ('crate') and doesn't fuss or make a mess in his crate.

1. How do you go about housebreaking a male? I don't particularly recall. My older male dog is 7, so it's been 'a minute' since I did this. He wants to pee everywhere. I watch him like a hawk and correct him. How long does this take? My last puppy was female and she was much easier. Any tips?

2. Barking - All the time whenever anyone passes by on the road. This is fine, and I appreciate it.
He also barks at rabbits, who tend to be active at 2-3 AM and that is a bummer. Will be stop this when he gets used to there being rabbits out here? My female and my older dog have never been particularly interested in the rabbits.

3. Possessiveness - Is this bad? He is protective of his toys and such. He will growl if another dog tries to take his stuff. He doesn't bite or attack, just makes it clear that that object is his and it is not to be touched. My other two just kind of look at him and drop whatever he's objecting to. I just keep his things in his crate and keep it closed, even when he's not in it and things are fine. Am I supposed to fix this or do I just keep his things in his little place?

[bett]

as far as housebreaking, do you use a crate? do you have a strict schedule, when he goes out, after eating, how many times a day? is he tethered to you in the house so he doesn't have freedom to pee when you aren't looking?
are you cleaning up with nature's miracle, after cleaning up the urine, because they smell better than us and the smell will remain and he will tend to go there as well.
is he marking or peeing? a bit different.

depends how you mean "possessiveness". is it a corrective growl, like leave my bone alone and bug off, or is he ready to bite and tussle? if that were the chase, i'd take it away, and say MINE and then practice giving it back and taking it away so he realizes it's not really his, but he can have it, if he plays nice.

[Tanya]

Once you train all those, the next step is proofing them. So if you trained indoors with no distractions, start training in different places, and slowly add distractions. Dog's do not generalizse so you have to practice and train in variosu situations.


house training - same as a puppy. 100% supervision, reward big time when they go outside. Crating makes it easier as it discourages accidents when you cannot supervise. Wtih fosters, I will limit their movements (so I block off rooms and baby gates stairs) so I can more easily watch them. We go out often and reward when they go outside. Clean accidetns with an odour neutralising product.

If he goes to mark or lift his leg indoors, make a loud noise to stop him, I gently tap the leg down and say "no" and put them outside. the loud noise is only to stop flow not to punish them.

possessiveness - that is fine line. I would ALWAYS supervise the dogs when there are toys out. This may never get any worse (adn in theory it's ok for him to not want his toys stolen) but it could escalate. MANAGE MANAGE MANAGE. Don't give him anythign high value when the other two can go near him (bones).
Barking- I say thank you and redirect. it means getting up each time and going to the dog.

[POPTOP]

Totally agree with Bett.

Archie was possessive of his toys. We can take them away from him and when he plays nice, he can have it back. I still pick up all the toys before the grans come over; he can be a little grabby if he wants a toy back.

The only times he growls is if Mardi approaches him while he is eating. She finishes first and will walk over to his bowl and he will give a little growl. I correct Mardi and have her move away. He has to sit and cannot touch his food until I say so but once it's down it's his.

Archie will bark to let me know someone is at the door, etc. I let him know I realize someone is there and he is to stop barking. Same with outside. I always check to see what he is "talking" about and then take control.

DH gets Mardi barking asking her is it treat time. Other than that, she hardly ever barks. If she does, I'm quick to respond and see what is going on.

[jessesnewperson]

as far as housebreaking, do you use a crate? do you have a strict schedule, when he goes out, after eating, how many times a day? is he tethered to you in the house so he doesn't have freedom to pee when you aren't looking?
are you cleaning up with nature's miracle, after cleaning up the urine, because they smell better than us and the smell will remain and he will tend to go there as well.
is he marking or peeing? a bit different.

depends how you mean "possessiveness". is it a corrective growl, like leave my bone alone and bug off, or is he ready to bite and tussle? if that were the chase, i'd take it away, and say MINE and then practice giving it back and taking it away so he realizes it's not really his, but he can have it, if he plays nice.

I think he's marking. He's intact.


Possessiveness as in a growl of 'don't touch that, it's mine'. The other two back off so it never escalates to anything more that that. I have a friend that brings his little puppy over and he will growl at her but he has never bitten or attacked any of the others.
He never growls at me for taking his things. I do it often, just so he knows it's MINE and he may have it by permission, to be revoked at any time. All of my dogs have lots of toys, so he's never without something to play with or chew on.

[jessesnewperson]

Once you train all those, the next step is proofing them. So if you trained indoors with no distractions, start training in different places, and slowly add distractions. Dog's do not generalizse so you have to practice and train in variosu situations.


house training - same as a puppy. 100% supervision, reward big time when they go outside. Crating makes it easier as it discourages accidents when you cannot supervise. Wtih fosters, I will limit their movements (so I block off rooms and baby gates stairs) so I can more easily watch them. We go out often and reward when they go outside. Clean accidetns with an odour neutralising product.

If he goes to mark or lift his leg indoors, make a loud noise to stop him, I gently tap the leg down and say "no" and put them outside. the loud noise is only to stop flow not to punish them.

possessiveness - that is fine line. I would ALWAYS supervise the dogs when there are toys out. This may never get any worse (adn in theory it's ok for him to not want his toys stolen) but it could escalate. MANAGE MANAGE MANAGE. Don't give him anythign high value when the other two can go near him (bones).
Barking- I say thank you and redirect. it means getting up each time and going to the dog.

Ok cool, that's what I have done with him trying to mark in the house.
He stays outside to play a lot in the spring, and sleeps outside if it's not cold, so I don't crate him much unless he's sleeping inside and then he couldn't care less, he walks in and lays down. When it starts to get hot they will all sleep inside and be inside during the hottest parts of the day so he will be crated over night every night alongside my female (old man sleeps on his bed in my room).

[WhoopsaDaisy]

Is Jesse inside with you at night? If so, you might want to try playing white noise to keep him from hearing the bunnies romping around in the middle of the night.

[Tanya]

If he outside when he barks at night? If so there really it no much you can do to control that. You need to bring him in so he can't be distracted. A dog outside will do as they please and you are not there to prevent/control/redirect. The solution here is simple, bring him in, start crate training (go slow don't just put him in and close the door, make it a happpy place first) if he isn't already (sounds like he may be).

It's harder to set rules and boundaries if the dog spends much of their time outside being "free". The more you bring him in and work on the issues, the quicker he will learn the house trules. Dogs do best with routine and regular expectations. If he spends most of his time outside he may not be learnign to hold it in.

Marking is not just an intact dog thing, but if he is spending that much time outside unattended I do hope you have a very good fence as an intact dog has been known to do some pretty incredible things to escape the yard and get to females in heat.

[ZRabbits]

I can't say enough about crate training. First time with a female for us, but doing the same as we have done with all our boy dogs. Got a schedule and sticking to it. Been about a little over a month and a half. No problems with peeing in the house, and just starting to relax and understand what kind of behavior is needed in the house. Love that Lilly is finding ways to rest instead of in her crate.

Believe me, feel your pain. Lilly was semi-feral and had no training other than what the handlers were doing at the Shelter. Takes time, patience and keep with a structure, and Lilly is coming along very well.

Regarding barking, Lilly is supervised 100% still when she's outside,so we do direct her when she starts to bark. We will tell her "thank you" and then "all is well" so she knows that though barking is allowed, it doesn't have to continue as we see no threat.

Lilly is showing possessiveness with her toys, but am working on this. Especially her pillow and any toys in her crate because she now knows that's "her space". I do go in and touch everything. It started out where the mouthing was intense, but talking to her, giving her a few treats, touching her stuff, the mouthing is getting better.

All I can say is it takes time. But a structured plan, keeping as close as you can to that structured plan, has done wonders for Lilly.

KAZ

[jessesnewperson]

He is outside a lot right now because it's beautiful outside and the summer is so brutally hot- the dogs will be in most of the time. He also loves to run and obviously, outside is the place for that. He is well crate trained, doesn't make a mess, nor whine. He also eats in his cage, as do the others so there is no squabbling. He is inside every day for some period of time so I can work with him and we go for a walk every afternoon. Again, all of this will change when the heat of the summer comes into play.