training a dog?

[{CLR}geneSW]

I was just curious about how long I should wait before starting to train my new dog. She's a 10 month old sheppard/retriever mix. I've had her for a week now and she's been crated every night because she gets destructive at night. We can leave her alone for about an hour or so before the behavior starts.

When we adopted her she had come from another family that had her for two weeks and abused her, so she's a rescued dog really. She seems to act better towards the wife then me, but does seem to know a basic command or two, like sit and stay. She is also learning when it's time for her to go into her kennel like right before bead, or if the wife has her purse and i've got the car keys. Now, I understand that sheppards are a little difficult to train, but retrievers aren't.. so this should balance out a little bit. I'm at a lost as to what to do because she only slightly responds to treat training, and when trying to teach her sit, she does it about half the time. The other half I try to guide her by gently pushing down on her rear and she just resists it. I'm at a complete loss as to what to do because she just doesn't seem to respond. I think I started training a little too early and perhaps I should wait another week or two first. What do you all think?

[mapes]

Be sure to get one of those clickers....Just don't do what a bud of mine did to his wife. He was watching TV and she asked him if she could get him something. When she brought him a beer he clicked the clicker...

[Apache Warrior]

Use lots of positive reinforcement. You can start training now just make sure you make it fun and only do it for extremely short times. As far as potty training, just take them out constantly and praise them or give them a treat when they actually go to the bathroom.
Apache

[BigTwinky]

Have you ever trained dogs before? If so, have they been rescued dogs? Training a dog from a pup is different than training one that has had prior issues.

If you have never taken this on successfully, I'd seriously consider getting some professional training, giving them the full background of what you know and have been doing with the dog

[Pumpkin_Jack]

We have a hunting dog, a german short-haired pointer and he is one dumb but loveable dog. We believe he has a seeing problem. But never the less he is a little over a year and a half old been training him sense he was 8-9 months old. That was just basics such as sit, lay down, and potty training. All you have to remember to a dog "This is the best ____ ever" always fallows so just keep showing him new things and changing how you are teaching things. We are currently getting my dog to fallow hand signals so when we are out hunting he doesnt scare the geese or pheasant away.

[{CLR} Major.Massacre]

I have a two year old male king sheppard( he's a monster of a dog, more like a small horse). You need to start training immediatly! It is easier to train when you get them as a pup but any dog at any age can be trained. First off only use positive reinforcement when it comes to training.

Some dogs can be very picky when it comes to food or treats. Maybe she does not like what you are giving her? Try various treats until you find some she responds too well. This is going to take alot of time due to the abuse and poor training she was given before hand. Stay patient and remain positive with her. Never push her down(even gently)to sit as this is not positive reinforcement.

My dog still acts up from time to time as well (he's a stubborn bastich some times ) Make sure your dog has a variety of toys to keep him occupied, as im assuming the destructiveness is that of a chewing one. If it persists may I recommend you buy some bitter apple for the walls and/or furniture. When you catch her chewing make sure you say NO! then give her one of her toys instead right after the act.

I've got to run but when I get back Gene ill write you some more bro.

[Hammy]

Some dogs can be very picky when it comes to food or treats. Maybe she does not like what you are giving her? Try various treats until you find some she responds too well. This is going to take alot of time due to the abuse and poor training she was given before hand. Stay patient and remain positive with her. Never push her down(even gently)to sit as this is not positive reinforcement.

My dog still acts up from time to time as well (he's a stubborn bastich some times ) Make sure your dog has a variety of toys to keep him occupied, as im assuming the destructiveness is that of a chewing one. If it persists may I recommend you buy some bitter apple for the walls and/or furniture. When you catch her chewing make sure you say NO! then give her one of her toys instead right after the act.

I agree with all of this.
Training can actually start pretty quickly with any dog, and rescue dogs are actually better off when you establish a relationship sooner than later. Training is a superiority excercise that creates deeper bonds between owner and pet. When done correctly, there is more than just a few benefits.

Your problem is a superiority and role issue. The dog is confused regarding who is the boss, and it is trying to assert itself half the time. There is nothing wrong with Crating the dog when you have to go out, my dogs have always been crated and they always end up the way you describe- the minute someone starts to get shoes on or jingle keys, or shut down TVS and lights at night, off she runs to the Crate. The good news is that your dog is probably easier to train than you are giving it credit for, and you just havent hit the point where to the dog it is clear that you are not a dog, and they are not a human.

The teething and chewing problems will continue until 1.5 years - 2yrs for most large breeds. The best you can do is not use the word NO when you correct them on this. The BEST way to fix the chewing problem is to pull the object they are messing up out of their mouth and put the correct chew toys in front of them. Rawhides are good, but they must be monitored and not used more than 30 min or you will get digestive issues, chronic diareah, dehydration, and gum diseases.

The next time you catch the dog chewing up your shoes, grab the hard rubber latex chew toy you have bought, and put the other toy in front of the dog and ENCOURAGE them happily to tear into it. For my dog, she used to keep her mouth open panting when I took away something, so I would place the latex bone or rubber chew tire into her mouth and say "NICE! GOOD GIRL" and she would look at me with ears up and happy, chew a few chomps, then look at me to see if she got the same response. In a few days, no more chewing on the furniture, no more stolen shoes, and the kids toys are safe now.

My way of teaching a dog to sit. There are a variety of ways, but my favorite is to have a bit of favorite treat in my hand, the smaller the better, and walk slowly towards the dog repeating in a firm but moderate voice "SIT" until they accidently sit down. When the dog sits you say "Good Dog" and give them a treat. Then step back a few steps. When they stand up, start the process again. NEVER say sharp words like "OOPS, WAIT, STOP, or NO" Always "SIT" or "GOOD DOG" or "GOOD GIRL/BOY" or "GOOD [NAME]"

Do this for a few minutes, then give the dog some time to play with you or relax, then start again after 10 min or so. This starts the deliniation process between "fun" and "work" time for the dog. It also makes you the pack leader because YOU determine work and play, and YOU determine what they are supposed to do.

When the dog is able to sit on command you are ready to practice stay.

Then after stay you can practice "DOWN"
Then after that you can just go in about any direction you like.

For rescue dogs with aggressive tendencies, any time the dog displays aggression, you should step forward and make physical contact with the dog while staring in their eyes. NOT violently bump, but just a leg brush as you say no. If the dog continues to be a jerk, you stare at them in the eyes until they look away. What you are doing breaking down the dominance problem with the dog and establishing the boundries.

For rescue dogs with fear tendencies, you need to be VERY careful. These dogs usually are the ones that cause severe injuries when they bite, and they usually do so unexpectedly. This one I have no experience with except that something about the way I approach and interact with dogs usually makes me the guy that makes people say "holy cow, usually strangers cant get close to the dog, and there she is with her chin your knee!"

[Sirex]

Well our dogs are trained with praise, fun, and initally treats.

get dog biscuits (lil bones or something like that), show the dog, not by you doing it but physically move them.

Like i you want to do sit...
Say sit, while doing that press its back down so it sits.
pat it, smile, use a high pitched voice with praise words, give treat,
Repeat 4-5 times, try with out moving them

repeat until they do it on their own
after a time phase out the treat slowly, move to just patting etc
else they expect a treat all the time and will stop doing it.

If they sit, and then lie down, or do something off command, DONT give a treat, cos it will undo some of your work.

Clickers work, but you have to associate the clicks with something first, like treats, use it along side the treat in the case above, but dont phase it.

Clickers are really unnesserry, I feel they really dont improve the performance than anything.
If anything a clicker would be better assosiated with wrong behaviour, then you could use it outside when walking the dog etc, means can just click it to say "NO stop it"

The showing etc works quick ours took 2-3 times, but you have to maintain the 3 time rule after they get it properly.
1st ask
2nd tell
3rd show

Ours dogs learnt fast using that method and the one above.

[LadyBug]

We have a golden retriever, Daisy, and we started teaching her basic commands when we first brought her home...so it isn't too early. Just keep in mind that dogs like and respond to short and sweet commands. In a calm tone of voice, tell the dog what you want her/him to do. You have to help them associate the command, usually one word if possible, to that one action. Sit for sitting, down for getting off people or furniture, up for getting up on something, etc.
The hardest one for us seems to be stay. Daisy does well with everything else but that one command.
The hardest thing to keep in mind is the tone of voice used and that praise is a MUST. They love it! (Who wouldn't?) We started out with both verbal praise and treats, but gradually weaned off the treats except for special occasions.
There are a lot of excellent ideas on this forum so hopefully you will find a happy medium and be able to train the dog and not the dog train you! Ask DougBob about that one!
Good luck and happy training!
LadyBug

[Kriotek]

if you have another dog or dogs you can use them as a training aid too by getting them to do as you expect the pup too do, as the pup will see what they are doing and the fact that they are getting all this nice stuff for it like treats, petting and nice words.

[{CLR}geneSW]

Have you ever trained dogs before? If so, have they been rescued dogs? Training a dog from a pup is different than training one that has had prior issues.

If you have never taken this on successfully, I'd seriously consider getting some professional training, giving them the full background of what you know and have been doing with the dog

I've trained dogs before. Border collie and collie. Tried to train an afganhound but I was a little too young (about 16) and about 50 lbs too light to really try to train a bread that large and strong. The main problem is that when I try to train her to sit, she just lays down, and then doesn't want to get back up most of the time. She has gotten a little better about the destructive behavior. We've been slowly leaving her out of her kennel when we leave... nothing more then an hour and she doesn't seem to destroy anything in that amount of time.

Still working on her poddy training though as she took a nice crap in the back room, but we whern't around to correct it right away. Thinking about getting a gate to put up in the hallway so she ends up staying in the living room/kitchen while we are gone as she's only done it in the same spot each time. We've already tried de-oderizers and what not... no effect. Thinking i'm gonna have to shampoo the carpets sometime soon to make sure that the last owners of this house didn't have an animal that used to go there every once in awhile.

I'll have pictures up soon! Thanks for all of the advice.

[lolcat]

hehe I beat him to it...

[{CLR} Major.Massacre]

Gene try Simple Solution pet odour and stain remover. It works pretty good. You need to eliminate the stain/odour so that she wont go their again.