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Oct 6, 2024 17:30:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2019 9:51:17 GMT
My advice, you have chosen a stage of life that means dogs are your priority. You can't volunteer extra time that takes away from your dog's needs to be exercised sufficiently or you need to invest in time at a doggy daycare where he does get the exercise he NEEDS (it is not a good to have but a NEED) and maybe some extra training with them too. You can't expect him to just somehow know with only a couple months of training. His prior life history didn't teach him anything... think what it would mean to you to be picked up and dropped into an alien world where you have little idea what things are used for and can't even make the sounds needed to communicate so no idea what they are saying to you. How would you know what you could/couldn't touch unless you touch it? Considering that he came from a foster family where the foster mom and her BF both worked full time, he had been crated for longer stretches with them than he ever is with us. The school’s book fair is a once a year PTA gig that I usually help out with, as I said it is an anomaly for me to be gone more than a couple hours a day. There were two days last week when I was gone from about 10-3, the other days it was more like 12-3:30, and one of those days DH was home half the day (which was the day he stole the package with my shirt in it, I never would have let him outside until after I brought the packages inside and the UPS guy was gone). So not horrible by any reasonable stretch, just not what we usually do since I am normally at home all the time and can let him outside to run during the day, multiple times a day. Heck, when I am home he will take a good 1-2 hour nap in the mornings when he’s not crated, after everyone else leaves and the house quiets down. I might be doing paperwork in the office or laundry or whatever and he’s right by me sleeping, so it isn’t like he’s balls to the walls hyper 100% of the time. We have almost a two acre lot and the whole thing is invisible fenced so he has a LOT of space. He tears around the yard like his butt is on fire smelling all the smells, but he stays in the yard. I will throw the ball for him until he doesn’t give it back and then I’m done (maybe 5-6 times all the way down our back hill and back). I’ll also throw it in the house in the hallway for him too if the weather is too horrible to go out for very long, again until he starts being a turd and not giving the ball back, then I take it back and it’s game over. DH plays with him again for longer stretches in the afternoons when he gets home, he has more patience for the dog’s nonsense than I do. He gets walks too, although we have just been walking him inside the perimeter of the yard while we’ve been teaching him the boundaries of the fence. I do shorter obedience sessions several times a day in the house, maybe 10 minutes or so working on a specific thing, usually after we’ve been outside with the other little dog and he’s had a chance to blow off a little steam. He’s at the lake cabin with DH today. This dog literally won the adoption lottery by coming to live with us. It’s been 30 years since we had a lab like this one with three others that weren’t anything like him in between, so it’s probably just as much of an adjustment for us as it is for him. Even my high maintenance Jack Russell wasn’t this naughty (but I raised that one from a pup which definitely makes a difference). What you are doing on a normal day is fine and is one thing. It is the times when things aren't normal that become the issue. You have to decide whether to keep things in normal mode and not volunteer until he is better trained and better adjusted or do something, like crating him and immediately taking him for an exuberant playtime as soon as you get home on the days that aren't "normal" On the days he has been alone longer than normal he NEEDS attention and exercise right away. Not after dinner, homework and other kid/your needs. That is what is causing issues at the moment is putting off his needs. I understand your busy human point of view and priorities. His point of view and priorities are completely different. If you want to live together happily you have to see his point of view and slowly train him into yours. You can't just suddenly change up things and be gone for long stretches because you can't tell him what is going on. This isn't a judgement on whether or not you are good dog parent. It is about being able to see your actions through his needs. |
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Post by Patter on Dec 8, 2019 10:45:36 GMT
Oh yes, the exercise and mental stimulation are so very important too. Our dogs are herding dogs so they HAVE to walk every.single.day. Not a short walk, not a walk around the yard but an exhausting walk everyday rain or shine. I also walk different "paths" so that they are slightly challenged on the walk. We also do training on the walk--sit, stay, watch me, leave it, down, etc. They also have to run in our acre lot two times every.single.day. I am out their with them too. I started a part-time job in April, and I still have to work all of this in along with my job. Luckily my job is flexible. I can go in when I want, work from home when I want but I do go in everyday because I honestly can do my job better when I am there in my office. Anyway, the frozen kongs are great, dog games are great (search Pinterest), and slow feeder bowls are great. We have three different slow feeders we use and change it up. Glad you are getting lots of great ideas from this thread. Hopefully you will find what works best for him!
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Post by freecharlie on Dec 8, 2019 16:13:25 GMT
Honestly, you’re going to have to put away anything you don’t want chewed for a while. Our pointer/lab mix chewed on everything she could reach until around the age of 3. DH would not believe me about this and lost at least two pairs of glasses that he left in her reach. She was created whenever we weren’t at home for a long time. She is the best girl now and never chews anything that isn’t hers, but it took at least 3 years. We use a squirt bottle of water. We had a little one downstairs. I just noticed that she chewed up that bottle. Ugh. My husband can't remember to put stuff up and then gets mad when she chews stuff. my dog loves the squirt bottle. She tries to catch the water |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Dec 8, 2019 16:44:10 GMT
What you are doing on a normal day is fine and is one thing. It is the times when things aren't normal that become the issue. You have to decide whether to keep things in normal mode and not volunteer until he is better trained and better adjusted or do something, like crating him and immediately taking him for an exuberant playtime as soon as you get home on the days that aren't "normal" On the days he has been alone longer than normal he NEEDS attention and exercise right away. Not after dinner, homework and other kid/your needs. That is what is causing issues at the moment is putting off his needs. I understand your busy human point of view and priorities. His point of view and priorities are completely different. If you want to live together happily you have to see his point of view and slowly train him into yours. You can't just suddenly change up things and be gone for long stretches because you can't tell him what is going on. This isn't a judgement on whether or not you are good dog parent. It is about being able to see your actions through his needs. I hear what you’re saying, but it hasn’t mattered whether I’ve been home all day with him or gone. He does it regardless. It’s definitely a training issue more than anything. As I mentioned, the day he stole my shirt, I was home with him in the morning and crated him before I left to go pack up the book fair at 10:00 am. He was in the crate for no more than 15 minutes before DH got home (he had gone for a haircut) and then he was out and with DH. It wasn’t like he had been crated all day and had a lot of pent up energy and was in freak out mode. UPS came and DH opened the door, let the dog out go out (which I would NOT have done) and DH followed him out to get the packages the UPS guy was in the process of stacking on the open porch. He stopped to talk to the UPS guy for a minute about another delivery we were expecting and that was when the dog eyed up what was there, snagged the bag from the top of the stack and took off with it across the yard like a banshee, shaking it and ripping it up scattering stuff in the yard. I think it just completely took DH by surprise that the dog picked that particular thing to run off with. He would have expected it more if it had been a loose work glove or a shoe. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Dec 8, 2019 17:29:54 GMT
You need to be be able to leave him. For an hour, for the day. It’s just not feasible to be home with our pets 24/7. It’s crazy busy this time of year, but be sure to give him some time when you get home. He doesn’t know yet that you will always come back. Emma is 7 and has always been mine, but I always spend 5-10 minutes with her after I get home, petting her and playing a little. I don’t do it right when I walk in the door, but will about 15 minutes or so after getting home. It doesn’t have to be a long walk, but just some time to reconnect. Training is important, but also take the time to make him your dog; he will listen better. I said try to catch him in the act of stealing things. You can set that up so that you know he’s going to steal something. Train by making a fake package with the bag and leave it lying somewhere and then have him walk by it. Watch out of the corner of your eye and say Leave It as he walks by. Be ready to grab it if he does. Repeat with food, toys, seat covers!, etc. I make a little sound through my front teeth like tsst , tsst , tsst, to show to pay attention to me and listen. Adding that in could help. I do it quietly at odd times, just to reinforce the “pay attention to Mom” command. It has been our experience too that they usually calm down by the time they’re 3 or so. It’s just getting to that point without going insane first, LOL. Our first lab was crated anytime we weren't home until he was five because he was SO naughty. After that he was reliable and could have the run of the house. The subsequent ones that we trained from the start never had those issues with non food things (one was a counter surfer later in life, but that’s another thing entirely), and the last rescue lab we had was older and never exhibited that behavior and it wasn’t ever a problem. I agree that we’re going to have to set this one up with more things he would typically steal in an effort to intentionally train for this issue, like it was shown in the linked training video. I have done that some with a couple particular things that he has gone out of his way to take multiple times, like the little stuffed thing I use on the kitchen table to prop up my iPad.  The other thing we have been doing is work to catch him being GOOD, just like we do with our kid. When he’s being calm and quiet, chewing on his own things, etc. we lavish love and praise on him at those times so he knows those are the kinds of behaviors that make us happy. |
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Post by 950nancy on Dec 8, 2019 17:48:21 GMT
We use a squirt bottle of water. We had a little one downstairs. I just noticed that she chewed up that bottle. Ugh. My husband can't remember to put stuff up and then gets mad when she chews stuff. my dog loves the squirt bottle. She tries to catch the water It is the only thing that bothers my pup. You can just set the thing in your lap and she becomes a sweet, docile pup. Everything else seems to wind her up. Now if I bring it outside because she doesn't want to come in, she will do three laps around the yard and then come in. She does love the water hose. She's weird. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Dec 8, 2019 17:51:15 GMT
my dog loves the squirt bottle. She tries to catch the water It is the only thing that bothers my pup. You can just set the thing in your lap and she becomes a sweet, docile pup. Everything else seems to wind her up. Now if I bring it outside because she doesn't want to come in, she will do three laps around the yard and then come in. She does love the water hose. She's weird. The spray bottle works pretty well for barking, but it’s usually in the kitchen and not handy all the time. We haven’t tried it for other stuff. |
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Post by 950nancy on Dec 8, 2019 23:39:05 GMT
It is the only thing that bothers my pup. You can just set the thing in your lap and she becomes a sweet, docile pup. Everything else seems to wind her up. Now if I bring it outside because she doesn't want to come in, she will do three laps around the yard and then come in. She does love the water hose. She's weird. The spray bottle works pretty well for barking, but it’s usually in the kitchen and not handy all the time. We haven’t tried it for other stuff. I think we have one spray bottle out of the six I have purchased that she hasn't destroyed. I used to have them in multiple rooms. She's eaten the four or five that my husband can't remember to put up. I usually buy the dollar bottles. |
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