# Being played by the dog!!!



## Teddy Bear (Apr 11, 2015)

I've been trying to get a dog trainer for Teddy since I got him. 
I finally managed to get a consultation with a trainer but she is unavailable until the end of year. 

Teddy barks at selected types of people walking across the road and the monkey & cats (and a specific black dog). Even if he is sleeping, he'll run to the window to bark as soon as he smells them. 
During the consultation (at home), Teddy was a perfect angel! No barking and he followed every instruction I gave him! He didn't even bark at the stray monkeys and cats!!! ?. As soon as the trainer left, silly Teddy was back to normal!! 

The trainer gave me some tips to work on until she's available for another session towards year end. Seen some improvement in some areas but need some advise on 3 issues:

I've been using "leave it" and "drop it" interchangeably. Been asked to use "leave it" if it's something he isn't allowed to have in his mouth (eg my glasses and shoes!) and "drop it" if it relates to something he can have (eg his toys).
How do I get him to know the difference? Really stuck on this one!!

Also been asked to crate train him to keep him from disturbing everyone when we have visitors.
I bought him a big crate and have put his favourite blanket in it. I've been throwing in treats and toys but Teddy refuses to go in completely. 
He keeps his back legs out and stretches himself to reach treats at the back of the crate. 
What can I do to get him to go in completely? 
I don't want to scare him by pushing him in and am not looking to close the door until he is very used to being inside. 
Please help!! Any idea would be appreciated!

Teddy has also started chewing my sofa! The trainer says he is getting sufficient exercise for his size so it's not exercise related. can't figure out how to stop him for chewing my sofa. Is there something I can do to discourage his new hobby? He usually does this when we're in another room so we never catch him in the act. 
He always has a raw hide bone and we rotate his toys every 3 days.


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## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

We don't use different commands for things the dogs can and can not have. While it makes sense to you, it is really just having him do the exact same thing with completely different commands. In our house "leave it" means "don't put your mouth anywhere near that thing until we give a release cue". If it is something they aren't supposed to have, the release cue is never given and it gets picked up and put away. "Drop it" means "put that thing down and don't pick it up again until I say you can". Once again, forbidden items are never given a release cue. Dogs LOVE their contraband, so if Teddy ever notices you get more frantic when giving one command over the other, he could start making a game of it and not giving up the glasses etc. I don't think you WANT him learning the difference between the two  With ours, drop means drop, and leave it means leave it, no matter what the item they have.

With the crate situation, I would gently place him in it. Don't push him; these are small guys who shouldn't need a shove of any kind. Nino kennels up completely willingly and always has, but Mario is a bit more reluctant. With a little gentle verbal prodding or just scooping him into it, he has no problem. Start with rewarding your dog for hanging out around the crate, then sniffing in it, then reaching his front paws in. Eventually, start placing him in, rewarding him IN the crate, then letting him come out. It may not be fun for him initially, but a dog that enjoys crate time in the end is so worth the work. Do a quick search for crate games from Susan Garrett; they can be helpful, especially for dogs who weren't helped with crate association when they were still with the dam.

As for the couch, your clue is in the fact that it never happens when you are in the room. If behaviors like this are occurring, you need to keep your dog near no matter how old. That way, if he does start chewing, you can gently correct/redirect before rewarding for changed behavior. If you want it to stop, you may have to keep him from running amok with free reign. That said, there are chew deterrents, but I like to keep those away from furniture.

Anyone can correct anything I've said...just rambling thoughts out.


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## Teddy Bear (Apr 11, 2015)

Thanks Karmar,

I can not always get Teddy to drop/leave anything unless I have a treat in my hand. Been trying since he was a puppy but it's quite hard to get him to listen when there's no treat even with daily practice.


I've noticed Teddy is less likely to leave or drop something when I get stressed about it. Like this morning, he found a piece of chicken on the road during our walk and no matter how much I told him to leave it, he still ate it! I tried opening his mouth to take it out but he kept it so tightly shut, it was impossible. 
Not that I have an issue with him eating chicken meat but theres always a risk that it's unsafe for him to eat. 

What deterants are there to stop dogs chewing on stuff?? I've not seen anything for this in the shops. 
Is there a home made solution I could try?


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## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

That's why I think you should make the commands for each action the same and be as nondescript about it as possible. If it requires a treat, keep treats on you (my right pocket is always full of them). You never know when a "leave it" could save your dog from something that could kill him. Recently, there was an issue in the city we are a suburb of with someone placing biscuits laced with rat poison along walking paths and in yards.

As for deterrents, I can't give any specific brands because we don't use them. Aside from the first couple weeks, we have had no issues with Nino chewing as he quickly learned what he can and can't chew. Go with something that is gentle on the furniture and alcohol free and safe enough for dogs.


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## Tux's Mom (May 24, 2016)

I am not a dog trainer, but I seem to have had a decent amount of luck with my new puppy who is now 6 months old and my last Havanese of 13 who passed away. I think that Havanese are intelligent clowns but on the upside, are eager to please. I think emotionally verbal positive reinforcement works wonders. You don't want a dog that only behaves if there is a food bribe. As a pup gets older, (from 2 months to 6 months) they go from "fright" (everything is new and must be aggressively/excitedly approached especially if there is excitement or stress). Try and keep your voice in a very happy mode whenever they do ANYTHING correctly. Pet and make over them like they just won an olympic gold medal. If they do something bad (and only when you witness it happening, use a deeper voice, scowl a bit, and tell him that you are disappointed.Try not to raise your voice, but sound stern. Stay calm. Once the dog learns your demeanor, he will want to please you more and more. I agree with a treat trade off though if the dog gets something dangerous he won't relinquish. In the meantime, you should be messing with your dogs mouth a lot, looking at his teeth etc. but at the same time, tell him how great he is, how pretty his teeth are. It sounds silly, but your voice and demeanor will transfer to your dog's reaction. My pup will let me stick my finger almost down his throat to remove the tiniest seed, or pebble, but he didn't used to. I do it in a way that he is not fearful. I say, What have you got? Let's see what you've got. Then he KNOWS I'm going in after it, but kindly. He's already used to me praising him for being in his mouth, so its no big deal to relinquish something that doesn't taste that great in the first place. If you have a dog that loves to see you happy and he knows you really appreciate anything he does right (I mean ANYTHING), then half the battle is won. Use your voice, a scratch on the back or tummy, or play ball to let him know you love that he's trying to please.


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