Hunting Dog Supplies Can Help Ensure Proper Dog Training and a Successful Hunt
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Find a local dog trainer that uses positive reinforcement techniques. It won't be very cheap, but it will solve your problems the correct way, and if you can afford 2 dogs you can surely afford the proper training!
Dog Training Tips For Hard-To-Train Dogs
- Wow, you certainly have your hands full - I remember what that was like!
Obedience training for dog behavior improvement is an important and critical part of responsible dog ownership. Learning effective dog training techniques will lay the foundation for a well-behaved and well-adjusted dog. You will feel at ease at all times that your pet will be well-behaved, will not be a danger to other people or other dogs, and will consistently obey your commands.
Dogs by instinct and genetics have a pack mentality. In the wild, a few will elevate to the leader of the pack, but most will be a follower. So it is quite natural for your dog to learn to follow your lead and instruction. That's what they would normally do in the wild.
Obedience training for dog behavior improvement requires that you take charge of your relationship with your dog. You must always be the leader. In the process of loving your dog and showing him or her affection, never forget that you are the leader. This is where many dog training models go astray. It is imperative for your dog to recognize his place in your relationship. (see source!!)
Learning dog training techniques provides an amazing sense of confidence and competence in yourself as a responsible dog owner. You can be confident that you know how your dog will react in virtually any situation and circumstance. It's a confidence that your dog will obey your every command and actually enjoy doing so.
A dog that's easily distracted and doesn't obey your commands can be a danger to himself as well as to other people. If you own an out-of-control dog and you see him running out into a busy street, there is absolutely nothing you can do. But an effectively trained pet who is trained to stay by his owner's side doesn't even think of running out into the street.
It has been proven that obedience training for dog behavior is very mentally stimulating for a dog and helps to create a well-adjusted and happier dog. A happy well-adjusted dog will always have less dog behavior problems for you to deal with.
I hope I have provided you with some material to think about - it is a long road, but in the end, if done properly, you will have an awesome relationship with your new dog and I wish you two the best! - For the potty training: Try taking her out every hour on the hour and don't bring her back inside until she potties! And as soon as she finishes pottying give her a tasty snack and reward and praise her. The best way to potty train is to prevent accidents, so if you can, get some pet scent remover and clean your house from top to bottom. Wal-Mart has some stuff called "OUT! Natural" and it works very well. It smells like lemons and herbs and it also removes stains. Then, if you can, get pee-pee pads. LOTS of them. Line your entire floor with them if you have to securing the seams with scotch tape. Only replace the ones she potties on daily. Leave the rest. After while you can start removing them one at a time until there are only a few left. It sounds complicated but it works. Most people use this trick for small rooms like a bath room or bedroom they have to leave the dog in when they go somewhere. Sooner or later she'll get down to just pottying on one pad, and then you slowly move it a few inches towards your door every day. Then move it outside. You should never punish a puppy for pottying in the house, only prevent it, and reward them for going in the proper place. And don't clean up the mess when they're watching. It's like a mind game for them.
For the chewing: Get her rawhide toys, bones, Greenies, rope toys, balls, squeaky toys and anything else you find at the store that's made for dogs and she might enjoy. Give her 2 or 3 a day, and rotate them so she only has the same ones for a day or two and she won't get bored with them. I understand you're against physical punishment, but really you should try using a loud newspaper or paper towel roll (that's empty of course), or an envelope with the plastic window thing in it. Just something that makes a lot of noise but doesn't cause pain. I found the envelope works best. Keep a very good eye on her at all times, and when you see he headed for something she shouldn't have tell her NO! If you can stop her before she gets to it that really speeds up the training. If not it's okay, just tell her no, and if she doesn't respond, tell her a second time and follow up with the paper.
For the crate training: It's best to work on this when you leave the house and no one is around. Doing it at night keeps everyone up and it's just annoying. Put her in the crate, and cover it with an old blanket so she can't see you leaving. When you leave it doesn't matter how much she cries, she'll take the hint that crying won't get her her way. And whatever you do, never ever ever let her out of the crate while she's crying. This enforces the behavior and you'll never get her trained to sit there without crying. If you can't get her to quiet right before you take her out, make a loud noise like clapping your hands and as soon as she's quiet you can let her out.
I hope it all works out for you... if you need any more help feel free to e-mail me. I can look up some of the sites I got my training info for you. Oh, and Bull Dogs are very stubborn by nature, they take longer than some breeds to catch on to and respond to training. - What I have found to be effective in showing dominance to a dog is...now this might sound cruel, abusive etc...but it does work. When a dog is trying to be dominant and will not listen, I carefully grab it and make it lie on its back with my hand around it's neck (not much pressure) using my fingers as teeth (I chew on his neck) I make sure that they stay on their back until they stop wiggling which is a sign of defeat and submission. I have just shown my dominance over the dog. You must be as gentle as possible in this manoeuvre because you can cause harm to the dog. If the first try does not succeed..and the dog gets up, do it until it works..Meaning, until the dog gets so tired it is possible to accomplish. In nature, when dogs compete for dominance, it's a challenge until one of the dogs surrenders.
When you bring her outside, tell her to go pee, or use whatever words you want her to learn by. If you know her habits, when you come back in from your walks, time it...5 min later, you bring her outside and tell her the magic word. Don't give in, you are the boss. - It sounds like you have stumbled upon a very difficult puppy. (I feel your pain...my lab pulled to metal bars of her cage apart too!) I find when I am training dogs being clear, patient, and consistent are the most important things. You are basically trying to communicate with the equivalent of a 3yr. old kid that grew up speaking a foreign language. My best tip I can give you is to use different tones and pitches of my voice to get my point across. (I also use play and treats when working on specific commands.) Just think of natural dog behavior:
Low, slow and firm= Hey, I don't like what you are doing
High, loud and short= Pay attention or Ouch!
High pitch and friendly = You are being very good
Physical contact= play (in her mind) = good job
No physical contact= no play= not a good jobNow, specifically for potty training, the method I use is simple, but requires a lot of diligence on your part:
1. Take the dog out every 2 hrs and walk her around outside (if you have
an enclosed yard it might be good to even let her of the leash since some
dogs won't pee while on it) Have treats or her favorite toy with you so
that if she pees you can immediately reward her. I will even start praising
them once I see them in the act of doing their business (see note above
about tone of voice)
2. While you are just hanging out inside with your pup watch her like a
hawk! If she is going to have an accident in the house you want to catch
her in the act. After the fact is too late...their ability to put past action and
consequence together is not really there... When you do catch her, go
ahead and tell her "No", "Hey" or "Ah,Ah" in low, quick and firm voice (gets
their attention and tells them you are not happy). At the same time pick
them up (even if she is still peeing) and get her outside to where she
should be peeing. Hopefully when you get her out there she still has some
left and will finish up outdoors so you can praise her. Unfortunately, it may
take a couple of accidents before she gets it.
3. If she still refuses to pee outside try training her with a puppy pad. You
can use it as training wheels to transition her into peeing outside. (Train her
to pee on pad then move pad outside. Then wean her off the pad.)
**4. Also get her checked out for a UTI or vaginitis. These are two VERY
common infection that female puppies are prone to that can interfere
significantly with potty training.
Crate training is not super fun either thanks to the crying. Start off by putting the dog in the crate and making sure its comfortable and in a quiet room where she can see people walking around. You want her to think of it as "her room" ... "her safe place." I will even put a little kibble in a bowl or a dentabone in there with her to keep her busy and a blanket over the cage for the solitude. Now when she starts crying, try to ignore it as long as possible. If she stops crying for a significant amount of time (this might only be 1 min in the beginning...but should increase) praise and reward her by letting her out. Should she start crying before you let her out. close the cage and calmly walk out again until she calms down. Now, if she doesn't ever stop crying you can try the loud sharp "Ah, ah" to see if you can get her attention, (but if she is really worked up like my cocker spaniel gets it won't phase her). I would suggest putting her in her cage without a blanket over it and leaving the room so that she can see you leave. Stand just outside the closed door and count to 15 then re-enter. Do this a few times so that she knows that when you leave you are coming back. Slowly increase the count that you are outside. If while you are counting you hear her calming down re-enter and praise her. Eventually you should be able increase the calm time it requires for you to re-enter the room. Finally you should be able to pick up where the original training technique began. Don't expect her to necessarily learn this one in one day. If you notice her getting too worked up try to pick a good note to end on for the day...then try again tomorrow.
As for the chewing things up, again diligence and patience is the key. Destructive chewing is often a sign of boredom. With my dog and other dogs I have trained, I have found that making sure the dog gets at least an hour long walk/ playtime cuts down on the destructiveness immensely!!! If you don't have time for this see if there are any dog savy kids in your area looking to make an extra $5 or $10. The idea is to stimulate your dog...so be sure to switch up the activities as well. Walk in the park one day, then have a play date with a friends dog another day. (Its a great excuse to have people over for drinks!) The time can even be spent learning a new trick/job (my personal favorite is "drop it"/ "leave it"...it makes for a very nice game to them).
Ok...one last tip.. make sure that anytime you do take something out away or out of their mouth that they shouldn't have replace it with something that they can have. If your dog is young the chew could be due to teething so you don't want to eliminate chewing all together. My dog (who can destroy anything we give her) LOVES this toy... http://www.amazon.com/Nylabone-Dental-Di… Dog training is not always an easy thing, and each dog responds differently to different techniques. Don't give up hope! If my suggestion don't help I recommend looking in to some in person professional help. Even if you find out you are right on track, just the repetition of going to classes will help teach your dog to focus. Not to mention the trainer will have years of experience and will probably have little tricks to help you along the way.
I don't know if your dog is a rescue, but PetSmart gives discounts on their classes if you have a shelter dog! :-)Best of Luck!!
~Samantha
Feel free to email any other questions... if I can't answer them I have many dog training friends that can!
P.S. Sorry this was so long...
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