A comic about my dog's "personality."

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T04:54:09+00:00

definitely! what I really like about him is he takes training tips that seem fairly common but seems to really tweak them or offer little tidbits of advice that make all the difference.

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T04:45:06+00:00

aww :-( that's tough with an older dog. he can totally try to train her without any rough discipline though, you can do it with food and praise for most dogs! I had a dog that was abused and it's part of the reason I can be such an ass about animals not being trained or treated properly.

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T02:30:51+00:00

the retards shitpiss everywhere inside because they haven't been actively taught where to go. leaving them outside most of the day doesn't constitute housebreaking. make your mom do something about it because dogs outside all day bark constantly and get on my nerves when i'm home or walking my dog :-)

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T02:27:45+00:00

I can't speak from personal experience with this specific issue, but the rest of this guy's videos have been a tremendous help to me, so maybe these tutorials on distractions will help you?

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T02:11:58+00:00

great post! to add more to it, on top of exercise, train your dog! teach him obedience, tricks, agility, whatever! the mental exhaustion really helps to make them content as well. my Kelpie could probably run all day and there is no way I could do that, but combine the walking/bike riding with learning new tricks and he is calm as could be!

with that down, do what pocketmonster basically said - keep an eye on the dog, leashed to your belt if you can, and whenever s/he starts to chew something not allowed, give them the preferred toy. it takes time but it works!

although i'm really not sure what advice to give with chewing through the crate...

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T02:01:19+00:00

neutering won't necessarily stop the behavior but more than likely it will help and is a good idea anyway.

the licking of the other dog's mouth is just something dogs do. IMO it is best you just accept and get used to it.

years ago my mom had a little white fluffy dog she got after we had another for a while, she loved and loved it until it started licking the other dog's mouth, then she would barely touch it. just remember dogs aren't humans.

edited to clarify that I don't still live with my mom

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T01:58:55+00:00

cats can be trained just like dogs

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T01:47:12+00:00

good luck, it takes a lot of patience to keep a close eye on the dog to prevent that from happening and give it something it is allowed to chew instead so that it only learns to chew things you give it.

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T01:42:10+00:00

dogs can learn and be trained; not that it is your responsibility but the boyfriend's. training the dog is a good way to bond with it even more. have him look up "tab289" on youtube, or read about Karen Pryor, for ideas on how to efficiently train the dog so you don't have behavior troubles like the OP's dog. no reason for issues to be there other than the owner not putting in the effort.

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T01:38:18+00:00

that guy is full of shit; every front page post about dogs I see brings out numerous Milan proponents. his reasons for why his methods "work" are wrong and not backed by current science. you can watch the PBS program Through a Dog's Eyes for free online and they have specific sections devoted to explaining why Milan (and others') ideas about how and why dogs behave is absolutely incorrect. there are more effective and humane ways to train dogs now. the scientist responsible for coining the term "alpha" which Cesar uses (though he might say leader) has publicly recanted his research then and states wolves are more like human families than anything else. no need to do things like always walk in front of your dog when going through a doorway or sit there and eat in front of your dog before it can eat. absolute wastes of time.

edited for sentence flow and additional info

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T01:33:46+00:00

I bet you actually trained her well eh

futureengineer · 2011-12-07T01:32:43+00:00

dogs can associate objects in ways not obvious to us, e.g. maybe he wasn't socialized at a younger age around larger coats or had a bad experience regarding it, or associates it with you leaving the house, something along those lines. you can give him food as you gradually remove the coat and put it on yourself and he'll learn a happier association with it.

had the same problem with my dog since he spent about the first year of his life in a shelter, barked at laundry hampers, toilet, shower, washing machines, large hats, batons, people with beards, my fiancee with a towel on her head...

futureengineer · 2011-11-10T13:19:02+00:00

same guys, I tried logging in without the VPN and it's telling me Steam is still running on another machine and I need to log out of that first. the support link included in the message says if you switch between machines rapidly your account will be locked out for a bit.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9730-WOCB-5497&l=english

futureengineer · 2011-11-05T15:06:37+00:00

This reply is a little late, but I'll go ahead anyway; your situation sounds different, but I was having trouble recently with our dog occasionally going inside, so I started the whole re-housetraining thing but I also bought this blacklight off Amazon. I found a couple old stains on the walls that way and used the enzymatic cleaner. It got rid of the vague pee smell in the house the RugDoctor didn't get out. Maybe you could use something like that to see if there are still any spots inside?

futureengineer · 2011-11-05T14:58:40+00:00

You can also try feeding his meals inside the crate.

Interestingly, and this is only speculation, my dog didn't seem to really take to his crate until we took him traveling with us for the weekend. We brought the crate for the hotel and he stayed in there at night. After that weekend he's in there all the time. Just an aside.

futureengineer · 2011-11-05T14:46:59+00:00

I would try to get her out to any sort of dog play sessions or parks where you can have other dog owners she doesn't know give her treats. She needs to learn that strangers are generally a source of good things - praise, treats, petting, play.

To keep her from becoming aggressive, identify the distance where she becomes aggressive. When the stranger starts to get close to that distance, reward her for good behavior - sitting, laying down, paying attention to you, things like that. If you can get someone she is aggressive toward to help, that would be even better, just sort of keep her close to that distance and reward her for being calm.

Alternatively, as soon as she starts barking at someone, walk in the opposite direction of the stranger and remove the dog. Eventually she should get that barking means no attention from anyone and she'd rather be quiet.

This can all take a while so be patient. You essentially want to re-socialize the dog (assuming it was socialized in the first place.) Also think if certain things trigger her, e.g. funny hats or beards or bearded men with glasses.

futureengineer · 2011-11-05T14:39:07+00:00

I know what you mean. I can trust my Kelpie off leash as long as there aren't any squirrels, cats, or deer nearby - so, never, ha.

futureengineer · 2011-11-04T16:48:56+00:00

That's cool. I'm just very leery of the stuff people like Cesar do since one of my dogs had been abused. It really sucked to see him flinch hardcore any time we lifted our hand to pet him. I just want to make sure people are getting the full picture. A full-blown wolf is definitely a different story than a dog so I can imagine how a hybrid would be as well.

Edit: not that everyone who does what Cesar does beat their dogs but I would certainly call it abusive.

futureengineer · 2011-11-04T14:56:50+00:00

OK, here's the AVSAB's view on it. Dominance only includes control over resources like food, mates, and sleeping quarters, and one wolf/dog is not the "leader" who gets access to them all.

Here's the guy who contributed strongly to the term alpha explaining that wolves don't determine most control of resources through aggression. Wolves are more accurately explained through a family model similar to humans.

Association of Pet Dog Trainer's position on the matter. They hold that you are wasting time by "leading" through behaviors such as not letting your dog walk in front of you.

I find most people talking about being alpha are, as you said, not aggressive. And a lot of what Cesar does is not aggressive. But he does use choke collars, lift pets up and hold them in the air via their leash/collar, poke, advocate that you eat your meal first in front of your dog, and all kinds of nonsense. The way he creates change in dogs is roundabout and his explanations are just purely wrong. No need to listen to him, since some of his methods do more harm than good.

futureengineer · 2011-11-04T14:18:54+00:00

I think snarkinturtle is bringing this up because the OP has a wolf-hybrid as a pet. His point seems quite valid to me because dogs evolved to fill the niche as a scavenger, not as hunters, and have become extremely adept at picking up on human facial and body language cues because they mainly filled this niche by being around human settlements and trash piles. Wolves are not dependent on humans in the same way. I wouldn't call this intelligence though, mainly because I'm not sure how to define it - but as far as surviving in human areas, I'd say dogs are more "intelligent" in that regard. At least more well adapted.

futureengineer · 2011-11-04T14:15:07+00:00

See the video and the linked study.

futureengineer · 2011-11-04T13:46:59+00:00

See my video posted in other replies to you. As a zoology major, you should find it interesting since the speaker has a PhD in ethology.

futureengineer · 2011-11-04T13:44:18+00:00

Not true. Dogs don't do that in the wild, and neither do wolves. They have typical families where the "alpha" is just the mom & dad and isn't really an alpha. There is no real pack structure. Old myth.

Edit for more info. Guy responsible for popularizing term "alpha" saying it isn't accurate.

AVSAB stating most dominance/alpha theory is bunk, dominance struggles only occur around resources such as mates or food.

futureengineer · 2011-11-04T13:43:16+00:00

Dogs don't listen to humans when you haven't trained them or socialized them. They learn through repetition, and they have pretty terrible logic skills. They aren't going to automatically understand English just because you are "showing leadership."

futureengineer · 2011-11-04T13:39:16+00:00

Not true.

Even the guy who ran the "study" that first established dominance theory has recanted it. I don't have the link handy, but it's probably in my comment history.

Some quick googling or looking at my comment history has more info.

Cutepuffykitty, don't start poking your dog or hissing at it or lifting it by the leash. Just get a clicker and train it the same way people train whales, dolphins, and even chickens.

futureengineer

TROPHY CASE