Conflicting puppy raising philosophies

[leashedForLife]

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Oh, yes! - if U can get the dog off the sofa, the bed, the chair, whatever it might be, when U want them off for whichever reason (to vacuum, to change linens or slipcover, to lie down oneself...), then it’s a non-issue.

It’s only a problem when the dog won’t abscond on request.
Tossing a treat onto the floor, teaching up & off with treats, calling the dog to another room, etc, are all perfectly legitimate ways to avoid conflict.
No one wants to spend their life arguing with a housemate, which is the role most dogs have, nowadays. Constant disagreements are mizrable for all involved, & spill over onto anyone who has to witness them.

- terry

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[Toffeedog]

Our dog used to chew everything, tables, chairs etc.
What worked well for us is if you buy her/him lots of chew toys or give him mental stimulation, giving him/her something else to focus on. Like a kong for example!
If that doesn't work, you can spray a bad tasting repellent - we used bitter apple spray - on items that he chews!
Make sure it's not separation anxiety, as destructive chewing is a symptom.

 

[Rhythmpig]

Not so much now I've only got a Border Terrier but when I had two or three of them and they we're lounge lizards on the sofa. I just asked them to budge up,then it was four lounge lizards.
As for going through doors first,mine always wait tell I've gone through first. This came about,not because I'm the boss,but because I once nearly broke my neck falling down the back steps after tripping over one of the dogs who had rushed out. It's the same when they are in the back of the van. They never jump out unless they are told,this is purely a safety issue after seeing a dog jump out of car and within seconds it was dead underneath a car.
I don't know what it is,but I seem to have the nack of getting the best out of my dogs. May be it's because I never mither them and make a big fuss of them. If they want a fuss,they come to me. Then we might have a bit of head rubbing together and a play...then back to being lounge lizards. It's more of a partnership than pets.

 

[JudyN]

When leaving the house or coming home, if I go through the doorway before Jasper, I can't reach to shut the door behind us, so he has to go first!

 

[leashedForLife]

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Yes, @JudyN , long-bodied dogs bring their own set of challenges... as does short stature, when training a Chi or JRT, or being extra-tall, like those dogs whose chins rest on the dining table as they stand beside it, LOL.

I taught my last 2 dogs to follow me thru any gap - gates, between parked cars, doorways, etc - as a default, & if I wanted them to precede me, on those occasions I cued it.
Made life much simpler.

a client of mine had a lovely Golden, very sweet natured but spooky, & she always let him enter doors ahead of her OFF leash, her belief being that he could never get into trouble indoors.
She had done this for years, despite my worries, & one day she opened the (solid wooden) door at the vet’s, let him in ahead of her as usual... & a large parrot flew into the waiting-room, screaming, escaping from an exam room, & landed on her dog’s head.
The dog freaked out, he screamed, scrambled over, under, & thru ppl & furnishings, galloped down the hall, still ridden by the parrot, who by now was clinging with beak as well as claws to stay aboard, dodged into an empty room, & hunkered under a table against the wall, while the parrot flew to the curtain rod.
They found him shaking violently & bleeding from his ear, which needed stitches & mesh to reinforce the pinna from below.
It was exciting, but a disastrous day - the poor dog needed tranks for the trip home, he had to be bodily carried to the car, he couldn’t walk, he was so terrified that his legs gave way, when they walked him to the doorway of the exam room, & he saw the hallway.
It’s a wonder, petrified as he was, that his bladder, bowels, & anal glands all held.

U never know what may be on the far side of something - in the woods, it might be a deer, grouse, porcupine... in town, a cat can lurk under any car, another dog may be exiting that shop just ahead as U reach the door. Stuff happens. :shrug:
We can only try to avoid situations by planning for what might occur. We can never plan for every eventuality, tho.

- terry

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[JudyN]

as does short stature, when training a Chi or JRT,
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When a tall friend was talking about the problems training her chi to walk to heel, I suggested that she simply drip-fed tiny treats as long as he was in the right position. She then pointed out that she'd be crippled by the end of the walk!

 

[leashedForLife]

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A bamboo withe such as is used in gardening, with a lickable treat attached to it, can save the trainer’s spine, when working with bitty dogs.
A “lickety stick”, a 4-ft bamboo wand, & a couple of rubber bands can make training much easier.

When training position changes ( Sit Stand Down Come) U can put the bitty dog on any raised surface that’s a convenient height, train to fluency, & then start training at ground level.
They get the concept much faster, & U suffer less lumbar pain.

- terry

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[Nanny71]

Dudley always waits to go though any gate or door until after me. This can actually cause some problems. For instance I have to go out to the garden at 10pm at night so he can have his last pee. He just won't go first

 

[Shanti Lall]

But it's only a problem if you can't get your dog off when you want her to get off. And if that involves bribes and subterfuge untill you can train a good off, that's fine. My dog has access to the sofas at any time (as long as we're not on them) and would turn aggressive if he felt he was being ordered off, and certainly if we moved him physically. But he pops off when asked nicely and if he's so comfy he's disinclined to get off, then the sound of the fridge door usually does it.

For the past two nights we've spent about an hour before going to sleep chucking our 5 month old puppy off the bed, only for her to climb back on. She has never been invited onto the bed or allowed on it, but she is a very assertive dog. She ignores the 'off' command - just makes herself more comfortable. We can lure her off with treats (as advised by our behaviourist for similar issues with the sofa) but then she gets straight back on again. She gets aggressive if we try to lift her down, so we resort to pushing her off (using pillows, duvet, etc.).

We did get her into her bed eventually on both nights, but pushing her off the bed is awful - bad for her joints and a horrible thing to do to her. We really don't want to do this again tonight but we don't know what else to do. We've tried using a lead to tie her near her own bed but she cries all the time and she tends to get obsessive with leads so we don't usually use them in the house.

We can't prevent access to the bed because she sleeps in our room, in her bed, but not in a crate or pen. We've tried putting her outside the bedroom but she won't stop crying, so we let her back in. We're planning to get a crate but we'd still have to train her so would have to leave the door open, and we haven't got one yet.

With the sofa, we covered it with a plastic bobbly carpet runner, and made her downstairs bed more comfortable with a duvet, but we can't cover the bed.

Any advice please?!

 

[Kara 1]

A crate beside your bed ...