Can't train my dog

[Marne]

We have had our dog (staff bitch) for 3 years, she was bought as a kc reg but looks nothing like a staff (maybe due to poor breading of mixed breading), her behaviour is all over the place, she's a peoples dog (loves to sit on my lap, loves being stroked and great with the dd's) but she is a nightmare when people come over or if i leave her alone. Last week we went out shopping and when we got home she managed to get out of the sitting room (barged her way through the stair gate), pooed on the landing and wee'd in our bed (we had to buy a new duvet), she's constantly whining (just sits and whines or paces around), when my backs turned she will jump onto the coffee table and pinch food. I'm continuesly shouting/raising my voice, i praise her for good behaviour but it doesn't make any difference. If i ask her to 'go and lie down' she just whines at me (but will do it for dh), i then get her to lie down on her bed, praise her ect, turn my back and she's got out of her bed. I can't seem to get her to do anything .

When people come over she acts like a puppy (jumps all over them, licks them ect..), i have to physicly hold on to her to stop her, she will then settle after half an hour but as soon as anyone gets up she starts again.

I have tried rewarding the good behaviour with treats but it still doesn't sink in.

I really don't know what to do with her , dh has had enough of her as its costing us a fortune (stair gates, duvets, she's destroyed the garden).

She gets walked but seems even worse when she gets back.

Am i just a useless dog owner (no good at dog training)? i have had dogs in the past (grew up with dogs) and i have never had one like this before.

I love her to bits, i just wish she would calm down and do as she's told.

[laosvher]

Do you have a clicker?
For jumping up, turn around and cross your arms. Don't give any attention/praise till she's on the floor.
I don't know about the rest, sorry

[Marne]

We tried a clicker when she was a pup but she didn't seem to cotton on to the idea. I do the crossing arm thing, the trouble is when my dad comes over he tends to winde her up and undo any training i have done, she now thinks everyone wants to play with her.

[midori1999]

I think there are a few things you can do.

First of all, she sounds very stressed, so I would look at what you can do to help her relax a bit. The problems when you are out sound like seperation anxiety to me, but in order to work on that, intially you will not be able to leave her at all. Is that possible?

Have you tried a DAP diffuser or collar? DAP is dog appeasing pheramone and can help relax dogs that tend to get stressed or are in stressful situations.

You might well find crate training helps a lot, especially if you have the crate covered with a blanket so it is like a dark, cosy 'den' for her. It is absolutely essential she is trained to like the crate and feel it is her bed and her safe, special place and that she is not just shut in it. It will take some time, but then you might find you can use it to your advantage re: the seperation anxiety, as she may feel more secure if left in a crate when you go out.

Jumping up/getting excited when you have visitors. It is the visitors you need to train, as opposed to the dog. She will only 'annoy' people if her behaviour is rewarded, usually with attention. Attention includes looking at the dog, touching the dog, waving arms about or lifting them and speaking to the dog. Any sort of speaking, even saying 'no' or 'get down'. They need to absolutely ignore her and if she jumps on them when they are sat, they should stand up with their arms folded each time she does it (will be painstaking at first!) and only sit down again when she either sits nicely, stops trying ot get their attention or goes away. You can doubly work on this by keeping treats on you when people visit and getting he rattntion and dropping them on the floor next to you. Ask her to 'down' and periodically give her treats. The idea is, she starts to think guests are boring (they ignore her) and being by you when guests are visiting is great as she will get treats and nice things. If people will not ignore her and insist on giving her attention, I'd be tempted to ask them not to visit until you have sorted the problem.

How much walking is she getting? Several smaller walks where she has to think about things (so asking her to walk on a loose lead, stopping periodically and asking her to sit, only moving on when she does so, asking her to sit at junctions, stopping for a few minutes to ask her to do a range of things such as 'sit', 'down' 'paw' etc and if she is safe to let off the lead, playing hide and seek with her or throwing a ball, but teaching her things such as to stay in a down until you give the command to go after the ball) will all tire her out more than a simple run about or lead walk. I would certainly up her exercise, generally a worn out dog is a well behaved dog.

You can also look at giving her her meals in a 'Kong'. (soak her kibble in a little water so it stays in or mix it with a little cream cheese or peanut butter). Also check what food she is having. Some, such as Bakers etc have lots of colourings in them which can make a dog more hyper.

Keeping food well out of her way is the only way you are going to stop her trying to steal it.

I wouldn't bother raising your voice or shouting at her. She will still see it as attention and you may be inadvertantly encouraging the behaviour you want to prevent.

[Marne]

Thank you for your great ideas, i will look into the collar, we traied crate training when she was a pup, she hated it and chewed the bars (making her mouth bleed), she only seems happy when sat on me being stroked or when she's asleep. She loves her kong and we give her this when we go out (which seems to help). She used to be good with food but now follows the dd's around and will try and grab food out of their hands or of plates (maybe because dd feeds her). She gets a long walk each day, i hate taking her out because she is a nightmare on the lead, she pulls until she is sick, she has a harness which has helped a little, she's great with other dogs but goes hyper when she see's people (as she wants to lick everyone to death), we have a big garden where we chuck her toys and she brings them back (she will do this for hours).

She eats James well beloved (its the only thing that doesn't give her a bad tummy).

When i ask her to sit she will but she shakes with excitement, she's just hyper all the time (when she's awake) .