Rehomed rescue dog..help!

[stleger]

We have a new dog. He is young - aged 1 to 3 - and looks like a shetland collie crossed with a fox. He is handsome! However, he is behaving like a big puppy. He needs to be housetrained, how do I go about this with an older dog. (Rescue place had been told he was housetrained! He was in kennels there). He doesn't wee on every lamppost when walked - do neutered dogs not do that? Also he has really had no training, most dogs have had the basic sit and give a paw. This one just likes to bounce! Any advice on an overgrown puppy? And he doesn't eat well, he seems convinced 'human food' and shoes are a good diet, I'd like him to eat dogfood at least some of the time. (Past experience of a fussy cat...)

Some advice...
You eat then he eats....bowl goes up as soon as he walks away (believe won't take long before he gets the hint).
You do not put the lead on until he is calm (sitting) and if he starts leaping up and down and all that sit down and wait - again won't take long before he gets the message.
Ignore him (hard I know)
Praise the good, ignore the bad.
Put a lead on him and sit watching TV/reading whatever for 2 hours a day for a couple of weeks so that having the lead on is a calming thing....
Crate?

Great! He seems bright, but has a lot of energy. I have teenagers who will walk him, but i need to be able to trust him to come when called so he can go off lead. is a retractable lead useful? (I have only dealt with puppy training before!)

Nope - try to get a training lead and stand in the garden initially, use a hand signal and only ever say it once (always start by saying his name...) and if he ignores you turn away and look interested in something on the floor...Lead must always be slack when you walk, if he pulls you need to stop so that he has to stop...

Our dog had to be reminded about housetraining - she had forgotten in her time in kennels - but to start with, do as for a puppy - frequent trips into the garden and praise when he does what he should do there.

In terms of the bouncing when walking - our dog discovered very quickly that if she wasn't paying attention to how I was walking I would stop and, if necessary, go backwards until she came properly to heel - she is also very good on hand signals - but you need to make sure that your commands are VERY simple and always the same (no matter which member of the family is giving them) I thought I might need to send the dog with dh to a training class (for dh mainly) but he suddenly go the hang of it and all settled down fine. However, if he is like my parent's collie cross, I recommend a halti - like a horse's headcollar that fits round their nose and behind the ears - if they walk without pulling it is loose but tightens if they pull - and it gives you better control of their head... My parent's dog had to have a halti with a long flexi-lead as she'd been very badly treated and had not been socialised so was very scared of lots of things. Also with a collie type mix, see if he's interested in playing with toys - a frisbee or ball that he can bring back to you would be a good way to have the recall encouraged (they want you to throw it again) although I recommend taking a bag and putting the toy away for part of the walk so that they don't become too fixated on it.

You can also get a halti that goes round the upper chest - lead clips on a ring on their back - great for a puller....need to be careful of anything that yanks the head too much.

Key point - he is a dog and you need to treat him like one! He also needs to know he is NOT pack leader, he is part of the pack (hence the food thing.)

I've met someone who had the chest one that made not a jot of difference - he used it as a really good harness so that he could pull really well! Our collie x was pulling with such sudden force that my mother and I had to keep visiting the osteopath to have our shoulders sorted out - the halter flexi meant that we had a bit more control and she knew that it wasnt' such a good idea to pull suddenly with such force... This is just what we experienced with a collie x

Guess it depends on the dog - but all good info....
did you clip the lead to both the back ring and the collar?

He has been good on his lead today. DD2 (official owner) is trying some basic 'Sit' with him. So far today his only difficulty was when we let him off the lead in a deserted park, a Polish dog appeared as if by magic, and they ran in collie type circles. With me, dd2 and the Polish dog's mum yelling a variety of commands! I think I need to train the family ... dh is used to farm dogs, the kids are a bit too gushy!

Keep commands/gestures simple and everyone has to use the same ones. Sitting can usually be achieved with treats also going out - i.e. don't sit nicely, don't go anywhere.....

DD1 is making a standardised list...mainly 'no' at present!

lol! Although I was told not to use words like down/off etc, but rather to remove them gently....i.e. all commands should be positives if that makes sense? come, sit, stay etc..

Slight progress on 'Sit'. This morning he helped himself to a bowl of porridge from the kitchen table, carried it into the living room and ate most of it, while we all . We await the results with trepidation, and think he is the new Marley.

I wouldn't let him off the lead at the moment, even in a deserted park.

Dogs that will not recall are at risk (cars, fighting with other dogs etc).

I would concentrate on lead training and practice recall in the safe confines of your garden.

Oh dear! Porridge won't hurt thou' My hound gets the leftovers in his bowl....
Have you thought about using a crate - some dog owners swear by them?

Agree re not letting off lead until recall is reliable.

Keep 'down' command for lying down - use 'off' for 'get off the table and stop eating the porridge'!

Sit is easily achieved by luring with a treat - slowly move treat up and over dog's nose towards the tail so their head goes up and back, pushing their bottom down, then say 'sit' as they begin to sit.

Nothing wrong with using 'negative' commands - they can be blinking useful!!!!

Porridge won't do him any harm at all.

Best of luck

And there was us wondering if negative commands were given with negative body language and picked up in a negative way! Glad porridge is not a problem, dh has to have it to stop him eating junk. I'm sure my mother fed it to dogs and cats in winter.

I think its a case of trying to praise the positive and ignore the bad (a bit like kids) so constantly saying 'no' 'off' etc is not helpful. You need a handful of words you use occasionally. So I was told if he gets up on something to investigate you lift him down but don't say anything.

Depends what they're doing though, doesn't it?

I wouldn't 'reward' undesirable behaviour (e.g. barking) with attention through negative commands, but things like 'no', 'leave it' and 'off' can, quite literally save a dog's life.

My lab pup tries to chew the power cable when I vacuum, so 'no' comes in pretty useful or I would have one slightly singed dog

No command should be used repeatedly anyway, be it positive or negative. If you keep aaying the same thing over and over without the desired response then the association in the dog's mind betweeen the action and your command is lost.

aaying = saying

StL any further porridge this morning

training classes training classes training classes

a rigid feed/walk routine might help him settle in, reduce stress

a good food - there are plenty to choose from, James Wellbeloved, Burns etc

you can use a tracking lead to give him a good run and equivalent of 'off-lead' exercise, just reel him in when you need to! he's a high energy mix by the sounds of it, would probably do well at agility?

No porridge this morning -despite being given it in an easy to carry bowl. He had royal canin last night (none eaten) with some burger and dripping mixed in as advised by the rescue place. Burger and dripping eaten, crunchies left! He has chosen the landing in the evening for a poo, so we can block that route! He has barked once in a week. I am doing 'Sit', dd2 is working on agility. His highjump was going well until she raised the bar too high and he went under, seems sensible to me . He is being left alone for the first time today while I go to work for 3 hours, ds will be home in the middle. BUT my neighbour's dog who treats our house as a part time job is here so I have to put her in my bedroom. She is top dog, ancient, and has been visiting for years. (Yes I have 'mug' written on my forehead).

I wonder if he's part nova scotia duck tolling retriever if he looks fox-like, I've got one, they were bred to look like foxes to lure ducks - to protect their nests - so the hunters could shoot the ducks and the dogs retrieve them.
Mines 2 and is still pretty bouncy and v. lively. V intelligent though and easily food trained.
Have you tried soaking his royal canin for a few minutes in hot water, it gives it a type of gravy and can make it more appetising, mine also has a small amount of chappie meat mixed in thoroughly with it.
I used to have a rescue collie cross who sounds like yours, it did take several mths to housetrain him, longer than a puppy, but using the same methods, and he was always a scrounger with food, we just had to be more vigilant, but he was half starved when picked up as a stray so had to eat anything to stay alive.
It takes time but you will get there. Hope he settles well when you leave him. Have fun with him.

Is he red? My hound is some kind of cross (vet thinks terrier) He looks fox like because of the colour, but has a hugh feathery tail and long silky ears with Dennis Healy eyebrows!