It's me again with the naughty dog :) help, I don't know what else to try !

[marne2]

I posted yesterday about my poor Staffie who is getting left out due to my other dog ( she seems to be quiet depressed and I feel very guilty ), my other dog takes up so much time and even though we have tried so many things with him things seem to only get worse.

Because my other dog has been missing out I have started trying to walk them together again, now it know why I stopped before , I have just got home! I put both my dogs on leads in the field! I usually let the lab x off but he was running too far ahead so I put him back on the lead! as we got to the gate someone came into the field with 3 dogs, the lab started going crazy, pulled me over and I think he may have broken my hand ( I'm in agony ), took me a few minutes to gain control over him, he was wearing a 'non pull harness' which is attached to his collar as well as the lead but still I have no control. I have tried so many harnesses and so many training techniques to get him to walk tho heel but nothing works ( we walked backwards every time he pulled, did this for months and go no where, have used treats, clickers and various leads and harnesses ).

I am now crying as he is making life so difficult for my other dog and us as a family. He whines a lot, barks at everything, wakes in the night and destroys the house if left alone for more than half an hour. My other dog is layer back and sensitive, is reasonably well behaved, rarely barks and walks well on the lead, she's missing out big time as I am spending so much time trying to train the other dog and walk him 2-3 times a day to stop him being hyper and whining.

My husband is constantly arguing with me about the dog ( he would happily send him back to the rescue we got him from ), I don't want to give up on him, I have spoke to the rescue and. They have not been much help other than telling me that my dogs siblings are the same ( noisy, hyper and strong on the lead ). I don't know what to do, I want to be able to walk both dogs ( or even him on his own without me being pulled all over the place ), I want my other dog to be happy and I want to be able to go and do a food shop without the dog destroying my house, he does have a crate but he knows how to get out and has totally bent the sides of the crate.

I have posted so many times on here and been told to take him to training classes. I can't do this as there is nothing near us ( have looked so many times ) and I have no transport to get him anywhere. We can't afford for someone to come to the house and I'm guessing it would be a long process ( we havn't got that kind of money).

Help

My labx was fear aggressive towards other dogs. She walked beautifully on the lead and was ok with them loose, but on the lead she just lost it. I made her sit at the first sight of another dog, and held her collar to keep her there. We did lost of practising at home first, when other dogs came past, then eventually she realised I wasn't going to let her go towards them, and sat nicely. I never let go of her collar though, even when she got much older. I have seen other people train their dog to lie down on seeing another dog also. Similar, and easier to keep them there physically!

I'm not a great fan of the treat method of reward though - it's ok if they are hungry, but there are things more interesting than a treat - other dogs in your case! I've always used praise/fuss or toy/game based reward systems. They only ever get fuss (when young/learning) if they have done something that I asked them to do. I'd call them over and make a big fuss, play a game and make doing the right thing really fun and exciting. Repeat enough times, never do it unless they've obeyed a command, and they crave it. My dog now will come from far enough away that she can only just hear me, even if she's chasing a fox, for the enthusiastic welcome, lots of fuss and fun that she gets for coming. Very handy!

I would hazard a guess that the barking is just an age/stage thing as they still don't know how to behave appropriately during adolescence

Thank you, treats usually work very well as he loves his food (typical lab), we used to take a ball with us in the field and he would take no notice of other dogs whilst playing ball, the ball was far more interesting but the grass in the field has go so long I kept loosing balls so we now don't take it, hopefully the grass will be cut down soon so he can chase his ball again.

I'm sure he's now picking up on my anxiety when we see another dog, I'm so scared of him pulling me over that I probably tense up as soon as we see a dog coming towards us. He acts almost the same when we see a person but without the barking (though he does whine a lot), he gave the postman a good licking when we got home earlier .

Would he play with a frisby? We keep losing balks in the grass too! :o

No saying hello to other dogs when on the lead. It's a good way of getting dogs wound up and in some cases the pull of the lead makes them aggressive.

Next time take him out hungry, adjust his feeding times if necessary, also take a variety of treats some 'higher value' than others (chicken, cheese, sausage) and keep the higher value ones for when you meet other dogs. As soon as you see the other dog in the distance place a high value treat on his nose and turn his head towards you, click and treat. Get him, as much as possible, to turn and look at you rather than the other dog - the further away the other dog is when you start this, the easier it will be to do. Eventually work this into a sit stay with his back to the other dog. Keep clicking and treating all the time the other dog approaches and he stays calm.

I bought him a frisby but he wont retrieve it (though he will run after it, just not pick it up).

Will try taking some sausage with me next time, thank you for the tips booboo xxx