My dog is a nightmare, tearing my hair out and feel we have tried everything.

[marne2]

It's actually making me depressed, it's effecting my other dog and effecting my relationship with dh ( oh and probably my social life ).

We have had him for almost 2 years, he is a lab x ( possibly collie ). He Cries all day, I get up, he cries for food, I feed him and he cries until he gets walked, I walk him for an hour, he sleeps for 5 minutes and then he cries, a hour before his dinner he cries and then the crying for his 2nd walk, he finally sleeps at 10pm and then awake by 6am. If anyone visits the house he barks constantly and jumps up ( not aggressive, just wants attention ), I remove him from the room and he barks louder and destroys the door/gate. No one will visit us or bring children in the house. My other dog is a wreck because when I raise my voice at the lab x is scares her, the only thing he listens to is me shouting ( and that's hit and miss ), we have tried clicker training, rewarding the good behaviour, ignoring the crying, shutting him outside ( removing him from the room ) but he gets worse.

My husband has had enough, the kids have had enough ( dd2 has ASD and the barking really hurts her ears ), the only thing that would keep him quite was to be walked all day. I know he is a working breed and needs to have a job to do but when I got him from the rescue I was told he would be a small dog ( he is not huge ) and I thought 2 walks a day would be enough ( plus we play ball ), he has puzzle toys, balls, bones and my other dog to keep him entertained but he will not play without me, won't go in the garden to play ( we have a large garden ).

No one will visit us for Christmas because of the dog. He has a crate which we no longer use as this seemed to make him worse. I feel so sorry for my other dog, she is so laid back and I can tell she is really annoyed with the other dog leaping around all the time and crying.

I can't afford to get a behaviour specialist in.

I have posted here so many times and I feel I have tried everything people have suggested.

He does have a few good points, he is very loving, he is great with other dogs, great off the lead ( good recall ), in a way he would be much happier living on a farm or being worked.

I would like to try the lead but the only problem is 'if I touch the lead he goes hyper as he thinks he's going for a walk' so if I pull it out when someone comes to the door would it just add to his hyperness? Should I try and get him used to me picking up the lead and putting it down first? Maybe I should keep it on me at all times rather than just reaching for it when he's going out?

It's so tricky as he is probably more intelligent than I am.

Postman just knocked the door and he went crazy ( barking ), he doesn't have access to the front door, there is a stair gate in between him and the hall way so I closed the door around and did not react to him at all ( sometimes I shout 'quiet' but this seems to make him worse ), he stopped barking after I shut the door around. I think most of it is him picking up on my frustration and body language, the more I try and stop him the worse the situation gets ( the louder he gets ). I know a lot of dogs bark when the door is knocked and I don't mind that as long as he stops when I open it or when I invite someone in, at the moment he just continues to bark.

Barking I don't know about...I've had a few dogs that barked at the door, but only an acceptable (to me amount) and the current dog and in fact the last dog don't bark, not just at the door, but just in general, lol. My dog is always shut away before I answer the door anyway because he's not allowed to meet strangers, so I think he thinks it's just completely irrelevant to him.

I do know that shouting can backfire because that's basically you joining in.

The lead, I'd start randomly picking it up and then randomly putting it on him, so it just turns into something you do...it might even confuse him enough that it'll tire him out for a while till he gives up trying to predict it, lol

You could try leaving a house lead on him all the time, they're really light leads you leave trailing.
You're not in the South East area are you? We have outdoor daytime classes here.

You could try a house lead, lots of people find them useful...I found it a complete PITA with an active dog as it was just something that got tangled and created more chaos, lol.

But they're pretty cheap, so no harm trying one.

When he is in his bed, lying quietly, drop cheese in front of him. It's easy with a dog like this to spend all your energy on managing their less desirable behaviour and then forget to reward the stuff you want! Kongs are great for reinforcing quiet behaviour.

I'm in the SW , I think I will try leaving his lead on him after I walk him tomorrow?

We have a formerly very hyper springer collie cross rescue who just would not calm down. The thing that worked for us was a thunder shirt www.thundershirt.co.uk

It isn't magic, and I am sure it wouldn't work for every dog. However, it calmed him down enough to actually take on board the things that I was trying to teach him.

Also, he has improved noticeably in the last 6 months - he is now 3.

Good luck! I really sympathise.

To train him not to jump up or bark at the door you need an accomplice.

Have the dog on the lead (leave a short lead on him most of the time if you have to but supervise him so he does not get into trouble with it), hold onto the dog and don't move. Your accomplice should walk up to the dog, the moment he does any unwanted behaviour (e.g. Jumping, barking, licking) the accomplice should fold her arms, turn her back on the dog and walk away. If the dog keeps all four paws on the ground the accomplice very slowly and calmly rewards with a treat. Repeat often and until the dog gets the idea, then start introducing the accomplice patting the dog, then eventually name the behaviour.

Similar with the door. Get the dog's attention by putting him in a down stay, accomplice knocks on door, if the dog barks, accomplice leaves and everyone waits for the dog to calm down.

However, and this a serious word of warning, advice over the internet is not the best thing for a challenging dog. It may be that these common training g techniques wind him up more which is why it is imperative to have face to face training so that the trainer an adjust the techniques depending on the dog's reactions.

whoo Marne is getting a bit of a beating when she is just asking for advice

Some of my dogs would die if I took them to a communal training class - it is not essential for all dogs but it has a place for some.

Some dogs do seem to come ready trained and others can be very hard work so it is quite harsh to judge especially as Marne has been working on this for a long time. She has my respect it can be very tough.

He is a very handsome dog Marne - I would be a sucker for those brown eyes and what do you mean he is really active - he looks pretty chilled to me The calm before the storm!

Just a thought but if you're considering regaining think about police, border, and airport dog rehoming or Conservation dogs (google them) these organisations will often take hyper ball-focused dogs for sniffer training/drug detection work etc

Mitty, photo was taken after a very long walk.

We have been walking for a few miles today, my body aches but the dog is now asleep , he is a lovely dog, just takes a lot to tire him out, tomorrow dh is working all day so unless I can get someone to sit with the dd's he will have to go without a walk ( it's only once a month ), dd1 can't walk far as she has Hypertonia so taking the dd's with me isn't really an option ( though I might try it as dd1 is getting older and I can leave her by the gate in the field whilst I tire the dog out. Weekends are the hardest as he expects his walk at the same time ( it's almost like having a 3rd autistic child ).

Mutty, not Mitty.

He's already driving me nuts today, it's 9.30am, he's been fed and I have been out in the garden with him, dh is at work so I can't walk him. He is pacing up and down on my wooden floor and crying. I'm tempted to just go out . We have been trying the 'settle' , he lies down, looks calm but carts on crying, I don't know how to teach him 'quiet' the crying is continues . I could take him outside with his ball but I don't want to give into him, I never take him out this early during the week and he's fine so why are weekends so hard? ( maybe because we are home and routine is different ), my other dog is sat on me shaking again.

You mentioned clicker training. Could you do some now? I use that when mine need an outlet but we can't get out.

How did you feed him today?

Marne - have you tried a Kong Marne, or, better still, a raw meaty bone. You can buy then online and have delivered if required. They occupy mine for hours, they eat them outside. It's good for their teeth too.

Dh fed him before I got up, he will have his evening meal in his kong wobbler, if I use his food for training he still cries for a meal later. He has rubber kongs but isn't interested, he has bones which help a little.

I went out and left him crying, when I come home I let him come out the front to help me was the car, he seems much happier now but still full of beans ( but not crying )

He's so much better during the week when it's just me home, he gets a long walk and lots of attention, weekends are a nightmare .

One of your problems will be the inconsistency , you would be better off doing less walking in the week so that is what he is used to than doing loads Monday - Friday and then expecting to not take him out on a Saturday .

It's not reasonable to expect a two year old dog to be calm without any walks on a given day. Having the odd day off a year is OK but no walks every Saturday is too much to ask of the dog.

Did you have a chance to try the no jumping up and no barking training? Did it work at all?

Hi - if you're in the uk please contact a dog training company called Barkbusters (?ww.Barkbusters.co.uk). Let me clear I do not work for them and am not associated with them in any way - but we had one of their trainers out for the first time last Sunday, and our dog is already 60% calmer than he was a week ago. He had extreme anxiety which manifested as over-guarding the house, which meant constant barking at noises, aggression toward delivery people and visitors, etc. The Barkbusters lady came to the house for several hours on the first visit, observed him in lots of situations, then showed us what to do and wrote us out a training plan. I do about three lots of ten minutes practice a day with him, and do my best to be consistent in approach at all other times. You pay one fee, and that covers you for any number of visits you might need in the next year. It is a bit expensive (£300 for the one year cover) but in my opinion so worth it. The trainer had seen so many scenarios before she knew exactly what to do for each thing. All of the training is positive focused, not punishment, and I feel my own stress and anxiety levels have dropped significantly as a result. I think if you can't. Afford the one year cover thing they will do a one off visit for a fee per hour instead, and then leave you with a program to follow. Please do give them a go, I can't praise enough based on the difference we've seen. Best of luck!

Marne - I have a busy, hectic and sometimes stressful life. My dogs still get trained, but I try to find times when it doesn't take up any additional time iyswim? Think lots of 'sits' and 'downs' and 'waits' as the kettle boils, or I am just waiting for the pasta to cook etc The DC might be able to do very easy commands for you?

If you are walking the dog anyway, then use that time to train too, as it's not eating into your day. DH is especially good for this, as he walks the dogs less than I do, so works them really hard while walking. I can tell on Monday mornings if he has done most of the weekend walks as they spend most of the walk round my feet or checking back and waiting for the next command, so it does work. I generally work on recall, so call them back about 5/6 times, treat and release, and I also do 'find it', which is hiding/throwing treats, after they have been in a 'wait'. I will do that twice in a walk. Also, any gates/stiles, they know to wait before I release them, which is good for self control. Which sounds loads, but really isn't, during a hours walk.

Please don't use Barkbusters. They are a franchise and the trainers need little experience and get little education themselves. It's a complete lottery. If you are going to get help at least use someone who is APBC or APDT accredited. They are unlikely to charge as much as £300 and will actually know what they are talking about.

Also - Kikopup is awesome, especially for 'calming' commands.

What are you feeding too Marne? Sorry if you've answered this before, but some of the cheaper brands may be false economy, as they can send dogs loopy.

Stay clear of Barkbusters - their trainers are not properly trained and a lot of the advice is crap.

Good idea to check he's not being fed cheap dog foods e.g Bakers. Its like giving sweets to a hyperactive child.

Also advocate use of kongs - fill and freeze to make these last longer.

Ten min clicker training is more tiring than a 30 mins walk. Try to make time for a short walk at weekend - maybe an on lead lead walk with lots of stops/sits to maximise interactions between you both.

Desensitise by randomly picking up the lead, ringing doorbells etc may also help.

I do train when walking and at home but as soon as he knows there is food involved he starts leaping around and being noisy, he will sit when I ask him but continues the noise whilst wiggling. When we are walking we practice re call ( which he is great at ), 'sit' and 'stay', he does all this perfectly when out.

He is fed on wainwrights as its the only thing that doesn't give him the runs, we have tried burns, JWB and some natural wet foods but all made his colitis flair up, he does get some veg and cooked chicken once a week as a treat.

He's already pacing and crying today, I have a really bad cold and have been up most the night, I need to bath the dc's and tidy the house so he will have to wait for my attention. Every time I attempt to sit down he lies by my feet crying or starts pacing around crying. I would love to be able to sit down for 10 minutes without a dog crying at me.

It seems the more I do with him the worst he gets, I spent an hour outside with him yesterday washing the car whilst chucking his ball, making him sit and making him sniff the ball out but there was no improvement in the crying and he didn't settle at all until 10pm.

Boob, I did say that it's one sat a month that my dh works, so it's not every week, he gets walked every day other than this one Sat a month.