Huck is terrible about stealing anything and running from me. He is not food driven, so no amount of treats will get the stolen items back. I thought my old boy (just died 2 years ago) was bad but nothing like Huck. Also at time he gets very agitated (in the evenings). He cries and barks and is very restless. He doesn't really want to play anything except tug-of-war (and it really doesn't seem to be a game with him when he gets like this). At these times he is very destructive. He will work and work at one of his toys that he has had for awhile until he tears it up. If he gets a towel he will shred it. When he gets like this, he will not listen. He is not neutered yet. I'm waiting until he is 2. Any suggestions what to do? I have always had large dogs, (German shepherds, pointers and as stated before labs) but he is the most stubborn I have ever had. I have never had one act like this. I have even started tracking it to see if the full moon has anything to do with it (I know it sounds crazy but I'm at my wits end.) My husband is definitely not happy with him.
I forgot to mention that during the day for the most part is pretty calm. (still steals when he gets a chance) but doesn't act crazy.
Hi @capsmom it's not necessary to use food treats to positively reinforce a cue. Your dogs sounds like a perfect candidate for using a tug toy. You will have to first teach the game of mine and yours so that your dog will release the tug toy. I would also enrol in an obedience class, in which you can learn exercises that will help with impulse control. Teach your dog retrieve so that your dog can expend some of his energy.
Thank you for the reply. He does love to retrieve and I used to walk him about 2 miles 3 times a day now its only 2 miles once a day because it is so hot. He also loves to play tug so I will try those things.
I would think you need to address food motivation as a priority, for all training purposes. What are you feeding him for his meals? Does he eat all of this right away? Is food left out for him all day, to eat when he wants? What about treats or chews or bones, does he get these and when/how often?
In the same theme as the above suggestions, it could be your dog is food motivated, but he is just too aroused to consider taking food at these times. We are fostering a very boisterous, 18 month Labrador right now, at it didn't take long to work out his "witching hour" was early evening! It didn't help that he was powerful, and although loved a game of tuggy, we just needed to refine the game to make it more enjoyable and rewarding. He has a history of "mouthing" so we needed to address this fairly quickly. Being mouthy and playing a game of tuggy when aroused are not good combinations! We had a think and decided to deliver most all his meals through training. Training is delivered in "sound bites" throughout the day. He naturally is quiet during the morning, so a perfect opportunity to work on some nice behaviors. Being a labrador we use toys that were on the large size, better for his mouth, with handles both ends, better for our hands! Rolled the toy a few feet ( not throwing... tooooo exciting!). He naturally wants to engage which is great! So when he brought the toy to me, I offered a high value treat. He dropped the toy in favour of the treat, the instant he let go, I "marked" this using a clicker and gave him the treat. Eventually I will add a cue such as "dead". He loves this game! Going back to food, it was clear he loved to use his nose, and enjoyed hunting for items. So we hid toilet rolls with kibble mixed with a few cubes of cheese or ham, in long grass, and gave him lots of praise when he found them. He gets a lot of satisfaction finding the food, and eating can actually be quite calming for dogs. We also use a kong wobbler to chase around the kitchen! Although his clattering around is driving us slightly batty, he loves it! We have also found with him that staggering activities throughout the day means he is less likely to become over-aroused in the evening. Just a note on retrieving, although our current foster loves this game, it is obvious that repetitive throwing of a tennis ball has been used in a previous life. We have opted not to do this, as it these sort of activities can really ramp up arousal levels very quickly, and can be a precursor to undesirable behaviours when the game suddenly stops, such as frustrated grabbing, lunging and mouthing.
I have used the clicker with Huck and it worked great. I will try it with retrieving..Thank you for the advice
I change his food frequently because after a few days he will walk away from his bowl. I only leave the food down for about 10 minutes. If he doesn't eat it I pick it up. I use hot dogs for "high value" treats but when he steals something of importance (my husband cell phone) he knows, and he is not giving it up for anything. I don't give chews too often because he is not that interested in them. His main goal is stealing. Thank you for the reply.
Ok, so I would be prioritising creating food motivation for certain. Whilst you can use toys to reinforce for some behaviours, it becomes extremely hard to use toys in all circumstances and for all behaviours and many dogs simply aren't as motivated by toys as they could be by food - simply because they don't need toys to survive, whereas they need food to survive. Ok, so this is the first thing to stop. If you keep changing his food whenever he refuses it, you are simply training him to refuse his food: Whenever he refuses it, he gets something different (and therefore more interesting and better). Fussy dogs are made (95% of the time) and not born. YOU decide what you think is the best thing to feed your dog, based on preferably quality of ingredients and what is healthiest - not on what the dog is prepared to eat. Once you've decided what that is, you don't just switch it up because the dog rejects it... If the dog doesn't eat it, he goes hungry. I've yet to meet a healthy dog which will voluntarily starve themselves, so you can be pretty sure that food motivation is going to increase at this point... That would be 9 minutes too long Seriously, as soon as the dog walks away from food, a food dispenser, a food toy, a Kong - whatever - it gets removed. It is not available for the dog to choose to return to if they feel like it. They have to eat it then, in that moment, or it disappears. You don't sound very concerned about this...? If this were my dog, I would be extremely disturbed by my inability to motivate (and therefore to train) my dog. I would be prepared to feed him nothing for 1,2,3 days... whatever it takes... and see if he may want to leave a cell phone for a slice of hot dog, then... I will 'win' this one, simply because no dog will starve themselves and die. Seriously, to me this would be an urgent situation because I would have no control over my dog if I did not have control over what motivates my dog. One way to get started addressing this problem, is covered in this link: http://www.sue-eh.ca/page24/page39/ Once you've followed that programme for a week, you should be starting to see some improvement in food motivation. At that point, I would be switching to TRAINING with all his meals. And if he stops working with me or walks off, I would put the rest of the food away again until the next meal time - when again, the dog would have a chance to work for it. Dogs (and people) value things they have to work for, more than what they get for free. If you had to work long hours and slave away to buy yourself a nice car, you would value it much more than someone who comes from a wealthy family and just got given the same car when they passed their test. Same goes for dogs - if they have to work to earn food, they will value that food more than if it is plonked in a bowl for free. And research also suggests that, given a choice, animals prefer to work for food - monkeys would much rather search the monkey enclosure for their fruit than receive it all in one place. And, of course, training for food, is part of a dog's daily requirements when it comes to mental stimulation. Finally, do be sure he is not carrying too much weight. One reason dogs frequently lack food motivation, is because they are over-weight and they have had too much of it(!). You should be able to feel every rib down the side of his rib cage and to count how many there are. If you can't feel individual ribs, he is overweight. You should be able to see a 'tuck-up' at the tummy, when viewed from the side, and there should be a tapering hour-glass shape making a waist, when viewed from above. See: https://oregonvma.org/files/Purina-Dog-Condition-Chart.pdf Look how fit the dogs are in the ideal range, from 4-5. Even a 6 is overweight. If he is overweight, even more reason to drastically reduce those meals and improve that food motivation in the process.
when I said I changed his food, I didn't mean if he didn't eat what I gave him, I would quickly offer a different food; I meant he had to eat all I bought him then I would change to different one. Sometimes he goes for two days without eating. I am concerned about this or I wouldn't have posted anything about it. Again he is NOT over weight. But thank you
He is NOT overweight. I don;t offer him a different food if he doesn't eat the first, I have him finish the entire bag I purchased before buying a different brand. I am concerned. I do have him work for his food before I "plonk down" his food. Thank you
Dogs that steal are a pain. But fortunately this is a fixable problem. And stealing is a really big problem for many Lab owners. Of course, it isn't really stealing as such, but most pet parents view it that way. Because their stuff is getting picked up, run off with, and usually demolished, by a hairy member of the family who ought to know better. I have a detailed article on this topic: How To Stop Your Dog From Stealing I think you'll find it helpful Fixing the problem does require a bit of a shift in perspective. And it also requires fixing the food motivation problem. Jo's advice is crucial for those of us who want to train dogs without force or punishment, your dog really does need to be motivated to work for food. I hope you'll give that article a read and Jo's advice re: feeding a go. I understand how frustrating your problem is, especially when other people's dogs seem to be able to manage not to steal or destroy everything in sight. But you can fix this with these practical steps. And I promise they will help you much better than trying to match up the acting up with the phases of the moon. Let us know how you get on!
Hmmm.... Just to clarify... You don't want him just to work for a bit of the food, before you put down the rest of it in the bowl - he has to earn it a piece or two each time, or he doesn't get it... There are no bowls on the floor at all, here: You hold the bowl, he works for every few bits of his meal until the bowl is empty. Not one behaviour, like Sit, for the whole bowl either - he does many, many reps to earn one or two bits of kibble each time. If you don't have enough ideas to know what to train or how to work through a whole bowl of kibble a couple of bits at a time, then I recommend this great free video by Jean Donaldson which has loads of ideas: I misunderstood with the switching up of the food and thought you meant in the same meal - but still, I wouldn't even be changing the food at the end of a bag. I'd be addressing the food motivation itself, not catering to it by trying to tempt him with something tastier. You simply can't have control over a dog, if you don't have control over what motivates the dog. He has to want the food, more than he wants the cell phone. ALL dogs are motivated by food, because food is necessary for survival. At some point of hunger, food motivation will kick in. Think about how you feel about a dry piece of bread and butter after you've been on a hike all day and eaten nothing, compared to how you feel about a dry piece of bread and butter after you just ate a holiday dinner...
