You all know I love Otis. But, these three things are getting a bit hard to live with. This morning he got a new pair of sandals off the table, which I had put out of his reach and chewed them. He also got another bra, and chewed it up. I am not the tidiest of people, but when he drags stuff out of the bin, it really gets to me. So now all my shoes are up on top of the fridge, bras in my drawer, that leaves the bin to contend with. He has also started humping a lot, he has been done, but it seems an excitement thing, he got two good walks today, so not lack of exercise. Then theres the poo eating, now after putting him on a raw diet, just changed to nutriment, he seems to have stopped eating his own. But he hunts it out in the park and hunts out the cat poo in the garden. He is at this moment , counter surfing, as I shout, down down ! Phew, you would think he is an awful dog, but he is the loveliest sweetest, dog, and I love him to bits, its just some of his bad behaviour, Maggie x
Re: humping, chewing poo eating ! Ah Maggie....they are things you can sort out but it will take a bit of work you know,sorry,no magic wand I can wave for you.... Counter Surfing I can't really help with as we adopted your policy and just kept everything out of reach and it worked for us ( I have had a smile at shoes on top of the fridge ;D) .....the only thing I can think to suggest is ,have you thought about teaching him an 'off' command? That's what we did to teach Dexter that he was only allowed up on the furniture if we invited him .....I can't remember if you use a clicker?I did this by calling Dexter up onto the sofa : and then c&t for off ( I have no idea if this is the correct method,I just started one afternoon and he got it really quick) You could either be ready to take advantage of spontaneous surfing or you could set Otis up to counter surf by leaving something out,when he has a nose around be ready for him to get down....reward him when his feet are on the floor and teach him to associate 'off' with something better from you than what he could steal from the table.... The poo ,euuuuuuggggh! I only had / have still on occasion ,cat poo scoffing to deal with.Ive done my best to train 'leave it' ...works most times but the times it doesn't I have to shove roast chicken or a sea biscuit in his face .he will 'leave' 9 windfall dates along the road but the blummin 10 th,he can't help himself,he has to eat it.same with cat poo,he'll listen to me 5 times then have a snack on the 6 th encounter!I used kikopup videos off YouTube for that....sorry I know I'm just giving you work to do : Can you put the bin out of reach or in a cupboard.?...this is something else I've been able to avoid just by never giving him the chance...mine is in a cupboard,if I'm going in for anything more than just a quick chuck of something...I tell him to go on his bed or trust me,his nose would be right in there....My Mum's dog is a nightmare for this at 7!! I know you love him to bits,some days we are all short on patience and have demands on us that make us short of time and temper,those are the days when their not so nice habits can get you down Let's see what else is suggested.... Take care Angela x
Re: humping, chewing poo eating ! Oh thanks Angela, Ive just chased him around the garden to get a dead slow worm off him, ugghhh ! and am getting the carpet cleaned on Thursday to get the pink lip gloss out of it, and the odd wee stain, great eh. I will look at those you tube training clips, and take your comments on board, I shouldnt be so lazy with my training. Unfortunately my cupboards have shelves in, so cant put the bin away. Ill have a look and see if I can take a shelf out, not sure. Thanks again Angela, I am despite all this feeling pretty good XXX
Re: humping, chewing poo eating ! As a temporary measure, could you try stair-gates at the doorways to some rooms? We live in a small house so now only have one at the foot of the stairs, but several dogs ago when my son was small, we used one in the doorway of the living room so that he could have Lego out without it being eaten. It seemed to work better than just shutting the door as the puppy could still see what was going on. Failing all else, remind yourself that these things pass. My last Lab, when a puppy, chewed up a pair of my mum's sandals when she came to stay, but he grew up to be totally reliable - I could leave food on a coffee table and he wouldn't touch it. I have to keep reminding myself of this, as I still have to put things out of Molly's reach (she's very partial to digesting the odd paperback!)
Re: humping, chewing poo eating ! Ah I'm glad you are feeling better Maggie,you have to make me stop laughing,you chasing him round the garden with a worm ;D funny!sorry! Mum lifts her bin off the floor and pushes it to the back of the unit .....Derry is massive so there's not many places he can't get to but if he can't reach he can't raid......this is going to be a hard one for you because Otis has got used to the joys of raiding the bin.....mums method works only if you remember to lift the bin up :......
Re: humping, chewing poo eating ! Hi Maggie, with the bin situation, Charlie used to be able to open our bin by pressing his chin on the lid and hey presto he would eat what he wanted, eventually I gave up and bought a metal pedal bin which he occassionally looks at but thankfully he has not figured that out : There was a thread this week about success with leaving poo but I can't think what it was, perhaps someone else will remember and link it for you. It had something to do with a bag of sardines being a great lure from the poo and a command :-\ With regards to everything else you just have to put away or up high enough away from Labrador view Good luck and be a good boy Otis xx
Re: humping, chewing poo eating ! Hi Maggie, I keep my kitchen trash can in the cupboard under the sink where there are no shelves. It's a small space, but that simply means I have to take the full trash bag out to the garage where the big cans are kept. So far, knock on wood, none of my dogs has made an attempt at getting into those! I know they could, but the lids are clamped on and would require some serious effort. Over the years, between dogs and house cats, my animals have trained me to keep my counters very tidy, with all food put away. : One of my old dogs, now deceased, was even trustworthy around food left on the low livingroom table - amazing, but true. Of course, he wasn't a Lab! ;D I've been using the "off" command to keep Daisy (4 months today!) off the furniture unless invited. She's learning, but talks back (not growls, but funny grunts and little frustrated whines) when made to get "off"! So far, she just sits and stares at the counter when I'm preparing food. My two older dogs know they'll get only so much (they love the ends of the lettuce ribs), then they leave, so she's learning by watching them. I think overlapping dog generations is so useful!
Re: humping, chewing poo eating ! Hi Maggie, All of this sounds like my house minus the poo eating (for now). I often wonder why it is always my stuff as I have a set of chewed sandals as well. I am looking for a new hamper with a lid in the mean time I put a laundry basket on top of it like a cover and that helps a lot. I bought new garbage cans for the bathroom with a lid that opens when you step on a bar and that is working as well. It is worse than having to baby proof your house Kailey has been spayed and still will do the humping of our older dog when she is excited. She also had taken a bite out of some papers I was grading.....sort of the reverse of my dog ate my homework. We love those monsters to death though and are lucky to have this site to rant and rave on! Enjoy! biorus
