Hi Julie, She said that with time it would mean that when the door was knocked he would not come in any further than the said line and the visitor would enter the house with out a dilemma, this hasn't happened once since she came. Dani
Good Evening All, Zeke has had a good day from an exercise point of view he has been out for 3 walks today of between 30 and 45mins each. He has been better around the house today. My mum has been today and I wonder if part of zeke issue is that my immediate family will let themselves in and I didn't know she was coming so was unable to prepare him for the arrival and by the time I had poured out the tea he had already started growling and carrying on jumping up. After 2mins he was fine and gone back to laying in his bed, but mum remained on edge for the whole visit. Dani
As Labrador owners, we understand completely!! They just get so excited and can't contain themselves. Really they are just an excited kid who is overwhelmed by their own energy and all the fabulous new things and people in the world. It's not their fault, but it doesn't make it any easier... It's hard not to feel that everyone is staring and judging you, which can make you feel very down indeed. And then it's hard not to feel annoyed and frustrated at your dog for 'putting you in that situation', even though you know they're really just being a normal, exuberant young dog..... One of the most helpful things in a public situation is just being able to get and hold your dog's attention so they are sitting and looking at you or heeling beside you instead of doing a Tasmanian Devil impersonation. It takes time and training and practice to get to that point but it absolutely can be achieved and life becomes so much better as you make improvements in the 'getting attention' game. Then suddenly you are the one with the dog that looks well behaved It's a nice feeling and you will get there!!
Haha, my post above probably sounds a bit out of place as my iPad didn't show me a whole bunch of replies that came after your reply that I was replying to.... Oh well Speaking of attention, this article explains how the process of training 'getting attention' starts: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/watch-me-how-to-get-your-dogs-attention/
Hi Rachael, Its ok your reply makes perfect sense, I hope with time he will become the nice placid behaved dog I long for. Thank you for your advice.
I just wanted to say hi and welcome to the forum. Nothing to add on the advice front except perseverance and consistency will get you through.
A lot of dog training is about getting a dog to "expect" what happens in any given situation. Door bell rings? Does the dog expect to rush to the door barking, or rush to his bed for a treat? The fact most dogs expect to rush to the door barking is only because we haven't given them the alternative of rush to your bed for a treat. So it's an excellent idea to have a routine around visitors. What is best for Zeke you'll have to work out, but it might be that visitors always ring the doorbell, you take a delicious pre-prepared kong from the freezer and tuck him up in a dog pen for 30 minutes. He can say hello towards the end of the visit if he is calm (and he doesn't get to say hello if he is not, but obviously take it in small steps towards what he can manage and is reasonable - say give the visitor treats and ask them to drop them on the floor when he doesn't jump up, whatever). Soon, your dog will be rushing to his place for his kong when he hears the doorbell (or whatever you decide the routine is - but make it rewarding for your dog). You do have to take into account that he has already got a habit of doing something else, so you have to stick with it....
Well, it is possible to train a dog to stay behind an imaginary line....did she show you how to do that? It takes a while....to be honest, while I could train my dog to do it in a few days (he is a lot older than Zeke), it just wouldn't be something I'd have tried to rely on when he was a mad teenager hell bent on jumping on every visitor that came to the house! I'd say put your dog behind a gate, or on a lead, and train staying behind an imaginary line later....
I know that the over enthusiastic greeting seems like yet another mountain to climb, but it can be done. My husband is a great fan of the "shut her in the kitchen" school of thought. I am a member of the "if you never let them try you will never be able to train them out of it" school of thought. Suffice it to say Molly now sits in her bed when someone comes in the front door (which is in the front hall). Mark you the whole bed shakes with excitement Like just about everything in dog training it takes time and repetition, but you will get there.
Help!! Zeke hell on four paws is absolutely nightmare-ish. I have managed to get him to sit in his bed whilst I hold his collar and let him lick a frozen Kong and holler come in. If I dare move to open the door all hell breaks loose. He has 2 good walks a day my issue now is stealing clothes from where ever they lay and ripping them to shreds we have had 3 x leggings and 2 x school jumpers this week alone. My son has a train table that is permanently up in the lounge it is gaining teeth marks day on day. I feel like I can't live in my house as I want because the dog may get this or that or do this or that. I am seriously considering giving up I can't give him any more. My husband has a new job working away so it is me the kids and zeke mon to Fri
Hi Dani I am so sorry that you are having such an awful time. With your husband working away it really is falling all on your shoulders. I wrote you a long reply last night, but problems with my home hub and it dropped the whole darn thing. And at 1.00am I didn't have the energy to do it all again. I'll do you a proper post later, as I am dashing off somewhere this morning. I just did this for now as I didn't want you to feel alone. Tina
Hi Dani.....deep breaths ,hope you are ok? i haven't re read through all the earlier posts on your thread but I guess this recent post is about trying to train Zeke to stay on his bed while visitors arrive?In my experience this takes a lot of training as there are lots of things you are asking for eg not too much barking ,no jumping ,staying in place ..... You sound quite stressed so let me first see if I can help with that issue by telling you what I did. I wanted Dexter to be calm for visitors to arrive,he was actually quite anxious rather than excited about it at one point.I had a trainer to the house ( to help me with something else to be honest) and she saw how he was reacting and gave me a few suggestions and it really helped. If I was alone in the house and so didn't have an assistant Dexter was put in his 'room' which is the utility room child gated off the kitchen.He could see the arrivals who were told to ignore him and would have a little bark but he wasn't allowed out until he stopped barking ,if he barked again ,he was put straight back in .Eventually he would be calm enough to come out.At first I would scatter treats on the floor around guests feet so he would snaffle them rather than jump up on them ......at this point the excitement of the situation is ebbing and he would be settling down enough for greetings to take place. That was my base line when I was alone.I've built on that over time to have a pretty steady routine when guests arrive now. You need to break it down though....and decide what exactly you want Zeke to do when people arrive... On your own you can practice stay on a mat or bed,over and over and over.You can put Zeke on a lead and practice opening and closing the front door and rewarding not lunging forward,if he lunges close the door,if he stays in a sit reward him with a treat,eventually you can works towards getting him to stay in a sit. Rope in an assistant in that can ring the door bell for you.Decide what you want him to do when the door goes,go to his room/space? go to his bed? Sit nicely by the door...you need to practice a lot ( like everything !) my Sister was really great and she's not a dog person but she does appreciate it now when she can walk in and not get launched at......if you can't get the practice in with an assistant ( I appreciate the challenges of achieving this) I really would make a secure space and work on being calm before he gets to say hi to your guests. The acts of vandalism.....hmmm frustrating,annoying ,blood boiling but totally normal.The best I can give you for this is to try and get into the habit of keeping things out of his reach......that was our policy,we became very tidy and minimalist,if there is no reward the behaviour will cease.That said ,of course we had smash and grab incidents...I had pots of treats all over the house to swap for contraband.We don't have children ourselves but we have a neice and nephew that visit most days ( they were 18 months and 2.5 yrs old when we got Dex)..I moved all their toys upstairs and only one or 2 things that they were playing with came down at a time,we could all cope with that without too much damage!we simplified and simplified and gradually we could expose Dexter to more and more,he will now lie on the floor on top of Lego,cars,dolls etc etc and not bother with anything.....well ,he does still have a penchant for nibbling on Barbie! As young as the children were we drummed into them to put their things up out the way up high on the dining table /breakfast bar or to play up on the couch where Dexter wasn't allowed (then,he is now!) Is there anywhere you could move your sons train set? Truly it won't be forever , but it puts temptation out of the way until Zeke is older and his training is stronger. I hope I've understood you right and there might be something in that to help you.Visitors are amazingly exciting....I think it's a real challenge to manage it calmly and pleasantly for everyone but taking it in steps did help us x Best Wishes Angela x
Hi Dani just to say things will get better and there is some great advice from Angela to help you. I would just add a good "leave it" and "drop" are both worth the time to train to help when things are left within reach. "Leave" was the first thing my trainer worked on with me when Juno was 13-14 weeks and is invaluable both indoors and out.
Hi Angela, Yes you are right re: visitors. I think I will have to invest in a baby gate for the kitchen and ask people to use the front door. Moving the train table is not really an option, unfortunately. He has a leave it command for food and such like but with "contraband" he seems to get the sparkle and play the fool. He also has no concept of personal space, he will happily steal toys or anything really food biscuits out of hands. Off tables etc. I am struggling alot at the moment and I feel like I always have to call him back to his bed. X
