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I WILL control my dog!!!
We had Terry from Gardner come out last night, it has been a long time coming. I feel so empowered now!! I CAN control Maizy!! She is really a great dog, very sweet, seriously, the best. But she has an association with the front door and front window of bad behavior. She is out of control when anyone comes into the house, she is really horrible if she barely knows the person, but she even does it with me, my husband, people she knows. She bit my mom last week, didn't break the skin, but still, she knows my mom way, way too well to have done that. She isn't vicious, at all. But the trainer explaned, the aggressive behavior she displays can and usually will lead to bites. She was really bad last week when Angi stopped by. And that was my last straw with Maizy. I called Gardner. I am sooooo glad I did. His methods are so simple and easy. I just need to be consistent. This might be the best $80 I've spent on Maizy.
We have to keep her collar and leash on her until she is trained, Davis loves this. He has been "walking" her around. LOL
Birth - 7 lbs. 7 oz., 20 inches
1 Month - 9 lbs., 5 oz, 21 inches
2 Months - 11 lbs., 4.5 oz, 23 inches
4 Months - 14 lbs, 1 oz, 26.5 inches
6 months - 16 lbs, 1 oz, 28.75 inches
9 months - 18 lbs, 6 oz, 29.25 inches
1 Year - 21 lbs, 6 oz, 31 inches
2 Years - 28 lbs., 37 inches
Re: I WILL control my dog!!!
Are they having you "train" people coming over too? We have noticed that if people ignore our dogs when they come in that even if they do spaz out that they calm down much faster.
That's great!!!
What does he have you doing with her when people come over?
Monkey - yes, he told us that when people come in to tell them beforehand that they are not to talk to her or look at her if she behaves that way
Merin - we are not to allow her at the front door and window anymore, she pretty much will sit there and bark and act foolish at anyone and everyone who walks by, so i have to keep her on the leash now until we get her good and trained, one of his things, when she runs at the door barking he wants me to keep a small squirt bottle of original listerine there, when she barks I have to say, QUIET, then squirt her in the mount a few times, then make her lay down, that is when it is unexpected such as random kids out playing, the mailman, ups guy, etc....
When I know someone is coming he told me to have them call and give me an exact time or have them call 5 minutes before they get here, I have to put her in the down position, far away from the front door/window, i can treat her for staying, and he said to periodically treat her for remaining there, but not consistent times, he said mix it up otherwise if I do it exactly every 5 minutes she will come to expect it, anyways, once someone enters, if she gets up and starts to bark, i have to take her by the leash back to the same spot and say down, to get her back into a down position, he also said since we don't crate her while we are gone I need to barricade her into the family room, he said i cannot let her get to that front window because he said he knows she stands there when we are out and barks at people, which she does. So we will block her into the back room while we are gone. He said he is OK with her not being crated since she is older and doesn't have other behavior issues that require a crate. He said if she was a puppy, I'd def tell you to crate her. But we haven't crated Maizy in over 3 years.
I really need this to work. I honestly am to the point where I feel like I cannot have guests over because of how she behaves.
He assured us her behavior is fairly typical. He felt he didn't need to come back, he was telling us about some dogs he sees. He told us he is afraid of some of them. He was telling us about a family he was at last week that has a Malamute, it almost killed their other dog, a Jack Russell who has been at the vet since the attack recovering. He said that breed is vicious towards other dogs and that he was even afraid of it. He was going back there today to work with them some more. I guess he was with a Westie before us that has bit 9 people and out of those 9 people it broke skin on 8!! YIKES!!
It will definitely be nice to have better control over her. And I bet that all of that freaking out makes her anxious too, so it will be better for all of you in the long run!!
I've never heard of using listerine... interesting!! It's always hard to do the 'tethering' thing where she's always leashed to you when you're home, but it will be soooo worth it.
Keep us updated!
He asked me what I did when she behaved this way and of course I get loud and yell at her and point which does nothing. He said the more excited you get, the crazier she will get, which is true.
Yeah, I was like, listerine, really?? LOL But it worked last night when we practiced everything.
The leash is already annoying, Davis will not leave her alone now, but eventually I know we won't have to have her on it all day. I will remove it when we leave the house because I think it is dangerous to leave it on her unattended.
Yikes! Your poor trainer!
Another thing that worked (at one time with Rowan, we still have issues sometimes...) is when leashed. Step on it so he can't get up or move. We put him into a sit and one of us stands on the leash so he can't move. If he doesn't move at the door he gets treated.
He does a really great sit stay at the door for us now but we have some couple friends that don't like dogs which is fine but they rile him up because they are so "put off" by dogs so it's a mess anytime they come over and he acts like a maniac because they do ignore him. ah it's just always awkward whenever they come over...haha.