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So, I'm back to getting a dog...
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only advice i'd give is, as there are 2 of you to him thats a pack and he will want to be leader, that should be you, so with the likes of tug o' war games make sure you always win and enjoy he'll be your best friend in no time.As for the dominance thing, its very clear that he looks to me for leadership. At least as far as it seems to me. He might be a bit "deaf" at times but he does let me dictate what is going on. He doesnt snarl or pull away or "argue" in any way, and I'm not inclined to start letting him.
Scary's quote above is an utterly disproven theory. Indeed, the game of tug o' war itself was used as one of the games to test whether dogs who were allowed play tug o' war showed any more "dominant" behaviour than dogs who didn't. No effect was found. So, it has been shown, scientuifically, that tug o' war games do not, in fact, cause a dog to become pushy.
As for dominance DeV, your dog does and will look to you for pretty much everything. So yes, in a way he is looking to you as his leader, but it is really important that you act in the role of a Benevolent Leader, aka a Parent! There is no need, indeed it is harmful, to start trying to assert yourself on the dog to make him think you're boss. He'll never think you're boss, in that sense. He'll always know you're his "Dog Dad", but trying to force leadership upon a dog can have disasterous consequences... because it is disproven and dogs just don't understand it.1. While we have been playing, he sometimes gets very excited and changes from "the belly rub game" to the "lets get some of Tom's body between my jaws" game. Forearms, shins, boots... its not a bite or a nip, its kinda like "gotcha". I have scolded him and don't encourage it and it stops. No idea why he does it, its probably just "play" in his mind but he gets very eager to do it.
It is indeed just play, and not something to get too worried about. But if you don't want him to do it, then you have to make this very clear to him. Rub his belly, and if the mouthing starts, immediately stop, withdraw your hand, give him a mild verbal warning like "Ah!" and if necessary, walk away (as advised above).
However, in many cases you don't have to walk away at all, just stopping the belly rubs and withdrawing your hand is often enough. But you must be consistent, you must warn, stop rubbing, and withdraw your hand every single time, until he gets the message that "Ah!" means "I'm gonna stop rubbing you now if you keep that up".2. He sometimes goes a bit mad licking my hands from top to bottom. started yesterday in the car on the way home and this morning when I came into the kitchen first. But he's done it to a less intense degree at other times...
Are you wanting him to stop this? It's probably a comfort thing for him, but if you want him to stop, then it's the same as above! You can, if you want, teach him it's okay to lick you for a minute or two, but when you say "Enough", that means you're walking away now. But it's up to you, whether you want him to do it a bit, or not at all!0 -
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Or maybe your hands just taste nice... he could be just tenderising the flesh you know
It's the salt from the sweat isn't it? Our two love hand licking, particularly first thing in the morning:D. Bensons favourite thing is running into the bedroom and finding himselfs feet sticking out of the bottom of the duvet for a good lick! Uughh!
A friend of mine shaves his head and his small dog gets up on the back of the sofa and sits there licking his head:D0 -
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Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 51,688 Mod ✭✭✭✭ Join Date:Posts: 49074
I do have sweaty hands ... I've also been using an alcohol based hand sanitiser... so maybe Josh is a boozer!!
Ah, a virgin dog owner
Dogs love feet DeV, if he likes your hands that much, don't ever walk around sockless, he'll be "cleansing" your feet for hours
And for the love of god, don't leave dirty socks lying aboutI really liked that notebook...:(
It's just got character now
Those coloured chewsticks were never popular with any dog I had be it a foster, a rescue for a few weeks or a permanent resident.
Do you have a decent butcher near you? Get to know them and get marrowbones.
Look up Kong recipes
Believe it or not some veg are great treats for dogs, I used put eight dogs to bed at night and their "treaty night night" was a carrot each
Pigs ears are another good distracter, you can also get pigs trotters (bleugh)
Natural flavoured treats are also good, avoid rawhide if you can
Beagles are fierce intelligent dogs, my sister has one, he's an evil little blighter.
An awful lot of the energy that is going into chewing at the moment could be redirected with "work"
By work I mean when you are at the computer, and take a break every 90 mins or so, play some games, teach him a command, don't take more than five minutes so he doesn't get bored, but tire him mentally.
So for the next few days, it might be teaching him to sit, a few times a day for a few minutes at a time, with a really tasty treat to reward him.
Also have you heard of destruction boxes?
A great book to get is Gwen Baileys the perfect puppy
You're doing great after a couple of days, the settling in period in my experience is up to three - six weeks, you guys are settling in great.
I think a crate, introduced properly would be a fantastic help for you too 0 -
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So, progress report... we've passed a night without chewing anything but that may be because I took everything cardboard away. (cardboard is the world most exoticly fun material apparently
)
He's taken to sitting on command, I don't think I could say I "taught" him as he seemed to already know the command (just a bit deaf before!). Now I make him sit for treats and for rubs, or he doesnt get them. (He's a cheeky b*st*rd... when I go anywhere near the treat cupboard he runs over and looks and me, and sits in anticipation. Something I'm not inclined to reward... I figure he gets treats on my terms, not his )
I bought him a big cushion thing for a bed (the blanket turned into a chew toy), which he slept on yesterday and he seems to adore it. Maybe a little *too* much as, how can I put this politely, it seems to have become his girlfriend too!
He still has huge separation anxiety, and while its less than before, he hates me leaving. Throws himself at the door in an alarming way and whines a bit. Yesterday I took him for a long walk and a LOT of running about in the backyard until he seemed really tired (he has kennel cough so I dont want to over do it either), and he came in and flopped on his bed and just lay there. That seemed to help but there's no question that he's very anxious when I'm not around and I hope that goes because I dont like leaving him any more than he likes me going but I do have to get things from upstairs occasionally!
I took him for a walk and the blogs say, keep him from leading you. Thats not so easy but amazingly he seemed to get it (about half way into the walk). I dont think he's being bold or the alpha, I think he's just a bit eager to get to the next interesting thing! All the same, I'm going to keep him from dragging me or I get the feeling I'll have a 3 foot long right arm by next year.
Toilet training is going a dream. Not one accident. So thats a big plus
One bad behaviour is that he jumps up onto the kitchen top, and while I have scolded him and pulled him down immediately, he still does it and he goes for it when he knows I'm not about too. Cheeky beggar!
So, any hints or help or advice is very welcome, but the main news is that Josh is healthy, happy and seems to be getting along here fine. I'm adjusting my schedule to him too (I hate getting up in the mornings for him but he's an early riser it seems).
How long should dogs sleep btw? I keep him up late to try and get him to sleep through the night. Also, do they need a light left on ... is that a good idea at the moment or no?
So many questions but we are figuring them out together 0 -
Ah that post has cheered me up no end Sick, no job, it's cold out, feeling sorry for myself and then I read the bit about leaving the light on for him!!
Jumping up on the counter - we solved it by teaching leave it/take it and moved everything out of his reach in the meantime
Crying/separation anxiety - tbh this is something I'm actively working on . Every time I leave the room I close the door behind me and when I come back in I give him a small treat. At first he was barking the place down the second the door closed but he's really coming on a week later and waits for me to come back so we're making some progress and I try to build up the time I leave him.
Sleeping - my dog likes a good snooze during the day and has no probs sleeping at night - without a nightlight lol!
Once he's over the KC I'd suggest taking him along to an obedience class to cover the basics and learn how to work with him. Doing classes and training is great fun and a great way to build up a bond and confidence. 0 -
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Great to hear it's all going well DeV, you sound like you're fairly on top of things.
Absolutely, 100%. So many people who complain that their dog begs when they're sitting eating their dinner at the kitchen table, but then give the dog a bit of biscuit when they're having a cup of tea in front of the telly. Dog doesn't know the difference between dinner and snack, all he knows is, "If I stick close when he's eating, I'll get something".Something I'm not inclined to reward... I figure he gets treats on my terms, not his
Most dogs are very reward-oriented, and if you just remember that anything remotely positive is a "reward" for him, you won't find yourself encouraging any cheeky behaviours.
My wife went through a bad habit of giving the dog a couple of pieces of cheese whenever she was chopping some for herself. Now the bloody dog sits right beside you whenever you stand at the kitchen counter
As DBB says, beware of the alpha/dominance stuff. Dogs come from pack animals and still retain most of these behaviours, but not in the same way that your typical pack animals would. It's also worth remembering what being a "leader" means. Alpha/dominance theory spends a lot of energy asserting "dominance" over an animal and giving it commands. When in actual reality if you think about what a "leader" does, they don't dominate - they lead.
So while pack theory isn't complete nonsense, your dog is looking to you for leadership, not discipline and dominance. In the same way that the best army leaders have the trust and respect of their soldiers, not their fear, your dog will very naturally fall in line once he trusts and respects you.
On sleeping, they don't exactly sleep in the same way that people do, as you've probably noticed. Knackering the dog out will make him sleep, but being diurnal like humans, the dog will want to primarily sleep at night regardless of whether he's been up during the day. If you have a sleeping routine, then he will largely fall in line with that. There may be some initial hiccups as he wakes at 5am and starts barking and whining, but otherwise if your typical day is 10am to 2am, then he'll probably put himself to bed sometime around 11pm and start won't start barking to get your attention until well after 10am.
I'm told that dogs have exceptional night vision, but my night vision seems better than my dogs (I have to point out cats and foxes to her), so I could be wrong on that. We do leave the light off overnight though, there's enough ambient light from outside that the room isn't pitch black.0 -
These linkables are very good to keep them busy and are rubber so no smacking the skirting board if you have wooden floors like the kong wobbler!
My dog playing with his as I type! You could maybe try giving him something like that when you're leaving him? 0 -
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Alright, some more info! (all of this feedback is really encouraging me that I'm going the right way with the dog... very reassuring!)
Walks: So, the first walk, I got dragged along. The second one we had a bit of an argument over who was setting the pace, the third one he still wanted to sniff every lampost and blade of grass but I only allowed selected ones and he had to walk beside me which he did, most of the time.
He also stopped when I stopped and stayed there until I walked on. I'll relax the restraints when we have a clear understanding.
He's still quite distressed when I leave but he doesnt bark, not in the morning, not when I leave almost never inside the house. If I put him outside its a different matter but really, he's quite quiet (which is great!). He does whine quite a bit though which is very sad but I'm not going to respond to it or I figure I'll have a whiner on my hands for life
He absolutely sits on command for me now (and not for my friend who has been here every day since I got him, and drove us both home from the pound). So I think he accepts me as "dad" in some way.
We play the "throw and dont bring back" game a lot, but he's about the worst hunting dog every as he loses the ball if it goes anywhere out of sight and then he just gets distracted.
His bed has turned into his girlfriend, I'm afraid. Hmmm.... He's not neutered so I dunno what to do about that aspect of things.
He has bags of energy and I'm clearly going to have to do a lot of walks with him, and play... he'll run and run!! But its just as clear that he needs it, he is a different dog after a walk.
This isnt a dog I could leave and go to work with , at least not at the moment. He's really anxious that he's going to be abandoned by the looks of it.
lastly, the light... I left it off last night because it was late and I wanted him to sleep asap. He's spoiled rotten really, he has toys, blankets and cushions and I turn the heat on for him on a timer so he isnt cold (though only for a short time).0 -
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I don't ours sniff at leisure. When we are walking, she has the distance of the lead to sniff. Very occasionally, she drops the anchors (maybe 1/2 a walk) and I give her a good sniff, but I start the walk again.Walks: So, the first walk, I got dragged along. The second one we had a bit of an argument over who was setting the pace....
For pulling, anytime she does it, I stop dead. She pulls, I stop. This worked a treat for me. She never pulls really anymore. But you have to stick to this for it to work. Expect to spend the next walk (10/15 mins of it at least) no getting past the end of the front garden.
But to be fair it sounds like you have this pretty much sorted.
Yeah, we have this problem, and I don't have a solution for you. Sorry. I will say though that this is where "tough love" comes into it. He might be distressed, but if you know he's not in any danger, then he's going to have to come to terms with it himself.He's still quite distressed when I leave but he doesnt bark, not in the morning, not when I leave almost never inside the house. If I put him outside its a different matter but really, he's quite quiet (which is great!). He does whine quite a bit though which is very sad but I'm not going to respond to it or I figure I'll have a whiner on my hands for life
The only way he'll learn that you are going to come back to him, is by you leaving!
Ok, so this is your first training assignment so.We play the "throw and dont bring back" game a lot, but he's about the worst hunting dog every as he loses the ball if it goes anywhere out of sight and then he just gets distracted.
Have some treats with you, and start in the back garden. Throw the ball, get him to retrieve it. Have a command (I use "bring it in") ready. When he drops it at your feet (exactly at your feet) he get a treat & praise. Then up the anti (throw it behind bin and you nip into the shed when he's looking for it.
15 mins a day.
For treats try: get garlic granules, and lambs livers. Sprinkle liver with garlic, and back for 10-12 mins in the oven. Cut up into pieces the size of a sugar cube. (The treat has to be special)
I defy both you & Josh not to have this nailed in 5 days.
...and thats why we got a bitchHis bed has turned into his girlfriend, I'm afraid. Hmmm....
I do an hour a day off lead on the beach when I can, but in the dark nights, its an hour on lead, and it's hard - they have tonnes of energy.He has bags of energy and I'm clearly going to have to do a lot of walks with him, and play...
Well you know best - he's your dog. But don't forget about though love - maybe he's not ready for it just yet - but you need to be a little tough for his sake.This isnt a dog I could leave and go to work with , at least not at the moment. He's really anxious that he's going to be abandoned by the looks of it.
What about the light? I must have missed an earlier post.lastly, the light... 0 -
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Yeah, he's a beagle (or mostly beagle, he has quite long legs for one...) so I would expect him to be able to sniff it out but from his demeanour, I'd say his attention span isnt the best
I dont return when he whines, and that is slowly dying down. He's a pound-rescue dog so I think he's coming to terms with all the changes in his life recently, he must be baffled!! Right now he seems to be coming along well and I'll give him a week or two to settle before I start any more demanding training, but things like jumping up on stuff I figure we should get sorted day 1 (he's a bit wilful at times!).
He's a fun project though and he is bonding with me and I with him so lets hope he gets a bit less needy and more relaxed, which I think he will. I tell you though, I didnt expect to be so knackered, its not easy work!0 -
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IMHO, you can let him off the lead under two circumstances:that leads me to another issue... when (if ever) I can let him off the leash in the park.
1. When you have an enclosed space that he can't escape from (like a doggie park)
or
2. When you are absolutely confident that he will come back to you under all circumstances when you call his name and you won't have to go chasing him across a field and apologising to someone.
Someone with beagle/hunting dog experience can advise you on the latter. Some dogs just can't have the chase instinct trained out of them.0 -
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I havent let him near other dogs yet so I dunno his interest in them but from what he does to the cushion, I'd say he's looking to "buy them dinner"
I think he'll be staying on the leash for a long while then... he wouldnt come back to me at the moment when theres a world of interesting stuff to be snuffled
Today he has been calmer again when I leave (I've been popping upstairs and back quite a bit) and he's getting pretty "meh" about it. He's still not happy about being left outside but one issue at a time!0
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