Need a dog trainer ASAP

Bubs99

Before people start judging and jumping to conclusions, please read first.

Our puppy or more mine...is 11 months old now, we've had him since he was 9 weeks old. he is a jack russell cross and very sociable with other dogs and great with people. I am a dog walker and he plays with them daily BUT our problem is his disobedience.
He just wont recall or do what he's told. I've been trying this for months since he was very young but he just wont do it. He wont do the treat thing, he wont do the toy thing, no matter what tone or words I use or whether I'm down to his level or standing...he just will not come to me when I want him to.
He is so naughty for grabbing anything in his path such as socks or paper (he just grabbed a L'oreal hairspray that my hairdresser gave me for free and went out to the garden and broke and punctured it a few mins ago). We are at our wits end.
Especially my boyfriend, he just cannot bond with him and it's been nearly a year now, he practically hates him!
He sits and jumps and when I have the dogs at the beach, he gets the toy I throw in to the water and brings it back (wont give it back though) but not at home ( I think he just copies the other dogs).
I don't have a car so I am looking for a dog trainer in or near my hometown in Tramore, Co. Waterford. I have tried everything I know of.
My former college tutor is a dog trainer and he wont even follow her guidelines.
We dont smack him when he's bold, we spray water in his face and he's terrified of the spray bottle when he sees it which isn't often.

Does anyone have any advice or PLEEEASE send me a number to a trainer near me. We know of some but they are too far away and I'd prefer one to one.

muddypaws

well first of all, please stop spraying him with water, you say you don't smack him, but you are doing something that he is terrified of, so its exactly the same. I don't think that he can make the co-relation between what he's done, and you spraying him, all he knows is that you are scaring him, but he doesn't know why, which personally I think is having a huge impact on his relationship with you, and is probably meaning that he doesn't trust you at all, so why would he want to come back to you, he probably thinks he's going to get sprayed.

Check out APDT, and see if they have anybody nearby that can help you.

http://apdt.ie/

spur

Poor you! I have a little "destruction on 4 paws" too - a bit older than yours and we have long accepted this is the way he is and will be - he's 4 and a rescue we got at 2.

I think you need to go back to start. Forget about recall for a while and build a bond with him with some other command. Sit is usually easy. So get him to sit and then reward him. Do that for a while, I'd give it a few weeks. And I'd make his reward his food, rather than extra to his food. It makes it more valuable to him! So instead of putting his nuts into a bowl at dinner time, put them into your pocket and get him to sit and give him a nut or a few of them and so on. If he has anything else like down, do that as well or even teach it to him.

After a while, see will he follow your hand for food - my fella will trot along near me waiting for his next nut!

On the recall, I'd start that in the kitchen after a few weeks of this. Have the dog a few steps from you and say his name - this gets his attention and then your recall word. If he's that's near you, he will come and give him a big bit of food and make a huge fuss about how good he is etc. Persist with that for another while - but mix it up with other commands. If he's rightly acting up, don't get into a fight with him! If you can do, put away his food and let him wait to next meal. It's difficult to do, but it ingrains in his mind that his actions (or lack of) have consequences. Don't set him up to fail though - you don't want to be punishing your dog if you can help it at all.


Once you have him coming a few steps, make it a bit longer and a bit longer - progress out to the garden and work there for a while. be very sure of him before you go out into open with him and even then I'd have him on a long lead and be able to reel him back in if needed.

If he won't even come those few steps, put a lead on him, back a few steps away and do the same with his name and the recall, give him a sec and then gently pull him towards you - and give him food and a big fuss! Persist with that - and when he starts to realise this recall is a good thing, he'll come.

I know how hard it is, but don't ever get cross with him for not coming back - he cannot ever associate coming back to you with cross words or anything like that. I made this mistake with one of mine. Had good recall and we used to go down to a field and he'd be off the lead - and I only recalled him to put the lead on him to bring him home. Cleverclogs copped on and wouldn't come back! I had to go back to these basics and now I recall both dogs constantly if they're off lead, tell them they're good and send them off again. That's how easy it is for a bad association.

I do use water as well. But it's wrong in his head now. He associates the bottle with the water - not his behaviour. You need to catch bad (and good) behaviour on the spot and react - he should associate tearing up the paper with the water! It'll take a lot of work to correct this now and if I was you, I'd stop with the water for a while - everything about you needs to be positive for the moment!

What I find the best "punishment" of all is to ignore the dog - and I do know how hard it is when you see a paper scattered all over the floor or your socks chewed up!!! But if you can at all, just pick up the sock and dump it in bin and ignore the dog. I can't say I practice this one as I've usually gone "Ah dog" before I've thought but I do know that the more annoyed I am the better fun he thinks it is and is more likely to go and find something else to do.

I do these types of exercises with both mine every day - and it works. They love it!

It's going to take time - and lots of it. But it's so worth it - and you'll form a bond with your dog doing this.

davyboy1975

new training place just opened in waterford its called Inn the doghouse. they might be able to help you https://www.facebook.com/InntheDoghouse?fref=ts

flossie

I had Emmaline Duffy-Fallon come out to our house for a couple of hours. Learnt more in that time than in the two years before. Highly recommended. I'm not affiliated with her in any way, just had fantastic success with her. She essentially trains you to train your dog

Bubs99

Muddy Paws...we don't spray him all the time, infact extremely rarely, like I said. In my opinion, spraying a dog with water and smacking them is in no way the same thing. One is physically hurting them...the other is not. We had no choice but to use the spray technique at one stage because he use to get in to an aggressive play mode with me by biting my ankles and calves and because he now has his adult teeth, at one stage he almost went through my skin. As we all know if you hit a dog, that will make them more aggressive so we tried the spray technique and he practically stopped almost straight away.

I have a bond with him already. We rescued him and he loves me and I love him. He comes to me for cuddles and sleeps on my lap alot and he is so happy to see me all the time but when we want him to come in from the garden at night or anytime, he just wont come in, he gets us to chase him and try catch him and he's fast for a JR cross (we think corgi). The same when I have to put the lead on him, he's the oddest dog because he runs away from it and thinks we're playing chase BUT when you put the lead on him, he gets all happy and eager to go. Most dogs would be delighted when you hold the lead and run to you, he doesn't. I've had dogs all my life so I find this odd.

I will check out the info kindly sent to me and thanks again.

Puppies bite because they're testing their teeth and he never learned otherwise from you - you should yelp and stop playing with him and he'll stop then, not spray water at him

cjf

I'm not sure on availability in your area but agility could be a good idea? Great for building focus and getting them motivated to want to work with you. Iv seen it work great for dogs with poor recall and those who have the gift of the deaf ear.

muddypaws

Bubs99 wrote: »

We dont smack him when he's bold, we spray water in his face and he's terrified of the spray bottle when he sees it which isn't often.

Sorry, but you may think thats not as bad as physically hitting him, but if your dog is terrified of something that you do to him, then I think it is.

Bubs99

Bluewolf...we did all that. We tried it all, I am not stupid. We researched so so much and got tips and I've learned things in my veterinary course but not everything works for everyone. We did the yelp thing for weeks but no result, we did the ignore thing for weeks but no result, we did the lock out for a few seconds then leave them back in but again...no result. I know he was/is just a puppy and he was teething but it was getting out of hand. Seriously people, if you think smacking a dog and spraying mist are the same, you might have a problem. I also repeat...we do NOT do it regularly. We have done it a handful of times and I cant even remember the last time we used it.

He simply got a fright when the mist landed on him and the sound of the spray. That is not traumatising! I love my dog, he's all snuggled beside me now. I would love to do the agility classes, always wanted to but there's none near me and i have no car. I'll keep na eye out though. Thank you.

Not implying you're stupid, just sometimes there are things we didn't think of!

DBB

Bubs99 wrote: »

One is physically hurting them...the other is not. We had no choice but to use the spray technique at one stage because he use to get in to an aggressive play mode with me by biting my ankles and calves and because he now has his adult teeth, at one stage he almost went through my skin. As we all know if you hit a dog, that will make them more aggressive so we tried the spray technique and he practically stopped almost straight away.

I'm glad for you that you got away with it. But I have met quite a few dogs who have bitten their owners when they see the spray bottle coming out. It doesn't have to hurt to be aversive.
It's never necessary to use aversives to train a dog.
You did have a choice to use the spray bottle when he was biting your ankles. I have trained many owners and pups, and never, ever dealt with ankle-biting by taking a spray bottle to them.

when we want him to come in from the garden at night or anytime, he just wont come in, he gets us to chase him and try catch him and he's fast for a JR cross (we think corgi). The same when I have to put the lead on him, he's the oddest dog because he runs away from it and thinks we're playing chase BUT when you put the lead on him, he gets all happy and eager to go.

Re the bolded text above: does this mean that you have chased him in these situations?

muddypaws

Bubs99 wrote: »

He simply got a fright when the mist landed on him and the sound of the spray. That is not traumatising! I love my dog, he's all snuggled beside me now. I would love to do the agility classes, always wanted to but there's none near me and i have no car. I'll keep na eye out though. Thank you.

You stated that your dog is terrified of the bottle, you didn't say he disliked it, you said he is terrified of it. So maybe you should rethink your definition of traumatising?

Bubs99

Hi DBB, no, I get the lead and call him and say, we're going off now and I speak to him and mention the dogs names who he loves to play with (we're usually going to see them) and he likes that but when he see's the lead, he knows I have to put it on him and he runs off so I have to try catch him then he runs around the furniture, going left and right. In the end, it looks like a cartoon. But eventually I catch him and then he zooms for the door and wants to go.
Lately though, he's not as awkward about the lead, it's like routine now because every morning, he knows that when I'm up and getting ready and as I go towards the hall, he thinks we're going so he follows me and sits at the door so that isn't as much an issue anymore as the recall one.

We don't use the water spray bottle anymore...at all. I honestly cannot remember the last time we used it. That is the truth. He has over come the ankle and calve biting. In my opinion and our situation, we did NOT have a choice but to use it. Things got too dangerous, it wasn't funny when he badly bruised my calve and frightened me. I tried everything already like I said. And it worked for us. That's the main thing. So, can we let that go, please?! We don't torture and abuse our dog in any way whatsoever. I apologise for using the wrong word "terrifying". Whenever we showed him the bottle he'd just stop. Simple as. We didn't always spray it.

All I'm simply looking for is a local dog trainer or recall advice, and thanks again for the info and advice received so far. I do appreciate it. I cannot drive because I am epileptic so the trainer must be near me, Co. Waterford. I would adore to bring him to agility but there are none near me unfortunatley. I can just imagine him running through the tunnels on his little stumps of legs he has. He's an odd shape, looks like an over weight big jack russell but he's a cross of some other breed. So cute.

meoklmrk91

I had one of these as well, except mine was neariy 30kgs, things have gotten much better, train EVERY day take time even if its just 5 minutes in the morning and evening to work on basic commands, it will strengthen your bond, it will mentaly stimulate him, sit, paw, down, stay, come, mix it up so that he doesn't get bored. I know it's really hard when you are at your wits end with a dog not to loose it but try to praise the good stuff and ignore the bad and you will see less of it. I now do time outs as punishment, I don't even say a word I just remove myself from the situation and close the door for 10 to 20 seconds, it works for us, but I have to consistent, my boy got into the habit of jumping around and chasing heels when he got exited and wanted to play, it's getting better and better with every day that goes by.

I heard a dog trainer on YouTube say that you should never let your dog fail twice, he if doesn't come the first time get closer him, even if you are only a few inches away, it builds their confidence, if you are holding the treat and they want it but something is getting lost in translation then you are just going to loose their attention. I use this rule now and I am getting great results. Training can be very frustrating but it's something that you constantly have to keep in mind, no dog is ever fully trained.

DBB

Bubs99 wrote: »

Hi DBB, no, I get the lead and call him and say, we're going off now and I speak to him and mention the dogs names who he loves to play with (we're usually going to see them) and he likes that but when he see's the lead, he knows I have to put it on him and he runs off so I have to try catch him then he runs around the furniture, going left and right. In the end, it looks like a cartoon. But eventually I catch him and then he zooms for the door and wants to go.

So... You have been chasing him?
Have you also been chasing him when you want him to come in?

Bubs99

Not at all DBB, I'd stand there with the treat hidden as you're meant to and call him but he just stands and stares. No matter what tone I use, what level I'm at, whether standing or at his level, or what word I use, he just stares and sometimes walks off.

yesterday morning, I tried again and he yawned and plonked on the ground in the sun!!!

I also do it when I'm with all the dogs, like yesterday again, in the park. I had several dogs with me, all happily playing and relaxing and I call him...like I mentioned, he tends to do more when I'm with all the dogs, anyway, he came to me a few times and I praised and cuddle him, which I do every single time he does do good.

davyboy1975

flossie wrote: »

I had Emmaline Duffy-Fallon come out to our house for a couple of hours. Learnt more in that time than in the two years before. Highly recommended. I'm not affiliated with her in any way, just had fantastic success with her. She essentially trains you to train your dog

Is that Emmaline Duffy=Fallon who used to play the drums in the mighty Engine Alley?

muddypaws

Bubs99 wrote: »

We don't use the water spray bottle anymore...at all. I honestly cannot remember the last time we used it. That is the truth. He has over come the ankle and calve biting. In my opinion and our situation, we did NOT have a choice but to use it. Things got too dangerous, it wasn't funny when he badly bruised my calve and frightened me. I tried everything already like I said. And it worked for us. That's the main thing. So, can we let that go, please?! We don't torture and abuse our dog in any way whatsoever. I apologise for using the wrong word "terrifying". Whenever we showed him the bottle he'd just stop. Simple as. We didn't always spray it.

Just to try to explain to you why I went on about the bottle, too much in your opinion, for which I apologise.

People on here can only go on the information that you type, if you read your opening post, it sounds like there is a lot of tension, your boyfriend hasn't bonded, and in fact, you use the word hate. You mention the hairspray, that it was a L'oreal, a dog has no idea of the worth of something, it could have been a hairspray worth €20, it could have been a tub of a lid that was worthless, to your dog, it was a toy, but to you it is really frustrating that something like that has been destroyed. We are all human, and so, no matter how much we try to keep tension and frustration out of our voice, if a dog is playing up, it takes a very, very special person not to let any of that be apparent to a dog, who will be very tuned in to tiny nuances, nuances that we are probably unaware of. That very tone may have been used with the bottle, you have forgotten that now, the dog has not.

You say that you are a dog walker, which suggests to me that people pay you to walk and look after their dogs? My replies to you are coloured by the fact that if I was paying someone to walk and look after my dog, but they were having to spend part of that time dealing with their own disobedient dog, I would be very, very unhappy. In my view, if you're getting paid for something, that makes you a professional, and I would expect you to behave in a professional manner. If your dog misbehaves like that when you are working, then I'm afraid you don't take your dog out with clients' dogs.

If your dog runs away when he sees the lead, why not keep the lead in your pocket until you have hold of his collar? Dogs aren't that bright, you say that you tell the dog you're going now, and mention the names of the dogs that you're going to meet, that is totally irrelevant to your dog.

So, I'm sorry if I have offended you, but i get very frustrated by the level of canine professionals in this country, that's my problem, not yours, I should learn only to be concerned with my own dogs and not other peoples.

Bubs99

Muddypaws, everyone has a right to their own opinion so fair enough. I do that...hide the lead then attach it...when I can. In my opinion, it is good to bring my dog with the other dogs...you should know...it is VERY important for dogs to sociolise and play which is what he's done since he was young so he is great with all dogs and children. That is extremely important.

All my clients are happy with me and trust me 100%, I do no harm and play with them, walk them, treat them, cuddle them, feed them, wash them etc. etc. They all love me. They are never in any harm in my company. They are all obedient and fun and have their own personalities. MY dog is adorable and I love him and he loves me also. He is NOT scared of me in any way.

I am well aware NOT to give out to a dog AFTER they have been naughty because they don't know why I am angry. I know to only use a tone WHEN the dog is being naughty. You do not know me and like I said in the post...DO NOT JUDGE! and that is what you have done. I only asked for a trainers number because I thought it's right to get one for help. I am only thinking good for my dog. Please don't judge me anymore. I may have given a bad impression to you but you never met me and you don't know my clients neither. They all trust me and their dogs are safe and so is mine.

I am now going to walk one infact and we will have a great time in our local park and pier. Thanks for your advice all the same.

anamaria

I had Emmeline come out to my house when I got my dog. It was the best money I ever spent. I found it better than obedience classes as it was in my home environment and she could see exactly how everything was.

If you can't drive I think it might be worth you giving her a call as she comes to your house. Her website it called citizen canine I think.

DBB

davyboy1975 wrote: »

Is that Emmaline Duffy=Fallon who used to play the drums in the mighty Engine Alley?

Off-topic, but yes, there's only one Emmaline! Her alter-ego has been outed :-D