ASK the Dog Trainer
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Do you have a particular dog training question? I know you do! Leave your question in the comment section below and I will answer your question in a post.
If I don’t know the answer I will research your question to give you several possible solutions to correcting your dog’s behavior problem.
All comments are in moderation until reviewed by the admin. We will get to all your questions.
April 25th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
have a 10 mo yellow lab ..last couple weeks he started when it was getting dark out chase bugs on the patio ..now it is during the day in the grass and he barks barks barks and is digging up the yard ..i don’t know if hears something in the grass ??? but he wants to stay out all day (begs/barks go out) and look bark and dig…
April 25th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Well you dog sounds like a normal yellow lab, all excited about chasing bugs. Nice to hear he has found a way to amuse himself. As to him digging up the yard and barking not so good. The barking and digging could be due to boredom. He found something to amuses himself and so is doing more. Download the barking report or read those posts on the blog. http://how-to-train-a-dog.com/stop-barking-dog/
If you pay attention to him and as soon as you see him mis-behaving, go over to him and tell him “no dig”. If you put him on a long line, then give the line a shapr tug followed up with the NO DIG or No BARK command you will communicate with him that you don’t want him to do that.
Labs have a lot of energy! Take him for at least two really good walks or runs during the day. If you can have him chase a ball or stick in your yard for at leaast 30 minutes, two times a day. Really wear him out if possible. That will help his behavior overall.
April 10th, 2011 at 11:19 am
Is it possible to train a dog to walk children to school and come home on her own then walk to the school to pick them up? Our dog will be two in the fall and is a basset/pit bull (we think) mix from a rescue. Our two older children will start at a small private school 1/2 mile away in 1st and 3rd grade this fall and we would like them to walk to school. The route is crossing two back non busy roads and through a couple of large hayfields that my parents own. Can Nora (our dog) walk with them to school, could the girls send Nora home with a “go home” command and in the afternoon we would send Nora “go school” to pick up the girls? She would be leashed when with the children.
April 15th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
Yes. This is possible to train a dog to walk your kids to school and return. I think it will depend on the dog. A herding dog might be well suited to this task as a hunting or hound by be tempted to wander off.
Would the dog have to cross any streets? This would concern me.
The part about her being leashed with the children seems a little off base. If the dog can go home alone and to the school to get the kids there would be no need to have her on a leash.
If your community has enforced leash laws this could be a problem especially if an impatient neighbor decides to call the dog police on your unleashed dog.
Please keep us informed if you end up doing this. You should probably work with a really good dog trainer. We’d love to hear how it goes!
May 25th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
to: sucessful trainers.
I NEED HELP!!
I have a 13-15 week old chiuahiuah/pug mix puppy that i can NOT house train. Ive been attempting to train her to use the potty pads inside my apartment for like 5-6 weeks now. No matter what i try or do she will NOT do what im asking. I have followed all the tips online-attempting a routine by bringing her to the pads at all the times but will stand there for 30mins and she will not go the second i let her go and we go sit down 5-10mins later she will sneak off and go on the carpet ive tried lightly scolding her, rubbing her nose in it, spanking her, ive even tried putting her nose to the accident and carpet scolding her bad girl then walk to the pad put her nose to it and say good girl ive went as far as cleaning up the accident and putting it on the pad and show her how she will get praised to it being on the carpet and getting scolded. Im so fed up because she knows that she is being bad because after she goes i can tell she did something because she will disappear or be curled up acting quilty and ill go look and sure enough she went so ill go to pick her up and she already backing away from me or shaking scared and once i grab her and start walking towards the accident she will shake(sometimes as bad as yelping, scratching, even biting to get out of my arms and away from me)because she knows she did something she shouldnt. I dont get it she knows shes bad and shouldnt do it but yet she still does knowing she will get in trouble compared to getting praised and a treat. she will go on the pad(which is seriously like 1 out of 25 times) or i feel bad that shes like always in trouble cause she never goes on the pad and ill spoil her/reward her by treat or extra attention or sleeping with me and she will go right after(or twice as much)on the carpet.sometimes it seems like if were kind of busy and she doesnt get as much attention as normal she will do it on purpose. please help me i dont know what to do, im tired of getting carpets cleaned and the smell..its to the point im ready to get rid of her. thank you.
from: desperate owner.
May 25th, 2011 at 6:56 pm
Did you read the free ebook about How to House Train ANY Puppy or Adult Dog? If you follow the steps in there you’ll get your dog house trained right away. Here is the link:
http://how-to-train-a-dog.com/house-training-help/
You need to “NEVER” let her out of your site and take her out frequently. You need to be more patient than she is stubborn. I had a similar problem with my much bigger dog. What a mess. Once I put her on a very short leash in the house and took her out frequently she got it. If I ever thought that she was OK to leave alone then I got a wet of messy floor. It was my fault. Keep the lease short and on her at all times. After a few weeks you can test her off leash and (keeping an eye on her) see how she does.
It may seem like a long time during the process but it will be worth it when she’s trained.
Praise her when she’s good. Ignore her mistakes. Read the guide and make sure you follow the steps exactly.
One more thing — if you are asking your dog to pee on a pad then I’m guessing you’ll be happy with that for the rest of her life – right?
Keep up with it! You can do it!
May 26th, 2011 at 11:08 am
I hope this is the right place to ask as question. I have a Plott Hound mix that I rescued at 8 weeks old. She was basically feral, had never been handled, or even been outside. It took months before she would even relax when I held her. We got through potty training finally and she walked pretty well on a leash. I took her to puppy play school where she was badly injured and both stifles needed surgery. Since they did them one at a time the recovery was long and followed by a very cold winter when I would take her outside only to go to the bathroom. That was a big set back.
I have a tremendous respect for this dog because she needs exercise and I live in a retirement community where no fences are permitted. Considering this and her natural drive to hunt she behaves wonderfully in the house and is not destructive in any way. I want to walk her and take her to a dog park to play (we have a wonderful, well thought out, highly controlled dog park here) and I want to walk her as I did before her injury. Here is the problem:
I am 70 years old with severe osteoporosis. My dog (Rosie) is powerful and strong and while on a leash and walking quietly, can instantly pull me off my feet if she sees something interesting to lunge at. The mere sight of a human being or another dog will cause her to go into an uncontrollable state where she can actually jump up and spin around in mid air. I can barely hold on to her. When anyone comes to the house she is all over them jumping up and no amount of restraint will stop her. If I put her in another room she barks.
I have had dogs all my life but never a hound until now. Talk about being hard headed. I have tried Halties, Gentle Leaders, and an e collar I have not had the nerve to use. Right now she is in a prong collar while walking but because of her behavior I do not go far and therefore we are missing one of the best bonding experiences a dog and owner can have.
Her barking sounds aggressive and scares people to death, but as soon as they get close she rolls over and wants her tummy rubbed. Still I have an inner feeling that if I can not correct her soon, she could become aggressive. Actually when trying to restrain her once I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and she snapped at me.
Although basically quiet in the house, if she sees a person or dog outside this will cause barking and crying to get out to play with whatever it is she sees.
Here is basically what I need:
A way to settle her down when she gets so excited and out of control. I have tried carrying treats and letting her know I have them, but when she gets in that state she can not be distracted. I have forcibly tried to restrain her but that doesn’t work. Tried distraction and comforting and they have no affect. When I mention things I have tried, I don’t mean I tried them for a few days and gave up. I have tried them for long periods of time. In retrospect I know this was the wrong dog for me, but she is my family and best friend and I simply can not give her up.
I would welcome any suggestions you might have. Getting her under control is critical as she is way larger than they allow here and she can frighten people with her barking. Also tried “No Bark” ;;;;;;;what an absolute joke. (read my review of this in Amazon if you like.)
Linda Pierce
Please answer and send to my email address as I am afraid I might lose this website.
REPLY:
I have consulted with an expert dog trainer on this. You need to re-home this dog because you can’t handle her. The situation is going to end up with possible both of you hurt or worse.
You could get hurt by the dog. The dog can learn bad behavior, hurt you or another person and end up being destroyed by her actions.
June 28th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
I live in a condo with my 3-1/2 year old lab mix (Jack) and 2 cats. My boyfriend is moving in next month with his 1-1/2 year old lab mix (Thor). The problem lies in that Jack is a dominant dog and Thor is very submissive.
Some background information: Jack was crate trained as he was younger and obedience trained. He is not dominant with me — I can take bones out of his mouth, he listens to commands for the most part, he has a time-out spot I’ll send him to when he does something wrong, and we never play any tug games. He is also not dominant in any way to my boyfriend when he is in the house. He has allowed multiple other dogs into the house and has never even batted an eyelash (everyone from my neighbors female Cocker Spaniel to my friends male English Setter to my mom’s female Pug). I have had some issues with strange people coming to the door and him showing dominance, however, I’ve been working on discouraging that behavior and it’s lessened a little (although we’re not perfect yet).
We’ve taken both dogs on walks together and they’ll walk next to each other touching with no problems. They don’t even fight for the lead (if anything, Thor will go a little ahead). We take them to the dog park together (they sit next to each other in the back seat of the car on the way there) and they have no problems. The problem comes when we bring Thor into my house. Jack gets very protective and goes up to Thor and attacks him. When Thor is just sitting there, we can get Jack to calm down and leave him alone, however, as soon as Thor gets up to sniff the cats or Jack’s bed or anything else for that matter Jack gets up and attacks again. I try to send Jack to his time-out, and he’ll go but then if Thor gets up again we start the process over. Thor is very submissive and he makes this loud howling whining noise and gets very scared. This tends to heighten the stress (for us and the dogs). This same interaction happened with my neighbor dog met Thor – the usually docile neighbor dog went to attack Thor and Thor did his howling stint.
I’m looking for suggestions on how to introduce Thor to my (soon to be our) house. Most articles I find are dealing with dominant dogs, but very little about dealing with very submissive dogs. Any help is appreciated.
July 18th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
Our dog was hit by a car and thankfully had no broken bones or internal injuries. They kept him over night for observation and pain meds, then sent him home the next day. They warned us that he would be a little sore, and that his lungs may be bruised.
When he first got home, he peed and pooped everywhere, but we understood that he was sick and sore, so we didn’t yell or try correcting the action. Honestly we were just thankful he was alive and we figured it was a phase because he was potty trained before.
It’s been a month, and while he’s still a little sore, he seems to be back to his old self, with the exception of his pottying all over the house.
We love our dog, and are glad he’s alive, but need him to stop his new habit of going all over the house. He was knocked out by the car, and we believe traumatized by the experience (he has times when he’s sleeping that he shakes and cries), how do we retrain him to go on his designated puppy pad or outside? Is the fact that he’s still sore the reason why he’s having issues? Any advice would be most appreciated.
REPLY:
Assuming he is healed and healthy, keep him on a short leash in the house and watch him like a hawk. Don’t let him out of your site even for a minute. He’s not going to “go” in your house under these conditions and if he does you have caught him in the act and you can take him right outside to remind him of the correct location to “go”.
July 23rd, 2011 at 1:55 am
We got a 9wk old Bordie Collie/Jack Russel mix. She is now 5 months old. Our training for her to use the bathroom outside goes like this.
We take her out every 30 minutes to and hour, tell her to go potty, praise her when she does it and then we go into the house.
At first she was a natural at doing this, but as time went on, she became more and more resistant. Our time outside waiting for her to use the bathroom has gone on to sitting in a chair for 30 minutes or more at a time. She has picked up that we are stressed and has now resorted to running to the door and refusing to be outside if we use the word “potty”.
One morning she refused to go after I waited for 30 minutes (it was a beautiful morning thankfully) so I took her in the house for 20 minutes and then back outside for another 30 minutes. She refused to poop so I went back into the house and she ran into a bedroom to poop almost right away.
I don’t understand what is going on. Each day I am feeling more and more stressed by her reaction towards going potty outside.
She is crate trained and does well all night long, she has never messed in her crate. We always praise her and give her treats for doing well, yet it feels like she is retaliating. What am I missing?
REPLY:
Here’s what to do: Since you are spending time waiting for your dog to “go” outside take her on a vigorous walk or get her running in the yard chasing or fetching something for that 30 minutes. The exercise will get her “going”.
A dog like that needs the exercise anyway so you will be serving two functions.
This will break the “I forgot not to pee in the house” cycle.
Also, while she is in the house put her on a leash and keep her with you constantly. Keep the leash short and watch her. She’s not going to go on your floor if you watch her closely. If she does then you can tell her no (correct her) and take her our immediately.
The key is to NEVER let her out of your site.
July 31st, 2011 at 5:35 pm
I would like to train my 7 year old Golden Retriever to pick things up off the floor for me. I have a back injury that prevents me from bending over. He’s a well-trained and beautifully behaved boy; I think this will not only be extremely helpful for me, but I’m sure he would enjoy having a job.
Many thanks, in advance, for your advice.
August 1st, 2011 at 3:14 pm
We got a 4 year old papillon from a breeder. Once we got her we realized that the breeder was a puppy mill. This dog knows nothing. She does not know how to act around people, she seems to be starving for attention. She does not want to have anything to do with my other dogs, just people. I don’t think she ever had a bed. We are trying to paper train her. Our other dogs (yorkie and chihuahua) are both paper trained. We are having alot of trouble with her. She is going anywhere and everywhere. She has even gone in her bed and on my couch. The breeder had her in a room that she would just walk out to another room that was raised off the ground and she would do her business. Then she would go back into the first room to eat and sleep. The breeder did not let us see these rooms. I knew it was not a good situation, but I wanted to get this poor dog from her. Now I am not so sure I made the right decision. Please let me know if you think it will be possible to paper train this 4 year old papillon. Thanks,
REPLY:
To house train your dog, please keep you dog with you in the house “at all times” on a leash if necessary. Take her out at regular intervals. If you see her starting to go inside (because you have her on a really short leash you can see her) quickly take her out to pee. Or in your case put her on the papers you have arranged for her to pee on.
Make sure her crate is very small also so she doesn’t have a lot of room to move around and make a bathroom. Use the crate when you can not be with her all the time.
You need to spend the time to teach her new habits. Since she has four years to unlearn it may take a while. If you are consistent then training will be faster.
October 27th, 2011 at 8:52 am
I have recently bought a standard poodle who is currently 5 months old. I have had him for about a month. He is doing very well in his house training, but he refuses to hold his pee during the day. He holds it for 8 to 10 hours at night with no problem. During the day however he thinks he needs to pee like every 30 minutes to an hour. He goes to the door to ring bells, which he abuses lol, but if we are in an area with a baby gate he will just squat and pee even if we just went outside 30 minutes earlier. He is not peeing great amounts either, but enough. His vet said he was fine and no UTI. Shouldn’t a 5 month old larger breed dog be able to hold it longer? How can I train him to hold it for longer periods? He will pee in his crate if I am gone for over 2 hrs as well, during the day, but not at night. Help!!! Also he has already been neutered 2 weeks ago. I keep him on leash with me whenever he is out and he is always supervised!! I have caught him in the act in the house 3 times and even watched him in his crate once.
October 30th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Are you giving him a lot of exercise? A big dog needs to run around. If he is really tired out after exercise his behavior will improve.
October 30th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
You could try searching youtube for “teaching a dog to pick up things” There are a lot of good videos there with useful information. Or try a dog training system like this one. They may have some information about trick training.
October 30th, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Yes he gets plenty of exercise. I am a stay at home mom. I have started measuring his water intake and at 30 lbs, which is what he weighs, he is drinking more than 60 ounces of water daily. My vet said he only needs about 1 ounces per lb of body weight. So maybe he is just drinking to much. I was looking for a little more insight into how long a 5 month old puppy should be able to hold it during the day. When he is drinking those large amounts he has to go every 30 minutes.
October 30th, 2011 at 8:15 pm
That’s a lot of water! No wonder he has to go. Drinking lots of water could indicate a kidney issue or diabetes. Maybe he’s sneaking salty snacks;) At 5 months I wouldn’t expect him to go for over two hours when awake.
When dogs are active they are going to pee. It’s just how they are wired. If he’s active and/ or it’s warm outside he’s going to be more thirsty.
Run him around outside so he gets tired from exercise. Exercise is good for the dog to improve behavior. It works with so many issues.
November 9th, 2011 at 2:51 am
Hi, I have a beautiful 4month old pup and for some strange reason she WILL NOT pee or poop outside. She was puppy pad trained but then started tearing those up and peeing in my dining room carpet. My carpet is completely ruined and I have to have her trained before I move to a new apt in July of 2012. Please Help!!! I don’t wanna get rid of her
REPLY:
Sign up for the house training ebook on this website. It’s free. You need to keep your dog on a leash, inside the house, for as long as it takes to train her. If you see her start to pee or poop, pick her up and take her outside to go. Wait for her to go outside and praise her. You need to be very patient and follow through. My dog did the same thing until I kept her next to me in the house at all times (or in her crate when I left the house).
November 9th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
The only problem with that is when I take her outside as soon as I see her sniff, she thinks were going out to play and she literally holds it until we go back iside. I get so frustrated but not at her. Ill definately try keeping her leash on her constantly and taking her out again. I always tell her to go pee pee or go poopy but she just wants to go back inside
I won’t give uP on her tho. Its just hard.
Christina! It is great if your dog wants to play. When they play they pee. So play with her. Run her around, a lot. Take her for a walk, even around the house or yard. And she will pee and poop and you can tell her she’s a good dog. Once you get that routine established you’ll be much closer to the end of peeing in the house.
November 13th, 2011 at 6:12 pm
LOL well of course I do play with her. All the time infact. But like I’m saying there are times where I walk her for Hours at a time and she holds in until we go inside. Just the other day I stayed outside for 4 hours afteR I got off work. We played and I walked her and then as soon as we wnt back in, she immediately peed and pooped. I just laughed it off tho. Lil brat lol its so hard to get mad at her.
January 5th, 2012 at 5:26 am
Hello, we have had our pet rabbit who freely goes in and out of the house & garden for 2 years now, and have just got a 4 month puppy staffy – at the moment were keeping them separate but would love for them to be around each other. How do i train our puppy not to attack our rabbit!?
Answer: My “bird dog” will not attack my parrots. Nice!
I’d start socializing your puppy and rabbit right away while the dog is young. Make sure NOT to leave them alone until you trust your dog. Depending on your dog this could be soon or never. Keep your dog on a leash or a line to start. Let puppy investigate the rabbit. Use the Leave It command and a tug if you don’t like what your dog is doing.
Never act excited around the dog when the rabbit is there. Stay calm and encourage your dog to do the same. He’ll think it is OK to get excited if you are ( and that could mean attack to a dog) around your rabbit. You want to teach the dog how to behave around the rabbit and use NO or LEAVE IT when you don’t want dog to do something harmful to the rabbit.
Does this Help at All?