Trouble with my dog

[Silver_Dragon]

She still destroys a bit, but the damage is minimal. For one thing, I know keep her in my bathroom with all her favourite toys and a nice bone.
The rest of the day, I just make sure that nothing is inside of
dogreach The trouble is, that our house is in two (stores? - is that
the correct word, I mean the word you use, when you have both a first and a second floor... - hope you guys understand) so when I'm upstairs to
email you all for an example, she has every chance of being destructive
without me never knowing untill I get down and it's too late. But it is
going better and better.

Ok, I know someone told you to pay less attention to the dog, and do not let
them follow you everywhere, in this situation I couldn't disagree more! If
you KNOW the dog is in a position where she can destroy things, remove them
from it! Sometimes it is just that simple. Take the dog with you out of
the room they otherwise would be left in. A fairly new training tecnique
(have not had to try it), is when you are just doing what you have to do
around the house, have the dog attached to a leash that is looped around
your waist or belt. The dog will be forced to watch you, and pay attention
to you, other than do whatever else she wants to do! Only do it for a
little while at a time (maybe 10 minutes at first, once or twice a day, then
up to 20 minutes once they get used to it). It is just an excersise to get
them to pay attention to YOU. But if you do not like that idea, do NOT
leave them in a room unattended if you know or suspect that the dog will do
something wrong. Or if you do, make sure you are right there to correct the
behavior as SOON as it happens!

the only thing in which she hasn't shown progress yet, is concerning the biting in people and clothes... She does not bite hard or anything, she just does it all the time, even though I correct her each and every time.

The absolute BEST method for this, as funny as it may sound... Is to 'yelp'
(like a mother or littermate would) and turn away as soon as the dog bites.
Not only are YOU going to do this, but everyone else around the dog. It
will soon catch on that it cannot bite because it will not play, and it has
upset you. I cannot stress enough how well this works!

She is still very excited when she sees children. Even though she's still a very yound pup, I have troubles in holding her, but that to is getting
better, since the kids now have known her for a while, and find her a bit
less interesting - then there's no longer the big 'hello-scenes' from
their side, so I think that'll get better to.

The best thing I learned in the obedience classes I took with Ivy, was that
when a stranger or anyone really, is approaching you, have the dog trained
to sit in a heel position when it is greeted. The dog will want to get up,
just through strong corrections and positive rewards, the dog will learn
that it will have to sit and be good to be greeted by others. If you want
information on how to train this step-by-step, I will be more than happy to
share, just let me know!

My husbands siplings aren't doing very well at that either, guess there should be a new class in their school 'how to act and behave around
animals'... Most kids could certainly use it

I couldn't agree more! I think EVERYONE should be taught how to act around
dogs, most people have not the slightest clue how to act around and properly
care for a dog, and it is amazing how many of them HAVE dogs!!! I think
dog/animal care should be a required course, and I would be more than happy
to teach it! ;o)

And btw a tip you probably all, already know... I've heard the advise of giving the dog a T-shirt you've been wearing when you have to leave it or
you go to sleep, several times, but never really followed it (don't know
why I havn't); My dog normally sleeps beneath my bed, and I put my clothes on a chair right next to the bed. Every morning that I see that she hasn't destroyed anything, she has, funy enough, stolen one of my T-shirts and has been sleeping quite calmly on it all night. So it really
looks like it works, and since I wouldn't give her a T-shirt, she had to
take one for herself

I don't know about this one! I think it would train the dog to take your
cloths, if only for now to lay on... it could progress to destroying, or
destroying things to get AT the cloths, if they are not on hand. Plus I
don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to wake up to a dog hair covered
shirt, I have to at least go all day before it gets covered! )

Going to paste info from the other message here:

I don't thin she's scared, but she is 'respectful'... sometimes I feel really bad when I'm angry with her and let her know so. I couldn't dream
of yell of her, I just talk to her in an angry tone, but sometimes it
happens that she peeps...

If you mean 'pees' I do not know 'peeps' (except those colorful little
marshmellow things at easter time)... so I will assume you mean pees. If a
dog pees while you are yelling at it, or when greeting you, it is a very
high submission act. The dog wants you to know that 'you are right' and
'you are boss, I know'. Do NOT yell at a dog for submissive peeing!!! The
dog will NOT understand! If you have real problems with this, you are going
to have to build the dog's confidence a bit, and because I have not yet had
an overly submissive dog (Ivy is very submisive, but not nearly that much),
I would not know the best methods to go around training this.


And one more thing mentioned is if the dog does pee 'on purpose'. If the
dog DOES do it on pourpose there are a few methods of realising this. That
would be 'marking' different areas of the house, or if the dog comes over
infront of you and just starts peeing. If it does pee infront of you like
this, it just wants attention. Even by yelling at it, she will recieve
attention that it is looking for, ignore the dog under any and all
circumstances!! If it keeps up there would be other methods of correcting it.

Hope this has helped some. If you have more questions or need more
information, just let me know I would be happy to help with what I can!
Good luck!


~Silver Dragon~