3 spoiled pups, training help needed.

the Guru

We have two mini dachshunds and one Italian greyhound. They run amok in the house, they will not heed anything we say, they use every table and chair leg as a urinal, we have tried to get them to go in the backyard, but to no avail,

and anything thats left in there reach will be eaten.

They bark at everyone and other dogs.

How and what is the best way to train these dogs, any help is appreciated.

Thanks Dec

peasant

You need to establish yourself as THE authority around your place.
This needs to be done in a calm, consistent and calculated approach.

As it is impossible to stay calm and consistent with three little "insurgents" running around at the same time, you need professional help.

Find a dog trainer who makes home visits.

Just picking up bits and pieces of hints from the internet is not going to help.
Your behaviour needs to radically change in order to change the dogs' behaviour.

For that you need good, professional advice that is taylored towards your particular situation.

kerrymaid

I've a similar problem so not much help but calling them "insurgents" was hilarious - it made me laugh out loud - it gives a real mental picture.
Housetraining our dog - people said things about moving newspapers close to the door etc etc but our family always puts their nose in it (we don't beat them - it's a gentle enough process) and then put them out on the lawn or better still get them mid flow and put them out. Eventually I think they do it outside because they don't want to be harassed while they're doing their business. People will prob say it's wrong but it worked for us and house training is the most annoying issue. I know when there's three it's hard to point the finger.
If it's a new environment to them they might just be marking the place?
they sound gorgeous - I hope you can get them under control.
My dog won't stop chewing up everything and crying if there's a shut door.

fits

Italian greyhounds are well known for being difficult to toilet train.
Being a fan of the pointy nosed variety, could you show us a pic? pretty please...:)

Sigma Force

I'm sounding like a broken record but here's a link of dog trainers
http://www.irishanimals.ie/care/behaviour.html

3 pups you've got your hands full it can be hard enough with one lol but a good trainer will steer you in the right direction but most of the work will be down to you.

daaft

yikes! but once they are out of puppy-hood things should be so much better! hmmm... about 2 years or so???!!!

I agree with peasant >>You need to establish yourself as THE authority around your place. This needs to be done in a calm, consistent and calculated approach.

Do you use crates? I've got 3 happy pups and we are too far away from any civilisation to have a trainer visit but have found crates a brilliant help in their management, we couldn't live without crates. They aren't punishment at all, they are just somewhere safe and cosy to be when they shouldn't/can't be 'running amok' LOL Mine are only loose in the house together when we are able to be with them to keep things orderly or supply laps, and even then we keep a lead trailing so can put a stop to unwanted behaviour asap. The crates also help us keep up with their toilet needs as they really do dislike soiling the crates, so we can get them outside before/after playing or eating and such. And for training they enable you to work with pups one-on-one, then two together etc too. If it sounds like I can't praise crates enough it's because I can't!!

Let us know how things go OK? I'm always very interested to hear how others manage multiple dogs

the Guru

Cheers folks for you input , I will try and be the authority in the house, but its so hard, they just don't listen, we took them to professional training and they didn't listen them either
(we have joked about getting Cesar Millan the dog whisperer to train them)

see images

http://www.intestionalfortitude.com/dogs

peasant

Sending them away to get trained is pointless. Dogs learn by association ...that includes associations with places, smells, sounds, etc

So things they learn in a totally different environement, from strangers, they will most likely not "repeat" once they are back home.

This is also the reason why most dogs "perform" wonderfully while in doggy-class while acting the maggot at home.(or vice versa)

Constant repetition is another important factor in doggy learning.They need to be trained, corrected and reminded of the rules on a constant basis.

If i may be so blunt ...it is YOU that needs to be trained first. Trained on how to train a dog. Especially since you have three untrained ones at home that all need to be brought up to speed at the same time.

Training dogs isn't actually that difficult a science ...it's fairly simple really. You need to be consistent, consequent and calm.

The difficult bit is just be exactly that with not one but three unruly dogs who have nothing better to do than try to stretch their boundaries and play you for a fool. (and dogs are VERY good at that)

That's where a dog trainer comes in (should be called man trainer ,really) He/she can assess your particular situation and advise a few easy and simple to follow rules that will lead to success. If it is a good trainer, you will find that 90% of those rules concern your behaviour, small changes will show a big effect.

BTW ...dogs don't "listen". They follow and repeat commands (and only those commands) that they have learned to understand over time. From the little I have gathered from your situation so far, your dogs do not yet "understand" anything. This probably has two reasons:
-you are giving off mixed or unclear signals
-they can always fall back onto each other (and each other's "bad" behaviour) if and when they don't know or understand what it is that you want from them, thus negating any small progress that might have been made and constantly re-inforcing unwanted behaviour.

I repeat myself ...with three in one go it is vital that you get some outside help who can help you recognize what exactly needs to be improved and send you on the right path to communicating with your dogs in a way that they can understand.

Dogs actually like and need rules ...they are much happier when they know where they stand. You will be doing them (and not just yourself) a big favour in training them properly.

Good luck with it !!

fits

Oh they look like a terrible threesome alright:D . They are absolutely gorgeous, and look like three lovely characters.
I would say that a getting a dog trainer to come in is a good idea as they will copy each others bad behaviour. I pretty much house-trained my whippet without any help (had never done that before) but when we had an untrained terrier to stay, he completely regressed to doing it in the house.

Does the italian greyhound poo in strange places?

daaft

Well, then your dogs will behave beautifully whenever the Whisperer visits LOL

The dogs are probably listening, at least with one ear, dogs hear very well... I bet if you say 'treats' and give them a really yummy treat feast the next time you whisper 'treats' they will trip each other trying to get to you But it isn't because they know what a treat is, it's because something good happened when you made that particular sound... In fact, if you crinkle a crisp bag you'll probably get the same reaction - I do!

Again, I totally agree with peasant. Dogs thrive when they know what is wanted and expected of them and they are able to do it for us. Doesn't mean they won't push at boundaries, but if you do manage to train them this will amuse rather than overwhelm you, and you will be able to keep them in check.

It looks like some intense time it called for! If it's any consolation, once they learn to learn it gets much easier to teach them, basically it's down to how much time and effort you put into it, especially in the beginning...

...but they're worth it!

the Guru

Does the Italian greyhound poo in strange places?

Yes upstairs by my office its very secluded, and out of the way, the other 2 have learned to go there too,

With the treats they always behave when I go to get the dog leashes to take them to the park, they will pee in the park but wait until the get home to poop most of the time.

As peasant had advised and I know this I must be trained first and then the pups.

karlin

You also need to buy some enzymatic cleaner from a petshop or make up a solution of biological powder (MUST be biological) and wash ALL areas they have soiled. Throw out any area rugs they have used for wees/poops. As long as they can smell the scent they will keep using the same places so this is an important initital step.

You then need to start at the very basics for re-housetraining. I highly recommend Shirlee Kalstone's book on housetraining a dog in 7 days (available off amazon.co.uk or ask a local shop to order). This is a very good guidebook and WORKS.

Sticking noses in poops does nothing but cover a dog's nose in poop, which is extremely unpleasant for the dog. But it won;t have clue why anyone is doing this. Dogs do not have any ability to link something they did two hours ago or even 5 minutes ago with being scolding after the fact. They WILL learn by never being given the option to go inside and the consistent effort to get them outside, not from scolding for something they have already done -- which takes a lot of work and watching! The Kalstone book is great on options for doing this that also work around work schedules etc. You'll need to be consistent and also see if you can get some good training on how to train!

Here are some further tips on housebreaking a dog:

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=75

It is angled at puppies but the same approach applies to adults.