Advice/Help on dog hassling other dog

Vizzy

Right.I have 2 dogs,a Golden retriever aged 5 and a Vizsla which is just a year old.
The Vizsla is constantly hassling the retriever i.e nipping him, jumping on him etc.I think the poor retriever is probably goin nuts at this stage.
More worryingly/costly is that the Vizsla is "eating" the Petsafe collar off the other fella and it is costing me about €80 every time for a new collar.
I have tried mustard on the collar (and he ate a full jar off it within about 10 seconds) and that anti-chew spray that you can get to stop a dog chewing furniture etc-didn't work either.Tried 2 different types of muzzle as well but he manages to get them off within seconds as well.
At this stage it is doin my head in !!!!

Any suggestions ?

EPointer=Birdss

Exercise him more. Destructive behaviour is usually the sign of boredom. Easy say exercise more but in reality with work etc it's not always easy find the time. possibly more swimming, retrieve work in water etc might tire him out.
If can be done it should help. U run for fitness & bring the lads along. 2 birds with the 1 stone.
Could always chance putting him on the treadmill like you see with greyhounds (if you have one of course)

Alternatively separate the dogs but you'll still have a wound up pup.

He will Kop on with age for sure. All you can do is discourage the behaviour but obviously your not with the dogs 24/7 so there's a lot of unsupervised time.

fallowbuck

I would agree and disagree with e bird .I agree with the age side of things its a major factor the older he gets the less nusaince he becomes , but as far as exercise goes as good as it is for your pup it wont take away all the bad aspect he has. As long as his a puppy he will stay been a puppy and unfortunatly he will stay annoying ur retriever maybe up till his two or more I have had this problem myself but lived with it but now its no more thank god . Its a matter of living with it or seperating them both, but all the exercise in the world may help but wont fix it completely.

emergundog

Your viz is bored! But don't go making him run with you for miles... His growth plates won't have settled yet (until he's around 12-18 months) and you could do damage. He needs mental stimulation, like all vizslas.

Is the 'pet safe' collar one of those electric fence collars?

Vizzy

I guessed that he was bored all right but with work etc I can't get to excercise him for more than about an hour a day,probably 5 days a week.
He/they have a 7X3 metre run that they spend the night in but they have the run of about a fifth of an acre during the day.I also give him a coke bottle filled with nuts to get him to use his brain to get them out.
He may need mental stimulation but myself and the retriever are goin to need mental sedation before long.:D
emergundog,yes the collar is an electric collar which buzzes first to give him a warning that he is reaching his boundary and then a shock if he goes any further.
He got the hang of it in about half an hour and I can guarantee that he hasn't gotten a shock since cos he will go to the exact same spot whether he is wearing the collar or not.

Thanks for the replies.

emergundog

It only takes 15 minutes of training a couple or few times a day to work their brains! Unless you're working 24/7, you don't have a good enough excuse to not do this. If you've bought a viz you must be willing to put the time in.

As for the e collar, it's not the place to start up a debate on this, but again I feel it's the lazy mans way of controlling their animals cruelly.

Ultimately, you have to put the time in to this breed to get out of it what you want. If you're not willing to do this you will end up with problems, and it will be your fault, not the dog's.

Good luck, and I hope you do right by him and take responsibility for his wrong-doings!

Vizzy

emergundog wrote: »

It only takes 15 minutes of training a couple or few times a day to work their brains! Unless you're working 24/7, you don't have a good enough excuse to not do this. If you've bought a viz you must be willing to put the time in.

As for the e collar, it's not the place to start up a debate on this, but again I feel it's the lazy mans way of controlling their animals cruelly.

Ultimately, you have to put the time in to this breed to get out of it what you want. If you're not willing to do this you will end up with problems, and it will be your fault, not the dog's.

Good luck, and I hope you do right by him and take responsibility for his wrong-doings!

I don't think that you read my post !
Firstly he is excercised for an hour a day almost every day
He is also interacted with for possibly another hour when I am working in the garden,being fed etc.

As for your comment on the collar,I disagree entirely.
How would you suggest that he should be taught that he shouldn't stray out a gate when there are other dogs & cats wandering past all the time.
As I said I can guarantee that he has learned a long time ago that he can go so far towards a gate without getting a shock and he will go exactly to the same spot where (out of curiosity from myself) I have tested the collar on myself and not gotten a shock,but if I move even 3 inches closer the shock will start.I believe you said yourself that there is only dog smarter than a wei and that was a viz !!
BTW the garden is completely "wired in" to a height of 6ft but I would much prefer that he may get a shock rather than possibly injuring himself trying to climb the wire.
Rather than a lazy way out I would say it shows a much more responsible approach to safe dog ownership.

EPointer=Birdss

emergundog wrote: »

It only takes 15 minutes of training a couple or few times a day to work their brains! Unless you're working 24/7, you don't have a good enough excuse to not do this. If you've bought a viz you must be willing to put the time in.

As for the e collar, it's not the place to start up a debate on this, but again I feel it's the lazy mans way of controlling their animals cruelly.

Ultimately, you have to put the time in to this breed to get out of it what you want. If you're not willing to do this you will end up with problems, and it will be your fault, not the dog's.

Good luck, and I hope you do right by him and take responsibility for his wrong-doings!

Did you actually read the guys post?
He's using a perimeter collar to boundry in the dogs not a remote e collar nor did he imply he was going to.
I think constructive advice is more prudent here than lectures about this chaps lifestyle. In fact an hour a day direct contact & run of a decent yard isnt bad at all my modern standards with work commitments etc

I use an e collar & find it personally insulting for someone to call a user of one lazy. I've put serious time into my dogs & such a comment is pure nonsense. I would argue I could challenge anyone on this forum for time put in.
Ignorance to make such comments to be honest of how & when they're used

Also running a dog of 12 months will not damage his growing plates. If that's the case lock him up til he's fully grown before hunting him. What a load of BS. Run the distance a dog runs whiles hunting & comprehend the ground they cover - a 20/30 min jog of 3 miles or so is nothing but routine he can look forward to which might focus his efforts elsewhere.
Mental stimulation for a few 15 mins a day is not enough. This dog has pent up energy & needs to be exercised or entertained.
Exercise will channel the extra energy to some degree. That's all.
Age is a big part of the issue here & he will kop on over time for the most part.

emergundog

I did read it, yes, and sorry to have insulted you if it was taken that way. I did read his post but we will agree to disagree - to each their own opinion. I won't say your comments are utter bs as everyone has their own opinion and a right to share them, and I respect yours. I'll qualify my points as perhaps I wasn't clear.

The 15 mins a few times a day was a suggestion for ADDITIONAL concentrated mental stimulation to the 1 hr 5 times a week for what I've very often heard referred to as the most intelligent of the hpr breeds by a long shot.

Continuous running on a lead isn't the same as free running where a dog can stop/start, especially on the road... I wasnt saying lock them up - i think you could do with less of the dramatics. Once again I'm merely sharing what I've been told by a vet so forgive me for sharing that if you don't agree with it.

As for the boundary collar, I just don't get why they're used here when they're banned in other countries because it's more humane to put up a boundary that doesn't hurt the dog, but protects him from getting hurt. Close the gate, for example. Perhaps lazy was the wrong word.

As for e collars, I wasn't talking about them.

JustAThought

O I feel your pain with the nutty dog!I have a Wei ; who was bananas and almost beyond help . She loved the treats in coke bottle/ball but eventually I found out about activity classes: one hour of it, and she would come home, dive on the couch and snore for hours! Unbelievable!!!! It was like someone had taken the devil and replaced it with a snowball.
I know your not supposed to start them young ( I started her at age 1 or so) and the weaving and high jumps you are not supposed to start until older still; but maybe you could do a bit of proper research on the age and if you have the space put together an obstacle course for her in the garden ( hula hoop, bucket& brush jumps, small square to jump up on and lie for 10 secs,wait command, hand signals, different combinations). you should see a tired vizsla! If you had the time to take her to a few classes it would really pay off; the kennel club run some on Sunday Mornings in north county Dublin national show centre place in cloughran only a fiver and guaranteed your dog will go home zonked!!!!

Vizzy

JustAThought wrote: »

O I feel your pain with the nutty dog!I have a Wei ; who was bananas and almost beyond help . She loved the treats in coke bottle/ball but eventually I found out about activity classes: one hour of it, and she would come home, dive on the couch and snore for hours! Unbelievable!!!! It was like someone had taken the devil and replaced it with a snowball.
I know your not supposed to start them young ( I started her at age 1 or so) and the weaving and high jumps you are not supposed to start until older still; but maybe you could do a bit of proper research on the age and if you have the space put together an obstacle course for her in the garden ( hula hoop, bucket& brush jumps, small square to jump up on and lie for 10 secs,wait command, hand signals, different combinations). you should see a tired vizsla! If you had the time to take her to a few classes it would really pay off; the kennel club run some on Sunday Mornings in north county Dublin national show centre place in cloughran only a fiver and guaranteed your dog will go home zonked!!!!

Sounds good all right.
I have my own activity for my fellow.
Since posting last Sat I have had him out a lot more.He is a hunting dog so I have been running him in beet and kale and over huge stubble fields for about an hour or more every night.Have been getting him to keep crossing in front of me so he is probably covering 7 or 8 miles(maybe more) every night so he comes home zonked(and so so I).As well as tiring him out it isn't doing any harm to his obedience either.
He still manages to pester the other fella though,but not as much.God knows what he gets up to when I'm at work.
Thanks again for the advice lads

emergundog

That's great. Better to have a spirited one than a nervous wreck of a viz at the end of the day, once the lab doesn't mind too much (I've seen a few of the latter, and it's even more of a headache if you're hoping to work them).

Be worth doing some really tricky retrieves with him too - some memories at great distance and ultimately blinds to burn his brain even more.

Good luck with him.

Vizzy

emergundog wrote: »

Be worth doing some really tricky retrieves with him too - some memories at great distance and ultimately blinds to burn his brain even more.

Way ahead of you on this one,I can drop a dummy,let him mark it,walk him on/work him for a half hour.Do three or four retrieves in the beet or in 3 foot kale( so he definitely has to use his nose to find the dummy).Then bring him back to the origional dummy and he will find it every time !
Water is still his bogey though,not because he is afraid of it but he swims "doggy paddle" style and when his ass sinks he starts to get uneasy and comes out of the water.Only to go back in and give it another go.Working on this aspect though by walking in deeper and deeper myself and getting him to follow me.I,m sure it will click with him eventually.
A lot of thanks for that trick( and others) must go to Epointer and Spunk84.

EPointer=Birdss

Would love to see some videos of him working vizzy...
Will you shoot with him this year?

Vizzy

Unfortunately I don't have a digital camcorder but I might be able to borrow one.
I'll probably bring him shooting all right but he still hasn't really copped what game birds are( he''ll hunt mad in beet for instance but I know that he is missing birds).
He is showing no real interest in chasing rabbits or crows so I suppose that is a good thing.
Next stage of the plan is to bring him out more often with the brothers Gordon and English setters to let him see what he should be pointing/setting.Loads of birds around so i shouldn't have much problems on that front.
I remember your advice of about 8 months ago that he was young and would take a good while to settle so I'm in no rush.
If nothing else he is giving me immense enjoyment,although the retriever probably wouldn't agree.
BTW your Youtube vids are legendary around here.

EPointer=Birdss

Sound lad.
Hope to get a few clips this year again. Why not invest yourself.....
If he's clever as you say it will click for him. Get him into bird country soon though... Long lead is your friend...