Can I train this dog?

Quirkygirl

I was given a dog cross breed between lab n collie? Last of litter, he spent two months in house with 9 kids. My husband claims this is why he is crazy. He is just crazy with energy running mad always trying to climb on people. He obeys me sit and stay, well maybe not stay sometimes. I tried training him a little bit. He always jumps on visitors always! Never ever ever snaps or bites, but people are afraid of him as he is never ever calm. Well he is calm when he sleeps he can't walk always runs what can I do? Trying to put collar on him he's twisting n turning he'd drive ya crazy. My hub has no interest In trying to train him

seamus

There is no reason why you can't train the dog.

Your husband is probably right - the dog gets excited because he spent a lot of time around kids and so getting excited was always fun. So if it's fun, why would he stop?

Best thing is to try find a good local trainer who runs training classes. The classes are not really for the dog - they're for you, to teach you how to train your dog.

The simplest thing is reward-based training. You reward the dog for doing something good (like sitting calmly with his collar on), you ignore him when he misbehaves (jumping up and down).
Hitting or physcially punishing the dog for misbehaving isn't as effective and no respectable trainer will use any kind of punishment-based training (choke chains, etc).

Quirkygirl

Seamus thanks I appreciate the reply. I have been trying but I suspect not frequently enough. I have found good training exercises like what you are talking about but I do them today n then not for a week or two and we are back to square one, how often do you think I need to do them? And for how long? Thank you

sligoface

you can definitely train him, esp if he has collie in him, they are pretty much the most intelligent breed and make great pets, i have one. it's good he was with kids because that will socialize him. all puppies are hyper, and he'll be a puppy for the first year.

but it doesn't depend on the dog, it's up to you, if you can put the time in, he'll be trained. but if your husband is not on board, you might as well rehome him. it can't work, it is honestly like having a child that one parent has no interest in raising.

there are lots of great dog training books out there, you can find at the library or shop. i'll give you some tips, i'm not an expert on dog training, but i am a former RSPCA worker and dog owner.

for the collar thing, he'll get used to it. just leave the collar on, no need to take it off and on. we use a harness on our collie, it stops them pulling and is more comfortable, being pulled from chest rather than his neck.

praise him and give him treats when he does well. tell him 'NO!' in a stern voice when he does bad. never, ever smack him, this will just make him hand-shy. praise him like crazy when he goes to the bathroom outside. if he starts to go in the house, catch him in the act, tell him NO and bring him outside. don't rub his nose in it, that doesn't work and is mean.

get a crate (cage) for him to sleep in. make it nice and comfy for him. it will be his little den after he gets used to it. when he gets older you might just get him a bed.

Bixy

How long have you had him and what age is he? We have had a series of collie cross rescue dogs. Our last one was incredibly energetic and in the early days I felt she was going to be too much and i was heart broken at the thought of returning her to rescue centre. Anyway long story short, while she needed more exercise and mental activity she has calmed down and turned into a great pet - the key was ensuring that she gots lots of things to do; people to walk her. A collie/lab sounds a great mix and definitely worth persevering with! Good luck:)

sambuka41

Quirkygirl wrote: »

I was given a dog cross breed between lab n collie? Last of litter, he spent two months in house with 9 kids. My husband claims this is why he is crazy. He is just crazy with energy running mad always trying to climb on people. He obeys me sit and stay, well maybe not stay sometimes. I tried training him a little bit. He always jumps on visitors always! Never ever ever snaps or bites, but people are afraid of him as he is never ever calm. Well he is calm when he sleeps he can't walk always runs what can I do? Trying to put collar on him he's twisting n turning he'd drive ya crazy. My hub has no interest In trying to train him

These are two problems I had with my little one as well, they are easy enough dealt with. With visitors, dont let him get ahead of you when going to the door, make him sit back away from the door. If he jumps past you at people, get your body in between him and the visitor and tell him "down" in a stern voice. It'll take a while but he'll get it eventually. (mine still jumps on my friend cause she walks her a lot, so she there is HUGE excitement when she sees her, I swear she'll have a heart attack with excitement)

The collar is another easy dealt with, Ruby loves her walks, I picked the hall as the place where her collar and lead go on(keep it consistent), its a tighter area than the sitting room (so she cant run away), I stand and wait for her to calm down before it goes on her. If I go to put it on and she jumps/runs in circle I stand up again and wait,don't look at them while they are excitedly jumping wait till it stops. (first time I stood there for 25 minutes :eek:)

Its just about keeping it up, you may not need to do it forever but you will have to be consistent for the first year to 18 months.

Quirkygirl

Hi all thanks for all advice firstly I should say dog is now a year and a half. Sorry. My husband is not on board and may never be but I like the dog as do our children. When he's not jumping crazy!!! I will try all suggestions. I think the thing with collar is brilliant I will stand and wait till he sits. Gonna try it now actually. Thank you

Quirkygirl

Is it a big prob that we have had him so long and only
Now I'm desperate to try something

The Sweeper

Quirkygirl, before you train your dog, you need to train yourself.

There are a lot of dog training videos on youtube from people who use positive rewards training. Make time and start watching them. Don't just watch one video on how to teach a dog to sit - watch five of them, note the differences, and then figure out which one you can copy.

Your dog will calm down as he ages, but problem behaviours can be solidified with age, instead of going away. Now's a perfect time for you to start putting some shape around his behaviour - yes, he's been untrained, but he's likely to be an intelligent dog if he has collie in him.

Paying a trainer to come to the house isn't a fabulous spend of your money in my opinion - yes for aggression or a problem where the trainer needs to see the dog in his own home. Otherwise you should apply to a training class and look at taking the dog.

Training - mental workouts - are very tiring for a dog. A bright dog like a collie will probably be able to get a new idea within 20 minutes - anything longer than that is too long for the dog.

To train a single command, you spend a 20 minute session introducing it. Then every day that week, reinforce the command in different places - inside the house, outside the house, on a walk, at the beach, so on. The dog is 'trained' when you can trust it to perform the command on first request wherever you ask it (indoors, outdoors, on a walk, in a field, so on) regardless of the distraction (other dogs, people, bicycles, the postman, a flock of sheep, a cat on a wall).

In order to train a dog like that, the dog needs to learn to focus on you. Teaching the dog to look at your face to find out what to do next is a key piece of training. If the dog isn't looking at you, then he'll ignore everything that comes out of your mouth.

So yeah, beyond enrolling in some classes, put the training plans on hold and start doing some training research using youtube videos. Look up 'positive rewards' training, and look up 'nothing in life for free' - a training methodology where the dog works for every single thing - permission to go through a door, the treat he wants, his dinner, so on. NILFF works quickly to get the dog to focus on you.

Training you at this point is more important than training the dog.

Also: single biggest tip I have is teach every command with a release word.

Anyone can teach a dog to sit, but what does 'sit' mean? Let your arse skim the ground for two seconds before you get up again? Sit and then slump into a lie? Sit until you don't feel like sitting any more? If you train a release word like 'ok', that means the first command is an absolute command - you sit until I tell you 'ok' (and when I tell you 'ok' you come to my side and I give you a treat for instance). If you teach a release word, you'll never have to teach a 'stay' per se - because you can just tell the dog to lie down and he'll stay where he is until you release him with an 'ok'.

Quirkygirl

Ok sweeper thank you so much. You have really helped me. This website rules! Thanks

tk123

What are you feeding him OP - a poor quality diet will only make matters worse.