correcting poor behavior

[Dano2]

I have a 7 month yellow lab, she is very brite , and has VERY good potential to be a good hunting and al around dog. (shes not scatter brained like by older black lab, sorry Tess,)

Anyway, I have been doing some basic obedience with her that I learned in dog obedience when i brought my older lab there, I dont have quite the time I did when I got my other lab, do to working a full time job and going to school and I feel guilty about this.
Some of the bigger problems I haveing are the usual, tearing stuff up, chewing stuff up, scratching stuff up, jumping on the door, not listening to the com command.

Generally if I tell her to come a couple times and she doesn't, I go to her and grab her by the skin of her neck and give her a good pull, then she will follow.

This is the way I do it, now tell me the way you do, or the proper way.

when working with her with the choker and lead, its a pretty simple thing because theres no other distractions, but whenshes free to roam, then its another story.

Sometimes I find myself yelling come about 5 times, then I remeber how the obedience teacher said he will only give a command ONE time, but I cant remeber what he said he does after that, heh,heh.

The other one is the poor behavior.
If I catch my dogs chewing on something they shouldn't be, and will grab it away and telling them NO , No No, with a small swat on the nose, and then pick up their near by raw hide or bone, and give it to them with some positive talk.

How do you do it?

last and worst of my concerns is when they wreck ****., I'm in the middle of a new kennel plan for 2 dogs, but for now they have been staying in the garage and I have had to put up with things such as the carpet they lay on in there when not in their kennels, and the worst one is, (and its GOT to be the younger one)
the garage door is getting beat up, you know the styrafoam insulation stuff, shes scratching holes in it. Well, sometimes we let our emotions get the best of us, and shes just lucky I haven't caught her doing it, but when I do, if it happens again,

How do YOU handle these type of situations?

I just want to use the right type of re-inforcement, I have grabbed them by the hide on the neck and have literaly tossed them in their kennels before on many occasions,

Is this a BAD thing? I always hear you gotta be very firm with these dogs and dont givem an inch,
but how firm is too firm?
Could I be the one that made my black lab as timid as she is?
I have NEVER beat on my dogs no matter how mad I get, but they can tell when I'm mad and the ears go down and tail between the legs, my black one actually hunches to the ground acting like shes going to get beat or something.

what do you do when your dog keeps jumping on the balcony dorr window, and you go out there and give a jerk downwords on her caller yelling "OFF"! and she just keeps doing it?

O.K. thats enough for now

thanks

[Swamp Scooter]

If this gets read you will get comments. I would tend to agree that you may have had an influence on the timid behavior in your other dog. Firm is one thing but overbearing dominant behavior can wear a dog down. I do not hit them in the face or nose, ever. grabbing on to them in the muzzle should be a form of play and a little bit of control at times but always a social way of interaction not discipline.

A check cord on the young one is in order.

Yelling and calling does no good for you when you have no control of the situation.

Also sounds like you need to go back and lay the groundwork for better and more consistant obedience. I am not sure where you are located but I strongly recommend you go to puppy school. You will learn more than the dog. I am busy too but an hour a week at night is nothing when you look at it.

Choke collars are not always necessary if you get them tuned in.

It also sounds like the young dog just needs to be run and get out some of the excess energy. it may be a little bored and that is why you are seeing the home destruction.

Just a few tips to get you on track. Ther is no substitute for early and thorough repetition. The key is do not move on in your training until the dog has mastered every task you are working on. Going back and re-training is a lot harder.

Good luck, and as I said you will get other responses.

[Esoxmn]

I also agree you never hit or even swat a dog on the nose or head. If it is already timid you may end up with a fear biter. For the come command put the dog on a checkcord,and give the come command once, then pull the dog to you. Did you try giveing it chew toys? to try to stop the chewing, if you catch the dog stop it and give it the chew toy. This is just my opinion bassed on my experience.

[Dano2]

Thanks. When I was working with my other lab she was younger during the warmer months, and I worked with her atleast every other day.

I find myslef using the winter weather as an excuse I guess, and have only been working with the younger one for about a half hour a week, besides enforcing of the normal daily commands.

I just want to make sure I'm not too hard on them and it sounds like I maybe, so I definetly agree and have thought about getting her to class, so I can get my memory refreshed as well.
She is going to be spayed soon, so i am going to wait til that heels, then its off to class.

I realize from my first post that I would be getting more replys, because some of the ways I been doing things may seem idiotic to some, but thats why I'm here.

I have worked with the older one alot in the past, and more so in the warmer months, but being so busy and lazy over the winter, I just feel I've lost touch and control over the situation.

Feeling guilty? ya, ya

escpecially when I know that little one has such great potential, shes seems much more focused when she sits calmly and looks me in the face and pays attention.
My other lab is over 2 years old, and she STILL has a hard time with that, but I still remember the teacher saying I got a wild one on my hands, heh, heh.

[Dano2]

Esoxmn, looks like I was posting the same time as you.
Yes to everything you say.
Its when she is off the lead and distracted by something else, is when The come command becomes tougher.
Waht does one do,?
Give the command once and stand there and wait all day, or do you go to were she is and give her a little tug to MAKE her come?

I know it all comes with repetition and time.

[Swamp Scooter]

For puppy school I have gone to Total Recall in Hugo and also know of people having success with TCOTC (twin cities obedience training center) Run away from ANY class that requires you to jerk on the pup. Food based training is where it is at for the formative times. if the trainer suggests a pinch collar later fine but anyone telling you to show up with a choker is no place to start.

Give me a note and we can talk more. Where are you located at?

[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Swamp Scooter (edited 01-14-2004).]

[Dano2]

I go to F-M Obedience (Mutt Hut)

as far as I know, the owner has trained dogs for many years and is very reputable.

I dont know about puppy kindergarten, but the one I brought my older lab to, (and will bring my younger one too) we do use choker collars, and a leather lead.

No treats, and he doesn't believe in e-collars.
Although when I first started teaching a couple basics I used a little treat

[This message has been edited by Dano2 (edited 01-15-2004).]