Dogs
All about dogs - dog breeds, dog training and behavior, news affecting dog owners or handlers, puppy pics, etc.
Rules (Will be refined later on).
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Don't be a dick. This should cover most things, just keep in mind that everyone started somewhere and try to be helpful rather than rude or judgmental.
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No personal attacks based on training style or tools.
Discussion of balanced training including proper use of aversives is allowed here. -
All breeds and mixes are welcome. You can criticize backyard breeding practices but don't pile on people because they own a specific breed or prefer purebreds or mixed breeds.
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Do not support backyard breeders or puppy mills. Please do not link to or suggest buying from high volume breeders or those with an obvious lack of standards and testing.
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Do not help or support fake service animals. Please do not encourage people to buy fake service dog vest or ESA letters to get around rental or other restrictions & do not give advice on how to misrepresent a dog as a service or support animal.
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Yes! By the time I moved home aged 19 my mum had gotten a springer spaniel puppy, who was about 3 when I moved back. He was so full of energy, rest of the family found him annoying but I loved him dearly and we bonded. He would eat and chew fucking everything, this dog ate the plasterboard off the walls, cat food laced with tabasco sauce (twice in a row), if it was in reach of his snoot it'd be getting a nibbling.
Eventually we weaned him off this habit but even as an adult dog, when you'd start petting him, he'd want your hand in his mouth. Not to nibble or chew, he'd just calm down and be happy laid there with your hand in his mouth.
Many years later I was living up north, came to visit, got a call as I arrived that they'd taken him to the vets as he was in a lot of pain, struggling (old by then), they were going to put him to sleep. I dashed to vets, there was my old buddy on a cold metal slab. His tail immediately started weakly wagging, and he of course put his mouth around my hand. A sad but very poignant memory and I was honoured to be there for him in his final moments.
Sorry for the essay, your post brought it all back and I wanted to share. RIP Brynn, you were an amazing dog, a friend, and a source of constant joy!
Can I ask if you have any tips for this? Before this, I hadn't heard anything from anyone with a similar problem like ours. My goodest boy is a 9 month old Portuguese Water Dog and he recently decided that the floor boards and every single one of my daughters' Barbies weren't enough to destroy and began removing the carpet for us.
He's so smart and seems to be very empathetic when he's not in destruction mode, but the constant destruction of things is putting a knot in what is an otherwise beautiful relationship right now. We've trained leave-it and settle down, but he'll still grab things and if he's left alone in his safe room he'll find ways to make it unsafe.
Unfortunately I'm not trained in training... but what I can tell you is that immediate, positive reinforcement is far more effective than negative. Their doggy brains struggle to connect the events so they understand we're angry, but not why.
Prob teaching granny to suck eggs but I would get him a large collection of chewable toys (which he'll likely wreck disturbingly quickly), when you catch him chewing something he shouldn't tell him sternly "NO, BAD DOG", give him one of his chews, then when he starts chewing that praise enthusiastically / give a treat. He'll quickly associate chewing his own toys with expected, praised behaviour and chewing non-toys with bad behaviour. Try to be as consistent as possible; I taught my mum's dog lots of tricks / behaviours through constant repetition. Conversely, all the good work I did with my sister's dog was undone immediately by her knobhead ex; consistency and behavioural modification 'in the moment' rather than after is key (imo)