The 36th Random TPBM Chat and Domke Road Show Thread

plant cactii in the garden then?

Permagrin wrote in post #10113552
by the way, pepper does not work to keep Hale from digging. Do you guys have any other suggestions? She's mining for rocks, since we throw away all the rocks in the yard...

Concrete ??

Super wax polished flooring....you can just picture hale and kona flying by with their tongues behind their heads...

Permagrin wrote in post #10113552
the vacuum is new...it's not it...it's just stains from the dogs/dirt yard they've created/rain. We just need to get a carpet cleaner which we're more than willing to rent but it's got to be a hot several days so that the dogs don't drag in more mud. It's just that it makes me nuts to clean it but it's not clean.


by the way, pepper does not work to keep Hale from digging. Do you guys have any other suggestions? She's mining for rocks, since we throw away all the rocks in the yard...

Do you take her back to the hole, put her nose to it, and say "no bad dog" in your angry mom vibe?

short5 wrote in post #10113614
Do you take her back to the hole, put her nose to it, and say "no bad dog" in your angry mom vibe?

yeah. Hale is just stubborn. She'll stop when I'm there and when I'm not there she is rampant. It's so blasted frustrating. I have two dogs with completely different strengths and weaknesses. I'm hoping Hale is just developmentally delayed and will grow out of these things like Kona did.

Permagrin wrote in post #10113638
yeah. Hale is just stubborn. She'll stop when I'm there and when I'm not there she is rampant. It's so blasted frustrating. I have two dogs with completely different strengths and weaknesses. I'm hoping Hale is just developmentally delayed and will grow out of these things like Kona did.

If she is stopping for you she knows it is wrong. She will probably out grow it as long as you reinforce that it is not allowed, and stick with the pepper, heck ramp it up to cayenne. The key is that it is not a fun rewarding experience and it will get old hat for her.

Ever thought of an electronic training collar? The ones that allow you to send a gentle (and not so gentle) reminder out when you notice the behavior? It does take a bit of work from you up front but boy does that device get through their little doggie heads.

http://www.petco.com …Basic-Remote-Trainer.aspx

Just a thought, and its one I am thinking about my dogs too.

Thd differences between Hale and Kona (in my house read Sookie and Harley) may not be inbuilt character things.

They could be a result of the very different formative experiences that they had. Both Kona and Harley were very small puppies that only had humans to interact with and they were the focus of their attention. With both Hale and Sookie there is this big strong (and in Harley's case) jealous other dog that they have to relate and interact with as well. Just a thought.

that could very well be. Kona is jealous of Hale (and vice versa) but he's much bigger and stronger than her and alpha's her (which amounts to tossing her down and holding her in place) a lot. She may do these things to act out. I always thought it was just because she wanted to chew rocks.

Permagrin wrote in post #10113552
the vacuum is new...it's not it...it's just stains from the dogs/dirt yard they've created/rain. We just need to get a carpet cleaner which we're more than willing to rent but it's got to be a hot several days so that the dogs don't drag in more mud. It's just that it makes me nuts to clean it but it's not clean.


by the way, pepper does not work to keep Hale from digging. Do you guys have any other suggestions? She's mining for rocks, since we throw away all the rocks in the yard...

I know oh so well how you feel. I can clean all I want in this little RV and it's just never CLEAN. Carpet looks horrid and dusting lasts 5 min.

short5 wrote in post #10113674
If she is stopping for you she knows it is wrong. She will probably out grow it as long as you reinforce that it is not allowed, and stick with the pepper, heck ramp it up to cayenne. The key is that it is not a fun rewarding experience and it will get old hat for her.

Cayenne works pretty well! I've done that before.

gjl711 wrote in post #10113677
Ever thought of an electronic training collar? The ones that allow you to send a gentle (and not so gentle) reminder out when you notice the behavior? It does take a bit of work from you up front but boy does that device get through their little doggie heads.

http://www.petco.com …Basic-Remote-Trainer.aspx

Shhhhh, we do not speak of those here. I guarantee the dog stops digging REAL fast.
Really they have gotten very good and are humane in my opinion. They give an audible or vibration warning before any shock and the level of shock starts SO low it is just a tickle to get their attention. There are much better ways to train a lot of stuff through leadership and positive reenforcement but bad or dangerous habits can be resolved quickly and to the benefit of the dog by using e-collars. I am ----> <----- that close to getting one for working with Zoë on horseback. She is very good and coming along well but there are two big things that worry me. One is she runs under and just in front of the horse when we get going fast and the other is when I say "leave it" I want her to leave whatever INSTANTLY not after testing me to see if I give the command again. This is for her safety.

gjl711 wrote in post #10113677
Ever thought of an electronic training collar? The ones that allow you to send a gentle (and not so gentle) reminder out when you notice the behavior? It does take a bit of work from you up front but boy does that device get through their little doggie heads.

http://www.petco.com …Basic-Remote-Trainer.aspx

I've been so against those...just so sure I could train out their bad habits. But honestly, I'm reconsidering.

I believe you are right to some extent Neil. Often trainers of service dogs don't ever let them meet another dog until a certain age. They don't want dog influences on them.

Permagrin wrote in post #10113709
She may do these things to act out. I always thought it was just because she wanted to chew rocks.

She just wants to chew rocks. I don't really buy into the idea of dogs acting out to get back at their owners through passive aggressive means. It is a bit much planning for dog branes. They just bite if they want to act out

short5 wrote in post #10113727
that close to getting one for working with Zoë on horseback. She is very good and coming along well but there are two big things that worry me. One is she runs under and just in front of the horse when we get going fast and the other is when I say "leave it" I want her to leave whatever INSTANTLY not after testing me to see if I give the command again. This is for her safety.

An interesting problem. It is quite easy to train a dog not to get under your feet, you do it on a short lead and initially you look stupid as you have to kick your legs out as you turn, they very quickly learn and during the learning process the worst that can happen is you tread on them a little, horses don't tread a little they tread a lot so I am not sure what to do here.

Not sure if the "Leave" thing is the same with you but I have found, very small puppies ignore it, slightly bigger puppies respond instantly, adolescent puppies respond after testing to see if you really mean it and adults do as they are told.

As for the leccy collars I have never used one but Harley got zapped by a leccy fence on the farm once about 5 months ago and now will not go anywhere near it.

Permagrin wrote in post #10113748
I've been so against those...just so sure I could train out their bad habits. But honestly, I'm reconsidering.

There are two types of bad habits, those when your around and those when your not. We live in a community where fences are discourages, not by law but by common agreement. It's nice to have everything open and not divided into little plots. We worked hard to train our two dogs where the boundaries were, where they could go and where they were not allowed to go.

When we were out with them it worked rather well. They vary rarely wandered away generally keeping close, but when we let them out at night or early morning they wandered sometimes a lot or two away. Then a neighbor told me about the electric fence.

We ended up putting one in and I was simply amazed at how easily it was to train them where their boundaries were. We had the type of collar where it would beep, wait a second or two, then shock. Training consisted of installing all these white flags and while on a leash and in beep only mode, let the dogs come up to the flag and when you heard the beep, shake the flag and quickly retreat to the safe zone. (center of yard) We did that for a couple days.

Then turn on the shocker and let them wander over while still on the lead. When shocked you'd retreat to the safe zone. With Sparky it took one shock and he never tested it again. Scout tested it from time to time but that's because he was a slow learner.

The fence has now been broken for maybe 10 years and who knows where the collars are but Scouty still remembers where that line is and will not pass it. Between the two they probably got no more than a few shocks apiece, that's all that was needed.