Lincoln Didn't pass his class...

[Diane Denney]

Well I'm bummed, but not surprized. Lincoln didn't pass the intermediate class for the second time. He was so distracted. There is only one other dog (a pittbull) in the class, and he passed the class before I got there. I didn't think that was very fair as he had no distractions like mine did. Anyhow I haven't worked hard enough with him at home so I wasn't surprized. I had a funeral to go to last week, and my Dad has end stage cancer so honestly I haven't been putting in my all...sigh

Also Lincoln is still being so bad at home. I can not stop him from jumping on my older dog Scott ALL OF THE TIME. He never just hangs!!! He is being so bad. I thought when he turned one that we would make inroads on some of these challenges. He ran three miles today, and was at training and socialized for three hours yesterday you'd think he would be tuckered out a bit. He still goes for our hands too, but it's mostly avoidance behavior because I keep having to put him back in the kitchen. When will he learn that the better he behaves the longer he'll be able to stay outside the kitchen. I hate leaving him in there. I'm starting to worry!!!!

[BG and Gavin]

Good for you Diane. I think the tethering may be the key to your success and the positive reinforcement. Stay strong!

[Diane Denney]

Thank you!!

[Diane Denney]

Well here I am again with the nightly update: Tonight I decided to let the dogs romp and try and settle out their differences to see what happened, and it seemed like Scott came out on top this time as Lincoln yelped for the first time, and retreated to his bone, but it was short lasting, and seemed to get the upper hand a little while later. I really can't let this go on because it's insane. Scottie jumps on the leather couch (which has been anilated by the animals already) and fights from up there and Lincoln is jumping up there with him, and it is just ugly. They also do the same thing on the bed upstairs which is dangerously close to a window that they could both end up going through so that's not gonna work. Lincoln is still constantly mounting Scott. I left them alone for a minute to do something downstairs and when I went back up Lincoln was mounting Scott like a fool, and actually pooped on the carpet while doing it...need I say more? I am trying to think positively about this situation, but am really starting to get depressed, and find myself in tears as I am so worried about what I might have to do. I keep hoping and praying that they finally go about their own business eventually. I see so many people around here with 3 and 4 dogs, and they don't seem stressed at all. I know I haven't had two dogs before, but I never thought it would be this complicated. I just want to be able to sit down and relax. I did have some success tonight when Lincoln retreated and just started chewing his bone, and got my hopes up. Tomorrow's another day I guess. I'm bringing Scott to the vet for his annual checkup so I'll talk to the vet tomorrow, but she has never had much to offer in the advice dept before on this kind of thing. There is a woman who works there who is a certified dog listener, but she says that she just lets her 6 dogs work it out on their own, but that she stops mounting behavior. I feel like she thinks I'm crazy or something when I call. Anyhow I'm heading to bed, and hopefully tomorrow something will be better. There's always hope... If there is anyone out there who could give me a call to talk I'd appreciate it very much. Thanks.

[Natasha]

Hi Dianne,

It sounds like you had great success with the tethering program.

Whatever you choose, you might want to pick that one thing and stick to it. Avoid the temptation to switch from one way of handling it to another. For instance, if you give the tethering program a shot for two weeks and you reward his leave it behavior as you described before, he will start to see a pattern. Oh, I start to mount, she says leave it, I get a treat (every time), I am not going to mount. But it does take consistent dedication - especially for something that he finds so rewarding.

We had this problem with Rouser and lizards. The reward of chasing after a lizard was WAY more fun than coming when called. Fine - except that he would run across the street and wouldn't stop when we said to (like when there was a car coming and he almost was hit).

So, for three weeks, Rouser was on the long lead every time we were in the front yard and we had to keep sending him to find the lizard, calling him and treating when he came, or correcting him when he didn't. Three or four times every day. Then we had to work up to him sitting when he got to the end of the sidewalk so he would learn to stop and not run in the street. That was another two weeks. Was it monotonous? YES! But because it was about his safety, we had no choice.

[Adina P]

I agree with Natasha. Stick to ONE thing and be uber-consistent in that ONE thing for a while. 2 weeks? Give yourself a set amount of time so you know there is no switching to anything else before that time period. As monotonous as it is...keep doing it and doing it and doing it the same exact way. If after a very reasonable time period it still isn't getting through..then, and only then, try something new (again for a reasonable period of time).

[Diane Denney]

One question: If I treat him when he stops mounting Scott do you think he'd mount Scott to get the treat because he associates getting a treat when mounting Scott or do you think he sees the dismount LOL as the reward getter...Sheesh I didn't think I'd need dog psychology...LOL I've never seen a dog mount so much in my entire life. He tried to mount me when he was younger, but I put a stop to that very quickly by telling him no and moving him off. He doesn't always dismount Scott when I show him the treat either so in that cast I pull him off Scott and tell him leave it. Do I give him a treat or only when he dismounts on his own? I will go back to the tethering thing.

[Adina P]

It is a valid concern and one possibility...but I think it will only go that route (mounting in hopes of a treat) if you stop there. But you don't want to lure him off (as Allyson says below) and you do gradually move on from there in baby steps. I, for one, would try to catch him with a command to do something else BEFORE he fully mounted and started the humping. It's harder to stop a humper in the middle of humping. I KNOW...I have Rosco. When Thule was still around he mounted her every single night, dozens of times. Outside I mostly let him have his way...but inside the house we did not tolerate it and would try to tell him "Off" or "NO" whatever as soon as he hinted at the action (chin over her, certain body posture, etc).

[Natasha]

BTW - you had mentioned your vet... There are some medical conditions that can cause obsessive mounting (thyroid issues, hormone issues, and I think even in some dogs there can be incomplete neutering). It's worth working with your vet to rule out a medical condition.

Can you take Lincoln with you tomorrow and/or has your vet seen Lincoln for this issue?

[Adina P]

Hmmm...I wonder if Rosco still has some boy parts hidden in there??? I doubt it thought as he only humped Thule...no other dogs after his neutering.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

You don't need to lure him off with a treat. You only need to reward him stopping. I think my trainer would say for you to treat any time he pauses and focuses on you even if he does not unmount immediately (I am no expert, but based on her training Leave It, I think she would say that). When you work on the Leave It command, you have to work up to them phsyically moving away from the situation...it takes baby steps. We started with the treat in our hand and as soon as Peri looked at me or stopped licking the treat (which was in our fist), she got a treat. Then we moved to keeping it on the ground and covered by our foot...treat when she stopped pursuing. Then we moved to putting it out in the open and telling her to leave it and treating her when she stopped pursuing. That is kind of the order.....She now turns around or veers from whatever I tell her to "leave". That is what you will get to if you train in that manner.

[Diane Denney]

I can leave a treat on the floor and tell him to leave it and he does leave it for a certain amount of time so far. That's what I'm working on in training is the leave it. I was definitely trying to lure Lincoln off Scott with the treat. I guess using the leave it command before he gets into action and then treating him would be the better way for sure so that's what I'll work on. Gosh I'm suppose to be re-testing him this week sometime to graduate intermediate class, but I don't think it's going to happen. I felt pressure from the trainer to have him graduate on Saturday with the other dog, but I tried to tell them to go ahead and graduate without us if neccessary. I don't think we should feel pressured to pass. I saw him on Monday and told him that. I said that passing has not become as important to me at the moment. I told him I would keep working with him and that he could test him when he's ready. He looked perplexed a little.

[Diane Denney]

Well I am happy to report that Lincoln passed his training today with flying colors. It's like he was a different dog!!! Even the trainer said he has come a long way since we started which was 16 weeks ago or more. I am very thankful to the trainer Bud at PetSmart in Carmel IN for sticking with us, and letting us continue until he got it right!!! On the upswing Lincoln is behaving a little better all the way around. Right now both dogs are in the family room minding their own business. I still have to tell him to leave Scottie alone, and when I leave the room he still goes for him, but definitely better!! Anyone have any suggestions on how to make him behave when I'm not in the room?