Losing it with Lupin

[Bridget and Lupin]

We just had a rough 30 mins with Lupin, so I'm going to unload a little bit here. 

Any time the front door is open, and she gets the chance, she bolts.  Usually we are pretty vigilant bc my little boy was so traumatized by it the first time it happened (I'm talking balls out hysterics on his part bc he thought we would lose her)....now every time someone knocks on the door he is frantically putting Lupin in her crate.  Well, tonight she saw her chance and she took it.  She was up and down and around the block, including stopping traffic in the street (thank goodness we live in a quiet neighborhood) attracting the attention of a million neighbors who were out for runs/walks with their obedient dogs/gardening/what have you.  It took a family walking their dog to come in our back yard to lure her back.  Nothing else worked...not treats, not turkey, not her leash, not coaxing...nothing.  If the neighbors hadn't helped, she'd be in the next county by now. 

My husband and I have HAD IT with her.  She has had 2 rounds of doggy classes and an expensive private in-home trainer and NOTHING works.  It doesn't matter how much we work with her.  She still barks, jumps up on people, mouths people's hands and ankles and won't come when called.  She's 1.5 yrs on July 18th, and everyone says this is normal puppy behavior that she'll outgrow, but I have my doubts.  The flat out in-your-face disobedience is galling and infuriating, but what really p***** me off is how it affects my son.  He loves her as much as the huz and I loathe her, and when she runs away like that he is hysterical with worry and fear. 

I don't know what to do anymore.  We are clearly stuck with her and it seems like we just have to wait til she outgrows her shitty behavior.  Which will probably be when she's 12 and too arthritic to run. 

I'll take any and all advice, encouragement and suggestions.  Thanks for listening if you're still reading.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

My experience also is that dogs behave differently in different situations.  I'm guessing that her good behavior at the dog park has more to do with her looking to you for security than training.  Finn used to charge out the door if he had a lot of pent up energy or if he saw something in the yard.  I've had to work with him as Jane described.  He has to be calm and he has to follow me out the door.  We've worked on the same thing with the car.  Because I take him lots of places, I have to be able to trust him not to bolt out of the car.  He has to sit calmly while I put the leash on him and not try to jump out until I tell him, Ok or Free. In the beginning, I closed the door again many times and waited. Today I think you could march a band of doodles by him with an open door and he would not leave the car until he gets the command.  The jumping is tougher because FInn is a jumper at heart if he's excited to see someone.  We have to work on that consistently at home. Yet, I take him to visit family often and it's not unusual to have dozens of people coming in and out and he's unfailingly polite.  He doesn't bark, he'll walk up, get a pat on the head, and he's back to whatever he was doing.  When he's working, his four feet never leave the ground.  Sometimes It's hard to believe this is the same dog.  BTW, I used (and still do sometimes) a simple gentle leader on FInn  It took him about 20 minutes to get used to it, and it worked wonders.  He immediately stopped pulling.  But it was just an aide and we still did leash work without it for CGC testing. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I use a Gentle Leader for Murph too...it was the only training collar that he really responds to. 

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

Shaggy has been much more difficult to train than Fozzie.  He just becomes so easily excited about everything that I just didn't  exist even with treats because he's not food motivated.  One of the best quick bits of training that made a huge difference with Shaggy was for building self control/patience.  I put a very yummy treat (hotdog) in my hand and held it out to him.  If he reached for it I simply closed my hand, not saying a thing.  At first he licked, chewed on, and pawed at my hand but I just kept it closed not saying a word to him.  When he stopped trying to get the treat out of my hand I opened it again.  If he just looked at the treat without trying to take it then I would say OK and let him have it.  But if he tried to steal it again I closed my hand and waited again.  It took a few times but he did get it AND it helped with his overall self control.  

Don"t give up!!  Poodles are very smart and can become quite unruly without some serious exercise or a job,  Goldens can so the same.  Here is a book I happen to love even though my dogs are not puppies anymore

1. Puppy Problems? No Problem!: A Survival Guide for Finding and Training Your New Dog

   Book by Brenda Aloof

   You got a LOT of great ideas but the biggest one is to continue training with Lupin!  I found the classes I took were just as much for me as Shaggy, if not more for me :/  They reminded me how to do the training properly.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

It is a pain to realize that you don't have one of those 'easy' dogs who, even if not formally trained, go with the 'program.'I say get an e-collar and a trainer who can really teach you how to use it.  Aversives are not cruel and unusual punishment, especially if they work to keep her safe and your son without anxiety.    We took our doodles to a ten-week KMODT training class (not an e-collar class, but NOT a treat program either) and by the time they were done, they were reliable off-leash, but then we didn't keep up some practicing and the lapsed into lazy habits again, which disappear with our refreshing them.  During those 10 weeks though we spent about 500 hours training and practiced many places, so it took lots of time. You just don't have that so another idea if you have money but not time for training is sending her to a reputable doggy boot camp.  The thing is though, that you also have to get some training from them so that you can keep her skills up.

Good Luck!

[Shari Becker]

So many folks have jumped in on this one, so I'm just going to add a few things. First, I found the freedom - type harnesses a huge help in controlling Lexi. She's only 40 lbs, but she is so strong. Someone mentioned leaving a lead on her so you can grab her if she bolts. That's a great idea, too.

Also, remember that you can use "normal" dog time for training. Lexi doesn't get meals until she's sitting. She doesn't get treats unless she is practicing sit, down, crate or stay. We use every walk as a practice time. If she pulls ahead, I stop walking. The minute she returns to me, I say "Yes" and reward her. I stop in the middle of a walk and just put my foot on her leash to practice staying in one place. I make her sit before going into the park. You can work some of this stuff into your daily routine.

We have used the technique used with Shaggy, where you hold food in your hand. It also works for teaching the "Leave it" command. One trick I think is invaluable that we are still working on is "Go to your bed." We have a bed in our front hallway, and we practice that one all the time. Before we go on a walk, esp. It's a good time. She has to stay on the bed while we get our shoes on, etc... We don't have it perfectly, but she knows she's supposed to stay away from the door until I give the okay command. 

I hope all of these tips are helpful. Hang in there. We were in a dog crisis three months ago and just a month of training made a huge difference. It will get better. 

[Bridget and Lupin]

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone for their suggestions and understanding!  I feel like my dog training "tool kit" went from empty to fully stocked!  I signed up for doggydan's free videos, so we'll start with those tomorrow.  Sounds like I'll get one a day in my email for 5 days or so. Looking forward to learning how to acknowledge that she is alerting me to a noise, thanking her, and letting her know that her continued alerts are unnecessary. I feel ready to double down and get back at it. Today I made an extra effort to initiate play with her and love on her more. I really do love my girl.  This whole training a puppy thing is totally different from how I imagined it.  We have an ez harness for her for walks and it helps, but she still gets frustrated and will jump and spin around and around and around and generally act crazy every so often.....usually when a squirrel appears and she can't fly after it.  Has anyone used the training collar that Bark Buster's sells?  We bought one, but I feel like its too chokey (for lack of a better word).  Also, if anyone has used BB, did your trainer have you throwing water bombs near your dogs feet when they'd do something wrong while learning how to walk on a leash properly?  Ours did and it was awful. It felt so mean and frankly, the guy lost all credibility with me. 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

When you say you will get one doggie dan video in your mail box for 5 days or so I'm not sure what that is.  You should be able to access his entire site (with the exception of the forum if you just did the trial for 3 days.)  What you need before anything else is the 5 golden rules to becoming the pack leader.  Those 5 things are what is going to help you get every thing else under control.  If you didn't sign up for his 3 day trial or his full membership, please sign up for the trial and watch the videos on the 5 golden rules.  His videos are wonderful because he not only tells you what he is going to do, he shows you an example of putting it into action. 

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Yes, you have to scroll down a little farther on that first page to get the three day $1.00 trial. That's different then what you signed up for for free.

[Bridget and Lupin]

Ok...found it thanks.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

:-)

[Anja]

Bridget - I used bark busters and my experience was nothing like yours. My trainer was very gentle and worked with positive reinforcement. No throwing of water bombs near the dogs feet. We used a little pillow with chains in it to get the dogs attention and disrupt unwanted behavior (one of mine used to be an attention barker), squirt bottles and the growl, but everything was very positive.  I know it can be hard to implement the training but it is so worth it. I don't always get the time to set dedicated training time aside but my boys get trained while we are out on a walk, while I make dinner etc. I can ask them for sit down stays etc while I'm cooking dinner... I also just signed them up for a training camp. It's like doggy day camp except they get dedicated training sessions throughout the day and they go once a week. After every third session - I get my training session so we can make sure we are all on the same page. Good luck, it takes time and patients but the end results are so rewarding.