Just remember that your dog is relying on you as well. They need you to provide guidance and help. Take an active role in teaching and practicing obedience. Generally, they are willing to learn and eager to please. However, so often, it is us who have not done any kind of studying and research on how to best teach a dog. After all, you would not think of going into a kindergarten classroom and trying to teach those students without any kind of training. Or would you? God help those brave souls who answered yes to that one!
I have a 5 month old Siberian Husky, I am having issues with her while I am gone in the crate. She seems to poop in her crate and then smother it all on the bottom. I talked to the vet and she suggested I block half the crate off so she only has enough room to turn around. I did that and came home yesterday to her destroying her crate again. I was always told Huskies will not use the bathroom where they stay, but she seems to cover her crate in poop. She is good about listening to me and minding. Sometimes I think she thinks she is the alpha dog though, what kinds of things do I do to prevent that? And discipline. I’ve been told to spank her, grab her snout and pinch, rub her snout in her pee or poop if she has an accident, get aggressive with her and other things. Spanking on her butt but not too hard, seems to sometimes work. (I don’t do the things above I just listed) I would just like advice on training her the proper way. Huskies have a mind of their own and I want to train her the right way. Any advice is appreciated!
6. Try medication. When I tell people, “My dog’s on Prozac,” most of them laugh; they think it’s a funny way of talking about her anxiety. It’s not: she really is on Prozac. Many of the same antidepressant medications that millions of humans use have been proven to help dogs with anxiety have the confidence to try new behaviors. A conversation with your vet is the first step on this route. Your vet can refer you to a veterinary behaviorist, a DVM who is knowledgeable about both training and medication; a vet behaviorist can give you a complete prescription tailored to your dog’s needs and, ideally, liaise with your trainer or applied animal behaviorist (a professional who specializes in dogs with behavioral problems but is not a vet).
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i have a 4 year old dachshound. i think she has anxiety. if she’s in my room with the door is closed.she does this scratching at the carpet. and tries to dig a hole into the floor. and she’s doing this whinning thing too. i live with my mother and she has 2 cats. sometimes they play, but at night time she sneaks out of the room to rip open a trash bag and starts fights with the cats. and i don’t usually have a ride to take her to the vets. is there anything i can do. before i go completely nuts with her.
When training is started at 7 to 8 weeks of age, use methods that rely on positive reinforcement and gentle teaching. Puppies have short attention spans, so training sessions should be brief, but should occur daily. Puppies can be taught to “sit,” “down,” and “stand” using a method called food-lure training. We use food treats to entice the dog to follow its nose into the proper positions for “sit,” “down,” “stand,” and “stay”.

When it comes to your pet’s behavior, you know best. You know what they do and don’t like and what they will or won’t respond to. However, once you begin introducing new methods of care, foods, or medications into their routine, it’s best to review your change of plans with his veterinarian first. This way you can avoid any surprise reactions and ensure that you are choosing the healthiest route for your pet.

Hello, First, make sure that Zadok is receiving enough mental and physical exercise. The mental exercise is even more important for the hyperactivity than the physical exercise. Because he is a German Shepherd, which is a breed that was bred to work and have stamina, he needs to be challenged mentally. Spend thirty-minutes a day teaching him something new, working on things that he already knows but making them more challenging, practicing tricks, or doing exercises that take focus. If he is still physically able, then you can also set up some obstacles outside, like an agility course, practice commands during walks, and give him puzzle toys to focus on. Practicing obedience will also improve your communication with him, his focus, and his respect and trust toward you. Second, work on "Jazz Up Settle Down". This means, practice getting him excited by playing with him, then stop the game suddenly by freezing and give him a command, like "Sit". The fun will not resume until he obeys. When he obeys, give him a treat and praise him, then tell him "Okay" and go back to playing with him. At first, it will take him a bit to settle down and be able to obey. Keep things serious and boring until he calms down enough to obey. As you practice, just like any skill, he will get better at it, until he can obey right away during this game. This will help with his impulse control, his obedience during times of excitement, and him being able to switch focus onto something else while excited, like a toy instead of rough housing. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden


Reinforcement can be anything your dog likes. Most people use small pieces of a “high value” food for training treats — something special — such as dried liver or even just their kibble. Lavish praise or the chance to play with a favorite toy can also be used as a reward. Dogs must be taught to like praise. If you give the dog a treat while saying “Good dog!” in a happy voice, he will learn that praise is a good thing and can be a reward. Some dogs also enjoy petting. Food is often the most convenient way to reinforce behavior.


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I have two toy poodles who are brother and sister(both neutered), and the boy poodle(Keanu) is very very super attached to me. I just thought he was really affectionate, but it’s gotten to a point where all he does is follow me around, stare at me all day with sad yearning eyes, whine in a tiny tiny voice endlessly untill I hug him, and when I do hold him he is really nervous and agitated and doesn’t really enjoy the hug but just frets around, or licks me so intensely, which goes on forever untill I have to stop him. My husband loves both dogs but since Keanu is absolutely just obssessed with me my hubby thinks Keanu wants me all for himself and is even jealous of my hubby. Another thing that kind of creeps me out now that I think about it is when I open my eyes in the morning, his face is right in front of me, like he has been watching me all morning…This weird behaviour was not evident when they were puppies, and I think it was so gradual that at first I didn’t realize it was odd.

When using voice commands, use a firm voice. You mean for this dog to sit, so speak with meaning. Do not continue to repeat a command over and over again hoping the dog will eventually perform the command. Reinforce the command within two to three seconds if the command is not done and then praise the dog. You don’t want to be one of those people you see repeating “sit” 20 or so times until the dog sits. You want a sit on the first command, not the twentieth.
I have a Jack Russell Chiwawa mix that I rescued from a shelter when he was about 2/3 months old. He is now about 2 years old. Recently we have moved from an apartment to a house. He started doing this screaming and running around like he was in severe pain and it only last a couple seconds off and on for about 5 minutes. He was doing this almost daily and then he started back to plucking our other dog and leaving bald spots on her. After he started to loose weight and getting a little aggressive with my husband over little things I took him to the vet. They said he had a bowel issue and put him on some antibiotics. That worked for all of 3 weeks. Then his symptoms started over. The vet over time got aggravated with me and I ended up switching vets. At the second visit with the new vet he put him on the same antibiotics and they cycle had started over. I finally got him on video doing this screaming thing and the vet stated he was having a panic attack and that the stress of us getting ready to leave in the morning was causing this. The vet stated that with anxiety can come bowel problems and aggression. We were then referred to a behavior specialist but are unable to actually take him to be examined due to the high cost of this. It really saddens me because his ribs are showing and he is back to literally going crazy when we leave. Any suggestions on how to handle this on our own?
Hi Caitlin, Kimberly recently had a baby and thus, is not currently responding to comments, but I wanted to thank you. We read through your thoughts and agree with many of them. So, we made some minor updates to our content based on your feedback and agree that this makes for a much stronger and more encouraging article. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts so we could make our content even better for our readers.
There are a lot of different ways to train your dog. You may choose to sign up for a dog training class, hire a professional dog trainer for private lessons, or even send your dog to board with a trainer. Plenty of people successfully train their dogs on their own. It's a great way to save money on training costs. It's also a wonderful way to bond with your dog.
Whenever you’re training your dog, it’s important to get as many family members involved as possible so everyone’s on the same page. If you are telling your dog “off” when he jumps on the couch and someone else is saying “down,” while someone else is letting him hang out up there, how on earth is he ever going to learn what you want? Consistency will be the key to your success.
Unless you plan to keep your dog outdoors--and few of us do because it's not recommended--you'll need to teach your dog where to eliminate. Therefore, house training (also called housebreaking or potty training) is one of the first things you need to work on with your dog. Crate training can be a very helpful part of the training process. This includes house training as well as many other areas of training:
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