Dog owners! Help!

livnlite

I am curious about the long term whining, First and foremost, is to have a full check up at the vet to make sure he is not experiencing some sort of medical or physical ailment. My daugter's little dog (for instance) started to whine for no apparent reason and actually would yelp when you walked into the room if she was laying down and was startled. Turns out, after being thoroughly examined, and x-rayed, it was discovered that she had degenerating disks. She has since been put on medication and has been just fine.

I would also wonder about boredom, Is this dog getting enough attention and exercise. and good quality food and water. I'm not talking about just being let out into the back yard to do his business. I'm talking about taking him for a walk (for a least a half hour) or at least a nice game of fetch or tug of war or any combination of all of the above .... every day. Some one on one time. A high energy dog like that requires some very basic treatment. If you are not filling those needs. you are going to see behaviour problems manifest themselves. High energy dogs that are kennelled for extended periods of time during the day will have a tendancy to have a problem when there is no balance of physical activity,

Another tip to indicate how a dog is feeling, is excessive panting .. especially when it's not particuarily hot out...and it's poop. Have ya checked out his poop and if he struggles to take a poop? Again, I would talk to your vet about your concerns to see if there is some sort of affirmative action that he/she would suggest.

dckim

Watch the Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan. I learned a lot. Btw, he is our neighbor here in Santa Clarita, CA.

amy1157

Crates are a safe and secure place for a dog, never a punishment. I took my dog for a couple of sessions with a local dog trainer. Much better behaved dog now.

CrimsonHellkite

And not to get nitpicky, but he's classified as a "designer dog". Both of his parents were pure bred with papers. I just go by what he's classified as. Thanks for the input though.

lol and "designer dog" was a word made up by yuppies that were offended someone called their dog a mutt...

foremant86

And not to get nitpicky, but he's classified as a "designer dog". Both of his parents were pure bred with papers. I just go by what he's classified as. Thanks for the input though.

lol and "designer dog" was a word made up by yuppies that were offended someone called their dog a mutt...

^ indeed.

purebred + different purebred = mutt!

16mixingbowls

And not to get nitpicky, but he's classified as a "designer dog". Both of his parents were pure bred with papers. I just go by what he's classified as. Thanks for the input though.

lol and "designer dog" was a word made up by yuppies that were offended someone called their dog a mutt...

^ indeed.

purebred + different purebred = mutt!

Wow, you two are sure supportive!! The original poster was on here asking for help and ideas, not your two cent put-downs about her breed of dog. Can you offer anything HELPFUL to this thread?

CrimsonHellkite

And not to get nitpicky, but he's classified as a "designer dog". Both of his parents were pure bred with papers. I just go by what he's classified as. Thanks for the input though.

lol and "designer dog" was a word made up by yuppies that were offended someone called their dog a mutt...

^ indeed.

purebred + different purebred = mutt!

Wow, you two are sure supportive!! The original poster was on here asking for help and ideas, not your two cent put-downs about her breed of dog. Can you offer anything HELPFUL to this thread?

lol, silly chicken... there is no put down about a mutt...there are great mutts and aweful pure breads(mmmm bread) and vice versa..

emd0019

The Scat Mat produces a nasty electric shock when stepped on - it is seriously unpleasant and a huge punisher, nothing less. It has no place in dog training and should be binned along with the electric collar, spray collar, water spray, rattle can and so on.

Also, stop watching Cesar Milan - the man is a bully, he is dangerous, he knows zip about real dog behaviour (his methodology is based on force; his behavioural knowledge is based on incorrect wolf behaviour which was never the case in wolves, never mind dogs) and most certainly should not be on TV. He is already banned from TV in Italy for his methods; and when he came here to the UK on tour, he had to seriously tone it down as he was informed sharpish that a lot of what he does would contravene our animal welfare laws. Food for thought.

If he doesn't follow the commands most of the time, then he doesn't know them - you need to train more. Get him into a good class (avoid ones that use choke chains, lead corrections etc), reinforce him when he does them and set aside specific training sessions inbetween classes to remind him - dog training is no different to learning any skill, both for people and dogs; if it isn't kept uup, the skill gets rusty and can be lost altogether, both for the dog and the owner.

Sorry to get away from the OP but while I agree with a lot of your post I don't completely agree with this one. I quoted the parts I didn't necessarily agree with or wanted to ask you about.
As far as shock collars go I feel as though with the right dog in the right situation they can be beneficial so I don't find it true to say they should be banned.
As for Cesar Milan, I'm not a big fan of his. But I was wondering about what animal welfare laws he would have been breaking. I have seen his methods and nothing I have seen indicates to me something worthy of animal welfare laws
Last but not least I know plenty of high strung dogs that have been helped to mind while walking on a leash with lead correctors like a gentle leader, so I'm not quite sure why you would be so against them.
Anyway, I was just wondering if you could elaborate on some of your opinions.
Sorry again to get away from the OP

phocid

Our dog is also crate trained. But the crate is never for punishment.

We have "settle spots" in the house. Small leashes where we can hook the dog to keep him out of the way. He usually gets a chew stick or something so that he doesn't hate being "settled." But not always.

Our dog eats toilet paper, loves used Kleenex tissue, counter surfs, devours mail, etc. Paper obsessed. It's annoying, but we have learned to keep these things out of his path of destruction.

Exercise is huge. A tired dog is generally a well-behaved dog. We still have good days and bad. We've had this guys for close to 2 years now, and we have only twice recently allowed him to remain uncrated while we were gone.

One thing to consider: You mentioned that maybe you're the alpha. I just don't think that's the case. The alpha is listened to, period. If he only occasionally listens to you, he's not treating you like an alpha.

I agree with a previous post that he must "work" for everything that he receives in your home. Petting? Sit first. Food? Sit first. Wait. Then eat. You should always eat something before the dog does, and he should watch you eat it. It can be one cracker. it can be a slice of apple. The point is, you eat. Then he does. These are subtle things that mean so much in the doggieverse.

I also highly recommend a book called Leader of the Pack by Baer and Duno. It's a super quick read, and it goes over many of these principles.

I hope you get things worked out with yours. We joke that our dog is a 'dud' - but we'll do right by him and give him a good home.