No respect for Mamma…
- This topic has 36 replies, 17 voices, and was last updated Dec 11, 2008 at 6:19 pm by
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Neal,
I thought about it, sort of like a how-to, but just don’t have the gear. It would have been a good laugh, anyway. But I went fishing today in Oklahoma, and my wife said Naia went from nice to bitch about 3 seconds after I walked out the door. Much to my surprise, Naia is not limping. Then, about ten minutes after I had been home, Naia sat down next to me and went to sleep. Who knows!D.
Regan,
It is funny you should say that. I read about biting the dog, as the mother would, on a dog trainer’s website. It sounded like a good idea to me, so I began to do it. My wife thought it was a bit harsh and opted out of the practice. But when our dog began to obey me and not her, my wife jumped on board with the biting. I was hesitant to mention it here, though. We can’t have the Aussies and Kiwis thinking us Southern folk go around chewing on our dogs!
Dusty^ they are pack animals
treat them like they are and they’ll understandthere is a guy on the wash post who writes about this, how eating together and sleeping at the same time lets them know their place in the pack. all pack animals have a leader, make sure the pup knows its not him
They already think you guys sit around pickin banjos, makin moonshine and tellin city boys to squeal like a pig, so what’s the harm in a little dog biting? 😉
Regan,
Have you ever fished around Mountain View, AR? I have fished out of Cotter, but not this place. From what I am told, every Friday night overall-clad musicians take the front porch with their banjos, spoons, washboards, etc. There is bound to be a blue-tick hound along with a bottle of hooch with them. Maybe someone else could weigh in on this, but from what I hear it is quite similar to your last post.Rob,
Have you ever read Gary Paulson’s Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditerod ? In it, he speaks of the pack mentality you refer to…eating, sleeping, living with his sled dogs. Good point Rob!Dusty
The dog is fighting for second place in the family, and this might even be worse when you are around since she’s got someone to impress.
I had a feeling I was going to have to back away from this and let the wife assert herself and spend more time with the dog by herself. We started this to an extent last night, that is, until the wife had to say no too many times. At about 30 or 40 I fixed the problem at hand, though I know I stole my wife’s thunder. So tonight is Mommy’s night, no matter how bad it hurts me. I guess I’ll just leave the room and read some McGuane.
Thanks for all of the advice guys. I have seen some of it already start to pay off!
Dusty
Dusty –
Tell your wife to keep working it and be sure to go the distance!
Show that doodle who’s boss.
Dusty.
If your wifes a little reluctant, at the very least have her feed the dog and replenish its water as part of her daily responsibility.Talk to a dozen trainers and you might get 6 on one side and 6 on the other with regards to positive and negative reinforcement. The one thing they will all agree on is Food.
If she doesn’t want to do any hard core training, get her work with the puppy occasionally with basics…Sit, heel, stay, down and use treat based rewards when the pup behaves the way you want.
It will get the message that moms the hand that feeds, and that should ease some of the dominance problems that are starting.
Hi All,
I thought I would chime in since I have a bit of experience with this. We have 4 dogs in the house.
The wife has read the comments and started to implement them. It is early still, but I dare say it is starting to pay, a little. I am sure in time it will get better. And you are right Neal, regarding going the distance. We even noticed our own inconsistencies and how they affected our dog. And the pack mentality makes perfect sense. I thought of getting another dog just Naia would have something to dominate, but I guess we would then be in the same struggle with a new dog trying to assert his/her dominance. I did almost leave the pet store with a Cockapoo though. But I think we may just stick with Labradoodles. I get the lab I want and the wife gets a hypoallergenic dog that does not agitate her allergies. They really are smart creatures. And despite my lack of patience, her training is fairly painless, aside from a few garments the wife has lost.
Thanks again guys, all of this has been great info and very helpful. After we finish obedience, we will see if we can get her use to the water and retrieving birds!
Dusty
Its like anything Dusty, it just takes time and initially commitment to dedication on our parts.
There are worse behavorial problems. Most dogs even if not dilengtly trained do come get the message on their standing in the pack…And they are happy with it…they jsut want to and need to know where it is they stand.
When my wife finally agreed to a dog we went with a rescue Greyhound. Sweet wonderful dog….with me…To everyone else it displayed fear aggression…Had nothing to do with Alpha, this, Alpha that…and everything to do with getting agressive when it was unsettled.
Came home one day and found my wife and youngest had ocked themselves in the library and the GH roaming the house.
🙂
Got our Basenji mutt a few months later. The girls and I went to obedience classes…mostly for the girls…Those aren’t to train the dog, they are more about training us humans how to train them 🙂
My wife didnt attend one class. Not part of the deal. *We* wanted the dog, *we* would bear all the responsibility that came with that. Wlaking, cleaning, training, yada,yada.
She and the girls (occasionally) did however, feed the dog..not sometimes…every day, two times a day and when Id spend time working on basic training she would occasionally join in and get her sit, stay, whatever.
Dogs work for food..no ifs and or buts. If your wife does only that dollars to donuts things will improve alot.
Currently, I feed Naia on the morning, and the wife feeds her in the evening, due mostly to our schedules. But I will see if we can work it so that mom feeds both times and we will give it a go!
Thanks John,
D.One thing we are working on during feeding with our German Shepherd. She was getting bad about jumping up on whoever was feeding her. To maintain control we do the following for every feeding.
1- have dog sit-stay
2- set down food
3- if dog moves before verbal release, pick up food and back to #1
4- Verbal release after some random number of seconds. Could be 2, could be 20 . . Â and let her eat.It’s working fantastic. My wife and I both do it. She’s much calmer anticipating her food and she does not jump on anyone anymore while feeding.
-wayne
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