I have a lovely 6 month old bearded collie bitch, after some time of adjustment we are housebroken and obeying basic commands, but....isn't there always a but. She chews the legs of an antique closet I have which she has taken as her "crate", she hides under it, and loves to rest under it, but she chews at the legs and I have sprayed them with a spray which has an odor dogs don't like but it hasn't worked, specially because i can't contro her there continually, if she chews on other things and I growl at het she stops , also when we play fetch the ball she comes to me but won't give me the ball, she wants me to go after her which I don't do, but let go and give it to me don't seem to sink in. I know these are samall problems but if anyone has any suggestions I would be thankful.::confused:
Hi, I do experienced the same 2 situations that you are facing now.
My doggy loves to chew at any furniture which has legs. Well, i am frustrated indeed. If i catch him chewing, i would said to him no. He would definitely stopped at that moment and continued when i wasn't noticing him. I then hit him (not too harsh) without warning him. He understood what mistake he made after a few times of the punishment (beat). Your doggy is still very young. It might take you for another 2 to 3 months to stop chewing because her gums were itchy when she got her teeth changed when she was about 4 months (mine is at that age). She found that the only way to sooth the itch is through chewing so that practice has been set in her mind unless you changed her thinking. You can give her some toys like rope for her to chew (at least to distract her attention on those 'legs').
Thanks. I do hope it stops with time. It is much better than at first, but those closet legs are her favorite, and Ii'm afraid of the closet falling.and she is so sweet otherwise. I don't agree with hitting her, as I prefer positive reinforcement, and she has a whole basket full of chewing toys and others.
and I still have the ball issue, what can I do for her to give me the ball back?
I agree with you about not using physical punishments to our dogs. You can train them without hitting them and you will be able to keep a better relationship with your dogs that way.
Re: the ball issue, here is what you need to do;
1) Make sure you are not free feeding your dog (don't let the food out all day long but put the food away after 10 mins if she doesn't eat)
2) When she bring the ball back to you, show her a treat. She will have to drop the ball in order to eat the treat. (holding the ball in her mouth and eating the treat are two conflicting things for her) When she drop the ball give her the treat and praise her.
3) Throw the ball for her this way for another dozen of times. I don't want her to think that giving up a ball is the end of the game. (some dogs in fact loves balls better than treats!)
4) Eventually introduce a command of "drop it" as you offer treats to her. Soon she will learn that dropping the ball brings a good outcome for her; a treat and another fetching.
5) Don't chase her to take the ball. If you do, she thinks it is a fun game so just let her have the ball when you want to stop throwing balls for her.
Thanks for the advice MaxHollyNoah. I will try to use that skill. Hele, you should try too. I believe this will really work
Well, don't have to worry about the your relationship with your doggy with the physical punishment. My doggy and I are very close. I seldom do physical punishment. It is only the last solution when everything I have tried don't work. I only did that when he chewed my furniture legs when he was younger. Sometime, he is just being too naughty, then I would just say... hey, where did I kept the cane? He is so intellingent that he just understand the word 'cane'. He would stop immediately and do as I commanded. How sweet isn't it?
I think that some breeds of dogs do not "fetch". They don't enjoy bringing the ball back only to have to go after it again. That is not the most important dog skill to learn.
Chewing--now that's a sport all dogs love. I give my dogs lots and lots of real beef bones (I buy the beef marrow bones) and they never go for the furniture. Of course my living room looks like "night of the living dead" in cow bones. :eek:
Working on the training exercises helps dogs gain self control. I noticed this immediately with my Maggie who is a year old. The "down stay" is hard for her, but it has really helped a lot. I notice that she is able to control herself better in a lot of different situations. Go through the sit, stay fetch program or sign up for a training class. It will help.
