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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
Ev lives the Lower Mainland of Beautiful British Columbia, Canada where she has been training dogs since 1969. She is experienced in many methods including clicker and motivational training. Ev is an original Superdog Performance Team member and her own dogs have travelled and performed with the Canadian SuperDogs since 1984. She has also served as an A.A.C. judge ans is an original Member/Trainer with the Dogwood Pacesetters Agility Club.
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7/25/2007
My boyfriend and I have a 6 month old boxer/lab mix. We go for walks and runs with her twice a day. We have taught her sit, down, and rollover. Recently she started going under our dining room table when we eat our meals and barks at us. She puts her snout in our crotches and barks and nips at us. It’s not at all enjoyable. We also found that when we sit on the couch she keeps trying to jump up. She will not stop. It seems to be only when my boyfriend and I are together that she acts like a completely different dog. If my boyfriend sits on the couch by himself there is no problem, the second I sit down she back to jumping up and nipping at our toes. During the day when I am with her she hangs out and plays with her toys. We are just unsure what the best technique is to correct this behavior. It’s getting to a point where my boyfriend and I cant even enjoy our time together. Thank you for your help! (jaimepom, California)
First off you have to remember that your dog is still just a puppy; around the 3 1/2 year old stage of a human child. Considering there is Boxer in his mix, he may never fully mature as Boxers tend to stay young (mentally) forever and a bit stubborn too. Labs are easily trained and adore attention. Together your mix will keep you busy for years to come. You never really correct wrong behaviours - they just move onto a new one.
It sounds as though a lot of time is devoted to your dog - is this time done together as boyfriend/girlfriend or is it separately done when one is not around??? My guess is that the latter is more true only because your dog sounds like he wants ALL the attention and only gets it when there is ONE of you with him. When together, he feels jealous and has to share - this take time and patience to curb.
More things need to be done with him 'together as a couple' where he can settle into the idea that he is not the only one nor will he be left out when you are together. Sharing is a practiced art and most beings are not born with it - they must be taught.
While you are trying to work on giving the dog attention/training as a couple, you might try 'time-outs' as a consequence to his actions. When h
e nips at Your toes, have your boyfriend take him to an area (preferably somewhere not in sight of where you are, like a utility room, bathroom or other location where some water and a bed can be kept), then give him a good 15-20 minutes before You go let him out. The same would go in reverse should he decide to nibble on your boyfriend. It must be you that takes him to his spot and your boyfriend that releases him from his area after about 20 minutes.
When you take him, do not be angry or disciplinary with your actions or voice. Simply take hold of his collar, guide him to his area and bid him to 'stay and think about what he has done'. Trying saying something like, "You be nice." in a firm tone when you leave him and repeat the same phrase in a happy tone when you release him (e.g. "now you be nice.")
Hopefully your dog will 'think' about what it is that gets him put in solitary and then try not to do it again. You want to establish the fact that he is loved but there are rules for this love and one of them is to respect the other partner when you are all together. It doesn't sound like he understands that he is at the bottom of the pecking order. When he is with you, he is 2nd ... when he's with your boyfriend, he is second so when you are all together why should he be third. This will take some time to have him understand this.
Jumping on the couch is not much different. He simply wants to get closer to who he thinks will allow him that second position, in hopes that the other party will remain third. Be gentle but firm when you take hold of his collar and pull him off the couch with a command like "Stay off." If you need to say it a second time, immediately afterwards (and without letting go of his collar) take him to his area for a short duration (10-15 minutes). Then release him and pretend nothing ever happened. If it happens again, the other partner should do the commanding and taking.
I hope this helps somewhat with your situation. It is very difficult to give advise via the written word without having met you or your dog. A hands-on session would be much more helpful for all of you but give the above, a few weeks to see if we're on the right track, first.
Canine Caretaker Training/Consulting
http://www.k9care.ca
"United We Stand."
http://www.standunited.ca
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