I firstly apologise to regular users of BM forums, for constantly asking people's advice.
I have another problem, namely a 7 stone, drooly boxer / bull mastiff named Stewie.
When my hairy biker hunk comes round, stewie goes ballistic, he barks then he's constantly wanting attention and cuddles. When me and my Bryan then cuddle up for kisses and snuggles, Stewie who is big, jumps on the back of the couch so we have to get up. He barks also if we go to have a kiss.
Anyone got any tips for calming him down.
thanks again everyone.
xx
firstly ,,,stewie is showing typical mastiff behaviour,,ie hes jealous of bryan,, he sees that somebody else has mummys attention.
he still needs to be shown very firmly that you are the boss kake or he will take advantage and his behaviour will escalate,,
try going back to some very basic clicker training ie ,, click then if he sits down a treat,, click if hes quiet treat,,click if he lays down ,treat etc.. if he shows attention seeking tactics you must ignore him!!
You have to show that you are boss and so is Mr Hunk.
Make him go an sit away from you and each time he comes over then either take him or make him go back, when he gets the idea reward him, with food if you need to but loves and cuddles work just as well, do it on your own and with ya Hunk. It will be time consuming but will work eventually. I have also used DAP in the past, takes some time to work but it does calm excited dogs down.
boody - "doesn't work on guys"
Bugger! I was filled with hope there, what about one of those shock collars that I would never think osf using on a dog, but on a bloke.....................well. Sorry blokes just being minxy
i was allways told to ignor the dog if they do this ! then praise when they do go quiet again with a treat ( if its a male treats work easily lol ) failing that remove the dog from room until it calms down then let it in again and train Hairy hunk not to wind it up
A friend of mine, she has 4 dogs, 2 of which dont stop barking etc, so she got a special collar for them that when they bark etc its sprays a lemon citrizine kind of spray under the dogs chin, totally harmless but very effective, if you want to know details where to get one pm me and i will ask her for you
Put a picture of HER above his bed , guaranteed!!http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yoCaTEvfw1I/R0HGd51k_9I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/-7ag2TbMoNc/s320/Barbara.jpg
talking of dogs ... http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/02/21/201...olice.html
Yuk!
A dog is a pack animal and until your new fella came along Stewie was leader of your pack, from what I can gather, and now Stewie feels he has to assert his leadership with the new 'dog' in the pack.
Stewie will need retraining, much like the others have stated here.
For barking, distraction works better than shouting at a dog, or removing him from the room. Tap his shoulder and make a shushing noise with your mouth as you do it, this breaks his concentration.
Do you feed Stewie his food BEFORE you eat yours? If the answer is yes, then STOP that, being fed first means he sees himself as top dog.
Never let a dog sit on the same level as yourself, that means you're equal. For example, sitting on the settee with you. A dog has to be lower in stature to yourself or he will assume top dog position. If the dog tries to sit down on the settee get up and move away, and keep doing this til he stops trying to join you. Time consuming but pays off in the end.
Show him who is boss and he will FOLLOW you, not try to lead.
They are very much like children, need discipline. Dogs need to be led and to know who is boss and what their role in the pack is otherwise, just like children, they get confused and misbehave.
Consistency works just as well with dogs as with children.
Good luck.
read your post and can relate to some of the stuff as my dog which is a staffie used to do a lot of this stuff! i watch The Dog Whisperer and have learnt some amazing very easy tips from there - never to show your dog any physical love or affection until they have had exercise, food or discipline then as much love as you want to give them but never before exercise and food or they think thye are boss dog. Aslo i would say never jump off sofa coz dog has jumped up there it shoudl be him gets off and if he barks ignore him adn kiss anyway i would say!! i have a few mates with boxers and they need loads of exercise - but i would say tell him to go lie on his bed when your fella comes round and tell him good boy when he does and firmly no when he comes to jump on sofa .........
otherwise i woudl also say if you can watch any episodes of The Dog Whisperer you will be amazed what you can learn!!
and another tip i learnt but you probs know this one is never let your dog go through a doorway before you, liek if you are going to kitchen and dogs goes with you it should wait or back up to let you go through door first anyhow good luck chick... you can do it.... be calm assertive pack leade.. as The dog whisperer says lol x
When I said get up from settee, when dog tries to sit there, I didn't mean let the dog sit there, I meant not allow dog to settle on knee. I didn't explain it well. I just meant stand up then he can't sit on you.
Loud noises work well. Dogs don't like them and I stopped my last dog from barking on a morning (to wake me up) using this method. It was a method recommended by a dog psychiatrist and it really works.
When hairy hunk comes around, take a large turkey tin or similar from the kitchen and put it down the side of the couch.
Then every time big dog starts barking or tries to climb onto the sofa, quickly pick up the tin and bang it loudly with your other hand.
My advice - change the dogs food for one with fewer 'E' numbers and low sugar - Bakers is bloody awful - Our dogs went barmy on it. Now we feed them WAG which seems to have calmed them down. Hope this helps
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