It's not been the best day

[emilyB]

It started out with our first session with a dog trainer - no not the dog whisperer, but a little lady with an entirely different approach who does not believe in the word "no" or encouraging a dog to "speak" which is about all we have taught our wildly exuberant rescue dog, Hannah.  She barks for a treat - but it doesn't stop!  The hour's lesson turned into two hours and the thoughts that were running through my mind the whole time were that there was nothing that a strait jacket and Prozac couldn't cure to make our dog ultimately nicely behaved, as our bank account was slowly being drained.  Believe me - the trainer came with a "thunder coat" which took about 8 attempts to bundle Hannah in it.  It is actually like a strait jacket or, as she described it, "a calming wrap, like babies are put in".  While Hannah was stifled in this garb about 5 pounds of "treats" were gobbled up as a reward for "looking in the eyes" and I started to wonder how she could digest all this extra food in such confinement, but happily she managed a giant fart which brought her much relief.  Our trainer happened to let slip that it took 3 years for her dog to calm down and she is "still on Prozac".   We are leaving for an RV trip next week which I had been looking forward to, but we will probably get kicked out of the RV park in the first 24 hours.  Hannah still thinks she has to bark at everything!  I was exhausted by the time the trainer left trying to remember the hand signs, the words and how to untrain myself from saying "No" and if she goes to bite - just say "thank you" (for the warning).  Is this crazy?
 
My evening is finally ending after being on the line to a 24-hour emergency veteranarian center and also our own vet as our dessert disappeared from the kitchen counter tonight.  I had only put the poppy seed cake there for a few minutes - right to the back and I ran upstairs to check my computer while hubby was in the bathroom.  I heard him yelling "Where's my dessert and what are these nakpins doing on the floor"!   Hannah counter surfs better than I gave her credit for and now she is full of poppy seeds.   Luckily, both vets said they would not be toxic in the amount she had ingested - although she would fail a test for a job over the next 24 hours!  Is this the devil?:
 


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[takncarabizniz]

LOL...
Pet lodges are lovely as well...
 
 
Our little bundle of ignorance was tossed out of two previous homes for stealing "people food" off the counters...how a tiny dog could scale cabinets to get to them is still beyond me.  The first lessons he learned were to stay out of the kitchen and dining room.  Using his crate each time he violated the perimeters worked well.
 
Patience is a virtue, remember that and bark collars cost about $50...
 
 

[takncarabizniz]

BTW, Hannah has that "please Ma, don't yell" look, down to an art...
 
How can you NOT be in love with that face?

[emilyB]

How can you NOT be in love with that face?

That's the problem!
 
We are told by the trainer that we can not use the crate for punishment - we have to stuff treats in Kong toys and put her in there when we want to leave or just to confine her.  Also no bark or pinch collars!  I'm sunk!
 
But, prozac and a straight jacket is ok!  Go figure!  LOL

[sunshine]

Oh dear...I hope he  is okay. He's so darn cute.

[topgear]

Emily, from an old hand at getting dogs to mind, try this. Get a pair of old shoes, and keep one in the kitchen and one in the family room. When the dog misbehaves, give it a smack on the back or butt with the shoe. JUST ONCE, no need to clobber the mutt. After a few encounters with the shoe, you should be at the point of  just saying "Do I Have to Get the SHOE?" to get the dog to freeze. Not stop misbehaving, but simply freeze. Now you're at the start of discipline training, because you have the dog's undivided attention.

Keep a shoe in each room to grab quickly so the dog realizes your words are your threat. If you have to go running to the closet for a shoe, it loses its effectiveness. Also, occasionally, when the dog acts up toss the shoe at him from a distance. The dog will then realize that the dreaded shoe can reach him from anywhere!  Good luck.

[nannat6]

I think you need a new trainer.......that one could not even get her own dog to behave for 3 yrs?  come on, that should be a hint that her way does not work.............there is a device (as seen on TV) that makes some loud noise or something that dogs here that you point at them and shuts them up........you can check it out at Walmart or anyother place that has the "as seen on TV" stuff.......I have never heard of not saying "no".........either a shoe on the butt or a rolled up paper or small magazine will do the trick and a firm "NO"........As for traing to not get on the counter, that is going to take a lot of patience and on site training........put something out on the counter and put a leash on the dog, and when it goes for the treat, jerk the leash and say "NO"........Say "thank you" when a dog goes to bite?  You have got to be kidding...........hon, you are wasting your money with that trainer..........

[takncarabizniz]

Have you seen that animal planet show "It's me or the dog" with the British lady?
 
She's good...
 
and topgear is right, you need a visual reminder...I saw that lady using little flags and "leave it" to get pugs to stop eating poo...
 
Once Hannah knows the boundaries, then she will not cross them.  We have Ozzie trained well enough that if he gets excited and comes into the kitchen, all we have to say is "is someone in my kitchen" in a stern questioning voice and he backs off...
 
His crate (bed) is used for everything, from confining him when we leave, to sleeping at night.  He also has little doggie bed (pillow) that is kept in the livingroom so he can relax but still be near us, since he doesn't get the privilege of furniture hopping unless he has one of his people invite him...and he knows the difference when we say bed or pillow...

[emilyB]

Thanks for all the advice and I think we need the firm rather than the gentle approach.  The difficulty we are encountering with Hannah is that her first 2 1/2 years which were the formative ones in her young life,  she was crated for over 9 hours every day for the first year while the owners went to work.  Then one of them had a stroke and she was put in a shelter.  She was rescued from there by Airedale Rescue and placed in a home with 4 other dogs - one of which was a nut case.  Hannah did her best to annihilate this dog and after a year of no success she ended up back in rescue.   We found a lot out ourselves after doing our own background checking.  I must say Airedale Rescue were not exactly straight with us - but she is such a lovely girl and we are noticing improvements every day now.  My husband calls her "Velcro" because she attaches herself to me wherever I go and when I first left the house she would pace back and forth until I came home.  She doesn't do that now and is getting more and more content.  We both have a lot of patience - so we are pretty sure we will wind up with a wonderful dog, like before.  I don't think that this trainer is going to want to work with us if we don't follow orders and we pretty much know what makes sense and what doesn't.  I love  "It's me or the Dog" and wish we could get a visit from Victoria.  The shoe idea is a great tip - we'll see how it goes, thanks.

[takncarabizniz]

Em, it sounds like she is already very responsive to you and you will find what works best for you...
 
You should try contacting Victoria and see if she has any advice...she's like a modern day Barbara Woodhouse...
 
"Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhlkies..."