Need help with my dog

[Kelfeathers]

I have two dogs that were around 8 weeks old when I got them.

My 3 year old lab/heeler mix, Skyler, is very smart. I had her trained in no time. She's super friendly and gentle. I can't say a bad thing about her.

Then there's Mochi, my 2 year old bichon/jack russell mix. I have yet to make any progress in housebreaking her. She's extremely hyper despite letting her run and run over 4 acres of property. She will run around like a tiny tornado stopping dead in her tracks to go to the toilet and then it's back to total destruction. She has made aggressive moves toward our cats and tried to attack my mother-in-law's chihuahua. She's, obviously, no longer allowed near any of our smaller pets or my mother-in-law's chihuahua.

She used to be food aggressive with Skyler until we pointedly fed Sky first. Mochi was only allowed to eat after Sky was done. She doesn't get the things she wants like dinner, toys, attention or play time until she sits quietly for a 30 count. I have never gotten her to sit quietly for longer than that. I take her out often and on routine for bathroom breaks, but she has never figured it out.

She's healthy, has toys and room to run. She's not kept in a tiny kennel all day. She's never been abused or been involved in a traumatic event. She was socialized as a puppy, but even then she was aggressive. My husband and I have been patient with her. I keep training sessions short, but half of the time I can't keep her attention for more than the typical 30 count before she's trying to run off.

I've never had this problem with a dog before. I grew up with dogs, I was in 4-H Dog Obedience, I worked with a dog groomer when I was a teen and I worked at a rescue kennel during college. I had a bichon I used to live with trained in no time and I've worked with terriers. I even trained full grown, previously untrained wolfhounds, rottweilers and German shepherds without these issues. I don't know what to do anymore.

As it stands right now we feel like we have two options. 1) She becomes an outside exclusive dog which isn't fair to her, especially in cold months. 2) Find someone with more experience with dogs like her.

What can I do?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I will again say I follow Cesar Milan's way of being with dogs, she is obviously dominant and you need to become a leader, he has some good books and shows, people keep saying that they don't want to dominate their dogs but dogs become stressed and unhappy when they are forced to be the leader, it has nothing to do with violence or anything negative, it's about controlling behavior and space, and learning to understand your dogs language, you have to learn how to properly make her submit, it can be quite magical when the dog gets it. Hopefully you will look into it and not be like most who say it's cruel, I used to groom dogs, and keep a pack of females in my house, I do know dogs.

 

[Kelfeathers]

I follow the training of the show breeders from the rescue kennel and 4-H. I have trained multiple dogs with just a snap of my fingers in place of a clicker. I trained my mom's ex's dog in nothing but German and hand signals.I had Skyler trained in a couple of months and my old chihuahua who was dominate obeyed every command I gave after only half a year. I can get my mother-in-law's chihuahua to stop barking with just a look. One of my husband's old dogs used to drop and expose his belly when I said his name after he did something bad.

I punish Mochi when she does bad and praise her heavily when she does something good. I didn't like the rescue trainer's heavy handed approach, but she had some other techniques I found useful. I've only found a quick way to raise an aggressive, neurotic dog when using heavy handed techniques. I'm certainly not going to kick or hit a 5lb dog as she would do. Mochi will drop to her belly if I say her name in a stern, commanding voice and will scuttle to her time out kennel immediately if I say, "kennel." If she stops and drops to her belly when she's in trouble I think that's enough.

She is never off leash and is always by my side when she is out. I won't let her walk in front of me. If she does I'll stop until she comes back to my side and sits. If she tries to attack an animal she's immediately punished and put in time out in the small kennel without toys or food. If they stay still and ignore her she's fine. If they run she gives chase. It will be hard to break her natural instinct. At night she's confined to the bathroom.

The biggest problem is her endless energy. I have only met a greyhound who could give her a run for her money. He would run for hours just like she does. She doesn't care about attention or dominating anyone at this point. She just wants to run and chase things until she passes out. That makes it difficult to train her. I would be happy if I could just housebreak her and teach her sit, stay and come. Her mother was aggressive as well, but I keep hoping I can redirect it to a sporting event like flyball.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Normal training focuses on the dog learning English and communicating in English, the dog whisper way is for you to learn dog language and communicate their way, I don't believe in hitting or really any punishment, a dog doesn't understand time out or its purpose, it does require you to exercise your dogs body and mind. Your dog sounds confused as to what you want from it. Sorry, either you are interested in a new way or not, and it sounds like you are not.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I would possibly look into crate training to help house train her. Don't use the crate as punishment. It should be a place of refuge. Leave her in the crate unless you can actively supervise her and keep her tied to you (umbilical method) when you are out and about or moving around the house. That way you can catch her in the act and reprimand immediately. The crate doesn't need to be permanent, but it should be used until she is doing her outside business on a regular basis.

Running around a yard often isn't enough exercise for a dog. They won't tire themselves out, so you could try structuring her play time a bit more. Maybe try games like fetch or chase.

To increase her focus, you can try using really yummy treats. Start really slow with short time increments. If she isn't getting it or is having trouble doing what you asked, you need to go slower or start over.

 

[Kelfeathers]

@oldhenlikesdogs I found Dr. Sophia Yin's videos just now which I am finding much more helpful than Cesar Millan's videos. I will be researching these greatly and using them to help Mochi.

As for the time out, she goes in when she's aggressive and comes out as soon as she calms down. She's gone from staying in for an hour filled with barking, growling and biting to calming down within minutes. She is then rewarded with a treat and we play together. If we aren't home I immediately pin her to the ground just like I've done with dogs since I was a kid. She's only allowed up once she calms down and then we play. She's gone from a long period of aggression to a quick cool down with that method as well so I think both are good ways to control her.

I trained the border collie in German because I was studying German at the time. Part of the homework was to speak German as often as possible so he was used to hearing me speak German, not English. He ended up learning more hand signals than words in the long run as part of an experiment on my part. He and I were both praised by my instructor. I have never had a problem training a dog with words, treats and positive reinforcement in the past.

@Chickerdoodle13 We tried the crate training method. I found that even with following all of the videos and books she would just go whenever she needed to much like my cat when he had a urinary tract infection. (The vet assured me that she was healthy.) After spending most mornings cleaning her up and washing the kennel I got tired of it. I was also worried the frequent cleanings would dry out her skin. She's now confined to the unused bathroom when I can't watch her and seems much better at going in the corner where I have puppy pads rather than on her bed. When she's excited she still pees wherever like a young puppy.

She is leashed to me at all times while she's out. I clip the leash to my belt to keep my hands and arms free for work. When I catch her in the act I rush her outside or to her puppy pads based on which is closer. I don't mind if she has to use the puppy pads if I can't get her out. That's what they're there for. I have used accident spots to mark the pee pads with urine in an attempt to show her were to go, which has helped. I clean up all accident sites with pet stain remover or a bleach solution depending on if it's on carpet or hard surfaces.

I tried to teach her fetch and she just cowered and ran from the ball. I'm trying to break her of chasing the cats at the moment so I don't want to teach her to chase me. She got bored pretty fast with tug-of-war. I've been thinking about training her in agility like my German trained border collie.

I was thinking of trying a thunder coat, stress collars or a calming spray to help as well. The thunder coat specifically came highly recommended by people who have used them. I wanted to try it once it cools down. We don't have a/c and I felt 80 degrees was a bit hot to be putting a coat on a dog even for a short period of time.

I keep her training sessions to 5 minutes since that's about all the time she'll give me at the moment. I'm hoping once I find a treat she's bananas for she'll want to train a bit longer. I've never gone over 20 minute training sessions with any dog. I only went that long because my border collie couldn't get enough of jumping over hay bales and running obstacle courses. My usual average is about 15 minutes and then a long session of play time.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Is she spayed? All those behavior descriptions makes me suspicious that she may have developed incontinence in response to spay surgery. A small percentage of female dogs actually develop similar signs that you are seeing after spay surgery as a result of decreased estrogen in the body. It doesn't happen to all females, but there is always a chance. It may be something that you talk about with your vet. I'm sure they would be able to give you some more information, but owners quite typically describe female dogs with this condition as "difficult to house train".

I would also suggest running a urinary analysis to help rule out UTI infection. Some dogs are prone to them and that can certainly lead to incontinence as well. You won't always be able to tell whether or not she is healthy without some diagnostics and it is always a good thing to rule out in situations like this because no matter how much training you do, dogs with underlying medical issues will not resolve.

I really like using hotdogs as treats. I cut them up into teeny tiny pieces and when I need to do serious training (like for agility or tricks) I will restrict her meal before training so she is hungry for the treats (And also so I am not overloading her with calories) Little tiny pieces of cheese are good as well.

 

[Kelfeathers]

She has a check up soon. I never thought about her spay causing issues. She had her spay and early puppy care at a different vet's office. This will be her first time with this vet. I'll ask about possible issues with her spay and get another UTI test done. She was clean last time, but my mother-in-law's chihuahua gets UTIs now and again. It could be the same for Mochi. I'll discuss other possible causes for my issues with her while I'm there. Thanks for the tip about the spay.

She doesn't actually like cheese. I'll try the hot dogs. We don't usually buy them, but I think it's worth a shot. If she doesn't eat them I know Skyler will.