Bad Habits

6 Responses to “Bad Habits”

1. 
   Jim
   September 24th, 2008 at 6:22 pm

   A commercial kibble diet takes 14 to 15 hours to go through a dog. An all-natural diet goes through the dog in 5 to 6 hours. I strongly recommend that you consider doing your research on all-natural diets.

   A couple of points on how to housetrain your dog:

   1. Do not vary your dog’s diet.

   2. Snacks or treats are forbidden.

   3- Bring him in as soon as he does his business.

   4- Praise every time you see him pee or poop. Do this forever. Reinforcing good behavior never hurt anything.

   5- Dogs who go out and just dink around and then go in their crate need more exercises when they go outside. A long walk will often cure the problem. BE SURE TO PRAISE -then when you have your dog in the houseand say “DO YOU WANT TO GO OUTSIDE” he will learn what you mean.

   6- Older dogs are house trained exactly like young pups.

   Using An Odor Neutralizer And Indoor Spray Repellent

2. 
   Joe
   September 25th, 2008 at 7:23 am

   Hi there
   Have just come across your website – I am a terrier owner myself and also a dog trainer who runs terrier classes!!

   This is a lovely looking site and wasn’t sure how I go about ‘joining’ etc so have replied to this diary entry as a means of contacting you!

   With regards to coprophragia (poo eating) it can sometimes be due to diet (often a higher protein, high level of preservatives etc) but can often also be turned into a game or attention seeking.

   Does Chloe only eat her own or others on walks?
   When you say you’re not making a fuss when she messes in the evening are you referring to toiletting indoors?
   Does she eat it immediately after toiletting or if she happens to come across it?

   Hope your site attracts lots of other terrier owners! Where abouts in the country are you?

   Joe, Cassie and Taylor
   -x-

3. 
   Louise
   September 25th, 2008 at 3:25 pm

   Hi Joe

   Thank you for posting on Terriertraining.

   We have only started the website recently and the intent is to create a forum for Terrier owners as I am sure everyone has questions about their dogs and how to train them best.

   She only eats her own and only if it was inside the house. She does not seem to do it all the time which is the strange part. They sleep outside my bedroom door in a fairly large area and I cannot seem to get them to stop making a mess there. I have caught her eating her poo and I worry that it is because of something I am not doing right. The worry I have is that she eats it because she did it inside and I do think it is soon after she has done her business.
   They only eat the best of dog food. I was feeding them Hills and now they are only eating IAMS(Called Eukanuba in South Africa).

   To answer your question around where I am… Jim is in the Harrogate area which is where we will be settling with Rusty and Chloe as soon as I resolve some things in South Africa. I have already done some major planning around relocating them.

   Please let us know were you are located and what type of training you doing?

   Thanks for all the great feedback I hope to hear from you soon.
   We are very excited about this site and I hope that it can be of great value to all terrier owners.

   Louise

4. 
   Joe
   September 27th, 2008 at 11:15 am

   Hi Louise,

   Sounds like a mixture here – have you heard of Separation Anxiety – it is caused through dogs having a very close bond to their owners and then not understanding what to do when they are separate, one of mine started leaving a poo on the door mat as a puppy but we sorted it out in a few days and she’s not done it since – she’s 8 now!!

   I would be ensuring Rusty and Chloe have everything they need before you go to bed, let them out to the toilet, say your goodnight etc, but then switch off from them a while before actually closing your bedroom door – so you might get them settled in their beds then go and brush your teeth and do your last routine of the evening, so there isn’t any communication between you and the dogs moments before the door is closed. This will help with the toiletting to start with.

   Eating the poo could be because Chloe saw her mother do it as a puppy – how old is Chloe now? It can be because she has seen it being picked up by yourselves and she thinks it must be good stuff (!!) or sometimes it can be eaten by a sensitive dog if they have heard someone sigh, tut, comment on seeing poo in the house – they then hide the ‘evidence’ – it doesn’t take much for some dogs to want to hide it and the best way is to eat it.

   Ensure that you spend time with Chloe in the garden/yard before bed to see if she wants the toilet, if you see she has done it indoors try not to react at all, even with a facial expression, but pop the dogs out of the room before clearing up so there is no link to you and the discovered toiletting.

   It may take a week or two to start breaking the pattern but you should start to notice less toiletting occuring overnight and less eating – although sometimes a little more can be required for either ‘behaviour’!

   I am in Essex and am a pet dog trainer for all breeds, but also do terrier classes! My terriers do competition obedience, competition agility, fun heelwork to music – Taylor is also a PAT dog and does Tracking!!! They love being active and we love going out and spending time with them! Have a dog show down the road today in fact, once Sid gets up!! LOL!

   We have Eukanuba over here, although it is generally deemed even better then Iams funnily enough! My guys are ‘raw fed’ as I have done far too much research in to pet dog foods unfortunately!! But one of mine has epilepsy so a raw diet is brilliant for her, and might as well feed them both the same!! Feeding can be a headache for most dog owners though so as long as your dogs are healthy on a food, then most often it’s best to stick with it!!

   Ooopppss, another long message for you I’m afraid!!

   I hope you attract many more terrier enthusiasts! Take care
   Joe, Cassie and Taylor -x-

5. 
   Louise
   September 27th, 2008 at 7:49 pm

   WOW!!!!

   I have learnt sooo much.. Thank you soo much. You are a great contributer to this site and I am very confident that we will get loads of people interested in reading about dogs and their behaviour.

   I do think you might have a point around the seperation anxiety. To put this in context I have to give some background. I lost my parents and then shortly after that bought my two beautiful puppies.

   They could sleep on the bed, they pretty much had free roam in the house and they gave me all I wanted ,the love I didnt have. So I didnt complain.

   I have loads of work to do and I want them to be the happiest and healthiest dogs. We have achieved quite a bit but I think we have loads too learn and we are very eager to get them to be a lot more discplined.

   I am going to try some of the things you have posted and I will provide you with some feedback!!!

   Fingers Crossed

6. 
   Joe
   October 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 am

   Hi Louise,
   I’m so sorry to hear of your loss – but you are right in that dogs provide such a wonderfull amount of company and love. We got Cassie when my partner Sid was working night shifts and she was great to have around! (Still is!)

   The hard part to remember is that it is possible for dogs to have too much freedom, and that is where separation anxiety comes in. Dogs in the wild live in packs but don’t tend to spread about, they have small dens. Dogs also feel more secure in smaller spaces – especially with things like thunder or fireworks!

   Let me know how you get on and fingers crossed this will be enough for you – it often is! The more extreme cases are usually older dogs who have been doing a behaviour for several years and you then have a pattern to undo.

   Well, I have one of mine guarding the office door while sleeping (aren’t terriers amazing that they can do both at once!) and one downstairs guarding her bed and her dreams – so will head off now for some lunch!

   Take care
   Joe, Cassie & Taylor

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