my dog

[makenzie71]

He got hit by a car and you think it's odd that he's acting sore?  So long as he didn't actually go under a tire or get nailed at 50+ mph then he'll be fine.

Teach the dog sit/stay.  This is what's going to keep him from bolting through the door every time you open it.It's a boxer...they're hyper and energetic and not the easiest to train but you're obligated to go through the effort.

Start with "sit".  Using treats is easiest.  Get his attention, say "sit" and hold the treat in front of him above his head...when he looks up to try and see it he'll put his butt down, but you may have to "help" him.  Don't let him take the treat without doing the work but your means of deterring him is yours...some people think it's heinous to do anything as a physical deterrent but my dogs get their ears or noses thumped and have turned out great.  If he sits, give him the treat.  Afte rhe gets that down add the "stay" command and start stepping back...just a couple steps at first and move up to further/longer intervals as he progresses.  If he gets up put him back into a sit and start over.

Those are the two most important commands a dog should know, no contest.  If they can't learn anything else they're infinitely better off just knowing that.  Stick with it and, after he learns stay NEVER let him through an exterior door without making him stay first.  Again, boxers are hard to train but they can be trained and the payoff is tremendous.

PetSmart has a great training course but it's pricey.

[Domindart]

post a pic! 

[frankieG]

send me the dog!!!

[Skeets]

He got hit by a car and you think it's odd that he's acting sore?  So long as he didn't actually go under a tire or get nailed at 50+ mph then he'll be fine.

Teach the dog sit/stay.  This is what's going to keep him from bolting through the door every time you open it.It's a boxer...they're hyper and energetic and not the easiest to train but you're obligated to go through the effort.

Start with "sit".  Using treats is easiest.  Get his attention, say "sit" and hold the treat in front of him above his head...when he looks up to try and see it he'll put his butt down, but you may have to "help" him.  Don't let him take the treat without doing the work but your means of deterring him is yours...some people think it's heinous to do anything as a physical deterrent but my dogs get their ears or noses thumped and have turned out great.  If he sits, give him the treat.  Afte rhe gets that down add the "stay" command and start stepping back...just a couple steps at first and move up to further/longer intervals as he progresses.  If he gets up put him back into a sit and start over.

Those are the two most important commands a dog should know, no contest.  If they can't learn anything else they're infinitely better off just knowing that.  Stick with it and, after he learns stay NEVER let him through an exterior door without making him stay first.  Again, boxers are hard to train but they can be trained and the payoff is tremendous.

PetSmart has a great training course but it's pricey.

Petsmarts classes are a joke. They make you buy THEIR treats, and they really aren't trainers, more like teen students that had to read a book. That's my experience though.

[jserio]

i've decided against a shock collar. found out the other night his previous owners used one on him and abused it. 

[makenzie71]

skeets...petsmart can't make you buy their stuff, they just don't want you walking in there with bacon or something.  Some places might be a bit more strict because of past mishaps.  The trainer we had was quite good but I can see if varying per store.

jserio...do not use shock collars or chokers and such.  They are deterrents, not training aids.  You want your dog to not want to go through the door because he wants to stay in and be rewarded.  If you use a negative deterrent in association with opening the door he'll get the idea that when the door opens he'll be punished.

[scottpA_GS]

 Sometimes a distraction is even better than a treat/punishment.

when my dog was a puppy he would pee everytime someone came to the door or we came home... He would just get sooo excited and wizz all over the place!  To help the situation, everytime someone came to the door, or I came home from work, I would grab a toy of his/ or his ball and associate that with the door opening... If someone came to the door and he barked, I would tell him to go get his ball.. or when I came home and he was excited to see me, instead of peting him, I would tell him to go get his ball. This didnt give him time to get excited and pee... he was more interested in getting his ball...  Now, every time I come home or someone comes to the door, he just goes and finds his ball/closest toy, and sits there w/ it and waits for you to throw it 

Training your dog is easy! you have to be consistant and patient! Use simple commands and stick with them! (use the same words). being mean or using shock collars only make things worse. It takes time but in the long run you and your dog will be VERY happy together.



Just distract him from the door... if he is not concerned w/ it being open, he wont run out 

(edit)

For the first year or so I also only took him out too pee/ppop or for walks from the back door. I never took him out the front. This way he never saw the front door as a way in/out until I wanted him to. Now that he is older and listens to EVERY command, he goes to what ever door he wants and tells me what he is going to do 

[Kasumi]

Dogs have genetic traits which lead them to turn to certain behaviour when there is stuff missing from their life. Even a 'stupid' dog or 'dumb' dog can be a good dog. Regular long walks cure destructive behaviour like chewing. Being a strong leader and being firm but not aggressive asserts yourself as the pack leader. If your dog didn't see you as a complete joke he wouldnt run off as soon as the door was open. Also shouting at your dog has little effect other than to distress the dog. Shouting at your dog to 'stay' while you let someone in the door will make no more difference than if you said firmly 'stay'. I know its a hard distinction to make, between being firm and aggressive. And i understand that dogs can do stupid things and be really bloody awkward when your trying to teach them something so you have to be inventive.

You say one problem is the bolting for the door when its open. Easy, you put your dog on a lead (preferably a harness if you have one - it helps all round with boxers) You stand in the room where your front door is and first get your wife or daughter to come from the outside and knock on the door or ring the bell as they would when a stranger was coming in. If the dog shows any interest at all in moving towards the door, on a short leash you use your chosen sound, his name or a key word to get his attention back on you, dogs can't think if you distract them with smoething when it looks like theyre trying to be interested in something, if he mvoes for the door, key word or sound and walk him in the opposite direction. Repeat until he is no longer interested in someone at the door. Now move onto someone coming in from teh outside, they open the door and take the same approach, keep him distracted, if he moves walk away with him. Repeat. And then repeat for people going out of the door, open the door and if he moves for it, you move him back and 'claim' the space. By standing in it and not letting him pass (not by wrestling him) but by moving him away from the door each time and asserting your presance in that position he wont come past you. You are the pack leader he has to respect you.

Shock collers are good for somethings but in this case its just pure laziness, you can do as much damage with a shock collar as you can good. They are good for training your dog to avoid things that could potentially hurt it, dogs which chase cars, dogs which chase snakes and other dangerous animals. Then they learn to associate that that thing will hurt them cos clearly they havnt worked it out for themselves. In this situation you are just as likely as to scare your dog from going through that particular door at all, then your going to have the problem with him being awkward and since he thinks your a joke anyway he isn't going to 'trust' you when you walk through the door. He wont take your lead because your not the leader.

Put the time into training him propely, and yes it does take time and ALOT of it.

[jserio]

i take him for walks almost nightly. that is the only time i allow him through the front door. and he's learned very rapidly about staying close to me on his leash. it didn't take many walks to break him of the "pulling" habit. of course if he sees a rabit, cat or another dog, he still tries to pull a bit. in the home he's a damn fine pet. listens well most of the time. chewing habit seems to have pretty much disappeared. but in it's place a new one has sparked up. he drinks way to fast. no matter how much water i put in his bowl he thinks he has to gulp it all down this instant thus making himself barf moments later. and then of course he's whinning because he's thirsty. maybe this habit goes back to his previous owners handling of him, i'm not sure. i always have fresh food and water for him. he never eats an excessive amount at one sitting which i know can be a problem for younger dogs. but why would he drink until he barfs? i've tried to only put a small amount in his bowl at a time but then he's constantly whinning for more. there are times when i'm working with him that i can see he really is an extremely bright dog i've just got to find out how to reach him. i don't know the extent of the misuse by his previous owners but with that in mind it helps me understand his behavour a little better.

[Kasumi]

i take him for walks almost nightly. that is the only time i allow him through the front door. and he's learned very rapidly about staying close to me on his leash. it didn't take many walks to break him of the "pulling" habit. of course if he sees a rabit, cat or another dog, he still tries to pull a bit. in the home he's a damn fine pet. listens well most of the time. chewing habit seems to have pretty much disappeared. but in it's place a new one has sparked up. he drinks way to fast. no matter how much water i put in his bowl he thinks he has to gulp it all down this instant thus making himself barf moments later. and then of course he's whinning because he's thirsty. maybe this habit goes back to his previous owners handling of him, i'm not sure. i always have fresh food and water for him. he never eats an excessive amount at one sitting which i know can be a problem for younger dogs. but why would he drink until he barfs? i've tried to only put a small amount in his bowl at a time but then he's constantly whinning for more. there are times when i'm working with him that i can see he really is an extremely bright dog i've just got to find out how to reach him. i don't know the extent of the misuse by his previous owners but with that in mind it helps me understand his behavour a little better.

As for the chasing rabits and cats and other dogs the way to deter the behaviour is to again distract him from it. Turn around walk away using your key word to keep his attention on you. Most important thing is not to let him tell you what hes going to do. Try getting a friend whos got a dog and walk them together. This works a treat. If you can borrow a friends dog or offer to take them both for an evening walk. You walk one on each side of you on short leashes and keep at a decent pace they will focus on walking together and not on being interested in each other. This works great to help get a dog used to another dog. Even two wildly aggressive dogs can be walked either side of you if you can keep them distracted enough. Soon they get used to each other and another dog is no longer so damn interesting to them. When you meet another dog don't let him pull you towards it. If they are coming to you the best thing you can do depending on what you think of the other dog is to have your dog wait next to you. Allow the other dog to pass and let them sniff each other if they want but soon as he starts getting excited you get his attention and walk on. But yea walking with another dog and letting other dogs walk past you while he stays sat next to you. As for the cat thing its abit harder. If you see a cat you have to take the same approach, say its sat no the wall your dog notices, walk towards if he gets too interested try the key word and keeping walking at a brisk pace. A firm tug at the coller with your leash should keep his attention on you and purposefully walk past not letting him pull you to a stop to chase the cat. If the cat runs away and he wants to chase thats when you have to key word pull him around and walk the opposite direction before continuing where you were going. Key thing is to make sure your training him that its fine to be interested in cats and other dogs etc... but you don't want any funny buisness. Obviously its all a balance as you can imagine you can easily make a dog even more interested in the cat if your holding him back when he is totally focused on something he cant get. Thats why you need to distract him so he forgets about the cat.

[mkrasavin]

One of my german shepherds had the same problem, I live across the street from a park and he would just bolt over there all the time after rabbits (I've trained him as a hunting/protection dog) And go figure, one day he got hit by a car, he was about 8 months old around 80lbs. It happened infront of my eyes, the lady sorta saw him coming so he didn't get hit too fast and he popped right back up and ran around the park. He didn't really show any signs of being hurt, although he did have some blood dripping from his right paw, it wasn't a cut, more like a bad rash. Every time I walk him I tell him to sit when we get to an intersection, and he would watch cars pass by. Now he sits and kinda jumps back a bit so I can tell he remembers and is a little scared of cars now.

Honestly, having your dog get hit by a car is not a bad thing as long as he's ok.
Taking him to the vet would be a good idea, dogs usually show little signs when they aren't feeling good, and not drinking water as you said is definitely one of those signs.
Try massaging his body gently, see if he whimpers or reacts to any part.

Shock collars are eh, ok for training sessions. I wouldn't recommend having the dog wear one all the time. Definitely not inside if its an inside dog. Best way to teach a dog is with food and when its hungry. Its ok to not feed your dog for a day here and there, they flush out their system and will usually eat some grass on their own to help.

After not feeding him it's pretty easy to teach your dog to eat at certain times of the day. Just set out a bowl for 15 minutes and then take it away. That way they'll know that if the bowl is out, they should eat, because its going to be gone soon. Its really helpful because they usually end up eating the entire bowl in one sitting. I wake up, feed him, take him for a run, come home for lunch, feed him again, and feed him at dinner. Or no lunch if you plan on doing some sort of training session in the afternoon. Obviously don't do this if you just adopted a dog that was abused and is malnourished, or if the puppy is less than 6 months old.


my 2cents

This is Kweli:
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[jserio]

my only real issue with him now(we are working on him not bolting out the door) is the water thing. i have to put small amounts(very, very small amounts) in his bowl at a time or he will drink it all as fast as he can and barf it back up. this is odd. 

[scottpA_GS]

Seems like others w/ the same problem have taken the dog to the vet and found an underlying problem... diabetes insipidus, Cushing's disease (pituitary tumours) etc

This is a good thread:

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=26264

[makenzie71]

Don't give the water at small amounts...that will encourage him to drink it ALL at one time.  One of the best ways to get a dog to do a certain thing is to let it know that NOT doing it will put him in an uncomfortable situation...like puking.  No one likes to puke...not even dogs.  If you set down small amounts he'll think he has to drink it all right then and then because it's about to go away.  Leave LOTS of water down all the time.  Try leaving him outside with a big bowl and let him drink himself stupid all day.  He'll get the idea...even dumb dogs can figure that one out.

[Kasumi]

Don't give the water at small amounts...that will encourage him to drink it ALL at one time.  One of the best ways to get a dog to do a certain thing is to let it know that NOT doing it will put him in an uncomfortable situation...like puking.  No one likes to puke...not even dogs.  If you set down small amounts he'll think he has to drink it all right then and then because it's about to go away.  Leave LOTS of water down all the time.  Try leaving him outside with a big bowl and let him drink himself stupid all day.  He'll get the idea...even dumb dogs can figure that one out.

I agree with the not feeding your dogs behaviour, i.e. dont tailor what you do to match what your dog is doing because then you are telling your dog its fine to do it like that. A dog should always have freshish water available all day long, be it in a bowl or via a water feature in the garden they drink out of etc etc...

If he doesnt stop drinking excessivly and making himself sick within a day or two you defo need to take him to the vets, it could be a sign of underlying problem, as mak says a dog wont make itself sick for no reason, unless something takes precedance as in it constantly feels parched to death in which case drinking comes before avoiding being sick. Take him to the vet man don't nuture the behaviour get him checked out.

[Skeets]

skeets...petsmart can't make you buy their stuff, they just don't want you walking in there with bacon or something.  Some places might be a bit more strict because of past mishaps.  The trainer we had was quite good but I can see if varying per store.

They don't "make" you buy them but they pretty much throw them at you. This is my experience with them. I went to PetsMart to get some dog food. I saw a training class, and thought...hey that would look good for my dog. Signed up, paid my $100 and came to the class. They said you needed treats for the class, which they didn't tell me before hand. Anyhow I bought the $8 treats and took the classed weekly, doing everything I was told. In the end, my dog didn't learn anything, he only expected treats for everything.

Thing that worked for me was hot dogs and the internet. I taught the dog like that, and then replaced the hot dogs with a itch on the ears. To cure him pulling on the leash, we used a shock collar. My dog does not like other dogs. He has social issues lol. Anyways, as long as you don't abuse the shock collar there won't be issues.

[makenzie71]

They're not supposed to teach your dog anything.  The PetSmart class teaches YOU.  Of the experiences I've had with their classes and the people who've attended, it's more likely that YOU failed because you expected them to teach your dog.

And of course they want you to buy their treats, but they don't force you.  shaZam!, they have FREE treats.

[scottpA_GS]

Again...

If your dog is drinking water like that, hes not doing it cause hes a dumb ass... he is SICK! atleast get him a full checkup at the vet cant cost more than $100. He needs some attention man... He cant tell you when somethings wrong.. You need to get him checked out.

If hes not worth $100 to ya, then send him to Frankie

[Skeets]

They're not supposed to teach your dog anything.  The PetSmart class teaches YOU.  Of the experiences I've had with their classes and the people who've attended, it's more likely that YOU failed because you expected them to teach your dog.

And of course they want you to buy their treats, but they don't force you.  shaZam!, they have FREE treats.

You must be one of the trainers or have a bias. Maybe you had a trainer that was a real trainer. I had a 17 year old, that went to my school. Go figure.