Dog Owners

[Ex-Calif]

The me generation - That's usually not a dog problem. Walking without a leash, encroaching on other people's spots, letting the dog poop in other people's yards.

The my doggie is my baby - Another people problem and leads to a zillion doggie problems for the most part.

Pack Hierarchy - Every time we get a new dog, even an older rescue, I get down on all fours and bark and growl and knock over the dog. I will put like a dog chew in front of me and if the dog moves towards it I will firmly announce, "No" followed by some growling.

Then I am the only one allowed to feed the dog or give it treats. These are all designed to ensure the dog knows I am the Alpha and "No" means immediately stop whatever it is you are doing.

The final stage is for each human to hand feed the dog treats and snacks, so that their hierarchy, especially little kids is recognized to be higher than the dog.

 

[Skookum]

Not wrong, but funny. My father in law tried that with our terrier. The dog snapped at him. Clearly our dog knew it was our house, our rules, and FIL was, well, a guest Especially after I reprimanded FIL with don't you ever hit my dog again.

I suggested he sit on the couch, let our dog come to him when he was ready, and then feed him treats out of his hand. He did, and the two never had a problem again.

Edit: In my time as someone who has had dogs for a long time, I've noticed everyone thinks they're a dog-whisperer, especially not-dog people. They think they can win affection or give secret commands that a dog will magically obey because, well, they're special, right? Nothing is funnier or more scary, especially around traumatized or special-needs animals to the point where you have to tell people - you may not touch my dog, please, he is not friendly and you will get bit.

 

[SeilerBird]

Lots of dogs in my park. Never have problems with any of them. Ten years here with no issues.

 

[ButchW]

"if it takes all day till they poop". Our last dog and our dog before that would NOT do his/her thing anywhere near the house. There's nothing at all wrong with, IMO, walking your dog, doggie bag in hand at the ready to do cleanup.

But I don't even like this thinking... What gives you the right to let your dog do it's business in my yard??? If I have a child or grand child that likes rolling around in MY yard on MY lawn, should I have to be concerned abut them planting their face in some dogs residue that maybe didn't get entirely cleaned up with the poop bag?... Maybe this sounds like just some old guy saying "Keep off of my lawn", but it's gotten to be so prevalent with everybody having dogs, and doing the "walk to poop" thing, that it is starting to bother me...
BUtch

 

[Martian]

Also, I'd pay money to watch some of you who think you can train small/medium Terrier breeds to behave like hunting dogs or some of the larger, submissive breeds. Certain Terrier breeds are fiercely independent. Even with good training, when they want to accomplish something of their own agenda, they just look back at you like, f* off, human!

I would severely disagree with that. We have had Jack Russells for almost 40 years and all of the Jacks were stubborn and nose driven. But they all have a flaw that works for us. They are extremely food driven so we always have one command for each dog that will ensure return no matter what the situation is. They are always rewarded with a treat for responding correctly to their particular command. Worked well when two of them had a rabbit in the yard. They both instantly dropped the rabbit and returned. It is hard to train a prey oriented dog to abandon prey but it is doable. As a side note, we also back up our commands with visuals such as a finger pointed down to go along with "come" and has done wonders when a dog gets hard of hearing as they respond the same way to the hand signals as when it was verbal.
Alas, as said before, the offenders are probably not on this or any other forum.

 

[DutchmenSport]

If you are a dog owner and you use a portable doggie fence around your campsite, be it know that Indiana DNR has banned the use of these on all DNR properties. Even if they are used for containing small children, they are not permitted. DNR properties include State Parks and State Recreation areas.

DNR rangers are going around and informing people they have to be removed when they appear. We experienced this last year ourselves and was really taken by surprise. We haven't used dog portable containment fencing since.

We've been to several Indiana State parks this year and it seems there is always someone placing fences up around their campsite on Friday nights. By Saturday morning, they are taken down and out of site. So rangers and DNR staff is getting the message out.

Just a word of caution for you dog owners out there.

Here's the information they print and give to every camper when they enter the campground now, word for word:

Click here.

 

[zulu]

What irritates me are people who haven't actually taken the time to train their dogs.

I have yet to see the dog who will pee or poop on command.

I don't mean roll over or sit up and beg for a treat - that's tricks, not training. I mean, sit, stay, heel, fetch, and come. And I don't mean some of the time, I mean every time, right now, this instant or consequences will ensue.

"Consequences" is just the opposite of what you should do. You praise and reward the bejeezus out of a dog when it obeys so it's always a good thing for the animal. Yelling, screaming, bad dog-ing, or other consequences teaches a dog not to obey in order to avoid the negativity.

 

[Tulecreeper]

I have yet to see the dog who will pee or poop on command.


"Consequences" is just the opposite of what you should do. You praise and reward the bejeezus out of a dog when it obeys so it's always a good thing for the animal. Yelling, screaming, bad dog-ing, or other consequences teaches a dog not to obey in order to avoid the negativity.

I never yell or scream at a dog, they don't understand Emglish and it just confuses them and provides negative feedback. I have been training hunting dogs all my adult life - about 40 years - and I have had hundreds of comments on how well-behaved my animals are, and have had scores of people ask if I would train their dog or give them pointers on how to do so. And you're wrong. There always has to be "consequence" for bad behavior, otherwise the dog will never understand what it is not supposed to do. And no, consequences does not mean physical retribution. That is also a negative feedback way of training. These are not little Fifi kick-dogs (as my ex used to call them), these are hunting dogs that people pay thousands of dollars for and they expect a particular type of animal for their money.

And I never said a thing about peeing on command.

 

[jymbee]

Sounds like you need to retrain your dog. If your dog will only poop at other peoples houses, you need to stay home.

Sounds to me like you need to mind your own business. Or at the very least, read more carefully before attacking someone. Unbelievable needless, insulting, uninformed comment.

You apparently concluded somehow all by yourself that my dog (who passed after our last trip unfortunately) pooped on "other peoples houses" ?? HUH?! Perhaps you've heard of things called "woods", "fields", "roads"?? Can't ever recall Sammy doing his business on other people's houses. But if you'd care to send me your address...

 

[jymbee]

But I don't even like this thinking... What gives you the right to let your dog do it's business in my yard??? If I have a child or grand child that likes rolling around in MY yard on MY lawn, should I have to be concerned abut them planting their face in some dogs residue that maybe didn't get entirely cleaned up with the poop bag?... Maybe this sounds like just some old guy saying "Keep off of my lawn", but it's gotten to be so prevalent with everybody having dogs, and doing the "walk to poop" thing, that it is starting to bother me...
BUtch

Oh for... I NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT MY DOG POOPING ON ANYONE'S YARD!!!

 

[ziplock]

Our last dog and our dog before that would NOT do his/her thing anywhere near the house. There's nothing at all wrong with, IMO, walking your dog, doggie bag in hand at the ready to do cleanup.

Okay, when you mentioned that in this thread, you and I were referring to fields and whatever instead of campsites and houses.

Nope.

The point has been made. It's done.

Waving at everyone.

 

[JudyJB]

Another set of problems are the "commands" people give their dogs. Instead of a simple "stay," or "sit," they will say something like "Bootsie, come over here and sit down right now so I can give you this treat for being a well-behaved dog." Or, "Now stop jumping up on that nice lady because she does not want to get your muddy paws on her clothes."

OK, these aren't good examples, but basically instead of using clear and consistent one or two-word commands, they speak in long sentences and paragraphs. This results in the dog having no idea what they are saying, so no wonder it does not do what they are telling it to do.

Most cities or counties have very inexpensive dog training classes available for residents. I have tried to suggest them to my friend and several other people, but they think training is just too hard and time consuming.

The final stage is for each human to hand feed the dog treats and snacks, so that their hierarchy, especially little kids is recognized to be higher than the dog.

Very good point about children. Regardless of age, they should participate in dog training and feeding dog. (With dog being made to sit or lay down before bowl before he/she is allowed to eat. Did this because I once had a dog that would knock over bowl on the way to getting food.)

 

[JudyJB]

This is slightly off-tropic, but one of the funniest things I have ever seen in regard to dog fences was a pair of great danes in a 24" tall fence at a campsite. The owner said these very laid-back dogs did not know they could step over the fence!

Also, my dog that I trained was a miniature schnauzer. She would not go into the road even if a ball rolled into it, but would stop at the curb and wait for someone to retrieve it. And once, we left her alone in a hotel room for the day with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. However, the maid came in anyway and cleaned and made up the room. When we came back, the maid told us the dog was fine and did not even attempt to leave the room even though she left the door open while she did the cleaning.

However, we once left her alone at home and forgot to put the Easter Baskets up high. She carefully swiped all of the marshmallow peeps without disturbing any other candy. She was so careful you would never know anything was missing. Bad part was that she half-chewed each one and "buried" each in places such as under bed pillows, in my clean laundry basket, between the sofa cushions, etc. so we found sticky peeps for several days.

 

[Contributor]

I trained my lab to pee on command. She has had incontinence issues since we got her and over the years we trained her. Sometimes she goes out and doesn't need to go but she squats and makes the motion just to please us. Pooping is a different story, she has her routine and is pretty reliable but will surprise.

 

[Tom]

I trained my lab to pee on command. She has had incontinence issues since we got her and over the years we trained her. Sometimes she goes out and doesn't need to go but she squats and makes the motion just to please us. Pooping is a different story, she has her routine and is pretty reliable but will surprise.

Our prior cockapoo, daughter of our surviving Mom, used to pee on command. Chris would tell her to "go pee pee" and she'd head outside to our yard to do her thing. Other than peeing on command, that dog was IMO untrainable.

 

[Kirk]

I trained my lab to pee on command.

I have a daughter-in-law who is blind and she now has her fourth guide dog, a golden lab, 2 yellow labs, and now a black lab and all of them are trained to do all urine and feces discharges on command. When desperate they do let her know but even when there is no natural calling, they will do their best when given the command.

 

[chuckbear]

Another big issue that isn't mentioned here but has become a major problem in many parks we have been in lately is barking dogs. I can not believe how bad it has gotten now that there are two or three or even four dogs in every RV in the parks. People leave for the day and the pack in the RV next to us will bark and howl all day long. When we tell the owners their reply is, "we never hear them do that". My reply is, "duh, your not here". We are now have been talking to park owners and managers about requiring bark collars for every dog owner to stay in the park and some are considering it. It's too bad because once again, this is a dog owner problem and not a dog problem. We don't come to beautiful location to listen to this noise like this constantly. We come for the peace and quiet, but not finding a lot lately. Chuck

 

[ButchW]

Oh for... I NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT MY DOG POOPING ON ANYONE'S YARD!!!

I didn't intend to offend anyone with my remark... But my neighbor hood is all residential, with no open fields or woods... when a dog is walked there is no place for them to do their business but on the sidewalks, roadways or people lawns.... All of the trees have dead lawns around them, all metal poles (Street lights, traffic signs, etc.) are rusted and nasty at the base from male dog urine... I have had many dogs but they have all done their thing in MY yard... I can guarantee you, that if you kept your dog in your yard long enough, it would pee/poop there sooner or later.... Before the walk... It has just been "programed" to do it "on the walk"
Butch

 

[Wendy]

have yet to see the dog who will pee or poop on command.

I have a guide dog. He is trained to “busy” (pee and/or poop) on command, as are all guide dogs. Unless there’s a problem, they do not busy while in harness.

 

[Wendy]

I have a daughter-in-law who is blind and she now has her fourth guide dog, a golden lab, 2 yellow labs, and now a black lab and all of them are trained to do all urine and feces discharges on command. When desperate they do let her know but even when there is no natural calling, they will do their best when given the command.

I am also legally blind and use a guide dog, a yellow lab. And as you said, they are trained to go on command.