Frustrated Chocolate Lab Puppy Owner!

[lisa09]

I think I have figured out the problem I know she is potty trained, so I have been paying close attention to her, and I have noticed that my husband and middle daughter yell and scold her for behaviours or when she has accidents or jumps or does anything they dont approve of( Maggie is a sensitive girl) I talked to them and they are no longer doing it, also Maggie was craving my husbands attention and affection, he is now offering it and she has been great . My only issue is getting my teens to pay attention to her ringing the bells when I am not home so she can get out.
So I have another question.....my Maggie is ATTACHED TO ME, lol and although I love it, she literaly is with me all the time if i move from the sink to the stove so does she, I cant even leave her in the back yard alone she just sits at the door a cries, she almost knocks the door down when I go to the bathroom and has jumped in the shower with me on many occasions, any suggestion for attachment issues and separation anxiety??

 

[tigerlily46514]

//and I have noticed that my husband and middle daughter yell and scold her for behaviours or when she has accidents or jumps or does anything they dont approve of( Maggie is a sensitive girl) I talked to them and they are no longer doing it, also Maggie was craving my husbands attention and affection, he is now offering it and she has been great//

KUDOS ON THE GREAT DETECTIVE WORK!! YAY!!!
yES, oddly enough, even "bad" attention,
to a dog,
is better than NO attention.

If a dog runs through the room with his toy in his mouth, no one says anything no one pay any attention to the dog.
If a dog runs through the room with YOUR SHOE in his mouth, everyone jumps up and chases him, quite a game! Dog learns to love shoes.
We have to reward our dogs doing stuff we DO like!!

YAY FOR YOU SOLVING THIS!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

//my Maggie is ATTACHED TO ME, lol and although I love it, she literaly is with me all the time if i move from the sink to the stove so does she, I cant even leave her in the back yard alone she just sits at the door a cries, she almost knocks the door down when I go to the bathroom and has jumped in the shower with me on many occasions, any suggestion for attachment issues and separation anxiety??//


If this is a problem to you, you can REWARD what you do want Maggie to do instead.

If you want Maggie to go to her mat, instead of knocking on door,
teach her "matt" in a very pleasant, calm way,
AFTER Maggie solidly knows "matt" (she goes and sits/lies calmly on her mat, is fine if she gets kongs or toys on her mat, too)
AFTER Maggie is good at this,
step a bit away,
and reward Maggie for staying on her mat.

Also, teach a release cue, "all done!" (not "come", you will need that word later on ) or whatever word you want for Maggie to get off mat, and also REWARD her coming off mat at your cue,
and DO release her, every time, teach her she gets up when YOU say so, with a release cue. Keep beginner lessons SHORT, only ask Maggie to stay on mat for a few seconds at first, set her up for success.

After Maggie is good with you a few feet away from her on mat, for a few seconds,
and then, a whole minute, and so on,
SLOWLY, advance along, using many days, many lessons, not all in just one lesson,
but, many many many lesssons for her to learn this into her baby dog brain,
rewarding Maggie for you are now 10 feet away, and then 15 feet away,
heavily rewarding and praising her for her increasing success.

then go out of room, and wait 2 seconds, and reward her for staying on her mat.
Make it real easy, reward her before she has chance to hop and follow you.

When Maggie is now great at staying happily on her mat, with you out of room,
then try this:
Prior to going into bathroom,
put Maggie on her mat, REWARD THIS, praise this, and go into bathroom.
In 5 seconds, come back out, REWARD Maggie is still on mat, praise her, and release her off of the mat.
Overtime, extend the time that you are in bathroom, from a 5 seconds, slowly advancing along, and REWARDING Maggie for staying on her mat while you are in bathroom.

ONLY FIRST FEW MOMENTS of video below
are how to teach "go to your mat" Remember, dog training should be FUN!! kEEP beginner lessons short!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

//, I cant even leave her in the back yard alone she just sits at the door a cries//

I understand, my dog did same thing, well, he did not cry, cuz he is all "Mr ToughGuy" but, he stayed on other side of door, pressed up against it, and would not budge, could NOT step off deck onto that grass, even if he had to pee.


It took ME a long long time to solve this one, but, you will probably do better.

Easy cheesy solution----if your Maggie has any doggie pals, have her pal over, put the two dogs outside,
and other dog will show Maggie, "this is how we do it" and run around the yard.

Yes, yes, a few times, Maggie will still come back, but calmly happily go out and encourage and praise her playing with other dog out in the grass. Slowly, over time, fade your own presence out of the picture, a little bit at a time. slowly.
Give Maggie a lil time on this, and many chances to practive being a dog with another dog out on the grass, and she will get there.
(of course, i mean 2 happy dogs who ARE playing nicely, this HAS TO BE a positive, FUN thing for Maggie, not some dog she is afraid of or worried about)

Another thing i thought helped *my* dog, was getting him to realize, "The yard is FUN!" and i spent a lot of time, playing with him, rewarding him for being in the yard, (he'd never been on grass and it freaked him out) and making "being in the grass" best part of his day.
New toys, happen on the grass.
We had to do this about "being in the dark" too. Our neighbors probably thought we were nutters "Why do they play with Buddy in the dark so much?"

I helped him build new, fun associations to "being on the grass = good things happen"
and slowly, i faded out my own presence next to him on the grass, overtime. Now my dog adores his yard, loves it.
It took a while, he needed some time to work it all out, patience is your friend.

 

[tigerlily46514]

Remember, when Maggie IS doing something you LIKE,
such as being on the grass far away from you,
or sitting on her mat calmly,
REWARD HER!!!

Dogs will notice, remember and repeat stuff they get REWARDS for doing.

On same idea, if you toss treats to Maggie as she follows you about, you are telling Maggie, "yes, do follow me around closely" whether you mean to say that or not, it *might* be what Maggie thinks you are saying.

 

[tigerlily46514]

you know, the more i try to picture the puppy peeing, now that i realize she had been getting yelled at (almost never ever necessary to yell at a dog, imo,and often so so so ineffective)
now that i picture that,
i now almost wonder, if this was fear-based "submissive" peeing. who knows.

but, at any rate, BIG HATS OFF TO YOU, Lisa09, for spotting the problem and solving it!!!! YAY, this is a lucky pup to have someone like you watching around for her world!!