More advice for my NOT SO horrible dog.....UPDATE!
UPDATE: I believe I may have found the magical cure for Kirby's obnoxious behavior!!!I purchased the collar mentioned below (a shock/vibration remote collar). Oh my goodness I now have a completely different dog! I got it yesterday and used it while in the house and today I used it on our walk. It is waterproof so he can swim in it and it still works. I put it on a very low shock setting at first and then switched it to a moderate vibrate. It is AMAZING. He is now associating the behavior with a shock or vibration and in his mind I am in no way involved in the correction. He is having to think before he acts which he has never done before. Our outting today was ssssssooooooooooo pleasant for everyone! Oddly enough, even Kirby was a lot more mellow and less anxious. I think correcting the running, nipping, barking, etc right away stopped it from progressing into an out of control anxious state. He even came and calmly laid by my side for some petting when we were on the river which he has NEVER done. Usually he won't stop the entire time we are out there because he is so obssessive about harrassing Franklin. It's only been one day but the progress in this one day makes me really hopeful I may have found a solution! Right now both doggies are snoozing in their beds and I am feeling so happy and hopeful! I may actually be able to enjoy my dog! YAY!
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Anybody have any suggestions about how to keep Kirby out of the litterbox? As I've mentioned before my house is tiny. The litterbox currently lives in the bathroom where one of the dog water containers is. I have tried raising it but of course he climbs up to get in it, I've caught him with his head in it and squirted him with water and scolded him, but now if he hears me coming or sees that I am looking toward the bathroom he will run off and just do it on the sly. Just now he came back from the bathroom licking his chops and his breath smelled like cat poop. My cats are a bit, ahem...lazy, so if I babygate the bathroom door then one of them will opt to just pee all over my stuff instead of bothering to jump the babygate and go in the litterbox. Any ideas?
Second, I think Kirby has flea allergies. This is a REALLY bad year for fleas and my cat with flea allergies is balding with scabs all over despite constant flea treatment. Kirby is also on Trifexus and Frontline but he is losing hair on his hind end, constantly scratching, and his coat is looking really ragged where is he always chewing. Outside my house are a lot of bushes and grass and maintained by the owners so I can't really manage that, any ideas for inside or something else i can use to keep fleas at bay? Also, where we walk along the levee is long grass and in now way can be managed.
Last, does anybody have any experience using a remote control training collar? I'm at my wits end as far as training this little terror when out on walks. He's excellent when on leash but a terror when off leash. He will torment Franklin constantly, biting and nipping, will only come some of the time, etc. He knows when I am close enough to make him mind, am carrying treats, or when he has a long leash on. I'm thinking of getting the collar (which has sound, vibration, or shock) just to use as an extension of my arm so he will learn even if he is 30 ft away he still has to mind me. He usually comes when called but twice now he has decided it would be in his best interest to totally ignore me and just look at me and head the other way. While I live in an area that this behavior won't get him hit by a car or anything like that, having to sit out for an extra 10 minutes to wrangle him is quite frustrating. In my past experience good on leash behavior and obedience always translated to good off leash but not with Kirby. He has ZERO interest in doing what I ask and in pleasing me so if he doesn't feel he has to do it, he won't. I'm just thinking for his safety and my sanity it may work for him to get a remote collar where he is corrected for ignoring me or attacking Franklin and yet the correction isn't associated with me.
I'm about 3 months in to training and owning this dog and I swear I have to talk myself into keeping him on an almost daily basis. I have come up with ads to post and have been about 1 second away from posting on several occassions. His saving grace is that (most of the time) Franklin likes him. He RARELY EVER is good and it makes it REALLY hard to like him (or even pretend to like him). I try to put on a happy face for him, give him cuddles, and love so maybe he will get better, but I have seen very little improvement so far.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Chris, Kadi & Brodie on
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Great news, Melissa! I'll keep my fingers crossed that this is the turning point you've been looking for!
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Permalink Reply by Donna and Lilly on
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Was reading your post and that is soooo cool that you found something to work for Kirby, but what caught my eye is about the flea allergy. I had to switch from frontline cause it quit working for us. I use advantix II on the dogs and advantage on the cats. The cats have flea allergies and would get bumps and lose the hair. I get my flea stuff thru Drs Foster andSmith...very economical.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I think I will try advantix next. I have tried EVERYTHING else (advantage, frontline, comfortis/trifexus) and nothing is working this year. I switched the cats to Advantage bc you can use it more frequently than the other stuff and I'm thinking of breaking the bank and just buying a bunch of capstar and giving it every 3-5 days until I can figure out how to get this all under control. Despite being on Trifexus and Frontline Kirby had like 10 fleas on him! I put another dose of Fronline on him early and am now only finding the occassional flea instead of a ton of them like before. The cats will likely get repeat dosing every 2-3 weeks. My poor flea allergic cat looks like a neighborhood stray with all his bald patches and scabs :-( Franklin luckily doesn't seem to be affected at all, I don't ever see any fleas on him either which is nice since he's the only one that sleeps in my bed! Lol.
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Permalink Reply by Ellen Andersen on
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Awesome news, Melissa!
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Permalink Reply by Emily & Scout on
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That is awesome! It is so good you found something that works for him! Thank you for trying again, and again, and again to find something that he responds positively too!
I hope by continuing to have faith in him you will have a much happier dog that can be a friend for Franklin and a companion to you. And I'm sure HE could tell you were truly happier with him, too :)
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Permalink Reply by Chloe's parent Liz on
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I bought a kitty box that the cat has to go in through the top. I think I bought it at Petsmart or Petco. Chloe does not get in it even after I took the top off the box. .
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Great news Melissa! You are an inspiration to corgi owners that are facing challenges with their pups!
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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We have catbox squirreled away behind a baby gate; cat can get through, dog cannot.
I suggest FleaBusters. We did this only once, long long ago, we had 1 cat. They dust the home with polyborate salts (borax, basically; it's a dessicant, not a neurotoxin). We have no small child at that time; dunno if that's a toxicity/health issue, caveat emptor. They guaranteed 1 year, and we forgot about fleas for a long time. We're in Seattle; YMMV in a different climate.
How old is Kirby? Adolescent? Al went through a phase when he learned that I cold not catch him, and he did not, in fact, have to come when called. This game got old for me a lot sooner than it did for him. He LOVED evading me. This might be an opportunity to work on recall obedience: tiny but choice reward treats, and make it a "catch me" game (run away from him, playfully clapping hands saying "comecomecome", an invitation to play, more than a command).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VnLVm2GhQw Work on Really Reliable Recall (discussed on mycorgi elsewhere).
Also, I wonder: when adding a 2nd dog, does training suffer from 2nd-child syndrome? Does the second dog get less (or no) solo time with the owner? How does this affect learning? I know Al learned many things just by imitating Gwynnie, but I also think he missed some things for lack of 1-on-1 attention.
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The 2nd dog thing is something I struggle a lot with. I know, despite how hard I try, that Kirby does not get the same amount of training and socializing as Franklin did. I do some 1 on 1 stuff but not nearly to the extent Franklin got and this is mostly bc I feel bad leaving Franklin and taking Kirby. I need to get over this because I'm sure Kirby's training has suffered a bit because of it, its just so hard to disappoint Franklin and not let him go places with me and Kirby!!!
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Glad this is working Melissa:) We all feel guilty when we have to decide which dog to take/work with. Franklin will understand!
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Permalink Reply by Priscilla, CARLY, and Frankie on
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What kind of collar did you get? It sounds like a great idea for Carly who is 2 yrs and like you i had to convince myself daily for the first yr that she would get better :( and she did.. With many many tears and frustrations.
then Frankie came along and she liked him at first, (hes a over a yr now) but she still has her moments. food aggression and jealousy issues. So i since i know very little about these collars i am interested in what your saying.
thanks Priscilla
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This is the collar I"m using. The one remote can work for 2 collars, wish I would have bought frank one too! I may end up buying him one to perfect his training. I have found the vibrate works WAY better than the shock, although I am afraid to put the shock very high because i feel bad lol. When it vibrates Kirby jumps and looks all over and sniffs the ground like what the heck did that to me! Lol. Today I only had to use it once which is such a HUGE improvement!
http://www.amazon.com/Esky-Rechargeable-Wireless-Electric-training/...
He has swam in it for 3 days and it still works great.
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