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 Anna Morelli on
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Rawhides are a food item and more likely to spark a fight than a non food toy. If you want to use them, separate the dogs. An ounce of prevention works better than a pound of cure.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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I will for sure now. I have never had reason to separate them, as neither dog has exhibited any food aggression so far. They both have gotten the himalayan chews, antlers, bully sticks, and/or rawhides on an almost daily basis with no issue. Now I will only give them when they are separated bc it isn't worth the further drama.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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Good fences make good neighbors, so if Franklin puts up a good fence with his teeth, that might actually help.
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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Have you tried something like the booda dome? It's covered and has a fairly small opening with a ramp at the entrance. We used it for a while when Henry was a pup. We kept it in the bathroom and turned it around so the opening faced the corner of the room, with just enough room for the cat to squeak in. He did get into it occasionally, but we would almost always hear him right away since he had to push the box away from the wall to get into it.
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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Poor Kirby! The only way I could keep my dogs out of the buffet is with a muzzle. Haha. If you put Adolf Meat Tenderizer on the cat's food it makes the poop taste terrible, so the dogs won't eat it. It's worked for me in the past. You can also put up a baby gate in the doorway. Hassle to step over, but the cats can still get in and the corgi's can't.
You guys need some serious training! As for his bad behavior issues, remember he is a puppy, and like a kid is going to get away with whatever you let him. Training has to be diligent, daily, and positive. You MUST put time in every day to teach him what is expected. I think he's bored...Seanna was a terror when she was a puppy, and until the trainer at the class we went to pointed out how incredibly smart she was, I never put the two and two together. Get the 101 dog tricks book, and teach him a new trick a week. It will help the two of you work together, not against each other. Positive reinforcement will teach him to do good things. He wants to please you, he just doesn't know how. Right now he's thinking like a dog--you need to get him to think like a human somewhat. Remember too though, they are an independent breed and bred to think somewhat by themselves without input from you. This is where reverse psychology comes in:
You have to make him think it was his idea, and that he wants to do it. I use this on my husband a lot and it works!
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This is what I was talking about earlier, I want him to WANT to do stuff, I guess by somehow making him think it was his great idea and not mine. I'll look into that book for sure. This dog is smart, but he's using his brains for bad instead of good lol. I have found that nothing short of a 2 hour exercise session is enough to get all his energy out. We do work daily on obedience, leash training, sit, and stay are our current main focus with that. He is JUST starting to glance up at me on leash to see what I am going to do next. It literally took weeks of daily leash walks with lots of weird shap turns and changes in direction to get him to even sort of focus on me. Now he will look at me occassionally to see if I'm going to do a 90 degree turn or about face. I think for him he may enjoy learning tricks more. He doesn't care for the leash stuff because you can tell he just wants to be OFF it and not attached to it. I think in order to get his energy out as needed I may take him to one beach that will be his "go crazy and be a big idiot" space, and keep everything else structured. He's not a dog that will get ANY of that nervous energy burned off with a leash walk, no matter how long. Soon I'll be able to take him to work and will probably do morning daycare, so 4 hours of play should burn off some steam. I too think he is board because he spends most of his day confined to a tiny little pen with only one or two toys and no Franklin to play with. Of course, that's his own fault and until I can trust him with freedom, he'll have to stay in the little pen and be ok with the 3 walks a day he gets.
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Permalink Reply by Chris, Kadi & Brodie on
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I was reading this, thinking "Too bad they don't make 'hamster wheels' for corgis", then I remembered that Cesar Milan often puts dogs on treadmills that are really high energy dogs. Would that be an option for Kirby?
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Permalink Reply by Sam, Gregg & Poopdeck on
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Can you possibly make poo taste terrible? I must pause (paws) for reflection..........
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lol!
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I always separate mine when feeding large treats (or stand guard, if it will only take a minute or so to eat). And I monitor them closely with high-value toys. Maddie will try to steal food from Jack (I don't allow). Jack will take toys from Maddie (I do allow, but then distract him and divvy them back up).
With something that falls between "toys" and "food" (antlers, for instance) I monitor closely and intervene if they start snooping near each other.
Mine are not inclined to fight at all but I've had one or two loud, angry arguments between the dogs over highly valued items.
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yeah I never really thought of a rawhide as high value because there are always 2 or 3 just laying around the house. I buy a bulk pack of retriever rolls and for the most part both dogs just ignore them. Occassionally one will pick one up and start chewing, but they have (until yesterday) just been a normal "toy" and nothing real special for either dog. Kirby has no interest in most of the toys until Franklin shows an interest and then Kirby steals it from him and then will promptly drop it and go on to other things. This is one of the main behaviors I am trying to change because it is absolutely clear he has no interest in the toy itself and just doesn't want Franklin to have it. I think Franklin probably would have lost it over any toy at this point because of the constant harrassing from Kirby. I try to step in, but I'm not sure how much I should intervene with this. It bugs the crap out of me, and I know it bugs Frankling, but I almost feel like this is something that Franklin and Kirby need to figure out, at the same time Franklin isn't confrontational so I don't know if he will ever really get after Kirby consistently or just let the behavior continue until he snaps like he did last night.
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Permalink Reply by justine moeller on
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We struggled with the litterbox for a long time. If it was within reach I believe it is safe to say both of them would grab a snack every single time a cat went to the litterbox. We bought those plastic storage bins and put the litters boxes on there. The are about 2 feet tall. We placed them in closets. Bonus is you can store the litter inside if you want! :)
I think we are lucky because ours have not figured out how to grab anything above eye level (unless it is on a couch, bed, etc) but perhaps that PLUS a gate would really limit the cat snacks Kirby is enjoying. That should do the trick because if he is confined during the day then you know he does not have access and if you are home you will hear the attempt to get the snacks. I sometimes catch mine standing below the storage bins and smelling up as if they were in heaven and thinking...if only.....LOL.
When we adopted Walter, I sometimes thought I hated him. I cried so many times. He was so different from Mickey and changed our entire routine. He still does. He is a barker, horrible on his leash, constantly trying to get in the garbage, etc. We adjusted our lives for him. Like Beth said, you can not have the same expectations for your dogs. Walter is now my best buddy (along with Mickey). He has so many amazing qualities. He is great offleash when we lieave the city (which we now do often), he asks to go to the bathroom, he is amazing with Mickey and he adores the cats in the house. He cuddles and has such a funny personality. He is almost 3 years old and I still see his personality changing from month to month and becoming more confident, friendly and respectful. Seriously, Kirby is so young, I think people forget that sometimes. He also can not be compared to human children or be expected to have human emotions or wants or desires.
Keep with the training. If he is not good off leash, he should not be off leash now. You can always get one of those long training leashes (or a clicker) and work on recall while Franklin gets to run off leash.
Like other people said, find the positives. We had an awful shock when we figured out our whole lifestyle was about to be turned around. I would not have it any other way now. Walter still drives me nuts on occasion but I have learned to laugh it off, appreciate the great things he brings to my life (and they totally outweigh the headaches in the big picture) and do everything I possibly can to keep him out of trouble and from pissing me off!!! :)
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