I have a 3 year old Boston Terrier who I have recently taken away all his toys,he used to be allowed to have them all, all the time, and the same with his food, I know this was wrong, and I have no excuse other than I felt sorry for him as I was recovering from a spinal injury that required surgery and a few months of healing where I could not give as much time and attention as usual to him (he is very active to say the least)and appearantly from everything I have been learning here a little dominant and then not to mention I got LAZY..... But i have realized I have been perpetuating behaviors in him I do not like,, so 3-4 days ago I put all the toys,except a bone to chew,, up in the same closet where I keep all of his stuff, so pretty much everything in there is his.And have also put him on a feeding schedule,,,,now he eats after we do and I no longer free feed him,,,but he is sitting at the door and barking or whining or this kind of whiney/bark that he does and I feel it is demanding,,,,but all my friends think it is sooo cute ( they laugh and he gets even more excited and loud),,,,am I right to think it is rude and him demanding attention or food or to take him for a walk or give him a treat???? I apologize if this is a long post,,,I just want to get this right should I ignore or correct for what I perceive to be dominant behavior.

Thanks in advance
Michele and "Radio"

Your friends are rewarding it every single time he does it. They are training him to do it.

THEY need training.

JMO.

I agree about my friends and have no problem correcting them,,,but should I correct him or just ignore it when he does this behavior????

 Quote: Michele Holleman

I agree about my friends and have no problem correcting them,,,but should I correct him or just ignore it when he does this behavior????

EVERYone has to ignore him.

He is continuing because he is being rewarded.

Michele,
I would ignore it, but, make sure you tell your friends that they HAVE to ignore it as well or they can leave.
Sorry, don't mean to sound harsh, but they need to respect you and the training of your dog.

I have done it to my friends (and family). Most of the time my dogs are crated if we have company, or they are outside in their kennel runs.

If you are unable to still move around good, there is nothing wrong with your dog having a "free" toy to let him have while you are busy.
You can always use a food reward or a toy reward when he is quietly sitting or lying after a barking spell......if he barks and whines at the door....ignore.....then once he is quiet and calm, give him a treat and make a big deal out of it.

Just my two cents and I am sure you will get more suggestions.
Good luck and keep us posted...

I agree that you should ignore his vocalizations and I agree it's vital that your friends either do as you ask or not be allowed to play with him at all because they are totally undermining you. Free feeding is not such good thing, so it's good you are getting him on a schedule.

Many unwanted behaviours dissipate if the dog is exercised enough - a tired dog is a good dog!

I'm not sure why you put up his toys. The dog can't associate the removal of his toys with a behaviour on his part that you didn't like. Some dogs get bored with a lot of toys, so if you rotate them from day to day they sometimes have renewed interest in them.

I forgot to ask & was curious as to how he gets along with your other dog?

I also agree with the ignoring.

I think friends and family are more difficult to train then the dogs. So few people understand about pack structure and they think you're being unfair or going overboard. Everytime my mother-out-law comes over with her dogs (One is a Boston Terrier)I have to tell her to butt out and I put her dogs on leashes to work with them. The other posters a right. You gotta tell your friends to get with the program when they come over. If not, you could make progress, then your dog will regress as soon as they come over.

 Quote: eric dziedzic

So few people understand about pack structure and they think you're being unfair or going overboard.

So true. We have a few friends with dogs that we encounter while walking ours through our quiet wooded city park - they're the kind of people that let their (allbeit VERY sweet and good natured) dogs run willy nilly and crowd passerbys for attention and treats. Oscar is often off lead (under control and put in heel when passing others) and while he knows and plays well with all of their dogs, we have instituted a NO TREAT rule when we meet up - food is a trigger for pack rank issues with our boy. Consequently we get looked at as the BAD GUYS for not allowing our dog to be given handouts! Now, if we did nothing and let chaos ensue after our dog felt the need to compete for a tidbit of cookie, we'd surely be labeled bad guys again, for having an aggressive dog... damned if you do, damned if you don't

For everyone's sake though, it's far better to look like a control freak than suffer the consequences of a constantly unruly dog, or a situation you could have prevented (your friends and family eventually go home - the dog is with you for life).

~Natalya

Thanks for all the responses I have been ignoring the vocalizations and it is getting better already.....I guess that's why my mom used to say no audience no performance.... In answer to Susan's question I do not have another dog in the home at this time,,,we did have an Am Staff puppy for about 3 months,,,, a couple of years ago,,,, and he was constantly playing fighting and wrestling the pup when they were together. Due to personal reasons we thought it best to rehome the Am Staff.

I put the toys away because he they were everywhere and he would throw them at you if you sat down or bump you with them as you walked away from him,and then he decided to move them to my bed when I was not home. He sleeps in a crate at night,but during the day when I am @ work he appearantly uses my bed as his....so i have been telling him no when he jumps up there @ first he thought it was a game and would play bow and bark @ me, but as soon as i would make a move toward him to move him off the bed he would peel out and start running around the house,
like he does when we play. That was day 1 by day 2 I was finally smart enough to shut the door to my room when I am not watching him, today is day 3 and he now seems to be favoring a spot on the floor at the head of the bed when I go in there to rest.
Again thanks fo all the responses and thanks to owners and moderators of the board for having a quality place to come and ask questions and be mentored by experienced people with good information.

Michele

Ugh, I hate friends like that. When I give my dog a correction and someone says, "Oh, he's fine!". Umm.. no he's not.

Anyway, minirant aside, I have a dog who is very dominant and has recently taken to scratching madly at the windows and sliding door and demanding to go outside, often barking. He's on a schedule and doesn't go outside unless I say so, plus, if he really has to "go" he has to scratch at the front door, not the window. He has put gaping slashes in the screens of one window and knocked the other one out, so this is a very dominant and destructive behaviour. He doesn't stop if I ignore him, he doesn't stop for any correction I've given so far (although I don't have an e-collar and am considering using that) so if he keeps it up, he gets locked up, plain and simple. So far it's working.

I don't know if this will work with your dog. My feeling would be to ignore him and if you really get sick of it, give a correction, but a very cold one, without a lot of emotion. If you give too much emotion, that would be considered getting attention which may be reward enough to keep doing it.