This is going to be long, im new here and this should be everything you need to know about me, my situation, and my pets.

My biggest motivation in training my dogs is for safety. We had the chi run out the door a few times and this dog is beyond fast, near impossibly to catch and It scared me to death.

Two years ago I rescued a chihuaua that was being severly abused. He was crated almost 24/7 and living in his own waste. He was hand shy, which I assume stems from being hit(maybe not?). He was flea infested beyond belief. He is not one of those cute little chi's. He is a tri-color and about 7 pounds, so he is big. He was a girls cute little toy while he was small and then she no longer wanted him as he was not a 'toy chi'. Her boyfriend was said to have hit him.

When we first got him. He bit, attacked and generally hid and ignored us. Generally as we treated him well and took care of him he began to trust us. He now has done a 180 and is an amazing dog. He for the most part is potty trained, he has an accident here and there. He no longer bites, he really is a good dog now. Ive trained him to come, sit, down, up, and stay. He perfoms all these tasks to a spectacular level when I reward him with a treat. If I dont have a treat its very hard to get him to do such tasks. So my questions are.. How do I get him to do these tasks when I do not have treats? How can I get him to be more responsive to what I want him to do when I dont have treats? Few more problems... When I ask him to come, its in a very happy voice, he submissivly crawls very slowly to me like he is terrified. He also has very agressive tendencies to protect my girlfriend if I try to touch her. This has been solved by no longer letting him sleep in the bed with us or on the furniture(advice taken from this site).

About three months ago, we found another dog we wanted to rescue. She was a beagle, doxie mix. about 2 months old. She has some health problems, she has two 'extra' ribs floating around inside. (which is why the owners didnt want her). She is coming along great, she sits stays and come. She is having a little hard time learning the down command but with time Im hoping she will catch on.

Things ive been working on.

FIfteen minutes each day with each dog individually is spent learning and practicing tricks.
We do the fallowing...
Sit command
Down command
Stay command
Come command
These are all performed very well when we have treats.
We are also crate training these dogs. They are asked to come, then sit infront of the crate, then asked to go into the crate then rewarded with a treat. When they come out, we open the crate and expect them to sit there until release. Upon releasing them we take them to the door ask them to sit and then take them to the bathroom.

They are taken on an hour walk 5 times a week or more.
So what do you think im doing wrong or should change?

1. You are using the treats as bribes rather than rewards, right? (Showing them while asking for a behavior?)

2. What word do you use for the recall with the terrified-acting one? Maybe start over with a new recall word. He may have been called to be corrected.

3. You might want to read this:
http://leerburg.com/markers.htm

This is just to get started. Lots of questions, and I don't want to overwhelm you with a novel. :>

Oh, and is the aggression when you approach your girlfriend 100% gone? (I wouldn't call that protection, BTW; it can be resource-guarding; he "owns" her, you are touching his possession.)

Do you have a drag-line the runner can be on while you are working on the recall and the behavior at the open door?


Good going so far! All this can be addressed. You will probably want to get the LB video #302 and read that marker article (above post) while you wait for it; it'll turn the training around to use markers properly and to use rewards as rewards. Bribing doesn't work if you have no bribe. :>

Wow, thanks for the quick reply and all the information.

I dont exactly show them the treat, yet they know I have it so it may be a bribe, something I shall work on.

I have tried a drag line. On the chiuhaua, when I use a drag line and correct him he cowers down and does not move. With the beale/doxie I use a drag line and she wont do a dang thing with it on. She wont sit come stay, nada!

Ill give that article a try. For me this site is a little hard to navigate.

Markers

There you go Dale, one to get you started. This one was under e-books...

Sounds like you are doing well in general and I am with Connie and what she said.

Does the doxie wear the drag line all the time? If not, you can always put a shorter one on her and let her drag it all the time. She will get used to it and also used to doing things with it on.

 Quote: Dale Stoneburg

I have tried a drag line. On the chiuhaua, when I use a drag line and correct him he cowers down and does not move.

Exactly what kind of correction? Leash, verbal....?

Most of all the correction I use currently have been verbal.. IE if they get on furniture a simple NO usually gets them off. But recently ive been doing a 'snap' of the leash when the chi wont come. And that correction is what makes him cower. I could possibly be doing it wrong, but this is how I understand a light correction is done.

I think I wll start leaving drag lines on them to make them more comfortable. The only problem I forsee is the doxie likes to chew. She chewed sraight through her color one night. And she gets plenty of chew toys!

ok, i got my chi from almost the exact same conditions-and he too is big, 8.5 ish lbs....
he tore me up the first day, hid at the back of his crate, and sat in his crap.
I just put on some gardening gloves, and let him go at it. It took one day of that, and he learned that i was NOT going to back down because he bit, and that he was wasting energy, and he stopped and has never tried to bite me again.
And oddly enough, i have the same trouble correcting him.
I have never over corrected him, that i am aware, and if i walk up to him really fast or catch him off guard, he is showing belly.
I pop his leash, he is showing belly, BUT, he is right back up, doing exactly the same thing.

I bought him a micro prong, and that helps a ton, but i feel like i am not correcting hard enough judging by his still doing whatever he wants, but at the moment of correction, for about 5 seconds, he acts like his life is over. I again have never hit him, shook him or anything, but he still just lays down and shows belly when i walk up to him, which might not even be a bad thing, as i ca't stand bouncing dogs.

Thats almost exactly how mine acts. He shows belly alot of just cowers.

yep, he acts like is terrified of me sometimes, for nothing. i wont be mad o rupset or anything. But he still is a brazen little dog, who as i mentioned in another thread, after being sick with parvo, walked up to a huge intact male pit bull and peed on him.

There are times when i pop the leash or give a verbal, and he just falls apart. but i know he doesn't, and needs harder sometimes.
Anyone out there have a lot of experience correcting chis? I feel like i am going to break him sometimes......