Hi,

I live with my 3-year old German Sheperd, female, along with my room-mates' 2 other Shepherd mixes, also females. Mine, Pita, is well trained, smart, and has developed a habit that is driving me nuts. Her grandpa is a K-9 dog, and her grandma is a narcotics dog. Pita, my dog, has a very high prey drive.

Any time I stand up and get ready to move to another room, she leaps to her feet, and dashes to either the bedroom or the back door, depending on which direction I move. If I go to the back door (and this happens any time I let the dogs outside) she barks, leaps in the air, sometimes scratches on the door, and acts the goof. Trying to let her outside in the morning without waking the household is impossible. The other two dogs just kind of amble to the door and patiently wait.

I am purchasing a Dogtra E-collar, along with Ed's DVD on Remote Collar training for the pet owner. I have worked her in obedience and she is a very good dog, except for this quirk.

I plan on using the e-collar to help stop her fence running outside. But that's another post.

Any suggestions on how to get her to calm down and walk? How can I get her to quit trying to beat me to the door, or bedroom, or anywhere? She does pretty well on a leash, and doesn't seem to have this problem outside. Just inside - any time I move! LOL

Thank you for your help.

Theresa and Pita

Marker training. Have you tried using marker training with this dog? Also, how much exercise is she getting? I have found exercise cures a wide range of annoying behaviors...

If her obedience is good, start puttting her on a down or send her to her place before you move. If you move and she moves, no treats and you start over. I would beef up her exercise, beef up her obedience and add the "distraction" of you getting out of the chair before adding corrections like an ecollar. JMHO.

WELCOME to the forum! I just saw this was your first post!

Thanks very much - all good advice. I've been surfing this board for about two years. I have learned so much. Yes, my dog needs more exercise. I get her out as often as I can, but I work full time and am single. I just purchased an ecollar. So I am hoping that will help, I know it will help. I'm also going to buy one of Ed's (I already have 5 or 6) DVD's on Ecollar training for me. Ed's DVD's are very worthwhile. I think I just need to be more consistent.

Thank you for helping!
Theresa Greene

My advice to people who work and aren't able to get as much exercise on the dog, is to search craig's list and yard sales for an old used treadmill.

Its not all that hard to teach a dog to run on the treadmill with marker training, and its something you can do even after dark, just before bed.

Even I sometimes have to resort to tossing my dog on the treadmill when the day gets too crazy to squeeze in a run with her.

 Quote: Theresa_Greene

Thanks very much - all good advice. I've been surfing this board for about two years. I have learned so much. Yes, my dog needs more exercise. I get her out as often as I can, but I work full time and am single. I just purchased an ecollar. So I am hoping that will help, I know it will help. I'm also going to buy one of Ed's (I already have 5 or 6) DVD's on Ecollar training for me. Ed's DVD's are very worthwhile. I think I just need to be more consistent.

Thank you for helping!
Theresa Greene

How do you plan to use the ecollar for this situation?

I am going to wait to use it until I get Ed's DVD. After watching the DVD, I will then ask for some advice and different things to try on this forum.

What would you if she were your dog? She's a great dog, except for this silly thing.

Thanks!

Theresa

marker training as everyone said - or food treats. I had a problem w/ my 3 dogs. They would sit patiently on command for me to open the door to come inside when I got home from work, but as soon as they got in the house they made a wild dash thru the laundry, living room, and into the bedroom. Flying across the slick floors. I could recall them but by then if they were muddy it was too late!

So I started by closing the laundry door and letting them into that small room and feeding them dog biscuits for just being in that room. gradually shaped to a more quiet behavior (sitting). Then I left the laundry door open and let them in. At first they forgot and did their routine dash. but pretty soon they realized the food was at the original door they came thru. And they would stop in the laundry room waiting for their treat before going further into the house.

Maybe you can retrain your dog that when you get up to go into another room, she gets a treat for laying down. Teach her "back up" as well (done very well in the Ellis series of DVDs, forget which one). and "wait". Do it every time and you'll start to see progress. At first I had to use body language (pushing into or toward dog) but now I can say "back up" at the door and they back off.

Also teach your dog to have a "spot" in the house where she stays regardless of where you are. Living w/ multiple large dogs, this can be very helpful for everyday life!

I don't think you'd need e-collar for this, just marker/food training.

 Quote: theresa_greene

What would you if she were your dog? She's a great dog, except for this silly thing.

Personally, I would really go for the positive way first - marker training and beefing up the obedience. Falcon used to drive me NUTS when ever he thought we were going in the car - he LOVES to get in the car. He'd practically knock me down when I'd get my keys, then he would jump on the car, etc... We just started training sitting at the door before going out - If he'd move when I opened the door, I shut the door. Repeat as needed. At the car - same thing - sit patiently for me to open the door. If he broke the sit, no go. I'd work on this when we were NOT going anywhere so I wasn't rushed or frustrated. It helped in two ways - not only did he learn "car manners" it also took some of the excitement off because he realized very quickly just because I had keys and we were at the car - that didn't mean he was going anywhere.

I'm not oppossed to the e-collar and think it is a great tool in the right situation. We use it for cat issues and when outside on our property off lead.

Marker training... marker training. Read about it and give it some thought and then we can help you with how to go about incorporating it with re-training your dog on getting to go outside.

Keep her in a down until you tell her to move.



If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

 Quote: randy allen

Keep her in a down until you tell her to move.



If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

Pretty much what I said except you said it with 11 words and I used oh, I dunno, over 200.