Sorry for such a long post. Had to try and hit all the topics at once. I’m looking for advice concerning some problems with my 2 ½ yr old female GSD. She is primarily the family pet, has been spayed and been to puppy obedience class, so she knows basic commands rather well. For the most part when outside and directly around the house (except for structured walks), she is off leash because we live on 10 wooded acres, 2.5 of which are occupied by house and yard. She has very high drive and loves to be outside, run through the yard and the woods and to just be with us. In the house she must always be where I am and follows me around everywhere, which I consider to be a good thing. I consider her to be a very intelligent dog and there are many daily activities and spoken words that will cause her to display a look and reaction indicating she knows exactly what we are talking about or what is about to happen. Words and phrases that get her going are “ball”, “get the mail”, “take the garbage out”, “go outside”, or saying anything about a squirrel.

Here are three situations, which occur in the house as well as outside, that I would appreciate some advice on. I think the last two should be corrected before she gets much older.

1. Licking, licking, licking! This is not a huge problem, but can be annoying. She must always be licking anytime I’m petting her, or my face is close to her. Especially when I come home and I’m petting her she has to have her mouth by my hand, either licking, or touching. Isn’t this her way of showing affection? Is this something that needs to be corrected or is she just an overly affectionate dog?

2. Barking, barking, barking! I’ve read how some people can’t get your dogs to stop barking and other dogs won’t bark at anything. My dog is a barker. How do I control this reaction when people come to the door? Applies too when people approach when we are outside. She used to be very alert to doorbells, or knocking sounds on TV, but that has stopped. That was really comical! That was really comical! When someone actually does ring the doorbell or knock on the door she runs to the door and barks constantly. I just read the comments and question on the page about the Tri Tronic – No Bark Collars and one is very similar to my situation. Why does she bark so much when people come to the door? Is she just being protective? We try to avoid confrontations by telling her “crate” and use that command like a child’s “time-out chair”. We use that quite often before answering the door. This “crate” is an area which is now only a representation of where her real crate used to be when she was a pup, but she still knows it as her place to go when instructed to do so even if there is no physical crate there. The real crate has been moved to the garage and is where she goes when we are away from the house. I appreciate her protectiveness, but can’t always be fending off the dog when greeting guests. How do you communicate to her that people at the door are OK? What type of correction is needed for this situation?

3. Why does my dog know and obey the “come” command in the house or in a controlled situation, but selectively obeys when outside off leash? I know she hears the command, but is she too distracted or preoccupied, or just ignoring me? I know if I were to put her in a sit/stay at one end of the yard and walk about 100 ft away and tell her “come” she’d come running, but when she picks up a rock out of the landscaping and I tell her to drop it, she starts this game of “catch me if you can” and runs around the yard and will not come when I call her. Lately she has discovered our next door neighbor’s dog which they keep in an outside kennel. The neighbor is a ways away on the other side of our property. Sometimes after my dog pees she’ll take off and run over there. When I call her she refuses to come and I have to go there and get her. Now, I’m starting to use a retractable lead when we go outside to take care of bathroom duties. I’m not chasing her in 2 ft of snow and 10 degree weather!

One other last quirk. Why does my dog go up and down the inside carpeted stairs but refuses to go down the stairs leading to the basement, which are plain wood? I’ve tried coaxing her with treats, gently leading her on the leash and nothing works. Any suggestions? She doesn’t like hardwood floors too much either. Kinda like walking on ice.

Will the electric collar take care of the barking and “come” command? Can it be used to enforce the “come” command when she is off the leash as well as for the barking problem?

I know I’ll get blasted for so much off leash activities when outside, but she is really pretty good at staying around when I’m working outside. I just have to know where she is all the time. Thanks anyway for all comments and suggestions.

For the barking, the first thing I'd try is to teach her to bark on command. Once she'll do that you can teach her a stop barking command. Outside, she should be on a long line so that you can enforce the come command. Right now you are teaching her that she does not have to obey you when she's outside. If you don't have a way to enforce the command, don't use it. You have to train the dog in various locations and under various circumstances (from no distractions to high-level distractions) starting at the learning level each time. Dogs do not generalize well. But, all in all it sounds like you have a very nice pet.

You can mess up a dog pretty well with an electric collar/remote trainer (or any training equipment) if you don't know how to use it right.

This will teach you how to solve your problems

1. The licking is normal. If you try to correct you will make her uncomfortable/stressed/fearful when you pet her.

2. Barking at the door/people
The advise to train it on cue, then teach "enough" is good

Along with that, you can reinforce an incompatible behavior. (Examples: A dog cannot mouth a tug while it is running, a dog cannot jump when it is lying down)

Your dog cannot bark if it is eating. However, if your dog recieves a treat AFTER it barks, you will have reinforced the barking and make it more difficult to train.

3.

 Quote:

Outside, she should be on a long line so that you can enforce the come command. Right now you are teaching her that she does not have to obey you when she's outside. If you don't have a way to enforce the command, don't use it. You have to train the dog in various locations and under various circumstances (from no distractions to high-level distractions) starting at the learning level each time.

Well said!

1. The licking in my opinion should be fixed. I have cats and at one point or another, have caught all 3 of my dogs in the litter box. A dog licking me with the same tongue that he uses to lick his butt and eat cat poop is just not acceptable. Licking is a natural, submissive behavior. Pups do it to parents to stimulate the parents to regurgitate a meal for the pups and lower ranking pack members do it to pack leaders as a sign of submission. So you don't want to fight it totally (or correct a dog harshly for it), you just want to teach the dog that other natural submissive behaviors are more pleasing to you and are more likely to produce the desired response. For example, if the dog licks you, and you say "no licking" and push the dog away or walk away, the dog doesn't get what it wants. On the other hand, if the dog walks up to you and sits down and looks at you with "puppy dog eyes", you pet it, show affection, etc.... it gets what it wants. I've taught all 3 of my dogs that when they want affection from someone that they are to approach, and sit patiently. I tell my guests that if the dog walks up to them, sits down and looks up at them, that the dog wants to be pet by them. Most guests (even "non-dog people") find this attention seeking behavior much more pleasant than a rambunctious, jumping, licking dog.

2. As for the barking, the e-collar can help. Training to bark on command, and then to be quite on command is a start. Also, telling the dog to do something it knows how to do may help such as a down stay from across the room. If the dog truly sees you as pack leader, it will trust your acceptance of the person at the door. I allow my dogs to bark at the door and act protective. But on command, they all go and lay down about 15 feet from my front door.

3. E-collars are worth their weight in gold for teaching a reliable recall in my opinion. I have 3, relatively well trained dogs, but all of them know that they can EASILY run circles around me all day long if they want to so a "level 10" distraction would overrule my "here" command with all 3 of them. They were even more likely to ignore a recall command when they were out together and would get worked up and feed off each other's energy. For example, if one of them decided to take off after a cat, they were all going. Of course, they would obey under normal circumstances, but each of them had at least one "bait" that would make them disobey a recall command. The e-collar, if used properly, makes this problem almost non-existent. I see the potential for abuse with e-collars, but all corrective tools can be abused. Now, with the e-collar, all 3 of my dogs have what I would call an EXCEPTIONAL recall under heavy distraction now. And the correct response is so conditioned, that even without the e-collar, their response to the command is almost instant regardless of whether or not they have their collars on.

As for the walking up and down wooden stairs, you kind of answered your own question. She’s not comfortable on slick surfaces and walking down stairs into an unknown area that’s likely to be dark or claustrophobic while having unsure footing… I wouldn’t worry about it and if there’s ever a good reason for her to be down there (like a tornado or something) I’d just carry her. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the tips, Elaine. Concerning the barking, we have taught her to speak for a treat, even to the point of whispering (very soft quiet bark). What would seem hard to do is teach her to stop barking. I try using the words quiet, stop, or enough, but she is very much a whiner and crier if told to lie down, stay and not allowed to run to the door. I am trying to continue to do this until people have entered the house and are settled, then I have her stay where she is and greet people properly. As for the long line, my long line right now is a 30’ piece of rope. I think I may need to use it more. I should spring for a nice quality long lead of the nylon web type. It’s all a learning process, both for owner and dog and I have no doubt that she can be trained to be very well behaved.

Having had collies (known barkers), I can tell you what worked for me. Set the dog up by knocking on the door or even the wall when she's not looking. If she's anything like most dogs I've known, she'll start barking. At that point say something like, "Who's that?" and look out the window as if checking. Then give her your stop barking command one time (choose one to use) in a low, commanding voice. Wait until she stops barking. Then, praise her for being quiet and, if you coose to, give her a treat. Also, during this learning phase, have family members go out and ring the doorbell and follow the same steps as with the knocking.

Once she understands what the stop barking command means, ask friends to help you with the next, proofing stage. Have someone knock on the door or ring the bell. Check to see who it is just as you did above. Then tell her to stop barking and praise her when she does.

One thing I've always done is teach my dogs in phrases or full sentences. For example, someone comes to the door and the dog barks, I'd say something like, "That's enough, it's our friend, John (or Aunt Mary)." People tend to be very impressed that your dog seemingly understands everything you say, and you don't have to tell them that the dog is actually cueing in on certain key words such as "enough" and "friend." <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />