hi,
about two month ago (maybe three) I adopted a dog. He's a German Shepherd, two years old.
Everything is wonderful except several things. I've got the training done very well. He knows sit, heel, down, stay, and come. He performs these commands perfectly. when I got him he already knew these commands, but I polished them. I have no idea whether he was trained in marker training so I'm going to start with the basics now. Anyway, this is not the reason for the post.
Whenever I'm in the house with him he is on his best behavior. However, when I leave the house he opens doors, jumps onto sofas and beds, looks for things on the counter and stovetop in the kitchen (and occasionally eats things within reach), etc. Yesterday, I came home from work and found a dead bird (half eaten) with feathers all over the living room.
In the beginning I used to keep him in the crate. Eventually, I let him out. In the beginning, he did not behave this way. Furthermore, I leave for work at 9:15 in the morning and come back at 17:30 - 18:00. I feel that I cannot leave him inside the crate for that long a time.
how can I teach him not to jump on the kitchen counter/beds/sofas?
Reg: 12-04-2007
Posts: 2781
Loc: Upper Left hand corner, USA
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How important is it that your dog is out of the crate while you're not at home? Personally I don't allow most of my dogs free reign over my house while I am not home. That privileged is won through good behavior while I leave the home for a few minutes at a time in the beginning and eventually extends to several hours. If I have doubts the dog is crated and of my six dogs only the two eldest have earned the unsupervised freedom award of being uncrated while I'm at work.
A dog left to his own devices will behave as a dog.
I would crate the dog. Think of it this way. You can't prevent bad (to us)behavior if you are not there to correct the dog each time. And, the more times s/he gets away with behavior that is unacceptable to us but rewarding to the dog, the more difficult it will be to stop the behavior. Besides that, what if the dog should chew on electrical cords or get swallow something poisonous or dangerous in some other way (i.e. sharp)?
I would also keep the dog crated while you're not there to supervise. Look at it this way, his "job" while you are not there is to rest up and be ready for the fun stuff to happen when you return. He's safest and best able to do that in his crate.
Reg: 12-01-2005
Posts: 70
Loc: Northern California
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How about putting him in an almost empty bedroom? That way he can stretch his legs, get a drink, etc. but will not have all the kitchen/furniture temptations to deal with. That's how I weaned mine from crate to house privileges. It really won't kill him to be crated while you're at work though. Good luck!
Reg: 12-04-2007
Posts: 2781
Loc: Upper Left hand corner, USA
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Quote: Melissa Snider
How about putting him in an almost empty bedroom? That way he can stretch his legs, get a drink, etc. but will not have all the kitchen/furniture temptations to deal with. That's how I weaned mine from crate to house privileges. It really won't kill him to be crated while you're at work though. Good luck!
Well I guess the dog knows how to open doors. Also if you've never experienced the joy of patching drywall or replacing chewed molding I never suggest it. I still remember when my grandfather's dog dug through a interior door to get out of a bedroom. Oh ... those were the days.
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