Exercize is the fastest and easiest way to make an impact right away. having a yard for them to be in is not the same as spending an hour completely tiring them out. Dexter suffers from aggression and if a slack with the exercize, i can see a difference right away. we walk to a park at least once a day and i throw a ball for him for about 45 mins - an hour. i also run the pups around in the house or the back yard throughout the day when possible. I have a feeling exercize will drastically help the barking at night issue. there are times where we get back from the park and both pups crash to the point of snoring within minutes!
agression takes so much more work. Dexter is 4 years old and i am still working with him with very slow results. he will bite us when bathing, nail trimming, hair cuts, etc. the key is to not disipline...but to recondition with positive reinforcement. this is hard because it takes a very long time to do and sometimes they need a bath NOW. haha. this involves taking something they hate and making it into something they like...through treats, praise, treats, toys and more treats! Dexter is at the point now where i can get him to come to me when i have scissors (he comes slowly with his head down...but on his own accord) and he lets me grab a clump of hair, cut it and he gets praise and a treat right after that. it takes a few days for him to get a full haircut and almost a full bag of treats! lol. the only way we built up to this is by him getting treats and praise when i had scissors in my hand, then pet him while i had scissors...then open and close them while he got treats....etc etc.
there is a book i recommend called "MINE!" that is a guide to resource guarding that helped me a lot. i can't remember the name of the author. |