Need some Advice on Breaking Bad Behavior(sorry, it's long)
 

I have been at my wits end with my older dog Princeton for a while now...and I haven't gotten a good nights sleep for at least a year because of his behavior.

Here is my issue...Prince is very smart and is able to communicate his wants well...When he wants out, he goes to the door and scratches. When he wants water, he will go stand by where his water dish is/should be. If he wants food, he will run back and forth between his food dish and the fridge. If he wants treats, he will run to his treat shelf and if he wants to go to bed, he will talk(a mix between barking and growling) while he runs back towards the bedroom and back to the living room.

If I ignore his requests, he gets more persistent. He will get louder and he will paw at me(which can hurt) and he will get right in my face to make sure I see he wants something. He is relentless until he gets his way.

At night, is the main problem. We start out in the living room with him running back and forth to his treats. One or a few treats aren't enough to satisfy him, so he's constantly begging. Eventually, when he thinks it's time to go to bed, he is relentless....He will get so loud and obnoxious with his wining and crying, that it's impossible to watch tv and it's easier to give in and just go to bed than it is to deal with him.

And the worst though is in bed. If he's not sleeping, I am not either. He will want out several times a night(Last night, I got up 8 times to let him out...sometimes, he just wanted to sit outside and didn't even have to go potty)....and he will sit and talk at the end of the bed if I don't pay attention to him and if that doesn't work, he's right in my face, pawing at my face and talking and eventually barking until he gets his way....usually, he wants treats or to go outside. I tried to pick up his water at night so he had to potty less, but all he did is get me up to get him water. He makes it impossible to sleep and I am ready to rip my hair out.

I ended up getting out the rolled up newspaper last night...I'd never hit my dog, but I did hit my hand and the loud noise barely startled him. All it did was scare Ricky(who did nothing wrong) and he ran to the closet to hide. Prince knows I am not going to hit him with the paper, so he could have cared less about it.

I wish ignoring his bad behavior would work, but it doesn't. On top of that, if I ignore him and don't get up when he gets out of bed, he will just go pee somewhere in the kitchen He used to not have access to get on and off the bed and he'd sleep most of the night, but if I don't have stairs for Ricky, Ricky will try to jump up and down off the bed and will hurt himself...so taking away their ability to freely get up and down off the bed is not an option.

I've been hesitant to crate Prince because he's always slept in bed with me and his prior owners. On top of that, how do I crate him, but let Ricky sleep in the bed...but on the other hand, why should Ricky have to sleep in a crate when he's fine in bed??

I tell Prince "No" but he doesn't seem to know what it means and he doesn't take me too serious and he is definitely ruling the roost, so to speak...so how do I break him of this awful habit he's picked up? How do I make him realize that his behavior is unacceptable and unwanted in the middle of the night, while doing it in the most humane way??

Do I crate him when he starts pestering me?? I know that the crate is not supposed to be a place of punishment, but on the other hand, I think he would probably get the picture if he was removed from his beloved bed when he starts acting out.

Oh, my, you have a spoiled rotten baby just like I do but mine minds me and will go lie down if I suggest it strongly and really mean it, just because he wants to please me and has learned that doing so is more rewarding than not doing it. My Tibbe would be just like your guy if I hadn't reshaped his behavior and made him want to behave. It takes work and training but it is so rewarding and at the end of 6 months or so, you have a different dog and in a year, you have a little prince who is a joy to have around.

This guy needs some boundaries that you set, tell him "No" if you want him to stop the behavior and don't allow him past your boundary or command without standing up and backing him off until he lowers his head, turns away and leaves the area, having recognized your authority to set the rules. And then you stand there(trying not to smile at how darn cute it is) and wait until he's certain you mean business. And this is where the dog trainer in you comes out and you don't cave when he looks around the door to see if you still mean it if you are in the process of re-training him. No, you point and send him off again until you "release" him, at which time you generously treat and praise him. And if he starts back into his old habit, call him out again and tell him "No", back him off and wait until he's quiet. Later, if he's not asleep or into something else, you can "release" him and allow him to come back to you.

I would start him on Nothing In Life Is Free and keep up the program for a solid month, where he never is allowed to walk ahead of you, never is allowed up on the couch or bed or chair with you unless and until you invite him and has to perform a command(spoke in an upbeat voice and not militantly) before he gets his treats, water, food, outside to potty, toys or anything that he now obtains by begging and browbeating you - cute as it is it IS wearing. He'll love the program as he gets to perform in order to obtain something he wants and he'll quickly learn how cute and smart you think he is for doing it - and he'll learn in the process that doing what you say is what gets him what he wants - not harassing you for it.

As for putting him in his crate, make it a "You Won The Prize!"(excuse the bad grammar) moment, where you yell out that he's won the prize, all happy and excited, and toss some treats in his crate, usher him in while dancing around, clapping your hands and patting him all over as you gather her up and put him in and celebrate his entry into and being in the crate as if he'd just won the lottery! Make a big, big, happy deal out of it and keep saying "You Won The Prize!" and smiling and talking in such an excited voice. Toss him a couple of more treats into the crate, smiling. That way he won't see going into the crate as a downer and you won't feel as guilty.

Leave him in there in his excited and befuddled state for a couple of minutes and let him back out, giving him treats. Next time he "wins the prize", allow him to stay in the crate a bit long and then treat him as he comes out - as if he's performed a great feat, smiling and praising him. Gradually increase his "prize-winning" time in the crate and always celebrate his going in and coming out. He won't get it but he will enjoy it and eventually, he'll come to accept a long time in the crate - if you do it right - without even knowing he was positively reinforced into accepting something he normally might not enjoy as much.

A good obedience training program where you work with him learning how to do basic commands and then adding tricks one at a time will teach him about self-control, how to obey your commands without waiting or questioning and show you how very smart he is - and he is! You will treat and praise him every time he gets it right and keep him working learning, keep his brain busy working for you and not working to get things his way by harassing and wearing you down and in time, you will have a well-behaved dog who is bonded to you in the right way, does what you say with alacrity for your positive reinforcement and is always looking to please you.

Thanks....we got rid of our doggie house guest, so it is going to be training 101 at my house.

My mom told me the other day that my dog had me trained so well:( Hoping if I work with him, it will curb a few of his bad doggie behaviors!! I've tried before and I didn't stick with it because I started to feel guilty...like I am hurting him by putting him in his cage...or like he's going to starve to death if I don't overfeed him with treats. I know, stupid right?!?

Do not feel guilty, a well trained dog is a happy dog as he knows what is expected of him. Find jobs for them to do, it builds their confidence knowing what you want, instead of scolding bad looks and confusion. The "no" command is probably the most useful base command, that will come into play training other commands. "Go Potty" is my other favorite, as this allows you to get the dog to go on command, say before going to bed, going on a car trip or what ever.


Use their natural traits to find new things to train them to do. You'll get a kick out of it as will the dog and amaze your visitors how smart he is. Dogs will easily learn as many commands as you can teach them, 100-140 different is possible. The more you train them the more they can sense what you want. I always talk to my dogs as if they were people as they can sense your meaning most of the time.

Stick to that training and setting boundaries and NILIF and your dog will reward you wi a happy, self-confident, well-behaved nature who is thrilled to do what you ask of him and won't harass you with staring, pacing back and forth and continually begging for things. And reward him with a walk instead of treats if he's gaining weight - he'll get more from it.

I'm restarting crate training of my 3y/o Yorkist. She sleeps with me also. She uses pet steps to a paper for a midnight pee. Lately she's been doing #2s wherever she wants despite a walking/eating schedule.

It may be a little spite related to not liking my younger pup. I don't care. It's back to basics. My trainer says it can be done with time & care.

Good luck.

Tracey

How often do you give in to his whining? I had that problem with Joel and I didn't even notice until my sister told me I was doing it lol. I never told him 'no' and pretty much got him whatever he wanted because I knew he would go crazy, but I thought it was normal.
He was about 1 when my sister pointed it out and said I need to tell him 'no' so I started with his treats which he whined a lot for. He was not happy and the first few days were rough but he eventually got the idea. Now he listens a lot better......most the time:p

I gave into it all of the time...especially at night because I just wanted to get some sleep. Back when he had teeth, I'd go through 4-5 dentasticks with him on bad nights just to placate him and shut him up. I even would get up at night to give him a midnight snack in hopes that he would go to sleep afterwards.

haha. He's addicted to attention and sadly, though they are cute even as they keep harassing us for things(a Yorkie stamping his foot to get what he wants IS adorable - face it), it begins to wear one down to have a dog that ALWAYS has needs and a long list of requirements in order to be satisfied. Start that training and life-enrichment activity and puzzles, set your boundaries and send him to his bed when he begins to break you down. He'll get it that he's not always in need of constant entertainment in time and begin to get more into and from his learning, training and working with you - feel much more satisfied with his life and less needy. In the long run, you'll spend less time in training and walking and playing challenging games with him than you do now fetching and doing things for him and always reacting to his constant wants.

Prince won the prize and got put in his crate last night. He was begging, so I put him in the cage and gave him his treat. I left him in there for about 15 minutes and he just sat and stared until I let him out. He spent A LOT of time in a crate at his last owners so he's no stranger to it. Ricky on the other hand, does not do as well in a crate.

After I let Prince out, I started working on their "stay" command. Ricky doesn't have the attention span that Prince does. He gets bored easily and gets up. Prince, on the other hand is so treat driven that he will sit and wait until he gets his treat. The only problem is, when I put him in a down/stay, he rolls over and wants belly rubs.

Prince is also somewhat confused with commands. He already knows, sit, down, shake, touch, and play dead. I think the hand commands I use with the words are what's confusing him.


I can't wait until they learn the "stay" command though. The pizza guy came last night and it would have been so nice to not have them barking at his heels.

I'd be willing to bet you might be leaving them in the stay too long if one or both get up from the stay before your "release". Just start out with them staying for about 5 seconds - whatever they can control - and then release, treat and praise. Keep them at that short stay until they can hold it every time you ask for 6 or 7 times in a row over the day's training sessions and then advance to 7 or 8 second stays, release, treat and praise. Keep working up in very short increments of 2 or 3 stays per session and don't make the training sessions very long at all. Better to have short, more frequent sessions for a dog then boring them with repeating commands too often in a single session. My max for Tibbe is about 3 x per command and move on to the next thing to a max of 5 minutes per training session. And I used to get in 2 - 3 training sessions per day. But every so often, I would ask him to do just one command or trick sometime during the day out of the blue and that way we'd slowly build up on his impulse control and get in an extra trick here and there if he were having trouble getting one.

As far as the staying when you have a visitor or caller at the door, that is one of the hardest to train and keep current for these little terriers! It takes a great deal of training to achieve that in a high-energy, socially-needed dog so don't expect that to come for a long, long time unless you work intensively on that with a helper who calls frequently at the door to inure them to someone coming, knocking and exciting them. Just work on the small things at first, not allowing them to cross your boundaries of behavior and don't despise small beginnings, as my old grandmother used to say! :D

If he's up at night, eating, begging, going out and such... what does he do during the day?

After you get the stay down, a "place" command is very useful. This is the command for visitors or if you take your pup to a friends house, restaurant. Place is same as stay(different hand signal), but instead of freezing the pup, it is an area command. They can sit, lay, circle and move as long as they stay within the designated area. I use a shaker can to teach this (rattle can with pennies to make sudden noise).

I wake up some mornings with my hair in knots. DH says Finny digs on my head till I pull the covers over my head, Then he puts her on the floor. I could sleep through WWIII.

haha! My sister had a dog that did that - would dig in her hair! We thought that was the only dog that did that but now I see he wasn't!!! Funny!