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Labrador playing... with wrong toys



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 20th 07, 03:48 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
udutronik
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Posts: 1
Default Labrador playing... with wrong toys

My 1 year-old labrador is driving me crazy with this behavior:

In the house or in the backyard, she tends to pick up anything that
she can.
Anything except her toys! When i approach her, saying "No" or "Let
go", she
runs away, in what seems a playful behavior. I try raising my voice,
to show
her i'm not playing, but it doesnt work. She hides from me. I have to
take
her in a corner so that she let the object go.

I've also tried "trading" : showing her a toy (Kong or Ball) that she
can chew.
But with no success. She prefers the forbidden.

When i catch her, i dont know what to do. Reward her to finally let it
go? Punish her?

Has anyone a solution?

Thanks in advance...

  #2  
Old August 20th 07, 05:48 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Bill[_2_]
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Posts: 14
Default Labrador playing... with wrong toys

Raising your voice does no good.

Chasing her will make her do the opposite of what you want - don't chase
her.

Don't punish her, that does no good.

What WILL work...

1st - Professional obedience training. This will train you as well.

2nd - After learning how to train your dog, the tools at your disposal
are...

-Your attitude (YOU are the boss PERIOD) chewing on anything other than her
toys is not permitted EVER!

-The word NO! This will only work when you catch her in the act. Say NO!,
then stop her from chewing wrong thing, and place one of her toys in her
mouth, then say GOOD DOGGIE!. Saying NO! is useless 10 seconds after the
act. It must be WHILE she is doing something wrong.

-A leash and training collar. Learn about this at obedience training. Take
her around house/yard and give her opportunities to chew on wrong thing. Say
NO! and correct her with leash (when chewing on wrong thing), give her a dog
chewy/toy, then say Good Doggie! (NO! when chewing on wrong thing, GOOD
DOGGIE! when chewing on right thing.) This can take weeks and lots of
patience.

-Dog repellant spray. Spray anything she should not chew on.

-Anything else which would not taste good to the dog or would be unpleasant
for the dog like some types of noise making devices. Associate these things
(in her mind) with her act of chewing on wrong things.

But keep in mind it is natural for dogs to chew. And chew and chew and chew.
Therefore it is unreasonable to expect the dog to not chew on anything. The
idea is to get the dog to "switch" to dog chews/toys. So have plenty around
for her to chew on. I have several in each room of my house as well as
outside.

My dog has no reason to chew on anything else. There are plenty of her chews
available everywhere! I must have about 40 of these scattered around. My
house/yard looks like a "mine field" of chew toys! But I would rather have
this than her chewing up my stuff - some of which is dangerous (electrical
cords) and other which is valuable.

And I have so many electrical cords, I just had to learn how to keep her
away from these. (For her own safety.)

Then the idea is to make it "unpleasant" when the dog chews on the wrong
thing - dog repellent, saying NO!, leash correction, etc. Then VERY
important to praise dog when she is chewing on the right thing. GOOD DOGGIE,
etc.

Then you MUST be consistent! If sometimes you say NO!, then allow her to
chew on wrong thing, you have wasted your time. NO! means NO! PERIOD! Each
time, every time.

Over a period of time and being consistent, the dog will see it is
"unpleasant" to chew on wrong things. That she is rewarded for chewing on
right things. After several weeks - maybe months, she will look at wrong
thing = "Hummmm - Not fun to chew!", then right thing "Hummm - Fun to chew!"

It is easier if you can be there at all times and follow her around
constantly. She will learn quicker. If you have to be gone and can't do
this, ask professional trainer what to do during training period for your
specific situation.

Good luck! It is actually quite easy to train a dog. It is just a matter of
"communicating" to the dog what is wrong and what is right. Think of this
like a small child. You have to tell them over and over!

P.S. Don't have any dog chews which are anything like things you don't want
the dog to chew on. A dog does not know the difference between an old sock
and a new one. Or an old shoe and a new shoe.


"udutronik" wrote in message
My 1 year-old labrador is driving me crazy with this behavior:

In the house or in the backyard, she tends to pick up anything that
she can.
Anything except her toys! When i approach her, saying "No" or "Let
go", she
runs away, in what seems a playful behavior. I try raising my voice,
to show
her i'm not playing, but it doesnt work. She hides from me. I have to
take
her in a corner so that she let the object go.

I've also tried "trading" : showing her a toy (Kong or Ball) that she
can chew.
But with no success. She prefers the forbidden.

When i catch her, i dont know what to do. Reward her to finally let it
go? Punish her?

Has anyone a solution?

Thanks in advance...



  #3  
Old August 20th 07, 05:52 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Handsome Jack Morrison
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,772
Default Labrador playing... with wrong toys

On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 07:48:05 -0700, udutronik
wrote:

My 1 year-old labrador is driving me crazy with this behavior:

In the house or in the backyard, she tends to pick up anything that
she can.
Anything except her toys! When i approach her, saying "No" or "Let
go", she
runs away, in what seems a playful behavior. I try raising my voice,
to show
her i'm not playing, but it doesnt work. She hides from me.


Wouldn't you try to hide from someone who yells at you?

I have to take her in a corner so that she let the object go.


The first thing you need to do is remind yourself that you have a
RETRIEVER. Retrievers love to RETRIEVE things, provided they have
someone to throw things for them to RETRIEVE. If they don't, they'll
find "things" to retrieve by themselves.

All you ever do is take things away from her. Where's the fun in
that?

Instead of "taking her in a corner," just THROW something else for her
to RETRIEVE. She'll likely drop whatever she has in her mouth and
take off to RETRIEVE the new "thing."

Don't worry if she doesn't initially bring it all the way back to you.
You can teach her to do that later on.

Buy a couple (or more) dummies (very good "things" for your dog to
retrieve), like these:
http://www.gundogsupply.com/-9645-.html

Or you can offer her a favorite treat. She'll probably drop the toy
to get her treat.

But you NEVER, EVER want to struggle with her, or play tug-of-war.

I've also tried "trading" : showing her to get a toy (Kong or Ball) that she
can chew.
But with no success. She prefers the forbidden.


Until she learns what belongs to her, and what doesn't, put up all the
other stuff so that she can't get to it.

Then spend some time every day throwing *dummies* for her.

Tease her with the dummy, get her all excited, leaping, etc., then
give it a toss. When she gets it, and starts to come near you, toss
another one. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

When i catch her, i dont know what to do.


First, NEVER, EVER chase her when she's got something in her mouth.

Second, OBEDIENCE TRAINING will make it possible for you to call her
to your side. No "chasing" required!

Reward her to finally let it go?


Yes!

By tossing something else for her to retrieve, offering her a special
treat, etc.

Punish her?


For not coming when called? For not releasing the object?

No.

Has anyone a solution?


OBEDIENCE TRAINING.

Usually in the form of a group class.

It will help you regain control of her.

Your vet can usually aim you in the right direction, or you can call
your local animal shelters, rescues, too.

They will be able to teach *you* how to teach your *dog* a more formal
retrieve, too, which will give both you and your dog countless hours
and opportunities for fun and exercise.

Good luck!


--
Handsome Jack Morrison

"Reality-based" writer blames Vick's friends, not Vick:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-fi...failed-friends

"The four girls were born at a US hospital because there was no space available at Canadian neonatal intensive care units":
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6951330.stm

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"In the short term, this reflects the failure of the Republican Party to secure its hard-won victories. In
the longer term, this may provide a new opportunity for the heirs to authentic liberalism - today's conservatives -
as they often thrive when lovers of big government, by whatever name they go by, overreach."
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/...beral-doe.html

"Reality-based" Rabbi Defends Michael Vick:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archi...iberal_lo.html

"The main proponents of 'universal coverage' want to throw more money at the current health care system,
which strikes me as unwise. I believe that the 'universal coverage' mantra is dysfunctional for the same
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http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=080607B
  #4  
Old August 20th 07, 11:48 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Paula
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Posts: 1,726
Default Labrador playing... with wrong toys

On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 07:48:05 -0700, udutronik
wrote:

When i catch her, i dont know what to do. Reward her to finally let it
go? Punish her?


If you punish her when you catch her, expect the problem of her
running from you to get worse instead of better. She also will be
less likely to give things up to you if punishment is what follows. I
have a rule that I lavish my dogs with praise when they give me
something or drop it whether they do it right when I command or when I
make them. For example, puppy has a sock in its mouth. I tell puppy
to drop it. Puppy doesn't drop it. I go to puppy and tell puppy to
drop it again, this time making sure that the dog lets go of the sock.
As soon as teeth are off the sock, I say, "Good drop it!!!! Good
dog!!!" and give him a much loved belly rub. Dog learns that what I
want when I say drop it is to let go of the object and that he will be
rewarded for doing so. If I yelled at him while going through the
process, he'd learn to avoid me when I told him to drop something. As
it is, he learns to drop the object happily and run to me to get a
belly rub. There still may be things that he doesn't want to drop,
but at least I haven't made him leery of dropping anything or being
anywhere near me when I tell him to drop something.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy,
so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay
  #5  
Old August 20th 07, 11:55 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Janet Boss
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Posts: 4,368
Default Labrador playing... with wrong toys

In article ,
Paula wrote:

For example, puppy has a sock in its mouth. I tell puppy
to drop it. Puppy doesn't drop it. I go to puppy and tell puppy to
drop it again, this time making sure that the dog lets go of the sock.
As soon as teeth are off the sock, I say, "Good drop it!!!! Good
dog!!!" and give him a much loved belly rub. Dog learns that what I
want when I say drop it is to let go of the object and that he will be
rewarded for doing so.


Since this is a LAB, I would be asking her to BRING me anything she
picked up. May as well teach her good retrieving skills along with drop
it or give!

I've had young retrievers bring me TP, shoes, coins, wrappers, all sorts
of stuff. They've never run with it, because I always ask them to bring
it in a very happy voice, praise them and engage them with an
appropriate toy. Picking stuff up is often a bid for "you gotta get off
the computer and play some fetch with me". Doesn't always happen, and
not always immediately, but I have dogs who bring me stuff. Rudy often
has some interesting things in his mouth, but they all get brought.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
  #6  
Old August 21st 07, 02:34 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Paula
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,726
Default Labrador playing... with wrong toys

On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:55:31 -0400, Janet Boss
wrote:

In article ,
Paula wrote:

For example, puppy has a sock in its mouth. I tell puppy
to drop it. Puppy doesn't drop it. I go to puppy and tell puppy to
drop it again, this time making sure that the dog lets go of the sock.
As soon as teeth are off the sock, I say, "Good drop it!!!! Good
dog!!!" and give him a much loved belly rub. Dog learns that what I
want when I say drop it is to let go of the object and that he will be
rewarded for doing so.


Since this is a LAB, I would be asking her to BRING me anything she
picked up. May as well teach her good retrieving skills along with drop
it or give!


Watch out for the monster you might create when you teach a lab to
bring you stuff. You can end up with the entire contents of your
house in the one room you are in once they figure out how fun that
game is. You gotta love goofy labs and their eager to please
especially when it's fun attitude. If I tell my dogs to give
something to me and I'm not right there, they bring it to me. But I'm
not sure how I got there. Never really thought about differentiating.
I just do drop and give it to me and it turns out that way. I haven't
wanted it any different way, so I've never thought beyond that.

I have seen the utility of a drop command from a distance. I tell
Scooter to drop things from the other room all the time. I hear what
sounds like getting into trouble, tell him to drop it and in he runs
for his reward. The kids like to go see what he was getting into when
I do that. It is almost always something of theirs that he is into. I
don't leave things out where I'm not able to supervise them. I figure
I'm training my kids along with the dog.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy,
so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay
  #7  
Old August 21st 07, 12:05 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Janet Boss
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,368
Default Labrador playing... with wrong toys

In article ,
Paula wrote:


Watch out for the monster you might create when you teach a lab to
bring you stuff. You can end up with the entire contents of your
house in the one room you are in once they figure out how fun that
game is. You gotta love goofy labs and their eager to please
especially when it's fun attitude. If I tell my dogs to give
something to me and I'm not right there, they bring it to me. But I'm
not sure how I got there. Never really thought about differentiating.
I just do drop and give it to me and it turns out that way. I haven't
wanted it any different way, so I've never thought beyond that.


When Franklin (one of them long-haired labs!) was a puppy, I had a pile
of shoes next to my computer desk. He particularly liked to get a big
drink of water and then pick up one of my rubber garden clogs (which
were kept right next to the water and back door). At least they were
easy to drive!

If I could (or would) channel Rudy's coin collecting habit into getting
money from outside of the house, I could have a real racket (sp?) going!

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com
 




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