I need some advice on training our 9-month old Australian Shepherd, Bruno.

Bruno is housebroken, neutered, and knows basic commands (sit, down, stay, come, heel). He is trained to wait at the top of a staircase until I reach the bottom and to let me go through doorways first. He enjoys playing with other dogs and is snuggly. We give him lots of attention and exercise. He is very smart. There is a lot of potential here.

So far, we have trained with treats rather than negative measures like leash corrections. Bruno is stubborn, however, and often will not comply with a command unless he know a treat is involved.

We are having two intractable problems.

First, Bruno cannot be trusted alone outside of his crate. He is fine in any room of the house -- until my back is turned. He will immediately put his paws on the counter and grab whatever he can. He has ruined at least six sets of headphones. He knocked a dozen eggs onto the floor just this morning. He took a baggie of grapes out of my purse and had to be taken to the hospital. Because we cannot catch him in the act -- he waits for me to go to the bathroom or get up for a glass of water -- we haven't been able to address this. We need to address it so he can be left in the kitchen rather than confined to his crate whenever I cannot have eyes on him.

Second, Bruno is a nightmare to walk. He doesn't pull and instead heels calmly at my side -- until he sees another dog. If he is allowed to go say hello to that dog immediately, he will be fine. If not, he will lose his damn mind right there in the street. He barks and lunges and freaks out, which other dog owners do not appreciate at all. He used to do this with people also, but I trained that out of him by making him down/stay while I held a treat in my hand. If he stayed down and quiet, he got the treat. He seems to know the command "quiet," but he will not down/stay or be quiet if another dog is around. I have to be on high alert for the presence of another dog, and heaven help me if I don't see it before Bruno does.

I have two ideas. I am thinking of setting up a camera in the kitchen, leaving him alone, waiting for him to get up on the counter, and then rushing in and scolding him. A variation on this would be a shock collar, which we could buzz whenever we see the bad behavior, so he can never know when we're watching.

For the "freaking out at other dogs" problem, I am thinking of walking with a water bottle in hand. I will put the water bottle in front of his face and blast him if he barks. I used this to discourage excessive barking when he was a puppy, and it worked pretty well.

Another option would be to get a choke chain. My old dog trainer taught me to use these, so I am confident I will use it correctly. But it seems like it would be quite a spectacle with me trying to address lunging and barking by yanking on a choke chain. This would not make me popular among observers, and I might even hurt him.

Any ideas?

Not a problem I've run into with our dogs but I know some dogs that are like Bruno and it does seem like a tough problem to solve.

This article seems to do a pretty good job of covering why a dog is reactive, and possible ways to deal with it.

https://www.homeskooling4dogs....active-to-other-dogs

I've used shock collars in the past and they're very effective. You don't have to turn them up very high to get results. Combining use with a camera sounds like an excellent idea to me.

I've seen a lot of dogs get weird when they are on the leash but are fine otherwise. The theory is that they feel vulnerable. Modern trainers will take a lot of time with the dog when stressed by the leash like this, petting, calming, treats, etc. over and over. It will take a while. Not sure what else might work.

He's very good at it, isn't he?

Have to admit, we crated dogs, especially the goldens, well past the age of 8 months if we weren't around. But I didn't put as much effort into training as I should have.

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
Bad Dog!

What a cutie.

Also, OMG!

BTW, shepherds are working dogs right? Are they super smart, like border collies?

If so, you have my sympathy!

He's gorgeous.

You're dealing with an extremely smart teenager. For this age I recommend continuing obedience classes and adding agility course training. Do you have space to set up a small agility course in your back yard? Aussies need work to do, especially at this age, or they will get into trouble.

One thing our sheltie loved was intelligent treat toys, where the dog has to figure out how to get the treat out.

The squirt bottle is a good idea. Does he show any interest in the tennis ball? If you can get him going on that you can wear him out easily.

Thanks for the great ideas! I skimmed the article WTG linked, and it looks very helpful. I was immediately able to discern why what I was doing wasn't working.

When we saw another dog approaching, my approach was to have a treat in my hand and distract. The article said that using treats won't work. Yes, the dog wants the treat, but the real problem is the dog feels threatened or insecure. Dogs are like people in that respect.
If a person is feeling threatened or insecure, you could put a banquet of their favorite food on a table in front of them, and they won't dig in until the threat is removed or is far enough away. So waving a treat in the dog's face was doing nothing.

I need to read through what is recommended, but it seems like what I've been doing has only made things worse. Like, when I see a dog approaching, I tighten the leash and tense up, which communicates to the dog that we are now on High Alert. Ugh.

Also, I will have to re-think the squirt bottle. I read some months ago that squirt bottles are not recommended because they annoy and agitate a dog when the behavior you want is calm and security. It worked fine in my kitchen to stop the barking or biting or whatever the problem was, but maybe I should try some of the other stuff first.

I would very much like to get Bruno more exercise (although I think he is getting enough because he is, deep down, quite sedentary for an Aussie). But I can't take him running or do much of anything if he is going to behave like a possessed demon when we run into another dog.

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
BTW, shepherds are working dogs right? Are they super smart, like border collies?

If so, you have my sympathy!

Yes, they're herding dogs, like border collies. He's our third Aussie, so I feel like I have a handle on what they need.

Trouble is, this one is different from the other two. This one is much, much more willful and stubborn.

Part of me wonders whether is ingrained, or this is a result of the training being focused on positive rather than negative reinforcement. I remember we had a dog trainer with the first Aussie, and he did not believe in treats. He said using treats to train means you will have a dog that only obeys when you have a treat, and they always know when you don't have a treat.

Oh well. It's too late to turn back now . . .

I don't think that's really true. You can start with treats then move to the positive reinforcement of your approval. It still works.

Since you asked.
Have read and watched a lot of the Dog Whisperer's stuff.
That makes me an expert.

1.Treadmill - Aussie's have a H*** of a lot of energy.
2. Negative enforcement. IMO he seems to be part terrier, an alpha personality. The trainer must leave no doubt that she/he is in charge. Even that will only work part time.

Our Schnauzer became a very nice, trouble free dog after the terrier died. He was a PITA before.

quote:

Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
Bad Dog!

Nice carpeting. Cute dog.

We have a McNab shepherd--like a kelpie or a border collie, another iteration of herding dog---who has a few of the same bad behaviors, though Winnie is now 7 years old! We do not leave her alone in the house. She goes into her wire crate or comes with us. We do not leave things out where she can get to them. In her case it is separation anxiety, I am pretty sure. With three horses here I do not have time to deal with her issues, but Mr Pique got an e-collar and learned how to use it. I think he is not very consistent with it. Our herder is great with other dogs, unless they try to boss her around, that she will not tolerate.

I think from all you describe you have done a terrific job with your Aussie and especially at nine months old, there is a certain amount of mischief that has to be expected, and tolerated. These dogs have a lot of energy and it needs an outlet. I would start agility training--take a class--and make it a bonding project. It's good exercise for you, too.

You definitely do not want a choke collar. They will hurt the dog. But a *prong* collar, used correctly, does no harm and works absolute wonders with willful dogs. I use one on Winnie, and it solved a lot of problems. Find a trainer who will teach you how to use one correctly.

I have used prong collars, too. I consider it a step up from a choke collar.

But we may get there. I'm going to try some of these other things first.

I took him on a walk this evening. I practiced not tensing up when we saw a dog. we went 5-1, meaning we only freaked out at one dog. So that's progress.

Unfortunately, he barked at a couple of teenage girls who were kicking a soccer ball in their front yard.

quote:

when I see a dog approaching, I tighten the leash and tense up, which communicates to the dog that we are now on High Alert

That makes so much sense!! Also, just more evidence of how attuned dogs are to their humans!