Dog Problems

[MrMixelPixel]

So we've had our beloved beagle since Spring of this year. The little guy turned one in August. We've trained him rather well, he's very well behaved when he's around my parents and little brother. When new people arrive ,however, he gets too excited and starts barking and jumping on them. He's hit many a man in the crotch region, including myself. We've been training him to stop this with small amounts of success, but he eventually calms down. However, family gatherings are usually had at my house, like our current Christmas Eve get together. With that many people over, he's far too much to handle. We've opted put in him the in his crate with his muzzle on in the 3rd floor, so his barking and crazy attitude doesn't ruin the get-together. I make sure to check on him every now and then and give him water. He can drink while he has his muzzle on.

Is this cruel or dangerous? What do you think? I don't really know...

If anyone has any advice on the problem as well, it's appreciated.

 

[Spambot 3000]

Beagles from what I've read are generally a rather misbehaving breed of dog, so congratulations on what training you've done so far I suppose. That aside, when a dog jumps around on guests (my dog does this too - fortunately he's only a little fella) I personally think the best thing to do is have the guest pat the dog until he calms down (everyone loves patting dogs anyway). In a big social gathering, consider putting him on a leash so you can control him without resorting to putting him in a cage - which I guess I don't think is cruel but I would sure feel bad for my dog if I had to do that.
I'm no expert though, that's just my take on the subject.

 

[shootthebandit]

Its probably better to introduce him to strangers rather than locking him away. Introduce him to dog freindly people first and get him to sit down when he sees them rather than jumping up hopefully after a while he will associate meeting strangers with sitting down. Its only natural he will get excited by new people and our 5 year old retreiver still does, we just had no option but to stop him jumping on people purely because of his size. Generally once everyone is in the room and comfortable the dog should have calmed down

It gets worse when people panic when the dog gets excited. Im not saying its other peoples fault but people who arent used to dogs need to realise that if you are calm then the dog will respond to that. If you panic or excite the dog even more they will react to that too

 

[Frezzato]

Do you and your family greet him as soon as you come home? That's a huge mistake people make, greeting their dogs as soon as they walk through the door, allowing the dog to jump up on them. I once told this advice to my friend's wife, who refused to not acknowledge her giant Newfoundland dogs; as a result, my friend's frail mother once walked through the door and the dogs knocked her down. Unlike dogs, some people never seem to learn.

 

[TehCookie]

Putting them in a kennel is not cruel, all dog trainers I know make sure to kennel train their dogs (and working at a vets, I'm thankful for those who do). If you let him out make sure you tell your guests how to handle him and do not expect everyone to be fine with a dog jumping on them. A lot of it depends on your family, if the dog lovers can distract him from the not so enthuastic ones works as well.

It gets worse when people panic when the dog gets excited. Im not saying its other peoples fault but people who arent used to dogs need to realise that if you are calm then the dog will respond to that. If you panic or excite the dog even more they will react to that too

Owners are the worst part since I want to discipline the dog but then they yell at me for not allowing their dog to jump on me since they find it cute. By dicipline I mean scolding and pressing on it's shoulders/head to keep it from jumping.

 

[omega 616]

As I say, everybody is a dog expert. Everybody knows "THE correct way to handle a dog" but the problem is everybody says something different (of course there are over laps but you know what I mean).

Personally, more time out of the crate/cage the better 'cos locking up the little fella is unfair in my eyes, all these people come by and he wants to play with them and he gets locked up stairs.

Try instead of making a huge fuss when you get home, settle down and have him sit next to you and then make a fuss. Do that for long enough and he will get the picture that bouncing round gets you ignored but sitting next to somebody gets you attention. Though if you're the only one doing it, you get the sit down treatment and everybody else gets tackled.

That's just how I would train a dog though, I'm no expert or anything like that.

Could always try a little Pavlov style training, nibbles for being calm, spritz of water for tigger impression.

 

[shootthebandit]

It gets worse when people panic when the dog gets excited. Im not saying its other peoples fault but people who arent used to dogs need to realise that if you are calm then the dog will respond to that. If you panic or excite the dog even more they will react to that too

Owners are the worst part since I want to discipline the dog but then they yell at me for not allowing their dog to jump on me since they find it cute. By dicipline I mean scolding and pressing on it's shoulders/head to keep it from jumping.

Thats definitely the owners fault for encouraging that sort of behaviour. I was implying if you are trying to stop the dog from jumping and people start flapping which only makes them even more excitable. Ive always been around big dogs so its only natural to stop them from jumping up as soon as possible. We have a retriever which could knock a child or old person over if he decided to jump up. I knew a couple who had a very playful bull-mastif who weighed about 50-60kgs (130ish pounds) he is going to take pretty much anyone off their feet if he decided to jump up. It wasnt really their fault as they took him off a friend of theirs who couldnt handle him and they were desperately trying to get him to settle down

Also as you said encourage your friends to be firm with the dog. If he tries to jump get them to hold him down and sternly say "NO!" Probably best to encourage people who are comfortable with dogs to do this

Id also like to suggest I dont know if you do this or not OP but avoid letting dogs on furniture. From guests point of view theres nothing worse than a dog sat on the couch and from the dogs point of view it makes him seem more authoritive and more likely to encourage disobedience. If the dog is on the floor he knows his place in the house and as a result he probably wont misbehave as often or want to jump up as much (picking him up regularly will have a similar effect) having large dogs this isnt really a problem though

 

[Flutterguy]

Most dogs I know of that I consider well trained get excited and jump up on people. I'd wager it's due to the boredom that comes with being a house-animal, I could be wrong. Either way I'm not one to lock up a dog or cat in a cage and I refuse to own cage-bound animals like reptiles (even though i would love a gecko). If necessary to lock them up it's either in the basement, bathroom or somewhere they won't be breaking anything.

That being said beagles and other small dogs can be right bastards to train. I hear this is due largely to the inbreeding used to make these dogs. (Compare a picture of say a 1930 pug to modern day ones. Those genes have been through some serious shit)

A certain degree of cruelty is needed to train a dog as well, you have to break them so they accept their life. I'm sure you know.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Well, Beagles will never stop barking, so there's little you can do about that.

As for the rest, I'm having the same issue with my own dog. He's not aggressive toward people, just overly enthusiastic. He once almost knocked an old man in a pond. Same with new people, I always have to put him in the hallway. Even with my brother and sisters I have to do this sometimes, because he just gets so batshit insane with jolliness.

Getting him to sit with everything you do with him can help. Whether it's giving him his food, going out for a walk, coming back from a walk, or anything. Also, ignore his ecstatic behavior. Even by shouting at him to stop will you feed it. This is easier said then done ofcourse.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Well my dog is a pretty small Jack Russel so yeah, go crazy you tiny little thing. You don't even come up to my knee. If I had a bigger dog (call me paranoid but I wouldn't feel comfortable if I had a dog I couldn't 1v1 in a fight) I would have been more strict in training but whatever, she can barely knock people off balance.

I'm going to be really depressed when she finally dies, we grew up together y'know.

 

[Estranged180]

INCOMING WALL-O-TEXT

I have a rather large dog (known as an American Akita) who, when he grows up, will come up to 29" in height at the shoulder, and weigh in at around 130-150 lbs. As his trainer, I notice that he goes freakin batshit insane when new people, or people he knows but hasn't seen in around 8 hours show up. Other than that, he'll listen to anything I have to say, and do it, whether it's a sit/stay, down/stay, go get my wife/bring her ass downstairs, or whatever. The insanity is going to have to go when he gets his next series of training (I gave him the holidays off) because the one thing he's going to be doing is making a living as a therapy animal. He's already good around medical equipment, so that's a plus.

The advice I've got (as a trainer) is for you to make sure that everyone that enters your house knows enough to ignore the dog until the dog has calmed down. There are 3 rules to this 'ignore the dog' thing.

1: Don't talk to the dog. This is considered attention, and attention is a treat to a dog. Therefore talking to a dog is giving the dog a treat. We don't treat for behavior that we don't like (such as jumping up on people, and going generally insane).

2: Don't touch the dog. This is also considered attention, and petting a dog is a treat. See #1.

3: Don't look at the dog. This is the one thing that needs to be worked on by everyone. Looking at the dog is usually the precursor to a treat. See #1.

Once the dog calms down, then you can go and give the dog all the attention you'd like to give it. Everyone else will be able to as well. It can usually take between 10-15 minutes.

On crating the dog before hand. For those that don't like 'caged animals', crating isn't caging. Crating a dog creates a safe zone for the dog to go to where nothing can get him, and nothing bad can happen to him. A crate (sized for the dog in question) should be in a public area of the house, so that the dog can see everyone from time to time, not in a bathroom, bedroom, hallway, closet, etc. I've seen some goofy shit with crates, and corrected every one of them. Youtube has some crate training videos that work, but be ready to have a command to use (such as 'go to bed') and lots and lots of treats. The dog should never ever be afraid to go into his crate, but know this. The crate can be used as a 'time out' space. It goes along with a sit/down/stay, and it should never exceed 5 minutes (note, the hand gesture for 'stay' looks like you're telling someone to wait 5 minutes). Unlike a cage, where the dog will spend ALL of his time, a crate allows for freedom and safety. My dog is crate trained, and it happened in about 4 hours, but it can take up to 3 weeks.

ProTip for crate training: Never use dog food to crate train the dog. Going into the crate should be a treat, therefore, treats are used. The treats in question should be a 'grade b' treat. Pupperoni falls under the 'grade b' umbrella. Keep that in mind. Also, never feed the dog in the crate. You can use a suspended dish for water, but food is a no-no. Food in a crate causes other issues, such as urination in the crate. You don't need that aggravation.

While crates can look like a cage, they serve completely different functions. Personally, I have the largest crate Kong makes. My boy needs it, and he's only 9 months old (but weighs about 90 lbs.).

Apologies for the wall-o-text, but it seemed that someone needed help.

 

[Mister K]

Well, my bulldog gets really exited when someone unusual to him comes, so we do it like this:
We lock him in the room and when he calms down we let him out. He is still expecting newcomers to pet him, nut he is not jumping on them.

 

[Brutal Peanut]

My male dachshund is still relatively young and also likes to bark to get peoples attention. He's turned out to be very vocal, unlike my other dogs. I usually tell people to jut ignore his pleas for attention until he calms down. I just try to use the 'please ignore him, don't touch him until he calms down' method, and it's working out okay so far; but only if the guests listens to you. Sometimes people get just as over-excited as the dog, speak to him in a helium-balloon voice, and rub all over him immediately! Even after I've asked them not to. I'm not saying it's all the guests fault, but some do make it very difficult to keep everything consistent.

The 'No look, no touch, no talk' method can be pretty effective. If your dog is already crate trained, putting him in a crate to calm down and then letting him out among guests can be pretty effective as well. But I wouldn't just lock him up and forget about him until everyone leaves. That can make for one sad and lonely animal. He needs to be properly socialized.


You could also shell out some funds and time for an obedience class or two, along with more frequent walks and play-time to simply tire them out. Some acquaintances claim the classes work wonders, others say it was a waste of time and money and the dog is just the same as it was before (if not worse). Whether that is their doing, or it was a incompetent trainer; I can't comment on.

 

[Lieju]

Well, I can tell you what has worked for us.

We just ignored the dog, and turned our backs on her when she got too excited like that.
She is a lab who gets really excited and is always really happy when we get home.
She does get a lot of attention, and praise, but she knows when to stop.

Depends on the dog to some extent, I guess. With some animals you'd need to be stricter.

But I have trained other animals as well (cats and a ferret) and ignoring them when they do something they shouldn't for attention (like biting) has worked well with all of them.

Also, I would never put a dog in a crate with a muzzle like that. Not unless I had no other choice because it was agressive. In my opinion, if you can't handle the possibility that the dog will bark, don't get a dog.

 

[DugMachine]

I think you're doing the right thing. Sometimes training dogs is just impossible so having a muzzle and secluding him elsewhere in the house isn't a bad idea. As much as I love my pets, a dog constantly barking not only embarrasses me but it down right pisses me off. I hate when other's dogs won't shut the hell up and I sure as hell don't want people going through that in my home.

Back when I lived with my parents, we had a extremely annoying chihuahua that would bark and bark when we had guests over. We would just take his food/water and lock him in our bathroom on the opposite side of the house. He would bark but it very distant sounding and he would eventually stop.

 

[Padwolf]

I think what you did was a bit of a bad idea. If you let your guests pat your dog, let your dog get used to them he would have calmed down. If not that then just tell your guests to ignore him. Locking him up with a muzzle was far too much and far too much wrong. He will learn eventually, he is still just a puppy really. But don't lock him up like that, it probably makes him feel a lot worse.

 

[BoogieManFL]

Dogs are social animals and prone to get very exited to see people, and as someone who has almost always lived in a home with multiple dogs, cats, and more I've seen this behavior in almost medium to large size dog we've ever had. Very small dogs either don't do it, expecting to be picked up for affection or are just so small it's not an issue for them to get jumpy with you.

In the larger dogs we've had where it was a problem, we slowly trained them in a few different ways. Every time you come home and they come to greet you or you go to greet them, gently put your hand down in front of you, low, so to prevent them from jumping against you. Some dogs see that your hand is blocking and will refrain from jumping all the way up or not at all. But even if they do, just gently stop them from jumping up and try to get them to sit and kneel down to pet them on their level. Basically, teach them that you will come down to them to greet them on their level and give them affection and that they don't need to jump up to get it from you. After awhile, this has never failed to work for us. However, some breeds are much more excitable and more difficult to train, so I couldn't say this would work for all dogs. We had a Beagle once (she adopted us, we don't know where she came from) but by that time she was pretty old and was quite mellow and gentle and didn't really require any specific training, so I can't really comment on how difficult they are to train.

I would combine that with teaching them to sit, usually with dog treats that they really like. Positive reinforcement. That simple word, when learned, can be applied to a lot of other things you teach. It gets them to calm down, and focus their attention which makes it all easier to do.

We've taught them to understand what looking them in the eyes and them a gently but slightly drawn a out "No" means. My last dog that I personally was responsible for (Border Collie) learned what "Shhh." meant and would stop being noisy and would hold still, and even hold his breath for a moment and perk his ears up and listen. I usually did this when I was home alone with him and hear a car pulling up or a car door closing. Just using every day situations to teach them how to respond to various words, sounds, and gestures. But the key is to always do it to same. Animals seem to be very good at associating one thing with another. Just focus on helping to reinforce that behavior. Use the same words and try to use the same infections and tone every time.

I would advise against locking away or removing animals that are social, as they won't learn that way and it is undoubtedly frustrating for them to be excluded from their family/pack. They may not be as intelligent as you, but they do have emotions. Think how you would feel in that situation,especially if you couldn't understand why it was happening. I'd only put a dog away if you've made long term significant efforts to train the dog and they just will not cooperate. I'd put them in a room instead of a crate though. A room they are comfortable in so it's not so unpleasant to be alone in there. Just invite your guests that your guests to help so your pet can learn in real scenarios how to behave. Just tell them you are working on training them and what you want them to do.

In short, teach them they don't have to seek out the attention so aggressively, that they'll receive it when they behave in a specific way.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

So we've had our beloved beagle since Spring of this year. The little guy turned one in August. We've trained him rather well, he's very well behaved when he's around my parents and little brother. When new people arrive ,however, he gets too excited and starts barking and jumping on them. He's hit many a man in the crotch region, including myself. We've been training him to stop this with small amounts of success, but he eventually calms down. However, family gatherings are usually had at my house, like our current Christmas Eve get together. With that many people over, he's far too much to handle. We've opted put in him the in his crate with his muzzle on in the 3rd floor, so his barking and crazy attitude doesn't ruin the get-together. I make sure to check on him every now and then and give him water. He can drink while he has his muzzle on.

Is this cruel or dangerous? What do you think? I don't really know...

If anyone has any advice on the problem as well, it's appreciated.

First allow me to say that I work with dogs and their behaviour and have done so for 7 years. I work for UK animal charity Blue Cross, http://www.bluecross.org.uk, so I'm not just spouting nonsense I have seen on the internet.

Using a muzzle on a dog for ANY reason other than to prevent biting is wrong. A muzzle is a safety device used as a last resort ONLY for dangerous dogs. They cannot be simply put on a dog either, muzzle training should be used to acclimatise the dog to wearing it otherwise it will be an uncomfortable and punishing experience. Please don't use a muzzle in this situation.

Crates are brilliant but only when used correctly. They should NEVER be used as a form of punishment or banishment. Sticking your dog in a crate will not solve the problem here, it will only curb the symptoms.

It is also wise to know your breed. I'm not making presumptions on the quality of your care, but a Beagle is an active and intelligent breed. They must receive plenty of daily exercise, training and mental stimulation otherwise this sort of behaviour will be more pronounced.

Dogs do not have a moral compass. Despite what people will tell you they do not "know they have done wrong." They learn by association and therefore if jumping and barking got them attention before, they will continue to do it as long as it works. Please note that "attention" where dogs are concerned can also mean physical contact, speech (even shouting to berate them) and also eye contact. All of these actions can serve only to reinforce the behaviour.

We use positive reinforcement and DO NOT condone any form of active punishment. Water sprays, air horns or any form of physical punishment are all negative elements and should not be used. The mantra is: reward wanted behaviours, ignore unwanted behaviours.

In this case, a jumping, barking dog should be met only with ignorance. Fold your arms and turn away. Do not speak or touch the dog. Dogs have the ability to choose between behaviours but when you have not taught him an alternative what else can he do but call for your attention? Teach your dog that sitting quietly will get him the attention he wants. ONLY stroke or speak to your dog when he sits quietly. This may take some time and certainly some luring with treats. But it is important that you tough it out and DON'T reinforce that unwanted behaviour. Slowly the dog will understand that barking/jumping will get no response but sitting quietly will get a treat and an enthusiastic "good boy!" vocal reward.

Consistency is the key. Once you have got confident at doing this in a quiet and contained atmosphere (don't start this training in a room full of people) you can progress to trying it with visitors. Everyone must follow the same rules. Explain whet you are doing and encourage visitors to do the same. Stage it with some friends and pre-load them with treats if need be. This will only work if your dog believes that ALL people will now ignore his jumping/barking and instead respond only to the sit.

Too many people try to punish what they consider "bad" behaviours but never think to teach appropriate ones. Dogs cannot read minds, we must instil in them the behaviours we want performed and give them a reason to carry them out. It's a give and take relationship.

 

[lacktheknack]

Kennelling is not cruel, and is actually a very good thing to do with a problem dog, but it's only a patch. If you aren't using reward-and-punishment training between events, then all the kennelling is for nothing.

(For the record, "punishment" entails low-voice scolding, gentle collar pops, and maybe pushing the dog out of the way... not beating.)

 

[Estranged180]

Crates are brilliant but only when used correctly. They should NEVER be used as a form of punishment or banishment. Sticking your dog in a crate will not solve the problem here, it will only curb the symptoms.

What I forgot to mention was that when the crate is used for a 'punishment', the door to the crate is left open, and a well trained dog will spend 5 minutes in the crate when he's informed that he's done something bad. As long as I've trained dogs (20+ years) I've only 'punished' dogs in this manner 5 times, including twice on my current dog. He knows now 3 things.
1: Don't eat cat litter. This stuff is like a snickers bar to a dog. So if you have cats, isolate the cat litter, or better yet, get one of those automatic litter boxes that flushes itself.
2: Don't upset master. Master is god in the house, people come second, cats and other animals in the house a distant third, but the dog comes dead last. The omega, as it were. Because of this, a dog that knows it's place also knows that it won't be harmed while on his 5 minute time out.
3: Imma love the livin shit out of you when you come out. This is the key to the whole punishment deal with the crate. Treats galore, affection, and a walk, or at least a trip outside are always a good idea.

Also, walk your dog on a regular basis, regardless of breed. 30 minutes to an hour a day. If you can't do an hour a day all at once, split it into 2 half hour walks. Your dog will thank you (in their own special way).If you live in a cold area (like NY for instance) you can always go to either PetSmart, or PetCo (PetSmart is recommended in my case, because PetCo is a joke up here) and walk your dog in there. Yes, they allow it. If you can't walk the dog, or go to one of the aforementioned places to walk the dog, get a treadmill. You can train your dog to use it. It isn't difficult.

Socialize your dog. Take a day that you have off, and find yourself a dog park. Not a park that's dog friendly, a real life dog park. This is their chance to be off-leash and really show you what they can do. It also bleeds off any extra energy they have all pent up in them, and makes them more docile.

It is also wise to know your breed.

Absolutely, without question. If you know your breed, you know exactly what you need to do to keep it healthy, happy, and well adjusted.

Consistency is the key.

As with everything else in the dog's life, being an inconsistent master will not get you what you're looking for from the dog. It will get you a 'best friend'. This is a bad thing, because as the dog's 'best friend' the dog won't respect you. You need that respect in order to properly train the dog. Positive reinforcement (as many others here have said) is a very good way to train your dog, but ignoring the bad behaviors isn't going to stop them. It will, in fact, foster the behavior. Short, sharp noises (such as a harsh 'no') will let the dog know that master is displeased, and go a long way in training. Proper training takes positive reinforcement to the extreme, along with letting the dog know when he/she is doing something wrong. By not fostering the bad behavior, it stops.

In the meantime, I have to get my own dog to stop his insanity. =)

Note, everything I've said, and everything I've quoted was not directed at Proverbial Jon. It was, in fact, directed at the OP.