[Shannon Hargis]

She could be addicted to your touch. Because dogs enjoy our affection so much, if we give too much of it, they can become dependent on it. This can encourage separation anxiety or overly needy tendencies. If this is the problem and you want her to be more independent I would not pet her for longer than 10 seconds at a time. Slowly weaning her off of having to touch you all the time. This would mean no long cuddle sessions either.

If she is use to being given food, attention or playtime whenever she asks for these things, she may be in the habit of getting what she wants all the time. For this type of behavior I would make sure you are the one to initiate these activities and ignore her if she asks for things.

Watch all of the obedience videos and teach her the “place” command. Then when she is getting in the way send her to her “place”. This will take a lot of time, but well worth the results. If you have any questions regarding the videos, feel free to ask! 🙂

[Shannon Hargis]

If you want to go through all of the training with your little girl you will need a “StarMark small training collar” found on Amazon and I would recommend the Dogtra IQ. It’s built for smaller dogs. As you watch all of the obedience videos you will find a video showing how to use an e-collar. 🙂

[Shannon Hargis]

Hi there! Glad to see another person with a small sized dog! There is nothing different about having a small dog rather than a big dog. With “heeling” the trick is trying to walk smoothly while crouching low enough to feed the treat in your dogs mouth without her taking her front laws off the ground. Here is some steps to get you both started:

-Stand still as you lower the treat to the ground. If she jumps on you it’s okay, just release the treat into her mouth the moment she puts all four paws on the ground. Repeat several times.
-Standing still: as you are lowering the treat to the ground if she takes any of her paws off the ground then immediately bring your hand back and stand straight up again. The key is to respond very quickly. If she keeps all four on the floor, she gets the treat! Repeat until she knows this very well.
-Start doing the heeling and if she brings a paw off the ground then do not give her a treat. It’s difficult to walk smoothly while doing this, it’s sort of like doing repetitive lunges while walking in order to get low enough to the ground.

For all of her obedience, always withhold the treat if behavior you don’t like is being performed 🙂

The corrections are all the same except when I use the starmark I use one finger as a correction. Very gentle. 🙂

[Shannon Hargis]

I’m sorry, your link wasn’t working for me.

A few things come to mind.

– He may already be getting his restless spirit out some other way (playing with other dogs, chasing squirrels etc.) If you make playing with you the only option for getting out his restless spirit, you will have much better luck.
– He may sense your frustration(when he grabs too high) and it discourages him from engaging.
– The object does not appear “real” enough for him to chase. Try using the flirt pole and making the toy make jerking movements away from him to frustrate and build drive.

I have had a similar problem with dogs before. I had to make the play sessions very short and try to frustrate the dog by not letting him bite the tug. Try to end the session before he becomes uninterested. Using a tug on a short rope works best for this. My first couple session ended up being about a minute long. Then once he does get a bite make it very fun and if he lets go frustrate him with jerky movements away and then end the game. You should be able to lengthen your sessions as you see your dog gets more of a drive. Once he has more of a drive then you can start letting him “win”(drop the tug while he is pulling on it) if he is holding onto the right spot(the tug being the right spot, the rope or your hand being the wrong spot).

Have you tried squeaky balls?

[Shannon Hargis]

Good job on all the activities you are doing with your Australian Shepherd! This breed has very high energy needs, as you have already found out! They can handle as much activities as you give them and still want more! Playing fetch, tug, walking and obedience training are all very good outlets! Good job! Fetch tends to be the easiest one because all you have to do so stand there. Obedience work does wonders in draining his mental energy. During down time I would give him a Kong with treats that are difficult to get out. There are many other dog toys that require intensive chewing or problem solving on order to get treats out. A good chew on a beef bully stick or reindeer antler also helps.

It’s very normal for a puppy (especially of this breed) to have tons of energy! A lot of maintenance is necessary at this age!(for example, using the crate when you aren’t able to watch him)

Because he is so young his joints and growth plates are very vulnerable. The best type of exercise for puppies is off leash on soft ground (dirt, sand, grass). This way he can run and stop as he chooses. Running and biking with him on leash on hard ground (sidewalks, road, concrete) should be avoided until he is 1 year old. At this age his growth plates will have hardened and more intense exercise can begin.

Keep watching all the videos on training if you haven’t finished them yet. Eventually working on long durations of “place” will be a good exercise to teach him self-control. Good luck! 🙂

[Shannon Hargis]

Here are some tips to help make the kennel a more positive experience for your dog and reduce his anxiety.

When putting him in his kennel don’t give him any “goodbye” affection. This can create anxiety by building anticipation of your departure. Dogs don’t display behaviors that communicate “goodbye”.
Make sure he is very hungry so that when he goes in his crate he really wants to chew.
Scolding him when he is crying or anxious in his kennel will make the experience worse and even increase his anxiety. It can actually make him cry all the more. He is displaying submissive urination(an uncontrollable action by the dog) because he does not know how to make you happy. Any type of punishing or disapproval can make this situation a lot more difficult to help.
When you get him out of his kennel don’t give him a huge “hello”. Act as if the entire ordeal is nonchalant. Portray the type of energy and attitude you want your dog to have. Because he is probably overexcited while he is anxious, I would have a very calm demeanor when greeting. Otherwise he will be impatiently anticipating a high energy “hello”, adding to his already impatient mindset.

Here is a little exercise (it may take several sessions) to reintroduce the kennel as potentially being a positive thing again. Progress him with this process only if he is comfortable, no force necessary.
-Use treats to get him to go into his kennel.
-Give treats for staying in his kennel
-Give treats for shutting the door. (Open immediately at first and treat again)
-Give treats for longer durations of staying in the kennel (starting at one second increments and until increase the increments exponentially at around 5 minutes) First with door open and then with door shut.

Also know that anxiety is normal for dogs. In the wild they would never be separated from their pack members. The best we can do is try to create a different way of coping with the anxiety. Hopefully sleep. I hope this information helps! 🙂

[Shannon Hargis]

I’m so sorry it took so long for this thread to get addressed! 🙂

The main reasons a dog may bite a family member is either fear related, resource guarding or less than adequate leadership. Given the situations you described it sounds like he is lacking adequate leadership. He might have a bit stronger personality than your last dogs. A better understanding of how to be a good leader should benefit your situation greatly.

The leader of a pack would be the one to make decisions or begin activities. The leader also maintains possession of all valuables (toys in this case).
Action -Have all toys up at all times and you be the one to start a game. You be the one to end the game and put the toy up again. Maintain a positive attitude even while ending the game and feel free to give a treat afterwards.
The important thing here is that you are the one beginning this activity. If your dog tries to initiate play, ignore his attempts. Making sure his play needs are thoroughly met will help reduce the amount of times you need to ignore him, because then he won’t feel the need to ask so much. 🙂

The leader of a pack would be the one to initiate activities. This is true for affection too. If your dog comes up to you asking for affection or attention you should ignore him. Catering to his wants like this is similar to spoiling a child. Giving the dog everything he wants, when he wants, tends to be the majority of leadership issues. When you do give affection, make sure YOU beginning the interaction. If he is laying down somewhere see if he wants your affection enough to come over to you. Be careful not to coddle him with affection when he doesn’t seem interested. This would be a form of actively submitting to him.
Give him your love with an open, honest heart. Your affection and love is important. But save this prize for only when you begin the activity and only if he appears happy/eager to receive it. 🙂

Other leadership tips I did not expound on:
-Keep all bones and food up when he is not actively chewing/eating
-Keep him off of couches and beds
-You be the one to initiate all activities including going for a walk, going outside potty, eating etc.

[Shannon Hargis]

I’m so sorry it took so long for this thread to get addressed! 🙂

Genetics play a big role in resource guarding. Both the pups sound like they have a genetic predisposition to resource guarding and may need some sort of maintenance their entire life. A resource can be anything the dog views as highly valued. This can include but is not limited to human affection, toys, food, bones, and comfortable areas such as their bed. Good job on keeping them off the couch/bed and keeping they bones and toys up.

The puppies may be defending their kennels because they are being fed in them. Try feeding them outside of their kennels in separate areas. Make sure to put their dishes up afterwards in case they start resource guarding them.

Make sure there aren’t any bones left in their kennel.

Try keeping their kennels farther apart.

An exercise I would recommend that is age appropriate for them: Give puppy A a chew or his dinner. Walk puppy B around (on leash to prevent interaction between puppies) use the “leave it” command when puppy B looks at puppy A. Start from a distance and work your way back and forth around the room but not closer than about 5 feet so you don’t provoke puppy A. The goal here is to teach puppy B that he cannot interfere/provoke/stare down Puppy A while he is eating. Once puppy A is done chewing/eating, then switch roles and have Puppy B chewing/eating while you walk puppy A around.

A similar exercise: Once the puppies know the “place” command, “place” puppy A in the kennel as you walk puppy B around. Or let puppy B walk around off leash while and use a “leave it” if he seems to be provoking puppy A who is in the ” place” command in the kennel. You can give treats to either.