A little OT - Training dogs

So.... We got these two pups at the pound back in August. Cute little dogs, some kind of lab mix. One is all black and the other looks like a hound. Brother and sister. They stick together and can be a little rough on the older dog. Recently, they've been playing a little rougher, I've cought them "playing" but actually grabbing each other (biting). Bonnie kinda nipped at my son yesterday. I don't think she meant to hurt him. They're generally sweet dogs until they get to roughhousing, then they get a little rowdy. I was thinking maybe one of those shock collars to help provide a little "correction" when they get to playing too rough. Anyone have any experience with this? I don't want to shock them into unconciousness, but I'd like them to respect my au-tor-i-tay.

Any helpful comments welcome, any collars known to work, or other ideas, etc thanks in advance.

you can't turn respect and authority off and on like a water faucet.......You shoulda been "training" them from the day you got them.
Get you the best shocker collar you can find and put it around your neck. Then when they do something that you didn't teach them not to do, push and hold the button awhile...............

Now that I'm past that, You should't be too late unless they are inbred/abused to the point that they are stupid.
You probably will have to seperate them and work one on one to keep their attention. If they have too much energy, jump on a bike or something and take one for a run to get him calmed down enough to pay attention. Then just reinforce what you want and stop what you don't want. Gonna have to train your kid also on how to play and how not to play with them. He can wrestle with his buddies and throw the ball for his dogs. Shouldn't take long to get things right. Worse case, you may have to find another home for one.

Good Luck. Dave

Shock collars only reinforce what the dogs have already been taught. How old are these pups? Teach them it's not okay to nip,jump on people, etc. Might teach the son not to roughhouse with them too.

Larry

" a better home for one" not the kind of expression I would make.presuming a lot, but then I don"t have the fine tuned people skills... It could be a good one if he would only exert his authority as TOP DOG.I don"t go for these electrical devices, it only reinforces the inadequacy of the person who would prefer to push a button. not much effort in that, like being a couch potatoe really.A Sunday school memory. "As ye sow, so shall ye reap"

(quoted from post at 02:10:58 11/02/11) " a better home for one" not the kind of expression I would make.

Click to expand...

Good catch, I fixed it. Didn't mean it in a bad way, but you proved a good point concerning why folks get bent out of shape so much on forums. The text doesn't show the expression on the face or tone of voice.

All puppys do that. They are excitable. They need a time out (and a treat) just like a kid. Push them away and walk a step or two. Also, if you want them to be trained up a little it is best to do it somewhere besides your home. I don't know why, but it is easier away from your house. I myself would not use a shock collar on a dog less than 9 months old.

my opinion of course,but i dont think this would work too well.simple reason is if you shock one while they are playing or fighting they simply think its the other and the fighting escalates.forget the shock collar,its a special tool but its not really a training tool.best way quite honestly, and i dont mean this in a bad way,is to KICK THE LIVING $H!T OUT OF THEM!!!!kind of ignorant to make them respect the collar,when its YOU AND YOUR wishes they need to learn to respect.are you going to stay at home the rest of their lives to shock them?dogs learn things quite simply, and very often they learn it by force,ever see a old hound snap at her own puppies?they HAVE to learn that you and not a collar is the alpha.do not EVER, UNDER ANY CICUMSTANCE WHATSOEVER, let one snap at your child,playing ,fighting or whatever.pick up whatever you have at hand ,wheather that be a book, a belt ,or a sledge hammer and beat them into submission.right then...you will be amazed at how fast they learn!if one even growls at your child beat him again ,beat him until he gets the picture firmly implanted in his tiny brain..they fight simply to determine their pecking order,and two dogs out of the same litter often fight more.BUT make sure, they know that you and your family is the boss, never ever under any cicumstance at all let one slide on this.if you do you will never REALLY train them. .if you dont quite honestly you AND those dogs will be better served by taking them in the back yard and shooting them now.if you cant do this one simple thing,youll never train them anyway,regardless of all the gadgets and gizmos you buy.they will work out among themselves where they need to be on the food chain,but you and MORE ESPECIALLY YOURS need to be firmly at the top!its not cruel to do this,even though it sounds like it,its really better for the dogs to learn it when they are pups,and its a whole lot easier on them to learn it then.simply because it most likely will only take a swat or two.i am not suggesting you abuse your dogs in any way understand,but it is absolutly critical that they learn this.the fastest way for them to learn ,and really the most humane sometimes is to simply beat them,its far less cruel in the end than using electricity on them constantly.and it far and away faster,simply because its you ,and they imediatly and without a doubt KNOW its you.and they respect that quite truthfully.most dogs you only have to do it once and they never forget it.dont be cruel and continue to beat them if they turn their belly to you,they have got the picture.simply do it and walk away.they will come to you for reassurance,and when they do give it to them.from that point on they will be trainable,until then they are really not . the younger they learn it the better for everyone.

First you have to be smarter than dogs to train them "My Grandfather taught me that". Second you have a problem The dogs are the same age they will form a pack of two. If you only bring one dog into family the family will be part of pack. If there are two Young dogs they will form there own pack. That makes them hard to control. Had a neighbor that brought two brothers couldn't control them got rid of one the one he kept is a wonderfull dog after the other one left.

A vigorously applied shovel worked wonders on our neighbor's dog once.

if I may without being forward give you a little tip on small children and dogs,they are drawn together like nothing else.you wont keep them apart,except for one way.and that is if one is totally terrified of the other.that can happen if you allow the dog to bite your child,or if the child abuses the dog.do this, ,never ever let the dog bite, growl, or snap at your kids,thats really simple.but you also have to teach your child how to handle the dogs,and often thats the hard thing.dogs ,all dogs have a certain intelligence level they will reach and go no farther,the problem arises because they reach that level much faster than a child and its quite easy then for them to become the alfa.from the very first day,show your child how to handle the dogs,how to carry them,and more importantly how to play with them. they can run and play and be best of buddies,without a lot of wrestling around and things.that, while certain dogs and breeds of dogs will willingly do this without any problems,often leads to what the dog percieves as a challenge.the one thing that you can do to stop this is to make sure the dog knows its not ok to snap growl at or bite your child for ANY REASON, AND that the child knows its important not to hurt the dog for any reason.let them be part of the training. but also be prpared to punish the child if they get too rough.dogs are really amazing animals,and they are very often a integral part of a farm or ranch operation.you cannot watch the dog out of one eye,and the child out of the other 24 hours a day.train them both equally.they can either become best freinds ,and you can trust the dog to watch out for your child and vice versa,or they can become ,and very often do ,worst enimies.neither one is a given, it takes a lot of time to make a really good dog,it takes alot of time to make a really good child.if you dont have that time to spend,try to find another place for the dogs now.dont wait until you throw your hands up in dispair.i see far too many dumped along side the road somewhere that folks dont have time for.( BOTH dogs and children so to speak, but thats another rant LOL)

Shock collars do not electrocute the dog. They get their attention. Like people they can tune out your voice but not the shock collar. If you put one on yourself you would not even feel the shock. They are not doggie tasers or cattle prods.

Haven't read anything here yet that would justify beating these dogs. Too many people don't know the difference between dominance and violence/aggression.

First you have to teach them what you *want* them to do, you can't expect them to just know. This is best done by correcting them when they're exhibiting the bad behavior you want to change - catch them in the act and show them what you want. You need to be the dominant one. I'm not saying there is never a reason to hit a dog, but it should be last resort, not first.

That is the best example of pups behavier. We raise cow dogs and are dominate over them. They know by the tone of your voice when they are in the wrong. They will learn a simple HEY gets there attention,
gitrib

WAHAHA,they call them shock collars for WHAT reason exactly?Ive seen them knock a full grown pointer to their knees!Ive also seen far too many people use them who should have had them used on themselves.for the most part they teach a dog absolutly nothing,except that the person who holds the control can hurt them at will.a rope is far and away a better training tool EVERY TIME.On a dog that wont listen ,or doesnt want to obey,a shock collar does absolutly nothing.you may as well put him back in the dog box or have him put down.AND 99% of the guys who insist on a shock collar for their hunting dogs,are doing nothing with it but costing them selves birds,And training their dogs to blink them!the one and only place i use a shock collar,and the ONLY place i think its effective is when snake training a dog,or breaking one from chasing deer.any other use is doing nothing but ruining your dog.i suppose you may be one of those folks who shock their dogs when they get too far away,or wont return?if a dog is running say 75,80 yards away,and you shock him,what exactly does that teach him? think about it,what exactly are you saying to that dog?you may want to teach him not to hunt so far away,and to slow down,but what you ARE teaching him is to (a),not hunt at all.(b) dont run(c)I'M an ahole who gets a kick out of listening to you yelp on demand!your NOT teaching him to come back,your not teaching him to slow down at all.in fact you are giving him another reason to not come back because he knows youll be mad!how many times have you seen some guy holler at his dog for some reason ,the dog stops and the guy stomps over and beats the dog for something the hunter thinks hes doing wrong ,or doesnt like? what does that teach a dog?not to do whatever it was the idiot beat him for or does it teach the dog that when the hunter hollers whoa he had better not stop or the guy will beat him?how many times have you seen a guy use a shock collar the dog comes running back and the owner beats him?does that teach the dog to come when you call? or does it tell him that if he does come he will get beat?patience is the key to training dogs,pateince and discipline.Pateince for you,discipline for the dog .it doesnt come 100 yards away from a shock collar.dogs are very simple creatures,they understand two things,praise,and pain.often a simple no,or the withholding of praise is more effective than pain.pain is the last resort,and the initial key.patience is every thing else.

It's helluva lot easier to train dogs than children, I'd say...

I had a dog, collie-shephard, Bo, that turned out to be one of the best, most obedient dogs ever had. Got him at the pound at about 4 months old and was a rough houser. Ate me out of house and home. Was an idiot until just about two years old to the day. Chewed the ends off of the coffee tables and stuff. One day I was bending over picking up a steak knife that he had chewed the wooden handle off of, and saw that he chewed a working antique radio up. Really thought of killing him that day. Turned out to be the best, most obedient dog I ever had. My older lab, Maggie used to tear into him from time to time, viciously, but once I figured what triggered her, I did my best to avoid stting her off.

Takes time. I have a lab now, Maxwell, about 3 years old that was quite the punkster too. Tried my patience a few times, but is a good dog now. Had an older lab, Lou that went to bed ok one night, woke up the next day blind and running into stuff, the vet couldn't figure out why. Maxwell would eat, and then go over and shove blind Lou away from his bowl. A few times I could have killed Maxwell and raised the voice to him, never hand, and he does ok now. Besides, if he gets out of hand, my older golden, Macy will put him in his place.

Its going to take time and patience. Dn't let them see you raise a hand to them, or they will fear you and possibly run and get hurt or killed in the process. All of my dogs have been good ones, but it took work. I've got family members with collies, labs, boxers, and it takes time. YOU ARE their master, and they must know that YOU ARE their master.

The picking on the older dog stuff? Need to put an end to that, otherwise they will get more and more out of line. One thing you have going for you is that they came from the pound. Strays are easier to house break. Strays make the best dogs. We have always had strays and always will.

Good luck.

Mark