I have a crazy dog. Any suggestions?

Factual Questions
1

I have a cockapoo (cockerspaniel/poodle mix) that is about 2 years old. Got him at the pound when he was about 1.

The dog has the following behavioral problems. Does anyone have any suggestions?

  • The dog sleeps on our kids beds. Some nights he sleeps on our 3 year old’s bed, other nights he sleeps on our 4 year old’s bed. He will occassionally urinate on the beds.

  • He will chew up my 3 year old’s clothing and my wife’s clothings. On occasion, he will chew on my 3 year old’s clothing while the child is still wearing it. Just this morning my 3 year old woke up with big holes in his (new from Christmas) pajamas.

  • He likes to also pull out tissues from the garbage and chew those up. Yes, the dog has chew toys if he wants to use them.

  • The dog also like to chew on the kids’ toys. Mostly the kids’ favorite toys (both batmans are now missing arms and legs).

  • The Kids got a train set for Christmas. They play with it constantly. My wife got home yesterday and found it all knocked over and spread out. Looks like the dog got up there and knocked everything over.

  • When the dog gets excited he will jump up to nip at my hands. He knows he shouldn’t be doing this, because he will only do it from behind and runs away when I turn around.

  • The dog steals food from the table. The kids walk away and leave food there. The dog is immediately on the table scarfing down whatever is left. He knows he shouldn’t be doing this because he waits until everyone is out of the kitchen, and runs when someone comes back. Without exception, he has been caught every time and put in his crate for hours every time.

I’m sure not all of these are related, but any advice is appreciated.

2

I have a pound dog myself…sometimes they can come with “baggage” so to speak. I think some of these symptoms have an explanation:

“The dog sleeps on our kids beds”
My dog sleeps in between my wife and I on our bed. Under the covers, on the pillow, everything. This is probably a comfort issue. The dog may have been abandonded, or really freaked out by getting lost.
“He will chew up my 3 year old’s clothing and my wife’s clothings”
Your clothes smell like you. When you’re not around, or not giving the dog 100% of your attention, he seeks things that smell like you for comfort.
“He likes to also pull out tissues from the garbage and chew those up”
See above.
“The dog also like to chew on the kids’ toys. Mostly the kids’ favorite toys”
…ditto here.
“When the dog gets excited he will jump up to nip at my hands”
Perhaps a leftover behaviour from a previous owner? Maybe the old owner thought it a game to hide treats in the hand, and have the dog jump.

“The dog steals food from the table”
Pound dogs will often ‘guard’ their food, or scrounge any and all scraps as a means of survival. This dog may have spent some time on the streets trying to survive, or ignored in his last home.

“he has been caught every time and put in his crate for hours every time.”
NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE USE YOUR DOG’S CRATE AS PUNSIHMENT!!! …EVER!

3

This cannot be stressed enough. Using a crate as punishment is a bad idea on several levels. At best, it is ineffective (the dog does not understand that it is being punished). Getting a little bit worse, it becomes counterproductive (the dog will become resistant to going into the crate when you don’t mean it as punishment because it doesn’t understand the difference). The worst thing that can happen is that you can traumatize the dog by causing it to associate one of its most deep-seated instincts (denning) with punishment.

I strongly suggest you pick up a copy of How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend by the Monks of New Skete for some new insight into canine behavior. You are probably already at a point with this dog that you should consider getting some professional training assistance.

I hope this helps.

4

I have a pound dog myself…sometimes they can come with “baggage” so to speak. I think some of these symptoms have an explanation:

“The dog sleeps on our kids beds”
My dog sleeps in between my wife and I on our bed. Under the covers, on the pillow, everything. This is probably a comfort issue. The dog may have been abandonded, or really freaked out by getting lost.
“He will chew up my 3 year old’s clothing and my wife’s clothings”
Your clothes smell like you. When you’re not around, or not giving the dog 100% of your attention, he seeks things that smell like you for comfort.
“He likes to also pull out tissues from the garbage and chew those up”
See above.
“The dog also like to chew on the kids’ toys. Mostly the kids’ favorite toys”
…ditto here.
“When the dog gets excited he will jump up to nip at my hands”
Perhaps a leftover behaviour from a previous owner? Maybe the old owner thought it a game to hide treats in the hand, and have the dog jump.

“The dog steals food from the table”
Pound dogs will often ‘guard’ their food, or scrounge any and all scraps as a means of survival. This dog may have spent some time on the streets trying to survive, or ignored in his last home.

“he has been caught every time and put in his crate for hours every time.”
NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE USE YOUR DOG’S CRATE AS PUNSIHMENT!!! …EVER!

5

Sorry for the double post… kept getting “Can’t find page”…I guess it did.

This isn’t to say that pound dogs are bad. As I mentioned earlier, we got one back in September. He came to us fully trained, housebroken, and exceptionally well behaved. He sits next to the table when we eat (never stand on hind legs and begs), and is great with strangers and other dogs.

I just to want you to blame the dog for being a ‘pound dog’.

6

A few of suggestions.

First of all, I generally advise against allowing dogs to sleep on the bed. Sleeping high (think hill) is the privilege of the alpha animal in the pack. What your dog is doing when he pees on the beds is asserting his higher rank in the pack above your children. This is why he doesn’t do it to your bed.

My current rescue dog also does the same thing with the tissue. I suggest when you see the dog chewing, or doing other undesirable behavior, a good firm “no” in a growling tone usually works. In addition, you may want to take the chewed item away, replace it with a chew toy, and praise generously when he chews on the toy.

My rescue also does the same thing with the nipping. Usually I immediately say “no” and stop playing. I then give the “sit” command. Generous praise when he sits, and perhaps more play. Play stops when the nipping starts. This behavior is almost gone now.

Stealing food is a hard one when you have kids. I recommend real consistency on this one. Don’t feed him from the table, and never feed him while you are eating, or before you eat. The alpha animals get to eat first. Make him wait. Also I recommend you slowly tempt him with food left out that he can reach. Leave something yummy on a coffee table, and leave the room for a minute. When you see him going for it, give a growly “no” and put it up. Repeat, until he doesn’t go after it. Praise him when he doesn’t, and give him a treat. That way he knows he’ll get something yummy even if he doesn’t steal the food. Make sure that you kids aren’t feeding him on the sly. The dog will see them as a source of food and start stealing their food, especially if he thinks he’s higher in the pecking order.

If you haven’t taken him to obedience class, I highly recommend one.

I agree with both NoGoodNamesLeft and KneadToKnow regarding the crate. Personally I use a lavish praise with firm “no” form of training. I find that yelling and hitting are generally very confusing for a dog.

7

Just to inject a little balance here:

Every dog I’ve ever had (4 in 43 years) has been adopted from an animal shelter, and they’ve all been wonderful companions. I’d like to think that with each one, I’ve become a better and more knowledgable pet owner.
The one we’ve just adopted is a Chow/retriever mix and is going through a “false pregnancy” complete with milk production. She’s adopted our sons talking “Spongebob Squarepants” doll and has become very protective of her “puppy”, occasionally snapping at anyone who unwittingly threatens him. Now that she’s been spayed, this behavior and reoccurances of this false pregnancy are expected to go away in time.
All dogs, like all people, are unique and sometimes it takes a bit of research to get to the source of your dog’s actions. With proper training and a lot of patience, Pencil Pusher, I’m sure your pup can be trained to lose the undesirable behavior.
Also the previous advice about crating as punishment is right on the money. There are numerous resources (books, videos, and classes) for proper crate training.

8

I dont see any suggestions about corporal punishment here. I dont mean beat on the dog till he gets really wacko, but an attention getter like a rap on the nose and a very firm no for nipping. A dog bite is serious and possibly the only situation where a physical punishment is warranted.

I agree with the no crate as punishment idea. Its very counterproductive. The dog obviously has abandonment issues which is why he’s sticking real close to his “pack”. Does he chew on the kid’s toys when he is alone? he wants someone alive to play with that smells like his packmates. The toy train moves, has the kids smell and is good hunting playmates so he punced on it.

Also, the crate should be a warm loving environment for him. If you use it as a punishment, you’ll have problems transporting him in it. Solitary confinement is the worse thing to do to a social animal like a dog aside from beating it.

as far as the snatching food from the table. Thats perfectly natural and consistent dog behavior. As mentioned above, low ranking dogs wait their turn. You allow your kids to eat which he knows puts him below them (at the dinning table) so he looks at everyone, when the food is ignored by everyone (everyone leaves the table) the dof goes “yippee, my turn!” and snatches the food before the pack changes their mind. Thats what all lower ranked pack dogs do.

If you allow the dog to sit around the table, have him eat at the same time as you. Give him his food, when you all sit down to eat. When he’s full, he wont need to snatch leftovers. Dont give him human food from the table or he’ll expect it everytime. if he hovers around the table when you are all leaving, growl at him and call him away from the table.

9

Just an FYI to add to the discussion here (after some VERY good advice above) you can also use a simple water pistol or spray bottle to discipline a dog. Raise your voice, one shot to the dog from the bottle, and you never ever have to strike the animal which is how I think you should approch disipline. Violence begets violence, and if you can avoid hitting an animal and still get the point across, all the better.

10

I don’t think it’s necessary. Generally, a dog just learns to fear your hands when you hit him. The dog will flinch whenever you raise your hand, because they don’t necessarily associate the smack with what they did. Dogs have verys short memories, and poor association when it comes to cause-and-effect.

Let’s say you catch Fido chewing on your shoe. “NO!” you shout. Fido looks up. “Uh oh,” he thinks, and drops the shoe. This is where the incident pretty much ends for him, but you march across the room with the Wrath of God in your eye, posture screaming anger, and wallop him. By the time it’s taken you to cross the room, Fido’s mind has completely left the shoe because he’s thinking about what you’re going to do. When the blow falls, it’s a surprise. To him, the shoe and the smack are two seperate incidents. Fido thinks you’re mean, and your hands are dangerous.

Hitting a dog on the nose is much worse than a smack on the rump-- a dog’s nose is his most sensitive area.

I agree with ** light strand’s ** tactics, something that the dog will understand. It’s better to clap your hands loudly, and say “NO!” (in the same tone you would use for a small child reaching for a knife) and then distract the dog with something that you do want him to play with.

My dog reacted well to scent training. Put a drop of lemon juice on everything that belongs to the dog. After a while, the dog will learn what’s his by scent. This is the reason why you should NEVER give a dog a toy made from one of your old socks, or used clothing. It just confuses him.

This is excellent advice. It’s even better if the dog doesn’t see you holding the bottle. Once he learns right from wrong, he’ll fear getting “shot” whenever he breaks the rules, even if you’re not around.

Give your dog an interesting toy to occupy him when you’re not available. Get a Kong (a rubber toy that, frankly, looks like a big, red, hollow turd) Fill it with penut butter and a few crunchy treats, and put it in the freezer overnight. Give it to him before you leave. He’ll be busy for hours.

When in comes to the jumping and nipping, I’d suggest keeping your hands up where he can’t reach them. Bring up your knee to discourage the jumping. Gently nudge his chest with your knee if he does, and say, “No! Off!” Tell him to sit, and praise and pet lavishly when he does. If he gets excited and starts up again, repeat procedure.

Your entire family must keep up with whatever training and discipline you decide on. If one member lets him get away with bad behavior, you’ll never get anywhere with him. Dogs are sneaky little opprotunists, and will try to get away with whatever they can.

Until your dog learns his “place” in your pack, I’d agree with keeping him off of your bed. Humph. Good luck, though. I still wake up with my mutt in the bed!