A few questions on puppies!

[iluvmybassett]

I have a new Aussie pup, and she has horrible chewing, chasing, and digging problems. Just like any other puppy...

Well not really, it's worse than any other puppy.

When I train this puppy, well get a stern yet very calm voice. Something thats not a happy go lucky "Aww your so cute I love you!", she cowers and lays down. I got her from my boyfriends dad and she was never beaten or hurt. And I don't understand it. I attempt to teach her to sit, to heal, anything at all and she lays down, when a stand her up she lays down again. And I can't get her to stop...

I have chickens... or we did until we got her, and we have tried a few things to stop her but it still does not work. Not to mention, about EVERYTHING outside is got her teeth marks in it, and there are countless holes, especially around the house...

Help!!!

[erdog3]

Exactly how old is your puppy?
There are a few things you can do, one is to buy some toys for her, a kong filled with peanut butter, frozen, will keep her entertained for some time.
She sounds confused to me, maybe you are trying to teach too much too soon.
Teach one thing at a time, when she understands that then go onto the next.
She is a very active breed, how often do you take her for walks, even a swim, they have a lot of energy, you need to wear it off a little.
Some dogs take longer to mature, I never try to teach my Labs anything more than not to bite and toilet training till they are 6 months, they are really scatterbrained till then, and I can't make any sense to them at all.
This will bring a lot of controversy from other members here, but I do what works for me, after breeding them for 9 years that is what I have found. This may not be necessarily so in your case, but if your pup is scatterbrained, I would stick to the basics for a little while.

[iluvmybassett]

She is about 7 months old now, born last December.

And I do not think that she be confused with me trying to teach her to much at once because all I have worked on with her is to sit. Nothing else because of how she lays down like she does.

[erdog3]

ok, she is well and truely old enough to be trained, you will have to teach her to stand. Something I had to do when I was teaching mine for shows. It seems odd, but it is exactly the opposite to what many people want in their dogs.
Try not to do too much at once, for your own sanity, not the dogs. Get the toys, go for walks etc. to try to modify the other problems.
To teach her to stand you will need a very fine choker, some treats and a fairly large area.
When you put this choker on you make sure it is high up on the neck, right under the chin, you need to keep it tucked right up there at all times. Now run with your dog, holding the lead vertically in the air, stop, give the command stand, place your hand under the back half of the belly so she can't sit down, keep that lead upwards at all times, then give a treat.
The chain and lead keeps the top half up, and your hand keeps the bottom half up.
This choker is not your normal everyday choker that you see dogs pulling on when walking, it is specially designed for showing.

[Dax]

Have you checked books, etc. about the breed. These are sheep herders- right? The ones I see lie down a lot to CALM THE SITUATION (ie sheep) DOWN. This might be a trait breed into them.

I would recommend contacting some breeders and seeing what the norms are for the breed and then modify training methods accordingly.

[sambucca/whiskey]

actually this is far from the norm exception digging, and chasing are, but submission is not this is a dominant independant breed you need to build her confidence easy sit, down, stand lots of praise and treats.
Just from experience I recommend the prong. I read the most intresting article they did a study in Germany on 100 puppies training 50 with choke collars for life and 50 with prong as the dogs passed away they did autopsies on trachea and neck and the results were.
Chokes: 46 had trachia damage 2 were genetic the other 44 were from trama.
Prongs: 2 had damage 1 genetic the other trama.
Just something to think about.

[ June 12, 2004, 09:00 PM: Message edited by: sambucca/whiskey ]

[Dax]

Chewing - "everything outside has teeth marks" try a kong filled with peanut butter or other treats or get a big leg bone not cut with meat on it from your butcher. She'll never be able to break off bits from it and it could keep her occupied for weeks on end.

The fear (submission) at 7 months - it could also be a phase. Not quite sure how they fit into the pack and instinct tells them that the puppy halo of protection is wearing thin. I would neither encourage nor discourage the behavior. Keep reprimands down to a single word like NO, OFF, etc. I would avoid looking at her face as you reprimand so she doesn't go submissive right away.

Digging could be because her nails are too long. Check them.

It sounds like she has the run of the yard - until she rearchs a certain level of maturity you might want to consider a portable kennel. They are cheap and let you limit her space. I'm sure the chickens would appreciate it.

[ June 13, 2004, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: doglover ]

[erdog3]

Sam, have you shown any dogs? The show choker is a very fine link, which is easily broken, because if you can't control your dog in a show it shouldn't be there.
It is not a regular choker that you use to pull your dog into control, it is not placed anywhere near the windpipe, but much higher up, it encourages your dog to hold it's head up, it is not a training tool. Everyone that shows in Australia has to have their dog on this choker and lead, I have not heard of any deaths resulting from this choker. The reason I suggested this is because this dog is definately submissive, needs encouragement not punishment in any way, and you also need to use your hand to lift up the back part of the belly to make them stand. Lets say if you were to take a dog for a walk with this link and it decided to run, you would end up with the chain in your hand and the dog long gone!!!

[sambucca/whiskey]

No I have never showed a dog and being at the pet store yesterday these fine chaina are not readily available my comments on chokers are toward the regular ones you buy in the pet store that are used as a correction. the deaths were not from the colllars but after natural death they were inspected to have had trama damage after death. If the choice is a regular choke(not show) or prong the prong has been proven to be safer and more humane just misunderstood.
I like agility as a confidence builder also clicker training.

[erdog3]

ok Sam, I don't believe in using those big chokers either, all they do is make the dog choke and splutter the more you pull on them. I also remembered I had to get my show choker from an actual show. It is still fairly strong, but not enough for training, but it does get them to hold up their heads, you can use a very thin webbed lead in the same way, but not for pulling them along, only for holding up the head, then you need to put your hand under the belly, so they can't sit. It could help in this situation, the dog would realize that it is not going to be hurt, to build up it's confidence.