A few questions

[Dan]

Hi All,

I have a 10 month Australian Shepard with lots of energy, and I have a few questions about NDT:

1. Barking/Playing in the house
I know we are not supposed to play in the house, but is that a hard rule? My dog has so much energy and will bark/pull on my pants. I usually try to redirect with a toy/tug/chase. The only other option I would have is to stick her in her crate.

2. Significant other
My wife will scold her more than I will. We will both threaten the crate, and this seems to calm her down. I know the crate is not supposed to be a punishment though. Any advice on stopping barking and attacking clothes, children (playfully), etc)?

3. Coming when called/pushing
Interestingly I can get her to come by saying "Ready?", but not by saying "Corabelle". Maybe this is because we use "Corabelle" in a negative context (like quiet, no, etc.)?

I do a lot of tug on walks. This happens mostly when we cross a major street. She will attack my pants because she is overstimulated (I think?), and I will (with some effort on my part) redirect her to the tug toy.

I've read the Natural Dog Training book and watched the DVDs. I think things are going well generally, but I'm mostly looking for tips on managing my dogs behavior inside while not damaging our bond.

Thanks for any advice/help.

[rudy]

Aw, an Aussie puppy

I'm not the resident expert, but this is what I've heard and read:

Puppies are either in the crate in a quiet place in the house or outside. They are never loose in the house. As you are experiencing, all the goings on in a house is too much stimulation for youngsters.

The Crate/Outside management continues until the dog no longer makes prey (chase, jumps on, bites) anything or anyone in the house.

One of the many benefits of this is that your dog will be geared up to play/train every time you go out. If your yard is safe and relatively quiet I think it's ok to leave the pup alone for a while outside, too.

Are you pushing for all of the dog's meals?

[Dan]

I guess locking a dog in a crate all day and all night except for an hour outside seems mean. She is going to do a lot of whining. How long will the crate period last? I do pushing about 4 times a week, but I really just started.

I take her on a 2 mile walk once a day. We do tugging at various points on the way.

[Dan]

Actually, we confine her mostly to the kitchen area. People are in and out of that area for food, etc. Is that sufficiently crate like? She will bark at us in other rooms from the kitchen, but not if she is in a crate.

[rudy]

Hi Dan,

I think the assumption is that the dog will be outside with you a lot, at least once every few hours from some play training. Or alone to relax outside. So that may mean several hours throughout the day outside with you or a member of your family, not just one hour.

Even then, outside, the kids should probably not run circles around her getting her all worked up.

When you go out, you play tug, you push for food, you do low (very low for a puppy) box work, you let her roam and sniff. You can play hide and seek with her in the yard, etc. After an hour of that she would probably like to sleep for a few hours anyway.

Considering she's an Australian Shep, she'd probably really take to Fetch-Tug and that might help you burn off a little bit of energy if she's still has some to burn after a vigorous game of Tug and some pushing.


The importance of the crate is, from what I've gleaned, to keep the dog in a quiet undisturbed place so, if you go to the fridge as often as I do, is not going to be the kitchen. You want zero stimulation going on around her in the house. No squeaky toys, no squeaky children, no tv, no radio, no running around by her, etc. Inside means sleep and quiet. Outside means playtime.


The crating continues until she does not make prey on anyone/anything in the house. She's not biting, barking, chasing anything in the house: your kids, you, the vaccuum, the furniture, etc.

[rudy]

"While you're doing all the good stuff" (push, tug, box), "my basic bromide is to put a pup on the emotional back burner and admire from afar with as few words as possible." Kevin Behan

[Sang]

Hey Dan, welcome to the forum and to NDT.

Rudy has made some great suggestions and recommendations, and is spot on.

I just want to add that as far as the crate goes. It's best to think of it in terms of protecting the puppy from you, not protecting you and the house from the puppy. When your pup is allowed to have free time in the house before she's ready, she's inevitably going to do things you don't want. Whether it's peeing on the rug, chewing your shoes, trying to get up on counters, etc....and these are all things that are going to create an imprint in her as ways to release her tension. And what usually happens when a puppy engages in those things is that the owner becomes confrontational, and scolds the puppy, putting a charge in her. What's going on is the puppy is just expressing her natural drive and urges, which is making her feel good, and then you're interrupting the flow of those good feelings, making you the one she wants to avoid as she gets older. Which then manifests in things like not coming when called, because you have created the imprint that being near you interrupts her flow rather than enhances it.

This is why the crating indoors is so important. Just as Rudy said, you want her to learn that making prey happens outside, not inside. Because those behaviors she learns inside the house to channel her drive by making prey on your shoes, the remote, the garbage, etc....all create the imprint that these are the things she should do when she wants to unload stress, and you want to avoid that as much as possible. If she doesn't learn those behaviors to begin with, she won't do them in the future as an adult.

Rudy is also correct that she needs a quiet space of her own, where she's going to get no stimulation, or at least as little stimulation as possible. This way she isn't "loading up", and she starts to learn on her own to be calm inside, and active outside.

As far as her not coming when you call her name, you can look at it this way. Likely you've used her name a lot, including when she's been doing something you don't want her to do. So she is now associating her name with an interruption of flow, making her attraction to whatever it is that she was doing before you called her that much stronger. So when she hears her name, she actually feels a stronger pull towards the thing she was doing before you called her. Whereas you likely weren't saying "ready" until you started pushing, so she associates the word "ready" with feeling a stronger pull of attraction to you, because the pushing keeps the flow of energy going.

So I hope that gives you some more insight. Good luck!

[Dan]

Thanks Rudy and Sang,

That is helpful. Our problem is that we have a 2 year old and a 4 year old, and our house is pretty chaotic. W.e also live in the city and the back yard is full of noises and the house is not huge.

I've been watching her today. I think generally the kitchen is an ok place for her. I just went in there and ignored her and she didn't get up. My son went on his tricycle in the other room and that charged her and she barked. I think I have to monitor her and see how much stimulation she can take. Too much and she will go in the crate. No confrontation. Sang is right I think about her name associated with confrontation. I'll let my wife know about this too. I think at her age she will probably need to spend about half her time in the crate. It will depend on how many people are in the house and what they are doing.

Thanks again,
Dan

[Sang]

Yeah, the crating thing/quiet place is an ideal situation, but we all have to make the best of the situations and environments we live in. Just get as close to it as you can. As long as you guys don't load her up in the house with lots of attention and she isn't allowed to just run around willy nilly, and she gets plenty of time outside to channel her energy, it will all balance itself out. I'm sure you'll make the best of it.