Meet The Newest Member Of Our Family

[rachelm 0]

Something to help dogs not jumping is when they jump out, firmly tell them no, step back and if they keep jumping, gently (not hitting or smacking) put you palm against his nose, it normally makes the dogs recoil. Some people may think this is cruel, but it isn't like hitting the dog or anything. Here is a website to help if you want: http://dogobedienceadvice.com/how_stop_dog_jumping.php

When dogs jump on you they are saying hello and wanting attention. So, when he jumps up turn your back to the dog with your arms folded and ignore him and even walk away. When he sits nicely for you, then give him a pat.

Will your partner be taking him to obedience training? Might help him learn to behave

[splat 0]

Thanks for the help Squeak and Rachelm, I have been saying no firmly and also ignoring him and that does work he goes off and does his own thing.

For Obedience I hope Greg does.

[SL26 0]

I love blueys!!! He's a lovely looking pup splat. I know what you mean by looks - some can look really nice, while others just have the typical bucket head. My Archie was 3/4 bluey 1/4 border collie so he he was cuter than the average bluey but had the personality of a bluey. He was also called Bear by his breeder because he was the biggest pup and looked like a bear as well, so Bear is a good nickname for Jake!!

 

They are very loyal and are a one person dog, but will accept family members/friends as part of their pack quite happily, however when it comes to discipline they can be very strong willed and sometimes only listen to 'their person' and not others. These dogs are very smart and need to know who's boss - firm training is essential otherwise they will walk all over you and give you grief. A well trained bluey is a joy to have around.

 

One thing to watch though, is that they can nip. They can't help this because they do this when rounding up cattle. I found that Archie only nipped when he was trying to control someone (ie. my mum!) when he didn't like what they were doing (going on a car ride without him!). Given this and their dominant personality I wouldn't necessarily trust them around small kids. They could get accidently nipped on the face by a bluey trying to round them up. They are much better suited to teenage kids.

 

One toy blueys really love are balls. I wouldn't give them a tennis ball because they can chew the covers off and means a trip to the vet (speaking from experience!). I used to give Archie rubber balls which had a bell inside. These were really cheap from the supermarket but tough enough to withstand his strong jaws. Throwing a ball is a good way to tire these guys out. Another distraction is a cow bone, Archie would sit for hours and chew it.

 

I know blueys aren't for everyone splat, but if you can get Greg to train him properly, then I'm sure Jake will be a much nicer dog to have around and will not drive you nuts. I hope things go well.

[splat 0]

Thanks SL26 that is a great help, I will take all this into consideration, I seem to be the firm one around hear not Greg so far, And Jake seems to respond to me more than Greg .

I have been doing that fold the arm thing and turn around and ignore and he goes off and does his own thing then, it works well.

[GenericBlue 0]

another tip for heelers splat is always look then in eye if they do wrong you must go to him kneel at his leavle and hold both sides of his face you dont need to scruff him just hold firm bring him to your noses touch and say no jake no

then pick him up and place him in a spot you want him to return to if you tell him to go away and say stay their if he trys to follow just place him back and say stay their , some where safe for him and under shelter as after a while you say no jake no got to your spot

he will then soon as he hears no he will go with out you telling him to percistance is key to heeler training and actually showing them what you want then they will do it themselfs less words the better just straight comands hand signals work great they are workers after all

[*Nerwen* 0]

Rachelm - that is the way i was shown by dog trainers and it worked well, but you have to reward them for the behavior you want eg sitting.

 

 

and Spat don't give up on the jumping training or any training you want to take place even if Greg allows it dogs can learn that they can get away with a behavior with some and not others. My friends dog was horrid for licking you and she loved to get your face (which I HATE hate more than dogs jumping all over you) but she learn it wasn't going to pass with me, with lots of stare downs and firm no's. after three times she was put on the ground. of cuase the onwer still let her but in time she stopped trying with me and loved the pats she got for being a good girl.

[SL26 0]

It sounds like Jake knows that your the pack leader splat, which is good if you're the one around the most. GB's tips are really good too, looking them in the eye shows that you're the dominant one and they will respect that. I agree with Nerwen, I can't stand dogs that lick! Archie used to lick my hubby because he let him, but knew not to do it with me, he preferred a full body rub from me instead! For such a tough dog, he was also very sensual!

 

Almost forgot - they also like to play rough too. My Dad used to put on a pair of leather gardening gloves and play really rough with Archie, allowing him to grab the gloves and chew and muck around. He knew that he could only do this when Dad had the gloves on and was sitting on the ground. I guess this was like playing with the pack - what we see with wild dogs.

[splat 0]

Thanks guys for your advice, Jake has being fairly good but this morning he was just the worse. He tore my chair to pieces so when I got up to feed the little so and on. I wasn't going to pat him. Iwent out and put his face in it and said NO bad dog, well he just jumped all me so I went inside, didn't feed for 15 minutes.

Anyway he was ferriel, I hate him. I turned my back on him but then he just nipps at my pants and the hurts. I rang up about obedience classes because he is driving me nuts.

Whlie all this is happening Gregs laying on the couch, he has NO idea what he is like.

[rachelm 0]

Rachelm - that is the way i was shown by dog trainers and it worked well, but you have to reward them for the behavior you want eg sitting.

Yes, true Nerwen. Its called positive reinforcement training. 'Try' to ignore bad behavior and reward good behavior with treats, pats and lots of attention . Works well with children too :sadsorry:

Ps. Splat after he does something like tear up your chair, you can give him 'time out' in a small room, shed, laundry for 5mins. Somewhere that is VERY boring. But you have to catch him in the act or else he won't know what he has done wrong. Best of like with the little guy.

Edited September 12, 2010 by rachelm

[splat 0]

Thanks Rachelm, i took him for a walk before he was fairly good, pulled some of the way. just taught him to fetch the ball and he did that very well. :sadsorry:

[rachelm 0]

Thanks Rachelm, i took him for a walk before he was fairly good, pulled some of the way. just taught him to fetch the ball and he did that very well.

Wow!! Fetching already, Jake is a very smart dog. He must have loved going for a walk.

[splat 0]

Yes he loved his walk until he decided NO more and then I had trouble with him, but yes he loves bringing the ball back , i thought that was cool I played ball with again just before and he still brought it back but if he looses concentration he will forget the ball and come back for a pat. I think that is good for the first time we have ever tried it

Edited September 12, 2010 by splat

[SL26 0]

Playing ball is their favourite thing. Given he's being a pain, you could perhaps use ball time as a reward?

 

It sounds like he's definitely going to need obedience training and soon! If he's destroying things, then give him something that is just for him to destroy (eg. a bone toy) and make a fuss of him when he chews it. He should get the idea that its okay to chew that but not other things.

[splat 0]

He has toys all over the place to destroy, so that is why I was annoyed that he ripped the **** out of my chair, he has denist chews, dries pig trotters, dried pig ears, raw hide chews, plus his balls and balls on robe a teething toy, a ball that squeaks when he bites it. PLUS he has found empty pot plants that he runs around with them on is head and he has a big bouncy ball that he has defalted which has big handles that he likes to chew on.

 

He is really funny when he plays with them because he will be playing with one toy then he would jump to the next and so on. He keeps himself very occupied when playing. But then he decides gee it's time to annoy mum and he will pounce on me NOT Greg ME!

Then he tries jumping up on with mouth open which I totally hate so of course I say NO firmly but when he is so excited he has trouble listening I am sure.

[GenericBlue 0]

trulely mate get him a pair of rubber boots and each time he chews something his not ment to even your fingers give him boot in replace

my little puppy is so chewy but i give her a certain toy each time she chews something shes not ment to

its only been few days off two weeks now and she grabs it everytime she wants to chew

shes got other toys also but this one is the chewing toy the other ones are tossing around toys

she chews them to a bit but knows that chewing is really only premited on the one item

 

my heeler knew this same thing and he would not take any shoes or anything he knew his boots were his the others were off limits we played gumboot toss he loved it

[splat 0]

Well I just took Bear :rofl: okay Jake for a walk, He walked really good no pulling, he is learning fast :rofl: . Our walk was short lived because we came to a house that had a big pit pull terrior out the front with tha gate open and I couldn't tell if it was tied up or not so I quickly picked Jake up and turned around and carried him a bit then put him down to home and he was perfect.

[SL26 0]

Given he's certainly learning fast, it shouldn't take too long from him to settle down. It sounds like you're doing all the right things, so it's just a matter of time (and patience!) for now.

[splat 0]

Given he's certainly learning fast, it shouldn't take too long from him to settle down. It sounds like you're doing all the right things, so it's just a matter of time (and patience!) for now.

 

Thanks SL26, He is smart but that's the problem, he is testing to see what he can get away with, I notice he is better behavied when Geg is at work than on the weekends when Greg is home. Maybe I am more relaxed too. Greg gets out of bed on the weekends and hits the couch and stays there most of the. IT DRIVES ME NUTTY. I don't know how anyone can do that, BUT then he reckons he is sick, but he is always sick, (all in his head)

[splat 0]

Good news Jake is fully lead train, we go for walks everyday now, he loves it but we can only walk one way because there are dogs loose the other 3 ways (street) and i am scared of what would happen. They are scary dogs.

But he is still annoying he loves me to death but i don't want him to, he is like my shadow everywhere I go he is right next to me or under my feet.

[Finnie 0]

Have you considered crate training him? It would be good discipline for him to learn that once in a while he just has to lay quietly in a crate. It's also helpful for situations he may encounter in the future where he may need to be put in a crate. (i.e. emergencies, vet recovery, hotel visit, etc..)

 

It can be part of his routine that at certain times of day, he takes a nap in his crate while you are busy.

[SL26 0]

Good idea Finnie. We used to tell Archie 'up the stairs' when we wanted him out of the way. This meant that he'd sit at the top of the stairs (split level house) and watch us and give us a pathetic look to try to make us feel guilty . Even if you don't have a crate, select an area of the house which is out of the way but where he can still see you. If he's sent out of sight, he's more likely to cause problems because he'll see it as punishment instead of its 'my spot time'.

 

It also sounds like he's definitely your dog now! Does Greg do anything with him?

[splat 0]

Nop Greg is never home, I don't have a crate for him, but today I tied him up while I moved the dirt to my new birdroom site he was quite good actually, I did it again this arvo and left hime there while I sat down, He wa stied up on the veranda right next to where his kennel is. I thought it to be a good idea to get him use to that especially when we do the cementing. Jake is really starting to be a good boy, I stood in his poop today but didn't know it and went into friends home with poop on my shoe I was soooo embarrassed they were good about, they laughed at me because I wanted to through my runner in the bin. Yuk it made me sick, SO I then decided Jakes diet is going to be natural from now on NO more can food, yuk.

[SL26 0]

That's a shame, given he's meant to be Greg's dog...Well at least he has a loving mummy

It's good to hear Jake's doing well and I know what you mean about can food , we changed our cats and dog to dry food that was from the vets. I can't remember the brand but it was like one of those science diet ones, it improved the end results!

[splat 0]

Here are a couple of photos of Jake I tooke before, you can see he has grown heaps

[anne101 0]

Just a suggestion Splat.....get or make him a little backpack, put some filled up water bottles (not too heavy for now), and get him used to that on his walks, it will turn a 1/2 hour walk into an hour walk for him!!

 

I used to do this when I worked in a shelter a few years ago with dogs of all ages and sizes....