Finn and Charlie

Finn and Charlie have a great time playing together. Charlie can be a bit annoying at times when we are working, however. He always thinks it is time to play and attacks Finn when he is suppose to be working on his "stays". Finn is doing great with his obedience. He is working completely off-leash now. He will heel at or side, sit when we come to a stop, down, come, go to place and stay. He still has a lot of energy and will need consistency when he comes home or he will learn to "blow you off". He is like a little teenager. We are continuing to work on his submissive urination problem, but that may never go away. We are using the belly band to help with that and he is starting to get use to it. Overall, I think Finn is doing well with his training and I know he will be looking forward to going home with you this weekend.

Finn's training

Finn is doing well with his training. He is dragging a line behind him as we are getting him more consistent with his off-leash training. He is working on sit and down stay, heel, come, and place. We have also been trying to work with his submissive urination. That has been quite a challenge the first week. We did purchase for him a "belly band" which is sort of like a male dog diaper so that when he is in the house and we do not have to worry about him tinkling everywhere. This works really well. Along with this, we are trying to teach him NOT to immediately roll and pee every time someone walks by. We are doing this by giving him treats BEFORE he rolls hoping that this will change his automatic response of peeing. If he thinks a treat is coming, he will be focused on the treat, rather than reacting in the submissive way he has been used to. We are also, trying to utilize the "place" command hoping that by giving him this command, along with the treats, it will RE-FOCUS him onto doing something positive rather than the negative reaction of urinating. We have solicited other trainers advice that have dealt with dogs like Finn and have been given lots of great methods to try with him. We will continue to work with him in all areas and hopefully we can make some good progress on his submissive urination. The pictures show Finn in a down-stay, sit-stay, and place, with and without distraction (the cat). Come to think about it, that is probably what I should have named that cat! LOL

Rajah goes to the Park

Today I took Rajah to the park. He did great among the added distractions. Even the out of control Rat Terrier running around off leash, while the owner yelled "Zoey, come here, Zoey, come here" didn't phase him. He also did great with the strangers passing by. He only made a couple of grumbles and I quickly stopped that. Rajah has really come a long way since he has been here with us. He is a much calmer and more controllable dog. I have also been able to use the pedi-paws nail trimmer on him without issue. Rajah is a great little dog and now with consistency from you, he will only get better. He looks forward to a better life with you as his proper pack leader.

Finn Starts His Training

So far, Finn is enjoying his stay with us. He has met new friends and loves to play with them. He is doing very well with his training so far. As you know, he had never been on a leash prior to coming here. He is doing great with that now. He is now able to walk calmly on a flexi-leash and follow me around the yard. Right now, he is also learning to sit, follow me, place, and stay. He is also doing very well with his crate training, which will help in his housebreaking. He loves his crate and feels very secure in there. Finn is a very smart and sweet little boy. He is very food motivated and this is helping with his training. Of course, we will also teach him the difference between his treats and ours. HaHa! The only problem we are having with him at this point is his submissive urination. As I believe I had discussed with you prior, this is a genetic temperament issue and is not really something that can be "trained" out of him. We can work on ways to help improve it, such as not reinforcing the behavior by doing anything that excites him when we want to take him outside, etc. At this point, ignoring the behavior and not drawing much attention to it is the best approach to take. I will explain this more in his "going home lesson". Hopefully, as he matures, and as you learn to interact with him without the "over-excitement, this behavior will diminish.

Finn

Finn
Male Miniature Dachshund, 6.5 months old
Owned by Cheryl and Gary from Morganton, NC

Board N Train began on 9/4/09

Lists of problems as stated by owner:

• Not housebroken
• Overactive and doesn't settle down easily
• Mounts objects (his stuffed bunny)
• Urinates when excited or afraid
• Nuisance barker or whiner when strangers are around
• Play bites
• Chews destructively
  
• Sniffs or eats off countertops and tables
• Obsesses over people food
• Jumps up in their face
• Has never been on a leash
  

Main goals owner wants to achieve:

• Not jumping on us or lunging at our face
• Not obsessing over our food
• Not barking at strangers
• Not urinating on us or the floor when he's excited
• Going to the bathroom outside more consistently
  

Rajah Off-Leash

Rajah has been working completely off the leash this week. He is doing great with his training! Things are finally falling into place with him. He is even showing the new guy, Finn, the ropes. He will do sits or downs with Finn or just stay on place while I am training with Finn. Of course, the cat, who still has no name btw, continues to torture him while he is suppose to be listening. They are going to miss each other. He has also learned to accept Mackenzie as a part of our pack.

Rajah Progressing

Rajah had a very good training session today. We worked a lot on sit and down-stay. We also did more heeling work, now adding some distraction. I had Rajah "heel" while I was pushing Mackenzie in her little car. A week ago, this would never have happened because he was WAY too uncomfortable with Mackenzie and any other strange movement. He did very well with this exercise. He is now only dragging a 4 foot leash when I let him outside or work with him. I have very good control over him without holding the leash. We are still using a good bit of treats to reinforce his behaviors, but they will soon be weaned out. Today, I made Rajah perform a sit-stay while I fed the goats and Baxter, our livestock guardian. He did very well with this. He did get a little distracted a couple of times, but before today, this exercise was not possible. He has come a long way in the last couple of days. He is a smart dog and I knew he had it in him. It is just going to take consistency to make these good behaviors continue. He is a cute dog, and with that, he can sucker you into not following through with commands. You must follow through with each command that is given so that he will not return home and take advantage of you.

Rajah coming around

Well Rajah has been her for 10 days and he is finally starting to come around. He was pretty stressed his first week here and we took his training very slowly. Now he is starting to understand what things are all about here. I also found something that he likes, to assist with his training...hot dogs! He need just a little something extra to help him "come around". Hot dogs did the trick. So far, the commands that Rajah has been taught are sit, down, come, stay, place, heel and come on. He is also working on the "quiet" or no barking command. He is a chihuahua and barking at strangers (or even people he is not comfortable with) is almost an automatic response. I am not sure that will ever be 100% but we have DEFINITELY gotten more control over it. Here are a few pics of Rajah in training. Some of the pics show the "place" command on a rock and other pics show a sit-stay and a"down" under distraction (the cat attacking him). I would say that is a pretty good distraction for any dog.