At my whits end not sure what to do. (sorry long)

[jengelz]

Bernie suffered from SA up until a few weeks ago. He used to COLLAPSE his wire crate on himself to get out.

What seemed to give a little relief is that I would set up a bunch of kongs (frozen and non-frozen but each had different things in it) and also gave him some busy buddy toys that had the rest of his food and treats in it. Mental exercise is just about as important as physical exercise when dealing with such a determined boxer and busy buddies somewhat help in that category.

At various points throughout the day, run through your commands (sit, stay, paw, other paw... whatever they know!). Do NOT let her demand ANYTHING from you. If she comes up to you with a toy, ignore her and then a couple minutes later, you can call her over, have her give you paw, and then tell her to go get her toy. If she doesn't know how to get her toy, you can give it to her. Have her sit and stay before eating her food.

Most importantly, and I know this is going to sound crazy, but don't think when you leave the house. I would think about Bernie and all of the horror that I was going to come home to before I even walked out of the door and he picked up on that. It stressed him out seeing (or sensing) me be so stressed out. Get your mind off of all of that. When I leave now, I would try to think of lyrics to a song or spell difficult words in my head. I promise you, that more than anything else has done wonders regardless of how silly it sounds.

Good luck and don't give up!

 

[trdavis]

Thank you all so much. Things are getting some better. We haven't had any poop accidents this week and the crate is still standing with Crystal in it, I might add! since I reinforced the sides with zip ties this seems to be working along with putting a chew bone and toy in her crate with her.

She's been getting more exercise which I'm sure is helping.

We have our first dog class tonight so we'll see how that goes.

I can see some improvement so that's a good thing. Not a lot but enough to give me hope!

i couldn't have done it without all the wonderful advice! Thanks!

 

[ehayes21]

The wire crates are almost impossible to break out of.

Unless your Disco. :rolleyes: If she is busting out of a wire crate - zip ties work very effectively.

 

[Indy's mom]

Everyone has offered you great advice for your fiesty girl.

As for the trash, our first two boxers were trash pests. We finally bought one of the wooden bins, often called potato bins at craft fairs. Simply a tall wooden square box with a wooden lid. No way for the dog to get into it. For us the problem was solved.

Good luck with your girl, and I'm impressed that you are willing to work so hard to help her become the family member you know she can be. appicon

 

[Wubbie]

Every one of her "issues" seems to be caused by two things: lack of physcial exercise, and lack of mental exercise.

Playing with her in the yard is great, but she needs to get out of your yard and explore the world. Even if she's out of the cage, she has to feel like a caged animal if all she sees is the inside of your house or yard. And I apologize if I missed something and you ARE walking her. I sort of skimmed a few pages. Plus, by getting her out into new experiences, around other people, other dogs, even barnyard animals will be a mental challenge, which will tire her even further.

And right along with the walking is learning to walk properly. You don't need obedience training to teach a dog to walk well -- or at least make the first proper steps to walking well. Snap on that leash, make her walk behind your left foot, and get her moving.

And try to create as many mentally challenging games as possible. Make her find stuff. Make her wait for stuff. Put stuff inside a Kong. Anything that makes her think -- as this will also tire her out.

Teach her to sit and make that one command the thing she has to do before she gets anything she wants. You'll be surprised how much time she'll spend sitting.

As a wise trainer once told me, excess energy in a dog is expressed through their mouth and their feet. If they're running, jumping, digging, barking, breaking out of or into things, it's all related to excess energy. Eliminate the energy and you eliminate many of the problems. Then, things seem manageable.

 

[trdavis]

I have seen a lot of improvement since Crystal has been getting more exercise. I've been so sick this past week that I haven't been able to take her on evening walks. But the boys have been taking her outside and running and playing with her. I've gotten her some inside toys that she seems to love to chase and figure out. So it is getting better.

She hasn't busted out of the crate this week and she isn't knocking her food over in now. Although she will only eat if the door to the crate is unlocked.

All in all I'm happy with the progress so far.

 

[DyckDogs]

I'm glad to hear things are improving. Boxers can be a bit naughty when they are young. Patience is truly a virtue when you have a young boxer in the family. But it is so very hard to be upset with them for long when they look at you with those big brown eyes!

 

[Indy's mom]

Nice job on getting your girl more exercise. You've heard it again and again, a tired boxer is a good boxer. Just like skin kids.

Keep up the nice work, you're sure to see more and more progress as time goes on.

 

[trdavis]

New question when you walking the dog what's the best way to teach them not the pull you. And how far ahead of me should I let her walk?

 

[jengelz]

Essentially, your dog should be at your left side or even a little behind you while on walks.

Depending on how stubborn your girl is, it can take as little as any time she starts to pull, you just stop moving. When she looks back and stops pulling, then you can start up again. She may get the idea that when she pulls, she stops walking and there's just no fun in standing still! (This worked with Bernie)

It's another good idea to try to keep her attention on YOU during your walks. If you know she gets excited when she sees the neighbors cat or kids on bikes, then calmly get her attention BEFORE she sees it. Have her sit and do paw or something like that, to keep her mind occupied. You almost have to be one step ahead of these guys and always look out for what "gets" them. It's also a good idea to have "special" treats that you use only on walks.

Also, don't let her pull you everywhere to sniff a lamp post or backtrack to sniff a spot on the ground. You are the boss, you decide when its time to sniff or when its time to continue travelling in your "pack". Remember, dogs are pack animals and they absolutely thrive on structure, even if it sounds like no fun to you.