Need help!

[Smackey]

Marvel has recently started jumping up on people. Not so much us (his family) any more, but when we are out and about, he used to sit politely and wait for someone to acknowledge him/pet him.

Now with his jumping problem, I don't let any one pet him. Obviously, people see a dog that looks friendly, they want to pet them. I used to not mind as long as Marvel showed interest in wanting someone to pet him and he remembered his manners.

I taught him the "down" command when he was younger so he wouldn't jump up. It worked great and as I said, he used to sit patiently and wait, now, he would rather run full force at someone and jump. And at 4 months, he is going to hurt someone and I DO NOT want that. I used the chain training collar to teach him not to pull on the leash, and that worked great, but now, he doesn't care if it tightens, he would literally try to choke himself to get to someone to greet them. I put his regular flat collar back on him...which just caused him to start pulling on his walks. I don't want him choking himself acting like a crazy pup. Marvel has NO IDEA what a stranger is, absolutely NONE.

I bought a slip leash. When I parade him around like a show dog, with the collar and/or leash all the way at the base of his skull, he is great, but the moment it slides down or moves he starts pulling to get to people, his excitement is hard to control. I want to get it under control before he is too be and it becomes an even worse habit. The down command no longer works. He just ignores me.

Will a slip leash help? I bought one to try yesterday night, but right now it is way too hot to take him outside. It has the little leather piece that slides down so i can fit it to him and it isn't too loose or anything, but I am wondering if a limited slip collar would be better, or maybe even a head halter...but I don't like the fact that it is so close to the dog's eyes. I had a trainer suggest a harness, that he may like it more...but he literally pulled me down the street...that was bad.

Any suggestions would be great!

Also, Marvel is patient and knows to wait when it is feeding time, he waits for my command before he goes out a door, when he plays fetch or with any of his toys, he knows the "Drop it" command and he waits patiently until I am ready to throw it or give the toy back. He has SOME control, but now, not with trying to greet new people. :/ I am not sure where I went wrong or what I did wrong in trying to teach him manners with people/kids.

(I forgot something. I used to be a CNA in a nursing home. I still go back and visit the residents. Marvel has been welcomed by the DON because of his good behavior with the elderly. Marvel DOES NOT even attempt to jump to greet them. He ALWAYS remembers his manners and sits patiently. He doesn't get overly excited. He has such high marks by the DON with the residents that he is aloud to accompany me any time I am there. I just don't understand why he won't jump on certain people, but others he will try with all his might and strength to jump on. And he isn't mean or anything, unless you consider a thousand licks to the face being mean, . Marvel is a very BIG licker! You need a shower, just go see him!)

 

[TwoDogs]

Freedom no pull harness.

 

[Smackey]

No idea what that is, but I will look it up. Thank you!

 

[sjtorr]

I used a gentle leader head harness from four months until about a year. Gradually weaned her off as manners improved, and it did help a great deal. I sometimes still use it in high pressure situations, but she has matured and at 18 months she finally gets it. Jumping up on people still sometimes happens... Foot goes on the leash so she can't jump, which means I can stay standing and in control. She is definitely getting better, just takes time, patience, consistency.

 

[RockTheBoxer]

We use a harness when walking Rocky. It gives us pretty good control and won't hurt his throat/windpipes which we took into consideration due to the flat face and deep chest of a boxer. For pulling you while out, randomly start turning in front of him and go the other direction. You may literally walk into him to force him to turn around. Keep doing this at random times. He'll eventually walk with you and may even look at up you to see where you are going instead of him trying to be the leader. We learned this in our obedience classes we did.

We for lucky and our boy isn't a jumper so I can't offer a lot of advice there. What we do use when he is doing something we don't want him to is to use a loud "EH" sound instead of saying no. It stops him every time. You could try it if he starts jumping, say "EH" loudly. I would say whatever you decide, stay consistent so Marvel doesn't get confused.

It sounds like your boy is a smarty pants and has learned a lot quickly. If you keep working on this he'll learn that jumping is not appropriate. He's still quite young so be patient.

 

[Smackey]

I don't mind being patient or trying different tools or training types, I am committed to my pup. I will do whatever it takes to make him a better citizen, I guess you could say.

My last dog was a Pekingese / toy Poodle, and he was relatively easy to train. Marvel on the other hand is quite stubborn and likes to do things his way, . He is my first Boxer, and a whole lot more personality than I realized.

My biggest breed was a German Shepard mix, but my father trained him, so he already knew everything I told him.

Marvel is a clean slate and it is my responsibility to teach him the right way, no one is going to do it for me. I have learned that he is a lot like my oldest son, very independent, highly intelligent, stubborn, and does not like to be told what to do. Only difference, Marvel doesn't speak English. I apparently need to learn Boxer or Dog.

I will try the random changing directions and see if that helps any. I know he is still young and its going to take a lot of time and patience, which is fine, I just want him to be the best little guy I know he can be.

Normally the "Att Att" works on letting him know what he is doing in unacceptable, but when he reaches that level of excitement, he could care less.

 

[RockTheBoxer]

Sounds like you're on the right track! Rocky is my first dog ever and I never anticipated the amount of personality that comes with a boxer. They truly are amazing...smart....and stubborn!

 

[TwoDogs]

Freedom no pull harness.

Sorry for not giving any explanation in my post. I was posting from my phone and it is sooo hard for me to type with that tiny little keyboard.

Take a look at the Freedom harness. Just google it and you'll find it. It is a great tool to reduce/eliminate pulling and much safer for a 4 month old pup (or any dog for that matter) than a metal choke chain.

Marvel sounds like a great little guy. As for the jumping and pulling toward people, be thankful that he wants to greet everyone. I would much rather have a pup that pulled to greet every stranger than one that was shy or reserved around new people.

The great thing about a dog that wants to greet everyone is that you have a built in motivation and reward for good behavior that you can control--the actual greeting. You can use access to people as the reward for the behavior you want. The key is to not think of it in terms of punishing him to eliminating the jumping, but to think of it in terms of rewarding the behavior you do want.

For a minute forget about the jumping. If he could control his impulses, he wouldn't be jumping anyway, so jumping is really a secondary problem. It is better to focus on teaching him how to control himself and that controlling himself is a better strategy for getting the things he wants.

How to teach impulse control can be tough because, unlike a behavior like "sit" that is clearly defined, impulse control is harder to quantify. Impulse control lessons start small and include:

Waiting until you set the food bowl down and give a release word before eating.
Not reaching and snatching a toy from your hand until you give a verbal cue to take it.
Waiting while you open the door and only going through when you give a release word.
Not taking a cookie from your open hand until you actually give it to his mouth or verbally release him to take it.

In each case, you use the dog's motivation (the food/open door/toy/cookie) as the end reward. If the dog moves toward the item before you've released him then you just remove it. They figure it out pretty quickly that the quickest way to get to the thing that they want is to just wait until it is given to them.

Then it is just a matter of transferring that lesson to include people you meet. If he waits calmly he gets the reward of greeting but if he jumps at any time during the greeting, he gets removed (or the person removes themselves). Once he's calm, greeting can begin again but is removed if he jumps again.

 

[Smackey]

Waiting until you set the food bowl down and give a release word before eating.
Not reaching and snatching a toy from your hand until you give a verbal cue to take it.
Waiting while you open the door and only going through when you give a release word.
Not taking a cookie from your open hand until you actually give it to his mouth or verbally release him to take it.

He doesn't have a release word for his food bowl, but he knows before he gets it, he has to sit and be patient while I fix it, and before I set it down, he knows to give me how ever long of eye contact that I am looking for, which is usually 5 to 7 seconds as his attention span isn't very big. Once I get his attention, the bowl is his. That was an easy one.
He will not snatch a toy from my hand. If we are playing fetch, he drops it when acts, and waits until I am either ready to throw it, or give it back.
As for the door, that only works when he is on leash. If he isn't on a leash, it all goes out the window and he takes off like a bat out of hell.
Treats are difficult for him, but that is what we are working on now.

And I gave up the training collar, it wasn't worth watching him try to hang himself. I ordered the freedom harness, so hopefully that will help as well.

I think another problem is that it is nearly impossible to drain his excessive amount of energy. He runs, plays, pounces, whatever he can, and we play with him all the time. He especially loves fetch and doesn't care how far the ball goes, he will gladly chase it. I have only seen him tired once since we had him and that was after an hour of fetch at 14 weeks old. After that, it was like something inside of him exploded and off this new found energy came out of nowhere! I am tired before he is. My husband and I switch playing with him. When he wears me out, its the hubby's turn. His vet says she has never met a pup with so much energy before. I don't know if that is a good or bad things. He is like an energizer bunny, he goes, and goes, and goes, and goes!

 

[Smackey]

And he just made a liar out of me, . I was practicing the not taking treats from my hand until I give it to him. I got a whole 20 seconds of him waiting! I know 20 seconds doesn't seem like a lot to us, but for my little guy to wait for that long at only 4 months old, I am more than pleased! That is the longest he has ever waited! And that was with challenging him with it right at his nose, hand wide open. He licked his lips a few times, but he nonetheless waited! So happy! Something I think is so simple, is a big step for him! Yay Marvel!