my male shih tzu is coming home

[darkrose 7]

Ok everyone. I placed one of my shih tzus in a new home recently. He is coming back home. I guess they are having relationship problems and are bringing him home...Help please. I need training tips and just advice in general. I will not place him again.

but now im not sure what i am dealing with, He had some aggresion issues and was a bully, so now i have a female in heat, a male intact coming home, and a six month old puppy. alot of the problems i have with my dogs is my fault cause i didnt train them. Is it to late, they are four years, three years and six months.

both of the adults are bitchy with my little female puppy, calli

[Marlen 5,860]

So, did they have a problem with the dog or between them(the couple)? Either way, take a big breath. Since you didn't prevent the pregnancy the previous time, make sure the two of them don't come in contact. Keep them in separate rooms and only let them be together when you can supervise them, or don't let them together at all until Cami has finished with her heat. From the moment he comes back, set some ground rules. Don't let him dominate your house. No jumping up the furniture, don't feed him before you and I always give mine the "sit" command and make them wait 10-30 seconds before releasing them and letting them eat. When on walks, don't let him pull the leash. There are many small things that help but I don't know how your routine is with the rest of your dogs. For example, where do they sleep, how do they eat, do they pull their leash, do they listen to you? Having 3 untrained dogs is like a nightmare to me. lol If he shows aggression, give him a time out, that means remove him from your presence and from the presence of whatever caused his aggression. Some of our members use a tin can filled with coins, that startles the dog and make him stop the behavior, it's quite effective from what they say but I'm unlucky because it doesn't work with mine. His first meeting with your two females should be brief, 5 minutes maximum and as he grows accustomed to your house again and to your other dogs, you can prolong their play dates. Since he has shown signs of aggression (have you mentioned what those signs were?) his good behavior is not a given, he'll likely fall back to old habits if you don't have the resolve to deal with his issues. I know that confining him can get tiring but it's a good solution. If you had a crate, I'd recommend you crate him. Training or in your case retraining a dog is usually a long process but if done properly, you shouldn't have a problem. Age doesn't matter but the longer a dog has a "bad habit" the longer it will take to retrain them and break that bad habit. If you had your adults from puppies, 3 and 4 years are quite a bit of time, it'll take a while especially since you're not dealing with one dog but 3. If you have any specific questions, feel free to pm me. I don't claim to be an expert, not at all but if there's anything I can help with, I'll be glad to

Edited July 28, 2013 by Marlen

[darkrose 7]

Harley was my baby, i spoilt and pampered him when we were home. I did get him potty trained but nothing else, all three of are dogs sleep with us. from the begining he was a bossy bully sort of male. noone can play with the toys, he thinks he needs to eat first ect. we moved here and they are pinned up in a room with me alot. and my daughter has a black male lab, and now a pit puppy, plus a three year old. He didnt adjust well to this move at all. thats when i first saw his attitude. I think on a whole he thinks he has to protect cami and me from all,, when any animal approches us, he puffs up and starts the growling and barking.

He isnt scared of any animal at all, and seemed to think he could beat them all up. He has never actually bit anyone, but does a good show of it, so i kept him separated from my daughters dogs and my granddaughter alot.

the problem is i dont have any routines, i didnt train them at all. and i am being brutally honest here and i look like pet owner of the year. He will listen to me on a whole or at least i think cause now someone else has had him for two weeks, and i feel horrilby about all of this, and i have missed him and didnt feel good about getting rid of him anyhow. I feel like i bought him and he is my responibity.

I do have a crate i can use, we started that and i gave up. and yes having three untrained dogs is a nightmare. beleive me. Im stressing now over all of this. I dont want to place him anymore, once he is home i want him to stay and yeah i will need a ton of help from you guys cause you all know so much more than i do. all i knew was they were my babies, and i treated them like that and created monsters im sure lol

My adult female is an angel, she is a lazy dog though, and she has missed harley like crazy and you can tell. My puppy is a mixture of the parents, headstrong and very hyper but also very lovable but wants all of my attention, so does harley or at least he did.

anyhow whatever you say i will do. seriously

[darkrose 7]

Oh and it was the human couple who are having problems and are separting.

[Marlen 5,860]

First of all, I learned firsthand that taking advice and applying it doesn't always work. That's why I'd never tell anyone to do anything unless I could assess the situation and that means "meet the dog" and that's somehow not possible due to distance, unfortunately. Many of us buy-adopt dogs and baby them and that's probably the worst we can do for them. You can pamper your dog, when he's well behaved and calm, when he's learned to belong to the family and not lead it. You hadn't mentioned that your daughter had dogs of her own. I can see now that all of your dogs were brought in a situation which was stressful for them and didn't know how to act. Harley, if he didn't have proper socialization as a puppy (come in contact with dogs and learn the acceptable behaviors between dogs) and also proper training, he's bound to have a bad reaction to other dogs. Even I'm dealing with that with Misha who thinks that every dog should play with him lol Anyway, dogs are dogs first and beloved pets after. It might sound bad, I love my dogs and they're my family but I try to think of them as 'animals' first. No dog is a bully, some of them have a stronger character and that's why the owner has to be able to train them. If he has a problem sharing toys or letting you handle him while he's playing with something or you think he's getting territorial with them (doesn't let anyone approach), distract him from his current toy with a better one. He'll let go of the first one and go catch the other one. You can also try treats, hold treat and once he releases the toy, give it to him. Eventually he'll learn to let go of his toys because something better is being offered to him. You should be able to tell which toy he likes best and keep that as a reward. His reward can't always be food or you'd end up with a 30lb Tzu lol Once you've established the fact that he's getting rewards for doing something good, offer him his most prized a toy as a reward or even pet him, your contact with him is a reward to your dog. Since I offer toys as a reward, I don't let them play with them whenever they want. I have some toys on the floor in case they want to play but I pick them up and store the rest somewhere. That way, when I take a toy out, they both get the idea it's time to play and they've behaved well (since the toy is a reward essentially)

Feeding time is a sacred time and one of the most important ones for dogs. I'd suggest feeding your dogs separately for now and preferably in different rooms. First, you want to reach them the 'sit' command which is easy, you can see some Youtube videos if you want. Make Harley sit and if he moves from his position stop lowering his bowl. He'll associate that if he moves, he doesn't eat. Then you should make him wait 5 seconds (and slowly prolong the waiting time when you're confident he won't move) and give him a release word. Since I feed my dogs and one of them is watching while the other eats, I use their names as a release word, once they hear their name, they now it's okay to go eat. This exercise is a bit tricky. The dog has to be focused on you, if you see him obsessively looking at the bowl or whining, stop and try feeding him after a while. Do this with all of them, also don't 'free-feed' meaning, don't offer food without making them work for it (make them "sit" or "come" and offer them treats or a toy). Only use treats when training them.

Also, don't give up on the crate, even if you don't crate him it's essential to make all of your dogs used to it. The crate is ideal for emergency situations or for when you can't supervise Harley. Did he react bad to it?

There are many-many more to say but the post got too big That's why I asked if you had any specific questions or problems that you want to solve.

How are they on the leash?

And, when you say they sleep with you, you mean all of them on your bed?

Edited July 28, 2013 by Marlen

[darkrose 7]

Cami darts off and you almost have to run to catch up, she does slow down in time. Harley actually does pretty good, and does his business then follows cami, calli is just starting out on the leash so i have a hyper bouncy puppy on the leash. she is just getting used to it. and yes they all sleep in the bed with us.<br />and this move has been a bad one, and since he just started a job, as soon as possilbe i am moving them all into thier own place.<br />before we moved it was just us, and the two adult dogs, and honestly i didnt notice alot of thease problems until we moved. and i screwed up on his age to, i had to go look, actually he is only 1 year and nine months. I dont know when they are bringing him back, i talk to the lady, who sounds extremely upset, and i think she loves him, all i know at this point is that its a breakup, and she cant take him where she is going.<br />Im kinda worried my dog may love her back, and this is alot to throw on him period. I hope she brings him as soon as possilbe if she is bringing him back. On the crate, yeah none of them are to crazy about it. since i didnt use it starting out.<br />harley is a whinner and a barker period. very vocal. I really cant wait to get them out of here.

[GMA 981]

Markella has given you great advice. I would probably also look into talking to a trainer or two. It is not too late to start from the beginning and may try to use the clicker and treats to help with rewarding him for good behavior and executing a command. Because of their ages, the progress will sometimes be slow and/or impossible but don't give up. Be diligent and consistent. And most of all committed. You and your babies will be happier.

Edited July 28, 2013 by GMA

[darkrose 7]

I still dont when she is bringing him home, i wish she would let me know. she just said she would call first. really getting on my nerves. lol

[Luna 8,676]

What y'all need is some NLIF.

[Marlen 5,860]

Renee is right, clicker training is very effective. I forgot to mention it because I use the old fashioned way. And also, a trainer is indeed the best solution, he should be able to assess the situation and show you how to solve any problems that might exist.

Pam, you're totally right! (for a while I was trying to figure out what NLIF stands for lol ) Nothing in life is free. Essentialy that's what dog training is about. If you don't set some rules you have a dog that has everything he wants without working for it. Imagine how that would be if you lived with 3 humans who had that attitude in life. Everything has to be earned, even petting time or grooming type. My dog Misha has leanred to appreciate that time because he gets to relax and have some time with me.

Since you mentioned their walks, Calli is 6 months old (you mentioned in your first post) or 4months old (your pita pata shows that). Either way, get her used to walks if she has all her shots. And certainly get her used to the collar, my little one Jolie tries to hide whenever she wears something lol I'm working on that though. Also, you shouldn't let Cami pull you, at all. It doesn't matter if it's in the beginning and she calms down later. Your walks have to be a relaxing time. I thought it impossible from my previous experiences, but those two I refused to let them drag me, they are perfect for walking and making you enjoy your time when you take them out. There are many ways to get your dog to walk by your side, do some research on the Internet and watch some videos, see what works for you.

Call that lady and set an appointment, I'd be furious if they did that to me. I know she's going through a tough time but a dog is not a tug toy, she should act responsible and decide whether she'll keep him or not and if she doesn't keep him, she should return him asap. This experience is bound to be extremely stressful for Harley.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Marlen

[darkrose 7]

Thank you for all the advice and im planning on using it. Its just way to stressful for me to have three of them and all of them are out of control. I am trying to get ahold of this woman, and i keep getting her voicemail which is so making me mad right now, i totaly agree. If she is bringing my dog back then i want him asap.

Im very worried about the enviroment over there now considering the situation. And i wont place him again, I wasnt going to do it this time, she begged me for him, and now this.

[darkrose 7]

Man, i was just reading this and i have so screwed up on their ages, the tickers are right and what i type is wrong lol

[Marlen 5,860]

No worries, but all this sounds suspicious to me (about the woman I mean). Last resort, if you know where she lives, go pick him up yourself.

[darkrose 7]

Okay all is well. Just spent probaly two hours on the phone with harleys adopted mother. and yes her marrage is falling apart, but my little man is helping her alot. what she has decided and i approve is take harley and move in with her mother and start over. she has went through a very bad patch, and i wished she hadnt made me worry.

but one thing that has impressed me is that she loves harley, and harley loves her back. I guess he follows her everywhere and dotes on her. she decided herself that she couldnt part with that dog, but she could part with the man(okay i find this slightly funny). He seems to be doing rather well with her. Kinda makes me feel a little less loved but im good with that.

He isnt aggresive at her house, and i think he feels secure with her, he is the only dog there. so back to me and just the girls. which i still need to train and work with. Maybe you guys can help me learn to be a better dog owner with them. lol. I have became friends with the lady, so im still in the picture while harley and her adjust to their lives together.

[GMA 981]

Check out this link http://www.goodownertraining.com/nilif.htm it will explain NLIF training. It will definitely help you with the girls.