I need advise

[Frzframe]

I may have three new roomates (my friend and her 2 girls) living with me this summer and Mitzi hasn't been around children for extended periods of time.

Let me explain what Mitzi does so you'll get an idea of what I need help with.

When I come home for work and let Mitzi out of her crate she get's so excited...she'll come running and mouth my hand and then take off running again. Now it she doesn't mean for it to hurt but if she does with the 6 year old it might hurt her. Also when Mitzi is playing she'll get a little rough (my dad likes to play rough with her) so I need to know how to get her to calm down. Also she is a jump up dog - you know jump on every single person who comes in the door - don't you know they came just to she her!!

I'd like to start working with her now to give us time before the kids come in June. Mitzi has been to puppy classes ( I don't think she learned much there was to many distractions. The class was on a farm and Moo's a city girl.) I would like to have her take another class but where I live they are few and far between esp. right now because the classes are held outside.

So any advise to what I can do by myself would be nice. Thanks.

~Shonda

PS Oh I know that I'll have the girls give her treats after she's done something to earn it. This is what I do with her now anyways. So that should help she is your friend for life if she thinks she can get a treat out of you. :D

[Mel n Gooey]

First, I want to say that it's great that you're doing something about waht could be problems now, before the kids are actually there and you don't have much time to fix the problems if they are (not sure if that made sense :sarcastic ). I would start working on her basic obedience (down, sit, stay, come, etc)... that way you have some sort of "out" for when she gets too out of control. This will help in several ways: 1) when you have a dog and two kids running through the house, and things are getting out of hand, a good "sit" or "come" can stop at least the dog (the kids too if you work with 'em :D ), 2) if she gets out by some chance, it will be helpful in catching her (not sure if she's a bolter or not), 3) the kids can do obedience work with her too, and it will help to strengthen the bond between them and give them more control over her. You also might want to teach her to only take food from people on command, and make sure that she takes it gently (this is a big thing for me... I hate to see dogs run up to kids and steal food from their hands).
For the jumping up; when she first runs up to you (or them), (you or them) tell her (only once) to sit... when she sits, praise and pet... she breaks the sit, or doesn't sit at all, you/they ignore her. After all, being petted is a priveledge for her, not you/them, and she needs to earn it. Eventually she'll get the idea that in order to be petted, she has to be sitting, and will do it automatically. After she has the sitting part down, you can also add an "up" on command if you like her to lean her front legs on you so you can reach her easier, but always have her sit first, then give the up command so she remembers that sitting comes before petting.
For rough play, there are several ways to teach her to be gentle, but I have used this one with some success... the second her teeth touch you (or the second she bites too hard, depending on how rough you're willing to let her play), you say "too bad" (or something similar, anything to mark that behavior), stop playing, and either ignore her or put her in her crate/expen/room for time out (you may be able to just ignore her, but if she still bothers you, put her in "time out".
If you can, have your friend bring the kids over a few times, and also meet them in the park (or someplace similar) a few times so that you can get a better idea of how they interact. How old is Mitzi? And how old are the kids? I hope this has helped at least a little:D

[Frzframe]

Mitzi is 2 and the children are 6 and 13. The kids and Mitzi already know each other so that helps alittle. But they have always gone away after a day or two. :sarcastic

Yes Mitzi is a runner if she gets out. I've been working with her and she has sit down and knows what the other commands mean but doesn't do them very good.

She is pretty good about food - I mean she's a polite begger but I think if she has a chance she'd love to steal some little kids food off their plate!:afraid: And I always make her do something in order to get her food and treats. She either kennels up or sits or sits and stays. We are still working on down. But this never works if she gets loose - not to sure what to do about that other then keep working with her. But it's hard because when she's in the house she knows she cannot get away from me for very long but boy when she'd outside it's another story! I'm really worried about this since I'm moving to a house that is a block away from the main street in town. Since she'd been on a diet she does better at being caught if she knows you have people food (I have to show her it the good stuff and take a bite then she'll come up and get it).

Thanks for the advise - I am at least on the right track and will start the extreme training once we've gotten settled in.

~Shonda

[juliette]

The first thing you have to stop immediately is the mouthy tendancy when she is excited. Even though it is gentle, you are inadvertently teaching your dog that putting her mouth on a human is acceptable - it is NOT acceptable. What always worries me is that she might do it to a strange child and the parent would misinterpret - leaving you and her in a BAD situation.

Start off with trying to keep her calm when you release her from her crate - don't immediately welcome her when she has all of that energy - ignore her and only greet her when she is calm. Same thing with treats, no treats until she is sitting calmly and quietly. Avoid tugging games (which you shouldn't do with Dachsie's anyway due to sensative backs) which also allow for dominance and mouth play.

As for the mouthing, a firm NO when she does it and (if necessary) the chin swat which Mark has described in the archieves (we actually have a biter in Hijinx and the technique is working quite well along with basic obedience).

Finally, you have to convince you father that playing rough with her is not acceptable any more. Again, all play and social interactions with humans must be calm and quiet. This training won't ruin the playful side of your dog, but it will teach her that her mouth is not to touch humans under any circumstances.

Good luck!

[doxunzX3]

I agree with what has been suggested it all gives you and Mitzie a little different way for a life style change. Do you have any petshops that allow you to bring dogs into the stores? They are great places to go for training informally. Plus you have adults and kids that are always willing to help out. A good :book: book can help also. I have seen so much results shown on TV about clicker training. Some of the people in one of the kennel clubs I go to use this method and it is such a positive way to train. It amazes me how they use it wth wild animals of all kinds, besides dogs and cats too!
Is there anyone in your area that works with behavioral problems it can help to have individual lessons. I agree with the others it is so great that you are working on this ahead of time. A lot of what she is doing is something that justs needs to be redirected energy . Good Luck! :help: Don't be afraid to ask for help from a local kennel club or the shelter. I used to train my dogs at weird hours at a laundramat in the winter. To bad I ever bought my own washer & dryer. The dogs I have now just don't have all that training time that made such a difference in controll and behavior problems. :sarcastic My fault not the dogs of course. :circle:

[Frzframe]

Mitzi is really pretty good if I come home and she's still in her kennel it's when she's already out that she does the mouth thing. She doesn't ever do this except when I come home and she's been out because someone was already home with her. When I come home and she's in her crate I pick her up and outside we go so she can do her business.

I've alread told my father that I don't want Mitzi to play rough with him - but he won't listen to me. But it will help once we (Mitzi and I) are moved out. Mitzi doesn't play rough we me and we never play tag-of-war it's more like keep away. Mitzi has something and she keeps one step ahead of me. Which I am going to stop also because I think this adds to the problem when she get loose outside - she thinks I'm playing with her.

I haven't taken Mitzi into any stores that allow dogs because Mitzi has issues with large dogs. I think that may be my fault because when I 1st brought her home she was so small our nieghbors dog a golden came running up and almost stepped on her so I picked her up - I know mistake - so now she gets this high pitched bark - might be because we wants to meet the dog and gets to excited. Plus it's a car trip of 30 mins to get to a store like that. Mitzi doens't have problems with strangers coming into the house - she loves them all. But if one comes into the yard look out she acts like a very mean gaurd dog.

I want to sign her up for classes again but there is only one women who does it in town so we'll have to see when her next class is.

Sundays moving day so I plan on laying the strict new ground rules down then. Awwwww one more night of freedom for her.

~Shonda

PS: Forgot to mention she only gets a treat or her meal when she it sitting nice for me. And if she gets graby - I don't give her it until she's shown me she can take it gentally from my figures. So we have that down pat. Thank goodness one less thing to work on!!:circle: