Do you crate your dog?

WeirdoMagnet

Becles wrote:

I looked at the dog, gently pushed forward on the back of his shoulder where his front leg joins on, and firmly said "in" and the dog trotted happily in. My brother was amazed and said the dog would growl at him if he did that. The difference being there was my brother would have reached over the dogs head and grabbed his collar, which is threatening for a dog, whereas my hand came from the side

Absolutley! But you don't even have to touch the dog - you could use a lure (a tasty treat) and twin it with the command 'in' (I use a hand signal too), and it will learn that when you say 'in', it runs in the house and gets a tasty treat. (The lure is obviously phased out over time, and you can introduce a 'variable reward programe' - sometimes the dog gets a treat, sometimes a pat, sometimes a 'good dog!') Bingo - one happy owner, and one happy dog, eager to please it's owner!

Raksha wrote:

I think one of the worse 'favours' we do our dogs is to feed them out of bowls - why not scatter the food on the lawn, or feed every meal from a Kong or Buster cube? Make your dog work for his meal like he would have to in the 'wild'.

Excellent point Raksha. Someone on a dog forum I post on feeds her two dogs their whole ration as training treats. They love learning new things so much, that her male dog gets frustrated if on the odd occasion she feeds him out of a bowl!

starlite_2

My aunts dog , despite two years of attempting to train (including expensive profesional help) never grew out of going crazy and chewing things at night.
They set up a large and very cosy kennel in the garden and put him out when they go to bed and he has been fine with that arrangement since day 1. Maybe it is boredom and being outside would help?

Kimberley

How did the dog crating go Black-Saturn?

Melissa22_Mum

Hmm, after reading these posts it seems that Labs have to be the worst for destruction. Ours is pretty good though considering she's a boxer/Labrador.