Someone remind me why owning a dog is fun - and fast

[Himu]

Because I'm tired of the constant power struggles. I have tried everything dog training sites suggest and this dog is not budging. Walks suck, she has too much pent up energy, behavior issues. I try not to ignore her and she still goes batshit.

Dog ownership is starting suck ass. I try to lead her on walks and she absolutely refuses. She's submissive in the house, but outside, she goes insane.

I like dogs, I love my dog especially, but I cannot stand owning one. Soon I'm going to send her to dog school to help heel her, and if she continues after that, I'm donating her to a farm.

[king of the internet]

Go for a drive with her. Come home alone. No one needs to know, if they ask say she ran away.

[Himu]

[Himu]

This is the most informative walking tutorial I've seen on the net

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/articles/dogwalk.htm

I'll try it.

[Phoenix Dark]

Be cocky/funny

[Madrun Badrun]

Himu can't commit to a religion, city, gender, or a dog.  I see a pattern. 

[Flannel Boy]

We know who the bitch in the relationship is.

[Himu]

Thanks for reminding me why I have you on ignore.

[Himu]

Since April. Mind, it's not even my dog. But at this point it is because everyone else has neglected it.

[Vizzys]

what kinda dog you got

[Himu]

American Bulldog/Boxer mix.

[demi]

Take it to the park

[Himu]

I've tried establishing myself as leader, first and foremost. This really isn't my dog, it's my fathers. But he doesn't do shit with her, and never spends time with her, so she latched onto me.

I first noticed when we got her that she immediately rushes outside when it's time to eat. I put a stop to that quickly, and made it so that she always follows me outside even if the door is wide open. She won't do a thing unless I walk outside even with food in my hand.

That works. She isn't allowed in the kitchen, that works. She has been house trained beautifully.

But when it comes to walking or doing anything remotely "us" time, she doesn't heel. I've tried making her calm down before the walk, and making her sit down, calm down, with the door open. Just like how I have with the food. Only this time I've got a leash. That goes well, and she doesn't barge out the door anymore, but as soon as we get outside she's on the lead even if I make the step outside first. If she is, I stop, let her calm down, start again, and try to get the lead, and she walks ahead no matter what. Eventually on the walk she gets tired, and it becomes stress free, the way a walk should be. But I chalk that up to physical exhaustion rather than legitimate acknowledgement of the pack leader.

She won't even listen to me when outside. It's like she is in her own little world.

boxers are really, really high energy.  bulldogs take a lot of maintenance too.  really bad choice for a first-time dog owner.

well, hang in there.  if you end up having to give the dog to a farm, so be it.  but i'm not going to lie to you and tell you it's going to be candy and rollercoasters owning a dog.  sometimes it's good, sometimes it's shitty.  it's a living thing.

I'm not a first time dog owner, this is my 5th dog. I've had black labs, a beagle, even a rotweiller, and none were this high maintenance. Then again I was a kid. I'm not expecting sunshine and rainbows; owning a dog is hard, but it shouldn't be this hard to the point where I groan when I think of doing things as simple as walks.

[rodi]

That sucks, dude.

Keep trying, man. Other than the walk thing you both sound really close.

[Human Snorenado]

Getting the right dog for you is important.  It sounds like you got a high energy breed mix when you need a lower maintenance kind of dog.

Is she still pretty young?

[Himu]

She's 2-3 right now. I'm not sure her exact birth date, but she was 2 when we got her.

[fistfulofmetal]

i have a jack russell thats pretty low energy for the most part. he likes to hang out in the house sleeping most of the day. he goes out for a few minutes here and there but quickly comes back inside when he's done.

so basically i have no advise for you.

[Himu]

As for the park, she loves a certain park. She does really well there, and it helps that I like it too since I grew up going to that park. I wish I could let her off her leash and play catch with her but she'd run into the street out of excitement and get ran over.

[Van Cruncheon]

creamy, not crunchy. shave first.

[Phoenix Dark]

Maybe you should lose weight so you can play with your dog

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Himu]

useful thread:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3364451

[Beezy]

Himu can't commit to a religion, city, gender, or a dog.  I see a pattern.

We know who the bitch in the relationship is.

Take it to the park

[Shaka Khan]

Be cocky/funny

I enjoyed this post way too much.

[Mupepe]

If the rest of the household isn't enforcing the same rules then its going to make an already difficult job even worse. You need to get everyone on the same page first. You can't be alpha if everyone around you is constantly undermining the rules you set in place for her

[Don Flamenco]

everyone in my neighb has a tiny little shit dog.  try shrinking your dog. 

[Himu]

small dogs are for people like father mike aka virgins

[Phoenix Dark]

But small dogs attract women. I always see dudes walking their little dogs and then a chick stops to marvel at its cuteness

[Himu]

All dogs attract women.

[Phoenix Dark]

Except yours

[Robo]

two words: peanut butter

[Himu]

The very first day I got her I took her for a walk and there were girls all around her. Women love my dog, everyone loves my dog. My dog can pick up more women than you and she's not only a dog but also female. End yourself.

[Don Flamenco]

yeah, people are always stopping to chat with their dogs.  When I see a dude with a tiny cutesy dog, I just kind of assume it's his girlfriend's though or that he's gay (lots of gay people in my area, i'm a few blocks away from the main gay neighborhood in chicago.) 

i wouldn't want to own something that needs constant active attention like play-time, walks, and picking up its poop.  And barking really pisses me off.  My past few gfs have had shittily trained dogs that jumped on you and barked constantly.  it's like having a toddler/obnoxious child around that's constantly interrupting conversation.  Or the worst-- scratching on the door and whining during sex.

can you tell i'm a cat person

[Reb]

*looks at dog sleeping

My dog sleeps about 20 hours a day, unless you take her out all the time, that's OK with her too.

We had the problem with the pulling while walking her.
We stopped every time there was tension on the leash, until she released the tension. It took both of us doing it consistently (like, actual 100% of the times consistency) for about a week until she stopped. The problem with the energy can only be solved by releasing it, I take her on a bike ride if we need to get rid of some energy.

If you are the only one of your family putting time in, and being consistent, it will be a bitch.

It sounds like you picked the wrong dog for your family. 

[Don Flamenco]

one thing that pisses me off is that there's a super butch, extra large chick who lives down the street that is too fucking aggressive with her dog.  You can just see that thing gets hit/punished too often.  She waddles it out to the grass directly in front of the place while yelling at it, waits it for it to go, then waddles back over, yanking it around and making shitty comments about it the whole time  :'(

One time her gf came out with her and caught me looking in disapproval, the gf kinda had the same look as the dog 

[Himu]

yeah, people are always stopping to chat with their dogs.  When I see a dude with a tiny cutesy dog, I just kind of assume it's his girlfriend's though or that he's gay (lots of gay people in my area, i'm a few blocks away from the main gay neighborhood in chicago.) 

i wouldn't want to own something that needs constant active attention like play-time, walks, and picking up its poop.  And barking really pisses me off.  My past few gfs have had shittily trained dogs that jumped on you and barked constantly.  it's like having a toddler/obnoxious child around that's constantly interrupting conversation.  Or the worst-- scratching on the door and whining during sex.

can you tell i'm a cat person

I'm lucky in that my dog has NEVER pooped nor peed during a walk, and she NEVER barks unless something is up.

[Himu]

*looks at dog sleeping

My dog sleeps about 20 hours a day, unless you take her out all the time, that's OK with her too.

We had the problem with the pulling while walking her.
We stopped every time there was tension on the leash, until she released the tension. It took both of us doing it consistently (like, actual 100% of the times consistency) for about a week until she stopped. The problem with the energy can only be solved by releasing it, I take her on a bike ride if we need to get rid of some energy.

If you are the only one of your family putting time in, and being consistent, it will be a bitch.

It sounds like you picked the wrong dog for your family. 

I think I can do it. After a walk she looks like she has had the time of her life and is pooped for a few hours. But it doesn't rid of all the energy she has pent up because sometimes she'll go and fuck something up in the backyard out of boredom even though she just had a walk a few hours ago.

[Yeti]

Get a chest harness for walks instead of just attaching the leash to the collar. You can be more firm with her and you won't have to worry about choking her. You should start off without giving any slack on the leash, hold it right above the point the leash attaches to the harness. Have her walk at the pace you want to. She will probably struggle and pull at it to begin with, so you have to be pretty strong.just keep it up, and as she behaves you can start loosening up a little with your slack, and if she starts to misbehave again choke up on the leash again and bring her right next to you and stay stopped until she is calm again.

[Madrun Badrun]

small dogs are for people like father mike aka virgins

Small dogs are for people who know that bigger dogs require more work.  Small dogs are for people who actually care for their pets instead of giving them a test run then abandoning them on a farm when they realize there may actually be some work involved. 

[hampster]

I dealing with same shit as you My dog is fine everywhere else but terrible on walks

I've been recommended a treadmill multiple times. Get one for the dog, work with them until they can handle it, and then let them walk on it for hours. I haven't tried it yet since I don't have the spare cash to drop on one but I've met a couple of owners who have used them in the past and supposedly its worked wonders. My trainer was supposed to get one donated to me but that never happened

They have treadmills designed for dogs but I don't see why they couldn't use a human one

[Dickie Dee]

[Himu]

small dogs are for people like father mike aka virgins

Small dogs are for people who know that bigger dogs require more work.  Small dogs are for people who actually care for their pets instead of giving them a test run then abandoning them on a farm when they realize there may actually be some work involved.

Shut the fuck up. My dog has energy because she is a worker dog. A farm would be a nice place for her because she will be put to work. Abandon? I've said I am putting a lot into this dog and all by myself. I didn't buy the dog, it is not even my dog but I'm trying my hardest because she doesn't deserve to be abandoned by someone who decided "I want a dog" and decided "I don't want a dog" soon after getting it without a care of its well being besides feeding it.

I even said I want to take her to dog school so she will be better behaved. The farm idea is a last resort after putting a lot of time and effort into the dog if her behavior doesn't improve.

For a philosopher slash scientist slash creeper you aren't very smart if you have not discerned this
From this thread. Please put away your crappy judgmental outbursts, contribute, or shut the fuck up.

[Himu]

The walking thing isn't the big problem so much as her extensive amount of energy is. That energy gets her into trouble not only at the house but around the neighborhood. Just today she almost got into a fight with a pit bull because of her shenanigans. I worry about her safety.

[Yeti]

do you have a fenced in yard? let her run wild a couple times a day

[chronovore]

Himu can't commit to a religion, city, gender, or a dog.  I see a pattern.

I'm worried that FM and I had the same exact thought.

[Madrun Badrun]

What are you thinking now?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Really?  Me too.

[close]

[Himu]

Got a clicker and looking into positive training methods. I'm charging the clicking until she gets used to the idea that clicker = food.

In the mean time, while it charges, I'm trying to work on her basic behavior like sitting, laying down;etc. Hopefully I don't need a clicker to do so.

Before her walks I'm going to work on getting her energy a bit spent by playing catch or whatever, so she'll be less excited before walks.

Hopefully it works.

[Himu]

Himu can't commit to a religion, city, gender, or a dog.  I see a pattern.

I'm worried that FM and I had the same exact thought.

You can shut the fuck up too.

[chronovore]

Himu can't commit to a religion, city, gender, or a dog.  I see a pattern.

I'm worried that FM and I had the same exact thought.

You can shut the fuck up too.

 

[Himu]

Anyone else who has trouble with dog walking due to excitement try this.




Her behavior is way better this week. Gonna teach her some tricks and stuff while we handle this leash ordeal.

[rodi]

Good to hear, man

[Stoney Mason]