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Dog Help

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First off, this is for help with real life dogs, not the ones on this site.
I live with four dogs and three of them are driving me insane.

I have never had this many problems with dogs in my entire life, I think my parents just stopped caring about actually training them. My main issue is that two of them bark, all of the time. (To the point where we cannot leave the windows open and I fear that someone might call the police.) Both of these dogs belong to my father, who believes that they can do no wrong. My mother screams at them, which, frankly, does nothing.
My next issue is with my mother's dog, who has made more training. She hates to be outside. She calls up the side of door if she is out there more than a minute. We actually were starting to train her and she got better. However, one day she started clawing and my mother went out to work with her to find blood all over the door. The dog had hurt herself clawing on the door. Now said dog has to be let in the moment she even touches the door, or else I get yelled. I know that she is worried that the dog will hurt herself again, but I really think it would be better to just train her not to.
I know for a fact that neither one of my parents will help me train them as we once took the dog in the last story to obedience school. Where my father claimed that the dog listened better me and my mother lost interest. So, I ended up being the one that had to work with her. While I do not mind training, I really think my parents should have don more with her.
I thought about doing basic training with all three of them, however this is where I need help. One of the ones that barks all of them time is a Border Collie and I know that they are very hard to train. What advice would you give me when it comes to her? The other is a Golden Retriever and samoyed mix, who my father has give so much freedom to that he only tend to listen to my father. How do I go about getting him away from that/earn his respect?
My mother's dog has already had basic training and listens fairly well. So, what would be the next step for her? Please note, that she does not like the clicker (it scares her), so I cannot clicker train her.

I apologize for my rambling, but I have only ever trained two dogs (my dog and my mother's), who were both fairly eager please me. Thank you for any help and please let me know if you need any more information. I tend to ramble and not make a lot of sense when I have just woken up.

07-23-2011 at 5:01 AM

If you have a treadmill those can be great for days when you can't take them on long walks due to the weather. I agree about teaching speak treat no speak. I think any interaction with dogs are training. They can learn different styles, my sister has a cavalier that has bonded to me, when we go down there he follows me room to room, including sleeping with me, understands my hand signal for inside voice when barking. With dog that scratches on the screen can you teach scratch being paw on door, treat, no scratch 4 on the floor treat, then gradually fade the scratch command?

07-20-2011 at 6:55 AM

Oh, I guess I wasn't clear, lol. xD Yes, you do go inside, leaving the dog in the yard. When you go out with it and then go inside, you leave the dog behind.

07-19-2011 at 8:23 AM

I recommend a behaviorist because a trainer trains behaviors, a behaviorist helps a dog become more emotionally comfortable. So don't be scared. :P Sometimes they're willing to give advice for free.

07-18-2011 at 10:54 PM

Haha, I would do that, but it would have to be the kiddie pool. As they hate the hose/water, though I think that they might go in a kiddie pool if given the chance. Thank you.

07-18-2011 at 5:30 PM

Hmmm maybe you can distract them from barking? You can combine keeping them cool with playing. Bring them outside with the hose or a kiddie pool

07-18-2011 at 4:10 PM

Horseman Dos (#4220): All right, that sounds like a good idea. It would also explain why it was 100x easier to train my dog. I should try to spend more time with him, but he is like a cat until my father gets home. (By cat, a mean difficult to find and away from everyone.) The only problem with that is that she does not claw while anyone is outside (at least not usually), so I am afraid that she will not try if I am out there with her. Unless I completely misread your post. Dogfancy0: I did talk to my parents' about and my father finally agreed that the Border Collie needs to be trained. He still will not give in about the Golden, though. I will try, I know that I do not spend enough time with the Golden. Whenever I am the only person home, all of three of the other dogs sleep next to me, but the Golden sleeps upstairs and away from everyone. So, I really need to try to bond with him. Celestial88: Wow, really? That is a bit scary. As much as I would love to do that, I doubt that we could afford one. Gamzee: You are not being rude. I apologize if I came off that way. The one dog is territorial to the extreme and that is why I think that he barks. He also never barked before we got the Border Collie. For those reasons, it just comes off to me as not being bored, but as "protecting" the house or picking up a bad habit. (Which he has done many times before with dogs that he likes.) My main problem is that it is really hot here and I am afraid that it will get too hot for them. Right now, it is so hot that I am only allowed to take them to the end of the street and back. (Instead of around the block.) Celestial88: Okay, I can look that up, but I have to wait until it cools down a little. I am afraid that they will overheat if they are outside for a long time.

07-18-2011 at 2:39 PM

Oh man, I didn't even think about flirt poles haha I just based it off what I do with my cats. I like to tie a toy mouse to a string and run around the house for them to chase it lol. Thought it'd be good exercise for a dog and the dogs go nuts. Flirt pole would work extremely well now that I think about it

07-18-2011 at 1:59 PM

That wouldn't make my dog sleep :P But flirt poles are great, you can buy a lunge whip from tractor supply and tie a toy to the end to make one. I use Crazy Critter stuffing-less squeakers.

07-18-2011 at 12:50 PM

Constant barking [not at dogs walking by or people at the door] is how bored dogs entertain themselves. I'm not trying to be rude or instigate anything, just stating facts. Try doing what I do when I need to tire out a dog. Take a leash/rope and attach it to a toy that they like. Run around with the rope and make the dog chase it. 30 minutes and that dog's not gonna be barking, he's gonna be sleeping lol

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2011-07-18 03:17:14 by #5484

07-18-2011 at 8:11 AM

With the dog who has issues outside. That sounds more serious and I'd recommend a behaviorist. If you want I can find one near you, a friend of mine is an amazing trainer/behavior consultant and she has a lot of connections through the school she went to.

07-18-2011 at 6:47 AM

I can't say i recommend any method, i personally use voice and hand signs with my dog. It's what ever works best for you, your parents and the dogs. ^^ Along with what everyone else said, i'd first sit down with your parents and figure what you are going to do. Then i'd start building a relationship with all the dogs if you are the one to train them. Feed, them walk them, pet them ect. Then i'd find out what motivates them, food, toys, belly rubs ect. Then start training and fixing the bad behavior. If you don't get a good foundation it will be very hard =)

07-18-2011 at 6:23 AM

For the barking dogs, maybe you should try to turn teaching them not to bark into a "game". On a dog training show called "It's Me or the Dog", the lady dealt with an excessive barker by turning obcessive barking into a game. She rewarded the dog with yummy food for barking on command. Once the dog learned to bark on command (which was very easy), she would tell the dog to bark and then teach it to stop by rewarding it with the same food when it stopped on the command. She got the dog hooked on a certain treat and the dog was willing to play the little learning game with her for the food. Also, I think the majority of the behavior issues do stem from your parents. Unless you have a dog that has bonded to you as its master, your parents will need to get on track if you will be able to fully train the dogs. For example, our mastiff gets more lax treatment from my dad and very lax treatment from my mom. Because he sees me and my dad as his "masters", he gives me the most respect and acts up a tiny bit around my dad because he can get away with a few things with him. So you might want to strike up a bond with your dad's dog before you can reach it effectively in training. As for the spaniel, I'm not sure if you can get anywhere until your mom will let you have your way with it being left outside. I would reccomend whenever you take it out, pause for a moment before you let it in. Time it just enough so it only claws sometimes and not at others. Then, give it a reward of some kind that it really enjoys (ex. cheese, pettings, scratches behind the ears, etc) if it doesn't claw at the door. Once the frequency reduces for the first pause time, extend it in steps, building up the training. And whenever you let the dog out, come out with it, turn around and go into the threshold of the door, give it a piece of food and go inside. This might associate being left outside by a human with goodies. I'm no dog trainer, but I hope these tips will help. I'm going off of what I've learned training our mastiff, who is the first dog I really seriously trained.

07-17-2011 at 12:13 AM

I doubt that the one is bored, highly doubt it. The other one probably is. I am aware of that.

07-16-2011 at 10:05 PM

To be quite honest, your dogs sound very bored. "My main issue is that two of them bark, all of the time. (To the point where we cannot leave the windows open and I fear that someone might call the police.) Both of these dogs belong to my father, who believes that they can do no wrong. My mother screams at them, which, frankly, does nothing." Yelling at a barking dog causes it to bark more.

07-16-2011 at 8:01 PM

Ah, okay, So, I could train them, but I have to make sure that my parents say.do the same thing that I do? My parents prefer training them with words/using words, while I trained my dog with sounds. (A certain clapping pattern means come.) Do you recommend one method over the other? I figured that it would be better to word train them as my parents prefer that method. Haha, great. We started asking her to sit before throwing the toy. Is that a good idea? Okay, thank you.

07-16-2011 at 7:47 PM

Well i am not saying your parents have to do the majority of the training, but when they correct them, it has to be the same thing you are doing. Oh it's a toy dog x3 haha usually they are difficult. Honestly, i would start with getting them all to respond to basic commands first. While just reprimanding them for their bad behaviors. I am no professional either but i know some other people here are so maybe they will help out C=

07-16-2011 at 7:30 PM

They do get walked, but not every day. On day that we do not walk them, we take them outside to play. I know the Border Collie loves to play, but our Golden Retriever is starting to not like it too much. He might work for food, though. I know, that is part of the problem. My parents will start off really in to it, but then give up, especially if the dog does not respond to them quickly. I know that the Golden ignores my mother and me for my dad (his favorite person). My mom's dog is King Charles Cavalier mix. I have no idea what else is in her. If it makes a difference, I can link you to a picture of her. Both the Border Collie and the Golden are my father's dogs. My dog is not listed here, he has his bad traits, but he's trained enough to stop when asked. (For example, when he breaks, if commanded to stop, he will.) He's a Collie/Husky, if knowing helps. The Golden only breaks when things pass our house, if that makes any difference. As stated, I have only trained two dogs, so I do not have much experience with it. Please let me know if you need any more information.

07-16-2011 at 5:50 PM

First of all, do any of these dogs get walks or exercise? The border collie especially, will start showing destructive/annoying behavior if they have no where else to put that energy. Also, Border Collies are one of the smartest dogs out there. You just have to figure out what keeps their attention and train them. Same with the Golden Retriever they are very easy to train once you figure out what makes them tick. And if you really want to make any improvement with these dogs, your whole family has to be on the same page. If you do one thing, your dad does another, and your mom does something else, the dog will either know who they can get away with stuff with, ignore two of your for it's favorite person, or just plain get confused. Dogs like consistency and routine. And so let me get this straight you have a Border Collie-No training-Barks all the time Golden x Sammie-No training- Barks all the time ??(mom's dog)-some training-can't be outside and which is your dog and which is your dad's?

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