New Dog

[Hound Doggette]

If anyone could help give me an answer I would sooooo greatly appreciate it! We just rescued a dog from the shelter and she is a 1-2 year old staffordshire terrier foxhound mix. The fox hound part is prevelant. We have owned dogs before, but never anything from the hound or terrier group. This dog has a very sweet disposition and follows us everywhere, the problem is she always wants to play and even though she knows basic commands, will not always execute them on command. We have tried all the tricks we know that should normally work, only to find out that apparently training for other dogs does not necessarily work for foxhounds? We have tried ignoring her when she misbehaves, but that only leads to her finding something that we would have to immediately address - like getting on the furniture or chewing something she's not supposed to. She is a very clever dog that only does these things for attention. Help us, we don't know what to do!

[schelmischekitty]

repetition!  just like with a kid dogs will test you to see JUST how far they can get.  with obedience, we always did the "either you can do it on your own, or i will MAKE you do it" and we never take no for an answer.  ever.  so if i tell them to sit and they don't, i MAKE them sit and then praise them.  another idea is if she keeps seeing how far she can get, put her on a leash and make her sit when you stop walking, to assert yourself.  i wouldn't necessarily ignore her if she misbehaves, i would call her out on it and tell her "NO" (they say saying her name is a positive thing, and to avoid it, because it's attention, so try to just say "NO" and then ignore her, and praise her when she walks off), BUT i would also make sure i praise her whenever she does something good, that way she knows what's acceptable and whats not.  also, this will help her realize that doing "bad" things result in being called out and then good things result in attention, which she is trying so hard to get.  another really good idea is to go to obedience classes, these help SO much and she'll probably learn the "leave it" command in it.  good luck, and hope you post pics soon!

[rayray]

you also might try time out when she does something wrong such as jumping or nipping or barking....how time out works:  when they do something wrong you tell them "NO" ONE time...they do it again then there is time out.  time out lasts 10-15 seconds...no longer.  otherwise the dog forgets about why he/she is in trouble and then moves on to bigger and better things...such as chewing on your door.  time out can be in any room other than the room you are in.  it is only 10-15 sec.s so it isn't long enough to really rip anything up.  do not pick up the dog and take it to time out.  you need to grab him/her by the collar and escort the doggie there.  if the dog does the dash and run move b/c he/she wants to play then you (and everyone else in the same room and the dog) need to get up and go into another room and shut the door where the doggie can't follow you.  10-15 seconds is a long enough time out to where the dog is sad that you left but not long enough to forget about you leaving.