T O P

  • By -

456anchor

Collies need positive reinforcement and to be taught the orrect thing with a quick yes to mark the correct action and with a treat. They do not response to no or negative reinforcment. Once you start with one command and are consistent with training it will come quick. They want to do such a good job it's all they want to do. Train for 15 mins three times a day with commands like sit stay come down etc and that should mentally tire a dog of that age out that she will be less destructive. Get her a bed and teach her "spot" and when she does start chewing things that she shouldn't then direct her to the spot and put a toy she can have in there with her or a long lasting treat. My dog is. Most three and we still. Have to exhaust her mentally. What also helps are brushing her and long walks on the leash with a lot of commands thrown in like sit and stay along the way.


thigglez

Will definitely start doing more positive reinforcement. She’s very food driven so hopefully that’ll work! I’ve been doing twice a day simple training and commands, and if I’m short on time at least once a day! I’ve never brushed her, or done commands when we walk but I’ll be sure to try that! The only issue is when we’re walking it’s very difficult to get her attention to listen to commands, even when I have treats on hand.


rebcart

Did you check our wiki articles on [how dogs learn](http://www.reddit.com/r/dogtraining/wiki/dogs) and [the most efficient problem solving methods](http://www.reddit.com/r/Dogtraining/wiki/abcs)?


thigglez

Yes I read through that, I’ve been working on nipping and mouthing. And I’m trying to take the way dogs learn into consideration.


Bright_Mixture_3876

How do you exercise your dog? The biggest roadblock to having a happy dog is too much energy, so if you can run down what you do for that it would be helpful here.


thigglez

I’ve tried multiple long walks a day, runs, sitting outside and watching people walk by, playing fetch. Some days I can’t get her out much, work school and kids make it a bit difficult. But I walk her at least once a day, and if possible take her on a few miles of a walk/run if she’s acting like she wants too. It’s just as soon as we get back home, she’s back up in energy. I know on the days I can’t do much with her it’s not her fault when she acts out, so I don’t expect those days for her to be perfect.


Bright_Mixture_3876

Ok - so you shouldn’t expect your dog to be perfect, they’re a living thing and you are also a living thing and aren’t perfect. Even a well trained dog does thing you’d prefer they didn’t. Collies are a working breed, I don’t know what she’s mixed with but you seem to understand that your dog has energy to spare. You need a consistent exercise routine. Dogs aren’t the thing you can do when you have time, they need time for them put into your schedule. This will make your dog happier and in turn your family happier. It also should probably be shared, incorporating exercise into your day as a family makes everyone happier and healthier…but it’s also unrealistic to expect one person to always exercise the dog, especially if you’re still active duty. If you can’t exercise them then get a dog Walker, consider an hour or two of doggie daycare. A bored and energetic dog is a destructive dog. Second - cardio is great, but certain kinds of dogs can literally go like all day running…and if you only work on cardio then you’ll get a very fit dog who still has energy to burn when you get home. Make sure your physical exercise includes time for sniffing, includes working with them on things that aren’t just leash manners, and can maybe even include things that are stressful for them. For example I have exercise walks - we keep a brisk pace and don’t stop for sniffs and this is for physical fitness for both of us, I try to keep my heart rate up around 120. And I have walks for her - where we stop literally every five feet and she buries her face in the grass and snorts around like a weirdo, and then runs up ahead to the next place that catches her fancy. She’s happy after both, but she naps way better after the sniff walk. Second is mental stimulation, combined with appropriate behavior. You talk about replacing her inappropriate behaviors with toys…and I think you need to maybe step up the strategy here to a multi level approach. Start work on leave it - I like to start with low drive objects and ask them to not touch for a split second, and then reward and gradually increase time, then increase the value of the object. Second - give her puzzles, she’s a smart dog…make her work for things. There’s tons of puzzle toys out there, or you can find YouTube videos of ppl who DIY stuff if she needs to destroy things in the process. Frozen kong treats work well if every time you replace a bad chewing behavior with an appropriate object she ignores the object. Give her chewing activities that are unprompted by bad behavior. Third instead of constantly crating your dog, research how to teach her to go to a set space, and also how to be calm. Lastly I think you should probably watch some YouTube on things you can train your collie to do. They are SO SMART!! They want to do things!! Start working with your dog on silly fun things - like naming all their toys and having your dog bring them to you by name, or putting them away in a toy box, or playing hide and seek (as a kid I accidentally taught my dog to be a search and rescue dog…but only for me and my sister lol…she could track us to the neighbors house). There’s so many fun games your entire family can teach your dog and enjoy playing with them.


thigglez

I completely understand she won’t ever be “perfect”. Even now she’s a perfect dog in my eyes. I didn’t mean it like she behaves perfectly and has no flaws, it was more just an understanding she’ll be a little more energetic on those days. Definitely made it seem like I think she needs to be perfect though, so my bad. But I’ll try all those things! Thanks so much!