Training a dog to be alone

[Corrderio]

I'll try the jar thing. He's pretty persistent so I don't think keeping them in open places would be a good idea. He nearly knocked the coat rack down trying to get into some I left in my jacket pocket. As for the poop thing, I'll keep that in mind.

Anyway, 2 things I forgot to mention:

1) Leash pulling. Starting to become a bigger issue. We have rabbits around the place and he can damn near rip the leash out of someone's hand when he tries to chase one. And even in cases where there aren't any rabbits around he'll pull so hard the collar is causing him to gasp for air. I tried the "stand and wait for him to come" route but he doesn't budge and the moment any slack is on the leash he's back to pulling again. I also tried the "walk away from where he's going to show him rushing won't solve anything" and he just takes off pulling in the direction I'm going.

2) This may go hand in hand when I resume crate training, but any way to train him to not follow me or family members around everywhere? Been tedious to do cleaning since he's everywhere. Mopping the floor? There he is. Changing sheets? There he is on the bed.

[killerx]

If he's pulling that much I would go with a harness a lot less stress on his neck.

[Brill Weave]

No pull harness. The leash clips in the front. When he starts pulling the natural tension from the leash actually pulls him back towards you. They are fantastic for stubborn dogs.

[BaneTheBrawler]

That's "no-pull harness," correct? because w/o the hyphen i thought you were saying not to use a harness

[Brill Weave]

That's "no-pull harness," correct? because w/o the hyphen i thought you were saying not to use a harness

[BaneTheBrawler]

when you respond in gif form i rarely understand what you mean so i just pretend youre saying "yes, bane. you're awesome, bane. thank you, bane."

[Brill Weave]

when you respond in gif form i rarely understand what you mean so i just pretend youre saying "yes, bane. you're awesome, bane. thank you, bane."

[Emphasis]

Bumping.

So I put the crate training on halt a bit since a few weeks ago he went from excited to hyperactive. Probably due to him not getting out as much as normal since the weather here got real cold. In the meantime I've been trying to reinforce basic commands like sit/lay down. While he has been picking it up and responding to treats pretty well, I'm having trouble weening him off of them since he doesn't seem to want to sit unless he sees the treat in my hand or me close to the jar. Did I try weening too soon?

Additionally, he has had an accident every now and then in the house. Haven't noticed pee spots, but he has pooped in the living room by the TV once or twice in the past 3 weeks. Anything else I can to do reinforce that's bad behavior other than feeding him treats when he goes outside?

I once volunteered in some dog training program for a bit, and I remember the trainer telling me when you don't have treats, just being very enthusiastic and happy they got the command right, and letting the dog acknowledge it, can be just as good as getting a treat.

Seemed to work well for me when I was training my dog new commands.

[Marootsoobutsu]

Step by step how to train your dog to be alone:

Spoiler: show

[Corrderio]

I'll be sure to grab a harness next time I'm in town. I was thinking of a prong collar to, but other than getting a lot of "You inhumane monster" remarks, also pretty sure he'd find a way to impale himself on it with how he runs.

I once volunteered in some dog training program for a bit, and I remember the trainer telling me when you don't have treats, just being very enthusiastic and happy they got the command right, and letting the dog acknowledge it, can be just as good as getting a treat.

Seemed to work well for me when I was training my dog new commands.

It sorta works, but when I do issue him to sit he'll run up to the treat bin and jump at it. He's been getting better at not expecting a treat, but still a bit hard to control when he's hyper.

[Brill Weave]

Oh God no. Prong collars are fucking terrible. Forcing behavior by pain and discomfort is just laziness.

[Corrderio]

I always saw it more for severe behavior. Which I kind of debate he has.

My brother also was going to send us a muzzle like device which is designed to jerk back the head when the dog pulls. But he said that's assuming if he can find it again.

[Intense]

I trained my dog since she was a puppy (I have been her only owner). She's now 7.

In regards to the getting her to know to go outside only. I used the approach where I took her outside frequently (like 6-7 times a day) and over time lowered the frequency to now 2 times a day during the week, more often on the weekend. I'm not sure how much time you have available to you for this, but I found it super effective.

As far as having her her alone... This is still a struggle. I have resorted to a bark collar. She is a mini schnauzer, and like other's of that breed, she is super territorial and will bark incessantly the entire time I'm gone. So I have white noise playing to muffle the sounds (I live in a tenement building in NYC.. tight quarters), and I have a collar that sprays out citronella whenever she barks; even the sound of when its empty still causes her to react. A good thing is that it's not super sensitive to where it goes off when she makes any sound.

It's not the ideal thing, but I have found that when she has it on, it takes her out of that frenzied panicked state of her being alone.