Mr. Biggles bit me this morning

[borzoimom]

And make a rule what that collar is used for.. Its not to terriorize the dogs.. You bought that collar for barking- thats it..
This is why I disapprove of shock collars.. Its too easy for the dog to have displaced/misplaced aggression problems if not used for one specific thing.. Even then- ANY TRAINING takes time.. Even a shock collar is NOT a instant cure..

[king2005]

And make a rule what that collar is used for.. Its not to terriorize the dogs.. You bought that collar for barking- thats it..
This is why I disapprove of shock collars.. Its too easy for the dog to have displaced/misplaced aggression problems if not used for one specific thing.. Even then- ANY TRAINING takes time.. Even a shock collar is NOT a instant cure..

I never wanted to go that route as you know. I hate the bloody thing. But I was desperate to get him to stop barking in a forcefully fast time.

Pleas tell me I didn't ruin him permently & that I can get my little man back?

I have lots of time to correct all problems he may have or get (just not the barking) So I'm willing to try just about anything (except the behavourist, as stated above, unless I want Mr. biggles PTS, which I don't!!!)

[kimlovescats]

I know you are trying to figure everything out and as quickly as possible. I just feel bad because Mr. Biggles has to be completely stressed and confused by all of this. For whatever reason, he was sent to the shelter and now he is in a new home with all of these changes. I wish you both had more time to just relax and enjoy eachother!

Hugs,
Kim

[king2005]

I know you are trying to figure everything out and as quickly as possible. I just feel bad because Mr. Biggles has to be completely stressed and confused by all of this. For whatever reason, he was sent to the shelter and now he is in a new home with all of these changes. I wish you both had more time to just relax and enjoy eachother!

Hugs,
Kim

I feel terrible about the whole shock collar thing & the crate thing. Thats why I try to have just US time after I have dinner. I'll lay on OUR couch & allow him onto my lap. He'll snuggle ontop of my chest, give millions of kisses, & will passout with all the petting. We'll lay there while I watch 2-3 episodes of Stargate Atlantis season 3.. which is nearly 2 hrs I think. Then I'll put him on the dog couch beside Bear & he'll curl up with her.

hes also always at my feet when I'm at my computer, so I know he doesn't hate me.

[borzoimom]

I never wanted to go that route as you know. I hate the bloody thing. But I was desperate to get him to stop barking in a forcefully fast time.

Pleas tell me I didn't ruin him permently & that I can get my little man back?

I have lots of time to correct all problems he may have or get (just not the barking) So I'm willing to try just about anything (except the behavourist, as stated above, unless I want Mr. biggles PTS, which I don't!!!)

YOur little man is shaken up. For your protection I would make sure you do not-
* grab him suddenly
* prevent things that you would out of impulse to it. Like- closing the door to the room you were in would have kept him from running upstairs..
* spend time with him like sitting on your lap etc.. and give warning when its time to get up etc.
* Remember- he is 8 years old- ..
I still think a behaviorist would help, but I see your point.. I personally would not use a shock collar- as I have seen it causes too many after effect problems such as this one. Your dog learned the night with andrew that a raised voice can set that collar off .. You put him in a defensive posture- and he learned from the night before- I am going to get shocked..
As far as how long- its hard to say. We have had femka now for over 2 years, and raised voices still scares her- she will leave the room because she lived previously in a house were people fought all the time.. And this even includes football games! Raised voices- femka leaves the room..
What I did with her- is find the level at she could tolerate- added a little " happy voice" then treat ( she loves cookie bites) - etc.. Little by little she has come up to tolerance and excited voices- but its still there.. I may not be able to totally remove 5 years of fear- but at least she is okay with improvement.
I am hoping this is just a one time over reaction on her part. After all- all those changes you listed on the other thread- it did change alot in his world at one time. " Check your step" in these situations- stop and think.. Do not set the dog up to fail. Set the dog up to win- like calling the dog to you from the pillow- then remove the pillow. You also did not state that you caught the dog with the torn up pillow. I am assuming this was after the fact. If you did need to correct the dog with the pillow- this would have been a better scenio.. ( making this up of course because I do not know the lay out of the room etc..) " shut the room door so the dog can not dive up the stairs- ' oh mr what did you do- open crate door- if the dog leaves the crate make no move towards the dogs- remove the pillow.." put the pillow enough in a pile for later clean up- come on mr. lets go outside....
If you didnt catch him tearing it up- open the crate- come on lets go outside.. and leave the room.. And better yet- do not put the dog something he can tear up to start with..

[king2005]

YOur little man is shaken up. For your protection I would make sure you do not-
* grab him suddenly
* prevent things that you would out of impulse to it. Like- closing the door to the room you were in would have kept him from running upstairs..
* spend time with him like sitting on your lap etc.. and give warning when its time to get up etc.
* Remember- he is 8 years old- ..
I still think a behaviorist would help, but I see your point.. I personally would not use a shock collar- as I have seen it causes too many after effect problems such as this one. Your dog learned the night with andrew that a raised voice can set that collar off .. You put him in a defensive posture- and he learned from the night before- I am going to get shocked..
As far as how long- its hard to say. We have had femka now for over 2 years, and raised voices still scares her- she will leave the room because she lived previously in a house were people fought all the time.. And this even includes football games! Raised voices- femka leaves the room..
What I did with her- is find the level at she could tolerate- added a little " happy voice" then treat ( she loves cookie bites) - etc.. Little by little she has come up to tolerance and excited voices- but its still there.. I may not be able to totally remove 5 years of fear- but at least she is okay with improvement.
I am hoping this is just a one time over reaction on her part. After all- all those changes you listed on the other thread- it did change alot in his world at one time. " Check your step" in these situations- stop and think.. Do not set the dog up to fail. Set the dog up to win- like calling the dog to you from the pillow- then remove the pillow. You also did not state that you caught the dog with the torn up pillow. I am assuming this was after the fact. If you did need to correct the dog with the pillow- this would have been a better scenio.. ( making this up of course because I do not know the lay out of the room etc..) " shut the room door so the dog can not dive up the stairs- ' oh mr what did you do- open crate door- if the dog leaves the crate make no move towards the dogs- remove the pillow.." put the pillow enough in a pile for later clean up- come on mr. lets go outside....
If you didnt catch him tearing it up- open the crate- come on lets go outside.. and leave the room.. And better yet- do not put the dog something he can tear up to start with..

Saddly the livingroom & office is quite open & the stairs are right there. I now deffently have to get a babygate to stop him from going upstairs period. Or put the white board there Which would be easier on us right now. Hopefully he wont just run into the Office & go in there instead. He likes to go potty when I'm not looking or cannot see him

I didn't catch him in the act & I knew it was my fault for leaving it there (I wasn't thinking), thats why I didn't plan on scolding him for it.

I wont make anymore fast movements near him, unless its for safety reasons (duh).

I'll also leave the shock collar off of him until he starts his barking fits again.. hopefully he'll be ok in that department & wont need that uncomfy shock collar on him anymore & can wear his sexy Harley Davidson Spiked Leather Collar again.

I wont give up on him easly, as I know hes had a very rough 3 months & being in my home following my rules isn't easy. But I'm sooooo lucky to have PT to get advice & to figure things out & to get options & opinions, that help me make my choices. I'm sure Mr. Biggles will be thankful later.. just not today

[Freedom]

Hey, Mr. B IS going to forgive you! And he IS going to learn all this new stuff! He definitely knows who feeds him and that life is good with you. So don't beat yourself up, things happen with training. It is a learning process for ALL of you.


We got a baby gate before Sugar arrived, to keep the cats safe. (As it turned out, Sugar's personality is such that we didn't need it.) I bought one at WalMart for $15. BUT you need to look at where you are going to put it, and measure the width. You want to be sure the one you buy will expand to at least that wide. AND think about Mr. B - is he a jumper? We knew in advance that Sugar doesn't jump. Not sure if she can, but the breed are not great at jumping. So I knew I did not need anything high to stop her from crossing it. I think Mr. B is all or part JRT and I think they jump. BUT if you are putting across stairs, then you may not need too much height. Sorry to give you so many MORE things to think about!

[king2005]

Hey, Mr. B IS going to forgive you! And he IS going to learn all this new stuff! He definitely knows who feeds him and that life is good with you. So don't beat yourself up, things happen with training. It is a learning process for ALL of you.


We got a baby gate before Sugar arrived, to keep the cats safe. (As it turned out, Sugar's personality is such that we didn't need it.) I bought one at WalMart for $15. BUT you need to look at where you are going to put it, and measure the width. You want to be sure the one you buy will expand to at least that wide. AND think about Mr. B - is he a jumper? We knew in advance that Sugar doesn't jump. Not sure if she can, but the breed are not great at jumping. So I knew I did not need anything high to stop her from crossing it. I think Mr. B is all or part JRT and I think they jump. BUT if you are putting across stairs, then you may not need too much height. Sorry to give you so many MORE things to think about!

The first step is kind of like a mini floor. I want to put the gate there so its higher up from the floor. He doesn't seem like a big jumper when he doesn't have to. He will jump onto the beds & they are high up.. but he really has to try hard to get onto Chad & Andrew's, as its higher up. So hopefully the gate being higher up then their bed will keep him from jumping it.