Learn me: useless dogs

I fought and pleaded and fought but SWMBO must, well, be obeyed. We have a puppy. I love said puppy but he's rather useless. At eight months old he's scared of everything. I mean EVERYTHING. I can't take the trash out at the same time I walk him because he's scared the bag will touch him. He runs from leaves.
And he HATES car rides. Drools constantly until he throws up everywhere. He painted the amp sitting under the passenger seat so now when it gets hot the car smells like a combination of stomach acid and dog food. Here's a shot of his drool fest... This is while wearing one of those Thundervests which actually does help - you should see the drool he would generate before we got him the vest!

What can I do to get him to grow a sack?? I try positive reinforcement by showing him things won't hurt him but he's such a pushover, not my ideal definition of a companion. It's great because he's as gentle as can be with my son (ten months old now, the only reason I DIDN'T want to get a dog).

Should eventually grow out of the scared bit, at least mostly. I had a dog that when I first got her as a puppy and take her for a walk I had to drag her up the street and she would drag me back trying to get home. She was great with kids though and became quite the hunter bringing back presents all the time. She was a lab mix. As for drooling, can't help. Stop taking for the dog for rides I guess.

Doggy anxiety Linky

It great that he is so gentle with your kid, be glad dor that. Have you discussed the problems with your vet or a trainer?

Puppy kindergarten did wonders for my dog, and will be mandatory for any future dogs in my house. Just know, that dogs are like people or really more like children, sometimes they are irrational and there isn't much you can do about it but be patient.

I love my dod, and hate cats, my dog loves cats

I will be honest, there are trainers that specialize in your specific issue. The drooling sounds like an anxiety issue which is related with the all the others. Different reactions for different situations.

My suggestion is get on google and look for trainers near you. If maybe worth the $$$ in the long run.

My fiance's dog has anxiety and panicked when either of us leave, even when one of us is still there, and has a serious surface preference for dumping, namely carpet. Its getting better with consistency and working on her triggers, just like the link above says.

Give your dog some Zanex. (sarcasm for those who want to kill me now.) Yes, dogs have anxiety, find help in your area through someone trusted.

Thanks for the input, I'm going to look into this.

A good dog trainer will be able to assist you in helping the dog overcome his fears and anxieties. It sounds like he has a few.

He's a cutie!

How long you had him? I'd guess some of it will pass.

He looks like a great dog. I've never had a drooler, but I do kinda like having a "real dog" around. My wife had a Sheltie when we got married. It was okay, but I wasn't crazy about it. When she died I wasn't crazy about getting another dog, but the wife and kids wanted one. So we made a deal- we'll get a dog but I get to pick it.

We found Buddy, an awesome Black Lab mix at the local shelter. He looks exactly like - a dog. He was absolutely fantastic with the kids when they were little, doesn't bark too much, not a drooler and good natured. He's big enough to look scary to a stranger at the door, but small enough to be a house dog. If he didn't shed a lot, he'd be about perfect. I'm surprised how much the little guy has grown on me.

Of course, the "deal" went to hell and now we have a Chihuahua too. I berkeleying hate that dog. I honestly do.

Big dogs = good. small dogs = bad. My .02 worth. I live with Red. Large, good, and Midas, small, not so good.

My sister dumped a E36 M3zu (haha) on my parents for the last 2 years. My mother, suffering empty nest syndrome, smothers the dog. My father tolerates him.

He's "cute", isn't noisy, and doesn't really require any attention. He's also RETARDED, or at the very least, has no memory retention of anything. If you aren't "play fighting" with him, you could literally walk over to him and tip him over, he'd just look at you and wonder how we got to be lying down. He was also shock collar trained from a young age not to bark (because of my mom spoiling him/no structure, he barks at men when they enter the house and he can't see them at night).

I don't "like" small dogs, but Winston is tolerable. I'd kill a SO if she ever thought she could bring a drooly dog into the house, that E36 M3 would drive me CRAZY.

cwh wrote: Big dogs = good. small dogs = bad. My .02 worth. I live with Red. Large, good, and Midas, small, not so good.

That's not true. Every dog is different just like every human is. I have friends that have 80+ lbs dogs that constantly misbehave or are annoying as hell, i.e. barks at a mouse fart. Small dogs can be just as guilty, but seeing that's all I have, I know for a fact they can be docile and sweet.

I've owned German Shepards to Chihuahuas. I've had insane dogs and have dogs that barely moved, all shapes and sizes.

It's the owner, not the dog in most cases.

The dog in question has a lack of confidence. I wouldn't be surprised if he was taken from his litter a bit too early. But that's water under the bridge. You'll love this solution: he'd probably do better around another, adult, confident dog. He needs to be shown everything is not scary. We humans have trouble communicating in canine, so another dog may be a more effective too. If you don't want to do that, then you need a trainer who is a behaviorist moreso than a 'dog trainer' that focuses on sit/stay type stuff.

I've watched enough Dog Whisperer cases like this to know these can be a bit difficult. The money/hassle will be well spent when you have a more confident dog. And it should go without saying that the humans need to provide clear leadership to this guy.

The thing that fixes most dogs is to stop treating them like human babies. It is basically the same lesson people pay a trainer for but - you have to treat your dog like he expects to make him feel like a dog.

Puppies need to know where they stand in the pack. Don't ever let him go ahead of you thru a door or down stairs. Don't let him lead on the leash. Feed him after everyone else is finished eating and never from the table. Don't tolerate jumping on you. Give him a hug. Not because you love him but because he needs to know who dominates who. Flip him over and scratch his throat. Baby talk sounds like whining to a dog - in a pack animal it is weakness.

Once it is clear he isn't in charge he can relax and not freak the berkeley out at every noise or when his humans don't obey. He won't go ballistic when you return after half and hour.

I am not saying that your dog does not have some other personality issue - but sometimes treating them like dogs is what fixes everything else. YMMV.

Thanks GPS. I've heard/read that this is how you should assert yourself as the pack leader and I try to do that but a couple on your list I have not heard of before. Seeing it in writing again just reaffirms some of the things I had thought - I will work on these, thank you.

ddavidv, your post is similar to GPS's in as far as providing him with a pack leader other than himself - as far as I know that IS the best way to speak canine. A lot of people simply don't get that dogs don't speak English, either. Simply telling a dog 'no' or 'stop' isn't going to do E36 M3 unless the command is backed up with an action - then they can relate the action to the command. This is what I'm trying to tell my wife but she thinks completely different than I do.

Chknhwk - Your dog is a gem just waiting to be polished. He's great with your kid and has a loving heart. Thanks for coming here out of concern for him and trying to work him into your family. He's going to be a great pet. I promise. Also, he's brindle and has a bulldog looking head. People will be terrified of him and have no idea how nice a guy he really is.

Go to your local ASPCA. They have classes to help you. They're often times very cheap, maybe a suggested donation, or free. My local SPCA has trainers who will talk to anyone who calls, for free, and offer suggestions.

My half-a$$ed suggestion is that he is suffering from some anxiety and fear. He'll gain more confidence the more you train and do things with him. Also, as he gets older he'll gain some confidence. All of this will have a greater positive effect if you follow up with solid training as suggested by a professional. Don't follow my lame a$$ advice on training. Go to the SPCA and get a real pro's take, on the cheap.

N Sperlo wrote: Give your dog some Zanex. (sarcasm for those who want to kill me now.) Yes, dogs have anxiety, find help in your area through someone trusted.

This isn't so far off base. I have few friends with panicky dogs like that, and they in fact DO give their dogs prescription doggy Xanax.

Dogs are weird. I've had small ones who could intimidate serial killers and big ones who were the picture of peace and continment until you threatened "their kids". We had a White Shepard, about 10 years old and 65lbs take on a rabid Doberman. Poor Doberman didn't stand a chance. Now I've got a half blue-heeler/attention hound mix. Cute, helpful, and won't let anything furry pass by with barking at it.

We have been enrolled in a dog training class with out newest addition, a blue heeler aussie cattle dog. It is very interesting the way the trainers teach us new tricks. They really are teaching us and not the dog.

One of the things to realize is that every dog needs a job (or in our case LOTS of jobs). They need to know where they stand in the pack and they need to be confident that you are the leader. When they sense their pack doesn't have a leader, they assume that role naturally and we don't always like the decisions they make as pack leader (barking, aggression, etc).

Training will be constant, not just during class, but it can be fun too. One of the things we are working on right now is overcoming fears and anxieties that the various dogs in our class have, whether it be people, other dogs, or noises. This is accomplished in stages, as are most things in life.

If you know your dog gets anxious riding in the car, it may be beneficial to work on making the car a place where good things always happen. Have him jump in the car and come right back out and get a treat for just that. If the dog will stay, work on slowly increasing the time while not raising stress levels too high. Make a game out of it and quit before the dog is too anxious or bored. Small pieces of cheese or chicken as rewards may work if your dog is food motivated.

If your dog reacts to certain things, make a list of what they are so that your trainer will have a better idea of your dogs issues as a whole. We are currently working with mat training, where we get the dog to come to the mat and sit. Good things always happen on the mat and rewards are coming regularly so we have the dogs attention. We are incorporating things like stepping back from the mat and then forward again and treating if they stay, without giving the stay command. This results in a sit stay being the default behavoir for "Mat" rather than having to give "Mat, Sit, Stay". We are including walking two steps this way and that, and a gentle clap every now and then. Staying on the mat while people walk by, turning to look at them and then instantly getting a "Good Dog" and a treat. They are encouraged to stay on the mat and turn their attention back to you, and every time a stranger approaches good things happen. This builds confidence not only in the dogs ability to deal with strangers, but other new situations too where the dog will get praise for noticing a new stimuli before he has a chance to build a fear of it.

Small steps but they are important. I recommend a book by Patricia McConnell called The Other End of the Leash It is a great book and helps define the relationship between you and your dog better. If you haven't already checked it out, give it a read and see if it helps.

Sorry for the long post. Good Luck!

^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^ ECM has all you need to know/follow in her post!

About the only thing I can add is go here to find a trainer in your area. Focus should be on using positive signals/rewards for a dog like this.

We have one guy that was doing similar things in the car, ie., drooling/barfing, etc......a lot of short trips that got gradually extended helped a lot. And make sure that the trip ends somewhere fun -- not the vet's office where there is more potential stress to deal with. He now goes in the car willingly and doesn't have any more issues.

Get a real trainer. I tried the pet store trainer and had some success, but it wasn't until I found one that trained one-on-one and was their only job that real progress was made. It was night and day differences.

Thanks again for all the input! I can't wait to sit down with the wife and go over our options. I really, really want to take him to training classes but they're usually a few nights a week or a night a week over a few weeks. Problem for me is I work rotating shift work so I won't be able to make all the classes.

I probably should have included this in the first post because so many people have alluded to this. Alcide is a rescue Catahoula. For those of you that know his breed they are native to Louisiana. I live in New Hampshire. We got him at a local ASPCA after his trip up from Alabama - we feel the trip may have traumatized him somewhat.

Don't sweat doing all the classes. I'll bet even a few would make a large difference.

Catahoula you say? I've got one now. He came to me as a rescue of 8 wks old. He's been a hand full. He has some strange personality traits. Sometimes I swear he's part cat as he likes his alone time and is independent. He's also strangely gentle and understanding of other animals and kids. He's no saint as he does not like other dogs. Oddly enough I think it's a confidence thing with him too.

Good luck with Alcide. Another poster mentioned he could've been weened too early. That's a possibility. He could just also be a nervous guy. Would you let us know how it goes?

Here's a video of him playing with a cookie, sorry for the crappy cell phone video.
http://youtu.be/4LkpJsOhchs