i have a hard time disciplining my 1-year old dog. he won't bathe, he runs when i call him. what shall i do?

Answer 1

We currently have our 4 month old Border Collie in a training class and within a week, with the methods they taught us for come, I had her turning on a dime EVERY TIME! It's great!

First of all, you have to make sure that every time you call your dog to come that it is NOT for discipline, but for a reward. If you can him to come and then get after him for something bad, he will just not come any more. I sure wouldn't want to come if I thought I was just going to get in trouble ;)

So here is what you need to get started... lots of small soft treats (many come in good sizes and I cut them down a bit as a little goes a long way and soft treats are much more "desired" than the typical milk bone style) AND a big happy friendly voice--this is really important too. If someone talked to you in a stern meanish sounding tone, would you want to come? Probably not :)

A good way to start is to have you and another person working together on this. You each take a side of a room in your home. While the pup is doing something else, call his name followed by the command come in a really happy voice. The second your dog turns in your directions say "yes" and good [insert puppy name here]. When he gets to you reward him with lots of happy praise and a treat. For men, this can be a little harder as they typically have a deeper, more stern sounding voice, so they will need to work a little more to bring out that higher pitched happy tone. My hubby is still working on that a bit, but getting better :) Then have the other person do the same thing. Do this several times and the puppy will realize that coming means a happy voice and yummy reward.

Keep the training sessions short, like 10 minutes each time, but try to do it a couple of times each day if you can. After doing this for a few days, it will be easier to get this proper response on your own without the help of a friend. Now, when your puppy is off doing other things, call his name and the command come, in that happy voice and reward him greatly for doing as you ask with that treat and lots of praise. After a while, you will find that you can be in another room and call and your puppy will pop right up out of a nap or toy to come to you. By this time, you should be able to take this to working outside, if not sooner.

Be prepared to use treats for some time, while the puppy is learning. Being consistent is really important. My hubby thought that after a couple of weeks, we could eliminate the treats, but our trainer tells us we will need to keep it up for a while to reinforce the come command and then when she's a bit older, we can begin to phase them out and won't need to use them for each time we call her. But it's still a good idea to do it every 3 or 4 calls (but still always praise well) even when you get to that point so that the dog won't know when the treat will come and will still come with the idea that this time might be the one.

I would also suggest looking for a good puppy course as a good trainer will set you in the right direction. Since we wanted to persue agility, we got suggestions from the president of the local agility club in our area and we love our trainer and her methods--not stern unless the puppy is doing a behavior that is truly undesirable, such as nipping and biting, otherwise, the happy voice is the way to go and I found to be the best responses from my dog every time! Just because someone gets paid to train dogs and offers classes, it does not always mean they are good trainers. You have to do what's comfortable for you and your puppy. If you find one that doesn't sit right with you, find someone who does. We did that and we don't regret it one bit :)

Teaching some basic obedience will simply help with your dogs manners and make him a better pet to be around.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

You should restrain him when giving him a bath. My dog hates baths but he knows he can't escape so he just stands there and looks dejected while I lather him up.

I trained my dog to come by using an 18ft training leash. I let him get to the end of the leash and then called him. If he didn't come I would reel him in like a fish. Now he just comes automatically because he thinks I'm just going to drag him back anyway...he comes 99% of the time which is really good considering he is a sight hound.

Answer 3

Go to the hardware store. Get 3 lengths of ¼ inch to 3/8 inch soft nylon line – 20 foot, 50 foot and 100 foot. Get 3 snaps. Tie the snaps on one end and make a loop handle on the other.

Start with the 20 foot line. Use a slip collar that is fitted so there is 3 fingers of space between the dog’s neck and the collar.

Hook the line on her collar. Hopefully she knows sit and wait. If not, teach it to her. If she does know sit and wait, put her in a sit, step back 2 or 3 steps and call her. If she doesn’t come, haul her in with the line.

When she comes over a distance of 5-6 feet, move back to 10-12 feet and call her.

Repeat this process until she is working on the 100 foot line.

NEVER TAKE HER OUTSIDE WITHOUT A LEASH (6 ft) OR ONE OF THE LONG LINES. NEVER TURN HER LOOSE OFF LEAD AND CALL HER UNTIL SHE COMES 100% OF THE TIME ON THE 100 FOOT LINE WITH ALL KINDS OF DISTRACTIONS, IE: OTHER DOGS, KIDS PLAYING, TOYS BEING THROWN IN HER PATH AS SHE COMES, ETC.

When you say “come” and she doesn’t, haul her backside into you using the line repeating “come”, “come”.

When she gets to you – willingly or unwillingly, praise and pet and make a big fuss and tell her that she is such a good girl.

Never ever ever call a dog to you to punish them.

Using treats is silly because one day you will start to forget the treats or not have them or something, and the next time you call her, she'll remember not getting the treat and figure "why bother?" Why walk around smelling like a doggy deli?

Clickers are just flat stupid - they are for people who are too dumb to figure out how to quickly say "GOOD DOG" in a happy, excited voice.

You always have your hands and your voice. Use them

Answer 4

when I read your question, I see "disciplining". Maybe he won't come because he expects every time he comes to you, you are going to correct him. As far as bathing..well, a lot of dogs don't like it.

As others said, go to obedience classes so you learn how to train your dog.

Answer 5

Try taking him to puppy classes...he's not too old. Try positive reinforcement. You will probably be doing some hard work, especially with bathing, but he will eventually come around. Use training treats or his FAVORITE toy.

Answer 6

Cute question, reminded me of my kids, they run too when it's time for a bath. I know I didn't answer you question, but hope you get some good responses.

Answer 7

get Caesar Milan's book or watch the dog whisperer. He can fix your dog in 10 minutes. Dog training is easy if you are consistent.

Answer 8

puppy school. i know petco does it cause i work there and my pup goes to their puppy class. they not only train the dog but they train you as well so you can apply what you have learned at home.
when he runs off try when you are calling him back use a happy voice...dont scream at him but call him like you want to play...

Answer 9

Get some professional help in training. It sounds like you both need it.

Answer 10

do you scold him everytime he does something wrong? if not, he's gonna keep it up cuz the dog knows you're not gonna him 'em.. but hit the dog hard