East Smithfield, PA - Maxx, B/T, M, 2 yrs (adopted)

[Jax08]

IMO, she should be rewarding him so he knows the reward comes from him. She needs to be the source of the reward so that he starts looking to her for good things. I don't think you rewarding him is wrong but he's learning that you are the source and not viewing her as a source. If she randomly tosses him treats as she walks by, without looking at him and even if he is growling, I think he will stop reacting as he did at ACS. One of the main training issues I had with Jax was her not viewing me as the source of the reward. She was not reactive to me, just had no focus. So it's all about the SOURCE of the reward.

[BowWowMeow]

I would definitely call the animal shelter. It sounds like they offer a lot of support for adopters.

What kind of food are you feeding? Several of my dogs have been big (between 80 and 90 pounds) and very active never ate more than 5 cups of food a day. You are very likely over feeding him and this is probably the direct reason for the poop in the house. He has been house broken otherwise so something is wrong--as in he couldn't hold it.

Therefore, there is no point in scolding him and making him cower under the table. You are trying to build a trust relationship with him right now. This does NOT call for tough love of any sort. I have had two dogs who behaved like he is behaving right now. I had to use a completely different style of training than I have used with other dogs. I can honestly say that neither of these dogs would have been a good fit for most households, especially one with kids.

[snake321]

Jax, I'll go with the just her rewards. She has issues and has a hard time getting stuff right, but we'll keep on it.

Bow Wow- I cut the food to 7 and will watch him. He is 95 lbs and skinny.
He hasn't been scolded, I told him no and I told him bad. Seems he's heard it before. I can't have a repeat of it tomorrow because he thought it was ok today. He hasn't been yelled at or had a voice raised to him. That's not gonna help anybody. I have been on the phone with the ACS. Keep their number right in front of me.

[Jax08]

Well...the good thing about food rewards is the timing doesn't have to be perfect. Just let her toss the food as she walks by. There is no getting things right or wrong in that. Who is feeding him? If he's ok with Anne but not Cheyenne, then let Cheyenne feed him. He has to sit for her before she puts the bowl in the floor.

[BowWowMeow]

What food are you feeding?

[Jax08]

Originally Posted by snake321

He hasn't been scolded, I told him no and I told him bad. Seems he's heard it before. I can't have a repeat of it tomorrow because he thought it was ok today.

The problem with this is that he doesn't know what he did to be scolded. Dogs relate things within 3 seconds. If he had went in the house and you caught him within those 3 seconds, then he would know that what he did was wrong. But since you didn't, when you told him "no" and "bad" he related that to something he did at that moment. He might have been standing at the door and now he thinks that standing at the door is wrong.

Dog "thinkery"...yes that is now a word because I"m using it in a sentence...is pretty interesting.

[snake321]

Originally Posted by Jax08

Well...the good thing about food rewards is the timing doesn't have to be perfect. Just let her toss the food as she walks by. There is no getting things right or wrong in that. Who is feeding him? If he's ok with Anne but not Cheyenne, then let Cheyenne feed him. He has to sit for her before she puts the bowl in the floor.

Cheyenne fed him this morning.

[snake321]

Originally Posted by BowWowMeow

What food are you feeding?

Pedigree dry

[BowWowMeow]

Originally Posted by snake321

Pedigree dry

That has a lot of fillers in it so it's going to produce a lot of poop. The more you feed, the more he will poop out (the fillers are just bulk that aren't used by the body). There are much better foods out there but they do cost more. I don't feed kibble any more so I'll leave that advice to those who do feed kibble.

The instructions say: "75 to 150 lbs. 4 1/2 to 8"

Since he is 95 pounds he would be at the low end of the cups there. I understand that he is thin but you want to put weight on gradually so I would take him down to 5.5 cups and see how that goes. You can gradually increase his food.

[snake321]

i will find the Canidae tomorrow. He's at the bottom of the bag anyways.
Canidae is a sponsor of the boat races I go to. Don't know what one has to do with the other...