[applejacks]

ok. where to start!!! first off this is our first dobe and need some help. but before that i have been around ridgebacks my entire life and have never had problems like i am having now. i'm not sure if it just a dobe thing but our crate training just seems like its going backwards. our puppy HATES his crate. Like i said before with our ridgebacks it usually only took like 2-3 weeks to train beofre they would be comfortable in their crates as a safe place to be. it has now been 2 months and he still whines and barks and the such ALL NIGHT!!! I DUNNO WHAT TO DO!!! we are at the point where we are frustrated and have not slept at all!! we have tried moving him to different places in the house and nothing has worked.

second thing. we have been trying to train him juust like we would train any other one of our dogs and it seems like he has a streak of stupid in him. he just will not listen, AT ALL!! all he wants to do is jump on me. i have tried everything!!

there is more. i'm just too tired right now. at is now 12am our time and he is still going at it. please give me some direction!!!

:help_up_2

 

[Julie W]

The only thing I can offer is obedience training and exercise. I personally don't crate my dogs other than to sleep at night and they are normally pretty active most days so they are mentally and physically more worked than your average dog. If he won't listen to you in obedience training I would look around for a good trainer to work with. It's impossible to give obedience instruction unless it's in person. I personally LIKE a puppy that always wants to jump and shows an almost out of control enthusiasm during obedience, but you need to know how to work with it successfully. I've never been a fan of plodding along calmly, to me watching obedience like that is like watching paint dry. LOL Give me a firecracker any day.

 

[bronson54]

what kind crate do you have a wire, or plastic. i think the plastic crates are a little more comfortable for the dog. it's like a den after all they are dogs. i would try to put a blanket or the crate, maybe try that. as for training, i'm sure you've tried treats. if not try that if nothing else works. i going to assume he is a pup. as a pup he has a very short attention span. my bronson is very smart and learns fast but he is on the stubborn side. if all else fails i would try a in house trainer. hope it works for you

 

[Luvbirds]

Can you put his crate in your Bedroom, right next to you? Or how about putting his bed there and letting him sleep there? Petey lasted only one night in the crate and then he slept with us for about 6 weeks, then we put him on his bed and now.....he won't even come on our bed....loves sleeping on his own. Petey is 8.5 months old, and not home alone too often, he has not been crated for about 6 weeks or so, but he will still go in there for time outs and sometimes just because he is over tired and needs to shut the world out.

Your pup doesn't have a streak of stupid....he is super smart....he will manipulate you until he gets what he wants and needs....if you let him! He may need more exersize and an obedience class. He wants you attention 100% of the time, be it negative or positive! Petey is run off lead about 2 hours a day, and he has play time with other dogs most days of the week. We play tug and ball with him everyday. Dobies are a TON of work!

Glad you are here, we can all learn from each other.

Carol & Petey!
ox

 

[Kratty]

Wow, not sure where to begin, but will try with limited information since not knowing the age of your pup. How much exercised is he provided, both physical and mental stimulation. Satisfying both of these will help with them at night. You might want to get some kongs and fill them with goodies just to keep him busy in the crate until he falls asleep. Trying to get the good stuff out is good mental stimulation. I usually put my girl in her crate an hour before I go to sleep. Her crate is not located in my bedroom. She stirs for a while but is sound asleep before I am, unless I fall asleep on the couch. If they are making a racket in the crate, you need to ignore talking to them in it. Thats attention to them. It maybe unwanted attention, but its still attention and then they learn, If I do that, I get attention. Not sure how much time, through out the day he is in the crate. But extensive time can make them not like it and cause problems.

As for a brain, my new female did not show any sort of a spark of brain activity until she was around 18 weeks old. It was the classic signs of ADD. I wanted to make her a T-shirt that read,"My dad says I have ADD, but Hey,Look, there goes a chicken." I think we have numerous topics on crating training that may help. Do a search in the forums to see what applies to you.

 

[LapDog]

just sounds like he is trying to get away with being too much of a puppy I always like the idea of teaching puppies "Settle" where you lay them on their side holding their head and hips down and say "Seeetttllleee" then when they stop wiggling and acting like a fool you can let them out of it otherwise try to keep your corrections using words non repeatitive so say it once like you mean it so its worthwhile of saying. be firm but not physically just mentally lol Cause that puppy is going to be big someday REAL soon (they grow FAST) so you want him to have the best of manners right away

 

[hbwright]

The crate can be tough or easy depending on the dog and the owner. All my dogs have loved the crate until Jordan came along. He is better and is not afraid of it but still hates when we he knows we're leaving and he has to go in the crate. He is very good at picking up subtle clues that we are getting ready to leave.

Some things to try is feeding him in the crate and having one toy that he really loves that is just for the crate use. We use his Kong filled with frozen peanut butter. We have two so we can freeze one while he is using the other one and we have a constant supply. Fill it up as much as you can and have a frozen one ready for when you leave. We used to do this often for piece of mind time but now we only use it in the crate. He doesn't like his crate still but he'll occasionally at least walk in there in the evening during wind down time. My other dog Summer loves his crate and wants to be in the all the time though.

Jumping up will change as he gets older and wiser. Don't give him any attention at all when he is jumping up. This can be difficult because they can be so persistant. You have two options, the first being the best. Turn your heels and walk away, cross your arms and ignore, ignore, ignore. No hand contact at all and if you can get him to fall on the floor from trying to jump on you all the best. He gets no attention from you when he's doing this. With obedience he'll start to sit reliably and he'll learn that when he sits he gets the attention he so despirately needs. The other option (I've only known one dog that needed this instead) is to get in their space. When he jumps you push yourself on him into his space. Not using hands, your body presense gets in his way. He jumps, you crowd him. Usually when you do this they have no where to jump into and are forced back.

It does take time for these to help but they will help and puppy will soon learn that jumping gets him absolutely no attention at all, so why do it.

Good luck. Dobie pups are a whole lot of work but so worth every second of it.

 

[robinb]

What everyone else has said and EXERCISE until he is tired and I would also get him in a group obedience class. Re crate, make sure he is tired and the crate is in a quiet area, then ignore it completely. Check around and find a good instructor. From what I've learned over the years, for the most part, the best obedience instructor's have students working toward obedience titles. You could ask here for a good instructor in your area.

 

[applejacks]

Thanks for the help! usually at night when i get home from work i will take him for about a 3-5 mile runs. he wil be at the point where i almost have to pick him up to get him home. but as soon as we get home he starts going crazy again!

another thing he does is when i let him out to go potty he is fine, but if my wife lets him out he will pee everywhere. why is this?

 

[gazoo02]

Thanks for the help! usually at night when i get home from work i will take him for about a 3-5 mile runs.

How old is your dog? From your initial post it sounds like he/she is under a year. I personally wouldn't run a young dog 3-5 miles.... you are risking joint damage.

 

[applejacks]

How old is your dog? From your initial post it sounds like he/she is under a year. I personally wouldn't run a young dog 3-5 miles.... you are risking joint damage.

really? he is about 5 1/2 months. its not a consistant 3-5 all running mostly walking but at least 1 1/2 miles running

 

[jatango]

Yep, definitely too much especially if it's on pavement. You shouldn't be doing anything that forces him to walk long distances or run, that means no super-long on-lead walks and definitely no on-lead running. Running off lead in a fenced area is fine because he can decide how much is enough. Honestly, you can cripple a dog by running them this early.

 

[Luvbirds]

Petey has been running that far since 4 months old....but it is on his terms, he can walk if he wants and it is in the woods or on a field~never on pavement.

Carol

 

[Julie W]

I would only let a young dog do that much running if he was say off-leash on a hike through the woods. That much "forced" exercise on a dog that young isn't good. And I never exercise on pavement, even on adult dogs I keep it to a bare minimum. And physical exercise needs to be supplimented with mental exercise, ie. a lot of obedience training.

 

[ray]

don't use a crate dobes like to sleep in the bedroom with master at foot of bed or on bed a dobe is a protector give time ,walk before bed time he will settle down but you can't protect from inside a crate beleave me you will never know the true feeling of saftey till you have a dobe in your home on patrol when you sleep

 

[jatango]

I disagree. Dobes very much need a crate until they prove themselves trustworthy enough to not eat things or pee while you're asleep. Older dobes are a different story, but all puppies benefit from crates. (So will your sanity!)

Try HBWright's suggestions and be super patient. Try a vet check to make sure everything is as it should be and just be consistant. Super great treats that only happen at crate time are awesome. I'm talking hotdogs or liver here.

 

[Montuori5]

Hi Carol! I agree with you totally. Dobies are very smart and will become dominant if you let him. When we first got Rocco home we gave him treats when it came to him going in his crate. we practiced going in and out and he got a treat every time. So he associates the crate with something good. It has worked so far. I just wanted to ask you(Carol)....how was Petey with sleeping on your bed? Does he like your bed better?

 

[Montuori5]

Hi Carol! I agree with you totally. Dobies are very smart and will become dominant if you let him. When we first got Rocco home we gave him treats when it came to him going in his crate. we practiced going in and out and he got a treat every time. So he associates the crate with something good. It has worked so far. I just wanted to ask you(Carol)....how was Petey with sleeping on your bed? Does he like your bed better?

 

[Luvbirds]

Hi Carol! I agree with you totally. Dobies are very smart and will become dominant if you let him. When we first got Rocco home we gave him treats when it came to him going in his crate. we practiced going in and out and he got a treat every time. So he associates the crate with something good. It has worked so far. I just wanted to ask you(Carol)....how was Petey with sleeping on your bed? Does he like your bed better?

The first night we had Petey....he cried and dug at his crate the entire night, even had an accident. It was horrible. The following night we had a whole bunch of friends over for a welcoming Petey party, I had a few glasses of wine, and my friends started busting my chops about putting him in the crate for bed, being the complete push over I am....I couldn't do it. Grabbed my 20# puppy and took him upstairs and put him in my bed. He slept through the night. He was in our bed for quite a while, moved a lot, laid on hubby, on me....kicked us, not much sleep for us, but he slept great. You all know how fast Dobie puppies grow.....about 12+ pounds a month...it was not much fun anymore as he got bigger! So we put him on his LL Bean bed a the foot of ours....and that was it....he's been there since. He loves his bed, but if it is hot out, actually sleeps on the wooden floor. Just recently he has started to come up on the bed and cuddle before going on his bed, and then in the morning is doing the same thing. My Weims did that too. I really missed it.

Petey at 18 weeks old in his bed

Petey at 8 months in his bed

Carol & Petey!
ox

 

[applejacks]

well a little update. we have brought his crate back in the room with s by MY bedside and still nothing. just barks and whines all night. he have even tried to have him out of the crate at night and he still just barks. i would let him on the bed but the wife thinks differently. oh well i guess it will just take some time.

now for the last thing. i know dobes are very vocal. i just can't get it through my wifes head. she gets very frustrated when he starts to bark. now keep in mind this is her first dog. she has always had cats, i'm the opposite. i've had my OWN dog since i was very young. she gets very very very frustrated with him. i tell her he is a puppy and its gonna take time and she just doesn't get it. what can i do to help her out with understanding he is not going to be a wonderdog overnight?