Need Help

[Pags]

Hey all, I came here looking for some help for my puppy situation. I am now living with a 6mo old labradoodle whose owner provided zero training for. The puppy has no concept of right or wrong. She isn't housebroken, and methods that I have used in the past haven't been working, and I'm getting a little fed up with finding messes all over the house. Additionally, the dog has no qualms about getting up on the counters or doing whatever it pleases. The dog has not been responding to training. If you tell her NO or BAD DOG she wags her tail and thinks it's play time. I've never seen the dog act ashamed when scolded. Instead, when you schold it it acts as though she did something right.

She has managed to pick up fairly well on basic commands such as sit and come when she wants to. But when she does something wrong or when she doesn't want to listen, she'll act however she pleases. I've never had to deal with a dog that has zero respect for authority, and am short of ideas. Thanks for any help you can give me!

[Richard]

Hi there...

Sounds like you do have your hands full...was her previous owner just lazy or not really into training dogs? (sorry the question needs to be asked)

As for the housebreaking, check out the housebreaking in a hurry link here:

Housebreaking

To pull it all together (your training program), get yourself a crate for her and read this thread...it has to do with the NILIF program.

Nothing In Life is Free

I hope you can fix her unruly ways. Keep us posted.

[Kona]

Or simply remember this mantra: "Until a dog's behavior is acceptable in the house, she should be on leash or in her crate 24/7."

But read those threads, too.

[Brooke]

This dog has not learned what "no" means. It doesn't understand what a correction is. If it were me I would probably resort to scruffing...only on occassion for big things (you can wear that out if you over use that method) as well as leash corrections. It needs to learn that "no" is a negative response. It seems she is confused.

[Pags]

Thanks everyone for the input. The previous owner was just a big softy when it came to training her and would allow the dog to dictate it's own behavior. He tried the crate, but I guess the crate was too large, and she would just mess in the crate and roll around in it all night. At the advice of another dog trainer, I've made sure to get a properly sized crate, and am in the midst of re-housetraining her. And I've been keeping her on the leash whenever she's out of the crate. Lets just hope it keeps going well.