Holy jumping dachshunds Batman

[Courtney]

Sanford is a nervous nelly. He runs around whining a lot. This morning I gave him a Kong with PB and that settled him a bit. But this evening has been pretty bad. He can now jump ALL our baby gates. He got into the cat room and terrorized poor Tina. I went in there, grabbed him and immediately put him in his crate and shut the door to the dog room. I figure a time out away from the pack is pretty big punishment. He barked for almost 40 minutes. When he was finally quiet, I went in there, let him out then worked on "come" and "sit" with him. Then I put him back in the crate and went to get the dog food and other dogs. He cried again, but I left the room and closed the door then fed the dogs in their crates once he got quiet. During dinner I sat in the room and he finished before Dax but after Po. He got all antsy again. I ignored him but when he was calm in the crate I said "good boy." I did that for a bit, then let him in the kitchen alone to do more obedience work (2 minutes or so). Then we went outside and did sit and come just a little more. Then I let him play.

The scaling baby gates thing and cat terrorizing thing I need to do my hardest to prevent as that is going to be difficult to correct, I think. But can anyone tell me if my strategy tonight was good? OH, I am writing this because just now he scaled the gates again and he is now in time out again. The barking did not last NEARLY as long this time. He was quiet for a bit but now is howling, poor dude.

Anyway, suggestions and advice are much needed. How do I channel that nervous energy?

[Linus]

Sheesh! I wish I could help you, but I have no earthly idea other than to just give him time and maybe he will start playing with Po and Dax. :bigrayz: :bigrayz: and :bighug: that things will get better!

[Fluffy]

No suggestions here either but :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for you to get through it!! Sorry you had such a hectic evening!!! Maybe a :banana: will make it a wee bit better?? :banana: :lama:

[Tanya]

I think crating him when you catch him doing something bad is a good idea. A long time ago, Peaches would actually jump up and grab John's food off of the table while we were eating. I got tired of that, so when she did it, I'd tell her no and put her in her crate. At first whenever I let her out, she'd run over and do it again. After probably a week of this she realized I wasn't giving up and she stopped doing it or would at least stop after 1 firm NO!

As for jumping the gates, we have that problem with Peaches too. My solution when I am NOT home is to stack two gates. When I am home, she is sometimes confined to the kitchen if I am doing something. If Sanford is like Peaches, he'll jump a few times before actually jumping over. Well, at the first sign of jumping at the gate, I tell Peaches NO! If she doesn't stop, I take her away from the gate and set her down elsewhwere in the kitchen and tell her no again. She has pretty much stopped even trying now.

:appl: :appl: :appl: for you for working so hard with these fosters!

[Courtney]

He seems to be smart enough to catch on. Like I said the first timeout he barked for near 40 minutes. The next few, maybe 5 at tops. I just put the baby gate up off the ground a bit. Then when he put his paws on it, I squirted him. So he squeezed under. Little ****!!!!!! Then I put him back in the living room and he walked over to the carpet and peed. I think he might have a screw loose. Anyway, we went outside, he pottied and got lots of praise, I have two stacked gates on the doorway now, and he is tied to me with a 10-foot leash. He cannot get near the gates and is whining. I just called him over to me and he got lots of praise for coming. Now he is sitting next to me. He will not sit still unless I am basically cradling him. But he is sitting still and being quiet so I am praising him for that. I wonder what has happened to this poor guy. I think he might just need lots of love (and sometimes tough love I guess). But yeah, any suggestions, please tell me!! I always freak out just a little at first when I have fosters like this.

[JanUet]

I think what you are doing is WONDERFUL! and he will Learn :appl:
I can't think of anything to add. Perhaps Mary can help with the situation.

I can remember when I had Casey teather strapped to me, but not for the same reasons you have.

Geez Courtney, Even looking at his pic he seems Hyper!

[Nancy]

I just put the baby gate up off the ground a bit. Then when he put his paws on it, I squirted him. So he squeezed under. Little ****!!!!!! :rotfl:

probably bad timing, but i can't stop laughing at that comment! hope you don't have another night like last night.

[Loren]

Sounds like you are doing everything right! Maybe get a buster cube....so he can work at getting the treats out and focus on that rather than getting out of the gates?

[Jen]

Sounds like he's testing his limits. I think you're doing well setting limits and praising him for good behavior. :appl: :appl: :appl: Yes, I can see why he's been thru two homes already if he acts like that. His new home will need to be willing to set limits and be consistent.

[jenfer]

I think what you did is great. Crating him and giving him a time out. And praising at the right moment (when he's quiet). I guess you just need lots of patience.
Great work! :appl: :appl:
And sending you lots of :bigrayz: :bigrayz: too. :)

[Courtney]

Thanks guys. We went on a really long walk this morning (50 min) and he was still all nervous in the house. Oh and he was not the one who was adopted twice, that was Princess!

[Loren]

you must be...:rotfl:

Have you thought about maybe giving him some Rescue Remedy to calm him down?

[Courtney]

Crap! I meant to give him some RR before I left but forgot. Oh well, he got another Kong at any rate.

[Frzframe]

Hmm, I have two babygate climbers so I'm not going to be any help. :rotfl: They get over it so fast to. At least he is starting to learn with Frankie he has a very low attention span and doesn't hold on to any train for very long if at all. :scratch:

[lotsadox]

I think you're on the right track with the training and crating until he quiets down. The distraction and also learning some control and focus from the obedience training is bound to help.

The gate jumping is a real problem. Because of the way my house is arranged, I don't use baby gates. My kitchen has a "doorway" into the living room that is so wide I haven't yet found a removable baby gate that will fit it and I don't want to install one permanently so I'm not much help there.

[Patt]

You appear to be doing just about everything that can be reasonably expected. Obviously this poor dog has something in his past that’s still causing a problem. Overall I believe it is imperative for the dog to receive a daily dose of exercise. In addition to tiring the dog it provides an opportunity for a change of mental focus. Time, patience and affection are great healers and hopefully your even handed application of all three will eventually eliminate Sanford’s present problem.

Regarding the cats, Trixie has the same problem and there apparently there is not much that can be done about such a fixation. She does well with the outside cats but is very territorial concerning the inside cats. So like you we just keep them separated. We’ve installed a permanent half door Trixie can’t climb or see through which allows the cats to feel less isolated.

[Courtney]

We are having a MUCH MUCH MUCH better night tonight!!!!!

I did not go home for lunch today. I normally do not like to do that, but I wondered if maybe it would be better for Sanford if I did not come home and freak him out then have to have him calm down again. Well, he went potty in the crate (AND covered it up with the blanket like Mr. B) but was otherwise OK. He was actually very calm when I came home. No running around and whining. The dogs ate dinner. Sanford decided to regurgiate his three times!! Nasty! Sometimes dogs new to raw feeding do that if they eat cold food too quickly. Napoleon used to do it. So tomorrow I will warm the food before I feed him! :)

Anyway, things were still going pretty well. I tied him to me and sat on the couch and read for a bit. He was a little whiny but not too bad. He sat next to me and was pretty good.

Oh yes, I did not have the gate up to the back hallway that he kept jumping. Instead I just closed the doors to the other rooms. I think avoiding bad situations is probably really helping!

Then I decided to take him on a field trip. We went to Petsmart and he was really, really good. Then he spotted a chinchilla LOL! He wanted to get it so bad. We walked around some more until he calmed down, then we checked out and got treats and went home.

THEN we went outside to potty, came in and did some obedience briefly and then I sat on the couch. He was REALLY good, sat quietly, until Adam came home. Now he wants to get into the cat room and is whiny......

:curse: :curse: :curse: :curse: :pullhair: :pullhair:

[Tanya]

Then I decided to take him on a field trip. We went to Petsmart and he was really, really good. Then he spotted a chinchilla LOL! He wanted to get it so bad.
Note to self: Sanford cannot meet Prickles! :conf2:

[Linus]

Someone's got a strong prey drive!! Good luck, Courtney! If anyone can handle it, you can!