Help Needed! Training Senior Dog


LolasMama

New Member
Hi everyone,

This past weekend I became the mama of a 10 year dachshund from a rescue... She was nippy at first, but I figured it was stress. She has since become more comfortable and generally doesn't nip at me for every little thing... or any other females. However, she seems to have a problem with men.... It's not just a nip: she latches on.

I'm guessing she hasn't been around them enough - or socialized. She is not doing well with my male lab either, although he has been a sweetie and keeps trying to bring her toys.

Is this a common issue? She doesn't respond well to commands, nips unpredictably, and barks when never someone has food.shes such a sweet girl, I'm just looking for some advice on how to train a senior dog. I don't want to give an excessive amount of treats as she has been overweight in the past... So that is an issue also.

Any advice would be appreciated!!
 

Kirp

New Member
You could try a low calorie training treat. Work with her for short times every day with basic obedience (sit, lay down, etc.) and she'll learn to respect you and listen more. When training a dog, you shouldn't be giving a treat every single time they do something right, anyway, so too many treats shouldn't be an issue. When you start out, you give a treat each time they get it right so they figure it out, then you start only randomly giving treats so they don't expect a reward every time.

The only thing I can think of for barking when someone has food is to ignore her completely when it happens. Don't give her anything, don't talk to her, don't look at her. It's hard to do when they're being noisy, but they learn that they get absolutely nothing from begging/barking at you.
 
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