Bedtime behavior 10 month female

[rtropeano]

There's a good book called 101 Dog Tricks by Kyra Sundance, that I think will help you in the teaching new tricks department. If you really want to burn off some energy, try shaping a new behavior with a clicker. This seems to really wear them down.

A good one for you to try might be to teach her to go to her crate with a clicker, or a mat or bed.

Rose

[frosty1]

I will check it out. You know I actually taught her a few important commands like that already. She was a pest while cooking and I needed to keep her away from the stove- so I developed the command "couch". She will leave the kitchen area and run over the the couch opposite the kitchen and perch over the back of it facing the kitchen (a few feet away in plain view) and stay there for a reward long enough to get stuff in and out of the stove. She also does go into the crate in the next room when given the command "crate" before bed and when we leave for work and is always given a stuffed Kong or hot dog treat. We do have a clicker we got when she was real small, and I'll tell you there's probable nothing these dogs can't learn when it's in their best interest.
Other funny one is command "ballerina". She would go up on hind legs for treats and stay there like a person. so we called it ballerina at which point she does a 360 and gets rewarded- pretty cute.

[janet909]

Would love to see some pics of your ballerina !!!!! She sounds like a great dog.

[rtropeano]

Yes, we'd love to see Ballerina!!!! I've only seen small dogs do this, I'd love to see your Brit!

[frosty1]

OK gonna have to look into way to post pics and take a few of her antics. When I gave her her 1st bully bone last night she literally jumped twice 360 degrees to get it- could not believe it!
Great thing is so far 2 good nights in a row with her bedtime behavior. 2nd walk and challenging her with some mental stuff seems to be working- hope it continues. This weekend should be easy cause of expected snow storm- she'll get plenty of exersise in that.

Will post pics over next few days....

[frosty1]

Well it's been about a week and we're doing ok. Patty is accepting bedtime better. We now allow her free run of the 1st floor excluding bedrooms. She gets family and living room with kitchen . This givers her view of hallway to bedrooms and view of entrance door from garage. I think it settles her down a bit and makes her not feel confined. We paid the price a few times already when she was a little younger and kids did not suervise her during the day with some chewing. She got some areas of full length vertical blinds for sliding doors, some magazine baskets, and annoys me because she remembers to keep going back where she's not finished. She's laying off the blingds now but still gets the wicker things.
Our trainer for previous dog classes also tipped me off as some of you did that she wants to be in the bedroom near the pack. She ssuggested bringing crate in, then eventually having her on a pillow or bed in a few weeks after that. This will be the back up plan if she gets worse. Right now so far so good.
Thanks again.
Frosty1 http://yfrog.com/iydsc04224bj

[MaggieRocks]

So glad to hear she's doing better. She sounds like a typical brittany! Be glad it's just the blinds and wicker...when Maggie was a pup, she decided to do her teething on the windowsill one night! Just jumped up on the couch, front paws over the back of it, and chewed away! Fortunately, we caught her before too much damage was done, but you can still see a little gnaw patch on the windowsill!!! (And I hope your wicker baskets weren't Longaberger!!!)

[lotsadogsmt]

I have an older dog with medical problems who frequently has a hard time settling down/getting comfortable in the evening even though he sleeps on the bed with me (if you think howling in the kitchen keeps you awake, try having a dog pacing on the bed you're laying in). I bought a couple of ambient noise soundtracks- crickets, thunderstorm & waterfall- and play one of them on loop for about 45 minutes after I go to bed with my MP3 player docked to speakers. Not only did it help my old guy a lot! but the other dogs are much quicker to settle down also (I have seven dogs total, 4 of them are Brits).

[rtropeano]

Speaking of noises, I received an email from Dogster.com and they had an interview Lisa Spector, the woman who developed the "Through a Dog's Ear" CD. They have a few free downloads so that you can try out the music. Can't hurt, here's the link:

http://dogblog.dogster.com/2010/02/10/d ... ign=100216

Rose

[Jan]

Glad to hear night time is better. Luckily, Maggie, who was 8 months when adopted, did not think of barking at bedtime. She barked to get everything else back then - food, outside, attention . . . . My DTH (Dog-Tolerating Husband), formerly a DDH (Dog-Disliking Husband)) has never allowed the dogs in our bedroom. When younger, they were crated outside our door. Now they have dog beds in the hall with access to one bedroom if they want a change of scenery. I baby-gate them upstairs with us as I do believe they would wonder around and look for trouble. They are so good that if I hear a bark or a rare scratch at the door, I know it is a potty emergency. Hopefuly things will get even better for you.
Jan

[frosty1]

Well- it's been over 2 weeks since the 1st post describing the bedtimebehavior issue. Patty's now 11 months and doin' ok with the nightime deal as long as I do my part with the exercise plan. What I'm finding is I am constantly trying to stay in tune with her mood or stress level during her day and how different elements in her surrounding affect her mood.
A very big item is Monday's - 1st day back to work. She has a very high activity level from say 530pm until almost 8pm. Most nights she'll have a big spike in activity during these hours which is come home, prepare dinner, settle down and watch tv from around 8-10pm. She usually will settle with us around 9pm . From a fellow forum user I got the bully stick and sterilized knuckle bone tip as a solution to rawhides and am giving her the knuckes when necessary during dinner pep time to keep her away during prep and dinner time. They seem to last and don't make her thursty . On Monday eve's when she's extra active I am giving her a 12 " bully stick for an hr or so. This is helping take the edge off her a bit. Unfortunately on 2 occasions over the last week she peed on my sofa 1x and on our double recliner 1x. I think it was some kind of marking episode each time as she was making a bed to sleep where I had a protective blanket on the sofa, and an old comforter on the recliner. Too bad both times it got the fabric.

Now we're have a little boredom issue with her during the day. 24 yr old is home part of the daytime and I think she knows it in the a.m. and get's frustrated noone's playing with her. She get's her 5am walk, breakfast, treat and is left to roam until 24yr old awakes and spends a little time with her. She had decided to reach for any papers on desktops and shred them- got my bills and notebook yesterday, and day or 2 ago started knawing at small table top corner next to recliner in living room. ( She already was a lumberjack to small palm tree in same family room). Worst part is she remebers unfinished demo work and will get back to it 1st chance. We're going back to the full crate time during periods where she can tolerate it daytime when I can't be in tune with her and know what to expect. Just feel bad she pretty much eats when she wants to so she misses her food until she get's out again.
I don't blame the dog too much, and keep observing and adjusting to her problems as they develop , get solved and new ones come up. I believe this will be the routine for at least another year as I feel these dogs take about 2-3 yrs to really settle down.

As far as music- I ocassionally leave music feed from tv on- usually some soft music stuff, but read that can be a trigger to tell her she's going to be left alone so I 've been changing it up a little.

[Barb Wright]

... Just feel bad she pretty much eats when she wants to so she misses her food until she get's out again.

Just a thought.....you might consider going to regular meal times such as a.m. and p.m. instead of "free" feeding. This makes for better poo and pee schedules, and keeps the dog out of the habit of having things that give oral satisfaction. Free feeding keeps the digestive system in constant activity with little or no resting period. Hence, regular feeding periods are more beneficial. Also, dogs that free feed eventually begin to put on weight because you cannot monitor how much they are eating as easily as with regularily prepared meals. This is especially true if they are using the frequent "nibbling" at the food as a gratification activity.

[frosty1]

I see your point regarding the free feeding. She has been very regular though - 1st thing in a.m out and #2 no problem. Problem arises that up at 5am, walk and off to work before 6am. She really won't eat until some internal bell goes off. She is still getting a lot of reward based training- treats for many commands, even during walk, retreival training and play etc so sure she just waits until she knws she has exhausted all better options. * my last brittany was very similar, but when we had her stepsister a golden in the house - they both ate the same time clean the plate club- not dog eat dog but dog eat other dogs food if given chance. Patty has no pressure on her to do that. Seems like for every action there is a reaction.
She's just about ready for the adult food- next bag.
She's on puppy growth by eucaneuba- going to adult soon.

[swillow66]

If you continue to have a "marking issue" in the same spot, cleaning will not remove the smell, you many have to get a simple enzyme cleaner that is available at any Petsmart or Petco store. It neutralizes the smell so they don't keep peeing in the same spot. Shelli

PS - LOVE THE PICS! She is a cutie pie