# Eating & Jumping



## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

First, let me say he sounds perfectly normal! 

The first bit of advice is that you and the rest of your family may need to learn to golden-proof your home. That means keeping counters clear (he'll soon learn there's no incentive to jump on them if there's nothing up there), and keeping your belongings in drawers and behind cabinet doors. We went so far as to replace all of our trashcans with ones that have lids. 

You might help the food begging issue by making him sit and wait before rewarding him with food. Over time, stretch out the period of time he must wait until finally it's at the end of the meal (if he's been sitting nicely while you eat.)

As for destructive chewing, make sure that he has lots of sturdy chew toys available to him, and rotate them out often so he doesn't get bored. Many goldens love kongs filled with cheese, frozen kibble or peanut butter. 

Your vet is probably right about not leaving him unattended in the backyard. Ours also will eat everything from sticks to rocks. 

Try to spend as much time with your golden as possible. Goldens are people dogs, and will get destructive if they are bored. They thrive on attention, and want to please you!

Lastly, remember that a tired dog is a well behaved dog. Wear him out! Play hard with him. Take him for long walks. If he's too tired to lift his head, he'll be too tired to lift that shoe from the closet too!


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

First of all, welcome to the forums. You've come to the right place.....

My Samson is only 4 months old now, so I don't have a whole lot of experience, but I can offer some of what I've read and what little we've come across in the time we've had Samson.

Chewing..... Yeah, Samson wants to chew EVERYTHING. I think part of what might help is a crate. Have you crate trained him? Samson isn't out of his crate unless I can be completely aware of everything he's doing. He needs to be watch non-stop. He'll walk out of the room and come back 10 second later with a pair of socks. Or kids homework. Pencils. Pens. Anything that will fit in his mouth, he wants to eat/chew it.

One thing I've read is if they get something they aren't supposed to chew, you tell them no, then replace that object with one of their toys that they can play with.

Eating...... When we are eating, Samson is in his box. And he just knows that when our food is ready, that's where he's going. So then he won't be begging at the table.

Jumping.... Samson has just gotten to the point that he wants to jump on us when we get home. One thing I've read is to not acknowledge him until he sits at your feet. Once he sits, give him the attention he wants.

I do think that a lot of what your problems are can be improved with the crate/kennel. Now it's important (at least according to everything I've read) that his kennel not be "punishment." Give him a treat to get him in the kennel. Then another once he sits down in it. Samson now will run for his crate when he sees me reach into his treat bag.

But the kennel will also take care of your dad's concerns about him roaming around the house. Just don't let him be unattended. If someone isn't there to watch his every move, crate him.

Another idea from reading is that some behavior issues are just due to a dog being bored. If he's not getting enough exercise, he'll act out more if for no other reason than he just has to much energy. Maybe walk him more. Play fetch with him. You know, all that fun stuff. You'll want to make sure he's getting lots of exercise for the crate training to work, too.

Hope some of this helped. Others will contribute too. Who knows, some may say I'm way off......but this is what I've read.

Again.....welcome....

Rick


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

Brandy's Mom....Is any of my stuff right? Just curious....

Rick


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## police (Nov 24, 2005)

Welcome to the site and WoW you do seem to have a problem notice I said you and not your G/R my golden is 1 year old he will from time to time steal things but I have now trained him to bring them to me without shredding or ripping the item this took about 3 weeks to do with constant watching and praise and the odd treat.
I did have a problem a few weeks ago my G/R started ripping the wallpaper of for no reason loads of toys about and also my choc Lab with him I took some advice from this site placed a 2 liter coke bottle on the floor with some dried food inside so its like a rattle give it a shake told him to be good went out came home everything fine still doing this 3 weeks on and still no problems he wont go near the bottle aint dogs strange lol.

Sorry but I am a great believer in the boys not having any of our food at all so meal times have never been a problem they have never had any thing from our plates so they will just lay down whilst we eat.
You need to train your mum and brother not to give in to him or he will always beg for food.
As for the jumping on tables and things it is down to you or whoever sees him doing this to get him down and tell him NO It sound like he is trying to show he is the Alpha dog the pack leader you have to show him he is not and that you are it wont be easy but you must stick at it with him he needs to learn and he will only learn if you show him the way be patient and go easy on the treats and good luck.
I am sure others on the site will be on soon to help you please let us know how thing go for you and your G/R

Ron & The Boys


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## police (Nov 24, 2005)

Rick no problems with your post if only one person was to reply it would read like a dog training book thats why these site are so good lots of different ideas and experience from all sort of people and dogs.

Ron & The Boys


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

Yeah, Ron, I know my way ain't the only way. And reading yours and Brandy's Mom's posts make just as much sense. I hope he can take from all of us and figure it out. No one wants a hectic house like that.....

Rick


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

Wow,what a Golden.
First,the advice that everone has given is GReat.
This Golden is BORED!!! He needs attention NOW. You must start exercising him a LOT more.If you are playing with him for only 2 hours a day,that's not enough. He is a high energy Golden that needs an outlet.Take him running,anything to use up his energy.As he starts to not be lonely(from spending more time with someone playing) the problems will begin to disappear.
Both the Golden and your family need to be trained. Get in an training class and lay down some rules for your family.
Use our search engine here (click on search,then advanced) and look for alpha roll.There are lot's of posts pro and con on it's use and more important, other ways to take control.
Your Golden is still very young, you need to use the methods suggested by these people who posted and teach him now how to be a good Golden.
These lessons that you will learn together will come in handy when you start your own family someday.
Shane


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## xacrosstime (Jan 6, 2006)

Yeah, my counters are either clear or 3/4 clear most of the time. I think he jumps up there in order to see if something is there, whether he saw us put something there or not. I do have a crate for him, he is in there when nobody is home and at night. He's used to it now.

I told my family from the start not to feed him from the table because after the experience with my Labrador, I don't wish at all to relive it. While he wasn't jumping at the table or anything and he'd just sit there, he still became overweight. I'm telling them time and time again not to feed him but they just don't listen, I'll find a way. 

Thanks for all your help, guys!


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

rwgibbs said:


> I do think that a lot of what your problems are can be improved with the crate/kennel.


The crate has been my life-saver. It adds a much needed element of control. I can't imagine life without it.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

Maggie likes to jump and steal things too.... She is now in private training lessons one of the things the trainer told us to do is keep her leash on her while in the house, she can drag it around and when you see her doing something wrong, correct her by using the leash, and he goes by the 1.5 sec rule ..you need to correct her in that 1.5 sec so she will understand what she is doing wrong.. Maggie has been to 2 lessons and what a difference it has made. After her first lesson my son came home and Maggie always jumps on him ...not this time.. she walked up to him and sat waiting for him to pet her.


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

I have heard the lease thing before too. Seems like a good option....

Rick


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

Hey Rick,what kind of lease is that? Opened ended,60 month? Me...well I buy my leashes outright,leases for leashes is too hard to say.:doh:     
Shane


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

shaneamber said:


> Hey Rick,what kind of lease is that? Opened ended,60 month? Me...well I buy my leashes outright,leases for leashes is too hard to say.:doh:
> Shane


Whatever could you be talking about? 

That Edit button is a powerful tool, huh? :311taunt-  :hide: 

We're so poor, we have to buy our leashes on a 5 year plan. :curtain: 

:wavey:


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

Guess Who?


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

shaneamber said:


> Guess Who?


:no: :no: :bricks1: :lol: 

People aren't even gonna know what we're talking about.......


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## Dilligas (Jun 17, 2005)

Hey xacrosstime -- and welcome!

I have quite the chewer myself -- lab mix, not Golden, but I imagine much of the advice is the same.

Honestly, I haven't done anything special with mine to stop him from chewing. Dogproofing your house was mentioned -- this includes EVERYTHING. Shadow had a blanket in his crate that he liked to chew on -- so I took it away. I put shoes in plastic containers. That sort of thing.

Maybe your dog likes to destroy things; I know mine does. So give him something to destroy! "Indestructible" rubber toys, stuffed animals, rope bones, rawhides, etc. I get the impression that while a Nylabone is fine for awhile, Shadow would much rather be "making progress" on something. Crazy dog.

Also, it's important that you have a wide selection of toys, and that you rotate them often. Shadow gets really excited about toys that I bring out of his toybox, even when they're old. He wouldn't get so excited if they were left out all the time. I bring out a new toy every three, four days or so.

Exercise was mentioned, and that one's pretty self-explanatory. Sometimes it can be very hard to give your dog enough, though. Good luck.

Make sure he knows what's his and what isn't. Keep a watchful eye on him -- when he's in another room, sneak in real quietly and see what he's doing. When you catch him chewing your stuff, give a firm NO and trade it with one of his toys. Then praise. Also act all happy when he "brings" you one of his toys -- and he will.

I can't help with the jumping thing, as Shadow only jumped up once, and I was fortunate enough to catch him doing it. If you can manage to catch him in the act, I'd think you'll fix it pretty quickly.

Good luck!


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Welcome to the forum!!! My Oakly is at 4.5 months and unlike my previous golden does not seem to be a destructive chewer ...YET. .
I was having the same problem at dinner time with him jumping up. The other night I tried the squirt gun/plant sprayer trick and for the last three nights Oakly has laid at my feet during dinner...YEAH!!!! Can't promise the same results for you but worth a try. 

I think the beauty of these forums is the plethora of tips and tricks you get. No two dogs are alike and with each you have to learn what works best for your pup. 

Best of luck to you!!!


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

rwgibbs said:


> Brandy's Mom....Is any of my stuff right? Just curious....
> Rick


Rick, it's right if it works for you! We're in sync with the advise on these issues. :wavey:


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Wow... every thing's been thoroughly covered already. OK so I'll just leave a little comment or two. You should probably be careful about the 'treat for stolen stuff' trading... it could backfire and be seen by the dog as another opportunity to get a treat, in other words you are rewarding the action of stealing stuff. And if your dog is eating dangerous things I would be worried sick... destructive chewing in one thing but swallowing all that stuff is downright scary. Could your dog have a nutrient deficiency? Thyroid problem? Have your vet check into that. Is it separation anxiety? The only other thing you can do is limit access... ie. 'puppy-proofing' the yard and house or crating the dog. Of course I will go right along with all the others who have suggested exercise, and lots of it... it is the miracle cure for almost all young dog behavior problems.
Good Luck and keep us posted.


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## timberwolfe (Apr 15, 2005)

Wow. You do have a problem. And a fairly serious one. There have been some good responses so far, but let me add a few more suggestions.

Your main problem seems to be lack of structure. Goldens are intelligent and social animals, meaning they can invent many ways of getting in trouble if they are bored. They also require a lot of structure and consistency.

For your first problem, you need to find a way to keep him safe from himself. Dog proof a room and keep him in there when he is alone. If he chews gates, then use something else. However I am not a believer of leaving a Golden alone when people are in the house. He should be allowed to be with the family when possible. Chewing can be a sign of separation anxiety. Is most of the damage done when he is alone in the house?

There are several things you need to do now.

You need to make sure he is kept exercised if he isn't already.

You need to do some obedience training, now. With obedience he will learn to respond to your command. Then you need the whole family to follow the same rules. Jumping, begging, counter surfing etc. can be cured, but there has to be consistency and no exceptions, ever. You need to go back to the basics and get a reliable Sit, Stay, Down, Off, Come. Treats should NEVER be used as a bribe. To have him give up what he is chewing, do not use treats. If you have worked on your commands (every day, 2 or 3 times for 15 minutes at first) then if he has something he isn't supposed to have, you should be able to get him to give it to you when you ask. 

Also, a good philosophy is "Nothing in life is free". No treats, food, or anything should be given without the dog working for it. Ask for a sit before any treat is given. Even before his food he should be made to sit and wait. Begging at the table should never be tolerated. He should have a place where he is to lie down and stay while your family is eating. Only after you are finished should he get any treats. But if he is overweight, then I would cancel those treats until his weight is under control.

Jumping: No dog should ever be allowed to jump on a person. This is easy to train pups, but older Goldens you are talking about breaking a bad habit instead of teaching a new behavior. What we did when Clancy was a pup was we kept a steady supply of treats near the door. When we came home, the first thing we would do as Clancy came flying at us with whatever he could find in his mouth was ask for a sit. Because we had been working on this command from day 1, he would usually obey. We then had a reason to give him a treat. If he did happen to jump, we would turn our back and ignore him. If necessary we would walk away from him depriving him of what he wanted which is attention. We then had friends come over and armed them with treats and instructions on what to do. This goes for anytime he wants to jump. If we were visiting and he would jump on someone, we would tell that person to please NOT pat him but to turn around and ignore him. Sometimes people would say they don't mind his jumping, but I always replied that he is in training and jumping is never allowed. Clancy quickly figured out that when he jumps, he doesn't get what he wants. When he sits, he gets praise and treats.

Counter surfing: This can be harder to cure since it is often done when no one is around to correct it. First thing is to never leave anything on the counter. Work on OFF command. Have some really tempting treats in your hand. Let him smell your closed hand to know it is there. Pull your hand away about a foot and open it so he sees and say "OFF". If he goes for it close your hand and stand up. If he stays off for 4 or 5 seconds, say good boy and give him a different treat, not the one in your hand. Practice this and gradually increase the temptation by putting it on the floor in front of him and tell him OFF (only if you think he will stay off) and by increasing the time he has to wait for a treat. One trick we were able to do is put Clancy in a SIT STAY, walk about 10 feet and put a really tempting treat on the floor and command OFF, walk another 10 feet away and then command COME. Clancy would come, often walking as far away as possible from that treat. It was funny to watch. You could then try to set him up. Place some tempting treats just hanging over the counter and leave him alone in the room. Keep an eye from a distance where he can't see you and if he goes to it get ready to give a quick correction. As he goes to sniff, come into the room with a loud "OFF". Then ask for a sit, and assuming he obeys, he has just done something positive and earned some praise. 

I have heard of some people who load there counters with cans tied together for when they leave the house. If the dog counter surfs when nobody is around, he will knock over the cans and they will all come down making a dreadful noise and scare him from the counters.

This is getting long and when it comes to training techniques I could write for pages and pages. I suggest you work on these commands and on getting your family to recognize that the health of your dog requires them to all follow the same rules.

Good luck and feel free to ask more questions.


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## Brodydog (Aug 15, 2005)

*Traing my golden was trial and error...*

We tried training classes which helped but the most sucessfull training was a remote shock coller( not the cheap ones) That way when your dog does something bad you can give him a noticable tone to distract him, we have only had to shock him once and that is when he had my 5 year old son by his shirt and dragging him around the backyard. now he know what comes after the tone so we havent had to shock him again.
Thae coller is about 300 dollers and worth every penny.
My dog is a year and a half and 85 pounds so this remote is great if you dont have the streghth to pull him back while walking, disciplining ETC...


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## timberwolfe (Apr 15, 2005)

Sorry, but shock collars are not my thing. I prefer Positive methods. To each their own I guess but I would never advocate the use of shock collars.


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## Goldndust (Jul 30, 2005)

Lots of good advice already given in this thread by everyone. I did just want to say that your golden sounds like he needs work, he needs a job to help wear him down a bit. I believe Shane already mentioned this way back. The exercise alone won't cure all his problems, but it will make for a easier dog to control as well as work with and as we all know, a tired dog is a very good dog  

He sounds like he's got a lot of energy to burn, he just needs to be able to burn some of that off. I think if you can get him out more and really work him you are going to see a completely different dog inside.


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## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

Timberwolfe:
ecollars are not what most folks think.. the modern, good quality ecollar is adjustable to be set to your dog's level. There is not a bunch of yelping or pain with the collar as most people imagine. They are very humane and really work in the hands of someone properly trained in their usage. 
I didn't have or use one with my first three dogs, but someone convinced me by putting it on my arm and pushing the button... 
My current two dogs can bolt after a bunny or someone on a bike and i can calmly say ..."no..here" and they are back sitting at heel instantly.. 
fairly easy to teach an intellegent dog the meaning of commands, but hard to get that response with really serious distractions.. sometimes just depends on the dog... I could always teach my dogs commands, but to get that 100% response, particularly at a distance, was difficult. Once they learned that I can reach out and "touch" them, that changed things. 
An ecollar can be a bad thing in the wrong hands. But in the hands of someone trained in its use, it is a valuable tool. And once they learn that you can reach out there, you really don't ever need to.


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## timberwolfe (Apr 15, 2005)

I didn't say they were necessarily bad, although in the wrong hands they easily can be. They just go against my training phylosophy. I feel that you can get the behaviour you want from any dog without the use of Positive Punishment (Positive Punishment is the use of e-collars, collar pops, hitting, etc., Negative Punishment is when you deprive the dog of something it desires, like turning your back and not giving attention is a form of negative Punishment) So I always recommend positive training methods.
Using positive methods you can get reliable recalls and remote commands will be obeyed, but it may take a bit more work. Depends, some people say Clicker Training yields quicker results. Either way, I found Clancy responded well to Clicker Training and I never needed to use Positive Punishment.


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## monomer (Apr 21, 2005)

Nature uses Positive Punishment to teach as well... if a dog tries to bite a bee (a better description would be 'murder' from the bee's viewpoint), the bee will sting the dog... and guess what? after just one lesson that dog has learned NEVER again to mess with anything that's black/yellow stripped and buzzy. Pretty effective, huh? I personally think that some forms of teaching are better for some types of learning. Such as... if you want to teach/encourage a behavior then using rewards are probably the most effective/efficient tool but if you want to stop a behavior then punishment is probably the better choice in almost all situations... and for the most part this is the system 'nature' uses to teach all of us about limitations. Remember all living things must be taught limits (especially human teenagers :doh: ) and this is usually done by means of punishment... i.e. speeding teenager gets a ticket and fined and possibly 'grounded'... that's positive punishment. 

I like to call a thing exactly what it is (i.e. "shock collar") and not minimize its true effect... that way I don't ever forget what is really happening when the button is pushed. As far as the "shock collar" is concerned, I don't believe its meant to be a device for delivering punishment when use properly. If used correctly, its purpose is to "snap" a dog out of a deep focus on "whatever" so he can actually hear your command. If a dog yelps or feels pain then you've got the shock collar turned up way too high. Also you only need to pair the 'beep' with the shock (actually precede) once or twice for most dogs to immediately associate the two, meaning that to the dog hearing the beep is exactly the same as receiving a shock... from that point on the shock never has to be delivered again... only the beep is necessary. The 'beep' with an electronic fence-less containment system means "No! don't leave the yard!" the same as if you had said it and could enforce it; would that have been a cruel or harsh thing for you to do? Well, with a remote trainer, its as if you'd said "HEY! Listen up!"... is that a cruel or harsh thing to do? The main requirement to the proper use of a remote trainer (AKA shock collar) is that the dog definitely know/understand the command being issued under all circumstances BEFORE the shock collar is ever employed. Then when your dog becomes focused on a squirrel across that busy street and so can't hear your command to "COME!" because he's going into 'attack mode', you can deliver a 'beep' and maybe follow it with a shock if necessary to 'snap' him out of his 'trance' so he can actually now hear your command, re-focus on you and then obey as he had been previously taught to do... its NOT to punish him for disobedience... And its this distinction that makes the shock collar the most dangerous training device in all of 'dogdom' when placed into the hands of the amateur trainer because most do NOT make this distinction and try to use this device to actually train the command! while believing its intended use is as a punishment delivery device... under those circumstances it can easily become a device of unspeakable torture for the poor dog who has such an owner. For that reason I believe that if remote trainers (SHOCK COLLARS) are ever to be recommended that instructions about the proper use of these devices need to also be included along with that recommendation as well.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

Maagie likes to chew paper toliet paper , she even goes in the kids backpacks and gets there papers out..I have now been putting EVERYTHING up.. she only tends to do this when we are home. She likes to jump also..we keep a leash on her while in the house to correct her if she jumps, as far as dinner goes she doesnt beg for food she lays under the table ..hoping that someone drops something...


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