# Tiring Issue with Joey.



## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

Joey has started this new thing that makes saving HIM and our house a huge problem. He will grab something he isn't supposed too (I.E. 10mins ago a little candle dropped off a table and he grabbed it) and he runs away from me with it. The way our house is shaped i can't corner him and get it myself (there is an island in the middle of our main level so its a continuous run around) and half the time by the time he stops he has already eaten whatever it was. Obviously this is not a good thing especially if something dangerous were to drop and him being stupid thinks it was something he can eat. I am loosing my temper with him so much more lately because he just wont stop. Luckily i got the candle (which has a metal plating around it which was all chewed up) I need to know how to stop this so that when he does get something i can walk up to him without him running. Its 100% for his saftey, i dont care if he destroys whatever it is, i just dont want to run to the emergency vet because hes a pig and thinks everything on the floor is food. Help please.


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

Just wondering if he has an all-time favourite food? Like hot dogs? Keep them around and call him for a trade.. I'm hoping theres something he likes better than funny items off the floor.. I think some members have mentioned bacon, hotdogs, etc..


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

I think by the time i had something like that out and in my hand, whatever he has in his mouth will already be down his throat.. I have tried saying "treat Joey!" and walking over to where his fav treats are but he just runs away to the other side of the house...


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

It's that bratty age- he is going to test you. This is the time to teach him the behavior that you want him to be doing. Bribes (here's a treat Joey) aren't going to work when the item he has is of higher value than the treat....

Does he know 'leave it' or a similar command? Practice it everyday with really, really boring things. Build up to food (boring- maybe kibble) and continually up the ante to something more desirable. 

I have no qualms about using a baby gate for G when he is allowed out and about but I can't watch him 100% the way that I want to. It's OK to manage sometimes. 

I'd also recommend making your counters really boring. We're working on this, too. Gibbs has learned that delicious things come from up there and it is getting hard to keep 'four on the floor' with him. *ugh* We're working hard to not keep ANY food on the counter and keep him out of the kitchen with a marrow bone while we're preparing food so he doesn't get any chances to get a nibble.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

1) Puppy proof the house a little more. Ideally he NEVEr has the chance to get something he shouldn't....
2) Keep a leash on him in the house, so you can casually walk over and stop on the leash. This will decrease the chasing. The chasing is a REALLY FUN game. Then TRADE him a treat for the item. DO NOT reach towards his mouth and pull it out. If you don't have treats on you, walk to the kitchen. If you continually pull things out of his mouth, he will start to swallow immediately and that is VERY dangerous. 
3) When he is chewing his own toys, go over and give him a really great treat. We want him to think approach= good things, NOT approach= game/my things going away.
4) In an emergency, toss a whole handful of treats on the floor and while he is eating those, casually step on the item, and then when he's far enough away, pick it up. If you bend down to pick it up initially, he might dive for it. It's easier to be casual while stepping than when bending over.....

And stop chasing him. Contain him in a smaller room. Keep a leash on him.


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## Maya's_Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Maya does that too.... she will find random things and run away with them (mostly my socks when I take them off....) Occasionally she will grab something we REALLY don't want her to have ie - she grabbed my bf's pack of cigarettes one night, I told him he needs to quit... haha. Anyway, as RedDogs suggested, I grab a high value treat and toss it in her general direction, and when she goes for that she drops whatever she has. We are kind of nearing the end of this phase with her.... now when she grabs something and sees me coming... she drops what she has because the THINKS I have a treat in my hand.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

Another thing to work on is to go trade him for a toy he's got with an ok treat, look at the toy for a second, give it back but slip a high value treat onto it so he associates you having his toy for a second with you being able to release the magic dried liver treat hidden inside. Or whatever you have. Soon he'll start bringing you the toy and then you can really reward him.

Doesn't hurt to puppy proof and gate things, leave a long line on him (no loops) when he's loose and bitter apple some 'bait' items he might try to steal.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

RedDogs said:


> 1) Puppy proof the house a little more. Ideally he NEVEr has the chance to get something he shouldn't....
> 2) Keep a leash on him in the house, so you can casually walk over and stop on the leash. This will decrease the chasing. The chasing is a REALLY FUN game. Then TRADE him a treat for the item. DO NOT reach towards his mouth and pull it out. If you don't have treats on you, walk to the kitchen. If you continually pull things out of his mouth, he will start to swallow immediately and that is VERY dangerous.
> 3) When he is chewing his own toys, go over and give him a really great treat. We want him to think approach= good things, NOT approach= game/my things going away.
> 4) In an emergency, toss a whole handful of treats on the floor and while he is eating those, casually step on the item, and then when he's far enough away, pick it up. If you bend down to pick it up initially, he might dive for it. It's easier to be casual while stepping than when bending over.....
> ...


Ditto that.

I also start working on retrieve skills right away. When I have a puppy, I figure it's MY responsibility to master puppy proofing such that it's very rare that a pup gets the wrong thing. When he does, I say, "Good dog... bring it here" and they retrieve it for me. I'd much rather have a pup retrieve inappropriate objects than try and dash off with them... and again, at the root of the issue is a failure in my puppy proofing, so no need to get upset with the pup.


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## GoldenSummer (Mar 26, 2010)

Oh never chase him! He will think its a game and thats probably why hes doing it more. With Tyson I use the stern "leave it" if he gets a hold of it then I try the "drop it" if that doesn't work or its something he doesn't want to give up I tell him to "stay" and or "sit stay" and walk up to him like nothing is wrong and either do a trade (keep some treats in a pocket at all times) or grab a toy or something and wiggle it around his head or bum it distracts him and he drops whatever he has and goes for the toy, once that happens throw the toy and while hes chasing it grab whatever he dropped  I also agree with the leash around the house/around your waist, I did both for the first few months Tyson came home and its a great way to keep an eye on him... I've actually started doing the leash around the waist again sometimes now that hes in his teens and testing his limits lol The real issue you need to address is making the process less "fun" for him, so try not to really react, try to stay calm and normal, if it starts to be a boring process I think it will help him stop


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

Thank you everyone. Right now he is getting over having diarrhoea since christmas day so he is on a strict diet of just gastro. Once he is better and can have his normal food, i'll start practising this with him by giving him mildy fun stuff he can have, then trading it for treats, so that when it happens he will sorta know what to do! Its frustrating because he does know leave it and drop it, does it with the ball when we are playing fetch, and he always leaves his food till i tell him its okay to eat.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I think you heard this already from the previous posts, but I agree - "trade" is a really important thing to teach your dog. One thing I did want to add is it is important to teach him to go to a certain place to trade and never "fake" the dog out by offering trade and never actually giving him anything. 

So basically what I'm trying to say is that something that happened A LOT while I was baking was Jacks would snatch any butter wrappers from the top of the garbage can (I kept the can open so I could easily toss eggshells or whatever else) and go running into our family room. 

I simply told him to come trade, and he would come running up to the counter where we keep our bread bags. He dropped the butter wrapper for me and I gave him a piece of bread. 

And it is the same thing every single time I tell any of our dogs "wanna trade". In other cases I will walk out to the kitchen with them following me. 

To teach this, every single time your dog has something in his mouth, give him the "wanna trade" cue and lead to the place where you keep your treats. 

I use bread, because it's a bit more digestible (and cheaper) than a bag of treats. But you could also lead the dog to the fridge and take a piece of ham or turkey out of the lunchmeat drawer for him every time. 

The above is a heckova lot easier than making sure you have treats in your pocket at all times. 

Most cases, the piece of bread will always be a higher value than a candle or butter wrapper or piece of underwear that the dog is running around with. But even when your dog has a high value object, the "wanna trade" still works. At least, I've had my dogs spit out pork chop bones or steak bones to get a piece of bread.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

I had this problem with Gladys too. I think you got some great advice.
What I did with Gladys was: 
a) puppy proof everything - NOTHING except kitchen canisters on counters or tables, locking trashcan, no toilet paper out, all toilet seats down, nothing left in or on the sides of the tub - it wasn't like a normal house, but it was temporary
b) do not chase - that makes it a game - instead wait for puppy to stop then approach slowly and calmly - do not let them get to you
c) teach come when called - reward profusely 
d) teach "out" - reward profusely
e) After they learn come and out, what reinforced it real quick was if I said "come" but she ran around with say a dishtowel, I would let her run around, once she stopped, I would grab her then put her in her crate for the "2 minute time out" our obedience instructor taught us - this amazing tool was unbelievably effective in Gladys getting the picture real quick. You do everything really quiet and calm like so it's not a game and it worked really well. You don't tell them to kennel up or whatever command to get in the crate, you just lead them by the collar to the crate, put them in without a word, go away, and come back in 2 minutes. This only works if you catch them in the act of not obeying a command you gave that you know they know.
Good luck!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> After they learn come and out, what reinforced it real quick was if I said "come" but she ran around with say a dishtowel, I would let her run around, once she stopped, I would grab her then put her in her crate for the "2 minute time out" our obedience instructor taught us - this amazing tool was unbelievably effective in Gladys getting the picture real quick. You do everything really quiet and calm like so it's not a game and it worked really well. You don't tell them to kennel up or whatever command to get in the crate, you just lead them by the collar to the crate, put them in without a word, go away, and come back in 2 minutes. This only works if you catch them in the act of not obeying a command you gave that you know they know.


I get that this is a punishment for not coming, but one question I have... doesn't this compute in the dog's head as punishment for getting caught being bad? And doesn't that encourage more evasion tactics - if done incorrectly (I guess)?

The reason why I'm asking is that when your dog has something in his mouth - anything - the idea is to turn it into a positive training situation. That way the dog is willing and eager to come running to you to trade or for attention. Doing it that way has made a huge difference in our ability to keep laundry on the landing or the garbage cans opened, because the dogs aren't snatching and running to infinity anymore. As I said above, they still grab things they shouldn't, but go a short distance away so they can hear the "wanna trade" call.


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

Thank you for all the help guys! Yesterday i brought Joey a new toy from work and he was treating it like it was SUPER amazing, so i did the "wanna trade?" and brought him to the cookie jar and got a piece of bread instead. Once he saw me go into the cupboard he instantly dropped his toy. I've realized he acts the same way with a toy he is in the middle of destroying, and when something falls on the ground. Its just better and calmer practise with something that he can't swallow whole


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Is he getting enough exercise? Penny will 'steal' things and run from us when she wants to play. It's always in the evening. She doesn't chew or swallow, so we allow the game of chase. We taught the game ending command of "That's enough". When we say that she immediately drops whatever she has and droops her ears. Of course we immediately go to the cookie jar for a treat.

As you work on teaching Joey his various commands, incorporate that one. You'll be glad you did.


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

Oh thats a great idea too, i'll start with that one aswell. Thank you! Im sure he isnt bored as i ususally take him for at least one one hour walk a day, and if for some reason i cant do that, i take the ball in the basement and throw it around for him. On the main floor he has 5 nylabones and a few other toys and will sometimes get hyper but its always just when something drops to the ground. Its like hes saying "dibs, mine!"


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Megora said:


> I get that this is a punishment for not coming, but one question I have... doesn't this compute in the dog's head as punishment for getting caught being bad? And doesn't that encourage more evasion tactics - if done incorrectly (I guess)?
> 
> The reason why I'm asking is that when your dog has something in his mouth - anything - the idea is to turn it into a positive training situation. That way the dog is willing and eager to come running to you to trade or for attention. Doing it that way has made a huge difference in our ability to keep laundry on the landing or the garbage cans opened, because the dogs aren't snatching and running to infinity anymore. As I said above, they still grab things they shouldn't, but go a short distance away so they can hear the "wanna trade" call.


I think it might just be different training philosophies. 
I don't recall our obedience instructor teaching us to trade. Just "out" means give it up. Of course there's a reward for the desired behavior, but I don't remember anything about trading.

I think using the "2 minute time out" can't teach, just reinforce. If you don't do what I said, you get 2 minute time out. Our instructor is big on not repeating commands and nagging. 2 minute time out gives me a tool to use if I say something I know she knows and she is purposely disobeying.

It works like magic at our house


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

Just wanted to bump this to say thank you to everyone! I have been teaching Joey the "trade it" command and it has been working! This morning he stole my moms chapstick and i said Joey wanna trade? And he droped it and ran to me and i gave him a treat. I knew he 100% knew the command when i was joking with my dad about trading Phones and i said wanna trade and Joey got all perked up and looked at me lol. It is a work in progress but at least he knows not to chew the item before i get it! lol


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## GoldenJoy (Jul 30, 2009)

Reddogs suggested a leash in the house, and we HEARTILY agree! We had a 6 foot and a 3 foot drag line, each with no loop on the end, and we used them in various situations to prevent or train a LOT of behaviors. The best part was that often, we could just stand on the end of the drag line, and she would immediately sit or lie down. Now, when I step beside her, she does the same thing - even though we haven't used the drag lines in over a year! If she got hold of something while wearing the line, it was so easy (our house is tiny) to catch the end of the line rather than her! Plus, we could take an alternate route to the end of the line so that it didn't seem like we were chasing her, which took the chase fun away.


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