New foster Sophia need some advice

[lvoss]

Being food motivated is a good thing. Rather than just feeding her meals out of bowl, put her to work for her food so you can start communicating to her what you want. If she moves away from you even if it is only a few inches toss her some kibble so she has to move even further away to get it. If she lies down somewhere other than your lap, toss to her kibble. Play Its Yer Choice with her, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipT5k1gaXhc

Try a Stuffed Kong to help keep her occupied when you need to crate her or want her to "Go to Mat". If she unstuffs the Kong too quickly, freeze it for more of a challenge.

Kong Stuffing Recipe
Use a large bowl to mix everything up and stuff as many Kongs as you have.

Equal amounts of dry dog food and canned pumpkin
Warm water
1 to 3 spoonfuls of canned dog food

First, soak kibble in some warm water to soften up. Then mix in pumpkin and canned dog food it should be very thick. Use a small spoon to stuff the mixture into the big end of a kong. (If you like, you may squeeze the Kong and add a biscuit or baby carrot across the top to create a little more challenge.)

[thunderbird8588]

@nobarkus:

She's lost the people and world she lived in and now she's in a new environment with someone she doesn't know. She's very scared and insecure. Just be very calm, understanding, patient and caring. Give her some treats. Does she know sit? Take her for some long walks and tell her she's a good dog. She'll start to calm down over time.

I couldn't have put it better myself and have nothing to add except to say my girl likes to sit on our knees at all times if we let her and it is lovely but can be tying. Unlike your foster i know she has no seperation issues so sometimes she gets to sit on our knees and sometimes not.

[dmey]

I was going to say, all that sounds like basenji personality to the power of 10! I think she just needs to adjust and calm down and feel secure again.. Long walks, good excercise will calm her down…. Be patient... It will be all right!!

[westcoastflea1]

thanks for all the advice
sophia doesnt seem to respect anything but a squirt bottle
i have taught her to sit, she of course takes her time deciding if its something she wants to do
the advice of working on one thing at a time makes sense

the most important part to work on right now is teaching her to respect peoples personal space

if im carrying a glass of water she will literally stop dead in front of me mid stride because she wants to know what i have in my hands, if of course end up tripping over her which cant be comfortable for her but doesnt deter her from doing it over and over and over

this behavior may sound cute but when im turning around from getting firewood and literally trip over her and almost land on the hot wood stove not just once but twice its really not that funny anymore
my roommates are getting tired of it, they are worried they are going to step on her or fall down the stairs to keep from stepping on her, she has to obsessively check out anything anyone has in their hands to see if its food and the roomies are getting tired of that as well
so i NEED advice on how to stop her from behaving this way

i guess if you spent alot of time in a crate you would be curious about everything and i understand that but…..

the only thing i can think of is to carry a squirt bottle everywhere i go and squirt her everytime she gets in the way and somehow i just feel like thats not the best solution
this morning sophia started humping my leg which she has not done before any ideas what that is all about?
so im going to bring this up with brat coordinator but wanted to throw it all out there to see if anyone else has had these issues with a b or might have good ideas about correcting the behavior
thanks for all the input so far

[thunderbird8588]

I can see how it must be so difficult when you are tripping over her but i think you are right in thinking it would be the wrong thing to do by spraying her everytime she gets in your way. I'm sure this would only teach her that it's bad to be around humans.
I'm sorry but i can't offer any advice, i'm sure the Brat coordinator will be able to help you.

[lvoss]

This dog needs to practice impulse control. Its Yer Choice is one way to start helping her understand that sometimes the best way to get what you want is not to be right there grabbing at it but instead to back off and "say please". Another good one is "Say Please by Sitting" http://drsophiayin.com/videos/SayPleaseBySitting.mp4

[Patty M]

Is Sophia underweight, or does she need more food?

By Sophia trying to take the lead wherever you go, and then by humping your leg, I think she's trying to assert herself as the leader. What about putting a 3 - 5 foot leash on her, and you "take the lead" when you are inside your home? That way, she knows that you are the alpha-mom, and she's got to follow you.

I would also have some healthy treats in your pocket, so that when you get to your destination (like the woodpile), you tell her to sit, praise her, give her treats, praise, praise, praise…. secure the leash on a log so that she can see you, but she's not underfoot? Once you are done, more praise, treats, etc. When you are in the kitchen, secure the leash on a nearby chair/table/kitchen handle, so that she can see you, but she's not right under your feet.

Thank you for being patient! She'll learn soon enough... it sounds like she doesn't know how to behave outside of her cage.

[westcoastflea1]

well i did talk to the brat coordinator today
it was really helpful to read all the posts here before discussing sophia with her

she seems to agree that although sophia is 4 years old spending most of her inside time in a crate means having the run of the house now is all new and very interesting to her sort of like being a puppy

i think poor impulse control would be a great way to describe her behavior
could i also assume that spending almost all of her time inside in a crate would cause her to depend upon her sense of smell more than sight?

when walking which she didnt get to do at her old home she doesnt seem to notice birds or squirrels, for a sight hound doesnt that seem a bit odd? at the dog park she has never chased or even seemed to notice birds and squirrels
perhaps getting her to start using sight more then smell might be useful?

brat coordinator seems to think i should carry the squirt bottle and use it to ask for space from sophia when im walking in the house,

she also thinks that a potential adopter might not mind the way sophia behaves, several people are already interested in her daughter so perhaps sophia might have a home soon

i will check out the video "say please" to see what its about appreciate the suggestion

would being recently spayed cause her to start humping my leg today? brat coordinator says its a sign of dominance i didnt realize females did this

[nobarkus]

I wouldn't keep using that spray bottle. Why don't you take her out for a long walk and wear her out? Exercise does everybody good.

[westcoastflea1]

sophia is about 20 pounds
she gets one cup daily of evolve dog food, i have tried giving her the entire portion in the am to see if she would eat it all and want more but she doesnt.
brat coordinator and breeder felt she was in good shape and didnt need more than the cup a day.
she has such short legs that if she put on any weight she'd look like a walking weenie

if i put sophia on the lead is it just the fact that she is on the lead and has to go where i go that makes her think im dominate? not actually walking behind me ?
i really like the idea of securing her within sight of me but not under my feet im going to try that and see how it works
wish me luck !!

[tanza]

Recent Spay would not cause her to hump your leg, I would agree with dominance and certainly, yes, bitches will do this

[DebraDownSouth]

She needs much more exercise. A tired dog is a good dog.

Humping is dominance, male or female. Yes it is common with females.

In every situation, someone gets trained. Please view the posts and make sure you are the trainer, not the trainee.

Putting her on a lead and teaching HEEL helps to show you have control, that YOU are making her stay with you, and teaches her where her body needs to be when near you.

If you have to use the squirt bottle all the time, that isn't training… it is avoiding training through aversion techniques. Not saying the water bottle is BAD, simply it is short term avoidance of the issue.

Doesn't sit fast? Hello, you say sit ONE TIME, then you place the body into sit and say GOOD SIT. Going at her own pace is another measure of controlling you.

[westcoastflea1]

omigod she soooo thinks im her bitch

thanks so much for pointing out that she thinks shes the dominant one here not me

ive been viewing this as poor sophia left here by her breeder and feeling sooo lonely and insecure when in fact thats not the case anymore
we are in the midst of a power struggle here
wish me luck!!

[Patty M]

Keep us posted! Do you have any pictures of this girl? You two will learn together… it will be fun for us to watch from the sidelines.

[Patty]

She just seems to me tobe one insecure little girl - I notice that she's only been with you for just overa week. Be very patient but I wouldn't advise a water spray to get her to stop invading your space. You could make her believe that she should just keep well away. Perhaps she may need more tiime than some to learn that she doesn't need to cling to you all the time. Just work on building her confidence by teaching and reinforcing basic commands. Reward her for the 'good' things but please don't punish her for the 'bad'

[listeme]

@DebraDownSouth:

She needs much more exercise. A tired dog is a good dog.

Humping is dominance, male or female. Yes it is common with females.

In every situation, someone gets trained. Please view the posts and make sure you are the trainer, not the trainee.

Putting her on a lead and teaching HEEL helps to show you have control, that YOU are making her stay with you, and teaches her where her body needs to be when near you.

If you have to use the squirt bottle all the time, that isn't training… it is avoiding training through aversion techniques. Not saying the water bottle is BAD, simply it is short term avoidance of the issue.

Doesn't sit fast? Hello, you say sit ONE TIME, then you place the body into sit and say GOOD SIT. Going at her own pace is another measure of controlling you.

Respectfully, I disagree with some of this. I've had both male and female try to hump when they are "just" overstimulated – keyed up, hyped up. I dunno if I'd automatically see it as dominance -- or at least not as JUST dominance -- especially since she's been crated nearly 24-7 her whole life. I'd be very keyed up if I suddenly had so much extra free space under those circumstances.

I definitely would not be forcing a sit or really forcing anything other than "life-saving measures" with this girl. I realize there's a LOT to deal with here, but I'd be using the food and attention to shape her behaviors into more acceptable paths, period, and use the crate when you're feeling overwhelmed. She's not MISbehaving, not deliberately, not willfully, she's just doing things she knows to do. Please, please, don't see this as a battle of wills. It doesn't sound like it to me at ALL.

P.S. I'm armchair quarterbacking, yes.

[agilebasenji]

@listeme:

Respectfully, I disagree with some of this. I've had both male and female try to hump when they are "just" overstimulated – keyed up, hyped up. I dunno if I'd automatically see it as dominance -- or at least not as JUST dominance -- especially since she's been crated nearly 24-7 her whole life. I'd be very keyed up if I suddenly had so much extra free space under those circumstances.

I definitely would not be forcing a sit or really forcing anything other than "life-saving measures" with this girl. I realize there's a LOT to deal with here, but I'd be using the food and attention to shape her behaviors into more acceptable paths, period, and use the crate when you're feeling overwhelmed. She's not MISbehaving, not deliberately, not willfully, she's just doing things she knows to do. Please, please, don't see this as a battle of wills. It doesn't sound like it to me at ALL.

P.S. I'm armchair quarterbacking, yes.

There's the old joke that the only thing 2 dog trainers can agree on is that the third is wrong. And I was going to sit this one out, but well, since listme brought it up, I'll jump in and add my 2 pennies worth. I've always wondered where the humping = dominance came from. I've pondered the idea that people (esp Americans) are more comfortable with dominance than masterbation, but, I don't know. My experience with dogs humping has been limited to dogs that came from the pound and humping inanimate objects. (Okay that excludes intact Jet humping the spayed malinois in the house for the past couple of weeks, but that is directly realted to Zest being inna da season right now. Otherwise he doesn't hump anything.) I have to say my dogs from breeders, dogs with good starts in life, don't seem inclined to hump. Our current mali will hump her dog bed, but she's really omega in the household.

And yea, I agree 100% about not seeing this as a battle of wills. That creates an adversarial relationship and things only go downhill from there.

[nobarkus]

I wouldn't get into that "battle of the wills" either. She's going through a lot of change very fast. Try to be calm with her. Exercise will take some of that energy out and relax her.

[lvoss]

Much of the reading I have done on humping and what I have observed in dogs about humping is that it is often a stress relief behavior, usually when the dog is over stimulated. Sniffing is also a sress relief behavior. What you are describing seeing in Sophia is a dog that is over stimulated and highly stressed and looking for outlets to relieve that stress. Helping her "learn to earn" will help her to deal with some of this stress as she starts to understand what is expected of her and that she has choices.

I would avoid using the squirt bottle because IMO an adversive is only going to increase her stress and increase the behaviors that you are trying to extinguish.

[DebraDownSouth]

listeme, you are right… humping can be other things... but even if all "keyed up" it is generally to show dominance or control. I have seen males and females where one day one humps, another the other so it isn't clearly alpha... but trying to control... usually. (edited note: ie control as in not dominate but decrease tension)

As for sit... either teach it or don't teach it. Don't say sit and let her call the shots. That was my point. But actually teaching obedience gives the dog useful attention, and she is definitely craving attention. It gives her time with a person, with the person in control, in a constructive way. I don't see teaching sit or any number of commands as negative at all. Training should be FUN and UP and bonding. Nor is placing her body in sit "FORCING" .. it is showing and enforcing. It is training, not some battle.

Notice though my first advice was simply find the one issue most a concern and work on it. My post was addressing other things posted, not what I think she should be doing.

Other than tripping dangers, I don't find anything the dog is doing to be terrible. I try to let rescues take a week to just chill, fit in and settle. I wouldn't be using the squirt bottle, but I would leash her and teach her body positioning.

This poster had issues with her last rescue and I sense that much of the issues are her own inexperience in training and a great desire to fix everything fast. This dog has years to undo, it isn't going to be fast.

And we agree, it is not a power struggle, it is a training issue. I frankly think the dog sounds delightfully normal but untrained. I worry however, when roommates are getting upset. People have posted excellent advice, and she has BRAT coordinator... she just needs to take a deep breathe and work on sorting out the big issues and letting the rest get sorted later.

LOL we are all armchairing... which is why using the coordinator who has access to the dog is important.