Training Books or Programs for Exciteable Dogs (border collie, shepherd, barking)

[mchelle]

If you can even believe it, I'll probably be moving back in with my mom. ( ) We have a wonderful, fun german shepherd/border collie mix named Raven and our poor kitty Kimber was just put to sleep yesterday. Raven is already expressing her grief by being extremely lethargic and much less active than usual. We adopted both pets when they were quite young, Kimber first, so Raven has yet to be alone in the house until now.

I've been thinking about getting a dog for months now, and was initially hoping to be able to afford my own apartment, hence my last thread in this forum about pets in apartment buildings. However, that was my optimism speaking and was before I had any idea that certain events would transpire. My mother said that she's fine with it if I get a dog, as long as I wait until she's had a sufficient grieving period over Kimber, which is completely understandable to me. I think that it hit her a lot harder than me because she was there with her every day, while I only saw her a few times per week. One of many regrets of mine, but I guess there's nothing I can do about it now.

Anyway, Raven is quite the spoiled pooch. I trained her to sit, lay down and shake, but she will only do the commands for me. My mom will tell her to sit for a treat and Raven will just give her the cute "Pweeease mommy I want a treeeeat. I love you I love you I love you!!" look ( )and my mom will give in and let her have a treat without completing the command. So, needless to say, Raven's manners leave a lot to be desired. Especially her jumping. She is very excitable and springs into the air when she sees people. Her barking is a bit excessive as well. I'd like to work on that with her.

I'm wondering if you all can give me some tips or refer me to any books/websites/programs that may be helpful in preparing Raven for a new addition to our family and fine tuning her manners in general. Also, does anyone have stories from introducing new pets into your household? Thanks in advance.

[dogmomof2]

Originally Posted by mchelle

If you can even believe it, I'll probably be moving back in with my mom. ( ) We have a wonderful, fun german shepherd/border collie mix named Raven and our poor kitty Kimber was just put to sleep yesterday. Raven is already expressing her grief by being extremely lethargic and much less active than usual. We adopted both pets when they were quite young, Kimber first, so Raven has yet to be alone in the house until now.

I've been thinking about getting a dog for months now, and was initially hoping to be able to afford my own apartment, hence my last thread in this forum about pets in apartment buildings. However, that was my optimism speaking and was before I had any idea that certain events would transpire. My mother said that she's fine with it if I get a dog, as long as I wait until she's had a sufficient grieving period over Kimber, which is completely understandable to me. I think that it hit her a lot harder than me because she was there with her every day, while I only saw her a few times per week. One of many regrets of mine, but I guess there's nothing I can do about it now.

Anyway, Raven is quite the spoiled pooch. I trained her to sit, lay down and shake, but she will only do the commands for me. My mom will tell her to sit for a treat and Raven will just give her the cute "Pweeease mommy I want a treeeeat. I love you I love you I love you!!" look ( )and my mom will give in and let her have a treat without completing the command. So, needless to say, Raven's manners leave a lot to be desired. Especially her jumping. She is very excitable and springs into the air when she sees people. Her barking is a bit excessive as well. I'd like to work on that with her.

I'm wondering if you all can give me some tips or refer me to any books/websites/programs that may be helpful in preparing Raven for a new addition to our family and fine tuning her manners in general. Also, does anyone have stories from introducing new pets into your household? Thanks in advance.

First, sorry for you loss. I don't have much advice on excitable dogs, but be firm, calm and consistent. Make sure she gets plenty of exercise. A tired dog is a good dog!
We added a second dog to our household after having the first for 5 years, and it was tricky at first, but they are now best friends.

[mchelle]

Thanks, dogmomof2, that's great advice. Raven is always running around the house and playing so I think that taking her outside and going running or something might help use up a bit of that energy. Consistency is also going to be something that we need to work on...there's no use in training if Raven will only listen to me.

[Keeper]

'On the other end of the leash' by Patricia McConnell has been recommended here many times.

The other end of the leash: why we do what we do around dogs [Book]